WILL ZEV RACE IN ENGLAND?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17177, 22 October 1923, Page 6

WILL ZEV RACE IN ENGLAND?

The. very generous things that are being said about Zev in the international match which he won so handsomely on Saturday can be repeated by every British sportsman, for the American horse, is evidently a remarkable flier. One may he pardoned for expressing the hope, however, that these two horses could meet for a return match in England where the English representative would certainly not be at such a decided disadvantage in regard to the track as has been the case in America. In international sport the Old Country has had a great many rebuffs, but always comes up smiling against the worst odds. Sir Thomas Lipton's challenges for the America Cup are a case in point, and are somewhat paralleled by the quest of Papyrus, for each successive Shamrock had to be built to withstand the cruise across the Atlantic, a handicap similar to that imposed on Papyrus in leaving the grassy racecourses of Old England to race on mud that has been likened to molasses in consistency. However, the race has provided a unique spectacle to our American, cousins, and one can imagine the satisfaction with which they received the unmistakable success of their champion. For all that, as we remarked before the race, the result can prove nothing, and the sporting experts, whose comments will he forthcoming in due course, will hardly dare to draw any conclusions on the point on which the race w as originally mooted, namely, the respective merits of Ihe English and American strain. It is clear, indeed, that this point could not be cleared up by any number of isolated matches either in England or America, unless the contending horses had become thoroughly acclimatised before the race.