RACING AT ORARI

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20531, 24 September 1936, Page 10

RACING AT ORARI

GERALDINE CLUB’S FIXTURE The popular gathering of the Geraldine Racing Club will begin to-day at noon. A special train will leave Timaru for Orari at 10.20, and patrons from the north will be well catered for by the ordinary express service. Except in the first and last races, fields will be large and of satisfactory class, and with competitors drawn from a very wide area the racing should be full of zest. The totalisator will be operated on the single pool principle, with two dividends (75 and 25 per cent.) when the numbers are five or more.

Four of the half dozen acceptors in the First Hurdles raced at Ashburton, and if he could be depended upon Havering should beat Redolent, Wexford Bridge and Footwork again. Of the two newcomers Vitaphone appears to hold Chrysology safe, and if in the same form as a year ago the Cape Hom gelding would look the bet of the day. Backers may favour Vitaphone and Havering (if a starter). The field in the Ohapi Handicap is smaller than usual—on some previous occasions a division has been necessary—but that is not a disadvantage. Aggravate has a private reputation, and Desirable will be prominent for most of the Journey, but form points to Culotte, Shawlett and ArrownlUa.

The Winter Cup winner Wino will carry No. 1 saddle cloth in the Geraldine Cup, and even with 9.0 can be relied upon to run a big race. Davolo has been placed in his last two starts, and will have a strong following. The Surgeon, Rona Bay, Tout le Monde and Cleaner met at Ashburton, and of the quartette The Surgeon appeals most. Queen Dorothy is in another race later in the day, but will probably run in the Cup. On her form at Riccarton she should be in front of Golden King, The Surgeon, Rona Bay and Tout le Monde. Daring Deed is an in-and-out mare, and Gold Cross and Monipere seem to be out of their class in a race of this kind. Davolo, Queen Dorothy and The Surgeon seem a likely trio. AU except two of the 26 acceptors for the Geraldine Trot are on the limit. If all go to the post three rows will be necessary, and until the draw is posted backers will be In the dark. With good positions Janet Gaynor, Becky Direct and Hytemoana may race well. Twelve sprinters have been left in the Squatters’ Handicap, and speculators should study the barrier positions. All things being equal, Ashburton form suggests that Gaysome and Grey Honour should again beat Tunneller, Invoice, Pelmet and Great Star, but Rebel Chief, Bay Duke, Metal Bird and Capital win provide new interest. Rebel Chief is very smart on a turning track, and the conditions will appeal also to the Southlander Bay Duke. Bay Duke, Rebel Chief and Grey Honour read well.

Unless there are numerous scratchings, an oversize field win parade for the Raukapuka Handicap. The seven furlongs barrier is situated on a turn, and while the draw for places wUI wreck the chances of horses wide out, it may by process of elimination, make punters’ problems less difficult. Willie Win, Wild Career and Cyclonic, the top-weights, are smart hacks but Willie Win may need a race. The Jack AhoyStolen March combination will be in strong demand (though the turns will not help Jack Ahoy) and Monipere and Silver Lark have recent form to recommend them. Assuming that their riders are lucky in the draw. Silver Lark, Monipere and Jack Ahoy-Stolen March may be prominent. Nothing appears to stand out in the Orari Trot, and betting is likely to be well spread. Among those fancied may be Frisco Boy, Marsceres and Fay Rey. Of the half dozen left in the Belfield Handicap, Capital and Queen Dorothy may run in earlier races. If reserved Queen Dorothy would probably be favourite, and Matoru is another with good prospects. The card is as follows:

the stewards, struck trouble in the second day. After finishing unplaced when well backed early in the afternoon, she distanced the field in a succeeding event and was rubbed out, although the betting indicated that her inconsistency was not anticipated by her owner.

