Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 6 April 1936, page 27
Things I Never Told – Pike’s Life Story
Playful Habit Marred Peter Pan’s Record
IN TODAY’S INSTALMENT OF HIS LIFE STORY JIM PIKE TELLS OF HIS ASSOCIATION WITH PETER PAN. HE REVEALS HOW PETER PAN’S PLAYFUL HABITS COST HIM A NUMBER OF RACES.
Pike pays a special tribute to Mr. R. R. Dangar owner of the dual Melbourne Cup winner. He ranks Mr. Dangar as the finest sportsman he has ridden for.
Pike’s story is exclusive to the Daily Telegraph.
By JIM PIKE, Australia’s greatest jockey
IF I guessed that Peter Pan was a good one in the making, I hadn't much to help me. I hadn't engaged early for the Derby that year, 1932, and when I saw Peter Pan merely dead-heat with a second-rater, Babili, in a novice at Warwick Farm, it wasn't sufficiently striking to indicate how good he was. He certainly came from a long way back to do that, but performances in novice company can be deceiving. Next time out, however, he showed two things, that he was going to be a good horse, and that wet, heavy going would never be a disadvantage for him. For in those conditions, he won the Hill Stakes, the weight-for-age mile race at Rosehill Spring meeting. By the time I had been engaged for him in the Derby, but as I said, there had been no early indication of what the stable expected of Peter Pan. Mr. McGrath is very deep in racing matters and doesn't
