GREAT WINNING SEQUENCES

Southland Times, Issue 23774, 23 March 1939, Page 11

GREAT WINNING SEQUENCES

Another Record For Ajax To Better DEEDS OF EARLY CHAMPIONS The continued success of the four-year-old Ajax has aroused much interest in Australia in the winning sequences of other good horses. Phar Lap won his last nine races as a three-year-old. He made his first appearance at four years in the Warwick Stakes, and his winning sequence ended, as Amounis beat him by . a short head. Then Phar Lap ran up another sequence of 14 wins before he again suffered defeat. Nearly half a century ago Carbine won 15 successive races, so he went one better than Phar Lap. Several of the wins of Phar Lap were gained against weak opposition, as there was a shortage of good horses in Australia at the time he was racing. He met Amounis and Limerick, but they were past their best, while he beat Nightmarch more than once. His opponents in some of his weight-for-age successes did not represent more than average handicap form. NEVER EASY Carbine, on the other hand, met with strong opposition in most of his races. Among the 15 races in his winning sequence were the Sydney Cup, as a four-year-old, carrying 9.9; and the Melbourne Cup, as a five-year-old, with 10.5. There were some good horses available for weight-for-age events in Australia in Carbine’s day, among them Abercorn, Melos, Dreadnought, The Admiral, Cuirassier, Megaphone and Marvel, so these races were never easy to win. When Ajax won the St. George Stakes at Caulfield last month, he eclipsed the winning sequence of Phar Lap and equalled that of Carbine, while he bettered Carbine’s record a week later, when he captured the Futurity Stakes. There remains, however, another record to be beaten so far as Australia and New Zealand are concerned, as Gloaming and Desert Gold each ran up a winning sequence of 19 races. GLOAMING’S RECORD As a four-year-old, Gloaming won the Rosehill Spring Stakes, but on his next appearance, in the Spring Stakes, one mile and a-half, at Randwick, Poitrel wore him down and won by a head. Gloaming then won the Craven Plate, and returned to New Zealand, where he won his next 18 races, most of them over sprint courses. Many of these races were easy for him, but in some he met Desert Gold, Thespian, Hymestra, Silver Link, Humbug and Rational. It was Thespian that brought his successful run to an end, as he defeated Gloaming in the Islington Plate, one mile, at Auckland. Then Gloaming won nine more races in a row, but Beauford checked the run by defeating him in the Chelmsford Stakes. Gloaming won his last eight races, one of them being the Melbourne Stakes. Desert Gold opened her sequence as a two-year-old. She went through her three-year-old season undefeated, with 14 wins, and she won her first four races as a four-year-old. Then she met the two-year-old Kilfin in the North Island Challenge Stakes. Desert Gold carried 9.12, and on a sodden track she was defeated rather, easily, which was hardly a surprise. Like Gloaming, she had numerous easy races, but when she met first-class opponents she was usually able to account for them. NEVER BEATEN Ormonde set up the most notable winning sequence in England. He was never beaten, scoring in 16. races on end, against the strongest possible opposition. His victories included the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby and St. Leger. Had he not become touched in the wind, it is impossible to say how many more races he would have won. The Hungarian-bred and owned mare, Kincsem, however, holds a record which probably will never be equalled. Racing in the late seventies of last century, she competed in Austria, Hungary, Germany, France and England. She made only one appearance in England, in the Goodwood Cup of 1878. There were only three starters and she was the outsider. One of her opponents, Pageant, won two Chester Cups and the Doncaster Cup, in which he defeated Hampton, so he was a horse of class. The other starter, Lady Golightly, ran second to Silvio in the St. Leger. Kincseip won in a canter by two lengths. The veteran Joe Butters, who died only a year or two ago in England, knew Kincsem well, as he rode on the Continent, and often in races in which she started. He used to declare that Kincsem was the best horse he had ever seen. She must have been exceptional, as she started in 57 races, and she was unbeaten. PLANS FOR DEFAULTER SYDNEY, March 22. Defaulter, who is making satisfactory progress in training, will probably be an acceptor for the Rawson Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday, but he may not run if Ajax contests the race.