Campbell Handicap Erased from Card

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 387, 22 June 1928, Page 6

Campbell Handicap Erased from Card

MARK MEMORIAL SUBSTITUTED TRIBUTE TO LATE SECRETARY The memory of the late Mr. C. F. Mark, who for nearly 40 years carried out the secretarial duties of the Auckland Trotting Club, is being preserved among the lightharness fraternity by the inclusion on the winter programme of a handicap bearing his name, and which has been suitably given pride of place on the attractive card. The C. F. Mark Memorial Handicap, which will be decided to-morrow for the first time, has taken the place of the Campbell Handicap, which for a considerable number of years has formed the chief item on the opening day of the Auckland Club’s third and final meeting of the season. This fixture was, until recently, held in the autumn, but a couple of seasons back it became the winter carnival and the Campbell Handicap still held sway in the question of first-day importance. This contest, whether held in the autumn or winter, has been productive of keen competition and many thrilling finishes have been witnessed at Alexandra Park, and some high-class performers have succeeded in getting their name inscribed on the Campbell Handicap roll of honour. Eight years ago the time limit for this even.t was 4.39, but such has been the progress made by the club that at the present juncture the substituted Mark Memorial Handicap is for a 4.31 class. The stake has also been substantially increased during this period. Some Good Winners Partner won the Campbell Handicap of 1920, registering 4.37, and the following year that great and popular grey mare Steel Bell captured the first prize in similar time. The 1922 contest was reduced to a 4.37 limit, and Tom Roe was again successful, this time with Gold Girl, who also recorded 4.37 for the two-mile journey. The next year the class was tightened another second and Peter Riddle with Minton Derby collared the thick end of the purse in 4.43 2-5. Another clip of the limit wings by one point was effected in 1924, when Waitaki Girl showed her appreciation of heavy

going by winning in 4.54 1-5. Then Billy Sea found the class 4.34, but was only required to go 4.37 2-5 to pay a first dividend. This ended the autumn fixtures and in 1926 the winter was well advanced when the flags were unfurled at the Park. The Campbell Handicap was set at 4.33, and Logan Lou became the winner in 4.46 1-5. New Zealand Cup Possibility Last year that high-class pacer Terence Dillon visited Auckland and gave Northerners a taste of his ability by winning nicely in 4.42 3-5 on a soft track. Since then Terence again presented himself at headquarters, where he won the Otahuhu Cup in 4.25. This and his remarkable effort on the concluding day, when he ran second to Sea Pearl, made a deep impression on a large number of local followers of the sport, and his chances of success in the 1928 New Zealand Cup are held in high regard in this locality. The field that will parade to-morrow for the first event carrying the name of the club’s late secretary is a very strong one both in quality and quantity, and the event promises to be out* that will set a high standard for future Mark Memorial contests. New Starting Gate The stall starting gate, in which the horses line up to the barrier in small stalls, was given a few trials at the Lexington (Kentucky) meeting in April. There were 10 runners for the race in which it was first tried, and it took three minutes to get the horses into their respective stalls. One jockey had a narrow escape from injury owing to his mount unseating him while in its stall, and some of the other runners left their stalls so slowly that it made the start a bad one. In the second race in which the machine was used, the barrier in front of one stall did not work, and the horse was left altogether. In another, the horses got away well. The new idea has greatly taken the fancy of some racing men, and one of New York’s leading trainers remarked: “You can’t stop the stall starting gate coming into general use any more than the airplane can be halted.” American fields are as a rule on the small side.