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A MORNING AT 1
MORPlMTVILtE. ^
Those One Meets on the
Tracks.
By Behemoth.
When my. friend Mr. Jack Bullock in
vited' me, the other evening, to acconi:
pany him on a matutional expedition to
AromTipfHrilfo nn +lio frtllrt^rmtr A-j\. T
gladly accepted^ The parturition of day
had hot been quite achieved when we were
whirling along that beautiful , road: to'
Glenelg. Jack, of course, is a wizard »t
the wheel, and a rare spoftsman Avithai.
He is one of the .owners of the Gawler,
Cup winner Gay. Element, you knorr. The'-.
silver light of the- dawn was making its |
silent approach as -we reached the pearly,!
gates of our racing rendezvous. There 1
was an . astonishing iarray of ?motor-cars ,j
already parked.. It was easy to discerii .!.
the handsome figure- of Mr. Lance B. Ad;li-1
son, who was down to see in work his ^om! j
old horse Repique. The dour Mr. Hj-.iV
treat to meet' 'the' jovial Donald Dobbia.
Who eays 'a Scotsman has not humoui?
Perhaps it isThe only thing^he gives away.
Donald bubbles over with' fun. He is a
very 'well read little chap.' now' almost ag
grey-as his ? charge, Catastrophe. Thas
one-time really - great hoiseman Martin
Whelan .docs ' his: .work .silently' and as
efficaciously as a mole. ,The ever-genial
Peter' Timinits/ with Ms -Siirm. smile, was
delighted yith the prosnect of Repique'S
return to pristine form.. -Of course we saw
'Tather O'Flynn'^— Tom Keily. '. What a
wonder he is! .So suave,;so sociable,' and
so smiling. He. told' nie he would lead
in a winner next Saturday.- _ . ? -
I caunot tellfyou, because Tom did not
tell me what it ir. Perhaps it is Peace
Dove; perhaps - it isn't. .?- However, we
shall know later: on, and. be. - eager . and
ready and happy to applaud good old Tom;
My fnehd, Mr. Roy Milne, and J o£ten
chat about -his father's 'rhorEe, Armada.
Well, I saw that big gelding for the first
time 'on ;? Tuesday morning.. The staying
son of Pistol and Cisnerous is In the
rough .at present, but he 5will surely win
a good race later.} . . . t V
V Where the Work «s.
. There 'are* three courses - oh which to
ivoik your horses' at .MorpRettville. There
are^tracks o£ tan.i cinder,- and'sand. .The
lastmentioned did not appear to me to be
use'd at all. A trainer 'told me- it was
supposed to be' a winter-track, but that it
was at its : worst- in v the- .wet weather.
Ihere are many trainers whom I do not
know personally. However, Lindsay Pin
uingtoa is an old acquaintance of mine.
I kne.w him,' many years -before he essayed
the arduous esprtieuce'of a horse trainer.
Isaiah ('Son'') Reid, has been known to
me by sight for countless years, but I have
never yet 'had the pleasure- of making his
acquaintance.' Oi course, I' know, 'Paddy'
McCarthy well. He- is a modest, kindly
man. There were ; several Victorian
traiucrs present, among whom was the
McLachlan was there too. That, of
course, is nothing unusual, for he rareij
misses a fast morning's work. A great
[over and judge of- the thoroughbred is
'Paratoo.' He has had some good ones.
It is most cheering to know he is 'leading
ii schism from the altar of idolatry of &-?
imported thoroughbred. Keep goinj. 1I.P.!
Ihat young studmaster Mr. ? Leslie A'.d
ridge was also present. It was told n*e
on , that jolly morn that he was seeking in
England, for his dear old dad, another im
ported sire. Let us hope he gets one a?
good as Pistol or St. Anton. The gar
rulous E. R. ('Sam') Shadrick was there
reeling off oldtime pedigrees, and wielding
9. Waterbury watch. A striking contrast
nras that solid fellow John' Patterson, a
must successful trainer, and strangely
silent man. One. often wonders whether
be be 'mute of malice or by visitation of
God.' /
-.,.; Love for Thoroughbred.
The famous Jim Scobie was
there.-- too. . Like myself, he h;is
to limp along with the aid of a
stick.' .There is no donbt whatever. Lis
love for a , thoroughbred is prodigious.
Jim is energy incarnate. ' No wonder he
is an emperor .among trainers. Mr. Dan
C. Cudmore was delighted with th/j
Fmobth. easy action of his beautiful mare
Eventide. ^ The mercurial 'Bob' Das?mT
a great footballer in his day, and an ardent
Icashman,- was extolling Charlie Fitzi:-y'«
ability as a' trainer. 'Fitz''has Bob's
brown horse Pistol Grip in brave condi
tion. That genial little chap Fred Biiley
was telling us about a Stardrift ybuns-sicr
he has. Harry Butler is putting -:n
treight. He is doing well as' tra'ner. Be
cause he sticks closely to work. ? The ever
jenial Jack Hopwood does most of. the
n-ork of his very able brother Bill, whOso
health recently has been very poor. Jim
Hanford always reminds ..me of Jack
Dempsey. He was here,vthere, and every-'
where. A big string; is in his' care. Our
saturnine friend has tons of energy. Tom
D. McGahan Ik tew settled at Glenelg as
1 trainer. ' ^This reticent sportsman has
two. sons who are said to be the makings
of prominent jockeys. ;. -It is always a
redoubtable Richard Bradfield, with whom
cups winning is quite a persistent prac
tice. There were some beautiful horses in
action. The Spook will be seen in action
on Saturday carrying Sir Rupert Clarke's
^pink,' black' -leeves,i and cap.'' If only
lleproves as good as the baronef s grand
old horse, Paul Pry. The Spook is a
handsome ' horse.- ?'. Sweetmagne _ looks a
racehorse. We all know Whittier to be
one. Frank Dempsey says he is the
gamest horse he has ever ridden. Thought
Mr. Ben Chaffer's great racehorse looked
very nice. King's Pardon is a perfect
picture in dappled grey. What a beau
tifully bred horse he is. The racehorse
which impressed ra« as the best condi
tioned was Wycherley. ' The best of this
fellow has not been seen by a long way.
Friarsdale galloped brilliantly, so did the
bold-faced colt Petunia. He is the best
two-years-old we have seen for many a
day. Wonderful old Fiscom. the' greatest
hurdler this . State has eveji known, is
coming along apace. He is still the best
looking of Whelan's wonderful 'team of
leppers. ? E.- J. Mooney was one- of the
greatest cross-country horsemen who ever
lived. 'He 'is now trainer, -who has in
Stagefright a. particularly handsome horee.
King of Mirth is a natty little horse. He
is one of the two Derby winners bred at
Clare. The Gredc (Pygmalion— Lady
vain) was the other. Mr. Bob Hope's
brown stallion will win another big race
or two before he definitely retires from
the_ turf. Really there is so much on
which one' may expiate of the happenings
of a morning at Morphettville. An ex
perience of an attendance there while the
thoroughbreds' grace the sward is so satis
fying. One has to condense his 'copy,'
but is so easy to run on with a sporting
nib to- outdistance space. However, I
heed— I must — the glaring notice, 'Stop.''
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