THE GERALDINE CUP ESTABLISHED SEVENTY YEARS The first race styled “Geraldine Cup” was run at Arowhenua seventy years ago. Racing in the county was inaugurated at Pleasant Valley on August 19. 1864, with a second meeting on Boxing Day at Arowhenua —not where the Maori settlement is located, but in the old Arowhenua town district east of the railway, and now incorporated in Temuka borough. The principal event at the Valley was known as the Valley Cup. In 1866 no meeting seems to have been held there, and in that year the Temuka programme included the Geraldine Cup (maiden plate weights), which was won by Mr Gammack’s Zohrab. Maiden Plate weights, it should be explained, were a kind of weight-for-age scale. The course at Arowhenua was described as full of holes, and dangerous to horses and riders. There was a movement afoot at this time to apply for a Crown grant of a racecourse reserve at Arowhenua, but instead the Domain reserve seems to have been given. Zohrab won the Valley Cup at Pleasant Valley in 1867, when it is recorded that music was supplied by the Royal Arowhenua Brass. Band, and the race night ball was held at Gullford’s hotel. In 1868, the Valley people changed the title of their "big” race to Geraldine Cup. and again Mr Gammack provided the winner, this time with Old Bird, who gained an easy victory after the only other starter had bolted off the course. The prize was a sweepstake of £2 each and 30 per cent, of the subscriptions to the prize fund of the meeting, and the race was run at weight-for-age (M.P.W.). There is no record of any races at Pleasant Valley in 1869, but in 1870 a meeting took place near Geraldine township, Just across the river. Old Bird won Mr Gammack another Geraldine Cup, and a prize of £l4. The stewards of Geraldine’s first home Cup meeting were Messrs D. McKenzie, T. Wadsworth, R. Rae and J. Kennedy; and Mr W. Grimmer was treasurer and clerk of scales. Mr Kennedy was father of Mr John Kennedy, later secretary of the Geraldine Racing Club; and Mr McKenzie was father of the present clerk of scales. It is on record that the course was not sufficiently defined, and that the riders experienced difficulty in keeping to the correct route.

The Cup of 1871, won by Mr H. Fraser’s Hector, Was run near the residence of Captain Macpherson, and that of 1872 on “an Eglish grass paddock” owned by Mr T. S. Tancred, the winner being Mr McKinnon’s Kitty Darling. Mr Tancred’s property was the venue of the 1873 meeting also. The Cup went to Mr R. Mcßae’s Hector, but although run on September 25 the re-

suits of the races were not communicated to the Press until nearly a month later.

The year 1874 saw the meeting extended to two days, and this time it was reported promptly and at length. The reporter assigned to the task does not, however, appear to have been specially interested in the sport, as most of his space was devoted to “writ-ing-up” the scenery and the amusements. He described the gathering as “the children’s meeting.” owing to the number of booths which offered for sale toys, gingerbread and other delights of pioneer children. The Cup winner that season was Mr W. Bebbington’s Exile. In 1875 the races were held on Mr W. Postlewaite’s land at Raukapuka, and the Cup went to Mr Garnett’s Mignonette. Mr R. Ray’s Tadmor was the winner in 1876, and Mr Ray won in the following year with Danebury, who beat a solitary opponent. This owner did the hat trick by winning again in 1878 with Maritana, the stake by this time having risen to £lOO A plough track had been laid off at Postlethwaite’s, and the races were held annually in this vicinity until the racecourse reserve was gazetted at Orari in 1881.

These early-day race meetings were picnic affairs, whole families attending, and they had features which are now associated with agricultural shows. Among the “attractions” were shooting galleries, aunt-sally, skittle alleys, doodle-em-bucks, wheels of fortune, barrel organs, a unicycle circus, and other less desirable shows. They were run and manipulated in many cases by a class that would not pass the racecourse inspector in these days. Once the happy hunting ground of spielers, guessers, pickpockets and con. men, the racecourses of New Zealand are now practically free from such undesirables.

At the beginning of the “nineties” the Club was running an extra day’s racing in the autumn, but this was abandoned in 1893 in favour of the Geraldine Trotting Club, which had a comparatively short existence. The Racing Club went into recess in 1898, in which year the only horse events in the county were organised by the Temuka Trotting Club, a non-totalisator body. (The “big” race was the Grand Temuka Handicap, of £2O, stakes for the other races ranging down to £5.) Racing was resumed at Orari a year later, with a two-days’ card, and except in 1918, when the wartime railway "cut” caused a restriction to one day, there has been no break in the continuity. In 1922, when Silent King won, the Geraldine Cup was worth £3OO. The Geraldine Club has had lean times in the past, but it now ranks as one of the most prosperous country racing institutions in the Domiion. In addition to a well-equipped course, the club has a substantial cash reserve, sufficient to tide.it over a good many rainy days, and its meetings attract patrons from a wide area. While the racing is up to the best provincial standard, the gatherings still retain something of the picnic spirit which has almost disappeared in these businesslike modern days.

