 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 1961
INTERDOMINIONS
CHRISTCHURCH - MASSACRE
The glorious uncertainty of racing was seldom better illustrated than when Massacre landed the Grand Final at Addington in Christchurch 1961 - in one of the closest finishes on record. Massacre, a rugged sort of a 4-year-old but a virtual unknown, had won a mere four races before the Series. He was placed in two of the heats and scraped into the final.
But the merit of his performance could not be written down. He joined the select band to win the race as 4-year-olds when, after measuring strides with champion False Step through the telling home-stretch duel, he prevailed by the barest of margins over that great performer - to the dismay of thousands who were willing False Step to win and thought he had. False Step conceded Massacre 48yds, but had the race been run under ordinary handicap conditions the difference in Massacre's favour would have been 216yds.
What a finish it was. Massacre was declared the winner by a nose over False Step, and in fact the margin was a bare inch. Arania was a half-length back, third, and Lady Belmer was right up fourth. The outsider but one at 10-10 in the order of betting, Massacre paid £31/13/6 for £1 to win and £5/15/6 for £1 for a place.
It was the ultimate result for Massacre's amateur trainer, Duncan Campbell, who raced the gelding in partnership with Mr A Wilson on lease from Mr T E Prendergast, all of Ashburton, Mid-Canterbury. Campbell, a milk-bar proprietor, had served his time as an apprentice jockey before a stint as a coalminer on the West Coast of the South Island, and Wilson was a mechanic in a knit-wear factory. Neither had enjoyed anything out of the ordinary in the way of racing success, although a couple of years earlier, Campbell, treating trotting merely as a hobby, had raced the mudlark Bedivus for several wins in looser grades. He had leased Massacre as a weanling and driven him as a 3-year-old to win at the South Island country courses Reefton, Methven and Waikouaiti.
When Massacre was included in the line-up for the heats, experienced reinsman Doug Watts was engaged. Watts, a former jockey himself, and a driver with past Inter-Dominion experience, had achieved a record of some distinction when he drove the first seven winners on an eight-race card at Reefton in 1954. He had also won New Zealand Cups driving Integrity (1946) and Our Roger (1955), and the 1956 Auckland Cup with Unite.
Rather modest about the part he played in Massacre's Grand Final win, Watt gave a large slice of the credit to fellow reinsman Maurice Holmes. Said Doug "the horse was not going away at the start and Maurice told me not to let him begin but to wait for him." This amounted to not giving the horse his head immediately the barrier strand was released, and resulted in Watts getting Massacre away safely.
Holmes had driven Massacre in his other win before the Championship, a dead heat with Kingsdown Patch in the Templeton Handicap at Addington in August 1960. And Holmes was on the sideline during the 1961 Series with injuries he received in a race fall at the inaugural night meeting at Forbury Park, Dunedin, a month earlier. He had been driving star 4-year-old Sun Chief, who was also forced to miss the Series. Earlier that season, Sun Chief had won the Louisson Handicap at Addington and the Hannon Memorial at Oamaru and pushed False Step to the brink in that outstanding pacer's third New Zealand Cup win.
The absence of Holmes and Sun Chief prefaced a series of setbacks for the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club in staging the 1961 Inter-Dominion carnival. Another came when prominent pacers Rustic Lad (third top points scorer), Invicta and Lookaway were barred from starting in the £10,000 Final because their connections had not obtained the special permission of the Championship Programme Committee to withdraw their horses on the first day.
Trainer Jim Ferguson had left the scratching of Rustic Lad as late as possible in the hope that his good pacer would recover from a bruised foot, and had overlooked the relevant clause. While it was acknowledged that the onus was on the owner or his agent to observe the conditions, it was claimed that the club should have drawn the attention of the trainers to the clause when the scratchings were made, giving them a chance to seek the required special permission to 'pass'. The condition had applied to Inter-Dominion programmes in New Zealand and Australia for some years. It was introduced because trainers of horses who had gained sufficient points to earn a start in the Final had scratched from the last set of Heats. The condition decreed that, unless a veterinary certificate could be produced saying the horse was not fit to start, the three Heats had to be contested.
False Step stole the limelight on the first day when runner-up to Diamond Hanover (Doody Townley) in the world record time of 3:21.4 for 13 furlongs. False Step had added to his 48yd handicap by galloping at the start, then improved to join the leader near the half-mile, fighting back in his best style. Scottich Command, given every chance, was third, NSW rep Redwin fourth.
