RACING AND TROTTING

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21706, 13 February 1936, Page 14

RACING AND TROTTING

LATEST NEWS FROM FAR AM) .MAE * ■, - ■■ •. ■■■••.v,-;/ ■ . •• r-L'w.W' ,■ 1 ->W '

RACING FIXTURES

February 13—Egmont R.C. (second day) February 12, ISr-Dunedin J.C. February 21, 22—Woodville DJ.C. February 21, 22—Winton J.C. February 22—Waiapu R.C. February 22, 24—Waikato RjC. February 26—Opunake R.C. February 26, 27—Gore R.C. February 28, 29—Marlborough R.C. February 29,- March 2—Te Aroha J.C,' trotting fixtures February 15, 19 lnter-Dominion Championships (Perth), February 15— Canterbury ParkT.C. February 15, 17—Auckland TjC. February 22—New Brighton T,C. March 7-WeUington T.C. March 6, 7— Invercargill T.C, March 14—Timaru T.C. March 18—Wyndham T.C. March 21—Taranaki T.C. March 23—Roxburgh T.C. March 28—Wanganui T.C. March 28—Cheviot T.C. April 4— Wanganui T.C. April 11. 13—Hawera T.C. April 11, 15—N.Z. Metropolitan T.C. April 15—Rotorua T.C. April 18—Ashburton T.C. April 18, 22—Manawatu T.C. April 30. May 2—Forbury Park T.C.

TURF GOSSIP At Wingatui To-Day Indications point to the track at Wingatui for to-day’s racing being almost perfect. Last evening the weather was fine, with every promise of it continuing. Visitors have put in an appearance from all parts and it appears as if the Dunedin Jockey Club will enjoy the best Cup meeting since the Limerick-Aussie attraction in 1929, From Trentham The veteran Trentham owner-train-er, J, W. Lowe, will be at Wingatui to-day to see his Cup candidate, Sunee, perform. Lowe was born in Dunedin 78 years ago, and since living in the North Island has made many trips south with horses. He was in charge of Boreas, when the Sou’-Wester gelding ran in the first Dunedin Cup decided at Wingatui. Boreas started favourite, but finished last. His poor display was due to running without plates on going that temporarily became slippery. On the second .day Boreas won the Dunedin Jockey Club Handicap irom Malatoa, wtxo Taad. nm second to Djin Djin in the Dunedm Cup, Boreas conceding 241 b. He won the Anniversary Handicap on the final day, and then went on to win the Great Easter Handicap with 9-12 from Malatua, 8-11. He followed on by winning the Railway Handicap at Trentham with 10-5. Jottings Osculate, carrying 7-8, ran second to Tauramai, 7-12, in the Dunedin Cup last year, and has an extra stone to carry this time. Osculate is well fancied in some southern circles for to-day’s race, . ; The question whether Arctic Star was liable to be rehandicapped for today’s Hurdle race at Wingatui. consequent on his success oVer brush fences at Riccarton last Saturday, has been referred to the New Zealand Racing Conference. In the meantime, the Dunedin Jockey Club has decided to support its handicapper in imposing a penalty Of 21b. , In Dunedin yesterday there did not seem to be any pronounced favourite for either the Cup or the Publicans’ Handicap, but the two top-weights, Silver Ring and Silver Streak, will no doubt be strongly in favour on the machine.' Their performances at Trentham last month were outstanding. Queen of Song accompanied other members of P. Hogan's team to Wingatui, and may be produced on the second day. She has had two gallops since her arrival with Superex, who, despite his failure at Trentham, is expected to race well at the meeting. Rona Bay was booked to go to Wingatui, but plans were changed shortly before the time of departure, and she was withdrawn from all engagements. Mr and Mrs T. H. Lowry will be present at the Dunedin meeting this week, and next week will tour the Southern Lakes district. This is the first trip made to Otago by Mr Lowry for many years. . . The Hazlett Gold Cup at Wingatui on Saturday promises to draw a strong field, including Silver Ring, Kinnoull, Greek Shepherd, Plato, Silver Streak, and Superex. Sixty-one years ago a remarkable record was put up at the Dunedin Cup meeting, when Templeton won the Cup, and he came out and also won the Tradesmen’s Handicap, then a mile and a quarter. Templeton thus won over two miles and a distance and a mile and a quarter, with only one intervening, race. Qn the second day he won the Dunedin Jockey Club Handicap, of a mile and threerquarters, and on the third day the Town Plate, of two miles and a quarter. In which only a stable-mate opposed him. Scratching* Rona Bay was scratched for all engagements at the Dunedin races _ at 10.35 o’clock yesterday morning. Rebel Chief was scratched at 11.55 a-m. for the Publicans’ Handicap. Jockeys as Advisers The importance some people-in-cluding many who really believe they "know” racing—attach to a jockey s opinion concerning the choice ofsome horse he is to ride is often amusing, says the Sydney “Referee.” The Jockey may have never previously Ridden the horse in a race, or in work, for that matter, but if he is prominent in his calling, and says, "Mine will win, there are followers; Of racing who think that puts the matter beyond question. Jockeys are not supposed to bet, bdt, of course, they do, but those who have made anything approaching a success of it are so very few that the backer who attaches very little importance to ‘‘information” generally fares better than the one who does. Blandford’s Record Blandford died last spring after a stud career of 12 “Mankato” in the London Sporung Chronicle”). The outcome, so far, has been the siring of winners of 224 races valued at £259,578. Withthe exception of Marcaroni (a Herod horse in his fifth parental generation), every sire back to the. fifth remove traces, in the male to Eclipse. His first Derby winner, Trlgo, has no other than: Eclipse sires in five parental generations, His second. Derby scion, Blenheim, has only one outeross, Kisher (a Htarod horse), and that in the fifth" remove. His third, Windsor I*ad. is ait Eclipse for five, generations, and, so, too. Is his fourth Derby winner,. Bahrain. It would, therefore, appear > that the tenet, so long held, that. : Eclipse line horses give the best re- . suit# when their mates are tinctured by ? close-up lines- * ; tHerod , and ; < Mafche&Tg no Ippger j ', tiorfln b&jodstock ,

