With the Gallopers

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17656, 6 August 1929, Page 7

With the Gallopers

A half-brother to Red Fuchsia, by . Hymestra from Nedra, ha.s recently joined Mrs A. McDonald's team at Awapuni. This gelding has had'the name Magic Land bestowed on him. King Balboa's win at Timaru, coming on top of his victory on the same course over Black Duke a month ago, •emphasises that he is a South Island possibility for the Winter Cup. With the general- interference by wet weather' in horses ' preparations, those with recent racing /will be at an advantage on the day. Mr W. G. Stead has privately liis'Magpie—Bayonne gelding, Lucky One, to a Hastings buyer. The connections of Oratrix probably .sprang a surprise, and made expenses for the trip, when the New Zealand •Cup winner scored at Canterbury. I The popular ' idea, expressed by the] radio tipster from 2BL, was that Ora- ! trix would not be ready so soon. •. .. i Perle de lieon is acquitting himself j satisfactorily in his work at Takapau, J ... ( ; and all going well with him he will j be at the National fixture' His last j win was in the Waipukurau Cup at : the Easter meeting of the Waipukurau j .Jockey Club, over twelve months ago. Perle de Leon had a couple of races •over hurdles at .Napier Park last month, and ran-third at his, second ! .start. " v -'■•■", j ; '■'.'''; i / Maunga was' taken back to Has- J -tings and rested after the Wellington j meeting. He knocked himself a bit ; during the race for the July Steeple- j chase, but should be all right again j for the Grand National meeting. Beau Cavalier has made a good re- j \ covery from the injury that.befel him just prior to the Great Northern meet- j Ing, although it is not 'intended to ■put him into work for some time to come. He is still under the care of S. Tooman, who intends giving the

» From Track and Stable -—-~—in Notes bo "Canard" Fll— -~-

bay gelding a few months' spell in the paddock as soon as the weather improves. ' Wanganui reports state that Thaw has gons amiss and can be counted out of early spring, engagements. Following on the recent Wellington Racing Club meeting, Apache was left at Riccarton in view of forthcoming engagements. Someone complained bitterly to the club wit the other evening about a certain member who talked incessantly. "Objection sustained on the ground of boring," said our farceur. Home Made was brought down ftom Awapuni the other day and shipped by the Ulimaroa to his now owner, Mr A. B. Cowell, of Mascot. Several Hawera district trainers yiewed a demonstration of the new starting barrier invented by a couple of local residents, and expressed high approval of its working and possibilities. A further demonstration was to be given to the committee of the Egmont Racing Club, and there is every likelihood of the invention being given' a practical trial in the near future. ' | Mr Colin W. Anderson, who left Auckland last December on a world tour, reached England at the end of , May, and he was present at the Epsom summer meeting. In the course of an interesting letter to a friend in Auck- ' land, Mr Anderson states that it cost him nine guineas for one reserved seat on the grandstand, plus £l/2/6 for a paddock ticket. Mr Anderson sends a copy, of the card for each of the four days at Epsom. It is a' "card" in the fullest sense, and is cast on the same iines as of early times. From a typographical standpoint, there is something to admire in the "card" that holds sway in the Old Country, but for quick reading and lucidity.the

lish one,

'card," as we know it in this quarter

of the globe, is /in front of the Eng-

The Prince Humphrey breeding case caused a good deal of comment in England, and "Robin Goodfellow" wrote in the Daily Maii:—"l often

wonder if the identity of horses is ever accidentally confused in this country. It was said that B>end Or, which won the Derby, was in reality ,a horse named Tadcaster, and an objection was lodged against him on this point by the owner of Robert the Devil, which finished second to him at Epsom. The stewards of the Jockey Club held an inquiry and . dismissed the objection, but two years afterwards one of their number, Mr James Lowther, stated that additional facts

which had come to his knowledge led him to believe that the stewards had erred in their decision. A few years ago a friend of mine changed his trainer at Newmarket during the winter. His horses, including two unnamed, two-year-olds, went to another stable, but were only there a week or two before circumstances made another move necessary and they were handed over to a third trainer. The owner was abroad at the time, and, fortunately;*- he had given instructions that none of his horses was to run until he returned, which he did after the season had been in progress a few weeks. Upon his first visit to his

new trainer he found that the identity of the two two-year-olds had become confused in the course of changing

trainers and ttiat they had actually been entered for races under their mistaken description. They were promptly scratched, of course, from these engagements. There was a case a year or two ago in which two horses— Ayot and Faiza —were, confused in changing quarters, and they ran under wrong names in consequence." Some of the northern critics hold the opinion that Overhaul has not received more than his full ,share of weight in the Grand National Hurdles because he won the Trentham Hurdles prior to the Winter Hurdles, for which he did not receive a penalty (says the

Dunedin writer, "Sentinel.") That, however, is not the point to be considered. In considering the weights allotted to Mister Gamp and Overhaul the point to be considered is: Did Overhaul give Mister Gamp a 141 b. beating in the Winter Hurdles? If there is any ground for stating

that the positions occupied at the finish should have been reversed it

would take considerably less than that margin to bring them together. A. E. Ellis, the rider of Mister Gamp, stated that although he did npt get too much room at the last hurdle it did not affect the result. He was officially questioned on the point and gave a good sporting reply when an opposite opinion might have altered the judge's placings. Mister' Gamp was carrying 10.13, and giving Overhaul 241 b over two miles and a quarter on a very heavy, sloppy track. In the National Hurdles Overhaul goes up 201 b., and Mister Gamp 61b., and although the solid increase may not be sufficient to stop the former there is no doubt about it being a well-) deserved win if he does score. It would take the increase allotted to Overhaul j to bring him back to those outside the places, but some of them gave such a poor display that the form could not be accepted as what the, real merit of the field might be under different track conditions.

Grey horses have been to the fore in many of the big races in England this season, and in one week three of them, Mr Jinks, Taj Mah, and Royal Minstrel, were first past the post in the Two Thousand Guineas and One Thousand "Guineas at Newmarket, and the Victoria Cup at Hurst Park respectively. Royal Minstrel has since won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park. These successes have led a leading, veterinary surgeon to declare that there is not a single grey thoroughbred in the Stud Book whose ancestry cannot be traced back to two Arab stallions—Alcock's Arabian and the Brownlow Turk—both of

which were sent to England in 1704. They were Barbs; that is, Arab horses of the North African strain. Many

of their progeny were bay or brown, but the grey throw-back alwaye crop-

ped up. There was a grey mare, Gem of Gems, that was the ancestor of such famous grey winners as The Tetrarch, Tetratemo, Roi Herode and

Le Samaritain. The curious point about greys, he added, is that they are often not grey to start with, and often not winners "to start with. They "achieve success when they get their grey hairs.