AUCKLAND CUP PARS

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1930, Page 5

AUCKLAND CUP PARS

HISTORY OF RICH HANDICAP

FACTS AND FIGURES OF TWO-MILE-

FEATS OF SOME GOOD

The first Auckland Gup under the present A.R.C. was run on Boxing Day, 1874, and. whs won by Mr. F. W. Delamain’s Templeton, ridden by James Wattie,

The total amount given in stakes by the A.’RjC. on Cup Day, 1874, was £4lO. This year £BB5O is offered for competition, £2900 and a gold trophy of the value of £lOO being opposite the Auckland Cup. Ariel won the Auckland Cup on, three occasions, each of the .victories he recorded being gained under different colours. In 1877 Ariel won in the nominations of Mr. James Watt, in 1878 he scored" for Mr. Allan McDonald, and in 1879 ho carried Mr. M. Edgar’s colours to victory. The Auckland Cup was raised to £lOO,O for the first time in 1885, and it was of a like value in the following year. It was' reduced in 1888 to £7'so and then to £5OO, at which latter figure it remaiiied for several years, to be again raised to £lOOO in 1397, and then at various stages to £l5OO, £1750, £2OOO, £2150, £2650, £2750, and £3500 . It is now worth £3OOO.

The Auckland Cup has been run on New . Year’s Day on three different occasions, viz., 1875, 1877 and 1888. The distance of the Auckland Cup from 1877 to 1888 (New Year’s Day) was .two miles, and a-quarter. It was then red.uced to two miles and remains so at present. Foul Flay, who won in 1880, ranks as the hottest fayourite that has contested the Cup. Odds of 3 to’l were laid on his ability to win. - ■ . ; In- the race Of 1880 two horses-—-Lib-eller and King Quail—fell. John Nolan, Se rider of the first-named horse, had s skull fractured; and he died at the spot .where his horse fell. , ; In 188'7 Ldchiel won the New Zealand Cup and in 1888 captured the Auckland Cup. Warstep ran a dead-heat with Indigo ini the first-named race in 1914 and in the following month-beat Reputation fey a head for first honours in the Auckland. Cup. Scion won the, double in' 1022 and Rapier did likewise in 1927. .. '•

Ariel and Nelson each won the Auckland Cup on three occasions. Bluejacket scored' in two 'successive years and All Red had a similar record., To Kara ran a dead-heat for first place in 1923 and won outright in the following year. The first three-year-pld to score a victory in the Auckland Cup was. Welcome Jack, who won in 1882. The largest field that has contested the Auckland Cup was in 1913, When 18 contestants faced the starter. The first occasion on which the Auckland Cup figured as a fpur-figure stake the totalisator investments on the race amounted to £1350, the tickets. being £2 each., - In the Auckland Cup of .19198 Bobrikoff (8.12) struck his colours to All Red (8.6). Four years subsequently Boferikoff (8.8) came home first in front of La Reina (7,fi).

. St. Hippo holds the weight-carrying record' (8.9) for a three-year-old in the Auckland Cup. The first occasion on which the totaliwas used on Auckland Cqp day was On December 27, 18'80. . ' R. J. Mason has trained six winners of the Auelklhhd Cup, viz., Templeton (1874), Salvage (1883), Lochiel (1888), St. Michael (1001), Siege Gun (1902), and Kato (191-9). .

During the race for the Auckland Cup in 1805 four horses fell, the favourite, The Possible, 'being among the number to go do.wn. The highest weight to be carried to victory in the cup was 9.12, under which impost Nelson scored in 1888. ifypchiel, who won the cup of 1888, was sired in England and foaled in New Zealand. ;

The Musket—Quids mare Hilda finished second in the Auckland Cup in 1888, third in 1880, and second in IS9O.

Four horses of the black shade have won the cup, viz., Kingfisher (1876), SSanta Rosa (1911), Bobrikoff (1012), and Oorinax (1928). :

. The only horses that have won the Auckland Cup carrying over 9.0 are Nelson (9.8 and 9.12), Wairiki (9.8), All Red (9.7), and Rapine (9.8). In the year that .Wairiki carried 9.8 to victory in the cup. the three-year-old ■Treadmill (8.0) ruled favourite. Wairiki beat the favourite by four lengths in. 3min. 29 4-ssec.

St}. Michael, who won the Auckland Cup in 1901, made his debut under .silk in the same season in a ladies’ /bracelet everit at Ricearton, which he won in the nomination of the late Mrs. G. G. Stead.

The largest dividend paid on'a winner in connection with the Auckland Cup was in 1885, When Nelson scored his initial victory; It has, however, to be remembered that the tickets were £2 on that occasion. • i On the same day as Welcome • Jack won the Auckland Cup in 1882 he was > saddled up for the succeeding event, the,. Railway Plate,' in which event he alsb scored an easy victory. The Railway Plate was a weight-for-age event in those davs. El Gallo contested the Auckland Cup in the same years as that in which he won the Grerit Northern Hurdle Race and Great Northern Steeplechase.

In the-55 contests that have eventuated to date for the Auckland Cup, the mares have won only on five occasions, the quintette being composed of Lottie (1894), Anita (1895), Warstep (1914), Mascot (1918), and Karo (1919). , Horses of the bay shade have a long way the best of it on the winning list in connection with the Auckland Cup. 28 victories are down to their credit. The chestnut horses that have won the cup°are Salvage, The Poet, Nelson (three times), Leopold, Pegasus, Kestor, Mahutonga, Putty, Balboa and Fiery Cross. Waitiri ran second to Nelson in the cups of 1885 and 1886 respectively. In the cup of 1890 there was a field of seven and four of the number were mares.

When Muraahi and Te Kara ran a dead-heat for the Auckland Cup of 1023 they figured fifth and seventh respectively in the order of betting. After winning the Auckland Cup in 1878 Ariel fell lame and he was bought by the. late Mr. Matthew Edgar for £5OO. Ariel was fired on the affected limb and in 1870, with his old rider,-F. Matthews, in the saddle, won the cup a third time. . W. Brown steered Nelson in each of his three cup victories at Ellerslie and he also scored on Cractahot.