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1951 INTERDOMINION HEAT - Won by Soangetaha

Soangetaha showed himself to be among the top flight of pacers in New Zealand by his convincing defeat of Vedette in the second heat of the Second Qualifying Race of the Inter-Dominion Pacing Championships.

It was a brilliant win. At the entrance to the straight, Soangetaha appeared to be dangerously hemmed in but he managed to get clear in the run home. At this stage Vedette was three lengths in front but Soangetaha responded bravely to a hard drive by D G Jones to finish powerfully and take a head decision. He paced his final four furlongs in a fraction over 60 seconds. In the final of the Pacing Championship, Soangetaha was unlucky to be beaten by Vedette. He has already been hailed as the next New Zealand pacing star.

Bred at Akaroa by J X Ferguson, Soangetaha was purchased as a yearling by the late Mr A G Ryland, of Auckland for 410 guineas. He was placed in Mr J Gee's Mangere stables, from where he had three starts as a two-year-old. At his first appearance he finished third to Gay Heritage and Our Ida in a division of the Great Northern Trotting Stakes. He is now raced by Mrs M A Ryland, and trained by W J Coates, Templeton.

A grand type of colt, the four-year-old Soangetaha has been sparingly raced. Out of 22 starts, he has had six wins and ten placings, for a total of £4485 in stakes.

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Without in any way detracting from the full merit of the sterling performance of Vedette, great praise must be showered on the brave efforts of Soangetaha, who, in accordance with regular handicaps, was giving away a tremendous amount of time. The two miles assessment of Soangetaha when the carnival was opened was 4.34, whereas Vedette had reached the tight mark of 4.20. over each distance of the championship races, Vedette was only conceding his younger rival 12 yards start, and it stands to his credit that Soangetaha beat the ultimate champion in the second qualifying heat.

Soangetaha also succeeded in his mile and a half heat, defeating On Approval decisively in 3.13 1/5. D G Jones, who drove the youthful pacer with excellent judgement, and W J Coates, the trainer who put a good polish on the four-year-old, wisely decided not to race Soangetaha in the two miles on the third day and he came up fresh for the final.

He ran true to label, and at one stage, while Vedette was seeking an opening, it really looked as if Mrs Ryland's brown horse would succeed. Soangetaha was unable to hold off the brilliant final dash of Vedette when he got clear, but the Auckland owned pacer was gallant in defeat and made a four-year-old record of 3.23 4/5.


Credit: NZ Hoof Beats Vol 2 No.4

1951 INTER-DOMINION TROTTING GRAND FINAL

Gay Belwin's success in the Inter-Dominion Trotting Grand Final was an achievement in more ways than one. It gave trainer J Young and driver R Young the distinction of having secured the only two trotting championships at the three Inter-Dominion meetings so far held in New Zealand.

For owner, Mrs E A Berryman, it was a triumph richly earned and universally popular. Mrs Berryman has been a loyal supporter of the square-gaited horse for more than a quarter of a century, and Gay Belwin is only one of the high-class trotters owned by her. Purchased last season from M Paul, of Auckland, for £2500, he has won 10 races and £8515 in stakes.

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Trotters, particularly, were impressive, and the only regrettable incident was the mix-up of unhoppled horses in the Grand Final. Through this mix-up, caused when Highland Kilt broke, two of the prominently backed candidates, Ripcord and Swanee River, had their chances extinguished. The winner, Gay Belwin, an ex-Mangere trotter, was lucky to escape, and it was mainly due to expert handling by his driver, R Young.

Highland Kilt, Barrier Reef, Ripcord, Swanee River and Gay Belwin were heat winners, securing their places in the Grand Final. Billy McElwyn, Two Step, Single Task, Jimmy Dillon and Dictation also made the grade as place-getters. As it was arranged to have 12 runners in the final, the committee invited two others, Signal Light and Tatsydale, both of whom had been closeto the placed horses in some heats, to join the field. On the great day the publis elected the Gay Belwin-Single Task bracket as favourite, then Ripcord, Swanee River, Dictation and Highland Kilt.

As already stated, the final event was to some extent marred. Highland Kilt, the youthful trotter of the section, after an outstanding performance on the first day, broke at the start of his next two heats and settled his chances. He did better in the early part of the final, but after about a mile broke and came back quickly on Swanee River and Ripcord, to spoil their prospects as well as his own.

At the time, Barrier Reef, Signal Light, Dictation and Gay Belwin - the latter cleverly avoiding trouble - were left clear, and they filled the places, Gay Belwin scoring from Signal Light by a neck, with Dictation shading Barrier Reef for third berth. Dictation, from 36 yards behind, recorded fastest time 3.27, for a mile and five furlongs, a new trotting record.

