TAKAPUNA JOCKEY CLUB SUMMER MEETING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 29, 3 February 1900, Page 3

TAKAPUNA JOCKEY CLUB SUMMER MEETING.

NOTES ON THE RACING

, So far as the Takapuna J.C. Meeting '■'_ lias proceeded; at -time of writing, it_ has been a big success. With a totali- . sator record: of £16.914 for the two days, against £15,012 last year, there seems every probability of last year's grand .total' being beaten, viz., £22,400. Doctor won the Cup on Monday in . handsome style. lie went to the head ; of affairs at an early stage of the race, 1 and although St. Ona made a real

good'fight of it in the run home, he lasted it out and.gained a bare length

, victory over Mr S. Laycock's mare. If > the course over which the race is run • is correctly measured, the time recorded by Mr Geo. Read, the official , timekeeper, was very fast, viz., 2min 39 2-ssec. . I .understand from the owners that previous to Monday Doctor r had not" been tried "over a mile and a | " f half, for it r was feared that he might! .go amiss on the hard ground. His j - Cup win makes only the second time he has caught the judge's, eye, but it , may-be as well: to relate a short his- . Tory of .the Cuirassier gelding, as told ».; me by his genial owners. In his early career (when about 18 months old) t he had his back .hurt,- or. "paralysed," was the. word' used by, Mr Richard . Duder, .He was then turned out, and • eventually found his way ; into the:: hands of a doctor at Devonport. After; a time the medical gentleman foiind '■ that he cquld not - ricie the gelding /owing to his weak back, and he returned, him to his owners. Subse-i quently he was placed in one of the ' V boxes and trained, the name of Doctor being bestowed, on him. In company with a brother scribe and Mr Robert Wynyard, I looked over Doctor at ~ Messrs .-Duelers' stables on the ThursV day afternoon before 'the Cup . was run, and Mr Duder then invited the '■ party to grip the centre of the gelding's back. Mr Richard Duder him- • self gave a demonstration; with the 1 result that Doctor, shrunk under it, '■■ proving that he has a weak back. • In the Takapuna Jockey 1 Club' Han- '; dicap on they second day Doctor "'scarcely ran up to his first clay's form. He was raised from 6.10 to 7.12, and ' this evidently hampered, him. St.'Ona' stripped an improved mare, ' and her trainer had her in tip-top condition. After making a bold bid for . the Cup, she came put on Wednesday •: and beat the opposition in the T.J.C. • Handicap. The daughter of St. Leger is evidently one of the useful sort, -with a fair amount of pace. • ; Two pleasing wins on the opening'day were those gained "by Harry ■ Franks with Tolstoi in the Zealandia Handicap a^nd • Stewards'" Handicap. ■ The gelding has plenty-of size, and he ■ is' a quick beginner, while he finishes ,up his races, in. a.game manner. To -■show the pace ; he possesses, I may say He beat Screwgun.one morning on the • training track, previous to the A.R.C. Summer Meeting." On the second, day Tolstoi , was .seen out again in the Sxiburban Handicap '.with an increased burden on his back, but he got bump"ed'abbut at the bend and lost his : - place. ' ' ■ • . : : . '■■' Favona came'out of his shell at the 'meeting, %yiimirig the First and Second ■; -Hurdle" Races, and everyone was _glad to see Mr Sy. Coombes have a bit of luck with the.Eegel gelding. He is a fine big fellow, and providing he remains sound he should win many races. '. Dennis Morrigan is deserving Of credit for the way in which he has schooled.and seasoned Favona. ' Hohoro was the unlucky horse of ' the two first days' racing1. In the Stewards' Handicap he had to put up with a bare half length defeat, while ■in the Suburban Handicap he met with a nose defeat at the hands of Minerva. 11. Mr C. Lovett's gelding is a bit unruly previous to the start, .but he is one "who can muster up great speed. ' The handicappers, though, ; are ..'giving him every ounce he is entitled

•to. , ■ . . ■~ ', .. ..-.. On the second- day of .the meeting | Mr J/ Beckett's- pretty lilliputian,; Minerva XL, showed her_ pace in the.j. •Suburban Handicap, .but it was a very narrow victory, and the daughter of Metal'and Georgina was just squeezed home .on the post by her rider,_J. Gainsford. It was pleasing to see Mr \ Beckett's '.'scarlet body, ;blue sleeves - and cap" home again in the van.. The .little filly.promises to do him further • service.if she goes on ail right in her ■ ' training. ■ ' - As '.generally; predicted,-Aleger, the |, ,'2-year-old daughter of ■ St. Leger and ■Brown Alice, had no difficulty in win-1 \ ning the Calliope Handicap from bea--..horse's sister Zealous, but there was a j, '"'■ gap of ,91b. between them. On the ; second day the increased poundage of i ,8.13 told its tale on Aleger, and: the! 'winner turned up in Kissmary, a>fine: big. raking daughter of: Hotckhiss, . who made a. run-away race of it, the ' unlucky and over-weighted fillies, bt. Elyn ' and. Lady Avon gaining the ■■;:■■''other"place honours, . Nor'west put up a performance, m the Steeplechase which stamps him '.one of the greatest 'chasers that have sported silk on an Auckland racecourse. It was a doughty perform- ■ ance to have the race won four .turlon<r S from home with a herculean impost of 13.5. On tlie running, or Nor'west in the Summer Steeplechase 1 anrl Takapuna Steeplechase, it ap- ' pears to me that his form is superior •'•to 1 hat Levanter showed racegoers. When he returned to scale he was ■lib the .slightest bit distressed and •i must say that in Nor'west Peter ' Chaafe has'a-rare prize in his training establishment. ' .'- " ■ _