 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 1916
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
JAMES BRYCE - CATHEDRAL CHIMES 1916
The new public stand caught fire, the Fire Brigade initially refused to come. Then there was the track drama.
In front of the burnt out stand on the last round Eccentric shied and Succeed put a foot through his wheel. Both fell. Five others lost all chance.
James Bryce and Cathedral Chimes were out in the middle of the track at the time and missed the crash. From there it was easy. Maybe they were there by accident or just avoiding the dust. But Jimmy might also have seen a very tight bunch, some of them with "history" and decided to take no risks.
That's our theory anyway.
TRIVIA FACT:
J Bruce Thompson, the Invercargill based merchant who owned the Gore-bred Cathedral Chimes, left Addington with a stand burned to the ground and arrived home to find his large warehouse in Invercargill had suffered the same fate. Not a nice home-coming even with a NZ Cup in hand.
Credit: David McCarthy writing in Harnessed Oct 2016
YEAR: 1916
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Cathedral Chimes & Scotty Bryce |
Since 14-year-old trotter Monte Carlo won the first running of the NZ Trotting Cup at Addington in 1904, this time-honoured and prestigious event has invariably provided devotees of the sport with great excitement.
Seldom more so than in 1916, when fire completely destroyed the 18-month-old steward's and member's stand overlooking the birdcage, where today stands the course's plush new edifice, completed last year to replace the one built when the first structure was razed. So vital was the Cup to the 20,000 fans on course that day 74 years ago that there was no thought of abandonment of the race.
Its start was delayed for an hour and a half, and with the crowd evacuated from the stand to watch from ground level or alternative vantage points, the Cup was run through a thick pall of smoke which swarthed part of the track and led to a three-horse spill with a lap to travel
Said "The Press" on the morning after:
"About 1:15 pm, a gentleman upstairs in the stand remarked to a friend that it seemed to be getting warm, and, being of an enquiring nature, he prodded the floor with his walking stick in several places, ceasing his inquisitiveness when his stick went through the floor and smoke and flames were seen through the hole made. Officials were notified, and several got to work with a small hose and buckets. Those persons still in the stand were quietly told to leave.
More drastic action followed. The floor-boards were torn up, and a call went to the Christchurch Fire Brigade, who did not turn up at once, owing to the racecourse being outside the fire district. Superintendent Warner, the Fire Chief, was on the course, and, when made aware of the situation, called the brigade on his own authority. The well-intentioned efforts of those who tore up the floor-boards to get at the seat of the fire misfired, as the strong draught spread the flames.
The fire took a strong hold, and soon the large glass panels at the ends of the stand cracked and fell out. Saving the building became hopeless. Shortly before 3pm, the fire had practically burnt itself out. The roof and all the big iron girders had fallen in, and only the shell of the lower story remained."
The fire had first been noticed after the second race. As the field for the Cup paraded in the bircage for the Cup (the third race on the programme), it became obvious that the fire was serious, and the horses were sent straight out on to the track. On Fire Chief Warner's observation, "the stand is doomed," the word to evacuate was given. For a time it appeared the fire might also spread to the nearby public stand, which was already blackening with the heat. At 1:45pm, not long after the last members left their stand, the roof collapsed.
While the public had an extra hour in which to place bets on the Cup race, this, according to one report was not much use, as there was so much smoke around that no one could see the tote indicators.
A capacity field of 17 contested this Cup. Eccentric (Jack Brankin) made the pace. When still in front in thick smoke with a lap to run, he skipped and brought down Succeed (Lou Thomas), Brown Bell (W R Thomas) and Erin's King (Albert Hendricksen). Cathedral Chimes, who won the race, was a top pacer of his day and later a successful sire. He gave outstanding horseman James Bryce his first win in the Cup, and was a bargain buy, having been secured by his Southland owner, J B Thomson, for a few pounds. The previous season he had won the Auckland Cup. Evelyn, driven by Andy Pringle, was second, and Admiral Wood (Free Holmes) was third. Off 36 yards, Cathedral Chimes scored by six lengths and clocked 4:31 1/5 for the two miles.
Arguments about the stand continued for days. The fact that the band employed by the club had played throughout the day, uninterrupted by the fire, was a amusing sideline. Fusing of an electric cable in the building was said to be the source of the fire. The stand had been completed at Easter, 1915. It was generally considered it could have been saved had the fire regulations permitted the brigade to be sent to Addington when the first call went out. Built at a cost of £8000, the structure was insured for £8500 to cover improvements.
Apart from all that, the event was notable for the record number of 17 starters and Cathedral Chimes providing Scotty Bryce with the first of six training wins in the race. Bryce was the leading trainer in New Zealand that season after arriving only a few years earlier. His horses on an accompanying boat had been shipwrecked, but arrived later and set him on the way to a career a one of our greatest horsemen.
Credit: Ron Bisman writing in HRWeekly 31Oct90