PLODDER’S DAY IS OVER

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 60, 2 June 1927, Page 6

PLODDER’S DAY IS OVER

SPEED A NECESSARY FACTOR IN JUMPING CONTESTS Old-timers talk of the prowess of the jumpers of days gone by. They point to the weight-carrying ability, to the endurance, and to the superior jumping of those horses, and deprecate the jumper of to-day. The present-day racegoer is tolerant. He does not contradict but turns his mind to the difference of present hurdle races from those of even a few years ago, and realises the great strides that have been made in that department of racing. THE PLODDERS Gone are the days of the slow plodder whose stamina carired him through where his pace wouldn’t. Gone are the days when the hurdle field consisted .solely of horses who either had never been of any account on the flat and had been put to jumping as a last resource, or had long passed their prime. As in everyday life, so things change on the racecourse, and change for the better. The hurdler of to-day is a horse capable of taking his place in a fair handicap field. He is gradually getting to the level of the English jumper which, time after time, takes on the hurdles in the winter months and in the flat season more than holds its own among the best. STIMULATES SPEED

English trainers work on the principle that a little hurdling almost invariably acts as a stimulant to a horse’s speed, and they make use of that belief. Australian and New Zealand trainers do not care to risk the best over jumps, but a glance through the entries for coming events shows the improved class of horse that competes in such events. Hurdle races of to-day are run in faster time than were the Auckland and Melbourne Cups of the early stages of racing. It may be argued that tracks have improved, but that is open to controversy. For a horse to succeed in an ordinary hurdle at a country course, more than jumping ability is needed. To win a hurdle race on a course, such as Riccarton, Ellerslie, Randwick, Flemington, or Caulfield, a horse must possess attributes that at one time would have had him ranked among first-class horses. * SPEED ALL THE WAY He must have pace to keep a position in a field which does not loaf from the time the barrier rises. He must have the stamina to carry on the business, and allow a finishing run in the straight. And he cannot afford to scramble over jumps. A lost length or two at one jump often means defeat to-day, where it made little difference before. The field for the Australian Jockey Club Hurdle would look respectable in a down-the-line handicap. Some would not be out of place at Randwick. For instance, Altergo, at his last run, won the valuable Warrnambool Cup in Victoria; Cherry Ripe has won a welter within the last six 'months; Stony, though -he has deteriorated, is not exactly a has-been on the flat; John Wyse was considered good enough to back in a welter at Randwick on Saturday 'week; Bombard was considered unlucky to be beaten into third place in the King’s Cup at Flemington; Tom Bourke and Coolness successfully combine hurdle racing and flat racing in fair company. Those are hurdlers engaged in the A.J.C. Hurdles. Besides the Victorians mentioned, there are many who are really good flat horses. If anything, the policy of combining the two bran-

eran, Bob Knox, who sold the horse to Mr. Garrett for a mere song? Mr. Knox is now an old man, but he is still busy training racehorses, and his tall, lean figure, with a patriarchal beard of the Uncle Sam style, is a familiar one on Southern courses. GOOD BEGINNING The maroon jacket, yellow sleeves and mauve cap livery which was to become later so well known to Auckland racegoers was -not long being brought into prominence by Sir Roseberry, who made his debut over the big fences at the Egmont meeting, and after running third to Tuki (winner fifteen months later of the Grand National Steeplechase) and the Aucklander Lark Hall, jumping badly at most of his fences, he won the open steeples the next day from Passin’ Through at level weights, San Forte being third. A week later the lastnamed won both the Wanganui Steeplechase and Grandstand Stee*pleb UNLUCKY NEXT START A few days later Sir Roseberry was sent out a hot favourite for a hack steeplechase at Wanganui, but he was unlucky, meeting with some interference from a fallen horse after getting over the second of the brush -double and thus losing his rider. He was not started the second day at Wanganui. Afterwards Sir Roseberry was brought to Auckland, and it was here that he was to make turf history in short time. On the opening day he was sent out favourite for the Green Lane Steeplechase, and it was only by a neck that he managed to pull his backers through, Bustler extending him all the way home. This showed Sir Roseberry as possessing a big heart. STEEPLECHASE SENSATION Two days later Sir Roseberry took on the Great Northern Steeplechase.

ches of racing is more extensive in Victoria than in New South Wales. Rearguard, a prolific winner in the provincial area of Melbourne, and Llanthony, winner of the Albury Cup, are two other Melbourne cases, and they serve to show just what the owner is up against when he expects a plodder to win good hurdle races.