STOP BARRIER-CRIBBING

NZ Truth, Issue 1216, 21 March 1929, Page 13

STOP BARRIER-CRIBBING

FAR TOO MUCH INTERFERENCE

Every- day Happening Which Is Passed By

Mosf, experienced followers of the game contend that racing to-da?y| la cleaner than ever before, and m this contention "N.Z. Truth 'Aiis ready to agree.

THERE are not the number of'holdups—or hold-outs— as ln days gone by, mainly for the reason that the. scope Is now ho limited. The betting market is not so big these days. Outside the big meetings the machine does not offer a great field, and, with I the merchants a chary lot, big commissions are hard' to set. It Is not an improved moral tone that is responsible— lack of oppor- • tunity ia both the primary and secondary oause. y But there are features of race riding to-day that do not meet with approval, and to eliminate' them would be no hard work nor would it call for ■ any great show of brains. . Take Trentham for instance. In one race the first day ' there was a barefaced piece of barrier cribbing. It went by unnoticed, m official' quarters, as Indeed, Jt alwaysdoes. In the race m question the horse drew wide out m a big field, but -when the horses v/ere Uned up m their positions prior to the start the horse was fifteen places nearer m to the fence. Very few on the course noticed the incident— no more than half a, dozen— and as nothing was done it is taken for granted the official m charge at the post was also m ignorance of the steal. Over m Australia riders who crib at the post . are suspended. A few

such penalties here would 60on put a stop to the practice. Another feature that comes often under notice is that of a rider : going out to meet a horse, which threatens to be a nuisance. .Y.YY Again on the first day of Trentham; to those standing behind the field when the last furlong was being traversed,there was one very bad caseY V : A rider 'came well out of his line and met another horse, and met it to\sucti good effect that a-prospectiye win was turned into. a minor place. . \- >*' Riders so interfered with will seldom squeal to- the" stipes. Instead, they await the opportunity to get even. Thus a miniature war Is started. ..' On the smaller country tracks another point that Is always' allowed to go by 'unchallenged is that of a rider on the inner allowing another horse rip on him. This is a frequent occurrence and nine 'times out of ten the horse that gets through is, greatly fancied m the betting. -But nothing happens. „ y; -V . How .different to a case .the pthefc ..„ day where a..:" jockey \ yvas hauled; * before the stewards'for failing "to •: give way to. a horse m behind. Y. .-""Fb'f "being" wifEiri~"His "fights tlie rider was taken- upstairs.: -Had he given w%y there would, have been some reason'^ or the inquify, "btit; as in^maTiy .instances; the stewards got the . cart before - the horse. ,-.-.. -.... .-:•