Teryman, stablemate of False Step, and by Cecil Devine's 1951 NZ Cup winner, the U Scott horse Van Dieman, won his heat well from Smokeaway, with Massacre making up ground for a creditable third. Robert Dillon, driven by F G (Freeman) Holmes, took his heat in clear-cut style from Guiseppe (who had been forced by a shoulder abcess to miss the Grand Final in Sydney a year earlier) and the NSW visitor First Kiss.
USA horseman Delvin Miller provided a sidelight on that first day when he piloted the Jack Litten trained Lavengro to win the Sydney Handicap under a vigorous drive. Miller, the man who bought and developed as a sire the immortal Adios, three days later guided trotter Jewel Derby home at Alexandra Park in Auckland from 66yds. New York trainer Eddie Cobb also drove the same day at Addington as Miller, without success, but showed his worth driving Stormymaid to win at Hutt Park, Wellington, the same week.
Rustic Lad buried his rivals for speed in the first heat, at a mile and a quarter, on the second day, clocking 2:35.6, a 2:04 mile rate. It was after this that the announcement came that although he would be allotted any points he should earn on the third night to add to his then equal top score of seven, he would be ineligible for the final.
Before False Step lined up for his heat on the second day, it was revealed that Devine had raced him in illegal gear when he set his world record on the first day. Chief Stipendiary Steward Len Butterfield ordered Devine to remove a neck pricker from False Step. The pricker consisted of a few tacks with points blunted, protuding through the inside of the neck-band. It was used with the object of preventing the horse veering out at the start of his races. A pricker of a type approved by the NZ Trotting Conference is a leather disc, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, fitting between the bit and the jaw.
Writing in the Melbourne 'Sun', Jack McPherson commented: "the False Step scandal rocked Australians in Christchurch, but this city of horse-lovers took the cruelty quite placidly. Chief Stipeniary Steward Mr L A Butterfield, while admitting the use of neck-band prickers is absolutely forbidden, said 'often the use of unauthorised gear will provoke a fine, but in this case Devine won't be penalised." Cecil Devine, trainer/driver of False Step, did not consider the use of prickers made 'all that difference'. Earlier McPherson expressed the discontent of his fellow countrymen driving in the Series: "Australian drivers, after trying to observe the NZ rules, said that in the three-heat Series they would drive hub to hub in Australian fashion and take the consequences. Western Australian driver Bob Johnson said that he did not want to drive in New Zealand again, because he would be tempted to 'flatten NZ driver Bill Doyle'."
The second sensation concerning False Step on the second day came when he fell at the start. He paced off the mark, became unbalanced and tipped Devine from the sulky. False Step did not attempt to bolt, and Devine jogged him back to the enclosure, the horse minus some skin and a little stiff. That heat resulted in an all-the-way win for Damian, owned and trained by Aucklander Les Barrett (for whom he was driven by Doug Watts) and one of three progeny of the grand producer Bashful (Grattan Loyal-Bonny Logan by Logan Pointer) in the Series. Her two other sons, Guiseppe (also owned by Les) and Diamond Hanover (raced by J H G Peterson), along with Damian, qualified for the final. It was a unique distinction for the broodmare Bashful. Queen Ngaio (Felix Newfield)and Redwin (Pere Hall) followed Damian in.
A win in the other second-day heat for Arania sparked off a rowdy demonstration, as she had raced poorly on the first day. At an inquiry into her form reversal, an explanation that she had been left in the open on the first day was accepted.
Misfortune, which seemed to be doing the rounds, carried over to the Australian camp. Filling developed in the foreleg of Sultana and Kiwi Dillon failed to settle to his surroundings. The West Australian pair were forced to withdraw from the third and final days.
The third day, however, belonged to Australia. Redwin and Three Aces (SA, Rex Robinson)won two-mile heats, in each case having to fight off all challengers in the run home for narrow verdicts. The grand mare Arania, then a 4-year-old and seven months later to become the fastest mare bred outside of America with a 1:57 mile on Lexington's Big Red Mile in Kentucky, wound up leading point scorer when she annexed the other two-mile heat.
Trainer George Noble had one regret about Roy McKenzie's Arania:"in my opinion she went to America too soon; before she really had an opportunity, to show her real worth in New Zealand," he said. Noble, long-time trainer for Sir John McKenzie and then Roy, had been a top horseman in his own right in Australia before immigrating to New Zealand, where he was also to be to the top of his profession. Arania, by U Scott, was from Local Gold, a daughter of one of New Zealand's first 2:00 horse, Gold Bar. After her American campaigning, Arania returned to New Zealand to prove a successful broodmare.
