Te Kuiti Will Race at Ellerslie

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 356, 17 May 1928, Page 6

Te Kuiti Will Race at Ellerslie

JUNE 30 AND JULY 2 % A WINTER PROGRAMME The annual meeting of the Te Kuiti | Racing Club will be held at Ellerslie [ on Saturday, June 30, and Monday, j July 2, these dates having been ap- j proved by the Auckland District Com- j mittee, and the president of the Rue- j ing Conference. The programme provides for seven j races each day, and will include an j open steeplechase, hack and hunters* i steeplechase, and hurdle races. The ! prize money totals £ 3,150. CLASS IN AUSTRALIA A GERMAN CRITIC “NO LEG TO STAND ON” Recent criticism of the class of horses racing in Australia at the present time has drawn the following reply by a writer in the “Australasian”: “We in Australia have no desire to decry the English or Irish horses that are now racing in India, but nevertheless there is ample evidence that our own horses are superior to the best racing in that country. On Saturday last I discussed the question with a jockey who has been riding in India for years and who is now in Melbourne on two months’ holiday. I questioned him as to the class now racing in India in comparison with our best horses. “He said: ‘There is no doubt that horses of the class of Trivalve and Winalot would have little trouble in winning the best races in India. Horses like Manfred, Heroic and Windbag would sweep the board, and I would like to have Spearfelt at his best for the Viceroy’s Cup and be offered the mount. Limerick Top Class “ ‘As for Limerick, he would not only beat anything in India from two furlongs to two miles, but from what I have seen of English racing he would with top class in that country. In India the horse who has both speed and stamina can win a considerable amount of money, but Indian owners know full well that it is little use asking rich Australians to place a price on their best horses.’ With all due respect to Herr Becker —the critic (a German) referred to—who has only book knowledge of racing in India and Australia, I would much sooner the opinion of the jockey I have quoted—who has ridden in England, India and Australia —than his. Herr Becker mentions that the Australianbred Parses has been a failure in Germany. That is not our fault.® Germans Fell In “Parsee was not even the best of his year as a three-year-old, but if a German with a large purse comes along and offers a ridiculous price for a horse, who would have received little chance at the stud, can an Australian breeder be blamed for accepting it? Our thanks are due to ‘Roamer’ and Mr. Stanhope for rallying to the support of the Australian horse, and while we are breeding horses of the type of Trivalve, Winalot, Mollison and others, to say nothing of Limerick and the heroes of yesterday in Windbag, Heroic, Manfred, and Spearfelt, they have nothing to fear, for they are boosting good goods. We are 13,000 miles away from England, but we can at least boast of some successes in important English races. I wish Becker would compile a list of the successes of German-bred horses in English races, and they are only a few hundred miles away. But what is the use of arguing with him. He naturally cannot see anything good in anything British, and I suppose if I had been locked up in a German prisoners’ camp for the duration of the war i would not be too pleased with anything German.”