RACING AND TROTTING

Southland Times, Issue 24536, 10 September 1941, Page 7

RACING AND TROTTING

BREAKDOWN OF GREAT HORSE

“It is ridiculous to mention Kindergarten in the same breath as Gloaming. . . . You have got to get it out of your heads that Kindergarten is a super horse. . . . Saturday’s race took the glamour and boom off him. He now takes his rightful place as a good horse among good horses.” The foregoing statements were attributed to H. N. Wiggins, rider of Kindergarten in the Warwick Stakes in an interview with the New Zealand jockey on the Sunday following the race.

Wiggins gave three reasons why Kindergarten was beaten in the weight-for-age race. One was that the horse was an ‘incurable nosey-parker.” “He cocked his ears when he saw a six-strand barrier for the first time,” he said. “He thought it was something new to play with. I had to coax him back on to the job.” The second reason, he said, was that Kindergarten was “put on his ear” by High Caste. The third was that the horse was simply not good enough to win.

The latest news about Kindergarten will have a big effect on the spring racing in Sydney and Melbourne. His withdrawal from all engagements will cause the straightout and doubles market to be altered considerably, and even at this early stage it is possible that thousands of pounds, wagered by ante-post bettors, will have been lost and won. Sportsmen generally will regret the mishap which has thrown a great horse out of action. Kindergarten already had proved a big advertisement for New Zealand, and had he been able to take his place in the more important engagements in Australia there appeared to have been no doubt that he would have won further laurels for the Dominion. A Good Purchase Mil ton Abbas has won two races since he was purchased by Mr W. E. Aubrey for 250gns, and at that price he is now a good purchase. He was one of three horses who got away well in the President’s Handicap at Wingatui on Saturday.

Dunedin Spring Programme The idea of holding steeplechases at the Dunedin Jockey Club’s spring meeting next month has been dropped. It was reported at the monthly meeting of the committee that owners of steeplechasers in the South Island had been written to inquiring what support would be forthcoming if cross-country races were included in the programme. The replies received showed that it would be doubtful if more than half a dozen horses would be available, and wjth such poor support likely to be accorded the races the committee did not feel justified in putting them on the programme. This will comprise the same races as last year, with an increase of £2OO in stakes, the total for the two days being £3125. Nominations close on September 23. A Gift Horse

After the South Canterbury Hunt meeting Mr E. R. Curtis made a present of Remembo to a member of the Boyle family with the condition that Mr Curtis should ride him in any race for gentlemen riders in which he may be started. At Wingatui on Saturday Mr Curtis agreed to allow P. J. Boyle, jun., to ride Remembo and he took the ride on Prince Flaneur. Remembo beat Prince Flaneur.

Bad Starting Mr Geisler has seldom been seen in worse form with the starting barrier than at the Hunt meeting on Saturday, and his despatches in the five and six furlongs races were two of the poorest ever seen at Wingatui, comments “St. Clair” in The Evening Star, Dunedin. In both instances only three or four horses had any chance of winning after the barriers were released, and because of that fact the form of others should not be discounted when they start again. Rehandicaps For his success at the Otago Hunt meeting Milton Abbas has been penalized 51b, making his weight 8.4 in the Penscroft Hack Handicap at Ashburton on Saturday. Rakanui has incurred a penalty of 31b in the Avondale Cup, making his weight 8.12, for winning the Higgie Handicap at the Wanganui meeting last Saturday. Hat-Trick in Hunters’ Flat Races The Boyle family scored the hattrick in Hunters’ Flat events when Remembo won that race at the Otago Hunt on Saturday. Merry Simon won the events at the Waimate and South Canterbury Hunt meetings, and had he been started at Wingatui on Saturday he would probably have won there with all his 12.10.

“Sighter” Fences The Wellington Racing Club has decided to follow the lead of the Canterbury Jockey Club and erect “sighter” fences in front of the steeplechase jumps at Trentham. They were an outstanding success at the Grand National meeting.

Bronze Eagle Bronze Eagle, one of the favourites for the Berry Memorial at New Brighton on Saturday, was not at home in the heavy going. He was driven by J. B. Pringle, but at no stage showed anything of the form of which he is capable.

April Direct Case The last has not been heard of the April Direct case. The Forbury Park Trotting Club has lodged an appeal against the decision of the New Zealand Trotting Association and it will be heard at a date not yet decided upon. April Direct won the Royal Handicap at Forbury Park in May, but was disqualified because of an unauthorized change of gear. He was later reinstated and the owner of the horse fined £25. New Zealand Cup Nominations Fifty-five nominations for the New Zealand Cup have been received, compared with 61 last year. Taurangi, run-ner-up to Serenata last year, is again in the field, as is also The Buzzer, an Auckland Cup winner who was unlucky to have been beaten by Arctic King in the 1938 race. Dictate, third to Yours Truly and Capricious in 1939, has been nominated again.

Remembo When Remembo won the Hunters’ Flat Handicap on Saturday he was beginning his fifth season on the turf and contesting his forty-second race. He won a race as a five-year-old, a trial stakes at Oamaru when trained by T. Hobbs, and two seconds and three thirds were his only other placings until Saturday’s win. Remembo is now eight years old, and being by Balboa may still make good, as many of that defunct sire’s progeny race best when aged, states The Evening Star. His dam, Sweet Memory, left Membo, winner of the Grand National Hurdles in 1932, also by Balboa, and Nightcalm is another of her progeny.