THRILLS OF STEEPLECHASING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22911, 19 June 1936, Page 3

THRILLS OF STEEPLECHASING

STIRRING INCIDENTS RECALLED MOIFAA’S GRAND NATIONAL WIN Xo "nine was ever worth a rap For Rational man to play Into which no accident, no mishap Could possibly find its way. Here’s a health to every sportsman, be he stableman or lord, If his heart bo true, I care not what his pocket can afford, And may he ever pleasantly each gallant sport pursue If he take his liquor fairly and his fences fairly, too. —Lindsay Gordon. The irresistible magnetism of steepleehasing has been strongly interwoven with the most stirring incidents in racing history ever since the game began. Its thrills and spills, the race from fence to fence, the up and over, the making of mistakes, or the making good, keep spectators up to the highest possible pitch of interest and excitement. The riders, however, must remain as cool as.the proverbial cucumber to achieve success in the saddle when riding over hedges, fences, walls, and waterjumps. There can be no comparison made between steepleehasing and flat racing. On the flat it is a straight run on level ground and a question of speed and riding judgment, but when fences are in front then there is a thrill at every obstacle. A horse and rider may sail brilliantly over the most formidable obstacles on a coarse and then come to grief over a comparatively trivial jump. A take off too soon, or too near, may spell disaster; a slip on rising or landing and the most proficient riding and jumping may come undone. The rush to a fence may result in a touch of bad luck through a leader taking off half a stride in advance and cause a fatal rise from a horse a length or so behind; a cannon through, a swerve and a certainty becomes converted into defeat more through sheer bad luck than lack of ability to complete a course or lack of speed between the fences or in the run home. There arc a thrill and touch of anxiety at every fence, and hence there is no parallel of comparison between a flat race and a steeplechase. Even after a horse has safely negotiated miles of country with ease and without the semblance of a mistake, there still remains the last jump forming

the only obstacle that marks the threshold of apparently sure success, but

danger still exists and is not infrequently marked with disaster. Waimai had his second success almost safely assured in the Grand National Steeplechase when' landing over the final fence, but his legs skidded from under him on landing and, when lengths ahead of Coalition, was sprawling on the ground when the latter came on to win. Dromedary had the Grand National Steeplechase won after safely landing over the last jump but was* brought down on the flat in the run home through cannoning into a policeman who had run out to bring back a boy that had strayed on the track. There is many a slip between the cup and the lip and a race is never wotf until the numbers are up, and then sometimes the gold and glory do not go to the winner. The greatest tragedy the writer has ever seen in a steeplechase occurred at Titnaru many years ago. The late James Walls, one of the best of his time, landed safely over the final fence fully a furlong and a-half in front of the nearest horse to him. He very unfortunately took success for granted and when cantering to the post took shouts of warning of danger for plaudits of applause (if he heard them) and got pipped on the post. He lost his riding licence for not looking behind, and many times since then riders have been punished for looking behind to see what danger may exist. A greater contrast could not exist in racing. A rider loses a race and his licence for neglecting to do what other riders have since been punished for doing. Inflicting punishment on a rider who takes a wise precaution to prevent defeat simply passes

comprehension. It is quite safe to say that in recent years, since the general adoption of the short seat, more horses part company with their riders than they did in the days when tile fences were more formidable than at the present time. The short sent cannot supply the grip that was provided when the leathers are about four holes more than the majority of riders use at present. Impact with the fence or a peek on landing means an almost certain good-bye to the rider and his mount. Perhaps in bygone days riders used a too long leather and now they go to the other extreme, but the long was a safer seat than the short. The short leather can spill a rider out of the saddle when a horse makes a slight mistake but still keeps galloping on. The old-time rider would hardly ever part company with a horse unless a complete toss occurred, but the present seat too often means tip and trouble. There is not the slightest desire in the world to disparage the present day rider over jumps. Nothing but admiration exists for the good, game, and capable riders, but a style has been adopted which contributes to disaster. The French rider Parfrement created a sensation when he “ Tod Sloaned ” Lutteur 111 to victory in the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, but he has found few or no disciples in the years that have followed. The shortest scat the writer has ever seen at RiCcarton was when S. Henderson won the Grand National Steeplechase on Beau Cavalier. Henderson, however, practically wedged himself into the saddle with a knoepad grip, but if Beau Cavalier, who jumped the moon, had hit a fence his rider would have been a far-flung projectile jerked from (he saddle. Another objection to the short scat consists in the fact that it places too much weight in front of the saddle and hence must increase the effort to rise at a fence, and also the impact on landing, with the result that a horse docs not stay so well as might otherwise be the case. In fact, it might be claimed that placing too much weight in front of (he saddle is responsible for the so-called dearth of stayers in flat racing. Steeplechase fences bordered on the barbwires in the early days of chasing, and the stone wall “ cathedrals ” and post and rails, as formidable and unyielding as solid rock, are giving way to a more sane and ecnsible type of jump which, however, still provides as spectacular a race as could be desired. The Aintrce course, which is regarded as the most formidable and takes more doing than any other in the world, does not contain one solid fence. It is the most spectacular gourse in the world and always has been, even though stone walls are not in the circuit, and yet it has not proved anything nearly so deadly and

