THE V.R.C. GRAND NATIONAL HURDLE RACE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 35

THE V.R.C. GRAND NATIONAL HURDLE RACE.

One fact amply proved by the history of this race is that Soult cannot win it. As a guess, the distance is what kills him. I£ this is not the true reason, someone other than his backers for the past three years will be left to find a better reason. The public m&s be expected to turn him up for the futur^ so far as this particular event is ooncernedv ■ Nothing happened to him this time. The simple fact is that whfcn asked to begin galoping -in earnest he fell, away ' beaten fiv« furlongs_ from home. This, waa his third failure in the race. In 1897 Soult was ona o£ the favourites, and made no" show, .the race beinsr won by Buzi, with two otl^er outsiders. Castilio and Deposed in the subordinate places. Last year, when Pat won fronv. Reindeer, Soult again carried a lot of publio money, and he fell. This time SoTilt was so strongly in demand as to paralyse the bet* ting, and the short price on offer forced backers to prospect amongsv the outsiders; hence it came about that the bookmakers pub very little Soulb money into their books, and some who would have preferred the favourita were driven to back V_aldis. All agree thai} Valdis won very easily. Beforehand tht agreement was almost as general that he would! not be able to last out three miles on a gluey course, for he is a narrow sort of horse, and he broke out into a sweat on being taken . down to the post. These were the ideas that had weight with those "of the crowd who did not know what the stable were doing. If it had been generally understood that Valdis had the confidence of his party, and had been backed to win a good stake, thi great army of ordinary bettors would hava found some redeeming point in his conformation a.nd quickly discovered excellent reasons for believing that the muddy going was in his favour. lb ia surprising how w» humbug ourselves in these matters. After, the race was over, and Valdis had romp*d over all his opponents, those who are for ever, looking for a chance to magnify their own judgment fell back on the figure system for comfort. " Didn't I say he was bred tha ritrht way? Look at his pedigree— got by. MiudlemaVch (Maribyrnong — Housemaid), from' Gazelle, by King Arthur from Baratti, (dam of Buzzi), by Campden (V.) from Poetess, by Topsail from Ellen Tree, by Jersey, from Mirror (imp.) by Sir Hercules." All of which is true enough. But tho^e who argtiothis way -forget that something could, be said; about the pedigree of every horse in the race ; - they also fail to .remember that Valdis wasbred the same way on the 7th of July as he»-^ was on the Bth, and that his being a member • of the N0."5 family is not of much importance.unless it can be shown that the No. 5 familyis in some way better than the No 4- family. These arguments are very^funny when we.call to mind the faot that some of our best hordes don't have a number at al\ I tak« St. Paul as an example, and he is top weight in the New Zealand Cup. Amongst thos«who could honestly affirm that -the result ol tho race justified their judgment, Mr F. F. Dakin, the handicapper, may be reckoned. ihe one most entitled to crow. As a Mel*, bourne writer puts it, " Soult, almost unanimously voted a paper certainty by the -voa ■ populi, was badly beaten, while the winr.er,. Valdis. had been given more weight than h* carried unsuccessfully on Queen's Birthday^ and the wrath of his party thereby aroused.' No wonder Mr Dakin was all smiles after th«race. It is seldom a handicapper has tlnj satisfaction of seeing an alleged badly-treatea animal win a race wherein the favourite has cut up indifferently." It is a pleasure atany time to be able to put in' a, word for an honest handicapper, and I give Mr Dakin all the credit he deserves.