PHAR LAP IN MEXICO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21599, 21 March 1932, Page 7

PHAR LAP IN MEXICO

AGUA CALIENTE HANDICAP THE PROBABLE STARTERS (United Preaa Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) AGUA, Caliente, March 18. Phar Lap worked out six furlongs in Imin 17sec with no apparent effort. The track is at its best. Phar Lap is still a mystery horse as far as American race track watchers are concerned. As to what the horse can really do this continent promises to remain in the dark till the finish of Sunday’s handicap. He has not been allowed to show what he can do at the local track, t The jockey Elliott, who is a bit heavy as far as American jockeys go, weighing Ost 31b, declared that his mount was in first-class condition. In work-outs and easy gallops Phar Lap looks impressive. Though 25 horses are still eligible the indications to-day were that the field would be limited to 11. The additional probable starters are Dr Freeland, Brahamas, Scimitar, Marine, Sethshope, Joe Flores, Good and Hot, Reveille Boy.

'THE JOCKEY CONFIDENT. AGUA CALIENTE, March 18. (Received March 20, at 8 p.m.) Phar Lap has reached the top of his form for Sunday’s handicap. Mr William Neilson, the horse’s veterinary attendant, on Friday made an enthusiastic statement concerning the champion’s condition. “ Phar Lap is in better condition than at any period since he began racing, and not only will he win on Sunday but in addition I look for him to make a new record. The big thoroughbred did have some foot trouble, but that has been completely cleared up. The Americans do not seem to understand our way of training a horse with slow work, but Phar Lap has never been trained any other way.” The jockey, Elliott, when asked whether he thought his mount would win, replied: “ I know he will.”

The reshlt of the race should be known in New Zealand between 9 and 10 o’clock this morning. I

PHAR LAP’S POPULARITY.

AGUA CALIENTE, March 19,

(Received March 20, at 9 p.m.)

In the twelfth year of the history of the west’s great race there has been nothing equal to the popularity of Phar Lap. Cabezo, the three-year-old son of Carlaris, will probably go to the post with about as much support as Phar Lap. Spanish Play will be another who will find heavy backing, while Marine (the Canadian champion), Reveille Boy, and Rogue cannot be counted out.

Phar Lap is considered a slow starter, according to the Australian custom of holding a horse until he gets into his stride, while on American tracks horses spring from the barrier. Many good horses have been boxed after a slow start, but apparently this is not worrying Phar Lap’s backers. Phar Lap, big and powerful, has the reputation of being able to sprint in the stretch of the toughest race, and possibly his trainers believe that ho will bo able to run wide on a few turns if he should find it necessary to pass a group of horses, and still have enough in reserve to win.

THE BARRIER POSITIONS. PHAR LAP NUMBER NINE. AGUA CALIENTE, March 19. (Received March 21, at 0.15 a.m.) As wag expected a field of 11 is named for the handicap. The starting fee is 500 dollars. The horses will follow in order to the post. The positions are as follow:—Good and Hot, Scimitar, Spanish Play, Reveille Boy, Bahamas, Joe Flores, Seth’s Hope, Doctor Freeland, Phar Lap, Marine, and Cabezo. Phar Lap’s position as number nine is considered a good one, as it permits a long-striding horse to break free of any interference. He will have no bad actors close to him, such as Reveille Boy, nor is it considered likely that ho will be inconvenienced by the “ starting stalls,” from which he will start, though it will be his first experience of this method of starting. The time of starting will be approximately 10.30 on Monday morning, Australian time.

The winner will receive 41,250 dollars of added money, plus all nomination and starting fees. Stakes of 50,000 dollars are guaranteed, but the club officials believe that the total will exceed that.

It was stated recently that there would be 11 starters in the race, and among Phar Lap’s opponents would be Spanish Play, a four-year-old colt by Spanish Prince 11, from Aima Horton, by Wrack, to whom Phar Lap (9.3) has to concede 121 b. He has run some excellent races. Last June lie won the Latona Derby, one mile and a-half. Discussing that race, the Thoroughbred Record said:— “ Spanish Play is a winter three-year-old; this performance was his best effort in a public race. Running the distance in the rapid time of 2.30, Spanish Play scored after a desperate drive by a neck from Mrs Payne Whitney’s St. Brideaux, one of the best Eastern colts which was brought on from New York especially for this race. . , . Excepting only Handy Mondy’s Derby in 1927, when she won in 2.28 3-5, Spanish Play’s time is the fastest in the history of the race. Spanish Play started racing early in the year. He won the Louisiana Derby at New Orleans, then was shipped to Miami, and ran second to Lightning Bolt in the Florida Derby; from there he came up the line to Churchill Downs, and ran against Twenty Grand in the Kentucky Derbj'. From Kentucky he was moved up to Cleveland, Ohio, and at Bainbridge Park ran second to A la Carte in the Ohio Derby. He was taken to Chicago, and performed in the Washington Park Derby, won by Mate. . . . Spanish Play has the distinction of winning the first and last Derby of the year, never declining any contest or declining an engagement because of the exalted reputations of some of the other contestants, and he has won his share of the races. Spanish Play has had no soft places picked out for him. In 19 races he has won eight, and earned for his owners 44,090 dollars.” Dr Freeland has been showing winning form recently. Toward the end of November he won the Southern Maryland Handicap at Bowie, Maryland, with 8.4. He ran the nine furlongs in 1.52 4-ssec, on a fast track. Five days later he was unplaced in the Thanksgiving Handicap, nine furlongs and a-half, at Bowie. He was then sold for SOOOsovs, being bought with a view to winning the forthcoming Agua Caliente Handicap. He was beaten in the Fashion Stakes, nine furlongs, at Agua Caliente recently, the best he could do being to finish sixth. This was won by Cabezo (7.4), who is a starter on this occasion. Marine (8.2) is the best three-year-old in Canada. Plucky Play (8.8) registered his best win last November in the Riggs Memorial, one mile and a-half, at Pimlico, Maryland, by a nose in 2.31 2-ssec. Ho also annexed an Exhibition Handicap at Agua Caliente last month, and an eight furlongs and a-half race at Tanforan easily on a very heavy track in 1.54 3-ssec. Little is known about the others, but an American writer recently

described the field, with the exception of Phar Lap, as unquestionably the worst that has ever been entered. Agua Caliente, where the race will be decided, is situated in Mexico, just across the United States border, and half a day’s run by motor car from Los Angeles. It is a short distance from the town of Tia Juana, described as a “ small, dirty, neglected-looking Mexican town given over to open -drinking bars, gambling saloons, dancing parlours, and eating shops, operated without restriction, and patronised by lower types of the mixed races.” The course cannot compare with the best to be seen in other countries. It is part of the combined scheme of hotel, casino, and racecourse, and its location across the Mexican border renders it immune from the interference of the United States laws.