Waikato’s Equine Population Is Increasing in Numbers

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 304, 15 March 1928, Page 6

Waikato’s Equine Population Is Increasing in Numbers

District Gets Share of Stakes

DURING a tour of the South Auckland district THE SUN correspondent was struck by the large number of horses that are in work and under training orders. An assessment of the amount of money that is circulated each season in the feeding, preparation and. general essentials of the various training establishments would also be interesting if it could be accurately arrived at.

FJYHAMES, Paeroa, T 6 Aroha, Matamata, Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Hamilton are each, headquarters of big teams, and Rotorua, Morrinsville, Ngaruawahia and Te Kuiti have an odd few to add to the list. On a conservative estimate- there would be

300 horses for whom training fees are being met at the seven leading points referred to. Sharing Well in the Money One phase of the question that comes to notice in this equine analysis is that the number of country-trained horses is steadily on the increase in the Auckland Province. The demands being made upon the training facilities directly surrounding Auckland City are so great that alleviation is a natural happening and the country is reaping the benefit. This feature will be even more marked as time goes on. Those who have kept themselves in touch with the stake-earning figures, season by season, during the past decade, will acknowledge that the stables in the centres away from headquarters have achieved particularly successful results in the financial sense.

Wise in his Generation The trainer of to-day is wise in his generation. He realises that slipshop methods will not do. To hold his place he must be capable of getting results. Half the battle .in reaching that end is in the way he tackles the business. Ninety-five per cent, of the progress in the direction of winning races lies along the route from the feed box to th© starting post. Taking a general survey , the South Auckland trainers have the points of hygienic stabling conditions, good feeding, systematic training, judicious placing of horses and selection of riders (where such is possible) down to a methodical formula. Th© quality of the horse and the ability of the trainer are factors which have varying degrees of efficiency. In the broad sense there is an enhanced “tone” about th© operations directed at stable and track in these days, which is a testimony to those who are in the business. On these points the trainer in the rural areas can be graded equally, at least, with his confrere of the city. Tracks Lose Their Firmness The various tracks in South Auckland have lost their firm facings as the outcome of several good falls of rain during the past fortnight. Matamata has had, perhaps, less moisture than the others, while Te Awamutu,

because of its sandy formation, could stand a mare sustained fall than most surfaces in the country. Trainers who know both say the latter circuit resembles Woodville.

All round, however, the “tenderfoots” have had their palliative and there will be no dearth of activity from this out. With the sting out of the ground all horses may be worked. From the speed point of view, however, the conditions likely to obtain from now till the spring are just as much an anathema to some horses as flint-like surfaces ar e . to others. There will be fewer “cot cases,” however, even if some cannot handle the ground as effectively as when xhey were on top.