RACING CHEETAHS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20929, 7 January 1938, Page 9

RACING CHEETAHS

GREYHOUNDS DEFEATED Eight cheethas brought to England for racing purposes by Mr K. C. Gandar Dower, the big-game hunter and athlete, are now so fully trained that they race against greyhounds in practice at the Harringay dog track, says a writer in the "Daily Telegraph.” It has been found that a racing greyhound needs 40 yards start on a cheetah in a race of 440 yards, or once round the Harringay track. While the greyhounds’ fastest speed is usually between 36 and 39 m.p.h., the cheetahs have been timed to do laps at 42 m.p.h. Over longer distances the dogs would probably do better, since the cheetah, reputed to be the fastest four-legged animal, is essentially a sprinter, and appeal’s to be unable to get his second wind.

Mr Gandar Dower brought ten of the animals to England from Kenya where he trapped them, but two of them died from some form of poisoning. The remainder have surprised their owner and trainers by their docility and intelligence.

They were first trained in a private paddock to race after a dead rabbit towed behind a car. Since they came out of quarantine they have been “boxed” regularly in their cages to Harringay, where they have been trained to follow an electric hare with a piece of rabbit attached to it. The animals are of both sexes, and all were fully-grown when captured. Mr Gandar Dower believes that one reared in captivity would not be suitable for racing, as it would not be so fast and might be treacherous. Hitherto the cheetahs have been raced together and matched singly against greyhounds. The greyhound is the more difficult of the two to manage and is the worse tempered. If the dog gets the electric hare the cheetah leaves him alone. On the other hand, if the cheetah catches the hare, the dog will sometimes show fight. The cheetah then gives him a cuff with its paw and the dog retires.

I am told that there is a dog in the stables where the cheetahs are quartered, and that they are extremely fond of it. They are docile with human beings, even with strangers.

All answer to their own names. At the end of a race the trainer shouts for Gussy or Maurice or Louis, and the animal trots back to him. No decision has yet been made as to when or where the cheetahs will first be raced in public. Apart from their tremendous speed they are worth watching, for they move with perfect grace both on the flat and over hurdles.