A. EASTWOOD DEAD.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20456, 8 November 1934, Page 7

A. EASTWOOD DEAD.

Popular Jockey’s Injuries Prove Fatal. HAD HIGH REPUTATION. Arthur H. Eastwood, the noted Riccarton lightweight, died in St George’s Hospital at 6.30 this morning from injuries received when his mount, Manetho, fell in the Jockey Club Handicap at Riccarton yesterday. The fatal accident occurred very simply. The field had gone just over a furlong when Manetho got on to the heels of another horse, possibly The Masquerader, who returned to the enclosure with cut heels. Manetho fell and rolled over Eastwood. The ambulance was quickly on the scene and Eastwood was removed to the casualty room. Examination showed that he had received very severe head injuries, subsequently diagnosed as a fractured skull, and that he had also a broken collarbone. Eastwood was 30 years of age. He leaves a widow and a family of two young children. lie was a native ol’ Christchurch, having been born in Oxford Terrace. His brother, C. E. Eastwood, is also a jockey and he has been unfortunate in regard to race accidents, having been seriously injured on several occasions. The deepest regret will be felt throughout the New Zealand racing community. During the nine years that Eastwood was riding in races he appeared on courses from Auckland to Invercargill, and everywhere he went he made friends. No more honest or better conducted horseman, on or off the racecourse, ever rode in any country than A. 11. Eastwood. It was because of his high reputation that he enjoyed such a degree of popularity with racing men and the public everywhere. He never made a wager. Rowing Coxswain First. Arthur Eastwood came into racing in a unique way for a jockey. lie was 21 years of age before he started on that phase of his career. lie had come into the public eye before that but as a coxswain of rowing crews. When he left school, he entered the office of a Christchurch solicitor. In 1925 he was selected as cox of the New Zealand eight that visited Sydney and scored a notable victory on the Parramatta River. His employer refused the necessary

leave of absence for the trip. Eastwood went all the same, but when he returned he lacked a job. His brother C. E. Eastwood, who had been apprenticed to H. and A. Cutts, had made a success of race riding, and that suggested to Arthur—a fiatural light-weight—feather-weight in fact—that he | too might make good as a jockey. ■ He signed up for a three years’ apI prenticeship with the Riccarton trainer, ! Hugh Nurse. His first ride in a race j was on Lancer in a division of the Trial Plate at Ashburton on September .25 1926. Lancer finished third. His second ride was on the same horse five , days later, in the Ohapi Hack Race at the Geraldine meeting. This time Lancer won. In 1930 Eastwood returned temporarily to his old love. He accompanied the New Zealand eight as" cox to the British Empire Games at Hamilton. Ontario, and the crew also rowed in la race at Toronto, where the Canadian National Exhibition was being held. This trip took place during the New Zealand winter; and, as at that time, the minimum weight in winter flat races was 9st. F2astwood did not miss much by taking a holiday from racing. His Many Successes. Eastwood would have had great opportunities in Australia where the minimum weight in handicaps is 6st 71b as compared with 7st in New Zealand. He weighed only 6st in his street clothes, consequently he never suffered from that bane of most jockeys’ lives—the constant need to waste. Riccarton was a happy hunting ground for Eastwood. At spring meetings of the Canterbury Jockey Club he had eighteen successes. These included two New Zealand Cups (Chide and Fast Passage), two Stewards’ Handicaps (Silver Streak and Grand Sport). New Zealand Derby (Silver Scorn), New Zealand Oaks (Silver Scorn), andCanterbury ('up (Silver Scorn), also Otaio Plate. Spring Plate. Jockey Club Handicap. Linwood Handicap (twice). L Criterion Handicap. Members’ Ilnndi jeap (twice), Randolph Handicap. FenI rialton Handicap and Ashley IlandiI cap. ; At the current meeting he won the j Stewards’ on Grand Sport and the Fendalton on Vintage. I Among his other successes were the C.J.C. Great Easter on Rebel Song and ( Charmerse, the Winter Cup on Mount Boa. C.J.C. Challenge Stakes on Cricket Bat and Spoon. Dunedin Cup on Mount Boa and Vintage. D.J.C. Handicap on Shatter, Dunedin Birthday Handicap on Fast Passage and Money Mine. Dunedin Guineas on Silver Scorn. Nelson Cup on The Dove. Wellington Stakes on ITeadlady and Tenterden. He won the Telegraph Handicap at Trentham thrice in five years. Cup Won But Lost. Eastwood had two unhappy experiences at Ellerslie. In 1930 he rode Gay ( rest in the Auckland Cup and was first past the post, but the race was awarded to Motere on protest. At the 1932-33 Auckland summer meeting. Eastwood was engaged to ride Silver Scorn. He was injured in a race on the first day and had to forgo the winning, mount on the filly in the Great Northern Derby.

Riccarton regulars will sadly miss Arthur Eastwood, who was one of the hardest working riders in training hours. Particularly will G. Murray Aynsley, for whom he was first jockey, feel his passing. It was Mr Aynsley’s custom to call in his car for Eastwood every galloping morning. The funeral will take place to-mor-row afternoon, leaving 44, O'Brien’s Road. Upper Riccarton, for the Riecarton Churchyard.