On and Off the Track

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20839, 22 September 1937, Page 12

On and Off the Track

A BUDGET OF NEWS AND VIEWS FIXTURES Racing Sept. 23. 25—Geraldine R.C. Sept. 25—Marton J.C. Oct. 2—Kurow J.C. Oct. 2—Otaki-Maori R.C. Trotting October 2—Methven T.C. October 9—New Brighton T.C. October 16—Waikato T.C. October 16, 18—Westport T.C. October 23, 25—Auckland T.C. October 23, 25—Greymouth T.C. October 25—Oamaru T.C. The single pool system of betting will be used at the Geraldine meeting. The first race at Orari on each day will start at 12 o’clock. Apprentice allowances will be claimable in all flat races at the Geraldine meeting. L. Albrey, who won the Carnarvon Gold Cup at Foxton on Gold Mission, was making his first appearance in a race. Arrowrose 7.2, and Silver Lark 7.0 were omitted from the telegraphed list of acceptors for the Squatters’ Handicap at Geraldine; and Gold Boy 9.0 from the hurdle race. Six was the lucky number at Ashburton last week. Silver Sight, Elmarch, Bing Crosby and Rebel Chief all won carrying No. 6 saddle cloth, and Fiord, Great Baby and Miracle were second. Davolo, topweight acceptor in the Geraldine Cup, was runner-up last year to Monipere, and on the second day beat Wino on the post in the President’s Handicap.

Scuffle let her backers down badly in the John Grigg Stakes, but it may be premature to write her off as of no account. Her trainer fancied her, and he does not make many mistakes concerning two-year-olds.

Ortyx has incurred a 101 b penalty for the McLean Stakes, but her win at Ashburton made such an impression on A. Cutts that the Chokebore stable may decide to keep Its two-year-olds at home.

Old Surrey, who carried three times as much money as any other horse in the main event at Foxton, left his backers lamenting. He did not run kindly, and made no effort in the straight.

The Mitchelson Cup at Auckland will be worth £lO5O this year. The only South Island entrant is Cerne Abbas. Windshield remains in the Welcome Stakes and Royal Chief in the Great Northern Guineas.

The West Coast contingent will be small this year at Orari, but Southland will be better represented than usual with Galleon, Trebleack, Wild Career, Rodeur, Ardmayle and Burwood.

Kamal Pasha, who has been paid up for in the sprint race at Geraldine, has not raced since he broke down at the Grand National meeting over a year ago. He is now trained by J. W. Pankhurst, who also has Made Money in his charge.

Boldric, a three-quarter brother to Martara, is among the team G. New is preparing at Awapuni for Mr C. W. Boyd. Another is Noisy Night (Hunting Song-Smoke Concert), a five-year-old who has yet to make his appearance at the races.

W. Cooper, who won the John Grigg Stakes on Ortyx, is best known as a rider over obstacles—he finished up the jumping season with wins on Cock o’ the North and Scotsden—but he is able to go to scale at about 7.7, and is just as capable on the flat as some other horsemen who receive more publicity.

Patagonia and Southern Blood, two Cape Horn geldings which finished first and second in the hurdle race at Foxton, had never previously raced over obstacles. Patagonia comes from the Hebrew Maid family, which includes Nones, Menelaus, Peter Jackson, Gaine Carrington and Wotan, and as his dam is by Nassau, distance should not worry him.

Most people now realise the futility of attempting to place horses in a close finish from anywhere but on the judge’s line, but it is not so generally recognised that angles have to be considered in viewing a start. Thus a perfect dispatch is apt to look very bad to a superficial observer if the barrier is situated on a bend as is the case at the seven furlong post at Orari.

At a meeting of the Auckland Owners’ and Trainers’ Association, the chairman is reported to have said:— “Many important matters had been placed before the Racing Conference, and two proposals, a return to the 7st minimum and to the former hack status, which were also strongly supported by all the North Island branches, were adopted.” That infers that the Association was responsible for the reversion to the 7.0 minimum and the old hack limits, both of which would have been enacted if the Association had never been thought of.

One of the most disappointing performers at the Wellington Trotting Club’s meeting was Swordsman. In the Nai Nai Handicap the Americanbred horse was raced without toeweights, with the result that he was never going evenly, and it was soon apparent that he had no chance of success. Later in the day, in the Wilford Handicap, Swordsman was weighted, and appeared to be trotting more evenly when half the journey had been covered, but left his feet on two occasions and was never a danger to the others. The efforts were very disappointing, and Swordsman will have to improve a good deal before he justifies the claims made on his behalf. Present intentions are to turn the Peter Volo horse out tor a long spell.

