NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1048, 12 August 1930, Page 12

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

JOCKEY MUNRO’S GERMAN EXPERIENCES RODE THE DERBY WINNER A well-known Melbourne bookmaker has sent a Sydney paper a copy of a letter which he has received from Mr. Jim Meara, who accompanied the Sydney jockey, Jim Munro, to Germany. Meara, writing from Berlin on June 11, states that Munro was having a great run of success, and had won most of the principal races of Germany. He stated that Alba, on whom Munro won the Berlin “Union,” was a really good horse, and in that race defeated the favourite, Ladro, by a couple of lengths in record time for the race. There were eight runners, and the distance of the event was a mile and three furlongs. Won the Derby Ho mentions that, all going well, Alba looked to have the German Derby won. His judgment was good, as that horse duly carried Jimmy first past the post. 11 o also stated that the Derby was worth £5,000, so apparently the* stakes have been raised in the lasT season ox* two. Like Sydney Both Munro and Meara were looking forward to their stay in Hamburg, where the Derby was run. Meara stated that they were both impressed by Hamburg, as it reminded them of Sydney, having a nice harbour and some very fine hotels. He added that if Munro won the Derby they would have a great time, as they do thing* in style, including a dinner ball and presentation to the winning jockey. “Beforo the ‘Union’ was decided ai Berlin.” wrote Meara, “the newspapers came out with headings. ‘ls Ladro Another Orleandcr?’ The latter was Baron Oppcnheirn’s champion the year before wo arrived, and is regarded as being one of the best horses ever seen in Germany. I do not think that Ladro is in his class. “It was really horsemanship that won Alba the race. The leading German jockey, Otto Schmidt, rode the favourite, and scrubbed him all the way. Everyone was shouting ‘Otto wins! Otto wins!’ when along came Jimmy at the finish and beat him easily. “Everything is done in great style at the races here,” continues Meara; but there is no money on the -side and little or no betting. Germans Not Gambler* ‘lTlie Gormans are not a gambling nation. There is a tote which deducts 164 per cent- and half a dozen bookmakers on the course, but they are isolated, and you would not know they were there. They have a couple of runners who read the tote and only mark up a few prices when the horses are at the barrier. Then, if you win, they deduct 10 per cent, from your ticket. “The shops in town operate at starting price only, betting tote odds, less 10 per cent., so you see the tax is 264 per cent. You will understand that there is no hope for the punter here. I have had four bets of £25 on the tote—three winners and one loser. The first was a good thing—it would have been 6 to 4 in Australia —but it returned odds of 5 to 1 on. The next should have been a 3 to 1 chance but the odds returned were 10 to 9 on. The third bet lost and the fourth won, and paid at the rate of 10 to 7 on. So you see there nothing in betting here. “Jimmy has heard from Sol Green, and there will be some riding in England for him later if he can fix the dates in. It is doubtful whether he will go, as he is making good money here, and it is no use leaving the substance for the shadow. Anyway, we will have a couple of weeks in London beforo returning home. “From what we see, hear and think ourselves there is no place like Australia for racing.”