 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 1921
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
1921 NEW ZEALAND TROTTING CUP
The weather was dull for the opening day at Addington, but the attendance was quite up to that of previous years. Agathos's number was missing when the scratching board was brought into evidence announcing the starters for the N.Z. Trotting Cup. This left a dozen runners. They were a well-conditioned lot, but while doing their preliminaries it was noticeable that Willie Lincoln and John Dillon were a trifle sore. Once warmed up, they raced along in good 3tyle. It is doubtful if Albert Cling has ever stripped better, and Man o' War looked a picture. Immediately the machine was opened Albert Cling and Man o' War divided favoritism,- the pair being entrusted with over a thousand tickets more than the third favorite, Gleaming.
After a false start, on which the field scarcely went more than a hundred yards, the candidates were again marshalled, but again the starter's efforts were frustrated due to Rangitata Lass dancing all over the course. On this occasion Vice Admiral, Sherwood, Trix Pointer, Reta Peter, John Dillon, General Link and Albert Cling raced for three furlongs before receiving the signal "no start." At the third attempt the field moved away to their bells with the exception of Asturio, who jibbed and took no part in the race.
Gleaming rushed to the front and raced to the four furlong distance in 1.8 1-5s., with Vice Admiral, John Dillon, Sherwood, Reta Peter, Trix Pointer. General Link and Willie Lincoln in close attendance, and Albert Cling making up his ground fast. At this stage it was obvious that Man o' War would never be in the picture, for he was boring badly and losing several lengths at every bend.
With a mile and a quarter covered in 2.41, Gleaming compounded, and Vice Admiral rushed to the head of affairs with Reta Peter, Sherwood, Willie Lincoln, Trix Pointer and John Dillon in hot pursuit. Going to the mile and a half post, which was negotiated in 3.23 2- 5s., Vice Admiral was hitting out in determined fashion, but Reta Peter, Sherwood and Trix Pointer were asserting themselves in bold style.
Entering the home stretch, Edwards drew the whip on Vice Admiral. Half way down the running Sherwood and Reta Peter headed Vice Admiral, and while the pair were engaged in a hot tussle, F. Holmes, Junr., driver of Sherwood, appeared to cross Reta Peter as they flashed past the judge. Sherwood had two lengths advantage of Reta Peter, who was three lengths in front of Vice Admiral. A neck away came Willie Lincoln, then Trix Pointer and Albert Cling.
Immediately on returning to scale the owner of Reta Peter lodged a protest against Sherwood for crossing fifty yards from the winning-post. After lengthy deliberation the stewards awarded the race to Reta Peter, and placed Sherwood second, and fined F. Holmes, Junr., driver of Sherwood, £25.
This places the second Cup to the credit of Reta Peter. She is owned by Mr. P. H. Robson, who bred her. Her , sire, Petereta, is a son of the world's greatest sire, Peter the Great, while her dam is Tot Huon, a daughter of the famous Huon. Reta Peter is trained at New Brighton by A. G. Wilson, who deserves credit for the manner in which he not only prepared the mare, but handled her in the race. Reta Peter, was the only trotter in the contest.
An appeal was lodged by the owner of Sherwood, but the Appeal Committee, which happened to be on the course, met immediately and decided that no appeal could lie.
Credit: NZ Truth 12 Nov 1921
YEAR: 1921
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Reta Peter winner of the 1920 & 1921 NZ Cups |
If Reta Peter's first win was popular, the second was controversial.
She was second past the post to Sherwood and F G Holmes, but a protest was lodged and officials deemed the interference at the top of the straight serious enough to reverse the placings.
It was serious enough for Reta Peter to return to the birdcage bleeding from her front legs anyway.
In this way, Reta Peter went into the records as the second and last trotter to win the Cup, and one of only two mares to win it twice, the other being Haughty.
**Credit: NZ HRWeekly 1Oct 2003**
The 1921 New Zealand Cup had an unprecedented climax when Sherwood, driven by F G Holmes, was first past the post but was relegated to second for crossing in front of Reta Peter at the straight entrance. The finish was an exciting one, and it was unfortunate that the race had to won on protest.
The interference in the final stages was obvious and the protest lodged by the mare's owner did not surprise the Addington public. The Judicial Committee, after considering the matter, resolved under part 25 of the Rules of Trotting, "as to keeping positions", that Holmes, the driver of Sherwood, had seriously interfered with Reta Peter. It placed Reta Peter first and Sherwood second, In addition, Holmes was fined £25. Reta Peter returned to the birdcage after the race with skin off her front legs, which were bleeding.
An appeal against the decision was immediately lodged by Holmes and accepted by the stewards. The Appeal Committee of the New Zealand Trotting Association decision met and, after studying the evidence, decided that the Judicial Committee decision was correct. Holmes never agreed with that decision, and took the opportunity when Adorian won for him in 1953 to remind officials of the grave injustice he alleged had been done to him 32 years previously.
