MIGHTY PHAR LAP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21600, 22 March 1932, Page 9

MIGHTY PHAR LAP

AN IMPRESSIVE WIN ! ■ MARGIN OF TWO LENGTHS 5* * ________ THE TRACK RECORD BROKEN (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) AGUA CALIENTE, March 20. Five minutes before the horses had gone to the post Phar Lap was a firm favourite. Eighteen thousand persons were present, the attendance being one of the largest ever seen at Agua Caliente. Mr Crofton announced that the race of one mile and a-quarter would be worth exactly 50,050 dollars to the winner. Reveille Boy was unruly at the start, and was taken out' of his starting stall and placed at the outside, number 12 position at the post. Scimitar was also fractious.

Just before the call to the post enthusiasts rushed to . gain a coveted position before the number 9 post, where Phar Lap was to be saddled and mounted by Elliott. At the last minute there was a jam at the betting booths. Phar Lap continued to rule first choice. The horse was cheered on entering the paddock, led by Woodcock. The race resulted as follows: Messrs D. J. Davis and' H. Telford’s PHAR LAP (Night RaidEntreaty), syrs 1 Reveille Boy 2 Scimitar 3 Joe Flores 4 The horses were sent off to a good start. Phar Lap had enough speed to move up very fast early in the first half mile and take the lead without trouble. Once in front the race was merely a romp, Phar Lap winning with speed in reserve and cutting the track record by l-ssec, and winning by a margin of two lengts over Reveille Boy. The time was 2min 2 4-ssec. Phar Lap is now the second greatest money winner in- the world, with 332,250 dollars, against Sun Beau’s 360,744 dollars.

HOW THE RACE WAS RUN AGUA CALIENTE, March 20. Bahamas was first to break away, and led past the grandstand. Spanish Play was second and Good and Hot third. Phar Lap was in the middle of the pack. The first quarter found Joe Flores first by a head from Cabezo, with Bahamas third. Spanish Play and Phar Lap were racing head and head. The crowd were in a frenzy as Elliott took the “red terror” Ijo the front with a dazzling burst of speed. Spanish Play attempted to run with Phar Lap, but was beaten off. At the half mile Phar Lap was first, Spanish Play second, Cabezo third, and Eeveille Boy fourth. After six furlongs Phar Lap was breezing along in front of Joe Flores. Eeveille Boy was third and Spanish Play fourth. At the mile mark Phar Lap lengthened his lead to' two lengths, and was going very easily. Eeveille Boy was second, Joe Flores third. Marine fourth, and Cabezo fifth. Turning .into the home stretch Elliott was looking backward for the opposition with Phar Lap. Eeveille Boy was under the whip.

Hats were thrown in the air as Phar Lap won easily and impressively by two lengths, breaking the track record set in 1931 for the race by Mike Hall.

DIVISION OF THE STAKE AGUA CALIENTE, March 20. (Received March 21, at 5.5 p.mV) The gross value of the race is 58,800 dollars. Eeveille Boy takes 5000 dollars, Scimitar 2500 dollars, and Joe Flores 1250 dollars. Elliott rode a beautiful race. Phar Lap was seventh as the field of 11 passed the stands out of the straight, but he put in a strong run in the back stretch, taking a lead of four lengths on going into the last turn. Then the field closed up in strong pursuit, Reveille Boy pressing hard until the final burst, when Phar Lap broke away from the pack on the home stretch, finishing easily as the rest of the field faded.

THE WINNER DECORATED A HORSESHOE OF FLOWERS. AGUA CALIENTE, March 20. (Received March 21, at 9 p.m.) After the race Phar Lap was paraded In front of the judge’s stand and a horseshoe of flowers was hung on him by Mrs Leon Gordon. When Elliott dismounted he was so overjoyed that he was almost in tears. After the horse had been decorated he was led back and forth in part of the straight which had been roped off, and newspaper and kinema cameras were played continuously on him. Crowds attempted to rush Mr Davis, Elliott and Woodcock when they removed the horseshoe of flowers, to pull roses as souvenirs from it. The crowds broke the barrier, but remained good natured. * THE CRITICS IMPRESSED AGUA CALIENTE, March 20. (Received March 21, at, 10 p.m.) Phar Lap started slowly, but unwound a burst of speed in the back stretch that carried him past seven horses and out to the front at the half mile. Just as Phar Lap moved into the home stretch Reveille Boy, the winner of the American Derby of 1929, came up fast, and ran neck and neck with the invader for a stride or two. Then Elliott applied the whip for the first and only time, but it was enough. The jockey, Bob Whaley, lashed Reveille Boy, but the “ Red Terror ” stepped out under slight urging and drew away in the last half furlong. It "was obvious that there was not a horse in the race that could overcome his lead, and a crashing cheer .came from the spectators as Phar Lap galloped past the finishing line. He was pulled up quickly, and jogged back to the charmed circle as the roar of those who wondered at his great power increased. The police were unable to hold the crowd back as it rushed the track to get a better look at the winner, but Phar Lap remained as calm as he was during the long wait at the post. He was not in a lather, as some of the others were, and he was scarcely blowing- .

