EXCELLENCY

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25445, 17 March 1948, Page 7

EXCELLENCY

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PgAMPION FILLY BRUISES FOREFOOT Twn.-v the brilliant winner of the 3 .R?iS*nd Challenge Stakes at Tren- ! Saturday, is suffering from a 3 bruised off forefoot. The cause is i though it is thought that it I been caused by her putting her IBS? » sharp stone when returning to ■ a* Trentham. Though she is a leather sole to protect her foot very sore when she was at the \Yesterday morning, and her trainer to work her. There is some V m whether she will be able to go to 1 for the Great Northern Challenge tytSi on the third day of the Easter I ->? i r«npany with King’s Ransom, she 1 toleave for Ellerslie to-morrow, •J departure is now indefinite. ■ ! '&£ e trainer. F. McKay, said he was keen rtke Excellency to Ellerslie and was 3 *. jJwrt that she would give a good aci herself. He did not expect that ffgLXipy would have any difficulty in ' reverse way of going as she i that way in all her slow work die was a yearling. ; is any risk of her not being “peak it is probable that Excellency ■ sent to Riccarton. She has enin the Great Easter Handicap, ' Stakes, and the Challenge « ibe Easter meeting, which offers »*r+r««ner an alternative programme if j AeHdes against taking the champion eVga the long, strenuous trip to Ellersperformance in the North ’ t i»n<i Challenge Stakes left no doubt that J one of to® most brilliant three- ■ fillies for some years. The field • one of the best to contest the race but none could match her speed, are few horses that have the same I tendons acceleration, and her great 5 ESdin the early stages tied up her 1 Swdr. They were never able to get striking distance of her. At the SST of the race Excellency was going j SSr than her opponents, and it is uni that any of them would have caught I another furlong.

i ii-la another iuriong. success brought her total winnings I ♦/date to £6245, of which £3285 has been Zmthis season. Her record to date is 14 starts for nine firsts, two seconds, and a i .Xi. Five of her wins were as a twoi -air-old. when she was undefeated. Some I her races have been for comparatively '■ Midi stakes, and had some of her racing ii-n at meetings further north her total I winnings might have been much is now likely to be confined to CTiehbfor-age races, apd she is likely "TTj big winner before she retires to Two-year-old Apt of the most impressive colts in ; Nursery Handicap last Satur- : Hrt was the runner-up, Buchanan, which has a record of two wins, a second, & third in four starts. He could not Stteh some of the others for early speed isd had to be kicked up to a posi--ac early. He was in second place entskK the straight, but in the run home wm unable to catch Air Belle, which had ■Malwd a break on the field. What was <ffifgttsive was Buchanan’s resolute style of galloping under pressure at the finish, a to well grown, with plenty of scope for development, and looks the type to dtfefop into a high-class performer. He Is by Coronach from the imported mare Fakest. by Fairway frcm Queen o£ the Blues, by Bachelor’s Double from Blue fairy, by Great Sport from Vanish, by Troutbeck from Grey Lady, a half-sister to the unbeaten Flying Fox. In his pedipw Buchanan has a wealth of staying blood, although most of the more notable winners frcm his branch of the family in recent years have been short-distance runners. Buchanan is raced by his bietfter, Mr J. G. Alexander, of Wanganui. and trained there by D. T. Marks. Tbe. present intention is to send Buchanan to Riccarton at Easter for the Champagne Stakes. St Leger Trial Considering that he is totally unsuited by firm going, Kartikeya ran an excelleat race to finish third in the Thompson hadfeap. There was a good sole of grass in the straight at Trentham last Saturday, and in the run home Kartikeya rtarted to stretch out properly, and he finished very fast over the last furlong to get within a nose of the second horse, Mesalliance, and headed the latter in anod» stride. For Kartikeya it was an excellent St Leger trial, and now that there is a probability ot the going being mudi easier next Saturday he is likely to be strongly fancied. Consistent But Unlucky Mesalliance added yet another minor placing to his record when he just mani apt! to hold on for second place in the | TScmpson Handicap. He is a good, coni atent performer, but he is not quite up to She best handicap class. His only success this season was in the January Han-* &ap at Trentham in January, but he seems to hold his form well, and his cogency may be rewarded. s likely to be improved by! ha race in the Tinakori Hack Handicap, in Which he finished third to False Step and Ronald Macdonald. Bay Fort was always well placed, but could make no impression on the horses that finished in front of him. He sweated freely after the race and will be a better horse in the Hack Handicap next SatOSy a Fair Race Bevolte ran only a fair race for fifth in the Thompson Handicap, and his display was a little disappointing. He was always fair ly well placed and had every chance in the run home. When he saw he was beaten, his rider (A. J. Stokes) did not press him unduly. The race has dime Revolte no harm, and he looks well fcr his engagement in the Hutt Handicap On Saturday. Handicaps Corrected The following corrected handicaps have beta received from the Canterbury Jockey Club for the Great Easter Handicap: Theocritus, The Pagan 8-7. Treatham Scratchings Scratchings yesterday for the second day of thfe Wellington autumn meeting were: Mine Host, Ngaio Hurdles (9.30 a.m.); Belle Anita, New Zealand St. Leger Stakes (3.50 1