The crowd around the birdcage in 1921 did not show much enthusiasm after the protest, and conjecture remains as to whether the interference was serious enough to warrant relegation. In the history of the race the only other disqualification from first place came in 1969, when Stella Frost, driven by Doodey Townley, was deemed to have caused a serious spill, which cost several horses their chances.
For trainer-driver Alf Wilson and Reta Peter, the 1921 victory was a triumph. Reta Peter had not raced earlier in the season, as she had been pin-fired, so her effort without lead-up races was a good one. She remains the only trotter to have won the NZ Cup twice and, along with Haughty, the only mare to have had double success.
The Cup stake was raised to 3000 sovereigns and the class tightened to 4:32. Reta Peter was opposed by 11 others, but a short limit of six seconds was set, with the Australian import Man O'War - for several weeks the race favourite - on the back mark. There was great controversy at the time about this handicap, because, by comparison with Reta Peter, he seemed badly off. Man O'War's best two-mile time was 4:29.4, yet Reta Peter, who had a best time of 4:28.6, had an advantage of five seconds over him at the start.
Trainer James Bryce was not pleased with Man O'War's trackwork and stated publicly before the race that his horse was not fit enough to run a gruelling two miles. And so it proved. Man O'War was slow away and always toiled in the rear of the field in a cloud of dust. His display was the subject of an official inquiry, at which Bryce stated he had not wanted to start Man O'War, because the horse had gone from bad to unmanageable in training the week before the race. He further stated that Man O'War bored badly during the race and struck a post coming into the straight, almost falling. Owner Joe Corrigan was bitterly disappointed with the display. "The horse will not race again at the meeting," he said.
Man O'War, a black stallion born in Australia in 1914, was a good horse, adept in bad going. Brought to New Zealand in 1920 as a six-year-old, he won the Auckland Cup for Bryce, from 84 yards. He won a second Auckland Cup the following year, from 96 yards, and was a good winner on New Zealand tracks, ending the 1921-1922 season as leading money-winner with £2935. At stud he produced the top-class mare Navy Blue, who included the 1938 Auckland Cup among her 14 wins. Man O'War's best son was Happy Man, who reached Cup class and later, as a 17-year-old, won a free-for-all in Western Australia. Man O'War mares produced Loyal Nurse, who won the Auckland Cup in 1946 and the NZ Cup in 1949, Soangetaha, who won the Auckland Cup in 1951 and 1952, and Parawa Derby.
Man O'War started second favourite behind Albert Cling, who again let down his supporters. John McLennan had him well placed all the way but he faded to sixth. the race start was not the best recommendation for the time system - there were two false starts and, on the second ocession, several horses were at top speed for three furlongs before they were pulled up. Reta Peter was first out both times. Eventually, the field was sent away at their correct bells, with the exception of Asturio, who broke, and Man O'War, who was slow away.
Gleaming (Bill Warren) and Vice-Admiral (Dil Edwards) led out from John Dillon, Sherwood, Trix Pointer, Albert Cling and Reta Peter. There was little change until the last lap, at which stage Gleaming began to tire and Vice-Admiral opened a lead of four lengths on Reta Peter, with Trix Pointer and her bracketmate, Sherwood, starting good runs. Sherwood passed Vice-Admiral and Reta Peter just as the straight was reached and, driven with great vigour by F G Holmes, appeared to have won a good race by a length from Reta Peter.
Vice-Admiral, a black gelded son of the three-year-old Cup starter of 1907, Advance, and the best of his offspring, held on for third, just ahead of Willie Lincoln, Trix Pointer and Albert Cling. Manvers Edwards, known as Dil, was a son of Manny Edwards, and had his first Cup drive behind Vice-Admiral.
Surprisingly - even for those early days at Addington - Asturio ran again on Cup Day, finishing third in the final race, the Recovery Handicap. Just as significant on this occasion was his driver, Ossie Hooper, soon to leave an indelible mark on the Addington scene. Drum Withers was also prominent among the successful new drivers at this Cup meeting.
Albert Cling, who disappointed for a second consecutive time in the Cup, ran a New Zealand race record for the mile of 2:09.6 when winning the Free-For-All from three others, Trix Pointer, Willie Lincoln and Marie Tempest. The final day of the meeting belonged to Trix Pointer, who showed why Free Holmes held her in such high regard. She won the Christchurch Handicap over two miles, her first winning run since April 1920, and later in the day ran third to Ena Bell and Chid over one mile. In the process she registered 2:08.6, breaking the race record that had been set by Albert Cling the previous day. Ena Bell was trained and driven by Gisborne's Bob Fisken, who also produced the Dominion Handicap winner Wild Moor.
The only dual winner at the meeting was the trotter Whispering Willie, who beat the pacers in the Courtenay Handicap to win in 4:29.4 and the trotters in the Middleton Handicap.
**Credit: Bernie Wood writing in The Cup**
Credit: NZ HRWeekly 1Oct03