CUP FEVER

Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1929, Page 2

CUP FEVER

HOW AUSTRALIA LISTENED. SCIENCE AIDS.

SYDNEY, November 7. Scientific developments have quickened public interest in the famous -Melbourne Cup. Each year the interest in this great spewing event seems to grow. It grips everyone, even those who at any other time are only too ready to condemn;, horse racing and-the evils which, they say, follow in its train. These people do not seem to regard the Cup as an ordinary racing event, and the truth is it is far from ordinary. . It ,i.s something extraordinary—something so typically: Australian that it grips the-imagination of all and sundry, yprung and old.

With the development of wireless people all over the Continent are able to follow the horses, to the post, to call out “ They’re off ” the minute the tape goes up, to follow the fortunes of the horses’in the running, and to learn the winner immediately the judge’s box is reached. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the whole continent stopped for a spell on Tuesday last when the Cup was run. Tire excitement off the course was almost unprecedented:"- It rtas"a continent truly worshipping the greatest of all Australian sports. Ofily a few years ago thousands of people had to wait for hours before they knew the Cup result. Times hAVe changed all' this with the advent of one' of the greatest aids to modern civilisation, the wireless.

The arrangements made last Tuesday for the broadcasting of the big event' were the’ most complete since broadcasting canre into existence, and everything .worked out splendidly, just as it had been arranged. The result was that in every city,, and in every town, and in countless homes close to, and thousands of miles away from, the course, the race was described in every detail. Truly , can it be said that the wireless has resulted in a decided quickening of interest in the event. To a large extent this had been assisted by the Press of the .country, which this year, realising the news value of the subject, seemed to pay more attention to the Cop than ever before. The progress of all the contestants was followed with the closest attention to detail, and the reports that , the favourite, Phar Lap, was under special police guard only increased the popular curiositv.

On the day of the race extraordinary precautions were taken to guard the favourite. - It seems that a report had reached the ears of an employee of the stable that an attempt would he made to “nobble’’ Phar Lap. To prevent anything of the kind happening, a policeman accompanied the gelding from the stable to the course. When Phar Lap arrived at Flemington at 2 p.m.—rather late for a Cup horse, seeing that the race starts at 3.3 o—he was wearing a hood, the eyeholes of which were covered with mica to protect his eyes against any substance that might be thrown. A policeman stood guard over the gelding in the stall, around which ,an . exceptionally large crowd gathered. It Js not unusual for a champion thoroughbred to be closely-guarded, but it is a rare thing to find a uniformed policeman in

the horse’s stall on the racecourse

This year the telegraph also played an important part in catering lor the public interest"'in the race. In a little more than half an hour after the horses had flashed past the judge’s box a picture of the: finish was in 'Sydney—by the aid of the picturegram service which is working so successfully between Melbourne and Sydney. The result was that the afternoon papers were able to print the picture in their final city editions. It was a remarkable achievement, and another evidence of the wonderful progress of science. Not only did the afternoon Press’ publish pictures of the finish, but pictures also of the crowd in the betting ring and of the Vice-Regal party. The ViceRegal party was the largest gathering of its nature evet seen in Australia. Besides the Governor-General and Lady Stonehaven, there were present the Governors from each of the six States. This, of course, made for the social success of the Meeting. The Melbourne Cup of 1929 may truly be termed a triumph for New Zealand horses. And as such it has been acclaimed on all hands.