A PURE SPORT

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 60, 2 June 1927, Page 7

A PURE SPORT

I-iminating the dead : ,- aR p practices recalled - tIP ES” have done much good stewards! Stewards!” Jj ie cry goes up from the luckless le er when a sudden reversal of form 'its in the downfall of a favourite, a horse has been bumped out stride in the run home, or when --leery of any sort is suspected. r he history of the turf teems with ries “j° kes ’” as facing men call „ m played at the expense of rival ing men and tlie bettin & public. ' y have been detected; more sus- , t ed. Sometimes the stewards have ■ought the offenders to book. The principal cases that the stfpen- . ry stewards nowadays have to deal ,;. h a re inconsistencies of form, and ispicious riding suggesting attempts -arrange” the result of a race. dES troyed starting gate Ringing-in — the substitution of one horse for another, or the entering of performer under a false de-

. ription— occasionally provides a first-

class turf sensation. Not long ago a jockey in South Australia was caught carrying a battery, and disqualified lor life. Now and again one hears of a horse being doped. But the cruder malpractices of the racecourse are becoming rare. The case reported the other day from North Queensland, where the starting gate was destroyed in the night so that a flag would have to be used for starting, thus giving a better ihance to an animal which, like the iunous Manfred, and the not quite »famous York Abbey, was notoriously bad at the barrier, brings memories of dava when most country courses were anfenced, when supervision was lax, and when “jokes” were crude and comIt is many years since jockeys were allowed to carry their whips to the sale. What brought about the reform us the discovery that a jockey reaming to scale had dropped the light uip which he had carried in the race, and picked up one heavily loaded to ~ake the weight when he returned to Rale. SCALES TAMPERED WITH The discovery some years ago at Wallsend, New South Wales, of an excavation beneath the scales in the weighing-room revealed a swindle that may have been worked for years. A man was hidden in the pit, and by attaching a weight to a wire, he increased the weight shown by the jockey on the Kale. The cue was given by a knock on the ground, or by some pre-arranged remark by the rider about to weigh in, #nd the weight was attached. In this case the man in the hole *l3 caught red-handed, but when a similar excavation was found under !n0 scales at Moorefild there was no °ne there, though sandwiches and cigarette butts gave evidence of occurion. There was a rumour once that i tunnel had been made to the Randv.ck weighing-room, but this was aev ®r confirmed.

PONY DYED—NOT DEAD ‘here have been famous cases of nnging-in, but one racing man in Syd"ey tells the hitherto unpublished s 'ory of a ring-in that failed. A pony ;'nose performances had earned it ? avy weights, was dyed, hog-maned ‘tod sent to a country meeting in •wge of a trusted bushman, who entered and trained it as his own. , real owner arrived the day be- ‘? r * the races, but received an un- . e&sant surprise when a jockey asked what had become of the pony he • . .t°. have. The owner said he beth x ** Was in West Australia, but 1 e hoy, proud of his cleverness, deh.?K that he recognised it in the s&man’s horse. He took the owner °ng to have a look, and the owner, course, declared the jockey was mis-

la t night, however, the* jockey, fd ° not doubting the bona•es of the owner, was not satisfied

hi identity of the pony, conhis mnn lntention of protesting should / Un second to the suspect. l hin e u .. led Next morning the good c °UrsA scratched, and another race--86 Joke had failed.

v pence cut through OQce ipv *hat succeeded, however, was courgJ sealed at an Adelaide raceafte r * **’ n en the caretaker some days 'he f etins found that a panel in *hen i , fence - which had been broken almost a ° rse hit the jump, had been »on through. The horse that S rr, st ' l »ut an indifferent *4* «.* rider had known which hi* ,J Veak and had ridden Man v - v strai £ht through it. te.n* j ars ago - before the course enced * a dust storm was raging

upon Whaka King, whose recent form has been consistent if nothing else. The three that will find most favour will probably be AVRO, ROMANTIC and LADY LIMOND.

The hack sprint is the next item on the card that calls for attention. WAITOHU HACK HANDICAP

This is a very useful field, and the more one goes into it the more difficult to discover what will be the actual favourite. Doubtless three that will have a fair following will be KILMEZZO, LADY CYNTHIA and CERF. This brings backers to the principal event of the meeting, the RAUKAWA CUP

on race day in a South Australian township, and a jockey told an 'owner to have a good punt and ask no questions. The owner did so. Long after the jockey admitted that he had ridden well behind the field, and had jumped only the last hurdle when he dashed past his tired rivals toward the finish of the race. CONCEALED BATTERIES It is hard for a jockey nowadays to use a battery and escape detection.

though the type of battery now used can be almost concealed in the hand, whereas old-fashioned batteries connected with the spurs. Some years ago a mare which won a big seven furlong event in one of the capital cities simply flew home from the distance. One of the stewards went to the weighingroom and told a jockey to follow him. But he mistook another rider for the boy on the winning horse, and if the latter had carried a battery there would have been plenty of time for him to have got rid of it before the error was discovered.

It is easier to stop a horse winning than to make certain of his victory. Weighted fetlock boots serve the purpose, but it would be unlucky for the trainer using them if the stewards took it into their heads to examine the fetlock boots of all the horses that finished in the ruck.

Never Too Old A notable entry for the Hack Steeplechase at Napier Park is the veteran Martian gelding, Vagabond. On his flat and hurdle form he should be a great proposition as a steeplechaser if he can jump the bi*; fences at all well.

6 furlongs. Kilmezzo . . 8 6 Lady Cynthia 7 h Pangolin . . 8 G Arrow Boy . 8 4 Polonaise . . Toapaiti - . 8 3 Thomond 7 Kilmoyler . . 8 0 Dominion 12 Rose . Carrigallen . 7 12 Tanagra . 7 Break o' Bay 7 11 Tangerim . . Butter Scotch 7 8 Otapawa . .

11 miles. Diogenes ..90 Lady Merry Damon 8 7 Anstruther 7 - Treshani ..88 Gleninnes . 7 0 Merry Day . 7 12 Blue Peter . 7 0 Rouex ... 7 10 Road Hog . 7 0 Shining Othon ...70 Armour ..76 Captain Modern ... 7 2 Gazeley . . 7 0