NOCTUIFORM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 54

NOCTUIFORM.

Xoctuifoim lias been put under the turf, I and made an inglorious exit in a land i where he was sent to prove his jjr^wesa }as a racehorse. His form at Homo vas | so extremely poor that many of the rriiies j v.ere inolined to believe the son of Multjj form was never any good. To put it I plainly, there is no doubt Noctuiform ' fumed out a rank duffer as a racehorse in England, but there is also no doubt that he was one of tho best colts that ever raced in Australasia. Apart, from the colt's form prior to going Home, it is ; quite clear the lato Mr G. G. Stead ' thought too much of his position in the ■ sporting world to sell a "gold Hrick'' at j 5000gs, and if the grim reaper had not I so suddenly called him away there is not much doubt that he would have acted m 'a. similar manner to what he did v, ith I Multiform, and replaced Noctuiform with 1 something else likely to make good on 1 (.he English turf. When Nootuiform returned from Australia with the honours be had gained at the A.J.C. spring meeting fresh upon him, he was Bent out tne hottest I favourite that has eve* started fpr a New 1 ZoaUud "Cup, tmd hi proved the cobfi-

f dence to be fully justified by the manner in which he scored comfortably after experiencing about as bad a passage a* a horse could wish to get. llewitt was : blamed for riding a bad race on Noctuiform, but the riding orders he received were responsible for the position he got into as the field ran out of the straight. When doing his preliminary the colt was a bit upset and inclined to fight his rider. This caused Hewitt to ask permission from Mr Stead to allow him to go to the font, but he waa told to adhere to bis original instructions, which were to keep ebout third or fourth until reaching ihe straight. In attempting to carry out his riding instructions Hewitt got boxed on the rails, and did not extricate himself until close on four furlongs from home. To do this he had to stop his mount and let almost the entire field go past, but once clear he came on the outside and raced past the opposition to win easily by over a length. It was quite evident that Noctuiform had the race won at the distance, and he was credited with running the last half in 48. j In all the writer's racing experience he i cannot call to mind a case where a horse ] was successfully extricated from a similar j difficulty to that in which Noctuiform got boxed. Prior to Hewitt getting ; nto the saddle he jestingly said to the writer that 'the others had a cheek to start agaiust the colt," and the result of tbo race and the manner in which it was won g&ve ample grounds for that very sanguine ] opinion. I