With points awarded on the basis of 4,2 and 1 for the first three placegetters and 2 for the fastest time among the first four, the final table read: Arania(11), Damian(10), Rustic Lad, Three Aces(7), Diamond Hanover(6), Robert Dillon(5 1/2), False Step, Teryman, Redwin, Invicta(5), Guiseppe(4), Massacre, Gentry(3), Queen Ngaio, Smokeaway, Maestro's Melody, Samantha, Lady Belmer(2 1/2), First Kiss, Scottish Command, Fourth Edition(1).
With Rustic Lad and Invicta ineligible, Victoria's Maestro's Melody (third behind Caduceus and Apmat in Sydney a year earlier and fourth and second in the Addington heats) and Lady Belmer were chosen from the five with two and a half points to make a field of 13 for the Final. Cecil Devine had wound up with Jim Smyth's False Step and Teryman, whom he owned himself, in the Final. He applied though his solicitor to drive False Step. When the Executive endorsed the Rule of Trotting stating that no licensed person having an interest in any horse competing in a race shall drive any other horse not owned by him, Devine solved his own problem by scratching Teryman.
The pace was on from the start in the Final, with Guiseppe (Fred Smith) going for the doctor. It was apparent that False Step, who had added 12yds to his 48yd handicap when he swung out at the start, was faced with a stupendous task. Throughout the race all eyes were on False Step as he steadily whittled down the deficit. Recovering like the great horse he was, he straightened up for home wide outside and almost on terms with Diamond Hanover and Robert Dillon, who had drawn past the tiring Guiseppe. Massacre was coming fast into the picture wider out than False Step; Arania was diving for a wide gap on the inside; Lady Belmer was just in behind in the middle of the track and back on her outer was Redwin, making a remarkable recovery after tangling twice in the early running. Arania drew up to False Step and Massacre, and the three fought out a battle royal. False Step and Massacre flashed past the post locked together and only a neck ahead of Arania. Most, including the drivers, were sure that False Step had won and capped a remarkable New Zealand career in his last start before departing for the United States.
There were incredulous mutterings when judge Harry Spicer called Massacre first before calling for the photo, adding that "it was close for first and second". Doug Watts congratulated Cecil Devine on his success as they returned to the birdcage. Recounts Watts: "I finished a wheel behind Cecil, and we thought he had won by half a length." But the camera had the last say, and False Step, though he had won three NZ Cups, had been denied the triumph that would have capped his great 'Down Under' career.
Devine, who had come confidently back to the birdcage at the head of the field, was dumbfounded by the result of the photo-finish. "I would have been prepared to wager any amount at all that I had won. I have driven a lot of winners at Addington and have never made that mistake before," said the former Tasmanian, who had in his great New Zealand career won five NZ Cups and a Royal Cup. False Step was for all that credited with a world record for the 13 furlongs, of 3:21, cutting .4 sec from the record he clocked when second in his heat on the opening day. Lady Belmer had got up for a good fourth, a long neck from Arania, while Redwin headed the others.
The 1957 NZ Cup winner Lookaway, owned by Clarry Rhodes and now trained at Invercargill by veterinarian Cliff Irvine, emerged to win a consolation race. He had missed the second day after injuring a shoulder in a fall the first day. Scottish Command (the Auckland Cup winner of 1959) took the other consolation in a close finish with Invicta (who was to win the NZ Cup the following November) and Queen Ngaio.
Massacre's sire Whipster had been a good racehorse before being injured and retired to stud, and among his other progeny was Overdrive, the dam of an Australian champion, Lucky Creed. Whipster was by the imported Peter Volo horse Quite Sure, eight times leading sire of straightout trotters in New Zealand. Whipster's dam Bantam was by Jack Potts, sire of the first Grand Final winner at Addington, Pot Luck. Terrace Lass, the dam of Massacre, was by Nelso Derby, a son of Nelson Bingen and Norice, imported American-bred parents. A good winner herself in New Zealand, and runner-up to Monte Carlo in the first NZ Cup in 1904, Norice became ancestress of a prolific winning family.
Credit: Ron Bisman & Taylor Strong writing in 'The Inter-Dominions