RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23335, 29 October 1937, Page 15

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel Whirling L. J. Ellis will have the mount on Whirling in the Stewards' Handicap. Joined Up Mount Val, Petersham and Pink Bond have joined Silver Streak at Riccarton. Cap and Derby The Victoria Derby will be run tomorrow and the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday next. Desert Chief Desert Chief and Willie Win started as two of the rank outsiders in the field for the Caulfield Cup. Wild Chase It is definitely announced that L. J. Ellis will ride Wild Chase in the New Zealand Cup. Screamer Screamer was unlucky in his races at Trentham in the fact that he got a bad run. He is a better horse and a better stayer than a superficial idea of his form suggests. Francis Drake Francis Drake is reported to be doing well on the track, and if he returns to the very high promise displayed as a two-year-old should more than pay his way in Australia. Patagonia It is stated that Patagonia, who won on the final day at Trentham in 3min 7Jsec. cost his owner £4. Patagonia is held on lease by B Burgess from Mr A. M. Henderson, former stud §room to his breeder. Mr W. R. Kemall, who sold the horse at £4. A Profitable Programme When F. D. Jones planned a North Island programme for Cerne Abbas, Royal Chief and Protector his plan of campaign travelled on lines of success. His horses won £2970 for a seven weeks' campaign. Royal Chief gathered £1305, Protector £775 and Cerne Abbas £395. The Reason The punishment imposed on M. McCarten of a month's suspension reads severe in connection with the best money-making period of a popular rider's chance in Australia, but according to reports his cutting in at the start of the Caulfield Cup caused seri- I ous trouble to other horses. At Wingatnl Several horses were worked at Wingatui yesterday morning and the most interesting feature of the proceedings consisted in the fact that two New Zealand Cup candidates showed that they have not been damaged by recent racing. In other words, they have trained on. Payments Occasionally delay takes place when a dividend paying clerk has to shut down to get a further supply of money. At Trentham the touch of a bell brought a fresh supply of cash irom either of two clerk specially engaged to attend to the business. This and paying £1 and 10s dividends helped i very materially to prompt paying out. The Use and Abuse During the Wellington spring meeting a rider brought his whip into strong' use on a young horse shortly after entering the straight. It would be interesting to know if the rider, when his mount commenced to drift, thought he could get the horse home the additional two furlongs with the whip. Two or three sharp cracks with the whip should be sufficient for any horse and flogging them for about 100 yards savours strongly o:E useless punishment. Cuddle As an eight-year-old mare Cuddle retains her form much better than the general run of her sex. Still the records show that Lady Zetland was nine years old when she won the New Zealand Cup. Lady Zetland was evidently carrying Lady Lillian when she won the New Zealand Cup as the latter was foaled in 1897—the year following Lady Zetland's success in the big race at Riccarton. Lady Zetland also won the Canterbury Cup, her final appearance on the turf. . Criticism New Zealand jockeys generally come in for some adverse criticism on their first visit to Australia, but I doubt (says "Pilot") whether the most captious critic could have found fault with Atkins's handling of Homily in the Two-Year-old Stakes at City Tattersall's meeting. He jumped her away smartly from an outside position, and then, when she dropped back a little, did not bustle her in the least, waiting until the straight was entered before asking her to go up to the leaders. A New Role That grand horseman. Steve Uonoghue, is to take up training next season Donoghue. who has won six Derbies— Pommern, Gay Crusader. Humorist Captain Cuttle, Papyrus, and Mannahas been riding for the best part of 30 years, and in that time has built up an enviable record, as a iockey Donoghue rode his first winner on his first mount—Turkish Delight, at Phce nix Park in 1907. and has been riding with great success ever since. He has piloted 1840 winners under Jockey Club rules. He intends training at Newbury. Transport of Racehorses The contention that the Railways Department had not catered for the horse trainers of to-day was made by Mr T. H. Langford (No. 3 Transport Licensing Authority) at a recent sitting at Ashburton. The danger of valuable horses travelling along bitumen roads to be trucked was great, and he considered that the department should have been awake to the need for loats to carry the horses from the stables to railway stations. The need hart been annarent-for at least five or six years. Mr Langford said and m that period there had been a considerable increase in the number of bitumen roads. The risk of injury to horses was increasing. . T''e Time Test

