RINGING IN

Hokitika Guardian, 1 July 1931, Page 2

RINGING IN

A SYDNEY REP OUT. BRANDING A SAFEGUARD. WELLINGTON, June, 29. The assertion of, a special Sydney correspondent that “there is more than a suggestion at present that \ . horses, gallopers and trotters, have in £7 years been arriving in Sydney ■f in fair numbers from New Zealand, unheralded and unsung, and after a ,7? period in the bn«!i or ’country districts are being rung-in at various meetings impressed with an Australian brand and provided with an Australian pedigree” has been obtained that the assertion very likely contains more than' a mere grain of truth. Horses are not, as a rule, branded in the Dominion, and it would he a very easy thing to transfer them to Australia and to provide them with a speHous Australian pedigree and a made-to-order distinguishing mark such as a brand. Thdn' the horse, if lie should sb-W any quality 'at all, could bo substituted for a poor Australian performer of like colour, marking and dimensions, and brought to a country or even a metropolitan meeting and a big plunge made on him. Development of extra good and. unexpected form. of sudtlen plunging in the betting ring are the two . factors that may arouse suspicion, but that suspicion can pio-

bably remain only as such, for few, if any, of the officials who may be concerned will have noted the fine distinguished points of the poor performer whose place’ has been taken, and the lapse of a year or more would be effective in destroying any such definite memory that might exist. Not only may such horses he substituted for others, but they may actually be experienced performers from the Dominion entered as maiden performers under a new pedigree and wjth a corroborating brand. When such are pro. cluced, no one suspects them of being other than as they are described, and no one is particularlv concerned about them, unless they show some remarkable ability or are the medium of a wholly .unexpected betting coup. Even then, who is to say that, the' usurper is other than what be is stated to Ire ?

CALUMNY AGAINST DOMINION. It may he asked why should this calumny he directed against Dominionbred horses and not'against Australian. There are two very •pertinent answers. In tire first place, the New Zc iland horses will probably be an arrival entirely unknown to Australian officials and secondly. Dominion horses are rarely hr?ruled, whereas meat horses in Australia are branded when yearlings. It is admitted that a brand may eventually disappear, hut it is likely that hv the time this happens, particularly jn the case of a thoroughbred. the horse has ceased to have inuc.li value for ringing-in purposes. Tt is the young horse, full still of the vitality of youth, that lias real value

to a person seeking to defraud the racing clubs and the betting ring. It is such a horse that can reasonably be backed confidently, because if lie is really good it is very likely that lie will bring off the coup. The difficulty involved in recognising such a; horse appears at present to be next to iinsurmountable. In the case cf the former New Zealander, Chairman, tlie false identity was revealed after careful investigation, but a cine existed that in the ordinary course would not have been there. There may be other such cases that have never seen the light of day. At least we know that Chairman’s is an isolated case in years, but that if there is a coterie with involved ramifications operating a considerable and profitable traffic, as is alleged in the Sydney article, then there must lie dozens and dozens of undiscovered oases to everyone that is brought to light. BRANDING AS. DETERRENT. The point of branding, as a precaution against the operatic; l , of r. t’-ade in “ringers.” is one, however, that deserves more than passing notice. As has been shown, branding is net a full precaution, hut its compulsory, or even general adoption would make the business a very much more difficult and precarious one. Tf a brand were cauterised, or otherwise removed, the mark of such action would usually he noticeable for years afterwards, and to produce a horse, with such a mark or with another brand sunerimposed

would be fraught with much risk, it

is safe to assert that little profitable illegitimate trade could be done with previously branded horses, at least while they were in their best racing years.

Branding is rarely done now in the Dominion, but the time has come when it should be made the practice and not the exception. Tu Australia, the Blood-horse Breeders’ Association of xVustralia will not accept a horse for the annual sales unless it has been impressed with a duly registered brand. As a result, the practice cf branding lias become practically universal in the case of well-bred thoroughbreds. Tlie-se are the horses that it would usually be profitable ,to ring-in.

There is no breeders’ association in the Dominion, but the wonder is that one does not exist. The advantages of having horses sent up for sale certified thoroughbred and impressed with a registered brand are undeniable, and breeders could do themselves no better service than to consider the matter at the next annual sales. An association, with a nominal fee. for membership, might be formed, and a register of brands opened. Then the calumny directed against the Ramin ten in the recent article would have much less chance of repetition, for our best horses would he marked in such a way that illegitimate trade in them would he almost too difficult and risky to he .undertaken. The time is certainly opportune for the formation of an association that would insist on the branding ami accurate description of our best tliorourLbtvtU.