JUMPING SEASON

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 634, 10 April 1929, Page 12

JUMPING SEASON

OPENS NEXT MONTH THE MARTON FIXTURE Less than four weeks from now th . cross-country racing season win with us, and racegoer- will have solve. a nun,V ' er ot n£ " v WblemTS The club that will introduce v in-, racing: in the Dominion is the M ln . Jockey Club, whose one-dav meet will be held on Saturday. May f/w ins as it does the week before the vv mont Eacing Club s fixture and a fST nisht before the Wanganui wanted meetins, the Marton gathering a™," prove a popular one with owners ant trainers as well as with racegoers cl” erally. It will afford an opportunity fn those whose charges claim important engagements to give them several out ings in public before the Great North ern meeting at Ellerslie and will assist in getting ‘chasers an a hurdlers ready for the big campaign It was quite a new move on the pat of the Marton Club to decide on a winter meeting and it arises through the decision to take a day from th spring meeting and experiment on an early winter fixture. Present lndica tions are that it is going to prove both popular and profitable, and th> committee have framed a programme that should meet with wide approval With the opening of the cross-coun-try season the principal event on the card must, of course, be the Marton Steeplechase, which is an open handi-' cap run over a course of about two and a-half miles. The stake will be £3ou of which amount the winner gets £225. This should prove an atraction for the "early birds." Then there i» the opening event, the Open Hurdles which lias £175 in stake money allotted it. The distance is set down at a mile and a-haJf, which is certainly not too strenuous a task for any hurdler.

These two events comprise the jumpers’ portion of the programme. On the flat there will be two open events, the Crofton Handicap, of £260. and the Flying Handicap, of £2OO. In addition three races are provided for hacks and these also should receive attention from those interested.

The programme is an attractive on*, and therefore owners and trainers should not lose sight of the fact that nominations for all events close on Tuesday next, April 16, at 9 p.m. Handicaps will be issued on Monday, April 22, and acceptances for all events will close on Friday, April 26, at 9 p.m.

The Marton Club has 60 loose-boxes adjoining tlie racecourse and there is accommodation for 60 trainers and attendants at the club's hostel.

A Jockey's Suspension Writes “Sir Modred” in the Southland “Times”: Tlie following example of cheap moralising by "St. Clair,” of the Dunedin “Star, will direct attention to the fact that the writer concerned does not pen remarks in a similar strain about alleged happenings in his home province, nor will very many unbiased people present at the Riverton R.C. iixture agree with his version of the case referred to as follows:

“The suspension of L. J. Ellis for one month by the Judicial Committee o: the Riverton Racing Club for crossing Borne Rose in the Gold Cup race was purposely delayed until after the lasi race on the afternoon so that he could carry out his riding engagements that day, and when the sentence was announced many thought it was lor some offence in the last race. The same excuse was put forward by Ellis to the Riverton Committee as to the Gore Committee last month, that he thought he was two lengths clear when he crossed over, but as at Gore the evidence of the other riders called c.early showed that there was not the required margin. There may have been doubts about the Gore decision in the minds of some people, but any of those who saw the incident at Riverton must realise that the action of that club’s Judicial Committee was right. With the important riding engagements young Ellis had at Riverton, and th© good chance he had of heading the list of winning jockeys this season, a month’s suspension may appear an unduly severe sentence, but this class of riding, whether intentional or accidental, must be, put down with a firm hand. I do not think for one moment that Ellis’s actions either at Gore or Riverton were intentional, and that it was purely in his eagerness to win that he committed the offences. One thing stands well in young Ellis’s favour, and that is the frankness with which he gave his evidence both at Gore and Invercargill. There was no attempt to evade the truth nor attach the blame on anyone else. Ellis is still only a boy, and though he may j think the punishment too severe, he i must take it as part of his training, and it will serve to make a better horseman of him in the future.” With reference to ‘St. Clair’s” advice to L. J. Ellis, the leading jockey of New Zealand to-day has three elder brothers who rank high in integrity in the New Zealand turf world and who are quite competent to advise him if necessary without any call upon the Dunedin pressman to tender his hypocritical observations. There are at least three budding young horsemen in Otago who have never received a word of encouragement from this self-elected adviser to Southland jockeys, starters, liandicappers and clubs in general, and the youngsters referred to might be encouraged by a little friendly recognition. However. racing people of Southland know how to sum “St. Clair” up at his true worth as he at one time resided in the home province and is not yet forgotten.