RICCARTON STABLES

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25364, 11 December 1947, Page 4

RICCARTON STABLES

RACING

PLANS FOR HOLIDAY MEETINGS Riccarton stables will have a strong representation at the forthcoming holiday meetings. The greater proportion of the horses will be racing on the Dunedin-Waikouaiti-Oamaru circuit, but a few of those racing at Dunedin will continue south and race at the Wyndham and Southland meetings. The contingent for the West Coast circuit will be smaller than usual. The Auckland meeting, with the £lO.OOO Auckland Cup as its principal attraction, has drawn a small but select team from Riccarton, and most interest will centre on their doings. C. G. Humphries nas Royal Tan in the Auckland Cup and Magnaform in the Great Northern Derby and F. A. Roberts has Kartikeya in the latter race and Blue Trout in the Railway Handicap. J. C. Tomkinson is now taking Revolte up for the Auckland Cup, and F. D. Jones’s team will consist of Palm Bearer, which is engaged in the Auckland Cup, Banshee, a candidate for the Great Northern Derby, and the two-year-olds. Magical and Musselman.

Riccarton’s hopes in the Auckland Cup will rest mainly on Royal Tan, which is likely to be a better horse for his Ellerslie engagement than he was when Beau Le Havre beat him into second place in the New Zealand Cup. In the Auckland Cup Royal Tan meets Beau le Havre on 41b better terms, and though such a difference would appear to favour the latter. Royal Tan has it in his favour that his - programme was the less strenuous of the two. After his three races at Riccarton Beau le Havre was a good deal finer in condition than he has been since he first started to make a name for himself. His trainer makes no secret of his champion’s recuperative powers, but the fact remains that with 9-11 Beau Le Havre has a very stiff task ahead of him if he starts. The fact that Royal Tan’s programme at Riccarton was lighter. and wall probably leave him the fresher horse at Ellerslie, will weigh a good deal in his favour. His race in the New Zealand Cup gave ample proof of his and with the services of L. J. ?! in .. be 1 at no disadvantage on the Ellerslie track. Did Not Strike Form

Palm Bearer’s form at the New Zealand Cup meeting was definitely below that expected of her, and only in the Metropolitan Handicap did she look like crushing in a place. However, she is one V 1 ® tou Bh, wiry type that is always likely to come up when she looks as if “tt ad enou «h for the time being. Until he won the Fendalton Handicap at Riccarton last Saturday, Revolte was not eligible to accept in the Auckland Cup. His performance last Saturday was sufficiently encouraging for his connexions to continue his engagement at Ellersh®. .and A. J. Stokes, who has a good understanding of the gelding, has been to pde him. Last Saturday Revolte had his first test over a mile and a quarter, and provided he can be induced to settle down early there is no reason why he should not run out two His younger brother. Fresh Boy, has stayed well enough, having run third m the Caulfield Cup and second in the Melbourne Cup. Re volte is a small horse, out ne is very strongly made and girths better than norses many inches taller. Men if two miles does prove beyond him there will be opportunities for Revolte in some of the shorter handicaps at Ellerslie.

Blue Trout will be Riccarton’s sole representative in the Railway Handicap, and she may make a far better showing over the Ellerslie six furlongs than she did in the Stewards’ Handicap at Riccarton. Blue Trout will be ridden by L. J. Ellis, and her ability to begin brilliantly will be a big advantage at Ellerslie, no matter what barrier position she draw’s. Magnaform and Kartikeya finished tfiird and fourth respectively in the New Zealand Derby at Riccarton, and both •will be better colts at Ellerslie. Magnaform will be ridden by L. J. Ellis. Magical and Musselman will afford an interesting comparison with northern two-year-old form. Magical’s injured hind leg is recovering, and he wall have freshened up nicely by the time he races at Ellerslie. Musselman disappointed in the Pioneer Handicap at Riccarton, but he is capable of better form than that. Like his dam, he shows a liking for soft going. As yet F. D. Jones has made no definite riding engagements for his team. C. McDonald is recovering from the effects of the kick he received last Saturday, but it is not yet known whether he will be fit to go to Auckland. In addition to being represented at Auckland, C. G. Humphries will have Dark Arrow* and Minion racing on the West Coast circuit and Responsive and Soar at Dimedin. On his last visit to the Wqjt Coast, Dark Arrow won four races at the Reefton meeting. For Southern Meetings

Citril, Detract, Diameter, Irish Note, and Primitive, the remaining active members of F. A. Roberts’s team, will be racing at southern meetings. Citril is now in open company, and has been nominated for the Publicans’ Handicap at Dunedin. Irish Note has been nominated for the Hazlett Gold Cup, but it will depend on his progress in the meantime whether he starts. Irish Note has been taken along very quietly since he resumed racing. Diameter will not be forward enough to race at Dunedin, but may be on hand at Oamaru.

