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W.A.T.A. STEWARDS ACT.
Cup Candidate Withdrawn.
Will o' the Wisp, who since the de
claration of the handicaps for the WA.
Trotting Cup, had been one of the fan
cied candidates for the race, will not take
his place in the field following on the
action of the WA.TA. stewards on Sat
urday night, who scratched him from the
Cup. The stewards took this action after
a warning given to F. W. Godecke, his
owner, at Will o' the Wisp's previous
start and also because the committee of
the WALTA. had instructed them to
satisfy themselves that all horses nomin
ated for the race could be relied upon
to leave their marks. The stewards also
stated that as regards betting the posi
tion would be the same as if the horse
has been withdrawn by the owner, that
is, that backers lose their money.
In the Mqrredin Handicap on Satur
day night Io' the Wisp was having
only his thit ;tart for the season, his
two previous outings having resilted in
two wins. Prior to Saturday night Will
o' the Wisp started in the Busselton Han
dicap at Gloucester Park on December 3,
winning easiy from Greta Realm and
Pat Realm. On that occasion Will o'
the Wisp bolted about a quarter of a lap
before the start, but when returned to
the starting barriers got away without
any trouble. After the race his connec
tions were questioned concerning the
horse's behaviour at the barrier. The
owner expressed the opinion that he
could overcome the dimculty and was
given permission to use a twitch on the
horse at his next start. Will o' the Wisp
was handicapped for the meeting to be
held at Gloucester Park on December 10,
but was not among the acceptors when
acceptances were issued on the Wednes
day before the meeting. On the fol
lowing -day, Thursday, December 8, the
Press was supplied with the following
statement from the WA.TA. oMfce:
The committee of the WATA. has
requested the stewards to btisfy them
selves that all horses nominated for
the WA. Trotting Cup can be relied
upon to leave their marks. Special at
tention is being given to those horses
whose barrier manners are doubtful
and notice has been given to the
owners of Mill Adonis, Vida Stretta,
Hearts Aflame and Will o' the Wisp
to the effect that unless their horses
can at. their next start greatly improve
on their recent displays, their nomina
tions for the Cup will be refused.
This statement was published in. "The
West Australian" on Friday, December 9.
The connections of Will o' the Wisp
therefore had to start the horse last Sat
urday night in order to fulfil the re
quirements stipulated by the committee.
For the Merredin Handicap Mill
Adonis. Hearts Aflame and Will o' the
Wisp were acceptors and all started on
Saturday night. Vida Stretta was not
engaged at the meeting, but as she
start at Harvey last Wednesday night it
is probable that she fulfilled the require
ments there as one of the WA.TA.
stewards officiated at the meeting.
Hearts Aflame got away well, but Mill
Adonis lost a lttle ground. When the
barriers were released Will o' the Wisp
pranced in the air and it was some time
before he got away. He was at the back
of the field and was started from the
outside of the track. He did not inter
fere with any of the other runners, but
lost all chance of success. Following
the race the stewards announced that
they had no option but to withdraw Will
o' the Wisp from the Trotting Cup.
Naturally Godecke was very disap
pointed at the fact that his horse will
not be able to start in the big race as
he considered that Will o' the Wisp
would have won the race. He said that
he had not backed the horse for the
Trotting Cup, but was sorry that those
who had supported Will o' the Wisp in
ante-post betting would not get a run
for their money.
[Although he has not been raced
much Will o' the Wisp has had a bril
linit career and is popular with followers
of trotting. When Will o' the Wisp had
his first outing in public two years ago
he fell. At each of his subsequent starts
he suffered badly from nerves and al
ways attempted to bolt. In each of his
three outings last season Will o' the Wisp
gave evidence of great speed and he won
at his first two starts. At his last out
ing he bolted while waiting for the bar
rier to be released, and at his second at
tempt to face the barrier reared and
threw himself to the ground, breaking
some of his gear in the struggle. In
spite of this he finished In second place,
after losing a lot of ground at the start.
Since then Wil o' the Wisp was taken
in hand by C. J. Clarke. Clarke has
driven Will o' the Wisp at each of his
three starts this season and except for
Saturday night he got him away well.]
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