Jack Frost 'on ice’

Press, 5 July 1983, Page 32

Jack Frost 'on ice’

NZPA-AAP Sydney Few, if any, would argue with the growing chorus of pleas for an end to Sydney’s “big freeze," after the recent icy weather, but one man will be hoping he has not seen the last of Jack Frost. That man is the Randwick trainer, Darby Armstrong, whose latest stable addition just happens to be a New Zealand galloper carrying the name of that fabled bearer of cold weather.

However, unlike the cold which has gripped Sydney, Jack Frost’s arrival may have gone unnoticed. A mix-up with his papers left stewards with little alternative but to keep Jack

Frost on ice, at least as far as the Nijinsky Welter (1550 m at Canterbury racecourse in Sydney last Saturday. Armstrong had hoped to open the galloper’s Australian campaign in that race.

Armstrong contacted A.J.C. stewards last Thursday in an effort to straighten out the problem, but was left out in the cold by stewards when told a start was impossible. Jack Frost, a three-year-old gelding which has won three and been placed at another four of his 11 starts, arrived at Armstrong’s stables last Friday week. He was purchased from Christchurch in New Zealand by C. and L. Ming, Hong Kong-based clients of

the trainer, for an undisclosed sum. Don Armstrong, the trainer’s son and stable foreman, said Jack Frost bad pulled up well since his arrival. “The cold weather has no doubt helped, it’s just like summer back home to him,” Don said.

The stable has had plenty of success with gallopers owned in Hong Kong. Fortune Sea, which landed a large plunge at Randwick on May 19 last year, races for overseas interests. “Jack Frost’s form in New Zealand was strong and he was placed behind a couple of good-class gallopers,” said the younger Armstrong.