DESERT GOLD DOWNED.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 October 1918, Page 7

DESERT GOLD DOWNED.

BEATEN BY A SHORT HEAD IN RECORD TIME. j I'OITREL PROVES A CHAMPION. (By "Iroquois" in Tim Sun.) The opening of tjic spring carnival at Randwick provided a day of surprises. There were outsiders in the Epsom and. the Trial, but a climax was reached when the greatest of modern champions, Desert Gold, went dowp before Poitrel,. a horse who was known to be good, but' who was never in the most extravagant, imaginings thought to be capable of downing a performer of her class under such phenomenal conditions. Poitrel's victory was achieved in the most thrilling circumstances. At the top of the straight Desert Gold had settled the pretensions of Cagou and Kennaquhair, and just when it was thought she Would come away and win easily, Poitrel, wide on the outside of the course, emerged from the ruck. He was galloping at a great rate, and stride by stride he gained on the mare. At the furlong post Desert Gold was still clear, and even at this stage few dreamed that Poitrel would continue his run and beat the champion. « At the 'half-furlong he had reached her girths, and from that out it was a stupendous struggle which kept a multitude numbering 55,000 tenso and silent. Inch by inch the chestnut gained on Desert Gold in the last hundred yards, and when, with a final dash over the last three strides, horse and rider threw their last effort into the struggle, and Poitrel gained the supremacy there was a great shout. "Desert Gold is bpaten!" was thecry, and although not a great many could tell with certainty which had won, so close was the finish, the cry was taken up from one end of the Leger to the further extremity of the grandstand enclosure. Desert Gold was beaten, but the judge's verdict was only for a short head. Excuses were found for her, but no excuses wore needed. Her performance was full of merit, and there was but a small, if any, discrepancy on her side, in the division of the honors of the race. It was her first outing fo- some months, wlhereas Poitrel had had several runs lately. Again she made all her own running, and although there is nothing unusual in this so far as she is concerned, the extenuating circumstances were to be found in the pace she set. It takes a good horse to lead Gagou in a weight-for-age race, but Desert Gold cleared right away from him at one stage, and in doing so she no doubt drew largely on her reserves of strength. Nevertheless, there was no faltering when it came to the finish. She answered every call, and answered it like the wonderful racehorse she is. POITREL'S TRIUMPH. When the betting on the Spring Stakes opened the bookmakers demanded 4 to 1 on Desert Gold, and although those odds seemed prohibitive, punters, who had been having a losing day, put their money on the mare as if she could not be beaten. It was 14 to 1 bar one.

Desert Gold streaked away from the lead, and although Gagou, a .notable pacemaker in weiglit-for-age events, tried to foot it with her, she was always two or three lengths ahead of him. The field was strung out till Kensington was reached, but at the turn it closed up, and Prince Viridis and Kennaquhair went in pursuit of the leader, and Poitrel was noticed making a fine run through the field. In the straight, Desert Gold was a couple of lengths ahead of Kennaquhair, who made a forward move, but was almost immediately beat-' en. Just when Desert Gold looked like coming right away Poitre) set sail after her wide on the outside. At the furlong Desert Gold was still clear. At the half-furlong Poitrel was within half a length, People expected Desert Gold to come away again then, but it was Poitrel who finished best, and gaining inch by inch he drew level with the champion. Bracken, despite his recent illness, rode with wonderful vigor, and the final effort by 'horse and rider gave him a short-head verdict on the post. , BACKED HEAVILY FOB CUP. The winner was bred by his owners, W and F. A. Moses, and is by St.' i Ahvync (a notable sire of stayers) from I Poinard, by Metal from Pona, his dam thus being a full sister to the Derby winner Parsce. Poitrel went through his" two-year-old season without a win, and his first victory was last Christmas in the Holiday Handicap. He followed that np by a victory in the Summer Cup —lie was awarded the race after the disqualification of Chantemerlo for interference—and subsequently Tattersail's Cup. A LUCKY BUYER. Desert Gold was beaten, but another feature of the day's racing gave the New Zealanders. something to boast about. It was the fine performance registered by Gloaming in the Derby. Like Desert Gold, he made all his own pace, and although many people would have, argued before the race that this would be fatal for a son of The Welkin, he accomplished the task set him in the manner of a true racehorse. After the. Derby the talk turned to Mr G. D, Greenwood's phenomenal success in the purchase of yearlings. Two years in succession he went to the Victorian market for a youngster. One year he picked Biplane, tho next Gloaming. For Biplane Ihe gave 375gn5., and for Gloaming 230gns. Biplane won the Derbies at Randwick and Flemington, besides three other races, the whole aggregating in value £10.297, and if Gloaming is to be run in Victoria he will win nearly as much. He is another Biplane, a true galloper, who gets the utmost speed out of the least effort, and if he does not turn out a better horse than Biplane many good jiidgss will be. surprised. DAY OF TIME-RECORDS. The day was remarkable for the times put up in several of the races. The first was the Hurdle, in which Lord Nagar ran the two miles in threequarters of a second better than the previous world's record achieved two years ago by The Spire. Soon afterwards Gloaming did his Derby journey in 2.331, which was only a second outside of Noctuiform's phenomenal time for the race in 1905. Rebus ran the mile of the Epsom Handicap in Imin. 38sec, and this was only a quarter of a second outside of tlie record for the race held by Portrush, and which stands as the best mile for Australia. The great achievement of the day, however, was Poitrel's mile and a half in 2min. 31sec. in the Spring Stakes. Thir«reduce&.by liif a second-the Ajos*

tralasian record for tiiie distance previously shared by Comedy King, who put up his time in the Essendbn Stakes at Fleniington in laid, and Cagou, who accomplished his time in the Metropolitan when ho won that race for the first time in 1913.

In the last race vi the day there was another time record, Baltic Sea doing his seven furlongs in lmin. 2(isec. which equalled the best figures for that distance at Kandwiclc achieved by Panacre, Koyal Laddie, Eulacre, and Sweet Corn. Baltic Sea led most of the way, so that there was a great deal of meritin his performance.