Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Wednesday 13 August 1924, page 9


RACING. ' ? . ! ROYAL ASCOT.' Centaur, your racing correspond Ml writes : 'While It was a glorious Ascot from the aodal point of view, those who used their best endeavors to circumvent the 'bookmaker could not have regarded 11 as anything other than deadly black. ? Only half a dozen favorites won during the four days, and the prices In these cases' were so cramped that the backer found It Impossible to recover. The most remarkable thing about the meeting was that such Important stables as those controlled by. R. Dawson, Alec. Baylor and the brothers, Basil arid Jack Jarvls, never wo~-l a single race between them I Mot. people went to the Royal Heath fully expeptlng that it would pay to follow the fortunes of the corse* turned out by Aleo Taylor or those belonging to tho Aga Khan, who enJoyed such a wonderful run lEBt year, but - their ' optimism received R verv nioe ehock. - j - '^he French Invasion was . the, strongest. ieeVfof. 'many years,' «nd! althouabittty. t^lsd In pa. Hunt; Cup.

they did not go away ^empty-handed. Indeed, they landed the most coveted prize of tho meeting in the Oold Cup. even though the horse that actually triumphed was not the one which was expected . to present the chief flanger. Masslne was the winner, and he beat hlB betters-favored countryman, PUlbcrt de Savoie, on the post. ' With still a third runner otflcially placed fourth tile Invades .would have humiliated- us ,to the point of shaming the pretensions . of our stayers but for the intervention of Mr Reid Walker's Inkorman, to whom' patriots, no doubc felt some gratitude for gaining third place at least. A beating. In this race was not entirely unexpected by. reason of the high credentials of the French contingent but never the severe drub

bing that was auministerea. j_,e[ it be written hers ' and now that the French well merited their triumph, and though ^they did not apparently win with the right horso according to their own ideas, they, nevertheless, made' a certainty of It Dy running .first and second and just swamping our mediocre ohamplons. Maaslne was not peered home as was Happy Man a year ago when he, too, only won through by a short head. It was not that the trlumph^was. begrudged. Rather was It the many French visitors themselves realised . that the wrong one had won for them. We could only look' on with' silent wonder .moved by the great finish and perplexed by the way our guests were torn between conflicting emotions. They had wfen the race, but j!et.^ld-_not-jeeoi-«iuU»-*v««, «V*nf«''': ' . ' . ' , 'There were divided' opinions about the favorite, Fllibert de Savoie. It could not be doubted that the grey was Well trained, but he has a 'coachy' head and his demeanour In the paddock was not such as to give confidence. I?e has. however, the swinging; confident walk of- a good horse, and he looked alert and. active, as If a serious Job were'on hand. Masslne Is a bay and by no means a horee ot hanaBOmc lines. He- lias more of a wear and tear appearance. He carries -no superfluous fleBh Irom which one concluded he was trained to the hour also. Mon Petit was in the- race to make the running for I* Capucln. and so come In for eoani notloe, but there' Is little doubt that of the French candidates Le Capueln was regarded as the most likely to beat FJllbert de Savoie. Of the English lot Papyrus was the chief hope. Lait year's Derby winner, was obviously a fit horse and so was Poisoned Arrow, a strikingly handsome individual, though. In the case of the latter, his stamina was seriously -questioned onfl rightly so- as events turned oiit. Inkennen looked well, but It wsb generally known that Alec. Taylor had not been able, to give him a proper preparation. In fact, the Iralher was not- keen on saddling the horse, but he boweS to the wishes of the owner.

?'They did not Btart off with much of a pace, and it seemed as if the three yew. old, Battleship and Flack, were not to make the best of their lightweights. However, tie first to show the way up the. lone straight for the first time was Battleship, but on making the turn at the top Mon Petit went on and then wo really, had a lively gallop. All the while Fllibert de Savoie was lying handy and In such a forward place as to suggest his Jockey had the utmbst confidence in taim. Papyrus would be about fifth in company with Poisoned Arrow and Inkerman behind them. A long way from home Battleship had passed trom first to last place, and as they entered on the critical part of the xaee the grey horse trom France passed Into the lead. Jennings, his Jockey, Wat riding with such confidence that odds would- have been betted on him. Precisely at that moment flack was .second, but this was just about the place she was destined to 'blow up'; in other words, Bhe had got -to the end ofi her tether after running' fteely lor eo long. ? In 'extenUat4£iv»Jt hfia to be eald for her 'thafi£fterwara«' If was f dCnd she had been cut Into and badly Injured. Mascine was about fourth, and Inkerman running in front of Papyrus and ' others came up on the outside of them alL He was, England's Only hope now. His name was ' acclaimed though .only half-heartedly, -and he made: a gallant response, but, with him! too, nature gave out. Close homB -FlUbert de Savoie was Joined, by Masslne, who with ' splendid tenacity hung on until the grey cracked. Fllibert ae Savoie had civen the Impression that he would be able to withstand a prolonged struggle, but Just Mi the post Masslne, especially well servefl by his jookey, Sharpe, got a -few Inches In front, and that sufficed to win for his owner the Ascot Oold Cup. 'On the 'concluding day of the meeting. Rose Prince, who belongs -to the Franco-American, Mr A, K. VccomberVii Gulden Boss, trained in iBh with Keror, an ex«Frehch_ horse., now In the ownership ot Lord Wool-, avlngton, for the Alexandra Stakes of 2! miles— the longest race of the 'sea-son— and came eut on top: while Mr Macomber's Gold Bass, trained In England by Sam Darling, proved that he Is the greatest sprinter in the country by winning the King's Stand Stakes with 10 stone 7 lbs. on his back. Sansovlno, the Percy -winner, was brought out a second time at the meeting ? he had won on the opening afternoon— to compete for the historic Hardwiclte Stakes, V)Ut evidently he was feeling his recent exertions, for after recovering from a bad start lie could not pull out .a final effort and he failed to finish in- the first three, the spollB going to the Manchester Cup winner, Cbosroes, belonging to the Admiral of ,the Fleet, Sir Hedworth Meux. Sansovino Is badly in need of rest .and* assuming he will get this he .will be the same formidable proposition in. the St Leger he was deemed to be before his lapse.'