“HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 279, 26 November 1945, Page 4

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

JOCKEY CELEBRATES WITH VICTORY CUP WIN L J. ELLIS ON OOLDEN. SOU VENIR AT RKXARTON. (Special) Christchurch, Nov. 25. xesterday was a red-letter day for L. J. Ellis, well-known trainer and jockey. It was his birthday, and by a coincidence he was celebrating it at Riccarton, which was the rendezvous of most racegoers—not for his birthday party, but for the first day of the Canterbury Jockey Club’s spring meeting. "Jim" Ellis, however, maiked the day for his own special treat, for he won the principal event, the New Zealand Victory Cup, on Golden Souvenir, which he also trains, so he was fully entitled to the ovation accorded both horse and rider on their return to the official enclosure. As the event carried stake money to the extent of £5OOO, Ellis benefited materially as a result of earning a respectable fee for riding the winner and also the trainer's percentage of the stake. He had. a little earlier in the day, ridden the winner of the Spring Nursery, so his success in the Cup race gave him a brace if victories . Golden Souvenir was bred and it owned by Mr. E. N. Fitzgerald, of Gisborne, and is a half-brother by Lang Bian to that champion of recent years, Kindergarten, who also won many important events for Mr. Fitzgerald, including the Wellington and Auckland Cups and many weight-for-age races. A week earlier Golden Souvenir, who was reported to have injured himself, made a smart reco\ery to win the Buchanan Memorial at the Banks Peninsula meeting, a* a result of which he was sent out favourite for yesterday's big two-mile race at Riccarton. The winner’s share of the stake in the Victory .Cup was £3250, in addition to which there was a trophy valued at £lOO. The fact that it was his birthday must have given Ellis plenty of confidence, for he took Golden Souvenir to the front about half a mile from the finish and then won as he liked from an extreme outsider in the Aucklander Chung Chong, with the little-fancied Langue d’Or in third place. At any rate it was a birthday party at which Ellis was prominently in the picture, and one which should hold for him many pleasing memories.