NOT FLAW-PROOF

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 112, 2 August 1927, Page 6

NOT FLAW-PROOF

TIN-HARE RACING NEED FOR SUPERVISION FREE-FOR-ALL DOG FIGHTS Both the Prince of Wales and Prince George were present at the White City (London) to the see the electric hare coursing- last month. It was the 13th meeting, and this appears to have placed a hoodoo on the new snort throughout the country. At the White City one race was rerun because the dogs lost sight of the electric hare. which exceeded the speed limit, while in the hurdles the the two leading dogs stopped to fight when within four yards of the winning post, and the other runners joined In a race at Hull one dog ran in the wrong direction, and was badly injured when it dashed into the oncoming mechanical hare. At Liverpool the first race was declared void because the dogs savaged each other, while at Manchester the second race developed into a free-for-all dog fight. CLOSE SUPERVISION Commenting on these incidents, a Sydney writer declares that the evolution of coursing from a real sport to a mechanical pursuit is a thing that would make earliest followers of the pastime turn in their graves. What ranked in the good old days with falconry, archery, and hunting has been reduced by modern innovations to the standrad of the chocolate wheel. But while tin-hare racing is called “mechanical.” it is not without flaws that warrant a c)ose supervision and control, such as is not now exercised. In the beginning, when coursing was an original sport, the hare had to be roused from his natural surroundings, and for this purpose a. half-bred dog was used. When the hare was roused, the hounds were slipped, and the sportsmen followed on horseback. It was a great sport among the country folk. FAIR IN OPEN COUNTRY Held in open country the hare’s chance was fair. He went under fences and hedges which the dogs had to leap, and the followers on horseback to see the course had to do likewise or* be left behind. Nor was victory to the fastest dog. Cleverness usually prevailed against mere speed. From opc-n coursing, the plumpton developed, a departure made principally to enable a company or concern to gather in profit from admissions to their enclosures. Then the fastest dog prevailed.

Hares became an asset, and plumpton companies had no desire to see them killed. The more courses a hare survived the more valuable he became, for while he provided a swift direct course, he learned how to quickly escape the dogs through the loopholes left for him, and thus to live for another day’s coursing. EDUCATING HARES To educate them to this end it was the custom to liberate hares chased by slow dogs that had no earthly hope of catching them, and thus they learned the positions of the escapes, and seldom erred in direction when a real course was on. Now the tin hare has developed, and what was once coursing has become a dog race, with no skill, just speed and a little cunning in cutting corners in pursuit of the mechanical bunny. Racehorses can lose form quickly, but in the dog, possessing weaker constitution, a matter of hours will make all the difference. With the possibility of this leading to reversals of form besides other causes, the necessity for supervision at the tin-liare dog-racing seems imperative, now that betting has taken such a grip of the sport. But there is no control of stewards there such as is excerised at horseracing. Yet how much more might dog-racing need the control of stewards? As dogs are so much more susceptible to loss of form of condition compared with horses, so it is with drugs. EASILY DOPED Even a dose of salts administered on the morning of the race can spoil a dog’s chance in a race. And nothing would show. Imagine the folly of laying odds on or taking a short price about one dog whose form merited it, when, because of such a simple administration, he hasn’t a 10 to 1 chance of winning. A single drop of atropine can stili further extinguish a winning chance. Tie couldn’t see even a tin hare. And nobody could detect the use of the drug, providing it was administered at the right period before the race. There is the instance of the man who chewed tobacco at the slips. While the back of the others were turned, he spat with precision at the eye of the rival dog. There is nothing so effective in closing a dog’s sight of the hare. DOG WITH A LIVER A good feed is even detrimental to a dog’s chance, which recalls the ofttold story of whippet racing in West Australia, which in a way is similar to tin-hare racing. The owner, who had but one dangerous rival, decided to “fill” his own, and back the rival. He did so, and out they went for the race. He had given his own dog a feed of liver, and had backed the other for a substantial amount. But prancing about before the race, his dog had become upset. He vomited the liver. The other dog ate it, and after the meal couldn’t have raced a bulldog. Even the fastest and most proved dog at Epping may not win the race. Outstripping all his rivals he may get close enough to snatch at the tin hare. Such a procedure, however, effectually spoils his chance once the hare spurts again, with the result that some other dog wins. The speed of the hare is conti'olled by an operator in “the tower.”