view raw text
Ireland Discuss Gladness Loss at Longchamp By MICHAEL OHEHIR Our Dublin Correspondent DUBLIN. Irish expeditionary forces met with a mixed fortune last week when our horses won two races at the Chester meet- ing in England when two - year - olds Hawa and TM were successful but in France our first lady of the equine social register here, Gladness, was well and truly beaten in the French Gold Cup. Frankly we thought, in view of her well being, that this French race was something of a good thing for her and the failure was a blow, indeed. Those of us who know the mare, her likes and dislikes, were amazed to see her hit the front with about a mile and one-half of the two and one-half miles to be covered. When winning the Ascot Gold Cup last year she was waited with and only struck the front less than a quarter of a mile out with winning results. Waiting and pouncing have been her watchwords, but surprisingly Lester Piggott sent her to the front what seemed and turned out to be too soon. Fully realizing the simplest way to explain away a defeat is to blame the rider we do not want to appear oyer critical of the rider, but merely mention that the result jmight have been different if the Ascot tactics were employed in Paris. On the other hand Gladness has always shown her best form on softish going: and it was on top last Sunday with the results that the mares action may not have been of the usual vintage, a fact that may well have dictated tactics more than any whim of a rider of the calibre of Piggott. Her utter defeat led many to dismiss her as an Ascot Gold Cup winner next month but we forecast a far different result when she again meets her Parisian conquerors, Tello Wallaby and Co. on the scene of her big win last year. At Chester we had two winners of two-year-old races, one of them TM in a seller, or claiming race and the other Hawa in a stakes event. TM, owner by Mrs. Darby Rogers whose sons, Tim and Mick gave the horse as a present and whose husband Capt. Darby Rogers trains the winner made matters very tough for herself by being slowly away on this fastest of British tracks. In fact, being a slow beginner at Chester is akin to being out of the race in most cases but TM had so much in hand that victory was assured a furlong from home where the winner had recovered so much ground in the five-furlong event that it was either a tribute to the winners ability or a slur pn the lack of same in the opposition. Hawa is a very useful type of youngster coming from the Paddy Prendergast stable and owned by the Countess of Granard. He is by Golden Cloud out of Eastern Fairy and the smoothness with which he Avon by a neck was favorably commented upon on all sides. Wally Swinburn who rode the colt let him settle down and as supporters .of others in the field were counting their winnings along came Hawa with a smooth, easy, ground-devouring action to take the lead where it matters. The Prendergast stable obviously has several useful two-year-olds a fact displayed at Phoenix Park the other evening when two, Nice Guy and Paddys Sister, won with impressive ease. These evening meetings during what we rather lossely call summer, are very popular in the Dublin area first race is usually about 6:00 oclock and they follow on the half hour, there being plenty of natural light to run the meeting through. When we mentioned such evening meetings to some friends in America last fall they had the impression that this was racing under lights but it is no such thing. Evening features are growing in popularity with the public in England too, but the real racing folk, the trainers and their workers view it with horror as it upsets the routine of the stables and it is often very late at night or early in the morning by the time the horses get back to their stables. Nice Guy and Paddys Sister a half sister to Paddys Point who was runner-up in the Irish and English Derbys, last year, are owned by Mrs. Mullion. Both are due to run at the Royal Ascot meeting next month and whatever beats .them will win. Nice Guy is by Demo-Continued on Page Eleven Ireland By MICHAE1 OHEHIR Continued from Page Ten cratic, a young sire with early success, out of Prudent Polly and the manner of his success at Phoenix indicates ability beyond the normal. We mentioned Paddys Sister when she won her first race at The Curragh and now confirm the good impression made then. Even though she has won both her races she is still green and full of potential. Her run in the Queen Mary Stakes at Ascot will be very interesting and we will be surprised if she does not win there. Her nearest rival when winning at Phoenix Park, a charming track close to Dublins city center, was Lloyds Field a two-year-old carrying the colors of Cali-fornian John L. Carr. This Smart son of Whistler whose syndication was an immediate success by the way out of the winner-producing, Tudor Bee, stuck to Paddys Sister well and in his first outing showed distinct promise. He looks a ready-made, early winner for the owner who is racing his horses in Ireland for the first time this year. Irish Airs: Gladness defeat has started an amount of discussion here, some of the arguments being that maybe she is not as good as she was and point to the xecent defeats of her Park rival of a few weeks back Royal Highway as grounds for their argument. Time may prove the whole mat-ter . . . V e r s a t i 1 e is truly the word f or Zonda, a ten-year-old winner of the Irish Grand National who last week came out to win a two-mile flat handicap. He was a gift to owner Mrs. Nolan from breeder Capt. Maguire and what a money spinner he has turned out to be . . . Recently there, was nearly a riot at Baldoyle, near Dublin, when after a false start the horses were ordered to run again and twelve out of fourteen declined the engagement including the favorite Clara Bow who won the "race" when the twelve, not realizing that there had been two left behind in the false start fought it out all the way. The two who realized there had been a false start, as we reported a few weeks back, had the race proper to themselves and Tern beat stablemate Lao Tzu. Odd to relate both these have won since and in the formers field when he won the Clara Bow who had . been "winner" of the false race. , . ! . j
