Racing in Far Malaya: Winning Horses and Griffins Usually from Australia-How Club Went Broke, Daily Racing Form, 1921-07-27

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RACING IN FAR MALAYA Winning Horses and Griffins Usually from Australia How Club Went Broke. SYDNEY. N. S. AV., June 20. The disappearance from the Australian tracks of some well-known horses often leads to many conjectures as to what becomes of them. Several go to Java and the Malay Peninsula. Some of the notable Australian horses in the islands are Hand Balarang, Aubcric, Garibaldi, Distour, Kcnelic, Tressalite, Cash Register, AVal-pole, Bulgooroo, Observation, Heart of Oak and Aarcofel. Ail have won here and there. Pony small horse racing is popular in Malaya. The championship rests between Meccano, Petit Noir and Ccsarion Girl, by the American sire Ce-sarion, with the first named at the head of the winning list. Petit Noir was just striking form in February, when she won easily at Kuala Lumpur. Ccsarion Girl doesnt, seem to get acclimatized. It is the same with Idle Girl, which, however, had some excellent races to her credit. Singapore, Pcnang and Kuala Lumpur each have two meetings a year, of three days racing, Tuesday. Thursday aud Saturday, which arc declared half-holidays. These meetings are largely attended by both Europeans and natives. The Chinese are great gamblers, and largely patronize the sport. Ipoh used to have two meetings a year also, but last year the totalizator officials by mistake paid out on every horse in one race there were only three runners, and the club "went broke." The winning horse was placed second for weighing in light and by the time the totalizator people discovered which really was the winner they had paid out on the three, and only woke up when their money was all gone including percentages. Since then they have not held a meeting. Running times are not fast, good time for three-quarters being 1:15, while a mile is never got over in less than 1:43. The shortest race is five-eighths, except for griffins, which nice over a half, while ; the longest is seldom above one and a quarter miles. A griffin is a horse imported to the country from Australia by the clubs, and which has never raced or been registered on any race track in Australia. The last batch of horses came from AVcst Australia, and it Is seldom that any good-class performers are among them. Some measure into pony elas3 ! and others into the horse divisions, and to are raced 1 accordingly. As in South Australia, there are 110 licensed bookmakers in the couutry. AAin and place totalizators i are provided, and for members and owners lotteries mi the races are held Die nihl previoiei to Ihe racing. These lolterlej often amount to ,000 on 1 one race, and so the owners have a chance of winning fair sums, Stakes and handicaps are usually worth ,730. The Penang Gold Cup race carries with it a trophy worth ,250. There are few well-known Sydney boys riding there, though George Redfeani. the trainer, occasionally takes up some. E. AV. Suttlo, N. Ilobbs and F. OConnor are among the leaders, while old-timers in W. Rcdfearu and R. Billett also share a lot of iHipularity. George Redfeani, at Singapore, trains most of the horses. Turley, Duval, T. C. Thompson and R. Billett have a few. F. Billett, who was one time trainer of Auberie, Balarang and Garibaldi, lias since relinquished business there aud gone to Bangkok, where he is the only Australian trainer. Taken all around, racing in Malaya is purely a pastime for wealthy people. A successful owner seldom makes much in the long run, whereas a successful jockey can earn ,000 in no time 5 a mount, win or lose, and generally nearly 00 for a win.. Malaya is a good dumping ground for over-penalized horses, and a great leal of sport is obtained there.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1921072701/drf1921072701_8_4
Local Identifier: drf1921072701_8_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800