RACING AND THE WAR.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15869, 7 April 1917, Page 7

RACING AND THE WAR.

I TO THE EDITOK OF "THE PUBSS." Sir, —I havo read all the letters that havo appeared on the abovo subject with great interest. Tho pros and cons havo been, in some cases, very ably discussed, and I think, up to this morning, it was a draw. But ''Bridget Backblocks" puts the issue beyond doubt, and has inspired mo to get this off. As a returned man, I can bear her out in a lot she says. I got away from New Zealand early, and had that monotonous wait in Egypt before going to Gallipoli. 1 can truthfully say 1 heard more discussion while there on ! racing, than on tho war. And also in Gallipoli. Tho war was ever present with us I thero; it did not. require any discussion on our part; it discussed somo of us pretty hard; and it was fino and natural to have a whole-hearted argument as to the respective merits of • Trafalgar and Alawa, or whether Warstep was as "good as Wakeful, an opinion I heard expressed less than half an hour before we charged to take Knoll 60. Tho ©{in who advanced that' opinion knows now whether he was right. In my humble opinion, racing news and racing talk helped, by taking our minds off stern reality, to keep us going there. And it is doing the same in France to-day. And now, as a Mounted man, something about the horses. The „ Australian horso was much lighter than ours, and had more blood. And on a desert trek tho Light Horse of Australia had us well in the bag. We all know that the station sire in Australia is a thoroughbred, and generally an ex-racehorse, * and his progeny are the chargers the Australians have. Is not this a strong argument in favour of retaining racing and the breeding of thoroughbreds? I can assure you I am looking forward to Easter Monday and Tuesday, for I have not yet seen Desert Gold, Kilboy, Sasanof. Bee,, and Co., and 1 hope I can find the correct pea, as it would be handv.—Yours, etc.. PERMANENTLY UNFIT. April 3rd, 1917. i