Southern Contingent

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 299, 17 December 1937, Page 14

Southern Contingent

kiCCARTON HORSES.

TO RACE AT ELLERSLIE.

THREE CUP CANDIDATES.

THEIR PROSPECTS DISCUSSED,

(By Telegraph—Special to "Star.")

CHRISTCHURCH, Friday,

Each season Riccarton stables send a strong team North for the summer meeting of the Auckland Racing Club, and the records show that the horses from this quarter can, as a. rule, be relied on to play leading parts. The Auckland Cup is one race in which they have made their presence felt. Only three times in the last thirteen years '•a* Ricearotn failed to secure at least a place in the two-mile race, with three winners included in the list.

kiglit horses have gone from Riccaru;n tins week to race at Ellerslie, three hem with engagements in the Aucki,,....- " , w hich they are likely to live hoiso° rin ii i tr '°' while the other The stahlo a i J" I*®1*® exce Hent prospects, til " t ° "' «"/> A. Cutts will have lmvi,,n. g *„ I tea " 1 ' four of their horses ,"„on ,'! ( W So far this ti 1 «mcess b,?t tl, 9 *** exce I" iit Kller-lio i..' . quartet to race lOvhlencp of '",' V be tter results. i \i<i<n(r ot their class is thp fact u'iffrh , V> K),ilw »y Handicap. Aid Chase the best three-ypar-old of last spec on. lia« had to be content with place money this term, but his turn will conic. His second in the New' " lid Cup. under S.l:i, was a very '_'oikl performance. He has done weil since then and lie looks a better horse no*v. The Ellerslie track should suit liini. and he will bp a tou;rh opponent to shake off at the finish of the Cup. I'iiper Slipper, after being close up to 'hp placed horses in the Stewards' Hanliccp. wound up the Riccarton carnival

with a win. He is a brilliant sprinter and is in great order, and his opponents in the Railway Handicap will be kept busy to beat him. Trencli Fight won two races over a mile at Riccarton, and he s quite definitely an improved horse now. A year ago Wild Chase beat him narrowly in the New Zealand Derby, but though he is not so well endowed with stamina as his mate, Trench Fight is a solid customer, ,a mile, while he may be found showing good form at Ellerslie over a mile and a quarter. Nightdress has been allowed to drop out of the Great Northern Derby, as several three-year-olds will be on han<l with undeniably better form. He is still a hack, and in that class he has run some good races. The handicappers have a high opinion of him, but he should jxiy his way on the trip. This good-looking Nightmarch colt may fro on to improved class before the end of the season. Each of Sir Charles Clifford's four horses will be quite at home if the going at Ellerslie happens to be on the soft side. Will Attract Attention. F. D. Jones has two horses under his cave, and they are a pair that will attract a lot of attention. Cerne ; Abbas left no doubt as to her stamina when she won the New Zealand Cup, and her third in the Metropolitan Handicap was another solid performance. She has done exceptionally well since then and visitors to Ellerslie will find that she is a much better mare than when she raced at Auckland in the spring. On form she will be hard to bent in the Auckland Cup, with only 51b more th»n she carried "to victory in the NTew Zealand Cup. Royal Chief, the winner of the New Zealand Derby, and clearly the best three-year-old of the ••eason. has gone on the right way since raoe <l at Riocarton. He has done some ?oo<] track trallops latelv. and will >e at the top of his form on New Year's Day.

win* IcCart Vs only representative , ir,, a Riding well known at Klleislie. as h e ran second to Cuddle in last years Auckland Cup. The fall he had last Easter Monday threatened to Have serious consequences, but he

came back after a spell to race as well as ever. He disappointed ,in the New Zealand Clip, but an impressive win a week later, in tlie Metropolitan Handicap, showed that his Clip form could be <1 is regarded. He is in great order now and is entitled to be one of the in or* t fancied candidates for the Auckland Cup.

P. V. Mason will have one horse to carry his own colours on the trip. This in Haerepo, a Nightmarch three-year-old. He has won only one race so far, a maiden event «t Ashburton a few weeks ago, but showed quite as good form in two of bis starts in hack company at Riocarton. Gifted with a line turn of speed he has eliown that h e can run seven furlongs, and he is likely to pay his way among the hack* at Ellerslie.

Thp decision that Willie Win should not <ro to Ellerslie loft L. J. Ellis without a mount in the Auckland Cup. Prompted by this news the Oamaru trainer. T. Hobbs. made overtures and secured Ellis for Silver Streak, who has gone North to fulfil" his Ellerslie engagements. He was third in the New Zealand Cup. so will have to be taken into account. ARRIVALS FROM SOUTH. Several visiting with engagements over the holidays arrived this morning by express train. They were: Argentic, in charge of C. McCarthy, P. V. Mason with Haerepo, and F. .Tories with Royal Chief and Cerne Abbas. These horses are to compete at Ellerslie. LATEST SCR ATCHIN GS. Cuddle was withdrawn from all her engagements at the Auckland Racing Club's summer meeting at 10.18 a.m. to-day. Relative and Aiwai have also been scratched for all engagements. SPORTSMAN RETURNING. SYDNEY, December 10. The "Sun" reports that Mr. H. P. F. Rlundell. a committee > of the Wellington Rag C'lub. attended the Rosebery raecs yesterday. Mr. Blundell is homeward bo> nd from England and saw most of the important races during the flat racing season there.