Elliott’s riding is praised on all sides,

The New York Herald-Tribune’s racing expert comments: “The sensational race on Phar Lap has not a parallel in the history of the American turf. It has been the lot of most foreign invaders to taste defeat, Papyrus and Epinard being examples, and always excuses about lack of form through climatic changes have been forthcoming. Phar Lap not only seemed thoroughly acclimatised, but as fit as any horse that has gone to the post in America. His record breaking effort at a mile and aquarter under fist 31b is all the more remarkable from the fact that there was

a delay of 10 minutes at the post, but then Phar Lap is a horse without nerves, and nothing worries or frets him.” Sporting pages give a prominent display of details and pictures of the race, with extensive accounts of Phar Lap’s record in Australia. ENTHUSIASM IN SYDNEY SYDNEY, March 21. (Received March 21, at 11 p.m.) Racing men in Sydney never doubted that Phar Lap would win. Mr Harry Marsdcn said it was only a matter of Phar Lap being fit. Mr George Price was delighted and expressed the opinion that Phar Lap would now go after greater successes in America. Leading bookmakers here say that there was no business here on the race, ami the result was as expected. The whole racing fraternity was agog and heard the result by radio. The news spread through the city like wildfii’e and cheers were given at different clubs. Phar Lap’s fastest time for a mile and a-quarter was at Randwick in October, 1931, in the Craven Plate, 2min 2-lsec.

PRIME MINISTER’S MESSAGE

DOMINION’S CONGRATULATIONS.

(Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, March 21,

The Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) sent the following cable to-day to Mr Davis: —

“ New Zealand heartily congratulates yourself, the trainer, and the rider on Phar Lap’s outstanding victory. The fact that your champion was bred aad born in New Zealand naturally enhances the keen pleasure which is shared by all Dominion sportsmen.”