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PHOTO - Gay Belwin scores from Signal Light by a neck, with Dictation shading Barrier Reef for third. In fifth place is Highland Kilt, and just entering the picture is Two Step. Gay Belwin's time was 3.29 3-5, and Signal Light's was 3.29 4-5. The race was marred by the unfortunate incident caused by Highland Kilt breaking and spoiling the prospects of Swanee River and Ripcord as well as his own.



Credit: N Z Hoof Beats Vol 2 No.4

CHRISTCHURCH - VEDETTE
Vedette's magnificent victory in the £10,000 Pacing Grand Final gave the crowds at Addington the thrill of a lifetime. Masterful driving by M Holmes helped to create a new Australasian record for the mile and five furlongs of 3.22 3-5, better than a 2.05 mile rate.

Vedette is a finely built bay gelding by Light Brigade from Queen Wrack. His record is one of the most consistent of any horse who has reached Cup class in this or any other year. Only a five-year-old, he has started 30 times for 14 wins, 8 seconds, 4 thirds and 1 fourth, his stakes winnings have reached £19,175 in the space of less than two years.

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Vedette took the pacing honours, annexing the Grand Final to make a mile and five furlongs record of 3.22 3/5. The previous winning record of 3.24 stood to the credit of Single Direct, while Nyallo Scott held a place record of 3.23.

Vedette raced most consistently. On the first day he was narrowly beaten by Commander Scott in the mile and a half qualifying heat, after going 3.10 1/5. On the second day Soangetaha downed Vedette over a mile and a quarter, the latter registered 2.38. The two miles on the third day was easy for Vedette in 4.14 4/5, and reaching the peak of his form on the final day he was too brilliant for the opposition.

Credit is due to M Holmes for the splendid condition in which he turned out his pacer and also for great generalship in handling his charge. Vedette made rare figures to win the Grand Final, but in spite of this it is open to doubt as to whether he can be rated the equal of some past pacing giants, especially Highland Fling, Emulous, Loyal Nurse, contestants at the 1948 Championships at Epsom, or Harold Logan, Roi L'Or and Indianapolis of an earlier period. However, as a result of the latest success, he ranks as the champion pacer of the present season.

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PHOTO - The prince of pacers at his big moment. He has squeezed out of the bunch and has streaked forward to seal victory 80 yards short of the post. Behind him on the rails is the second horse Soangetaha. Outside Soangetaha is the third horse, Parawa Derby. The others are (from the rails): Dragoman (4th), Blue Mist (6th), and Ada Scott (5th). In the background are Captain Sandy, Dundee Sandy, On Approval and Commander Scott.

Credit: NZ Hoof Beats Vol 2 No.4

MELBOURNE - CAPTAIN SANDY
Captain Sandy won the 1950 Final after he had been all but knocked over in one of the qualifying heats and blamed for knocking Australia's Champ Claude Derby over in another. He lost the services of two drivers through suspensions for the Final and, with J D Watts aboard, won in a close finish beating Globe Direct and Sprayman, who were both New Zealanders.

ADELAIDE - SINGLE DIRECT
Single Direct, winner in 1949 raced in "bloomers". These were added to his hopples to enable him to race around the tight Wayville circuit without chafing. They are commonly used to reduce the normal rubbing effect of hopples on a horse's legs. Single Direct won by 5 yards from Hatteras.

AUCKLAND - EMULOUS
In 1948 conditions for the first time decreed that the horses winning the Grand Finals would automatically become the Grand Champions. A record crowd of 31,000 cheered Emulous to victory in World record time of 4.12.4 on the grass track.

PERTH - BANDBOX
A record crowd of 35,000 turned out for the 1947 Final, run on a good track. Stormy Weather made the pace but lost the lead with half a mile to go having damaged a wheel. Bandbox, in the hands of Len Moriarty, took over at the far turn and came on to win well by 6yds in a 2.10.25 rate for the 13 furlongs.

PERTH - GRAND MOGUL
Kiwi bred Grand Mogul, racing in Dunedin owner George Barton's name won the final but the title of Grand Champion was awarded to Logan Derby. After the 1936 result, it was poetic justice for the diminutive son of Globe Derby, who won only one of the 1940 heats and galloped for half a lap in the final, finishing fifth.
Master Dixie, a son of Phoenix Dixie, finished second in the 1940 Final to Grand Mogul. Phoenix Dixie was taken to an old veterinary surgeon for a gelding operation. The vet casually asked his breeding then putting his instruments away said "Take him home, son. You can always take them out but you can't put them back."

TASMANIA - SPRINGFIELD GLOBE
Brothers Springfeld Globe and Our Globe starred in drastically different roles in 1939. Springfield Globe won the £2000, 12 furlongs Final in 3.21.6 a mile rate of 2.12.8. But older brother Our Globe, was disqualified from racing for six months for failing on the third day after bolting away with his heats on the first two days.