Forty years ago the time record for the Melbourne Cup was Carbine's 3min 28|sec: thirty years ago the record was Blue t Spec's 3min 27Jsec; twenty years ago KmgsboroUgh was on top with 3min 26sec; up to ten vears ago Windbag and Spearfelt shared the 1 honour with 3min 22|sec and now the record is Wotan's 3min 21Jsec In face of those figures many neople who live in the past deolore the alleged deterioration of nur stayers. Nowadays it: would be an optimistic trainer says "Pilot"), or one grasoing at straws who would hope to win a Melbourne Cun with a horse unable to do better thr>n 3min 27A?ec on sound going The two miles track at Flemington has not changed greatlv in the nast 30 years and even at that period the old-time witting tactics had been discarded The peculiar part is that while some racing men allow that; our sprinters have improved, because of the taster times they record, they will not make a similar concession in respect of distance horses.

Postponements Two notable postponements at Flemingtori were the Australian Cup ol 1911 and the Melbourne Cup of 1916. The decision to postpone the Australian Cup was not made until after/many people had- arrived at the course Rain was falling in torrents, and it was übvi imsly impossible to race so the Aus tralian Cup won by The Parisian waspostponed from Tuesday until the following Saturday. The 1916 jpring meeting was a very wet one. There was little sunshine from early in September until late in November and rain fell nearly every day. It took three weeks to complete the Melbourne Cup meeting that year The Derby was run on November 4 and the Melbourne Cup should have been rui; three days later, on the Tuesday but rain caused it to be postponed until the following Saturday, when Sasanof won from Shepherd King. The post ponement (says the Australasian) influ enced the result of the race, as. had it been run on the original date, Sasanof would not have been able to start, ana Shepherd King would undoubtedly have been the winner instead of the runner-up. Sasanof. on the eve of the Cup. developed a curb, and had the race been run on the Tuesday he would not have been started. The four days' postponement enabled Sasanof to be patched up and fitted to take his place in the field. The Melbourne Cup was run on Saturday, which should have been the last day of the meeting, and Oaks day was the following Tuesday That was on November 14. and it was not until the following Saturday week (November 25) that the meeting was completed. The first occasion on which a Melbourne Cup meeting had to be postponed was in 1870. The meeting should have begun on October 29, but owing to the continuous rain, which made the tracks at Flemington little better than a bog. the V.R.C i Commit? tee postponed the whole of the meeting for a week Habits in History

History has a habit of repeating itself, even in racing, and it may be that in the New Zealand Cup and Stewards' Handicap history will repeat itself so far as the Gore meeting is concerned. In 1916 Ardenvhor won the main event at the Gore Racing Club's spring meeting and then went on to win the New Zealand Cup, ridden by H. Young and carrying 7.3. In 1933 Palantua won at Gore and followed this bv winning the cup, ridden by W. H. Jones and carrying 7.2. At the meeting just ended Trebleack and Linguist, who are both engaged in the New Zealand Cup, were both returned as winners. According to her trainer Linguist will now be a -tarter in the big two-mile event. It depended on her showing on Mondav whether she made the final payment. A definite decision regarding Trebleack has yet to be made. Alma, a candidate for the Stewards' Handicap, won the open sprint at Gore in easy fashion, and came through the race sound. Threatened with unsoundness, a great deal depended on this race, but sh» came throueh it well, and if the track had not been so firm on Monday she would have been given another race. She has not had a ereat deal of galloping recently, but her trainer is now confident she will go to the Dost for the Stewards' Handicap. In 1914 Obsono won the sprint event at Gore, and was then ."iifre.-sfur in the Riccarton snrint. In 19*8 did the sam° thine, and in Comic Song made the third to win this double. In 1926 he was narrowly beaten at Gore, and- then went on to win his second Stewards' Handicap.