When Lead Was Worth Its Weight In Gold

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 882, 28 January 1930, Page 12

When Lead Was Worth Its Weight In Gold

Prospectors Busy at Waipapakauri

Dealers freely pay a penny a pound—it might be twopence now —for lead. At Waipapakauri on Saturday lead was nearly worth its weight in gold. At the 4 o’clock “call’’ on Saturday afternoon, the price of lead reached its highest point, and there was none to be had at the moment. And time was precious. Boys of not so many years ago traded the lead of the old tea packets and other bits of this metal with the Chinaman in exchange for a few pence worth of specked fruit! Those were the days! But what has this got to do with horse racing? A whole lot. The second to last race on Saturday was the Beach High-Weight, horses to be ridden by hurdle or steeplechase jockeys. This event figures largely on race programmes these days in place of hurdle or steeplechase contests, for the tracks are considered rather hard on the horses’ legs when they land after clearing an obstacle And, in the case of country meetings, hurdle horses, like lead at Waipapakauri, are often times hard to find. When the time came to weigh out for the Beach High-Weight on Saturday, it was discovered that there was only one rider eligible. This was PI. Dulieu, who went up specially to ride Glena Bay in this event. In such cases, upon it being proved that the number of hurdle horsemen avail -

don, that nc ne of the riders had sufficient lead to draw the weight. There was only one decision possible. of course, and that was that there would be no race unless the correct weights were carried. So the local officials, beaming with satisfaction that they had got six starters, were dismayed at the prospect of seeing their efforts brought to naught—and all on account of a few pounds of lead, the cost of which would not have exceeded 255. But at that time it was invaluable. The next procedure was the most interesting. The officials, riders and trainers were soon scattered to all parts of the course, and to see them one might have been pardoned for mistaking them for prospectors. They were, too, and lead was the all important mineral in demand. What this piece of impromptu prospecting led to was not always lead, but it was mighty interesting, as indicating that the spirit of the pioneer is not yet dead. The racecourse, bereft of any buildings in the past when a non-totalisa-tor meeting had been conducted for 40 years, had in the preceding few* weeks undergone a transforma lion with its totalisator house, stewards’, members’ stand, horse boxes, bar (it is very hot in the Far North), and many chains of fencing, and there were still many things left lying round, for the workers, voluntary and involuntary, had been going at top to within a few minutes of the first race. The foraging party met with more success than even the hardiest Digger of war days could have hoped for. One came across a kit of plumbers’ tools, and they filled the bill —or rather the lead bags—admirably. What the plumber said afterward is not recorded, but his customers should feel grateful, for once on the job he would be under no necessity to go back for his tools! The genial president was one of the most ardent fossickers for lead, but. unlike the others, he knew where to go. That was to his limousine car, and from that there was produced a kit of tools—and the rubber floormat: Others searched for sacks to place between the lead-bags and the horse’s back, so that the presence of the unusual “lead” weights would not be too noticeable to the thoroughbred. In one or two cases it was “sacks on the horse’s back” rather’than sacks on the mill, which some of the jockeys could not have helped feeling when they eventually got aboard. The race was still far from being started, however. With all the recognised gear, plus outsizes in saddles, rubbers, etc., the next thing for the jockeys to do was to demand assistance to get to the scales to w r eigh out. The boys were struggling out of their room laden with their gear, and the door-step of the weighing-room was a bit high. Assistance in this direction was readily forthcoming, and the horses went out for their preliminaries. It was noticed, however, that most of the horses were walked and led, and not galloped. The race was eventually started about 25 minutes late, and under the circumstances this was not at all bad, especially when one comes to consider that the race might have been a complete wash-out. As for the contest itself, this was something of a thriller, for Royal Day, owned by the president of the club, was taken to the front at the start. Goldfinch tried to steal the race by leading all the way, and had Glena Bay not been admirably handled and in his best form, the plan might have been successful. It should be stated that the first four horses weighed in correctly, no tools or sacks being lost en route. This incident at Waipapakauri shows the difficulties that country clubs are confronted with. The acceptances for Saturday’s racing were quite big, but in no race could more than nine horses be started, for there were only eight jockeys in attendance. An amateur rider \vas roped in, and this made nine horsemen all told. That there should be two dividends in every race was somewhat remarkable, but the officials set themselves out to ensure this, and their efforts were amply rewarded. Although the lead incident in the Beach High-Weight was serious, with the prospect of the race having to be washed out altogether, it was most amusing to see the foraging party in action, and its splendid climax—a stirring race contested by half a dozen horses when at one time the race did not look like eventuating! It was a worthy reward for energy and resourcefulness.