WRONG PEDIGREE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 107, 27 July 1927, Page 6

WRONG PEDIGREE

CASTLES ERROR REPEATED NYANGAY’S DAM GRAND NATIONAL WINNER IN LIMELIGHT Castles was not the only horse that ran recently at the A.J.C. meeting whose pedigree was wrongly described in the race book, as that of Nyangay, a candidate in the A.J.S. Steeplechase, was also wrongly given. But whereas in the case of Castles an office clerk was partly at fault, the error over Nyangay was chat of the nominator. Nyangay was nominated for Randwick as being by Varco from a Grafton mare, although he had been correctly registered as being by Varco from Gyrtona, who was by Cooltrim from Graftonette by Grafton. The same mistake was made in the gelding’s nomination for the Grand National, although it was corrected for the Kensington Steeplechase, which Nyangay Avon on the first day of the V.R.C. meeting. Strangely enough, however, the mistaken pedigree was not amended in the race books. SECRETARY'S STATEMENT A Melbourne writer saw Mr. A. V. Kewney, secretary of the V.R.C., about the matter, and Mrfl Kewney said: “When Nyangay had been nominated for the G.N. Steeple Varco was shown

in the pedigree as the sire and a Grafton mare as the dam. No amendmen of this pedigree had been made ii writing up to the time of the race

nor had it been brought under the notice of the V.R.C. committee. “Subsequently when Nyangay had been nominated for the minor races the dam shown in the pedigree was Gyrtona. Apparently the connections of the horse had discovered that the pedigree shown in the earlier nominations was incorrect and they had made the alteration. So far as the V.R.C. committee is concerned there is no likelihood of any alteration being made in the result of the race. NOT WILFUL

“it is quite apparent that there has been no wilful misrepresentation. Nobody has been deceived. The handicapper ali the time was fully acquainted with the performances of the horse, as he was nominated as Nyangay all the time, though the pedigree may have been slightly incorrect. Frequently errors are made in nominations but it would be ridiculous to regard all these as intentional.” The Nyangay incident shows the necessity for more care in checking nominations. There was outcry enough at Randwick over the withdrawal of Castles, but what a furore there would have been in a race such as the National, the medium of heavy antepost betting, both straight-out and in doubles, if the mistake had been discovered less than 30 minutes before the starting time of the race, and before Nyangay won. RULE SHOULD BE AMENDED

When representatives of all the principal race clubs meet in conference the rule which would have debarred Nyangay from starting, had the error been detected within the half-hour preceding the race, should be amended. Already an amendment has been proposed by the committee of the A.J.C. in order to give the stewards discretionary powers in such cases. I-Xarry Myers, the trainer of Nyangay, said that the horse was wrongly nominated lor the G.N. Steeplechase, which he won, but when the owner drew his attention to the error he at once took steps to have the nomination amended. The pedigree as amended appeared correctly in the race book for the Kensington Steeplechase, but through an oversight the alteration was not made in the case of the Grand National.