EGMONT WINTER MEETING

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1934, Page 5

EGMONT WINTER MEETING

OPENING OF JUMPING SEASON. CLUB’S PROGRESSIVE POLICY. (By “Childers.”) A great deal of interest is centred at present on the Egmont Racing Club’s winter fixture on Wednesday and Thursday. Of course the chances of the horses themselves are receiving most attention but, to many, the prospect of success for the meeting is of more importance than discussion of the form of the competitors. At present it is almost impossible to forecast success or failure with any degree of certainty. Nominations and acceptances would indicate a really good meeting, but there is always the chance that bad weather, heavy scratchings or some other such cause may offset this advantage. However, with average luck it seems that both gate money and totalisator turnover will be greater than those of last year, for the fields engaged should provide splendid racing. If the meeting is as successful as is generally anticipated there appears every likelihood that the Egmont Club will go ahead rapidly for the officials of the bocly seem fully alive to the fact that good stake-money will bring about a proportionately good meeting in nine cases out of ten.

When the Hawera committee fixed its stakes for this week’s fixture it advanced them considerably on last year’s figures, indeed by a much greater margin than seemed warranted by the success of recent meetings. A risk was taken and the committee raised the stakes to a level that would attract the attention of the majority of owners and trainers with horses within reach of. Hawera and, as a result, succeeded in securing nominations and acceptances well in advance of those of a year ago. Included in the entries were horses from Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Auckland, all of which districts patronised the Egmont meeting years ago but which have had few representatives during the last three or four seasons. While racing has certainly revived since last winter, it has not picked up sufficiently for the large increase in the nominations to be attributed to that general sources sources alone. Until five or six years ago the Egmont club was regarded as one of the most prosperous in the Dominion and its fixtures were little below metropolitan standard. The depression, however, affected the club so much that at one stage it appeared possible that the body might have to go out of existence. Fortunately a radical change was made in the policy of the club and instead of lowering stakes it was decided to increase them. As a. result of this move the fortunes oi the club seemed to change immediately and, at the summer meeting in February, the totalisator turnover was almost double the amount put through the previous year. A repetition of this on Wednesday and Thursday should find the Egmont club securely on its feet once When the Egmont club first held winter meetings the jumping events were always regarded as being very hard to win. The events were run over one of the stiffest courses in New Zealand. At that period the fences were in the middle of what is now termed the oval. The course over which all steeplechases were run extended past the present boundary and almost as far as Normanby. However, after many years of use, this track was considered to be unsuitable and for a long period no steeplechases were carded on the programme of the winter meeting, having been replaced by a Ladies’ Purse (for gentlemen riders) and an Opeke Handicap. The present steeplechase course was built about twenty years ago and the Egmont Steeplechase replaced the Ladies’ Purse while the Opeke (later renamed Adamson) Steeplechase went on instead of the flat event. In addition, a Hack and Hunters’ Steeplechase was contested on the opening day, being run each year until 1931 when it was deleted because of insufficient support. Since the revival of the steeplechase events by the club the Egmont May fixture has always been regarded as the

opening of the winter racing and year after year several of the leading hurdlers and steeplechasers put in an appearance at Hawera in order to be prepared for the major events at Auckland. Many good horses have figured as winners of either the Egmont or Adamson Steeples, Tuki, Aurora Borealis, Nukumai, Copey, Dick and Make Up having all been successful in recent years. « In connection with the Tongahoe and Manawapou Hurdles it is worthy of note that after winning both of these events in 1915 that great performer El Gallo went on to win the Great Hurdles and Steeplechase in his next two starts. A host of other good hurdlers have succeeded at Hawera before winning either a Northern or a National the same winter. The flat events also usually draw a high class of performers and good form at Hawera.is often an indication of future and more important victories. A striking example which is probably still fresh in the minds of Taranaki racing followers is that of Beaconfire which was a winner in the hack class at Hawera last year and which, the following month, won the important Cornwall Handicap at Auckland.