ON TO GRAND NATIONAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 25, 29 July 1939, Page 22

ON TO GRAND NATIONAL

USEFUL FIELD NOW PROBABLE

A RACE REPLETE WITH HISTORICAL INCIDENT

(By "Rangatira.")

I With horses such as those mentioned ] and some others in the field, the j ' Grand National Steeplechase will be a ~ race well up towards the mean of this contest. There have been many weaker fields even in recent years. When Wiltshire won his second , Gra:-d National in 1929 there were only seven starters, and Matu and Fabriano, who ran into the minor places behind him. were not brilliant 'chasers, though ' Fabriano might have been classed as \ such if he had' been more sound. It s was a still poorer field of six that c Aurora Borealis defeated in the fol- '. ! lowing year; for second to her was • Corneroff, whose only previous sue- ,' cess had been a hack steeples off the . minimum at Hastings and who never 3 won another race, and third was Omeo, 1 who was very doubtful on his legs at ; the time, though later he came up to , win a Wellington Steeplechase. This t year's field should parade definitely ; better than these fields, unless such ; horses as Survoy or one or two of the others were to drop out. Aurora Borealis beat only a small - field, but she might have won the race in a strong -"-ear, for she was one of the best mares who have ever raced over fences in New Zealand. Her time was very slow, but the track was one of the worst in living memory on Grand National Day that year. Not only that, but she had an eleventhhour change of riders, as her usual pilot, A. McDonald, was required for his stable candidate (Corneroff) and a quick search among the horsemen available saw the mount offered to and accepted by H. Dulieu, who would have ridden the Wellington Steeplechase winner Mangani again if that horse had been started in the steeplechase. There was a similarity between Aurora Borealis's year and the present year, for in each the Riccarton course lay under snow a week or so before the race. The snow in 1930, however, did not come till just after the Hunt fixture, and following the thaw the course was in a deplorable state, with very little work possible on the tracks prior to the meeting. Even the day before the opening it was dovibtful whether the races could be held the next day, but the weather then cleared for National Day, though the going was fetlock deep in slush, which is unusual at Riccarton in August. There is fortunately more time for the ground to dry out prior to the racing this year, but there have been so many "cold fronts" this winter that one cannot yet be sure that the last one was the last. AN AMATEUR'S SUCCESS. It is always of interest to those who have followed the history of the Grand National Steeplechase, and particularly to those who now like to have themselves included in the category of "old-timers," to recall some of the more notable landmarks of the sixtyodd years since this race was first contested. Aurora7 Borealis takes one back only a decade. It is necessary to go back 63 years to the first race in New Zealand to be known as the Grand National, but there are several still living who remember that race and a few who actually saw it. The first Grand National Steeplechase has a pertinent link with this year's race, for the rider of the first winner, a Mr. Martelli, of Timaru. was a gentleman rider, the only amateur yet to have successfully piloted a horse to victory in the event, and on Tuesday week another amateur, Mr. G. G. Beatson. also a very skilful rider, will probably be emulating that feat on Padishah. The fact that Mr. Beatson is an amateur naturally sets many racegoers against Padishah's present chance of success, but it may be worth observing here that one of the best jumping professional jockeys in the Dominion only a week or so ago gave it as his own opinion that Mr. Beatson is as adept as most in the professional ranks and that Padishah would lose nothing from his services in a race like the Grand. National. That first Grand National was decided over the new Riccarton country on Queen Victoria's Birthday, May 24. 1876. The body of men that sponsored it named themselves the Grand National Steeplechase Club. The task of choosing and laying out the course fell to Mr. H. P. Lance, and the waste ground of the Christchurch racecourse at Riccarton was decided upon. Ditch and bank fences were prepared, with post-and-rail on top, as well as some straight birch post-and-rails and a good water jump opposite the stands. How that country compares with the present country only the very oldtimers still surviving could relate, and they are usually prejudiced towards the good old days. However, six horses faced the starter and only two of them completed, so it must have been a stiff course. "Queen's weather" did not prevail on the day of the race—rain fell in torrents. Some years ago Mr. Thomas Lyford, no other, than the rider of Mousetrap, who was the only other horse besides Royalty to finish the course, recalled in an interview when found in retirement on a farm near the top of Big Jim's Hill, Waitara, that "it was a frightful day, raining hard, with a very sodden track. It could hardly have been worse." Perhaps Mr. Lyford's brief description of the race is as good as any could tell, for races were much more difficult in those days for spectators to follow, despite the fact that eyes are supposed to have been then so much keener than they are now. Mr. Lyford related: "I \ rode Mousetrap, a splendid jumper but : a tearaway brute, and the joint favourite with Tommy Dodd in a field of six. : The race was run over four miles then and I was in front from the start till about two furlongs from home, where Royalty challenged and beat me easily at the finish. Royalty was ridden by ] Mr. Martelli, a very fine rider, who was (unhappily killed in the hunting field a short time afterwards. I was riding light in those days, however, and if I had been stronger and more able to steady my horse in the early stages I would have beaten Royalty."

WON IN EUCHRE GAME. Royalty was owned by Mr. Frank Brittan, who had never missed a Grand National Meeting up till a few years ago. Many a time in later years it appeared in print that Royalty was schooled for the race by a woman, no other' than Mrs. Brittan, but this was i not correct. Mr. Brittan supervised the whole preparation of the horse himself, and it was not till after the Grand National that Mrs. Brittan first helped in schooling him. The way in which Mr. Brittan be- ! came the owner of Royalty is another I story well worth telling. In the early! seventies the horse was owned by a! Mr. Cardale, one of Canterbury's best-j known stationholders, and who, like most men of the land in those times, had a fondness for "leppers." Royalty carried him to hounds, and, though not blessed with much speed, could jump anything that came in his way. The horse was of.a wandering disposition, however, and it was this that led to his passing into Mr. Brittan's hands. Royalty disappeared one day somewhere up the dry Selwyn riverbed, and $§g^fejfc£ JRagejES failed to locate him.

