RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25442, 25 January 1944, Page 4

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel The Otaki Racing Club has fallen into line with several other North Island clubs by abolishing complimentary tickets. W. Broughton had ridden 28 winners this season before his suspension. One mistake can wreck a monument of good work. The Taranaki Jockey Club will use the portable electric totalisator at the meeting tq be held next month. So far it has not been used in the South Island.

Prior to the Wellington Cup meeting a Melbourne paper reported that a commission was being sent over to purchase Kindergarten at a five-figure price, if possible.

\ The comparatively slow times attached to the various events run on the final day at Trentham suggests that the state of the going wrecked the chances of horsfes unable to act on a soft track. The penalty imposed on W. J. Broughton for. failing to keep Glenfalloch going at the end of the W.R.C. Handicap may seem severe, but it was a very serious matter to the owner, who not only lost the stakes, but will in future have his horse handicapped as a winner. Wee Bun, the winner of the Douro Handicap, scored her first win this season in the well-endowed hack event. Her season’s record prior to Saturday was a second and three thirds in seven starts. As a two-year-old Wee Bun won twice and also ran a second and a third in five starts. She is by Croupier—Baby Bun, by Some Boy ll—Bonny Doreen, by Bomform—Satisfaire, by Birkenhead. The frequency with which s;me riders get their mounts away slowly at the rise of the barrier strongly suggests that they have never been taught how to make a smart getaway. The principal cause of the slow start is " holding ” a horse to make him stand in line and continuing to hold him at the rise of the barrier, with the result that it is said to he a ” bad start.” The importance of “ giving a horse his head ” at a start cannot be too strongly stressed. People who are not associated with the sporting world generally regard racing as a mere medium of gambling. In a desire to keep the Middle Park Plate alive, the Canterbury Jockey Club has again issued a programme for a non-totalisator meeting, with £7OO in stakes. The programme has met with a gcod response from owners when the restrictions on travelling are considered. Twenty-one remain in the Middle Park Plate. It is interesting to recall that the first race, run in 1884, was won by the late Sir George McLean’s Lady Evelyn. Some famous horses appear in its list of winners, including the worldrenowned Carbine, whose descendant, Battle Song, is siring yearlings commanding big prices under the hammer. The suspension of W. J. Brcughton for “ going to sleep ” on Glenfalloch is a comparatively light punishment, compared with that inflicted on the late James Walls, a well-known rider of bygone years. In a steeplechase at Timaru Walls landed over the last jump over a fence clear of the second horse, and it looked impossible for him to lose. Walls allowed his mount to slow down to a canter. There were loud shouts from the spectators urging him to ” wake up,” but he mistook them for cheers marking a popular success and got beaten on the post. Walls lost his licence and never rode again. He came to a tragic end, his body being found in Wellington Harbour. It is quite safe to assert that New Zealand has won the reputation of having a type of nomenclature utterly lacking in imagination or originality. The Racing Conference office is partly to blame, because it accepts names that suggest a poor imagination on the part of the owner. At times some suitable and appropriate names have been rejected. When Bridge Acre won at the New Zealand Cup meeting some caustic criticism was made in connection with the name. The owner has since paid 1600gns for a yearling brother to the filly, and has invited suggestions for a name for the colt. The imaginary bridge between earth and the Mohammedan paradise is called ”A 1 Sirat.” The rainbow bridge which spans heaven and earth in Scandinavian mythology is called Bifrost. Hence either A 1 Sirat .or Bifrost would be a suitable name for a Foxbridge colt. Fancy Free, dam of the Derby winner Blue Peter, died in England last September. A 3000-gn yearling, she was purchased by J. L. Jarvis (who trained her to win £2447) on behalf of Lord Wimborne. When the latter decided to dispose of all his bloodstock Lord Rosebery purchased privately Fancy Free and the other mares. Apart from Blue Peter, she was the dam of Tartan, a winner of £4405, and now at the stud in Ireland. Later came Full Sail, winner of the National Breeders’ Produce Stakes at Sandown Park, and March Stakes, • Newmarket. Full Sail, a brother to Blue Peter, retired to the stud, a winner of £7037. He was sold to Argentina, where already he has been successful. Neptune (by Hyperion), a half-brother to Blue Peter, was purchased for 2000gns in England in IS4I, and is now at the Cranleigh Stud. Wanganui.