CHRISTCHURCH - POT LUCK

Continuing and frustrating postponements through rain which dogged the carnival, a furore over a change of gear on the horse destined to become New Zealand's greatest sire and a clear-cut Championship win on poins for a famous mare despite going under in the Grand Final were memorable features of the first Interdominion Series in New Zealand - at Addington in 1938.

In common with Perth and Brisbane, trotting in Christchurch had in very early times been held on a cricket ground - at Lancaster Park from 1886 - by cricket enthusiasts to raise funds for their foremost love. About five years earlier Robert Wilkin had laid the foundation for the sport by importing from America the Kentucky-bred stallions Berlin and Blackwood Abdallah, the yearling colt Vancleve and six broodmares. The venue soon changed to Addington, where the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club held the first meeting in November, 1899, with stakes totalling £2140 and investments £10,695. The first New Zealand Cup was run at Addington in 1904 (won by straightout trotter Monte Carlo) and by 1938 the Metropolitan Club was ready to stage New Zealand's first-ever four-day meeting for the Interdomions with total stakes of £9700 and a Grand Final purse of £2350.

Rain, badly affecting the six-furlong clay track, proved a nightmare for officials, forcing "the Met" to make four postponments during the carnival. Originally set down to start on Easter Saturday, April 16, the first set of heats were run on Wednesday, April, 20. The second round was to have followed the day after, but was postponed twice until the Saturday, while the third day was held on Tuesday, April 26. Then the Final had to be put of from the following Saturday until Wednesday, May 4. Scheduled to be run over eight days, from April 16 to 23, the meeting wound up extending over a fortnight.

But, despite these upsets, all the ingredients were there for some splendid racing, with a good selection of worthy visitors from Australia to measure strides with a vintage assortment of New Zealand's best. And the racing as it unfolded proved of the highest order. The 1936 and 1937 Grand Champions Evicus and Dan's Son were both on hand from Australia, not to mention Icevus (a well-performed brother of Evicus), J P Stratton's Kolect, Melbourne-trained Joy's John (third in the Adelaide Grand Final a year earlier) and the gallant West Australian mare Lady Childewood.

Such was the strength of the New Zealand force, however, that of these only Evicus (who after finishing last in the Adelaide Grand Final had been trained in New Zealand for some time) made the Final, in which she was never in contention. Points were allotted in the heats on the basis of 6 for first, 2 1/2 for second, 1 for third and 2 1/2 for fastest time of the first four home. The allotment in the Final was 7, 2 1/2, 1 and 3.

First blood in the 10-furlong round went to the bonny four-year-old mare Parisienne, who in the deft hands of trainer Roy Berry started from 12yds and came from the back in slow going to beat Evicus (12yds) by two lengths with favourite King's Play (12) next, then Roi l'Or, hero of a hundred battles, fourth from 36yds.

The second heat was affected by accidents, and 1937 NZ Cup winner Lucky Jack (who was to win the Cup again in 1939 after finishing second in 1938) was among those put out of contention. The winner was Ces Donald's candidate Plutus by two lengths over Joy's John (George Gath).

Supertax, a fine pacer of the era for George Mouritz, came off 36yds to beat Blair Athol (Fr) and Ladt Childewood (12yds) in the remaining heat. Here John McKenzie's American import U Scott, a ruling favourite, made a hopelessmess of the start before catching the field, running upo to third on the turn then wilting out.

Supertax and Parisienne moved well ahead on the points table with 17 apiece following clear wins at a mile and a half on a holding but drying track on the second day. Pot Luck, no danger on the opening day, was runner-up to Supertax in the hands of Maurice Holmes, while smart Auckland visitor Nervie's Last (F J Smith) with 12yds start from Parisienne, failed by half a length to hold her out, with Evicus a good third. Lucky Jack won the other heat for Roy Berry by a neck from Blair Athol.

The going was similar for the two-mile heats the third day, and again Parisienne and Lucky Jack prevailed, but, to the ire of many in the crowd, the third heat, the final event of the day, provided an all-the-way win for the Free Holmes-driven U Scott over Pot Luck and Supertax.

After U Scott had badly muffed his starts on the first two days, owner John McKenzie (later Sir John) has sought permission on the third day to race the horse in a closed bridle instead of an open one. Mr McKenzie ordered U Scott back to the stalls and threatened to scratch the horse when refused this request by chief stipendiary steward Fred Beer and the judicial committee. Under the rules of the day, a horse that started more than once at a meeting was required to wear exactly the same gear unless the express consent of the stewards was given for a change. The stewards reconsidered; U Scott made a late appearance on the track and won. He was greeted with a hostile reception, mainly from people who had altered their choice of bets under the impression that he would be scratched.

