EARLY OTAGO HISTORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 31

EARLY OTAGO HISTORY.

RACING REMINISCENCES. By Oi,d Identity. VIII. The last notes written under this heading, referring to racing on the old Forbury course will have been of more or less interest to those who, about that time, began their racing experience, and yet cannot have seen or heard of many things that were mentioned. The name of one who took a very active part in racing matters from a very early period was inadvertently omitted from those notes This was Mr Frank Meenan, who held the important office of treasurer of the Dunedin Jockey Club for many years, and the mention of Mr Sydney James was also overlooked. Mr James was an ideal secretary, and brought to his position in Dunedin former Australian experience with Mr Bagot, secretary of- the Australian Jockey Club, besides a personal friendship with many of the prominent racing men of Australia, and for many years was certainly one of the prominent mainstays of the Otago Jockey Club, in which he was ably assisted, and eventually succeeded, by his son, who also did yeoman service for the club until quite lately. Mr George Dowse was long associated with the Dunedin Jockey Club as handicapper, and filled that position admirably, and notwithstanding the onerous nature of his duties, gave satisfaction up to the time of his retirement, being impartial, capable and honest. The comparison between the riding of th e earlier days and the present time may have been somewhat drastic, but the writer thinks it was much to the point on the whole. “ Wally ” Clifford, the first name being an abbreviation of Wallingford (quite picturesque) was one of the very brilliant riders of his day. and was with others of that time good to look upon in contradistinction to. the ungainly looking method that is now in vogue. It may be of interest now to say something about the earlier racing men, particularly those from further north than Otago. Mr F. W. Delamain, who was one of the best known, brought horses to race in Dunedin and through the goldfields as early as 1869. Templeton was the best of the many horses raced by him, and was a really good one—a dark bay in colour, by Traducer—about 15.1 in height, but standing over a lot of ground. The name of Templeton was one to conjure by for some seasons. Though somewhat diminutive he could carry weight with the best of them, and remained sound to the last, notwithstanding the severe preparations to which he was subjected. Mr Delamain and others of that time were a type of racing men that appear to have quite died out, possessing characteristics that appear to be non-existent to-day. They were a breed one might say by themselves, with a very breezy and general warmth of manner. Christchurch appeared to be prolific iii that class of sportsman at that time. Messrs “Ned” Griffths, “Tim” Self, Webb, Nosworthy, and others, will be remembered —all Englishmen, who looked Englishmen. When Pungawerewere won th e cup at Forbury in 1876 Mr Delamain was so sure of her winning that the following little story will, to a certain extent, illustrate the type of man he was. During Cup Week in Dunedin accommodation was not over plentiful, and Mr Delamain had to share a room at Fernhill with a young curate just out from Home. On the morning of the race Mr Delamain reiterated to his room-mate what he had told him before, that his mare was going to win the cup, and before leaving said to him, “ Look here, put a * fiver ’ on her. Bird will fix it up for you.” (Bird was the club secretary). Mr Delamain handed the curate £5 with the remark, “ If you don’t like to do that, use it in the direction you think most needful. ’ The curate took what he thought the wiser course, but, a s it turned out. the less profitable one. Owners were not as secretive in those days as at present, when they have to be satisfied with totalisator starting price. Things as related above could, and did, occur—but not always with the addition of £5 notes. Pungawerewere, or Punga, as she was called, won the cup, one of the few races she did win, and a son of hers repeated the performance in 1890.

Henry Lance was also a leading racing man of that time, and owned many a good horse in partnership with Mr W. W. Robinson, of Cheviot Hills; Foul Play, Grip, Chainshot, and many others being among the number. Mr Lance was a regular attendant at the cup meetings at Forbury from its inception until the time of his death. Mr E. Griffiths was also, a regular attendant at Forbury from the City of the Plains, and would not have missed a Cup metting for anything. With others mentioned he helped to keep the sport going in Christchurch in the very early days somewhere near the entrance to the Lyttelton tunnel before Riccarton was taken in hand. It may interest some to know that up to 1876 the drive entrance to Forbury Park was by St. Clair, and, as all traffic went via Cargill road and Forbury road it took some time to get to the course; more especially as from the entrance gate : at St. Clair . to the convincing ground the road was unmade .and vehicles could not go out of a walk. People were used to that kind of thing, however, and. never thought of grumbling. St. Hilda, .as we know it, was at that time in the, womb of the future. Mr- G. :G... Stead, came on'- the scene later than those mentioned above, He .was certainly the: most successful,owner in New Zealand for many years. He

