National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
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Cardiff Stadium Sports - Final of the Galloway Handicap
Cardiff Stadium, Clive Street, Grangetown: a race for boys on Galloway ponies, and the 'Half Mile Handicap' final, 29/5/1912, won by the renowned – and ageing - Harry Cullum.
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Overview
Harry Cullum from Cardiff, world half-mile champion in 1899 and regarded by many at the time as Wales' best ever half-miler, pulls off a coup in his forties by winning the Half Mile Handicap on 29/5/1912 at Cardiff Stadium, scene also of a race for boys on Galloway ponies, a sure-footed, robust breed of horse from Scotland, now extinct. The ponies are frisky before the off but, race over, the winner is seen seated on a quiet animal. Cullum is borne aloft in his triumph by the crowd.
The Cardiff Stadium in Clive Street, Grangetown, offered Galloway racing, whippet racing, ladies races, foot racing (also known as 'pedestrianism' i.e. men racing as opposed to horses) and boys' races. It even experimented with the 'Electric Judge' invented in 1919 by two bookies/sports promoters with the aim of providing clear, impartial evidence of the order in which competitors reached the finishing line. Harry Cullum, once a champion internationally and in Wales, had only run intermittently prior to the race seen here and it was generally considered that his racing days were over. But he was still able to pull this astonishing victory out of the hat.
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