WAIPA SIDELIGHTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 302, 22 December 1945, Page 7

WAIPA SIDELIGHTS

REVERSED PLACINGS AND B!G DIVIDEND

(Special) Auckland, Dec. 21. Apart from the out-size dividend returned by Race Chum in the Pirongia Hack Handicap at Te Awamutu last Saturday, there were other interesting sidelights at the Waipa meeting They started, for instance, with the opening event, the Waipa Plate. Pro-

vision had been made for this threedivision event to be run in two divisions if there were sufficient withdrawals. The number of scratchings was in itself sufficient to avoid the three divisions, but it wa s then found that had this been done the field in Ihe first division would have been one over the safety number. That arose from the arbitrary system of arranging divisions immediately after accept- j ances were taken. It was just the hick i ol the game that uf the ten scratchings* only three were from the first of two | divisions and seven from the second ■ division. Thus there was nothing to I do but run the race m the three divis- I ions. Next came the incident in the First Ohaupo Hack, in which Royal Charter finished in front of Laddie Boy, only to | have the placings reversed because ol | interference. No one could cavil at' the decision of the judical committee. Royal Charter finished three parts of the way across the track and a good neck in front of Laddie Bov. The rider of the latter was seen trying to push the rider of Royal Charter away from lim fifty yards from the post. Royal Charter is not engaged at Ellerslie on Boxing D’av. He is a useful sort and nad he finished straight on Saturday lie might have won without any trouble. When the toalisator closed on the Pirongia Hack Handicap. Race Chum carried only 32 ten-shilling tickets on the win machine, which accounted for his dividend of close on the two-cen-tury mark. He had run a fair race ••arlier in the day, being fifth and not a great distance behind the place, getters. Obviously spectators did nor notice this, otherwise he might not have paid one-tenth of the price that was forthcoming. Race Chum won on his merits, too, for Im ranm with a rattle in the final stages, when Pongi and Golden Pay