The biggest team to go south from Riccarton is S. Barr’s. He has John Gay, Mysterious Melody, Sir Saladin, Sedgemere, Bowling Green, and Flying Control engaged at DUnedin, and will then go on to the Wyndham and Invercargill meetings. With the exception of Flying Control, all raced at the New Zealand Cup meeting. Flying Control had a few races last season, but his appearance this season has been delayed because of an accident He is a good-looking three-year-old black gelding by Beau Vite from Fox Tower, owned by Mr J. R. McKenzie. R. E. Johnstone has Flying Orders, Newspaper, and Dinard, a three-year-old chestnut filly by Battle Song from Silver Sands, engaged at Dunedin, and he will also go on to the Wyndham and Southland meetings. Champagne Stakes Candidates G. Ridgway will have a team of five for the Dunedin meeting, comprising the two-year-olds Trident and Robin Redbreast, the Dunedin Cup candidate Lord Elgin, and the hacks Broie and Morning Watch. As the winner of the Welcome Stakes, Trident has earned the maximum penalty of 101 b in the Dunedin Champagne Stakes, and her weight will be 9-3. Lord Elgin, the winner of the Dunedin Cup last *ear, has not raced since the Grand National meeting, and was not given a run at Riccarton last Saturday because of the hard ground. With Broie and Morning Watch, he is also engaged for Waikouaiti and Oamaru. G. S. Barr will also do the DunedinWalk o Haiti circuit with Battle Chief. Wild Knock, and Narda Shah, and he will also take Royal Flash with them. Card Money will contest the two-year-old races at Dunedin.

R. P. Register will have Blue Hussar, All’s Fair, and Kinlass at Waikouaiti and Oamaru, and his partner, F. Hanrahan, will take Bonny Scholar, Arctic Hero, and Romantic to the West Coast for the Greymouth, Reefton. and Kumara meetings.

A. E. McMullan will take the hurdler Voltaire and the two-year-old. Top Deck, to Dunedin. Voltaire may then come back and go to the West Coast for the Greymouth meeting. Bolzano, another member of the team, will also race, on the West Coast circuit. J. S. Olive will have Avignon and Lament at Oamaru and Kurow meetings only, and A. S. Ellis win be at the same meetings with Glen Cona and Tweedside. He will take the latter for the Westport trainer, T. P. Smith. Tweedside may be tried as a hurdler next year. Polka and Jacquee will race on the West Coast. Shere Khan for Dunedin J. S. Shaw will have Shere Khan and Kill Fast racing on the Dunedin circuit, and R. Wilson will have Authentic and Palomino. Shere Khan ran two sound races at Riccarton and looks like showing a further return for the extreme patience his trainer has exercised with him. B. H. Brodie will also race on the Dun-edin-Waikouaiti circuit, and his team will consist of Front Page, Vulnerable, and Witness. .M. J. Wadley will take Deep Harmony and V. A. Lee may take Fort Silver. The latter will not take Balkis to Dunedin, and she will be kept for the two-year-old races at Trent ham. C. B. Dawson will take Falconbridge, Rahine, and Confidence Trick to Waikouaiti and Oamaru only, and J. C. Tomkinson’s pair. Reprimand and Windrush, will be at the same meetings. C. C. McCarthy will have Indian Dawn and Valley Gold at Dunedin, where Beechwood and Altruist are also engaged, but the latter two may be sent to Waikouaiti and Oamaru only. W. Barr is sending Langham to the Oamaru and Kurow meetings and Simon Tor may race on the West Coast. Plans for the latter are indefinite as he was recently kicked by another horse. Tranbycroft will race on the West Coast circuit and will be the only member of H- Nurse's team racing over the holidays. A. B. Stove, with Paper Pattern, will also race on that circuit. Faultrosa is the only member of F. Christmas’s team likely to race over the holidays, and she may also go to the West Coast. A. J. Griffin may take Rebel Night. L. J. Ellis will send Maka Maka to Oamaru. Plans for the Australian geldSilver Link, will not be decided for Q days, but he has been nominated for the Dunedin Cup.