A protest by the Pot Luck camp against U Scott was dismissed after dividends were held up until the following day. It cost Mr McKenzie the winning stake of £525. He had stipulated he would pay this amount to the Returned Services Association if the stakes were awarded to him. U Scott got £100 of that back by taking the lap prize awarded to the first horse past the winning post the second time round with six furlongs to go in the Grand Final. But after leading to the straight he was under pressure and dropped out.

He was a good racehorse, however, and his 11 wins and six placings from 30 starts in New Zealand as a pacer after taking a matinee mark of 2.11 trotting at two years in America, earned him, in days of microscopic stakes, £2055. This was nothing to what he was to accomplish as a sire and broodmare sire, however, and today the son of Scotland and Lillian Hilta is famous throughout the trotting world for his accomplishments at stud.

Roy Berry had to choose between his stablemates Parisienne (top points scorer with 23) and Lucky Jack (second equal in the table with Supertax on 17) as his charge in the Final. He opted for Parisienne. Plutus and U Scott (8 1/2) were next on the points table ending the qualifying heats, at which stage Pot Luck - a wayward type and hard to manage, so that the early slow pace in the heats had told on him - had only 5 points.

A great crowd turned out despite the overcast weather, and on a good track the whole Grand Final field of twelve went off correctly. U Scott, on reaching the front fairly early, set a muddling pace before sprinting up for the lap prize. At this stage Parisienne, squeezed back early, began moving up from second-last. She had the crowd on its toes as she chased U Scott and Nervie's Last (Jimmy Bryce Jnr) into the straight. However, just when it appeared this grand mare was on her way to a clean sweep of the series, Pot Luck - shuffled around in the race but cleverly and patiently handled by Morrie Holmes - pulled out and with a brilliant final spurt outsprinted Parisienne to the line by two lengths. Stan Edwards with Blair Athol was third, only a head from Parisienne, with Jack Pringle and Supertax next, just ahead of Lucky Jack. The last-named, in the hands of Lester Frost had been badly checked near the three furlongs when travelling like a winner. Parisienne was a clear-cut Championship winner with 28 1/2 points over Supertax (18), Lucky Jack (17) and Pot Luck (12).

Bred in Auckland by George McMillan and raced by Mrs D R Revell, Parisienne was by the imported American horse Rey de Oro. Her sire had topped the New Zealand sire's list in the two previous seasons and was also to subsequently twice top the broodmares sires' list. Her dam, Yenot, by the imported Harold Dillon from a mare by the famous Rothschild, was a fair performer who won saddle races in Westport and Greymouth. Yenot was to found a fine family, with the line through Parisienne (dam of the brilliant La Mignon, in turn the dam of Garcon Roux and Roydon Roux) the strongest branch.

Educated by one of New Zealand's best-ever jockeys, Hector Gray, before being handed to Berry, the handsome chestnut Parisienne, 15.1 hands, won the Sapling Stakes at two and at three the New Zealand and Great Northern Derbies. Following her Championship win she in 1939 became world's champion pacing mare with a race record of 4:15.6 for two miles. When she embarked on her equally successful stud career her racing record stood at 16 wins, 10 seconds, four thirds and two fourths and £6766 in stakes. She was widely acclaimed the greatest of her sex to have raced in New Zealand as a four-year-old, and one of the top mares of all time.

Pot Luck, a sturdy five-year-old son of the imported Walter Direct horse Jack Potts (nine times New Zealand's leading sire and six times leading broodmare sire) and the Harold Dillon (imp) mare Hope Dillon, was trained and driven by the then 29-year-old Maurice Holmes for another capable horseman Bert Stafford, then publican at the Carlton Hotel in Christchurch. Stafford, long a trotting dabbler, had bought Pot Luck for £400 from New Brighton breeder J D Smith after the gelding had finished second in the Riccarton Stakes as a three-year-old. While still three Pot Luck carried on to win six races for Mr Stafford, including the inaugural All-Aged Stakes at Ashburton. He was later to win a Wellington Cup and had 18 wins and 33 placings worth £8092 on the scoreboard when retired as a nine-year-old. Ironically, Pot Luck was ninth on the score table with 12 points after winning the Grand Final.

The heats carried stakes of £750 (£525 to the winner) and the Final was worth £2250, of which Pot Luck collected £1500. Parisienne received £450 and also £250 for the highest aggregate of time points, which with her heat wins boosted her earnings to about £1800 -roughly the same as Pot Luck's full share of the spoils.

Australians Joy's John (Victoria) and Lady Childewood (Western Australia) had gained a few qualifying points, but did not stay around for the last day of the meeting, when Joy's John would have been able to contest the Final.

The great Indianapolis, off the winning list since he won his third successive New Zealand Cup in 1936, took a consolation race from 60yds, with the crowd cheering the old favourite home, in the hands of Doug Watts. Lou Thomas won the other consolation with Glenrossie.

Credit: Ron Bisman & Taylor Strong in Interdominions the Saga of Champions