Racing Recollections

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 544, 22 December 1928, Page 10

Racing Recollections

Former Owner Recalls Turf Experiences

ME,. G. L. STEAD, owner of many good horses in his day, writes some of his recollections for readers of The Sun.

Standing in front of me is a silver ! trophy engraved “Hororata Cup, 1915 j won by G. L. Stead’s Moulu.” This brings back an incident which seldom happens to an owner. After the race, the president of the club (now the owner of Limerick) said, “Here is the cup—you don’t want a speech, do you?” Moulu, by the way, is a sister to the dam of Count Cavour, but none of the family, bar the Count, have lived up to the family breeding. Ormolu by Orme from Hey Presto could gallop very fast on the tracks, but her knees would not stand a solid preparation. Ormolu was the only horse I ever started in a race with a prayer that it would not win at first time of starting. She was in the Middle Park Plate at Riccarton. Being a maiden, sired north of the line, from a maiden mare, etc., she would receive 281bs allowance, but With all her yearling experiences of travelling out from England she was green. 1 thought a race in the Filly Stakes on the first day would be experience for her before running in the Middle Park Plate, but a win would not only take her maiden allowance away but give her a penalty—hence my prayer. When she finished fourth in the Filly Stakes. I was quite pleased, but the next day she was so sore in the knees she could not raise a gallop. However, I had the pleasure later of winning the Middle Park Plate with Sauci and Surveyor. PUZZLING TO PUNTERS Here is another unusual incident in connection with this race. Sauci was a maiden, but had raced so badly prior to Christmas that he was left at home. When we returned after Christmas and O’Donnell sprinted him, his ability to gallop was extraordinary, so I nominated him for the Flying Handicap at Wanganui, to be run after the Middle Park Plate, as there were no penalty clauses for the Flying. Sauci was handicapped at 6.7, but could not run into a place in the Flying, having won the Middle Park Plate. Surely a problem? for punters! During my first years as an owner, my brother, W. G. Stead and I had a little brown filly called Culprit, and her debut in racing was the Stepniak Stakes at Oamaru, run after the Dunedin Stakes, which had been won by a fine big colt of Sir George Clifford’s, called Masterpiece. He was also a runner in the Stepniak Stakes. Culprit did not begin as quickly as her track barrier practice indicated, but she duly won. After the race I asked the starter, the late Harry Piper, if Culprit was green at the barrier, and his reply was, “Oh no—l picked she would be a nuggety quick beggar, so I gave the big colt a bit the best of it.” W’here does the handicapper commence his work? It is stale news to state that Culprit put up during that year a stake-win-ing record for two-year-olds, winning among others the Welcome in Christchurch and the Foal Stakes in Auckland. Breeding is an extraordinary thing. Culprit’s grand dam ITortense was known in Victoria as the Flying Hortense; Culprit was the only one to reproduce that form, although many have tried. STARLAND WINS THE PRINCE’S CUP Old Starland had many experiences. The first time I saw him was in a race as a two-year-old at Riccarton. He was then owned by Mr. C. G. Dalgety, who also ran another two-year-old which played up after the preliminary and would not come back to face the starter. The boy on Starland rode him back and led up his fractious mate. I thought, there is a great big good-nat-ured two-year-old, so I asked Mr. Dalgety what he would take for Starland. He said, “450 guineas.” I said, “Make it pounds and he is mine.” He ran nowhere in my interests. That was his only start as a two-year-old. Next year, somebody, not me, had a great win off him at Auckland when he was in a hack race with Ben Deeley up, and paid the limit. Toward the close of this season the Prince of Wales was in New Zealand, and at a complimentary meeting there was a £6OO hack race of one and a-quarter miles. Naturally I was very anxious to win

it, but one more win would put Starland out of the hack class, so I could not run him again until the nominations closed for the Prince's meeting. The only meeting available then was at Ashburton, which was run a week prior to the Prince’s visit. I ran Starland in the Ashburton Cup, and a bit to my surprise he duly beat the open company, but that was nothing to my surprise when the public let him pay £ 4 odd in a field of hacks even with 9st. 51b. on his back a week later. I have, as I call it, the ‘‘Prince’s Cup.” in front of me now, and I treasure it only second to the two G. G. Stead Gold Cups. Starland was well and truly out of hack company, so I thought of the Auckland Cup for him. He had had a hard year’s racing as a three-year-old, so I did not think it fair to try the New Zealand Cup. During July I met Hector Gray and asked him if he would ride Starland in the Auckland Cup at 7st. 81b. I stated that I expected him to get about 7st. 51b.. but I would prefer Gray a few pounds over to a boy. Gray accepted the ride. I ran Starland in a nine-furlong welter at Riccarton in November with Gray up, and we backed him, thinking a win would not bring his weight beyond 7st. 81b., but he ran very fresh and got nowhere. Bang went £200! 1 then nominated him in the Te Awamutu Cup, and as he had been handicapped at 6st. 101 b. for the Auckland. I said, “Let’s win the Te Awamutu Cup and get penalised for the Auckland Cup, as I cannot get a good boy at 6st. 101 b. for Aucckland.

I put £ 300 on Starland in the To Awamutu race—£so each for O’Donnell and Gray, the balance for myself, but he only ran third. After the race there were a lot of nasty things said, but I had to pay the tote £ 300. As luck would have it, poor little Tommy Glover became disengaged for the Auckland Cup, and Dick Hannon let me have him, with pleasant results, but after the Te Awamutu race I did not invest a penny piece on him at Auckland. As far as betting was concerned, Starland was a very bad horse for me, as on another occasion, years later, I gave a man money to invest for me on Starland in the steeplechase at Paeroa, where he won and paid over £l4. Neither was the money put on, no did I even get my money back. BON TON AND BON REVE

Seeing an enlarged photograph of a horse called Bon Ton, a friend asked: Was he a good horse? My reply was, “He and Scion, owned by Mr. Eric Riddiford, were the only two genuine stayers Boniform got. A remarkable thing about Bon Reve and Bon Ton! My brother and I raced .hem both as three-year-olds in partnership. Bon Ton, from early spring until after Christmas, could always beat Bon Reve on the track from half a mile upwards. Bon Reve won his first two starts as a three-year-old, including the Wanganui Guineas, and Bon Ton his only start (prior to November) the Hawke’s Bay Guineas. After they had both been raced, we tried them definitely over a mile, and Bon Ton again showed great superiority, so we decided to keep Bon Reve for the Stewards and Bon Ton for the Derby. Bon Reve, with Bst. 61b. as a gelding, duly ran a dead heat in the Stewards with Starland’e dam. Stardance,‘6st. 101 b., the same age. We then started Bon Reve and Bon Ton in the Derby, the former to make it a solid-run race, and with the late Arthur Olliver in the saddle he made it so solid they never caught him. Again in a few track trials before Christmas Bon Ton was superior, but in the Great Northern Derby Bon Reve was first and Bon Ton second.

In the Dunedin Cup, won by Flora MacDonald, owned by the late Mr. Hugo Friedlander, I still think Bon Ton was very unlucky, being ridden by Hector Gray. This horseman was retained by me during that year, and after the Dunedin Cup asked if he could go to Australia to ride Woolalo in the Australian Cup. I consented, as he promised to return immediately afterwards. Poor old Hector! I wish he had kept his promise, as he would not have got into his first serious trouble in Australia, and might have still been riding with us to-day. Such is Fate! G. L. STEAD. (To be continued.)