Dunedin Owner Has Good Year

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 721, 22 July 1929, Page 13

Dunedin Owner Has Good Year

G. J. BARTON’S SUCCESS BUTS THE BEST AND GETS RESULTS By ABAYDOS For the second year in succession the Dunedin sportsman, Mr. Q. J. Barton, has succeeded in heading the list of winning owners for the trotting season, and it is also the second occasion on which he has cut an Auckland owner out of the honour. Mr. Barton’s representatives during the season just terminated have credited him with £4.728, second on the list being Mr. Geo. McMillan, the Auckland enthusiast, with £3,897. Bast year the Dunedinite also captured the honours with £5,339, the runner-up being another Aucklander, Mr. M. J. Moodabe, with £5,156, whose total was only £ 2 in excess of that of the "Wellington owner, Mr. j, R. McKenzie. Splendid Average Mr. Barton, who is one of the most popular men in the light-harness game, has experienced a fine run of success during the last six years. In the 1923-24 season, his representatives won him just over a “thousand,” but the succeeding years saw the total considerably augmented. From 1924 to 1929 horsc:s carrying the wellknown black and heliotrope livery have amassed the remarkable total of

'£24,400, an average of £4,880 annually. Mr. Barton’s best season was in 1925-26, when ho collected £7,318 in prize-money, and acted as runner-up to Mr. J. R. McKenzie, £7,530. Like many other prominent owners in the business, Mr. Barton is a true sportsman, and is not afraid to secure the best stock. He is a believer in the principle “that it costs no more to feed a good horse than a bad one,” and accordingly when adding to his string he gives consideration to the best, and if he is satisfied that lie is getting the goods, the Dunedin enthusiast does not quibble about the cost. The successful Southern owner is fortunate in having as his trainer W. J. Tomkinson, whose successes in this department, and also as a reinsman are well known throughout the Dominion. Mr. Barton also recognises the high-class qualifications of the “man behind the guns,” and is not slow to express appreciation of the splendid services rendered by his trainer. As Mr. Barton is adding to his string with high-pedigreed youngsters it is quite on the cards he will continue t.o enjoy his well-deserved run of success for many seasons to come.