THE WORLD OF SPORT

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 236, 4 October 1924, Page 3

THE WORLD OF SPORT

i ("-oiitinupij from Page I.j THE TURF. August days make little claim to serious racing, writes "Centaur," your racing correspondent, and attention is being devoted most.lv to the future events, especially the St. Leger. the Cesarewitch and tlie f ambridgeshire. Iv I regard to the hist of the. classics there are four outstanding horses—Sansovino, the Derby winner. Polyphantos, the winner of tin' Eclipse Stakes, Salmon Trout, who belongs to the Agn. Khan, and the Oaks heroine. Straiglitlaec. On his Derby form Sansuvino ought to be n fairly good thing, but since that triumphal day at, Epsom Lord Derby's colt has been beaten at Ase-ot and since then suffered a slight mishap which necessitated an interruption in hit. : ruining. He has now resumed his gallops and he i> reported to he sound again, hut it. cannot be in his favour that he has been held up in his woYk at such a vital period. Polyphantes is a fine massive horse that has only just come to his best. He was in the process of development at the lime of the Derby, yet he ran sufficiently prominently in that to suggest bigger things. As a matter of fact, he was a good winner at Ascot, and his \ ietorv in the Eclipse stamped him a colt of the highest class, seeing that among his victims were the older horses Papyrus aim' Inkcrman, iv midii ieiii to St. Ormnins and Parmenio. both of whom had finished in front of him ;e ■ I'psom. Salmon Trout is considered lo be much heller than the Aga Khan's other horse Dioplion. the winner of the Two Thousand Guineas. The latter gave a display at Goodwood which led one t.. believe that he had taken a thorough dislike to the game, while Salmon Trout, although a failure in the Derby, tins since proved himself j a sound stayer. The trouble with him is j that his legs arc of the delicate variety | but if his trainer tan keep him as fit. I as he is at present he will mke a great i deal of heat ing at Doncaster next ■month. Fillies have won ihe St. Leger before, and ii is (he confident hope of j Sir Edward Hultoti and his trainer, i Dawson Waugh. that Straitlane will add j to the tally to tin: credit of tbe weaker ! sex. There is not much of her but as ! George Kobey is wont to say. "What is there is good." She is beautifully proportioned, and perhaps what is more important Hie r- as game a< n pebble. There is no question about her stamina— she will siay the 1'; miles all rightbut she Mini fail to cope with tlie longer stride c.l" the strapping Polyphantes. [ The latter I favour at the moment ; becatiM' ol this all-powerful stride, j though I realise lie will have to bring! it into his customary perfect action to overcome the sturdy little filly. What of the outsiders.' Tom Pinch furth.-r alienated the sympathy of die hard followers by a feeble exhibition at (ioodwood. nnd though the e\cus" was again put forward that he is nusuited lo a downhill finish, f shall he surprised if he even attempts to do the strenuous journey of the St. Leger. If is stated that Lord YToolavington will elect to depend upon Despatch, but. this colt must surely be outclassed by any of the four I have dealt with above. Parmenio is a good horse up to a point but he is held perfectly safe on previous running by both Sansovino and Polyphantes. Lord Astor's pair. Bright Knight and St. Germains, and the other trained in the same stable but in different ownership—Hurstwood—are deserving of consideration. St. Germains is built on the small side and I am afraid he wii* never he any better than he was on Derby Day. On the other ltand, Bright Knight has shown signs of progress, bui I doubt very much if he is as cood a stayer as Hurstwood. who it may be ' recalled finished third for the Derby, j Hurstwood always gave mc the impres- ! sion that stamina would be his forte, ! and if I were asked Lo name a horse likely to finish in the first three at. a good price I should take him on my i side. The entries for the Cesarewitch and the Cambridgeshire have just been made public, and for once in a way there nre no surprise omissions for either race. Inspired by the victory of Rose Prince a year ago, the Franch have made a wholesale entry, but unfortunately the best of them Pot au Feu (which the Aga Khan races in France) is reported, as I -write these notes, to have gone amiss. That removes a serious competitor, and I imagine the Aga Khan will rely upon one of his English contingent, probably Charley's Mount, which ran exceedingly well in the Oaks behind Straitlace. Rose Prince still belongs to the Franco-American, Mr. A. K. Macomber, but is now trained in England by Sam Darling at Xewmarket. He is bound to get top weight or thereabouts, but, is such a genuine stayer tha.t he will make a bold bid to cam. off the prize for the second year in succession—a feat that has not been accomplished before. Other notable entries are Jazz Band, which won the Northumberland Plate from end to end in fast time, Scrnllion, the winner of the Ascot Stakes, London Cry, which won the Goodwood Stakes for the King, but I am afraid beat nothing of note, Teresina. which was only beaten a short head by Rose Prince in 1923. but is said to be going ro the stud without competing again, aud Sir Abe Bailey's Ceyloneso. which, like his old stable companion, Tishy, before him failed to live up to favouritism last year. Of the whole lot I like best the chances of Rose Prince, Scullion and Jazz Band, especially those of the last-named who is trained in Northumberland by his enthusiastic owner Mr. Adam Scott. There will be no Epinard in the Cambridgeshire this time, but Verdict and Pharos can light out their last year's battle again, unless I.ambton's "stable produces a better than Pharos in the three-year-old. Live Wire. which has shown remarkable improvement in good i-ompany this season. As a matter of :et. Pharos has never been better than i. is nt the iiiruent. He simply ran awjt.v with tiie Liverpool Cup. ft is certain that Stanley House will play a big pan. in the destination of the Cambridgeshire honours this year, and it would not be surprising if both Pharos and Live wire were saddled, for the one belongs to Lord Derby and the other to Lord Wolverton. I shall be greatlyinterested i.. .see the weight allotted to Live \\ ire.