Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Thursday 12 March 1942, page 5


ENGLISH SPORTING LETTER

LONDON, December 1— A word about the 1641 Hat rare season. Lord Glsnely finished up as the most successful owner— hit, hones having won him £6,767. He wound up the s^aton in Ane style when. hU two horsfs, Ee-tem Echo and Crown Colony, bolii carrying a 101b. penalty, won

incir respective racet-. It u somtwxng of s coincidence that thctve two animals are own brother and sister. Fred Darling was the leading trniner, his stable winning no lesi than il.,01.. His mjcce&s .wits more or less directly due to three horses; to Owen Tudor lor winning the Dtrby and Vo \ht Kinfi'B iv,o two-year-olds, Sun Chariot and big Game. imbetUen throughout Uie Mas-on. For the first lime In hii long career an the turf, Harry Wragfi^ Uie 'brainiest' ot lackeys, finished up champion, in spite of the fact trust his military duties amongst the ' Ack Ack' guns hu considerably limited his opportunities of riding during the 1 alter months of the season. Since Gordon Richards' accident, Wregg hax been associated with Deillng'i- stable, and has been riding Big Game and Sun Chariot in all their races. He must (eel some regret thai he wllj not be able to continue this successful partnership when the classic races fell to the lot of Gordon Richards who may well have the satisfaction of riding hifi flrsi Derby winner In Hip Rojel Colours. Richards has now complrlelv recovered from the fall which has kepi him out or the saddle for the greater pan of the beason. end will be at work aBaln next spring. One way or aumher we have lost a large number of good horses this year, and this wt-tk we have learnt that our breeding in* dustry Is once again the poorer by the deaths of a line stallion. Fbpyrus, and one of our best young brood marcs. Sir Hu£0 Cun)in*e-0wen's Rockfel. Papyrus was the h inner of the 1923 Derby — the Derby of the 'three PV when the first three horses pest the noht were Papyrus, Pharos and ParUi - 'and incidentally gave Steve Lionoghu.! the thud lee of Mb famous hat trick uf Dprbv winners at Epsom. After this Fapyrus' dl-astrmis irln to America where he had been matched with Mr- Harry F. Sinclair's Kentucky Derby winner Zev for a stake of 100.000 dollars. It will be remembered that the whole affair which Aroused ?uch terrific interest on both sides of the Atlantic was a complete fiasco, so much go that nothing of the sort has ever been attempted Bgein. The horse from England had no time to get acclimatized, end he was wrongly shod for the muddy track on which the race took place. Despite all the horse's courage and the efforts of Steve Donoghue. who made the Journey to ride him, Papynu was beaten by five lengths. As a louTyearold he achieved no great success and was finally retired to stud, the winner ol more than £17,000 In sUike money- During the IS years or so that he spent «t flud. Papyrus sired many good winners which, up to the end of last season, had won races worth more than £100,000. Rockfel's death from Internal trouble while at stud Is perhaps even a greater loss to the bloodstock Industry es she was only a young mare, having been foaled in 1935 She wu beautifully bred, by Felslead, Sii Hugo Cunllffe-Owen's 1928 Derby winner. out of Bockllffe. As a two-year-old she wa« not an outstanding filly, but during her three-year-old days she proved herself to be more or less unbeatable, winning eight races in all worth £22.341 to her owner. These races Included two cI&bsIcb. lhe One Thousand Guineas and the Oaks as well as the Champion Status. She was kept in training for another season, but only made one public appearance as e four-year-old. This was In the March Stakes at Newmarket In which she beat a good field includI ing Glen Loan. The Free Handicap The moKt Important event of the racing week has been the publication of Mr. Arthur Fawcett'B Free Handicap. The Jockey Club Handlcapper's estimate of the powers of the seasons two ?nd threeyearold horses Is always eagerly awaited as the ofncl&L 'ranking list' of the year's top ctes& colu and fillies, and though individuals may not always agree to the weights allotted, there can be no quarrel with the pladngs ot this year's