COMPARISONS IN TROTTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 408, 17 July 1928, Page 10

COMPARISONS IN TROTTING

AMERICANS STILL LEAD THE WAY IN TESTS OF SPEED Comparisons are said to b. odious. It is not so in the trot ting world, for it is an official far. that the record for pacers i America .s 8 3-5 faster than th!H of New Zealand. n,t If the present holder of record* in both countries were to k* matched. Dan Patch (1.55* could concede Acron (2.3 3-5), 125 y lv » a mile and dead-heat with him writes -Mascot** in Saturday’. Christchurch "Sun.” AS fur trotters. -New Zealand i, ilnvvii the course, for while Peter Man. nin " 1.5(13. is repeating ntilea undn two minutes in America. Revenue. 2.r 4-a. Still holds the record for horses u' his gait in the Dominion. And r. venue's performance was aoo. .mplish.. in mo: So if the two trottSTSS meet in a contest. Peter Marmc. would have to gave Revenue lTjvc start in eight furlongs. What a differ! j ence! Yet certain light-harness ri thusiasts contend that New Zealand H ■ now on the verge of entering ■. realms of tlie two-minute iterformer Addington Track Fast Many, of course, will argue that tr I tracks in America are faster than to dington is. According ro an authorm i from America who examined u* | course at Addington, the footing .. ■ headquarters, is. at times, as f„ t u , '

ALL WELL AT TAUPIRI r |’HE Taupiri owner. Charles. w a> exceedingly unfortunate during the season in having His good pacer Rock Hinton on the inactive li*t j while he was also minus the services of the promising trotter Sean Triubhais for the major portion of the racing period. Last year the Nut Ansel gelding was a good stake - earner, and Reg. Woods succeeded in lifting handsome cup* for his client. The pacer wa* only geared up once this season at Ngaruawahta, but he did not display a semblance of form and was not persevered with. The trotting son of Gold Bell was tried out at the earlier fixtures but did not come right and he was not hustlod along any further. Both, however, have got over their troubles and promise to be in good order when activities commence again, and the green and gold livery should be in evidence again during the 1928-29 season.

! I—l—l—l—X-X-H-H->rrr- | any in the United States. It was so or i the day on which Acron did 2.3 3-s when he won the .Free-for-All in 15>!4 And bear in mind that he had Realm j and Logan Chief at his throat-lash. ; making him do it. The oft-made inquiry about when New Zealand is going to produce a two-minute pacer can be answered to the effect that at present we are almost as far from the enchanted circle as we are from the moon. And yet. during the present season the subject of our horses approaching two-minute speed has been referred to often, anc quite a few enthusiasts have prophesised that Native Chief could achieve the honour. Many horses have hao the distinction of going a mile in tiro minutes claimed for them, but the off cial record does not contain evidtnet of their accomplishment. Acron Nearest to 2.0 The nearest that New Zealand got to the charmed circle is Acron - 2.3 3-a. And. as the holder of the Australasian mile record has failed to improve upon his best performance of 1924, there is little likelihood of hi? bettering it. Native Chief, who dw 2.4-5 in April last, is our best hop* for two-minute honours. To become eulogistic about the IXj minion’s possibilities of possessing • j two-minute pacer, when it is yet 3 3seconds away from its goal, is fooU?h } for 3.3-5 seconds represent 55yds—» ! long way from the two-minute objective. * For comparisons, I have compiled * list of the 10 fastest horses is - Nr * Zealand, and the 10 fastest in America Sound Breeding A feature of the compilation is ti* . improvement in speed which, of coot?' has been brought about by the impe»- ; Lation of members of America’s b*>‘ j families, and by more thought being ! paid to breeding. Thus, it would seem that New Zealand is on the right road to prodixj ing, ultimately, a two-minute borne Another pleasing feature of the comparisons is the evidence gleaned rr ‘ ! gar ding the six pacers in the schedui* with records of 2.5 and better, all : i which have been done since 1924. Before that year Our Thorpe 2.6 1-3 , laide .Direct 2.6 2-5. Country Belle 2 *« and Great Hope 2.7 4-5 were the Us j est. Until the descent of those on record-smashing King Cole 2 H •* J and Emmeline 2.S 3-5 were in • sion of the honours for many year* * ’ jit is manifest that a big increase >" j speed has taken place during the P*-“ j four years. But we still are a *°n* } way from the two-minute arena. Interesting Comparison As a comparison the people J ' ; America have been thrilled by P* ,ef> ind trotters going miles in better that j two minutes, for many years. The following are the 14 Ii^ te , ( horses in the light-harness 1 } each of the two countries: New Zealand llealm . . - --5 Ilappy Voy age .. .. • • -- H W Native Chief Logan Chief 2.4 Great Bingen * - Our Thorpe E * i - Adelaide Direct ; Country Belle i Great Hope Z.s *’* America Dan Patch 1 Peter Maiming *•??* Directum 1 -^* Uhlan - • - L.ee Ax worthy Xedda 1 Margaret Dillon Mis* Harrison '£* Don Dillon J-g* -Minor Heir I-**' _