A DANGEROUS FENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 493, 30 June 1932, Page 13

A DANGEROUS FENCE.

It is claimed by the cross-country horsemen who rode at Napier that the fence down the back between the six and five-furlong posts is dangerous on account of horses being unable to judge it properly owing to bad light, says “ The Watcher.” Down the back they are running into the sun and against the light. In addition, ft is a solid board fence, and the combination, it is stated, makes the liability of falls too great to be safe. There is certainly a lot in favour of their argument. It has brought down quite a number of the steeplechasers. Last year Disrank hurt himself very severely there, and on Thursday it brought down Bon Aryan. On Saturday it settled Monetize, who looked to misjudge it so badly that he crashed very heavily, and incidentally caused Bon Aryan and Hard Gold to fall over him. The other fences on the circuit are, with the exception of the hencoop at the straight entrance, easy brushes, and horses who risk these without any trouble suffer a decided setback, if not disaster, if they hit at the boards. The boards fence at Trentham entering the straight was the cause of a lot of similar trouble until the light was improved by cutting away trees and eliminating shadows, and similarly the Kennels double and second sod wall at Riccarton have proved less dangerous since the trees were cut away and the light improved. Nobody wants to see horses fall if it can be avoided, and the Napier Club may see some way to improve matters before next winter. Painting the fence a bright, visible colour on top might solve the problem.