When the winter session was opened this year the outlook for the bigger cross-country events did not look at all bright, but so far the steeplechase term has been quite a success, though undoubtedly lacking in the real giants of old. The close of the session is now approaching with the Grand National Meeting, which will be held the week after next, and, on the first acceptance for the Grand National Steeplechase, the fields for the three main events over the country at Riccarton will be of quite satisfactory dimensions and quality, unless theiv should be some unexpected defections. It is earnestly to be hoped that such horses as Survoy, Power Chief, Padishah, Slayer, and Erination continue to hold their ground.

Mr. Cardale practically gave up hope of ever finding him'again, and, chatting one evening with Mr. Brittan, he said that he would take a fiver on his chance of recovering his jumper, whom many thought had been smuggled away to another part of the province. Eventually the two sportsmen decided to play a game of euchre, the stake being all interest in Royalty if Mr. Brittan won against a fiver to Mr. Cardale if he won. Mr. Brittan took the rubber. Fortune followed the game of cards, as a few days later a shepherd brought in news that a stray horse had been seen up the riverbed, and, sure enough, the stray proved to be Royalty. Mousetrap, the only other horse to finish in Royalty's inaugural year, was destined also to take his place among the winners of the race. The following year the race was run at Timaru and the victor was Mr. G. Williams's Fakir. But the scene was again Riccarton in 1878, and that was Mousetrap's year. Losing most of his opponents by accidents of one sort and another, Mr. L. Markey's grey jumper cantered home well clear of the horses who had remained on their legs. However, on that occasion he was not handled by Lyford, but had the services of P. McKov T.yford later on rode three Grand National winners, Agent (in his third success), Faugh-a-Ballagh, and Daddy Longlegs. AGENT'S THREE VICTORIES. Agent holds the distinction of having won three Grand National Steeplechases, the only horse ever to have recorded such a treble. Five others, however, have won the race twice, this list comprising Mutiny, Coalition, Oakleigh, Wiltshire, and Valpeen. Agent first won the race in 1879, the year following Mousetrap's victory. On that occasion the scene shifted back south, the venue being Oamaru, where Mr. Frank Egan, an Irishman of hunting fame, had laid out what he claimed to be a good line of natural country on the Hon. Matthew Holmes's Awamoa Estate. The course on the day was spoilt by wet weatber and a ridiculous water jump, a complete trap that brought nearly everything to grief. Agent, who was carrying 12.0, emerged best from the ordeal, and his nearest attendant at the finish was old Royalty. The next year the Grand National Meeting was held for the third time at Riccarton and Agent confirmed his Oamaru form by winning very easily, with Royalty again at the head of the others, who numbered ten. Agent's third win was four years later, in 1884, when the venue was again Riccarton, where it has remained ever since. In two of the years between Agent's final two victories the Grand National was run at Timaru. The first, of them was the 'sensational year in which Mr. J. H. Lunn's Clarence was the victor, the winner and second horse on that occasion being ridden home by the same jockey, Fred Hedge, a seeming paradox that is easily enough explained. Among the starters in 1881 were Agent (who had won the two' preceding years), Mousetrap (the winner three years earlier), Clarence, and Sailor Boy. At the second-to-last fence (a double) only Agent, Clarence, and Sailor Boy were still on their feet. There Agent, who had a commanding lead, blundered and shook off his rider, H. Lunn, who was stunned.' Clarence and Sailor Boy approached! the fence almost on terms, but the latter shirked the second "leg" of the obstacle. J. Poole, who was Sailor Boy's rider, did not go back but raced ; with Clarence over the last fence and in a punishing finish just beat him i home. After weighing in Hedge dashed back to where Agent was enjoying a bite of grass, clambered into the saddle, j and completed the course. Sailor; Boy's disqualification followed, and Clarence, ridden by Hedge, became j the winner from Agent, ridden home! by Hedge. It was practically arranged lo hold | the next meeting, in 1882, at Ashbur- j ton, but there was an exhibition on j at Christchurch that year, which! turnect- the scale against Ashburton.! In a field of eight the lightly-weighted Katerfelto, ridden by "Wally" Clifford j and cutting out the running at a great pace all the way, just squeezed home by a head from Clarence. Following the Exhibition Meeting there was an unsatisfactory race at Timaru, where parts of the course were knee-deep in mud and water, and that was the last occasion on-which the Grand National was decided away from Riccarton. Kosciuskq struggled on with an advantage in weights to beat Canard, but it was generally agreed that the best horse did not win, though a success in the race was really deserved by Kusciusko's rider, Sheenan, who had three times previously ridden the run-ner-up. A .year later Sheenan was! once again on the runner-up, his mount being Barbary, who beat everything except Agent back on the Riccarton course. Two years later still Canard made amends for previous disappointments by carrying 12.10 to victory, the record impost ever borne to success in the race and now likely to remain such for all time, as the maximum weight has been set for many years at 12.7.

Endorsement has been recommissioned at Hastings. This speedy Iliad filly has thickened out appreciably with her holiday and has thrown off all symptoms of the soreness that troubled her.