TROTTING NOTES

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24445, 20 December 1944, Page 7

TROTTING NOTES

Flying Mile. The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club is still considering including a fly- ; ing mile for the pacing champions on its | Easter programme. Brother to Navigate •Master Mariner, a Wlnton Juvenile Stakes candidate, is a brother to Navigate, by Sandy dale, 2mln IJsec.irom Rocks Ahead, 2min 5 3-ssec„ ! Three-In-Onfi The Trial Handicap at Gore will be run in three divisions. Two of these will be separate races, and the other a nontotalisator event. I Bred at Akaroa Lyndsey, a maiden pacer engaged at holiday meetings, was bred by Mr J. X.' Ferguson, ‘of Akaroa. .She is a three-year-old filly by Red Shadow from Mlg--1 nonne, who won races for J. Bryce some 1 years ago. , For Gore Volo’s Victory, which ran fourth In a . trial at New Brighton on Saturday, is a i decidedly useful membpr of R. J. Humi phreys’s stable, and is engaged in the Pigeon Memorial Handicop and Wallis Memorial Handicap, at Gore on Boxing Day. Yolo's .Victory was a comfortable winner, at Grey mouth In October, and, I only now four years old. he lodfcs ready to extend his winning record. “One-man” Horse ' , , ~ Traverse is not engaged at the Ashburton meeting, but he figures among the , for - the Canterbury Park i meeting. Traverse’s complete failure in i his last race at Addington, can be discounted. He did not have the services of his usual driver, O. E. Hooper, on that occasion, and. like many another brll--1 liant pacer, Traverse is likely to become ; a “one-man" horse. That man is un--1 questionably O. E.. Hooper. Hilda Potts ~ , ... Reports from Auckland Indicate that ; the easy tracks of late have greatly assisted the preparation of Hilda Potts. This unsound mare is possibly one of the best pacers in the Dominion to-day, but she is always more or less on the verge of a , breakdown. Providing the tracks remain reasonably soft, Hilda Potts Is i considered the better of F. J. Smith s ; well-performed pair; but Volo Senwod may still collect the main honour for “Village Farm” if Hilda Potts does not | get to the post. Champions for Addington Haughty and Integrity are two ftf tht champion pacers which will confine their holiday racing to the Canterbury /Park Trotting Club’s summer meeting, to be held at Addington on Saturday. Decem- , ber 30, and Monday, January 1. The list of entries received for this popular New Year meeting are of the best quality available for the various classes, and this year, at least, there is no suggestion of the cream of the Canterbury horses going to distant parts to race. , A particularly good class of improvlng trotter is : engaged In the Introductory Handicap, : in’which a meeting of- Castigate, Casabl- • anca, -Sea Gem. Yahoo, and Royal Stone should help to provide a stirring contest. * When* Festivity won the Methven Cup, for no accountable reason she was a hot favourite. She won very easily; but the form was apparently not taken at face value by the public, because at Oamaru oh Labour Day she ■ could attract only sufficient supporters to make ber ninth win favourite in a iplle andla _ quarter event in which she started off 12 yards. Only one other horse in the race, Waipahi, carried less support. Festivity s form has not been easy to follow, but nprhans two miles in more in her line, and she is nominated for this dtetance of race at the Canterbury Park meeting. C x"ie r record*for*the Canterbury Handlcaphis hSd by Nelson Eddy which won the 1942 race In 4mln 17 l-ssec. ine distance was shortened to a mile and five ““longs in 1943, when Horsepower won in 3min 30 2-ssec, which works put at a flat rate of 4min 19sec for two miles so Nehon Eddy's performance still ranks Is the best for the race. The only other winner to break 4min 20sec was EwM Rey, which went 4min 18 l-ssec last. YS,® 1 j - In y i9l2, the year the was Ini fit was then run at Plumpton jrarK/, Prince Wilkin, driven by H. Smith, won, in 4min 46sec.. In following years Blackchild Boy, Qumcey. Our Thorpe (twice), and Succeed were listed as winners, and then came Cathedral Chimes, whose nine time of 4mln 25sec, put up at PbJJJJP* ton Park In 1918, stood as the record until 1931 when the American-Imported stallion,' Travis Axworthy. won at Addington in 4min 22sec. Two years later Lina bergh won in 4mln 20 3-ssec„ and in 1936 Blue Mountain’s winning time „^ a L? n }|v This stood as the record lor six years, until lowered by Nelson Eddy. The field for this years Canterbury Hanoi can is probably the strongest In its long and illustrious history. R?var^ Oak Countless, Shadow Maid, Bayaro, Duskv Sound! and Burt Scott are horses St New Zealand Cup engaged, while Improving pacers such 7™ X should ■Roitip rolours. and Joan Conquest snouiu Sdd coSderablv to the keenness.