SIX CRASHES IN HURDLES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 957, 28 April 1930, Page 12

SIX CRASHES IN HURDLES

LIGHT CASUALTY LIST To receive two falls from horses in less than 48 hours, and to be "winged” on each occasion. That was hurdle horseman J. Sharkey's experience last week. He followed the hounds at the open iog meet of the Pakuranga Hunt Club on Thursday, his mount being Gittering Gold. That all is not gold that glitters, the daughter of Yalkvriaa showed when she crashed at a fence and to make matters worse, she rolled over on Sharkey and had him Tinned ;o the ground for some time. Sharkey got out of it somewhat luckily with bruises, a good shake-up ur.d a limp. Soon Out Of It On Saturday he limped on to the Avondale Racecourse and took the mount on Quincoma in the Avt ndale Hurdles, but once again his luck; was out —or was it right in? Quincoma tossed out at the very first obstacle and Sharkey received this time a fractured shoulder, which made him a cot case at the Auckland Hospital. At this he appeared to set out of it rather luckily. When Quincoma fell at the first fence on Saturday the favourite. Opa. also wont, the pair following the example of Archeen. who had crashed a fractha before. Thus three horses were out of the contest early in the piece. As was pointed out in these columns recently Opa was not a gilt-edged proposition! for his jumping the second day at Feilding was anything but good. Three More Out When the field came round to the same hurdle the second time, they were strung out. and most of them were dogtired. Three more fell at intervals here. They were Thursby, Grand Arch and Xegress. Brady and M. Xicol, the respective riders of Archeen and Opa, were injured to the extent of a dislocated thumb and slight hurt to shoulder, 1 espectively. Strangely enough the riders of the first three horses to fall were the injured parties. The othtafe three got off unscathed. No doubt the riders of Grand Arch, Thursby and Negress knew what to expect from their very tired mounts and were prepared for the worst. Forewarned is forearmed. Their case was altogether different lo that witnessed at a Waverley meeting a few years back. A well-known obstacle horseman had been engaged for a reputedly good jumper, but arliving on the course he was flabbergasted to learn that most of the old hands were awaiting with suspicious tagerness to see him riding this “outlaw.” The race was started not 50 very far from the first hurdle, and here the jockey decided to make his e.xit. He did. for he appeared to deliberately jump off his horse. He was not hurt. Avoncourt Unlucky In the Chevalier Handicap on Saturday Avoncourt was running prominently on the outside of a couple of other horses just passing the half-mile post, when she was seen to drop her rider, E. Ludlow. The jockey was picked up by the ambulance and sent to hospital with back and head injuries, which were not considered serious. Complaints were made to The Sun representative that at the hurdle near the bottom of the straight where all the falls occurred, a number of boys were lying right under the rails looking at the horses jumping, and uttering the usual yells that boys will make when they get excited. This would not tend to let the horses jump carefullv and and it has been put down by some of those on the spot as directly responsible for the falls mentioned. Xobody should be permitted v. ithin yards of the hurdles during a race.