Interesting Sidelights On Australian Racing Depicted By Dr. Leach, Daily Racing Form, 1915-04-12

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INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS ON AUSTRALIAN RACING DEPICTED DEPICTEDBY BY DR LEACH Love of the horse and horse racing stand out prominently as one of the chief characteristics 01 the Australian people who by their willing attend ance at all of tl larger race meetings show their appreciation of ti fe horse and his merits in no un certain manner Itaclng in Australia differs in many respects from racing as it is now carried on in this country In that southern continent riicing is regarded more as a sport and less of a business than it is with us commercialism is less rampant change of venue is frequent and on big days a general holiday spirit teems to prevail Of course there is betting plenty of it Almost everyone bets more or less and 1 dont know that they are one whit tlie worse oiT Outside of the speculative end there are many good folks who attend the races purely from love of the sjiort and there are others who attend to see and be seen to foregather with their friends enjoy the bright sunshine and have a good time generally Kacing in Australia is not hurried through with as It is with us On tlie big racing days at Flem ington and Itandwick the opening event is set for one oclock an hours interval is allowed for lunch ami the last race of the day is run off at live oclock whereas in this country half n dozen races are crowded into a short two and onehalf hours and sometimes even lesn lesnPookmaking Pookmaking is the form of speculation which still holds sway in Australia or rather in Victoria and New South Walls South Australia having adopted tlie totalizator some time ago and recent advices seem to indicate that the machines will soon be in operation in the other states as well Hotikmaking I must say always presents some un ¬ desirable features and is not conducted in an alto gether satisfactory manner in tuiy quarter of the globe and Australia is no exception to this rule No prices ara posted speculators having for the most part to rely upon the lung power ot the book ¬ maker for the desired information and it is neccs sary to price a horse several times before a fair average price can be obtained In the old days tilings were appreciably worse This was before Robert Sutton Sevier of Sceplre fame Institute the l ag paying after every race but the system is Jjy no means perfect ycJ andwojiit Jm until tlie totalizator is officially authorized A favorite forin of vHictilation down under is iiettlug on doubles Wagers are made sometimes six months ahead practically at your own price and occasionally one of these doubles goes through as was the case when Alirod won the Cmullleld and Posinatus tlie Melbourne Cup the lucky gucsser drawing to the extent of sotnij 175000 A truce however to butting 1 started out to tell you some thing of Australian racing breeding and training methods Australians I take It are tho mrsst en ¬ thusiastic turfmen in the world Tlie Australian is a born horseman comes of a line of horsemen ami I will venture to state there is not a town or vill ¬ age in all Australia which does not hold an annual r semiannual race meeting and sometimes there is no town at all For instance there is Lancelield Collie lifty miles to the northwest of Mellxiurne Lancelield consists of a rickety old grandstand planted in a wide grassy paddock pasture where the races are run The course is marked out by a couple of ploughed furrows yet the Lancelield semi ¬ annual race meetings are well patronized and a special train Is run from Melbourne conveying a large contingent of racing folk and bookmakers as well as country squires accompanied by their dames and families attend from miles around coming in every conceivable sort of conveyance some in wagons others in jinkas im buggies on horseback but rarely does one sec an Australian afot It was indeed a goodly concourse that assembled to witness the s ort on the day of my visit ami I shall always look back upon my trl lo Lancelield as one of the most enjoyable during my sojourn in Australia The sport provided was of no mean or ¬ der though the purses were small insignificant in fact but 1 can testify to tlie fact that a horse was sold for a good price on the strength of a win at Lancetield Onlv one contretemps occurred during the afternoon Tills came alwiit in tho running of the third race a sixfurlong affair The starter a local nabob somehow got mixed on his distances and sent the Held away from the livefurlong post The race of course had to be run over and re ¬ sulted in a dead heat The outsider as usually happens in such cases eventually won Yes they run off these dead heats ill Australia a plan I take to be highly commendable commendableThe The practice of starting horses more than once during an afternoon is by no means unusual 1 saw one horse a gray start in three successive races at Albany in West Australia and win two of them Albany is a small seagirt town of some two thou ¬ sand inhabitants and is a point of call for tlie big White Star freighters Melbourne bound on their wav over from tlie Cape On my last return voyage from Africa wlwre I had gone to meet some horses shipped to me from England we arrived at Albany on the one day in the year on which a nice meet ¬ ing is held Just imagine what a treat it was for us cooped up so long on the vessel to run into any thing M exciting as a race