ROTORUA—SPORTING CENTRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 535, 19 May 1933, Page 16

ROTORUA—SPORTING CENTRE

"Canard,"

immense possibilities the MOST PROMISING TRAINING IN the COUNTRY every facility available _

(Wrifcten by

the "Mornihg. Post" Raeing Writer.)

Rotorua has many facets of attraction but there is one which perhaps has been overlooked by the majority of peopie and that is its unique suitability as a training centre for gallopers or trotting horses.

the first place there is the Arawa Park course, wbicb has commodious UAJffi ((t2 stabling facilities, shortly to be added to, and an * ^ excellent track for training. One feature shared hy n'o other course in the North Island is that

. horses can he worked every day of th'e year as far as course condiitions are coneerned. The nature of the soil is such that it .may have rained the whole' night and hy an hour ,after the rain has ceased the track is sufficiently dry to be worked upon. Should the trainer not desire to work on the track he can give his charges exercise on the pumice roads, a feature which again no other centre possesses, for these are ideally soft and yetafirm, so, that horses which are inclined to soreness can be kept np to the mark by slow exercise over miles of roads.

Fomentation Made Easy. Talking of soreness, there is another feature for which the average trainer in other centres would give almost anything to own. This is the unfailing supply of hot water in every stage of temperature naturally supplied by the hot pools and thermal sp'i'ings in which the district abounds. Many of these springs contain healing

and soothing properties, which, quite apart from thedr value to human beings, are particularly suited to "fining down" legs and the overcoming of suspensory ligament trouhles which' so often cause promising youngsters to be thrown out of work. J t Tonic Qualities of Air It is the custom of many of the shrewdest trainers in this and other | lands to regularly ;mix a certain ( amount of sulphur in mashes, paitly to dmprove the glandular condition of the skin and also for its tonic properties. In Rotorua this has been found to he unnecessary, for the air itself seems to have the effect of keeping

the skin pores at a proper degree of openness iand it has frequently been remarked hy trainers in other centres that the coats of horses trained in Rotorua are exceptionally good. Plenty of Hill Work.

Within three miles of ■ th'e town there are ample places where horses can be given the requisite hill work, which is eonsidered so essential in cases of ' "dicky" forelegs and also for general hardening up for gallopers and trotters. Particularly, does this suit jumpers, and Rotorua has an enviable record in the quality of the leppers she has turned out in the past. There is also ample facility for swimming work. Lake Rotorua lies ,at the doors of the town and ap'art from that there are several other lakes within easy reach in which swimming work can be given. This again is a. most valuable provision in the case of horses which are inclined to unsoundness.

Course Facilities. The course itself is a seven fur-i long circuit with two handy straights ,and a really good sole of grass. Inside is the plough, which is to he re-con-ditioned shortly and the track pfoper is one which is very handy in every way for training. The dilferent furlong posts are clearly marked and timing is a, fairly easy job in comparison with other places in which larger teams are worked. There is ample ' room for fifty horses to be woiked. Jumps .and hurdles are aVailable. The

club itself, which controls the track, does everything in its power to make conditions agi'.eeahle to trainers and is prepared to meet any reasonable wish that they express. Few clubs will go so far out of their way to help trainers. The Sporting Clubs. The Rotorua Racing Club has a long ,and honourahle record among the

racing ciuhs of the Province and it is on record that the first race held was between two officers' horses (in those days one would call it a match) in about 1861, during the Maori War period; Beyond the fact that one ! horse was a grey and that it was vdc- J torions, no records appear to exist. | The Racing Club has, like most bodies, had its ups and downs, but taken all | in all the record is one of steady progress with gradual improvement of facilities for the public 'and the people who support thei sport. At the present time Dr. H. Bertram is the pr,eisident and Mr. E. La Trohe Hill the

secretary. A race meeting is held each' year in February, two days heing allotted, but it is understood that it will not be long before % winter meeting will he staged. With the growth of th'e Hunt Club* which will he dealt with later, there has been an increase in hack jumpers in th'e distiiiet. ,From all parts of the Bay of Plenty horses Come tO' race. at their natural centre, Rotorua. The Trotting Club.

The next body which caters for the Sport of Kings in Rotorua is the Rotorua Trotting Club. This is a very young but very progressive body founded only a year ago and holding its first annual trotting faces on May ■ 20, just after this edition leaves the press. At th,e time of wniting the support from trotting owiftrs has been phenomenal, some of the greatest', pacers and trotters of the N'orth Is j land figuring in its list of entries. The Rotorua Trotting Club was formed hy a band of enthusiasts and it is likely to go on from strength to strength : for next year a tote permit is practically assured. The sport of trotting : is new to* Rotorua and th'e Bay, but it i has certainly canght on. The prei sident of the club is Mr. L. C. Ryan, and the secretary Mr. E. La Trohe

Hill. The Hunt Club. And there is another sporting body in Rotorua and its environs, the Rotorua and- Bay of Plenty Hunt Club,, which obtained its registration last year. It, too is the work of a band of enthusiasts 'and is strong in progress. The district covered comprises not only Rotorua, but the whole of the Bay of Plenty, an enormous country with greatj possibilities. Hounds are kennelled at Rotorua and the standard of hunting is high, many of the

followers bestriding horses with strong tinges of thoroughbred blood. Meets are held all over the district 'and the "sound of the horn," though it may not exactly "drag me from my bed," usually attracts a large contingent of farmers and followers, who cheerfully crash over or into their own and their neighbour s fences in the most altruistic way. The hunt holds an annual point-to-point meeting, and last year this was most successful. It has at present an ap-

plication in to the New Zealand Hunts Ass'bcihtion -to run a race meeting der the hunt rules later this year and h'as every prospect 'of success, Dr. H. Bertram is the' master, Mr, T, Jackson the huntsman, and the club is unique throughout Australia and New Zealand in that. it has a lady whip, Mrs. F. Stander, filling one of those onerous positions. i Hounds are well selected'and are in- I fused with.' a good' deal of imported f oxhound hlood, making them fast and musioal. A Sporting Comimmity,

Prohably, for its size, th'ere ia no ; community in the world more devoted j to sport than that of Rotorua and its j environs. Almost evexyone belongs to one or' other of the sporting insti 1 tutions of tl?e place. If a man isnot i a memher of •'either the racing ot trotting club, or both, he is probablj ! a member of the hunt cluh or anar- ; Jent golfer qi* else- is engaged in' | managing itughy," hockey, cricket ot athletics, or else is husy runniitg a . hiking tour. If he is not engaged in ; that, he is prohably going trout-M, i ing, deer-talking, or duck or pheasant i shooting. .If not husy that way; be ; is, maybe, due to take his turn on tle j bowling green or make some arrange, ' ? lnents in connection with a chopp.ing or swimming; carnival. In any case; j he is prohably a memher of at 'least three clubs of some sort or lanother ' and may he ehgaged in work fopfe'! betterment of one or the otbeivPei-. ! lra.ps no community in the world keepj. j ! sa many sporting instsitutions going as Rotorua. ;■ j