WHEEL AND TRACK NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 208, 3 September 1929, Page 12

WHEEL AND TRACK NOTES.

COMING MEETINGS. (By ORION.) Sept. 7—New Brighton T.C. Oct. s—Wellingtons—Wellington T.C. Oct. s—Methven T.C. Oct. 12—Waikato T.C. Oct. 19 —New Brighton T.C. Oct. 19—Northland T.C. Oct, 26, 28 —Auckland T.C. Oft." 28.—Oamaru T.C. Oct 28. —Northland T.C. Nov. 23; 27.—Otahuhu T.C. Te jSTcutu has speed, but is too unreliable to be supported with money that one has to work for. Togo's Promise showed a bit of pace in the Karamea Handicap and is just the sort to score in a slow-class trotters race, __ Vanity Boy showed a bit of speed for the greater part of the Murchison Baildicap, but off a 3.36 mark he will not find it easy to get any money. ' F. Smith did not have a very good drive in either race with Dillon Huon. Tho chestnut tangled and quickly got into a position from which lie was not good enough to win. Margaret Wallace was never danger-:] ous in°the Murchison Handicap, when itcame to clapping on the speed. She is . not at the top of her form and had done , very little fast work, T. Roe got Peterson to go a great race | in the Karamea Handicap, and it was • hard luck to be then beaten by Eangitero, who was in receipt of 84 yards. T Roe is an expert with straight-out trotters and he looks certain to get a rjico with Peterson. Later in the day with Gold Sovereign he beat all but Peter McKinney in the Nelson District Trot. The Gold Bell—Franeienne gelding, nohoro went a particularly good race in the Murchison Handicap to get third, A.Jon"' the back stretch the last time lie showed a fine dash of speed when L. AlcMahon called upon him and lie was not disgraced by his failure to gather ill Enawah and Gang Awa'. It would have taken a good one to have beaten Enawah. The Gordonton trainer C. L. I,owe started the Denver Huon mare, Limo*a, twice for a fourth place and a second. She paced particularly well in the b ddonville Handicap, but was no match for Mountain Dell nt the end. although she beat the rest nicely. C. Lowe, it may be mentioned, also trains gallopers, and last month he won the C.J.C. Grand National Hurdle with Mangau..

Bonanza broke up at the start of the Murehison Handicap and lost sufficient ground to settle his prospects. He made lip some of the leeway at one stage, but was not good cliough to keep on with it. Gang Awa' is a game mare. In the Murehison Handicap W. Hughes was driving her hard three furlongs from home, but she hung 011 and finished up in second place. She should win a stake in her turn. Explosion, who had been doing fairly! good work in his training, paced in good style for a mile and a half in the Sed-j donville Handicap. Ho/vever, over the last half he merely held his position and finished well outside a place. The roan mare, Akenehi, gave a wretched display in the big trot. She broke up badly at the start and after tailing the field for once round she went to pieces again. J. T. Paul did not bother with her further and pulled her up then. But for tangling at the start and putting in a skip near the home turn Carmel would have won the Grey District Handicap as well as the big race. The chestnut has a lot of speed and the next short race he steps out in should see him get the money. Trainers and drivers of trotters and pacers will be seen in a new role tomorrow, when thirteen of them will meet the barmen's best in a game of Rugby League at Carlaw Park. Considerable interest js being taken in the contest and a. close game is expected. 1 Nella Dillon did not display her usual speed in the Murehison Handicap and she was never threatening to take part in the. finish. She is not nearly ready, and, being short of work, the race will sharpen up the daughter of Author Dillon —Nell Pointer. S. August, who has a happy knock of winning sprint races, took another one when he drove Stanmoor home a winner in tlio Grey District Handicap. He put on a short skip coming to the turn, but got into his stride quickly- and eventually won by a length. August does not train many horses these times, but he gets a win in his turn. NOT ON PROGRAMME. . Just prior to the commencement of the programme on the day of the American Pacing Derby there occurred an incident which for an instant brought fear and then relief to the largest crowd that had gathered at the Kalamazoo course. It was announced that Governor Green, who does a great deal of his travelling by aeroplane, was to make a landing in the infield, and presently a speck in the sky heralded his arrival. The 'plane zoomed down for a landing, but it was immediately evident that the pilot had miscalculated his distance, for when the machine reached the ground it headed straight for.the bank of the half-mile track, shot up and then down, coming to an abrupt halt in a vertical position. The crash and the possible injury to his Excellency horrified the spectators, but the tension was relieved when he was seen to femerge from the wreck, having sustained 110 injury, and being as cool and collected as if he had merely alighted from an auto. The 'plane was badly damaged, but the pilot was as fortunate as was his passenger. TWO EASY WINS. Undoubtedly the easiest wins recorded on Saturday were those of Mountain Dell in the* Seddonville Handicap and Gold Jacket in the Matakitaki Handicap. Both were responsible for fine per- | formances and Mountain Dell can be ticked off to be racing in big handicap company very shortly. For a mare that ' only cost her owners, the Messrs. Mitchell, £10, she is a rare bargain and there is a lot of money waiting for her to gather in. She is by Blue Mountain King, who was a real good horse himself and won among other races the Auckland Cup. Mountain Dell's dam, Whispering Dell, was inclined to be rattle-headed, and when Mountain Dell was first handled by C. G. Lee, she too was a flighty sort. However, H. Mitchell pursued a patient policy with her and she now is a well-behaved, sensible pacer. She also stands plenty of work and no pacer at Epsom does more solid work than she. PETER BINGEN'S RUN.