leading anlmeb. Ac was widely expected. Sun Chariot, the Klrip'i unbeaten Ally, hai been placed at the top ot the two-year-olds with the Game owners colt Big Game who Is get U- carry Vst. 61b. —one pound less than the top weight. As a filly Is usually allowed a Sib. allowance from a colt, Sun Chariot Is evidently rated four pounds above her stable companion. Lord Derby'K Watling-street has been placed third with Bat. 4Ib., which wai to be expected; but next on the list comes one of the big mrprtses of the Handicap — Mah Iran with Bst 3lb. Mah Iran Is « f»y Ally by Bahrain out of Mah Mahal. Mr. JTawcett must have been very Impressed with her form at Newbury when she carried a big weight to victory. It Is certain that she is a brilliantly speedy filly, but her stamina has yet In be proved, and I think she would need more than a pull of lour pound* to put up any kind of a show Against Sun Chariot. Following Man Iran comes \3).Jt Uld Hyperides with 9st. lib. Of these two I much prefer Hyperides who, u hi* nime sugcesis, U by Hyperion, this year's champion sire. Once again in clawing his three-year-olds Mr. Kawcetl did not have to look far lor his top weight. Owen Tudor, winner of the substitute Derby and Newm*rltet St. Leger Is Kt to cany Bit. 71b. and to give Jib. to hii nearest rival. Sun Castle, winner of the substitute St. Leger at Manchester. It it, I perhaps, lurprltlng to And Eutem Echo I third on the list with flst. lib., considering , ihit she did not u'kc part In any of the ??lasslci. She has, for example, been given i rib. more than Dancing Time, winner of h? One Thousand Guineas and of Commo* ''.on winner cf the Otks, but. this Ally unde very marked progress during the let- f «r part oC the eeoson. Mr. fawcett, in fact, .mut have a very high opinion of Eastern Echo, for once again taking into considers* ion the 31b sex allowance, she is actually rated lib. better then Sun CuUe. The only 'curprUe' found among the three-year-old* Is the fact that Devonian Is placed lib. above Uazarln. Devonian was that season's clairlcal disappointment. He was fancied end well backed for all three dasBica, but failed to win any of them. Be showed bim«tt lo be a 'one-pace' hntse— ' without the ability to pull anything out of the bag in the way of finishing speed, Mawrin. on the other hand, has been the season's most consistent three -year-old— not excluding: Owen Tudor. He won three races, and never failed to do hie best. For New Zealand Other flat racing news of the week Is that Sir Hugo CunUffe-Owen haB Bold bis colt, FlnlJ, to the British Bloodstock Agency for the sum of ZWi guineas. It 1a understood that he will be exported to New Zealand. Finis was foaled at Sir Hugo's stud at Bray In 1935, and his breeding leaves nothing to be desired. HU sire was Cameronlen, winner of the Two Thousand Guineas, and Derby in 1931. and his dam was felkiiifiton, a successful mare who also foaled Felstead, who won the Derby in 1928. Finis gets his rather unusual name from the fad that he was the last of Feltcinfton's foals. She died after rinls was bom. Finis had a successful career on the turf, and has shown very good lorm during hla last season In this country. He won the Gold Cup at Newmarket, which wu the substitute race for the Ascot Gold Cup. Lea Hutton Cricketers all over the world will hear with regret and misgiving of the misfortune which has befallen Len Hutton. When he met with an accident in the gymnasium many months ago we were all relieved to see him playing for the Army again in partnership with Sutcltffe a few weeks later, for It was known that In giving a demonstration lhe mat h&d slipped and he had broken ? bone In his left forearm. Later trouble developed, end aftar an X-ray examination It was seen that the arm had not properly knit and that there was s wrist Injury as well- An operation has now been performed, for which It was found necessary to remove a portion of bone from Hutton's right leg and graft It on to nls left forearm. Everyone hopes that It will not permanently impair his .great paiamanshlp «— batsmanshlp which enabled him to set up a new Test -ecord when he hit 364 rune BEBliut the Australians at lhe Oval In »n inningi which liuted over thirteen hours.