-of what promises to' be one of the outstanding contests of the season. Loyal Chief Impresses , . T „ val mfie a and fo a r hMr o at New Brighton on from the 24 yards mark, and was soon one of the leaders. With four furlongs covered, Loyal Chief. Jack’s Son, and Scottish Emperor were racing in tnat enter. Loyal Chief and Scottish Emperor drew away from the others in the run home, and Loyal Chief to^urtd off an adversary which is Mclng in muen better company. Jack s Son Was a fat third, and Bohemian fourth. Loyal Cruel s list half-mile in Imin 3 4-ssec on a dead track was • impressive. He must nave • been unlucky not to have left the maiden ranks by now.' C NewfAgehtf which is to‘race on the wpQt ponst save a good account of him* : St when h g e practically throughout : amaiden' mile and a quarter went, and won in a close finish from Rosie Volo Audubon, and Bonny Jack. News Agent Is a well-bred young pacer closely 1 related to Daphne de o *% n^Audutmn tion and other winners. 4c a likelv sort in ,R. J. Humphreys s 1 stable. .Wade Lane, in H. J. Smlth s team, and On Tod. trained by C. S. Donaia, 1 also shaped well. Rosie Grattan is now j in T. Gleeso-n’s stable. ’ Way, which Is trained at New Brighton by D. P. Mahoney, distinguished himself at Saturdays trials by defeating 1 Ladv Spray over a mile and a quarter. E jt -was a good finish, less than a tength • separating these two, with Chinook and ■ Limerick Pride next. Mountain Hall. In ’ J. Bryce’s stable, and Margaret Hall, ‘ trained by A. Hendriksen. were promin- \ ent in the same event for more than a ’ mile. Fast Sprinters ■ . T Coleen Travis, which is now In J. Brvce’s stable, has perhaps not yet shown 1 her best form on the race track, because, ; although no records were broken in the , 2mln £Bsec class mile and a quarter event 1 at New Brighton on Saturday, this smart . mare could do no more than win. She i actually won all the way, and just when i Gold Sheik and Captain Morant appeared > to have her measure, she came again to ; score by a neck. She was followed after « two furlongs by Captain Morant, Follow : Me, Imperial Lady. G ° ld . j Sheil o Pride, Claremorris, Golden- River, and Hardy Oak. Barely a longthseparatedthe . first four horses at the finish. Goldßheik. which finished second, being a head In ’ front of Captain Morant. with Parrish Lad i no more than half a back fourth. : Gold Sheik, for a pacer of his class, went . very well, and Captain -Morant is now . infusing more dash into his work than 1 he did earlier in the season^ ’ L< Nola M |coU Ur whoso recent track work ! has been most impressive, has been out 1 of luck in more than one of her races this season, otherwise she would have been a winner by now. She ran up ! against Traverse, which was then in i superlative form, at Addington in October. and had him doing his best to beat 1 her bv a neck in the excellent time of , 3min 33sec (better than a 2mm 12secrate) I for a mile and five furlongs. She has t also run Scottish Lady, Karangl, and other well-performed horses to close de-, 1 cisions. and she was placed ? n . tw °;y® ar * • old and three-year-old classics. It may • appear a tall order for Nola Scott to beat - Bel Hamed and Certainty at Ashbur- ■ ton but in her present form she must be ; given a good chance of doing so. i Will Do Better . . . • considering the much slower class he • is racing in at present. Gold Sheik was 1 responsible for a first-rate holiday trial • when he divided Coleen Travis and Cap- ' tain Morant in the fast-class mile and a L quarter trial at New Brighton on Satur- : day. He finished strongly, and was travel- ! ling as well as the other two at the post, t Gold Sheik has put up his best race : performances on West Coast courses, but ’an effort of,his that showed him to, be 5 a voung pacer above the average was his* second to Imperial Lady In the Metro--1 polltan Challenge Stakes last season Gold ■ Sheik had previously shown great promise 5 when he finished a close second to Tam t o’ Shanter, with Captain Morant third, in : the Timaru Nursery Stakes.