The imported horse Lord Warden has been leased by Mr G. A. Kain to Mr A. S. Elworthy, and will be located this season at Holme Station. Catalogue's failure in the Avondale Cup seems to dispose of his pretensions to favouritism for the New Zealand Cup. • • • • Galleon, Trebleack and Burwood arrived from Invercargill yesterday to race at Orari. M. Caddy will ride Galleon in the Geraldine Cup, G. Barclay will steer Trebleack and T. Boyle will be on Burwood in the hurdle race. The acceptances for the first day of the Geraldine meeting total 109. compared with 113 last year. Comparative figures for the separate races are appended:—

113 109 There is a good deal of truth In the following observations by a Dunedin writer: "Starters continue to allow notoriously fractious horses to line up with the rest of a field when first called to face the barrier. The starter is thus making trouble for himself and supplying an odds-on chance that the rest of the field will be upset. This has been happening for years at meeting after meeting, and yet experience does not prevent starters from attempting to achieve the impossible. A starter should be as conversant with the names of all horses continually giving trouble at the post as a handicapper with form, and consequently know how to treat them." It would be justifiable for known bad actors to be excluded from the draw (though the rules would have to be amended to permit this to be done), and automatically railed off on the outside. The effect of the 7.7 minimum imposed last season by political interference is seen in the table of winning riders. Only eight apprentices in the Dominion rode ten or more winners, this being a direct result of restriction of their opportunities. A Taranaki man has taken the trouble to dissect the riding returns for two meetings in his territory, and the result is illuminating. The fixtures dealt with are those of the Combined Egmont-Wanganui and Taranaki Hunt Clubs and the Wanganui Jockey Club. At New Plymouth last year there were four races each day which were suitable for apprentice riders. In those eight events only six mounts went to apprentices, and of those J. Winder had five, all on horses from his father’s stable. Yet at the meeting held a fortnight ago apprentices secured 26 mounts in the same eight races. At the Wanganui meeting on the first day last year apprentices had but seven of the 63 rides available in the seven flat races, while on the second day they had only three of 69 rides. It was a different story this year, however. On the first day apprentices had 23 of the 57 rides, and 22 of the 68 rides the second day. Divided Races: In view of the possibility—though not probability—of a division at Orari on Saturday, it may be useful to summarise the rules covering such an event. The conditions vary according to the number of races on the card and the betting system employed. Where there are only seven races on a programme, a club has the option of treating each division as a separate race, and opening the totalisator on each, but in that case it is required to double the prize money and allot to each section an amount equal to the total advertised value of the race, the money being distributed in the proportoins originally provided. When there are already eight races, the machine can be opened only once, and in this case no addition is required to the stake, which must be equally divided between the winners of divisions, with no provision for other place getters. This will be the position in case a division is necessary at Orari.

When it is possible to operate the totalisator as if the divisions were separate races, dividends are computed in the ordinary way, whether the system is single pool or win and place. When the machine can be opened only once as would be the case at Orari, the method is more complicated. Under the one-pool system, the pool is equally divided between the division winners, with no provision for other placed horses. Where win and place is used, the win pool is divided 50-50 between the two winners, but the place pool is split into four parts, place dividends being paid on the first and second horses in each section. Summed up, the position is that if a race has to be divided at the Geraldine meeting, the stake will be divided equally between the two winners, and the pool will be treated in the same way. No place money or second dividends will be paid. RICCARTON NOTES By Telegraph—Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, September 21. The weather was fine, though dull, while training operations were in progress at Riccarton this morning. All the galloping was done on No. 8 grass track. Candidates for Geraldine were the chief interest. Sir Hugh took Imin 7sec for five furlongs, Happy .Night following in Imin 7 2-ssec. Gaysome ran six furlongs comfortably in Imin 21sec. Delium was just in front of Nolana at the end of five furlongs in Imin ssec. Gresham and Drink Up sprinted three furlongs, Paper Note doing similar work alone, followed by Fiord. Irish Fiddle was too good for Tunneller and Nuipal at the end of six furlongs in Imin 22sec. Recollection stayed on to beat Redolent over seven furlongs in Imin 34 2-ssec. Epic took Imin Bsec for five furlongs, while Screamer beat Lisnacree over four in 53sec. Rousseau beat Forum over seven furlongs in Imin 33 2-ssec. Golden Dart went at an even pace

to register Imin 5 4-ssec for five furlongs. Gold Boy (W. Rainbow) went twice round the schooling hurdles, jumping safely, at a fair pace. Forum (F. J. Smith) accompanied him over the first two flights, before his gallop on the flat.

Bastille (G. Linton) jumped four hurdles without being hurried. Top Rank (J. Murfitt) was schooled over four hurdles. He hit two flights hard, but showed great dash in a fast round.

1936 1937 First Hurdles .. .. 6 14 Ohapi Handicap .. .. 13 14 Geraldine Cup .. .. 11 12 Geraldine Trot .. .. 26 18 Squatters’ Handicap . 12 9 Raukapuka Handican 20 13 Orari Trot 19 21 Belfield Handicap .. .. 6 8