UNRULY HORSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 64, 7 June 1927, Page 7

UNRULY HORSES

BILLY SEA’S BAN REMOVED BY ASSOCIATION TWO CULPRITS SENTENCED A reprieve has been granted Billy Sea. and his owner can now enter him wherever he feels disposed to chase the prize money. Restrictions were placed on Billy on account of his unruly ways at the starting gate, Stipendiary Steward Mabee having witnessed pranks on occasions that were a menace to other competitors. BILLY PARDONED The wide-awake official tagged Billy ■ Sea as unruly, and he was accordingly dealt with by the Trotting Bench. But Stipe Mabee is a just man, and when he found that William had made amends and repented of his wrongdoing, he straightway recommended the fractious one for a “pardon,” which was subsequently issued by the light harness tribunal. As a result of this the connections of Billy Sea lost no time in getting busy with their charge. A GOOD START Billy Sea showed his appreciation of the removal of the ban by running a splendid race at Addington on Saturday, being second to Taurekareka in the chief event of the day. -The son of William C was almost the outsider of the field, and those who supported the gelding were rewarded with a good second place price. Billy Sea is among the entrants for the “Thousand pounders” at Auckland, and will have to be reckoned with if he takes his place in the field. MORE OFFENDERS But while “Their Honours,” who sit in high authority and adjudicate on the breakers of trotting law, were pleased to remove the prohibitory measures from off the shoulders of Billy Sea. two other culprits earned their

displeasure, and the owners of St. Petrox and Kotuku Jack find their steeds serving a sentence which will keep them out of trouble on the race track for a period, and also save their owners nomination and acceptance fees. ERRATIC ST. PETROX At the recent Ashburton meeting the square-gaited but rattle-headed St. Petrox, made an awful hash of things in the Allenton Handicap by misbehaving to such an extent that the majority of the competitors had their prospects extinguished, and the speculative public consequently had a bad spin. The officials, however, were wide awake, and the owner of St. Petrox was politely told to keep his unruly trotter in the stall when the Utility Handicap was announced for decision. Whatever the owner’s feeling may have been as a result of this decision, it is absolutely certain that owners and drivers of other contestants in the event and the general public would heave a sigh of relief when acquainted of the verdict. KOTUKU JACK’S CASE The case of Kotuku Jack was somewhat different to that of either Billy Sea or St. Petrox, and while the brother to Prince Pointer was not fractious at the barrier, his alarming lapses during the progress of his two public appearances at Addington previously satisfied the Ashburton officials that Jack was not a fit and proper pacer to take part in the Durbar Handicap. Readers will remember that in his Christchurch races, the Logan Pointer gelding, after traversing part of the journey, collapsed, and interfered with other competitors, and generally it was conceded that his unstable attitude was a menace to the other horses and reinsmen in his company. ASHBURTON’S ACTION APPROVED In acting as they did, the officials of the Ashburton Club showed a firmness in their desire to control the sport to the best advantage that has won the approbation of followers of the trotting industry throughout the Dominion, and it is gratifying to find their action endorsed by the New Zealand Trotting Association. Many other clubs might well take a leaf out of the Ashburton Club’s book in this respect, a.s by so doing they would confer a blessing that would earn them the lasting gratitude of the sporting public. In the meantime St. Petrox and Kotuku Jack are under the ban, but no doubt when they come right again the order will be suspended.