disastrous to riders and horses as (ho solid fences at Fleinington. The reason is obvious to anyone who has bestowed any intelligent thought on the subject. Impact with a brush fence, no matter how stiff, finds at least some yield to break a fall, but a solid fence jerks a horse head over heels and probably on top of the rider. In recent years fences and hurdles have been padded, but that is more to protect a horse's legs, as the unyielding nature of the obstacle still exists. The brush fence at Cutts’s Corner in the Grand National Steeplechase takes as much doing as, or more than, any other fence that has to bo negotiated, but it is safer than a comparatively low post and rails. A water jump is generally considered a very spectacular and difficult jump and the fact is evidenced by*the crowd that gathers near the one at Wingatui. It is really the easiest jump oif'the course if a horse is ridden into it with sufficient pace on to clear less distance than might bo required in connection with an ordinary jump. Possibly the spectators crowding near it may distract a horse’s attention and so create trouble, and the same thing applies with even greater force in connection with the Kennel’s double at Riccarton. It is rather interesting, by the way, to recall the fact that Moifaa, who failed to get round the Riccarton cross-country course, subsequently earned fame as being the only New Zealand-bred horse, or in fact the only horse bred in the southern hemisphere, capable of winning the world-famous Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, The style and shape of a saddle have changed with the scat, and now the flap projects beyond the withers and to the front of the shoulder. The helpful kneepad has been lost in the transition and the fact docs not assist the rider to retain his seat. The rider’s knees project to the front or beyond the horse’s shoulder, with the result that the crouch seat places the rider’s weight, and also some in the lead-bag, in front of the centre of gravity in the horse. This creates an extra source of danger, and when a peck takes place on landing a good chance exists of a crumple up simply because the weight in front of the centre of gravity over-balances the horse. The rider’s knee goes beyond the horse’s shoulder and loses grip because it goes into the horse’s narrow

neck, and then comes an easy slip and dislodgcmcnt from the saddle. It is worthy of more than passing notice that in England and Ireland, the homes of steeplechasing, the riders have never adopted the extreme crouch so frequently seen in New Zealand and Australia. There is, perhaps, far and away more steeplechasing and hunting in England than in all the rest of the world put together. The men who follow the hounds and are bursting with ambition to rider over Aintrce in very many eases have been bred to the saddle. They have been educated in the great traditional schools of learning and bring all their knowledge into riding and training hunters and cross-country horses. They become associated with members of the various hunts holding a lengthy experience in the saddle and are taught by past masters of the game; experience, in the saddle and taught by past masters of the game; they become associated with (he leading trainers and cross-country riders; they have, in horse sense, had the cobwebs swept out of their brain, and yet with all this knowledge they do not adopt the seat in the saddle that has become the rule rather than the exception at this side of the world. The question arises why such a state of affairs exists in England and the answer is simple. It is because they arc too intelligent to adopt something that increases and creates an unnecessary risk. So much stands recognised in point of fact by the New Zealand Rules of Racing, which can compel a rider to lengthen his leathers, but this is really “ a dead letter ” because the power to assert it seems to be absolutely dormant and dead. Be all that as it may, it will not detract one iota from the pleasure, of participating in the steeplechase and hurdle races taking place at Wingatui in the next day or two. Steeplechasing stands supreme as the quintessence of sport, so let ns all be there to sec it.