Getting Through at the Rails

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 210, 24 November 1927, Page 6

Getting Through at the Rails

ALWAYS A CHANCE A mile and 75 yards is an unusual distance for a race, and is strongly disapproved of by the owner, and people who backed Market Hay for the Campsie Handicap at Canterbury, Sydney, last Saturday week. That extra 75 yards made all the difference between victory and defeat, and spoiled, a good betting venture. Market Hay is not the stout-hearted racehorse that battles on against odds, but when he entered the straight with a clear advantage, victory seemed certain. Frances Cyllene issued a challenge at the distance, but was shut in on the rails, and her prospects for a few. strides were hopeless. Then Market Hay wavered. He shifted away from the rails and left the opening that let Frances Cyllene through, and at the end she defeated him by a long neck. A PUSHING YOUNG MAN

Apprentice J. Finch, who rode Frances Cyllene, is a youth who thoroughly appreciates the advantage of taking the short cut to victory along the rails. He rarely misses an opening, and he has won many a race through sticking to this inside path and taking more experienced jockeys unawares.

Whether* he uses a cunning device adopted some time ago by a Brisbane jockey, who conceived the idea of screaming at the horse on the outside so that it would run wide, is doubtful. Perhaps it is just Finch’s good fortune to get these openings by waiting patiently. •* A notable difference between racing in Sydney and Melbourne is that a horse doesn’t get through on the inside once in 50 races on Victorian courses. Jockeys there stick closer to the fence and never let up. In Sydney there is always a chance, and that is why riders who have the courage displayed by Finch often snatch a lucky win on the rails. In Frances Cyllene’s race King Cyllene, who hadn’t won a race for over a year, was favourite, and punters fell over themselves to get on. In the race punters fell again, for he never looked a winner, and Linally was another well-backed candidate who ran poorly. MEETINGS TO COME November 26. 28.—Takapuna J.C. November 30. December I.—Feilding J.C. December 2. 3.—S Canterbury J.C. December 7, 8. Woodville Dist. J.C. December 10, 12.—TaOmarunui R.C. December 17 —Waipa R.C. December 26. 27. —Dunedin J.C. December 26.—Waipukurau J.C. December 26. 27.—Westland R.C. December 26. e 27. —Taranaki J.C. December 26, 27, 29. Manawatu R.C. December 26. 28. January 2. 3.—Auckland R-C-December 30. 31. January 2.—Greymouth J.C. December 31, January 2. Wairarapa R.C. January 2.—Waikouaiti R.C. January 2.—Wyndham R.C. January 2. 3.—Hawke's Bay J'.C. January 2, 3.—Stratford R.C. January 2, 3.—Marton J.C. January 3. 4.—Southland R.C. January 6. 7.—Reefton J.C. January 7, 9.r—Vincent J.C. January 12, 14. Dargaville R.C. January 14.—Ashburton Cty. R.C. January L 6. Waipapakauri R.C. January 17. 19. —Wairoa R.C. January 21.—Wairio J.C January 21. 23 —Foxton R.C. January 21, 23, 25.—Wellington R.C. January 28. 30.—Takapuna J.C. February 1-—Tapanui R.C February l, 2.—Pahiatua R.C. February 2, 4.—Egmont R.C.