With the more important meetings to come it is hardly likely J. J. Kennerley would have Peter Bingen tuned right up so early in the season, but that the mile and a-quarter record-holder will require very little finishing off he demonstrated on Saturday when he contested the Matakitaki Handicap. In a 2.47 class, just on a 2.14 gait, the son of Nelson Bingen was set to give away starts ranging up to 72 yards, which was setting him a severe task. Certainly he never got near enough to the leaders to have a winning chance and he was still a long way back turning into the straight, but from the home turn he put in some telling work and finished up in fourth place. Next time Peter Bingen steps out he may be a hard horse to dispose of. He is in great condition to be prepared for the .New Zealand Cup next November. BROKE UP TWICE. Had Etta Cole not put in two breaks in the Nelson District Trot on Saturday the daughter of Peterwah may have been second instead of third. ■ Just aftei the start she put in a tangle which cost her a couple of lengths, but she soon settled down again and was in a handy position when the field raced to the home turn. In the straight she began to gradually close on Peter McKinney and Cold Sovereign, but just when she looked like reaching Gold Sovereign she skipped and this cost her second money. The chestnut mare has not done much work and she stayed out the two miles rather better than many expected, and when next she is produced F. Gilchrist should win witli her. JEWEL POINTER. In his training work before the meeting Jewel Pointer had not been displaying the dash one would expect from such a specdv horse and his failure to get in the money on Saturday caused no surprise. The son of Logan Pointer was always inclined to loaf in his training, but even so his condition looked right and it may be that his trainer, A. Julian, will have a hard job to win a race with him this season.

AMERICAN PACING DERBY,

WON BY COUNTERPART.

BOUGHT FOR £213,

By the latest mail come particular's of the American Pacing Derby docideH at Kalamazoo, Michigan, last month. The event, which is the star item for pacers 011 the Grand Circuit, carries a stake of £.3000. America lias not till recent years given the hoppled horse much consideration, but since the inception of the American Derby, six years ago. the pacer is being well catered for, and a good horse can win plenty of money, as the stakes are considerable. The winner of this year's Derby, which, by the way, is not confined to three-year-olds as in New Zealand, turned up in the nine-year-old stallion Counterpart, who was bought bv his present owner, Mr. H. M. Marshall, at the Old Glory sale last year for £213 (lOfio dollars). Counterpart was not greatly fancied, and was at a long price, but the son of John A. (2..'j,}i—Ha i lie Argostess, was too good for his opponents, and won the three heats in 2.2}, and 2.3:}. In his fastest heat Counterpart ran. the first quarter in 3135, half in 1.25, six furlongs in 1.32], and the mile in 2.2-}. The scoring, as usual, caused a lot of trouble, and commenting upon it one writer says: — "This 1929 American Pacing Derby may be likened to a nightmare, a thing that rasped one's nerves and led one to wonder whether it would ever be possible to get the race between 21 starters concluded. This is the narrowest track on the Grand Circuit, and jammed as it was with horses, Starting Judge A. H. Pendleton, of Chicago, would have had to be blessed with divine powers in order to straighten out the awful mess and got the lot away to a fair start. They turned and milled for thirty minutes in scoring for the first heat, and it required even a longer period to get them oft' in the second. It seemed providential that some of the drivers were not injured, for time after time horses and sulkies were in collision." KELP BEATEN. J. J. Kennerley had a small team racing 011 Saturday, but the only one about whom there was a confident ring was Kelp in the Seddonvillo Handicap. Early in the betting the son of Wrack was 'whispered about as Fiie likely winner and at the wind-up of the machine figures he and his stable companion, Te Wahia, carried most money. However, there was also good backing for Mountain Dell and Nelson Dillon. Kelp broke early, but even so he was handy enough half-way through the journey to win had he been good enough, and little excuse can be offered for his failure. Nelson Dillon was in a good position early and, though he was kept on the outside, he had no chance of winning when it came to racing with the speed on over the last half-mile.