TROTTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 70, 24 March 1926, Page 12

TROTTING.

WHEEL AND TRACK NOTES." (By ORION.) j FIXTURES. j March 27—Wellington Trotting Club. '. April 3, 7—N.Z. Metropolitan Trotting |. Club. J April 8. s—Hawera Trotting Club. ; April 17—Ellesmere Trotting Club. April 17—Cambrldce T.C. (Alexandra PariO. April S2—Walmaie Trotting- Club- !| W. Kelaey has not allowed Dean Dillon . to be idle and the bay pacer has doing nicely in hie work. More than I likely Kelsey will take the gelding to the •. Wellington meeting. . I. 'i Owners intending to be represented at.' the Cambridge-Club's meeting to be field: at Epsom ehould remember that uomina- '; tions close on Friday next. i. A high opinion has been formed of > Kitty Derby which recently won in | Sydney. Some judges are inclined to ■ predict she will be the equal of Minton •■[ Derby, which is expecting something > big of the filly. j Auckland stables are well represented i at the Wellington Trotting Club's meet- ! ing which takes place on Saturday. The meeting should be a big success as owners in all parts of the Dominion have horses engaged. ~ I Great Bingen has been nominated for the Sydney Thousand which conies up for decision on April C. Should. Mr. McKenzie send his horse to the meeting, arrangements have been made for the son of Nelson Bingen to give an exhibition of pacing. Worthy Bingen which was purchased by Mr. J. K. Corrlgan a couple of weeks ago, has been sent north. The son of Nelson Bingen and Bertha Belle is a brother to Great Gingen. He has been unsound, and doubts are held whether he will survive 'another preparation, (but on breeding he should prove a successful sire. The American trotting stallion Guy Axworthy, four-year-old record 2.08J, by Axworthy, was the leading sire of new performers for 1925. In the juvenile divisions of the American races | his get were particularly outstanding j and his chief winner was the champion filly Aileen Guy. Peter Volo 2.02, and; San Francisco 2.07}, rank next in order j on the sires' list. All three of these great stallions are at the famous Walnut Hall Stud Farm. Although Onyx at New Brighton on 'Saturday did not succeed in establishing a fresh record for a' mile and a quarter, the daughter of Logan Pointer gave a fine display of pacing. The conditions on Saturday -were not at all favourable for record breaking, at least the breaking of world's records although the performance of Waitaki Girl in winning the New Brighton Handicap, from 84 yards behind, and covering the two miles in 4.26 4-5 was a brilliant effort. A few weeks ago the Southland pacing stallion, Harold Direct, was kicked on the near hind leg by a mare, causing , a deferred fracture. He was doing well under veterinary treatment, but he slipped recently and a compound fracture occurred just above the hock joint. Aβ it seemed a hopeless case, the horse was destroyed. Harold Direct, which was sixteen yean old, was by Harold Rothschild from a King Harold mare. Hβ was a good racehorse in his day and he was the sire of a number of smart pacers, of which Nellie Scott and Tommy Direct were probably the beet. STARTER RETIRING. When Mr. W. Norman disposed of his work on Saturday he was seen for the last time as starter to the New Brighton Trotting- Club. He stated to the Christchurch writer "Argus" on Saturday that he intended to retire from all his starting positions in Canterbury. For nearly eight years Mr. Norman has , officiated for the three Chri&tchureh Trotting Clubs and the Ashburton Club and his work has earned him the highest praise. Mr. Norman resides in Southland, where in addition to managing his farm, he occupies several public positions, including that of chairman of a large county council. His home affairs now take up so much of his time that he finds its inconvenient to continue his trotting appointments in Canterbury. He will, however, still carry on as a starter for several clubs in Southland. WAITAKI GIRL. The feature of. the racing at New Brighton meeting on Saturday was the performance of Waitaki Girl in the principal event. Starting from the back mark, she gradually worked her way up to the leaders, and she had the race in safe keepings at the entrance to the straight, winning with ridiculous ease. It was an impressive performance, accomplished in a manner which made it looks as if she would have kept all the cracks busy to beat her. Waitaki Girl has now won three races in succession, and she has shown wonderful improvement, considering the class in which she is racing. In addition to her improved speed, her manners have become much better and she is so well-at present that further successes may come her way before long.'. In some respect she must be accounted very unlucky, as though she has 4.26 4-5 against her for two miles, she has only secured £1040 in stakes for her four wins this season. TIGHTEN THE LIMITS. If the committees of .the country trotting clubs are wise they will, when drawing up their programmes for next season, tighten up. the limits of most of the races. Hardly a race is run at one of the small meetings without seconds being knocked off the handicaps. Trainers will often remark how hard ifc is to win a race, particularly in maiden events and support is given to this at every meeting. At Whangarei, just over a week ago, a maiden in Gold Jacket, handicapped on 2.28 went 2.1 V, and as a result he was handicapped on 2.17 at the Thames meeting on Saturday. The limit was 2.30 and the winner, Our Pirate, off the front end went 2.20 2-5, and as he won by six lengths it will be seen that Gold Jacket, on 156 yards 'behind, would have had to establish a race record to win. He would i certainly have had to go at least 2.6 to , have beaten Our Pirate and as Gold ' Jacket has only won a small stake at ' the Northland meeting it shows how I absurd it is to continue to frame pro- ' grammes with limits of 2.30 to the mile. 1 It would be difficult to find a pacer in J training unable to go a mile much faster '. than 2.30, because trainers would not t bother "with Buch. animals. In any case ' while such slow classes are catered for , country clubs cannot expect to get any- ■ thing like the best horses to their meetings.