: - choice, saysan Australian paper. Evidently Mr C. B. Kellow believes that in the weight-for-age races McCarten will suit Marabou better than some of the lighter Melbourne jockeys who would have been available At different jdmes I have heard MeCarten’s horsemanship faulted—ltis thesame in respect to every jockey—but he has invariably shown form that baa again enlisted, some of -his harshest - critics among his. followers. There has been no room for any. fault-finding for some time, and it would have been difficult to improve upon his effort on Stalwart recently.

Victim of Hoax W. Brady, who has recently returned to Melbourne after a successful visit to India, was made the victim of a hoax at the Ascot races cm . Saturday, says the “Australasian,” of February 8. An official at the course received a telephone message from a man who refused to give his name, stating that 'Brady-intended to use, an electric battery on a horse in a race at the'meeting. The repeat was not treated seriously by the officials, but Brady was told of the message, so that he would be prepared for any further attempts, to injure him. The stipendiary stewards were not officially informed of the message. Similar baseless allegations, ; have been made frequently agairiSt ‘jockeys* and trainers by unscrupulous people,, and are investigated, not because it was thought there is any truth in them, but to dear* the names , of the persons concerned. Brady had no engagement to, ride at Ascot on Saturday, and came to .the course without any gear. Manawatxi R.C.’s Dates

