RACING OUTRAGES.

Shannon News, 17 October 1924, Page 4

RACING OUTRAGES.

NOBBLED FAVOURITES. PLOTS TO DISABLE HORSES. The senseless outrage which was committed on Mr. Vasey's horses, and which resulted in one valuable animal. being so badly staked that he may not run again, must have had many parallels which, being attended with less disastrous results, have not been recorded in print (writes EdgaT Wallace in an English paper). In Mr. Vasey's case the outrage was Obviously carried out by somebody with a very complete -knowledge of the stable, and the motive could have been nothing, but sheer spite. At any rate, the dastardly act could not have been inspired by a desire for gain, for although Soval was entered for the Royal Hunt. Cup, it was hardly likely that this was a sinister plot to prevent his running, since there had bee's practically no betting on the race, and, even had he run, his chance must have been more or less Negligible.

Mr. Peter Gilpin has placed on record a similar occurrence on the eve of ' the Doncaster • St. Leger, when a prominent candidate in his charge was housed at a local stable; but here the attempt, which was frustrated, had a more apparent motive.

When the Panther Was "Got At." The nobbling of a racehorse by designing bookmakers or enemies of the owner is an incident which occurs in every racing novel, but such attempts are Not confined to the imagination of the novelist. It is generally understood that Land League was "got at" on the eve of th e Cambridgeshire, for which he was heavily backed; and there was a more apocryphal story that Tishy was subjected to the same treatment,' though this I know to be without foundation.

Perhaps the best authenticated story of nobbling is th e story of The Panther, which, having won the Guineas, was made a strong , favourite for the Derl#y. It was known that heavy bets were laid against the horse a few days before the race with a bookmaker who is now dead, and that a man very we.U know'n in racing circles was asked to get at the horse —a commission which he refused.

Others, less scrupulous, were sent down to Newmarket with instructions to get near the horse when he was at exercise and to give him "a dose." But the vigilance of Manser,.the trainer prevented this scheme from being put into execution and it was not until the horse was sent tp : Epspm that; opportunity "arose. Even then, the difficulties were so numerous that .the attempt was almost, given up. The Panther was housed IN the stable of a vigilant trainer, and a boy practically slept in his box all the time. According to the story told by the man who. had refused the commission, an opportunity presented itharm could come from this casual in - result that he ran nearer last ti>an spection. A stable boy noticed, howvery short price, and it was an open secret that some of the investments were particularly heavy.. In eonse- | quence the horse was guarded day and night. Surrounded as they; were by stable, boys, and in the presence of the owner, it did not seem possible that,aNy containing powdered glass with the [ self and the horse was gayen an apple -first. Many years ago I w*ota a novel which contained a nobbling incident based upon fact. One hot summer day, i two men asked permission to look round tne stable containing the favourite for the Stewards' Cup. They came with excellent credentials, a'nd permission was given. The horse in 1, question had been backed down to a ever, that, whilst they were in the horse's box, one of the men furtively took from his pocket a matchbox, opened it and dropped something green on the straw. Death-Dealing nies..

After th e party had" gone, the stable boy, curious as most boys are,'went back to. the box to see what had been

dropped, without in any way suspect-

ing that the man had any designs upon the horse. To his surprise he

found some blades of grass amidst which were crawling three drowsylooking flies. He killed two and took the other to the trainer who could see nothing unusual in the ,insect,- except that it was rather large for a house fly and had its wings folded scissor-shape over its back. There happened- to call oh the trainer that evening a doctor who had spent some years in Africa, and to him the trainer narrated the incident. "Let me see those flies," said the medical man, and they were brought for his inspection. He had only to glanc© at them to understand the significance of their presence. They were' tsetse flies, the bite of which is fatal to any kind of cattle, particularly horses. And although, in all probability,, the £ull effect of the.poison would not have been felt until after the day of the race, it was very likely that the infection would have been sufficiently virulent to have made all the difference between winning and losing. Favourite .Shot, At. Where the flies had been procured was a mystery, though it was easy enough to bring oyer hundreds from Africa and employ the survivors for the purpose designed. Had the boy not discovered . the flies they would have been sufficiently revived to have reached the: horse. ' There is a case on record in South Africa of a favourite being shot at whe'a he was leading the field into the straight. And in quite recent years the ground whereon the favourite for a sprint handicap was due to do his winding-up gallops, was found strewt with broken glass.