TROTTING.

Auckland Star, Issue LVII, 1 March 1926, Page 11

TROTTING.

WHEEL AND TRACK NOTES. I

(By ORION.) j

I FIXTURES FOR THE SEASON. : February 2:—Taranakl Trotting Club. j ••I area s—Waikato 'I rolling Club. March 10—Manawatu Trimai* Club. Marcii 13—.Nortlilaml 1 i-omu? Clu)>. Msrctl la—rmiaru Trotting Club. Alarm I;—Wynduan; 1 i-oiung Club. Marcn is. i>o—.New ungtuon 1 rotting UtiD. Marcti 30—Thames Trottin? cut.'). .>iaivn -.'7—v> eliing-ton limiting Club. April a. 7—.\.Z. Metropolitan Trultiug club. . Ap;w 3, s—Hawera Trotting Clun. April 17—Ehe.-niere 1 roiunjr Club. Apn 17—cambrujft- Trotting: Ciui:. Ajirii -j-j —WaiKiaie rrotilng- Ciiu>. April jj4—ASiibufton Hotting uuii May 6, B—forbuiy Park Trottllis Club, ."■lay i'i , —Oaiuai-u 1 rmtiug ClurJune z. h —i.anierbury I'ark Trott'nqr Club. Juno I-.'—Ashouiion rroltiugr Uut JUiie lv, -14 —AucKlar.d Truttin? Cliio.

Aito].tunics for the YVaikato Trotting Club's meeting clo.-o to-day at 3 ]>.in. The pacer. Black BaL.'n. whicli ran fviurdi in the Tumaki Handicap 011 ti.e opening day or the Otaliuhu meeting, isa-t clianfjt'ii owncrsisip, a;id i> no.v in r>. Oroat s bcabic. i ! R. A. McMillan is remaining at Hpsom with his team t.!l alter the \.aikaio fixture on Saturday. It looks only a matter of Bingen Starr gohig right iv a r.u'e to got the. money, but he is very unreliab.e. j In Hughie \\allace the owner has a ! real bread and butter horse, and one J which will win a lot more money for j him. The son of Iluia Dillon not* only has speed, but he is a sensible pacer, who does nothing wrong. i The Oold Bell gelding. Goldman, has been running very much below his true form. More than once this season he 11113 been unlucky in running, but even so he would want to improve considerably on 1 his showing to win a stake. j 0. E. Hooper, with other southern I trainers, left for Christchurch immediately after the Otalruhu meeting, but Hooper may return this week and bring Trinand with him. Trinanrl is engaged at the Waikato meeting on .Saturday." Reliance was whispered about as a likely winner at Otahuhu, but the Gold ; Be!l gelding settled his chances by breaking. In many of his races at Epsom tins season the gelding has left his feet, but always at the game spot, at the end of the back stretch. The registration papers having arrived, the Australian-bred pacer, Joe Aspro, i will be a starter at the Waikato meetI ing on Saturday. His best performances in Sydney were a mile and a-half in 3.33, and a mile and a-quarter in 2.54 3-5. iHe is not badly treated on Saturday next. The Mangere owner-trainer, A. ; Cameron, has a promising pacer in 'Aggie Bell. She has been racing very consistently lately and scored again at Taranaki or Saturday. Aggie Bell is a full-sister to Nita Bell and looks like . being as good as her relative. W>en a 1 yearling, a good price was refused for Aggie Bell, and her owner will now be pleased he did not part with her. : When F. Monk came up to Auckland with Xikora and Ricardo. which raced at the cup meeting at Christmas, he also brought with him a pacer called Audubon Child. The latter did not race here, but his work on the tracks made him out to be a bit above the average. He was produced at Blenheim on Friday, when he won the principal event, the Marli borough Handicap. More will be heard of j this pacer. J The defeat of Don Douglas in the i Taranaki Cup r-ay not mean a great Ideal, as the black horse went free-legged land the heavy track would not be in 1 his favour. He was in the lead at one stage and ran a real good race for a ( mile and three-quarters, but then tired, ille is engaged at the Waikato meeting lon Saturday, and if produced there, may ;show his Taranaki Cup run to be far I below the best he can go. I When Roekbura finished third at the ■Otahuhu meeting he paced so evenly throughout that many who saw the race ticked the Australian-bred pacer off as ail early winner. Their judgment soon I came good, as the bay gelding won the : J Farewell Handicap at the Taranaki 1 meeting on Saturday. He started favourite and won comfortably, covering the mile and a-quarter in 3m, the slowtime being accounted for by the heavy 'track. •

I j J. O'Shoa. the Sydney reirsman wlio j came across to drive Marhine Briok. in I ' t conversation after the "tahuhu meeting. ! j was loud in his prai?e of the sport ns | I conducted at Epsom, hut he considered ; j there was one dr.i\r!>aek. "Your handi- j : capper is too prverp on winners and ' horses wliich run into a [)lace.'' he said. ! "In Australia if a horse wins vithont im- I ■ proving his handicap time, he poes liar-k ! Jl2 yards, no more, but here the hantli- j capper penalises up to 48 yards. Again, j a horse which second is penalised, i but in Sydney it does not matter what | j time a horse goes into a place, his handi- j j cap is always the same til he wins a i [ race. For instance it a l.orse handicapped lon 2.20 ran second going 2.10, he would ' j still be on 2.20 till he -won a race. It is ■ I quite fair to all and gives the owner a ' chance to win. T'nder your system a [ j maiden might work his' way into the ' New Zealand fun vmuoir "winning a j ; race. It is nnt likeiy. but it is possible";

I ! A STRAIGHT COURSE.

I " i I One of the rules which, in fairness to all. should be honoured, but which is' frequently ignored by ■ drivers, is that I which requires them, once they enter i the run home, to keep as straight a ' j course as possible. We know that it. ■ [often happens a horse will run away 3 from tl'o whip, and in such cases no ob- . jection fin be <uken. but there are , times when a driver will deliberately ; pull across and block another eompeti>;tor. One glaring instance of this hap- j - j pened on the second day of the Otahuhu j C meeting. The iield had entered the 1 t| straight, and half-way v.p the running' j the leader left the rails and took the! rj centre of the track. Another driver j ; sent his horse up on the rails fast, and, -! at the pace he was going he must have ! jjwon had not the driver who left the I!rails pulled in again and blocked his 5 opponent. As it the driver. j who should have won had to be content j , to sit still and get fourth. Of course,! , this meant that it was useless to lodge ' s any complaint, but a word to the \ f offender by the stewards -would have j done no harm.