"NED" MOSS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 19, 6 February 1937, Page 8

"NED" MOSS

Bold Backer and Good Sportsman Leviathan punter of the Australian turf and well known in Kew Zealand blood stock circies, Mr E. (Ned) Moss, died guddenly in. Sydney recently. The big gambling transactions of this colourful operator and his open-handed generosity made him one of the most popular figures round Australian courses. in single transactions he "on and. lost sums running into tens thousands of pounds. A llamiltonian, who was acquainted with Moss since boyhood, when he sold papers and racecards on the streets of Sydney, says the "Waikato Times", recalls some ■ of Moss's ggreat jcoupa and lossea, when in successive years he baeked Stony and Wind-iag to win tha Sydney Cup for upwaxds of £40,000 Moss, never, as some imagine laid the odds but confined his wageriug interests to punting. He owned horees hiicself and among some of tbe bestkxn wn performers that carried his toi ours vere Veilmohd, Vaals, Kilamey, Merrimee, Sir John, Stony, Edible, Theo ana Loud Applause. The Kew ZealantL-bred, True Blood, gave hira bis first start over 40 years ago and he ne7er looked back. Coups that Falledu One of his biggest plunges was on Stony in th-« Sydney Oup of 1924, when

he backed him to win a forbune vb« tween £40,000 and £50,000). Faulty horsemanship cost him the race — by a bead. Four furlongs from home Stony was last, yet within a furlong he had run through the field and it was that extra elfort, made too soon, that saw him fail in a thrilling finish Jwitb Scarlefc by the narrowest of margins. Windbag was the medium of his next leviathan plunge and again the Goddess of Chance tricked him. At a critical stage in the race two horses fell in front of Windbag and, despite the severe check he received, he was beaten only • by a bare head i>y lilv pond. By a strange coincidence, Duacan} who had ridden Stony the previous year, rode Lilypond on this oocasion and thus has the distmction of depriving Moss of two fortuneR, Some Sensational Successes. But Moss had some- sensational successes and a number of tbese were achieved through Vaals} now etanding at the s.tud in JSfew Zealand. At one time he was fully £40,000 on the wrong sidq of the ledger in his betting transactions and sup'ported Vaals to win over that amount. It says much for Moss'e popularity that the public, who knew of the big plunge, commenced to cheer as Yaals drew out haif-way down the straight and continued to do so until the horse had passed the win--ning post. It was a great tribute ,to u fine sportsman. As an example of the magnitude of Moss's betting transactions the amusing yet authentic story is told of the time he backed Vaals heavily in a seven-furlong race at Randwiek. Tho following day V aals started over a mile and a-quarter and when asked, by a friend, if he had supported the horse on this occasion, Mpss replied: "No, I didn't back him I did not know whether he could handle the distance. I had only a couple of thousand on him." Moss was a generous contributor to all types of charitable organisations and was a- regular church-goer.