was npt a breeder to any extent, but always buying yearlings that appealed to him, on pedigree lines principally, without, at the same time, ignoring conformation. He never got unduly displeased with anything until' it had been well tried, but he got rid very quickly of any animal that fell short of a certain test. His cast-offs occasionally won races afterwards, but nothing of any consequence. He was probably the most astute racing man New Zealand has had, and all through he was ably assisted by Mr “ Dick ” Mason, who looked after and trained all his horses up to the last. Sir George Clifford entered racing shortly aftar Mr G. G. Stead, and is, fortunately, still going strong. He is, and always has been, a.tower of strength to the sport in New Zealand. Would that there were more of his kind about! As a breeder who races horses of his own rearing he follows a principle which must commend itself to all lovers of horse flesh as supplying the summum bonuin of happiness—seeing the youngsters develop week by week from the cradle, as it were, to maturity, and their introduction to the racecourse. Old Mr Henry Redwood, often spoken of as “ The Father of Racing in New Zealand,” as he undoubtedly was, must not be forgotten. He was a man of great turf experience, and taught many others in the ways and methode of training horses, stable management, and such like—the Cutts brothers, George and Ted, for instance, especially the latter, whose name was a household word in a great many homes; while the former was the manager of the Middle Park Stud Farm—the largest breeding establishment in the country up to that time until the break-up of the stud, and afterwards at Sylvia Park, Auckland. Middle Park played a great part in keeping up the quality of the thoroughbred in the country. For many years Traducer was the principal sire, and what a success he was mated with the splendid mares imported from Home—ldalia, Hammock, Maria Theresa, and others! Traducer was originally imported by somebody in Wanganui, where he stood for a season or two before coming south with the reputation of being a man-eater, which propensity he left behind in the North, as he showed no inclination that way in his new home. Cutts was probably right when in answer to some remark about it, he said : “ Well I think it was his late groom who probably wanted killing.” Bad handling often spoils horses, and makes them dangerous. Apremont followed Traducer, and got many good two-year,olds. They raced early, and one of them, Sultan, won a Dunedin Cup. Christchurch has always taken the lead of Dunedin in racing matlers, but there has always been great friendship between the clubs in the two centres, and by the Canterbury owners nominating freely and bringing down the best, the classic and most valuable prizes, or the biggest share of them, have gone North, but, of course, nothing else was to be expected. It used to be a great joy for lovers of racing in Dunedin to look upon the wide spaces in Christchurch, with their long straight racecourse in comparison with the cramped nature of the Forbury. The comparison is not quite so favourable to Canterbury now that the Wingatui course is in existence, but Riccarton can never be approached by anything in the South Island in that respect. Dunedin, however, could always hold its own in the matter of female beauty. At a November meeting in Christchurch a good many years ago, while some friends were sitting at lunch, one of them, a Christchurch resident, said to a Dunedin visitor: “Well, old man, I don’t think much of the southern horses; they are a poor lot to look at.” “ Yes, that it so, lam afraid ; but you cannot say that about our women. I bet you a new hat we can show the three best-looking girls on the stand.” A bet was made, three names were nominated by each of them, and these were handed to Dr Prins, who was asked to decide the matter. On seeing the names he said to his Christchurch friend, “ Old man, Dunedin wins hands down.” Those three girls were very beautiful. About that time Auckland was just beginning to come into prominence as the largest racing centre in New Zealand. Though racing had been carried on there since the very early days, horse owners— Mr Watt, Mr Walters, and others —had to come south with their horses to compete for the larger stakes that were offering, and it was not until Sylvia Park had been successfully in operation with that wonderful sire Musket—a success so brilliant that horse owners from all over Australia and New Zealand flocked to the annual yearling sales that Auckland was established as the foremost racing centre of New Zealand, its establishment, of course, being helped by the rapid increase of population principallv owing to land settlement. Previous to that Mr Percival, secretary of the Auckland Racing Club, used to make it his business to attend the races in Christchurch and Dunedin to solicit entries for the early racing fixtures in Auckland. The scenes have changed. Sylvia Park has been out of business for many years. On the other hand, travelling is relatively luxurious . to-day for both human and horse, and going to' Auckland to-day is a paradisical proceeding compared to what it was prior to the. early ’eighties.

Legal wits are sharpened and swords are crossed immediately learned judges and a certain counsel meet in the Supreme Court (remarks the Poverty Bay Herald). It hannened in the Supreme Court when counsel remarked, he Cduld find ’no groundfor opposing a certain application. Well.? Mr . I suppose,if you caff find no grounds for objecting, there ate norie,” re-', marked hid Honor, Bmilihgly.s'i ■ ■ >.