meeting and all of us why could from the skipiter down got away from tho ship and went forth to witness the sport the good men of Albany bad provided Appointments it is true were somewhat primitive For instance i dinner gong did duty for a saddling bell The course was supposed to be grass but was mostly sand distances were not accurately staked out no stabling for the liorses was provided but there was an air of jollity and a sociability hard to de ¬ scribe about tlie proceeding Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and made the occasion one for the dispensation of true Australian hos pitalitv This is the sort of meeting one could well wish to see established in this country some ¬ thing out of tlie ordinary something apart from tlie stercotyiKMl once around the ring racing now so much in vogue and tlie Institution of such like country racing would I feel assured do much to ¬ wards popularizing the sport in the rural districts Climatic influence plays its part in thV develop ¬ ment of special physical characteristics in both i men and bortvs in Australia A disposition to coarseness is noted in Australian bloodstock Many of the thoroughbreds are ravboned angular slack loined straightnecked having large bony heads i with deep set eyes of remarkable clearness but these Walers have line sloping shoulders are deep i through the heart with the soundest of feet and legs and are thoroughly honest and game In this i country there is manifest a tendency towards line ness due also to climatic influence and this I maintain is the attributable cause of tlie failure 1 f so many famous import eil horses lo establish sire lines of their own ownPerhaps Perhaps Australian liorses lack dasli and early speed of their American confreres but they can i be relied upon t stay the route and carry imposts which would simply appal the average American i trainer Australian horses too are better manner ¬ ed than ours which is in part due to clinmte and part to ediMatlon Kacing stables arc not as here located within the track boundary and horses In i walking to and from tlmir hVme quarters become t lion uglily accustomed to all the alarming sights and sounds of city travel whereas in this country the average American racer is tuuyut nothing but t the way round the track nud a lead to the cars when s shipping An Australian trainer of my acquaintance v wlio lias had perhaps more lw do with American h bred liorses than any other trainer in Australia d dubs them these silly American horses which can ¬ n not be left alone for a moment without trouble The 1 Australian Is expected to stand bitched for an ii indelinite period by halter or bridle as tlie case n may be walk ridden or led by tho side of another t to a race meeting anywhere from live to tifty miles d distant and home again that night So far Ameri ¬ c canbred horses have not attained any great popu ¬ I larity in Australia Comparatively few however Ii bave been sent down and those which have gone v wore mostly youngsters and ito first class American r race horse has as yet tried conclusions witli the Australian in his own bailiwick bailiwickHamburg Hamburg lielle however a daughter of imported j Planudcs and Saratoga Uelle Faycttes dam and bred by the sage of Hamburg Place won a gocd race in the Adelaide Cup and maybe there are c others among the lot which 1 assisted in taking south in the autumn of Itll that have since my de ¬ parture from the land of the kangaroo developed f into good racing machines I doubt exceedingly I however the wisdom of dispatching Americanbred liorses to Australia with a vley to capturing some of their big stakes for climatic conditions are all aganst this Australian seasons as you well know are exactly the opposite of ours The acclimatiza ¬ j tion process takes months sometimes years and I believe some horses never got really accustomed lo the change in seasons English importations arc not much bolter off though 1 fancy they do ac ¬ climatize a bit more readily than do the Americans due no doubt to their l cing reared in tlie most J maligned yet most wonderful climate under tho sun and English horses after a time regain their best form and are seen racing to good advantage Tlie Englishbred Comedy King imported as n suckling by Persimmon Tragedy Queen won the Melbourne Cup in 1 10 and Lilyvale the Sydney Cup last year and I can unhesitatingly say that there is no form equal to English form Tlie Waler is a better stayer and weight carrier than the Ameri ¬ can which however licks him for early speed The American too seems to lie upsides witli the Itest of the English sprinters A reference to the Eng ¬ lish calendars will bear me out in this if the trouble is taken to turn to the performancesj of Mediant Kuniiyinedc Iron SJasJf IIiirmoiilcimiretc I write this In Kpite of Mr Herman H Duryeas Durbar II i having won last years Derby but Durbar seems to have been fortunate enough to strike a bad year and was subsequent to his Epsom success wlec soundly trounced by the Frenchman Sardanapale tlie best threeyearold of 1I14 1I14A A number of famous English stallions such as Musket Fisherman Gang Forward Tim WuiJHer St Iiegor Iochiel Hill of Portland sire of Mals ter Kelpie Capapie Splendour The Peer Dare bins sire etc have been at one time or another Imported to Australasia and I note where that generoushearted sportsman Mr Norman Falkiuer has purchased Absurdity winner of tlie Middle Park Plate and brother to Jest winner of the One Thou ¬ sand Guineas and