Page 9 Advertisements Column 2

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 615, 18 March 1929, Page 9

Big Steeplechase at Aintree Will Be Astonishing Sight (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and K.Z. Press Association) Received 0 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. N astonishing spectacle is promised at Aintree on Friday A in the Grand National when it is likely that 60 horses will contest 30 obstacles in 4J miles of the stiffest country in the world. This compares with the field of 37 in 1927 and that of 42 in 1928. There are 86 still left in. The race has thrills enough with a normal field ; but tindanger is most serious when there are not enough steeplechase riders to mount all the horses and stable-boys are requisitioned. Experts suggest that the starters be drastically reduced in future, by converting the National into a weight-for-age event instead of a handicap. A United Service message says 1.000 Americans, including 15 millionaires, will witness the National, in which ten American-owned horses will run. The American hopes are centering on Mr. J. Whitney’s Easter Hero and Mr. Howard Bruce’s Billy Barton, which ran second in the National in 1928.