Looking Back

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 154, 17 July 1937, Page 16

Looking Back

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HORSES OF NOTF. Performances iWhich Linger In the Memory NELSON, THE "IR0N HORSE"

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One of the best horses that has ever raced on this Dominion was nnquestionably Major E. Nelson George's Nelson, by King Cole (imp.) My Idea. Nelson was a big horse, and his earlier performances gave little indication of that high position he was destined to reach among the Dominion 's _ noted performers. In all probability it was because his powers wero still developing that he failed* to do more than establish his claim to be a fairly good sprinter during the three and four-year-old period of his career, although he was a Derby winner. He was in a stable, that of Mr. Edward Cutts, at Riccarton, where horses were thoroughly tried. out, and it was not often that this astute trainer made a mistake as to what his charges could do. There was one thing the trainer had discovered about Nelson, and that was that he was an "iron horse," and could stand any amount of galloping. It was therefore rather as a trial horse for the favourite, Sir George OlifPord's three-year-old colt Stonyhurst, that Nelson was taken to Ellerslie in the summer of 1885-6, and also, possibly, in the hopo that he might pick up a race or two for his Auckland owner. After his arrival at Ellerslie, Nelson thrived on his hard work, much more than Stonyhurst did, and his owner decided to allow him to take his place in the Auckland Cup field. This was a fortunate decision for his owner and trainer, as he won the race, paying a very handsome dividend, while Stonyhurst ran very indifferently, and it was considered by some that his preparation had been too sevore, and that he was a trifle stale. However, if the race was a good one for Major F. Nelson George, and Trainer E. Cutts, it was not so for Hawke's Bay folk, especially the late Mr. William Douglas, of Te Mahanga, and his trainer, the late Mr. James Munn, for it was Mr. Douglas 's three-year-old filly Whaitin which ran second to Nelson, and also in the Auckland Racing Club Handicap later on in the meeting. I, too, was a small loser by "Whaitin being second instead of first, for I had taken a hundred to four about her some time prior to the race. Nelson carried 7st. 81b, when he won his first Auckland Cup, but later in the season he went on to a whole chain of victories in important cvents, including the Island Bay Cup, Wellington Cup, and Dunedin Cup. In the following season Nelson again made his appearance at Ellerslie, and won his second Auckland Cup, Whaitin again being in second X-lace, but tho little' Musket — Uira cnare had her turn in the Auckland Racing Club Handicap, in which sho had also run second to Nelson the previousi year. With Nelson out of the way on the occasion of her second outing in . the Racing Club Handicap she carried 8st. 51b. to victory. When the summer of 1887 came Nelson, who by that time had made a practice of winning cup races, and the Auckland Cup in particular, had the nice weight of 9st. 121b. in tho saddle when he set out to win his third Auckland Cup, but this weight did not stop him winning, so he made his Auckland Cup successes three in a i'ow. One of Nelson 's sons, Pegasus, won the Auckland Cup and other good races, while Seahorao, another of his sons, won the C.J.C. Derby, New Zealand Cup, and Canterbury Cup, but was not seen at his best when he ran at Ellerslie, and failed to follow in his siro's footsteps by winning the Auckland Cup. As a sire, however, the fame of Nelson rcsts on two or three good horses, so that he cannot be said to have been altgether a great stud success.