A good many winners of the Geraldine Cup have achieved distinction in more important events Tasman, winner of the first New Zealand Cup under that name, had previously accounted for the main event at Geraldine, and in the following year Vanguard (sire of the mighty Advance) captured the same double. Ardenvhor was another who followed a Geraldine Cup victory with a win in the New Zealand Cup. Prime Warden, one of the dual winners of the Geraldine Cup, did not succeed at Riccarton in the big race, but he won the Great Autumn, Canterbury Cup, Dunedin Cup, Wanganui Cup, and many other races. Other famous horses which won races at Orari included Lady Zetland and Liberator.

FIRST HURDLE HANDICAP Of £130; 13 furlongs Havering 10 13 Footwork 9 7 Redolent 10 0 Wexford Vltaphone 9 9 Bridge 9 7 Chrysology 9 7 12.40. OHAPI HACK HANDICAP Of £115; 6 furlongs Fog Peak 3 3 Owl’s Nest 8 1 Arrownilla 8 1 Rebel Mate 8 1 Aggravate 8 1 Red Dragon 8 1 Darien 8 1 Roseman 8 1 Culotte 8 1 Radio Star 8 1 Desirable 8 1 Shawlett 8 1 Disclose 8 1 1.20. GERALDINE CUP Of £200; 14 miles Wino 9 0 Queen Davolo 8 7 Dorothy 7 10 Kona Bay 8 2 Cleaner 7 7 Golden King 7 13 Daring Deed 7 7 The Surgeon 7 13 Gold Cross T 7 Tout le Monipere 7 7 Monde 7 11 2.0. GERALDINE TROT HANDICAP Of £120 (3. 5); li miles Becky Direct ; scr Mary Aubert scr Colleen Mohican scr Wrac! c scr Poste Haste scr Cyrano scr Pukeuri scr Elite Rey scr Rhinegold scr Glencree scr Royal Grattan Girl 1 scr Grattan scr Great Don scr Serene Heather Bingen Queen 3 .• Shuffle scr Jambo scr Tapdancer scr Janet Gaynor scr Toorak scr Joe Perkin scr Zincali scr Kingussie scr Hytemoana 12 Little Derby scr Harold Wrack '8 2.40. SQUATTERS' HANDICAP Of £120; 6 furlongs Rebel Chief 9 0 Pelmet 8 1 Tunneller 8 3 Grey Honour 8 0 Invoice d 5 Gaysome 7 13 Bay Duke 8 5 Great Star 7 13 Metal Bird 8 4 Arrow Rose 7 7 Capital 8 2 Arena 7 7

3.20. RAUKAPUKA HANDICAP Of £120; 7 furlongs 0 Willie Win 9 4 Cape Gabo 8 Wild Career 9 2 Heloise 7 9 Cyclonic 8 12 Stolen Rose of March 7 9 Tralee 8 6 Poniard 7 9 Fiord 8 6 Patricia Jack Ahoy 8 5 Holm 7 7 Epic 8 4 Elbanor 7 7 Double Gift 8 2 Convivial 7 Monipere 8 2 Lady Kate 7 7 Silver Jest 8 2 Universe 7 7 Sliver Lark 8 1 4.0. ORARI TROT HANDICAP Of £120 (3(2); 11 miles Cam Dillon scr Fay Rey 12 Donalda scr Greatfast 12 Frisco Boy scr Irish Aggie 12 Lux Lunae scr Marsceres 12 Player scr Old Faithful 12 Pukeuri scr Silver Guy 12 Reno scr Ahuareka 24 Shrewdie scr Shadow Queen 24 Tapdancer scr Gold Salute 48 Dual 12 4.40. BELFIELD HANDICAP Of £120; 1 mile and 120 yards Epris 9 7 Queen Carfex 8 4 Dorothy 7 10 Capital 7 11 * Acla 7 7 Matoru 7 10