THE GRAND NATIONALS.

NZ Truth, Issue 59, 4 August 1906, Page 2

THE GRAND NATIONALS.

The Candidates' Chances.

With such splendid acceptances ff r the principal events it may; confidffct-' ly be expected that the WinterJ*ee;ting. oi the. C.J.C:, which fcjfco/ be held on August 14. 16 an/ I°, 'will bo a highly successful onp a . ln tne two principal events the/fields promise to be larger th^ ever before and the fact that se^ ral candidates m each race are/eoju^ favorites would suggest that/ tb> -liandicapper has done his wd'rk^ll and ? ood racing should be the^" 1 *- On opening x day the bitt r^ c P iecKase W1 " '^ c run » and at xw* enil *ft«?re are nineteen Vv-^es and of these probably s-xteen wwl be found ready to play thefr parf oftv tlic day. That cooc! ho-xe Kaiiere »^cimies the position at honor, and his wm^afc Nanler Peirk

though"' the opposition was weak, .'BnWs that he is pretty well. He arrived, at Kiccarton. last week and is reported to be m great heart. Admitting that Hall's horse is a goon one the writer is of the opinion that m the race under review he will have to do something that he has never done before to win. Twelve stone is a lot to carry over nearly four miles of country with fences that require to be jumped, and with horses carrying two stone less, galloping all the ■way. The Waikato horse, Sol, is cdnfidently regarded by Auckland sportsmen as the winner, and m his favor it must be said that he has a wonderful record as a 'chaser, and up to the present has done all that has been required: of him, but the same remark applies to him as to Kaitere, and this task is without doubt the hardest he has yet taken on.. Slow Tom won the race m 1901 : with -11.0 up, bulj A since then he has'not been successful m a steeplechase. He is at a very short price m the me,rke,t, _proy.ing that^aTjiot : ttf money has been invested -'on hinf, bti% despite I all this I will let him run against' me. Eurus is -number four (lucky number) on the card, and I regard him as the hardest horse to beat. His Wanagnui victory was full of merit, despite the opinion of many to the contrary, and he should strip as fit as a fiddle on the day. The Swimmer would be better suited* were the race run at Ellerslie, as the Cannon geldih"- is a paddock-trained horse- and. a very poor traveller. Hi/J owner' could not start him at Trentham owing to the fact 'that the little horse lightened up considerably on the voyage from Auckland. By the time he is required to race he will have been three weeks on the scents so that he might have got over the and . come on^a'Uot. Pha eton-, itis ■ generally . manages to f^l'l, 1 so that his. chance must , be cons / i'derably 1 discounted by this, fact. "Irish *wiN be a hard horse 'to teat.' -This seasori his performances have been of a first class ordtfr. JJe^ls yptjfe vaiil/in the Winter Steeples at Auckland, was second to „ Nadador at Hastings, aMwo^-the^J^ Steeples at Trenthamy, after falling m the big r|cf>' on? the ' opening day. r'loD* <>o 2iim to be amongst; the placed division on Tuesday week. Nadador possesses a jumper's chance, but s'ne has not shown un to the presert that she is -gifted with over much Pace ; certainly she beat Irish m *he Hawke's Bay Steeplechase, but there was hardly the merit m thai victory that "the result would see* 1 to indicate. Rongoa has his T-entham victory to recommend him, Kit here we have another case of the iacts seriously discounting the merit of the victory. Mocassin pulled up /lame after running second to Rongoa ' m the Wellington Steeplechase, and I am afraid the old fellow is done. At Trentham his jumping was poor.i as he was getting up m, the air and landing m the same place. Baritone is stated to be a greatly improved animal since , joining Moraghan's Ellersliie team. He is a big cut of a horse and a perfect jumper. Playfair has been m work a long time, but at the Trentham meetinc was far too bi»r and I do not think he can be ri«rht by National time. Ranana is at a very short price, and it is stated that his owner has backed his liorse to do what no horse has ever done before, viz., win the double. Rannna won the last steeplechase at , Avondale and lie has many friends

.consequent on that performance^ Jj« hollow -backed gelding should ,De we hardest .to beat, of the li&ht-wfigMs Pipi, Mawhiti, Narcissus, Victory and Mamazona are all on the minimum, and the first mentioned /^pair should complete the course. / With. the withdrawal of Exi^oor and Mohican, Alec Hall's Shrapp ■ was left at the top of the' list ire the WR Hurdles, and' with four popds less on his back is his stable map Kremlin. The- are '-. both equal / favorites and which e||r"Hall starts? Will be sure to occupy the same position on the day. Cavalry seems to he lumping better this year than l/ast, so he. should have to be reckoned with if he has got over the accident which befel him on the journey ,«om Auckland to Wellington. CuSragno has improved out of all knowledge and should be m perfect nick/ by Nation!al time. He has now wo-n three hurdle races on end and m^v score on the 16th. Hydrant seosms to Lave, gone off since his fall at Auckland, butrthe race on Thursda/y week might show 'that' his. Trenthaini form was all wrong. Welbeck is an i/nknown quantity^ ■ over : the.; sticks a/id, as he has been' off the list .for a £ouple of ye a rs, I will pass him over. / Comfort will probably find that the /younger horses can go too fast m th£ earlier stages of the race. Sol is aj doubtful starter, but all going' welf Irish will contest the Hurdles and/ should run well. Pushful is stated *o he a rod m pickle for the big /event, but like many another such i od he might gain a place only. Ability is an improved horse, but so far his done nothing to warrant the : assuinjption that he is up to classical' honors. Romany King has not been seen (jmt since Auckland, w&ere ' he" 'rah #ost. consistently, &bus^'lie failed /to gain a winning bracket. He has ft^nice impost and ff 1 . he can' 'keep with) his field m the earlier part of the /race he might be there or thereahoiJts at the finish. Prospector showed) winning form amongst the hacks it Wellington, but the class m the feifi hurdles is of a very different ord^r. Old Waiwera is general^ pretty I well at National time, and if the tracks are firm he might fulfil his owners prophecy of last ■ ■■January and win the National Hurdles .of - 1806.1 Nothing amongst the light-weight^ commends itself to me. so I will pstes them over. There will be many 'wise ones after the "races who should have backed the winners, but /after . all luck enters largely into these things and if the races .were, ru^ again on the followine: tlays m nine cases out oT ten the results would ;be different.