THE GRAND NATIONAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2372, 17 August 1899, Page 35

THE GRAND NATIONAL.

Roddy M'lvor, whom I remember as having charge of tho Daydawn horse Loch Lomond, had % ride in the first Grand National, being astride of Don Juan, who finished third. There were only six starters that year, and Royalty had to thank his fencing rather than his pace for bringing him home. The grey Fakir, who won the second year, would hardly have Buckley's chance nowadays; he would have tc go in the hunter class. Mousetrap, a particularly good jumper, won the next year. I saw The Agent win at Awamoa in 1879, ridden by Billy Hankins, who was afterwnrde killed by a tall with the black horse Magic. Hiinkins waa brother to the Dunedin trainer of the same name. The Agent won again the following year, and being let in at the same handicap ac he had previously WQft with; b£ started*, big favourite go. fat as

the fixed-price betting was concerned. . Tint fine gelding, powerful in make and a beautiful fencer, would probably well .hold his own in tho fields of later years if ke could have been, kept young, and amongst such horse* as Royalty and Eversley he wa» quite a superior racehorse. The iirst 'chaser to roalJy challenge The Agent was Clarence, a big, plaid bay geldir.ff, up to any weight. There was nor. much to choose between this pair, both al their best. Sailor Boy. a grey, waa a ijoud horse, and if not up to the quality oi these oracks, he was equal to making a race of it with them in the mucked-up oontest of 1881, when he finished second, ridden by the late Jack Poole, but was disqualified for missing one of the fences. Katerfolto, who effected a surprise in 1882, began his career in country raoing. I remember him winning at the Taieri, when Mi Charters, the judge, took his stand in a dray and invited me to this impromptu perch. Kosciusko gave Tommy Sheenan his first and only winning mo.ivifc after several tries, and it was on Tho A 'ib in his old age that the other cros&-cci - ' vy Tommy — Tommy Lyford— got hiß firbt ip, the old horse winning from the une*. iin Barbary, who once nearly killed Billy Edwards by falling with him in Auckland. I never did have a very exalted opinion of Moody, the 1885 winner. They were a t .tior lot that, he had to meet, the best of theu. Se^ ing the carty Luuvood, on whom Jim C«.":ods came nearer to a win than he ever did !).• .ca or has since. From that date, howevoi he calibre of the Grand National canci. 'eti seemed to improve. Canard, the noble oking chestnut that won in 1886, was a ->rer.& terse, physically and on his. deeds as wall, end he beat a good one in the short-legged r<nd sturdy ITaugh-a-Ballagh, who in turn made a holy show of the hunter crowd that opposed him in 1887. Mangaohane, the winner in, the succeeding year, would have been a great steeplechaser if sound ; and Chemist, the hero of 1889, may rank with the best horses inscribed on the roll of winners. He must h'avo been a good ons to give such a sure jumper as Datldy Longlegs 371b and a beating. I don't, suggest that Daddy Longle^a was up to the standard of first-class rank, but he was a fair specimen of the safe 'chaser and always dangerous if no topsawyer came a(j him. Freeman, again, waß a fair horse. Hia year was the third in which Ahua started first favourite and failed to complete Ihe course, and we were beginning to think tha.fi the high-rumped galloway was destined to go down to his grave without the honour ha had so persistently tried for, when at last, oa the fourth attempt, he got home, beating J* \ery strong field, which included Norton and Magpie. Waterbury's win was a surprise^ as many said he would not live over the Riccarton fences, but he fairly romped home, and such clippers as Norton and Mutiny were be-* hind him at the finish. In 1894- dark per-, formed a great feat in riding Norton from the first fence with only one stirrup and getting home. Mutiny won two years in succession, scoring 1 each time in most decisive style, and in his next attempt he only just failed 'to concede 71b to the accomplished Levanter, who has since gone to England. Dummy won Blackberry, this year's winner, is by Gladiator out of Good Fruit, therefore half brother 1 to Douglas. Now that he has won we ahall be reminded that this breeding might have been expected to win. But, though I knew about tho pedigree, 1 cannot blame myself for ignoring Blackberry's chance. He had no credentials in the way of public form for the Grand National. Up to Juno of this very yeac he was hurdle racing, and, though shaping moderately well, he by no means carried all before him. Then, appearing as a steeplechaser, he ran off at Hawke's Bay; then ha won at Gi3borne after falling; then ho fell in the Wellington Steeplechase, and got home in the Final Steeplechase, when opposed to nothing of quality. This is not tha sort of history that one expects as an immediate preliminary to winning the Grand National.Still, he has won it, and in doing so he adds another to the crowd of geldings that have «on this race. Ahua is the only stallion tha* has won it, and a mare has not only never got home, but never gained a place, with the solitary exception of Squib, in 1890.