PACING STAKES

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

PACING STAKES

trotting

BELMONT HALL’S GOOD PROSPECTS t « O " t hre H e!y e ar O - n o e W O U the » han dicapg under the sneciAi St?ke, » r nrt f b r New Zealand Pacing ° u I s and he will probably be sent nut ?hr“ e fOT «■' elent tor have r>«. d tour-year-old pacers, which n °t w oa more titan two race, on the Sew ra v nn i e * or tlle sec °ah day of ’ Chrtv. Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Satarta^ S ‘ er meetlne at AUdtogton on old? wn? n S 1U 2 ns P rovf d' that three-year-that handicapped on scratch and on 24 M i2l.'? 3 a Wi !L be handicapped field"wm^.5 eland ; .f** basis the as follows: Aqua Lady Ce,‘l? ont Hal l’ Sest Globe, Chatto Boy’ neSWre. A £‘ £ tore?’ «° Uth W j nd - Tudor Minstrel. Way*2“ a handicap event the field would be vSTrnoo as _/ oll °ws: Chatto Boy, Lady MaWhST ’ Plerr l- Sir J ohn, Victory Globe, Globe - Baadin, Free H-n Tutta Bella, Antrim Wayfarer, High Command w; n .S?Y r ?.® e 2. ue ' ™>aa Scott 80; Tudor Mmstrel 84; South Wind. Belmont Hall 96 R*iu h A?££ me *f ol *. by DiUon Hall fronf §Te of Great Venture, tens main event tot trotin!? the ot the Easter meetstarted the season with ?4 t ?u Co J? go in the Riccarton mu™ l Cu P me eting at Addington and ’ at his next start, he «n aH-the-way win in the New ZeaSSS*. Cha ?;, pi P. n Stakes at the Ashburton me eting on Boxing Day. ?alls only other start was at the Canterbury Park Trotting Club’s meet*2 n January 2 where, after leading on th e Charles Cross Stakes by io lengths from Hilda Scott to

A good-mannered horse, Belmont Hall appeals as a potential Cup candidate and n ?* be extended to win the £650 first prize in the New Zealand Pacing Stakes for J. Richardson, who trains him at Forbury Park. Courageous, Hilda Scott, Tudor Minstrel, and South Wind are all well placed m the New Zealand Pacing Stakes and they should all carry solid support. A three-year-old son of Light Brigade, Courageous, which is trained at Westport by W. R. L. Pascoe, has gained two wins and two seconds in his last four starts, his wins being in the Denniston Trot Handicap and the Granity Trot Handicap at the Westport Jockey Club’s meeting on Saturday and Monday. ..South Wind’s record of two Wins and a third in his four starts this season attracts attention to his prospects. A four-year-old gelding, South Wind, which IB trained at Invercargill by G. W. Pankhurst, is by Dillon Hall from Southern Bond, by Worthy Bond from a Nelson Bingen mare. Hilda Scott, which finished second to Belmont Hall in the Charles Cross Stakes at the Canterbury Park Trotting Club’s meeting on January 3, has been working well at Addington for C. Isaacson and, with South Wind and Courageous, she appeals as the most likely to fight out the finish of the New Zealand Pacing Stakes with Belmont Hall.

C. R. Berkett has a strong bracket in Belmora! and Bellisima engaged in the Intermediate Handicap at the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday. Parawa Derby, the winner of the first division of the Otautau Trot Handicap at the Birchwood Hunt Club’s meeting last Saturday, is a four-year-old gelding bv Dillon HaH from War Betty, by Man n* War frnm Rnffv Marrin

A splint has been causing W. J. Doyle’s three-year-old trotter. Encircle, some trouble, and he may not be seen at his best for some time. *

Alec Potts led ’ all the way when he won the Improvers’ Handicap at the Cambridge Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday. A five-year-old gelding, Alec Potts is by Jack Potts from Summit, aWrack mare whi<;h took a record of 3min 23 3-ssec.

From post to post, Highland Fling was privately timed to cover the two miles in the A. I. Rattray Handicap at Addington Saturday in 4min 13 3-ssec.

Pimpernel, which gained four wini and two minor placings in his first 16 starts for the season when trained at Reefton by C. Bennett for Dr. J. Wicken and Mr A. Bennett, is a recent addition to D. Bennett’s team at Templeton. The winner of the Eclipse Handicap at the New Brighton Trotting Club’s meeting at Addington on February 21 at his last start, Pimpernel should prove hard to beat from the scratch mark in the Wilkin Handicap at Addington on Saturday.

At a recent meeting of the executive of the New Zealand Trotting Conference the question of change of drivers was fully discussed, and it was decided that the rule should' be strictly complied with by the stipendiary stewards when dealing with applications (states the “New Zealand Trotting Calendar”).

It was reported that horsemen were accepting drives for the first day of a twoday meeting, knowing that they would not be available for the second day, and in some cases accepting drives knowing that they themselves would have a horse competing in the same class on the same or subsequent days. In future it will be necessary for horsemen when accepting engagements to see that they are available to drive the same

Under the emergency regulations Still in force, meetings held by. a club on two or more consecutive Saturdays are deemed to be a meeting for the purpose of the rule.

Because of the concern caused to owners, drivers, and trainers by the announcement in the official calendar that the rule would be strictly enforced, the secretary of the New Zealand Trotting Horsemen’s Association (Mr E. G. Mitchell) asked the stipendiary stewards for a ruling on four specific cases which would involve changes of drivers on the concluding days of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club’s Easter meeting. Mr Mitchell was informed that each of the applications would be granted if formal applications were made on the day of the meeting at which permission to change is sought. It was made clear by the stipendiary stewards that the granting of these applications was without prejudice to any further requests which might be forthcoming. Each case would be considered on its merits. The rule, the official interpretation of which is so important to professional horsemen, is 348 (1): "Except with the snecial permission of a stipendiary steward, which shall be granted only on good and substantial grounds, the same rider shall ride, and the same driver shall drive, a horse throughout the meeting. ’

Mr F. P. Brosnan, who was drowned when he fell in an irrigation channel at Kerrytown last week, was a well-known owner and trainer of trotting horses, some of his best-known performers including Battlefield, Marceres, Battlevale, and Warfield. Mr Brosnan, who usually had a pacer in work on hi« farm, drove Lottie Jinks in the Wal-iti Handicap at the Timaru Trotting Club’s meeting on March