b4breeding

Addington main stand fire

A fire alarm callout at Alexandra Park tonight recalled the historical event from 1916 when the stand caught fire at Addington raceway.

I recall a number of photos of the event, and some of them show not only the blazing stand, but the on track punters turning their backs on the fire to watch the exciting final straight finish of the race that was happening at the time. Go, you passionate harness racing followers!  It was, after all, NZ Cup Day.

Another fire in the stand happened in the 1950s, again at Addington.

Is this the night for Courage Under Fire horses to show their worth?
Good to see the old guy is still available to Australian breeders at $5,500, and he deserves a good book. One of my all-time favourites is “Might Mouse” as he was known. As smaller horses can show as racers and sires (like Bettor’s Delight, Tintin In America, Highview Tommy, and in older days ones like Good Time), size only matters when it comes to the size of the cup you win or the stakes you make.

Update later same night: Ah, there you go, winner of the last at Forbury Park tonight a talented 4yo Courage Under Fire x Denice’s Dream (Armbro Operative) who now has 8 starts for 2 wins and 3 seconds. Nice. Australian blog readers might know the family through (I’m Elmer Fudd) who got about 8 wins and $50,000+ here before crossing the ditch to more or less double that in total.