PHAR LAP'S CHANCES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 76, 20 November 1931, Page 6

PHAR LAP'S CHANCES

not favoured l> i * PROSPECTS OF VISIT TO UNITED STATES l REVIEWED '• SYDNEY SPORTSMAN'S VIEWS. r. SYDNEY, Wednesday. Mr Richard Wootton whose experience of racing extends oyer a life- - time and covers a wider field than that ' of probably any other sportsman in •' Australia to-day, is not enthusiastic - about the prospects of Phar Lap in " Ameriea. When Strephon had made tlie Aus- ^ tralian weight-for-age opposition look - decidedly cheap in the autumn of his three-year-old eareer, Mr. Wotton •* was. sceptieal as to his scoring in - England, even if he struck his true "forjtn. In the case of a horse going to -Ameriea, the condition may not be quite the same, but exceptionally brilliant horses have to be tackled oyer the short and middle-distance -qourneys. However, a line cannot be taken * through the failure of the English ; .representative, Papyrus, against the . American, Zev, because in the opi- ' inion of Mr. Wotton, Papyrus was one " ."of the poorest class of Derby winners * 'seen in Enerland for manv vears.

Weak Opposition. While not belittling the calibre oi ;Phar Lap as a racehorse, Mr Wootton **points out that the Night Raid geldPing has had very weak opposition 1 .during the greater part of his career. - Phar Lap is no doubt a great raee.horse, but since he commenced his . winning form as a three-year-old j there has not been another really ' "good horse. In addition, the best ■ horses among those racing have not .-often been matched against Phar "-Lap t'o test him. ; . Where Phar Lap is going to race aji. Ameriea the cream of the country's gallopers will be encountered, and they will be more at home on their own tracks. The American horses are particularly nippy and smart up to a mile and a quarter, and it will bother Phar Lap to beat them if he strikes his top forrn. If he does reach his best form Mr. Wootton thinks his chanee of suc- - cess will be remote indeed. Were the ^-journeys longer, say, two miles, Phar • Lap's winning prospects might be a » -tribe brighter. In the opinion of Mr. Wootton the question of acclimatisation does not .seriously enter into the case, as the voyage from New Zealand to the Paeific co'ast of Ameriea is a comparatively short one. Then there is not 'any strong reason why Phar Lap should be on the down grade yet, as he is only five years old, and geldings often last much longer than that. The question is one of class, for, while Phar Lap has been mostly beating a lot of second-raters here, .he will have the smartest horses in "'Ameriea arrayed against him in the races which he is to run. " Track Problems. Mr. Harry Marsden, who was for very many years a leading member •■'of the Randwick ring, knows more about American racing than most "Sydney people. On numerous occa'sions Mr. Marsden has toured Ame- . rica, and . during his visits he has regularly attended the race meetings, and knows the course where Phar -Lap would race. He says the tracks : present a problem, but they are watered and rolled after every race. Pressed for his opinion as to Phar Lap's prospects in the Agua Caliente • Handicap, Mr. Marsden said: "Fit and I well, I think he'd win. Because of -- the maximum weight, he could not be hcrushed out of it." .. Mr. Perce Pilcher, well known Leger bookmaker, who visited Ameriea a couple of years ago, says that, from what he saw of the tracks there, he does not think they would suit Phar Lap. Mr. Pilcher is confident, however, that the Americans would give the horse fap* treatment, as they were fine sportsmen. He did not believe in the suggestion that they might attempt to tamper with Phar Lap's feed.