It is understood an application will be made to have the autumn meeting of the Manawatu Racing Club held at Trentham. It is due»to be held at Awapuni a few days after the Wellington fixture next month, but the recent storm so severely damaged the_ Awapuni course and buildings that it will be an almost impossible task to have it in order for the meeting. The matter of transferring tSe venue to Wellington will be discussed within the next few days. Should events transpire as at present Indicated, it will mean five days’ racing at Trentham within a short period, the Wellington Club’s autumn meeting being scheduled for March 14, 16, and 17. TROTTING NOTES Reminders Nominations for the New Brighton Trotting Club’s meeting will close today at 12 noon. _ , , Nominations for the N ® w Futurity Stakes, 1939. and the New Zealand Sapling Stakes, 1037 will close with the of the Ashburton Trotting Club on Monday. .... Nominations tor Tnv^cargVVi Trotting Club’s meeting, to be held on March 6 and 7, will close on Febninrv The grass brack at New Brighton will be open on Tuesday next for horses engaged at the coming meeting. Answer to Correspondent Curious.—Yes. Death of Nimbus The Whangarei owner Mr E. J. Parkes has had the bad luck to Ipse his pacer; Nimbus, who contracted tetanus following an accident about a fortnight ago. At first it was_ not thought that the injury was serious, but complications set in and it was deemed advisable to destroy the gelding. Nimbus, who did his early racing under the care of M. B. Edwards, was sold to Mr Parkes about 18 months ago. and he won several good races, including the Te Aroha and Thames Trotting Cups, and Ws winnings in Auckland made nearly £9OO. While Nimbus was not regarded as a champion during his racing in the South Island, be was well suited by the righthanded courses in Auckland, _ and his form immediately showed an improvement. The loss to Mr Parkes is a severe one, for Nimbus, who had been working exceptionally well,, would almost certainly have added to his winning list within the next week or two. Canterbury Park Meeting The fine list of acceptances received yesterday for'the Canterbury Park Trotting Club’s meeting, to be held at Addington on Saturday, gives every promise of first-class entertainment. The withdrawal# from the list of horses nominated was very small, and in two races all the horses nominated have been paid up for. Little Reta, who was penalised for her win at Hutt Park on Monday, was allowed to drop out of the Progressive Handicap, the only other non-acceptor being Ann Parrish. In the Telegraph Handicap and Paparua Handicap there have not been any withdrawals, and Whippet was not paid up for in the Pioneer Handicap. Golden Direct, whose nomination for the Advance Handicap was made in error, was expected to drop out, and Ruin’s defection from the Strowan Handicap is explained by another engagement he claims during the day. Raima’s chances did not appeal in the field of pacers for the Harewood Handicap, and Isabel Derby also forfeited her engagement in this race hut will be a starter in the Au Revoir Handicap. Neither Great Thought nor Princess Thea appeared to have very rosy prospects in the last event on the card and their defection in no way weakens the field. The fields all through are of good average size without being unwieldy and the limits generally are short. This gives promise of some close and exciting racing by horses of good average class. Bine Mountain’s Prospects Blue Mountain is set to give away 60 yards in the Paparua Handicap on Saturday, and this is by no means an impossible task for a pacer of his proved class. He has a two miles record of better than 4min 20sec, and he is one of the proved stayers in the field. At the Canterbury Park meeting on January 1 Blue Mountain, handicapped x on 4min 26sec, beat a . good field in , the Canterbury Handicap, and after losing ground in the early stages he gave the whole field a start over the last half-mile, and he won in very convincing style from Evicus .and Kingcraft Others included Wrecker, Sir Guy, Gold Tinge, Taxpayer, and Sunny Morn. This was ,a very creditable effort, and a penalty of 12 yards for his win may not be sufficient to stop Blue Mountain from winning this tune, A Genuine Pacer Fresh from her double victory at the Wellington Trotting Club's meeting, Sure will have many admirers of her chances over, any distance. The two races at Hutt Park may not have provided a very exacting test of staying ability, but possibly the slow pace set. in the early stages suited her no better than it did any of the other starters. She is just as good a stayer as any that opposed her, and, as she proved, a very much better sprinter. In the Paparua Handicap, to be decided on Saturday, - She ,ban .jeome -haPsLih we handicaps from 24 yards to 36 yard#, and she also figures in the Advance Hhn^ibap,of one mile-and. a quarter. Neither race appeal’s to be any certainty for her, but it would not surprise to find her reserved for the shorter race. Nobleman Nobleman has not been, overraced during the last 12 months, and there appears to be a royal chance to_adu to>his list of wins in the Pioneer Handicap* In which.'the . field is not a big one and the class not particularly high. Nobleman is at home over any distance, but most of his bsst performances have been registered' -on 'grass tracks. ’pmafH bteUiSf-Ciol) The Tixnaru Tirotting Club will hold Its next meeting, * on, Saturday, March 1? and there are iperal race! of rfiore than average interest on the programme. J Kie"Wo ; opening events, .as for maiden performers, the

winner in each cash receiving £77 10s. The Timaru Trotting Cup . carries a stake of 300 sovs and is for horses that can do 4min 32sec or better. Other handicap horses are catered for- in races the prizes for which range between 120 sovs and 175 sovs. The greatest interest, however, will centre in the contest for the Timaru Futurity Stakes, which is for two-year-olds and will be run over one mile. It has not been the custom to race two-year-olds so early in the season, but in later years trainers have paid a lot of attention to the education of baby pacers, and there are several ready to go to the races. The journey of one mile will not demand such an exacting test as will the Sapling Stakes, to be run in June, but it will be far enough at this season of the year. Several horses nominated have already shown speed above the average, but few have been asked to go any distance. The Canterbury Owners’ and Breeders’ Asspr elation intends to hold a matinee meeting in the near future, and possibly some Futurity Stakes’ candidates will be given much-needed experience. Mile Saddle Horses Wise Guy has; been given a course of Saddle work of late and he looks the type to win a race with tfc£ weight up. In the Telegraph Handicap at Addington on Saturday a good idea of his ability will be gained when he meets i LynWopd, De Soto, and others. -At present De Soto and Lynwood share favouritism ih the Telegraph Handicap, but there will also be support for Grand. Mogul,, .who, howpy.er, appears to have developed a temperament that does not help to success.