Oaks and halfbrother to Hlack Jester winner of the St Leger 1 am sure Mr Falklner has my best wishes for success A most liberal buyer and owner of that grand steeplechaser Itullawarra which was s nt to England some time back to take his part in this years Grand National After all Musket and Fisherman are tlie main fac ¬ tors in the building up of Australian blrx dstoek ably assisted by Goldsborough Chester Sir Ilcr eules and Yattcndon The Fisherman line now appears to be on the down grade and Musket is hardly going strong as in the days of Multiform IIotchkiKif Nordciifeldt Trenton and Carbine though the hitters son Wallace which stands near Melbourne at Mr J 15 Smiths Itundoora farm is the sire of many famous winners his latest Idg gun being Kiugsburgh winner of the Melbourne Cup in 1114 1114Walking Walking one gorgeous Sunday morning in the beautiful and tastefully laid out Sydney botanical gardens which are washed by the shining blue waters of the finest harbor in the world I was in ¬ formed by an unusually well posted Australian turf ¬ man that there was in some quarters i strong sus ¬ picion that Musket was not the true sire of Carbine I will not vouch for the truth of the story but do know that Carbine in make shape and color did not take after tlie general run of Muskets which were browns heavytopped bulky liorses with rather uncertain underpinning of amazing resolu ¬ tion anil gaineness attributes which won for them tl admiration and patronage of horsemen the worli over and only in the two latter respects did Car ¬ bine take after the Musket tribe Carbine was a straightnecked lightish bay with tremendously developed propelling powers when I saw him at Welbeck in 1SG and I dont think that anyone will contradict me when I say that Carbine was not an umiualiticd success as a sire in England am the same may be said of Hill of Portland sire of Malster Ihdmdil and Mcrriwoe in Australia am on this account he was repurchased for Englam where he stowl for a number of years without ac ¬ complishing anything out of the ordinary Hill of Portlands nonsuccess in addition to Carbines partial failure gives weight to my assertion that English form is superior to that of Australia AustraliaTlie Tlie disposition of Australian breeders is now to use imported sires and horses of St Simon des ¬ cent have been phenomenally successful Mr Sol Greens noted sire imported Positano sou of Si Simon Ponza by Springfield NaH U by Macaron is the sire of no less than fmir winners of the Me bourne Cup in Lord Haglan Ixud Nolan Poseidon and Piastre Horses carry but little Hush when racing at the top of their form In New Xealand however tho reverse is the case but the New Xcalandcrg cannot stand the cold water done which so frequently follows an outing in Australia Handagcs are little worn yet the soundness of the Australian horse is proverbial and he wears bet ¬ ter than any otiier within my ken It is no un ¬ common sight to see horses racing at their bes at from ten to fifteen years of age That natty little grey Vanguard a famous steeplechaser was known to be fourteen fifteen months ago and ap parently as sound as ever he was in his life The soundness and protracted racing life of the Aus tralian horse is no doubt also in a great measure due to lack of early twoyear Id racing The Aus ¬ tralian turfman is willing to wait H ssessing to a marked degree that estimable quality patience which is unfortunately so rare with us usNo No selling races are given This I think 1 a mistake for no better racing is wituossjd than that which brings together a Held of high class selling platers Handicaps and sweepstakes cum prise the bill of fare placing 1 am inclinod to think altogether too much power in the hands of one man Horse brooding Is under taken throughout Austra lia Now South Wales being the chief nursery for the raising of hlV d stock and in some seotionsfoals at weaning lime are turned out on grass receiving absolutely no grain or attention until they are brought up to be put Into sale condition or go into training Those yearlings come up as well grown fat and hearty as any bunch of stall fed ICcntnoky youngster despite the supposed superior uutrutive properties of the vaunted blue grass Horses in certain sections of Australia do all their work off grass and wax fat perform incredible feats of en ¬ durance in grass alone and even race off it itHloodstock Hloodstock sales are conducted in Sydney and Melbourne much as they are here These sa attended by thoroughly representative ho pood prices realized All lots are sold for guineas lie shillings being tin sales firms commission A large thoroughbred export trade was at one time carried on with India and there is still a big demand for remounts from Asia AsiaStud Stud fo s are as a rule somewhat higher than in this country ami mures as a general thing sell to bettor advantage Australian stud masters and brooders appear t have a better appreciation of pedigree and IdiKMl lines than Is the case with us It must be remembered however that nn Australian is a horseman born and does not go in for racini and breeding simply Ixxause he ha tho necessiir means to gratify an ambition and last but not least the Australian pr Ss devotes much spaeo tn the history breeding and development of the horse this Iwliig especially tru of tlmso splendid weekly pictorial publications which are so popular and widely real in the laud of the southern cross crossM M M LEACH


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