The phenomenal Phar Lap, the world’s best-advertised horse and a freak racehorse, has made his first effort in a new world, and gathered additional laurels to those gained by past prowess. His deeds in Australia attracted worldwide attention, and the now famous Night Eaid gelding is the first horse really to rock Carbine on the pedestal he has occupied for close on half a century. All sorts of comparisons have been made between the racing merits of Carbine and Phar‘Lap, and they are still in fruitless debate, and will remain so, because the conditions under which a race is now run and those that existed in Carbine’s day are totally different. It is also a shallow-thinking idea to measure 'a horse’s merit by the amount of .stakes won. Their value has changed in just about the same ratio as that in which the method of running a race has during the past half century. During his five years on the turf Carbine won 29,47650 vs in stakes, and over the same period Phar Lap won 56,44050v5. Carbine’s Melbourne Cup was worth 10,080sovs to the winner, and Phar Lap’s 942950v5. Phar Lap has won more races than Carbine, but the latter had far more really stalwart opponents than the Night Eaid gelding had to tackle in Australia. Phar Lap was practically unbeatable at weight-for-age, but Carbine met and defeated opponents who in turn beat him at the same scale of weights. No comparison can be made between the two horses from a stake point of view,; and racing merit reads in favour of the son of Musket and Mersey. They have one thing in common, and that is the fact that they rank as “freaks of a family.” Mersey did produce Carnage, as well as Carbine, but the rest of her foals were nonentities in both the racing and breeding world. There is still hope for Phar Lap’s dam, but it would be expecting too much for her to produce another equal to him. There is no doubt that Phar Lap is a great racing freak, and one of the greatest gallopers the world has ever known. He has made hacks of good-class horses, and has put up some remarkable records in his races. When Phar Lap won the Eandwick Plate he ran the first half mile in 49sec, seven furlongs in Imin 24sec; nine furlongs in Imih 51sec, 10 furlongs in 2min djsec, one mile and ahalf in 2min 281 sec, 13 furlongs in 2min 401 sec, one mile and three-quarters in 2min 54sec, and two miles in. 3min 20Jsec. He won the A.J.C. Derby in 2min but this is not a great deal faster than what Noctuiform put up in the same race. Noctuiform won in 1905 in 2min 32Jsec, and was one of the first horses in’ Australia to be taken to the front win all the way. Noctuiform knocked seconds off the race record, and Hewitt also did the same with Maniopoto when he won the Metropolitan at Eandwick. Prior to that Hewitt bolted away with the New Zealand Cup on Grand Eapids in 1904, and he was the first to revolutionise race riding in both Australia and New Zealand, and completely alter the method of running a race just as Sloan did in England. These comparisons are necessary because they can not be made with those put up prior to the arrival of Sloan on the scene with his meteoric career on the English turf. Sloan also introduced another great factor in the compilation of time in a race by reducing wind-pres-sure to a minimum. The riders in Carbine’s day presented about 75 per cent, more body to wind pressure than the present-day riders. The effect of wind pressure is recognised by the construction of record-breaking motor cars in which it is reduced to an absolute minimum. This fact has never been fully appreciated in most of the discussions about Carbine and Phar Lap. If the wind can propel it can also retard. Phar Lap started his American campaign with all the best wishes of sportsmen in New Zealand, where he was foaled. Looking at it from a commercial point of view Phar Lap means much to this country. New Zealand has already contributed some valuable bloodstock to America, and if Phar Lap can emulate Eclipse and always make himself first and the rest nowhere then the multi-millionaires so common in that part of the world will be anxious to locate another equine gold mine in the land of his birth and breeding. The American record for a mile and a-quarter is held by Whisk Broom II at 2min, put up in 1913 when carrying 9.13. Top Gallant put up the same time in England at Newmarket in 1923, and was afterwards imported to Australia. Phar Lap won in 2min 3sec at Eandwick in 1930, and Winning Hit at Riccarton in 2miu 3 l-ssec. Bronze Eagle won the Stead Gold Cup in November last in 2m in 2 4-ssec.

Phar Lap, whose name is Cingalese for lightning, was bred in Canterbury by the late Mr A. P. Roberts, being by Night Raid from Entreaty, by Winkie from Prayer Wheel, by Pilgrim’s Progress from the Maxim mare Catherine Wheel, and -when an ordinary looking gelding he was sold at Trentham for 160 guineas. Since then he has been trained in Australia by the ex-New Zealander, H. R. Telford, in whose name he did his early racing on lease from Mr D. J. Davis, though later they have figured as the joint owners,- It was not until he was a three-year-old that Phar Lap blossomed as a good horse. Since then he has continued to hold the central position on the Australian racing stage. All distances seem alike to this wonderful galloper, whose performances have caused him to be described by warm admirers as the greatest horse ever seen in Australia, though there are adherents of Carbine who challenge this claim. As a four-year-old he won the Melbourne Cup under 9.12 and last November he essayed the great feat of winning again, carrying 10.10. He failed, but it was no disgrace to be beaten with such a weight. Shortly afterwards, arrangements were made to race him in America, but before being shipped abroad he spent a few weeks at Trentham.

The impressions which the late Edgar

Wallace formed of the Agua Caliente track indicate some of the conditions under which racing is conducted. “ The track is oval, a mile round,” wrote Mr Wallace in an English newspaper. “The horses are started out of shoots—stalls placed right across the course or just off the track, one horse being in each stall. There is an attendant to every horse to bring him up to the barrier. He stands before the horse, and is protected by the width of the stall. It is not a good method of starting. In one race there was a delay of 15 minutes. They do not exactly break through the barrier, because the tapes are too high, so high that they just miss the jockey’s head, and are designed rather as a signal than as a barrier. After the post is passed the horses do not return to the paddock, but to the front of the stand, where an attendant in white uniform is waiting for each horse. Apparently it is the practice for the jockey to surrender his whip before he leaves the saddle, and when they come up in a bunch before the judge’s stand the air is full of flying whips. There is one admirable feature of racing at Caliente which might be copied with advantage. While a race is in progress, the judge broadcasts a description, and keeps up a running commentary on the positions of the horses. This is relayed to loudspeakers, so that, even if you cannot see a race or cannot read one, you know exactly what is happening at every stage.”