THE WANGANUI GUINEAS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26211, 7 September 1950, Page 4

THE WANGANUI GUINEAS

DAVEY JONES WILL BE FIRM FAVOURITE Davey Jones and Felicitous are the outstanding form candidates for the Wanganui Guineas, which will be run on Saturday. Davey Jones became the early favourite for the race after his impressive win in the Flying Handicap on the first day of the meeting last Saturday. He was always in close touch with the pacemaker, Lay-By, with which he drew on terms before the straight was reached. With little effort he ran into a clear lead early in the run home, and though under a good hold over the last half furlong he established a winning margin of five lengths. “How far he will run cannot be determined, at present,” writes the Wellington correspondent of “The Press.” “He carries his head high and does no. move with the action of a stayer, but he promises to add considerable interest to the Guineas contests of the spring season, by which time his prospects of getting the Derby distance should be more fairly assessed.” Davey Jones comes from a family notable for its speed. His dam, Celebrity, a half-sister to Beau Pere and Balloch, was brilliant. Her three daughters. Celebration, Champagne, and Illustrious, were never • tried beyond sprint distances. The longest race won by any of them was the Whyte Handicap, one mile, in which Celebration scored a surprise win in 1949. Davey Jones is Celebrity’s first colt and he is fully related to the three fillies, being by Neptune. Felicitous, another son -of Neptune, may be at a disadvantage on Saturday in that he has not raced so far this season. There will be keen South Island interest in his showing, as he is owned by Mr J. P. O'Brien, Dunedin, and he gained many local admirers at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s Easter meeting. He won his two races at Riccarton. easily beating Brutus and Argonaut into the minor places in the Champagne Stakes on the first day. On the third day he halted Ballochmyle’s string of wins in the 58th Challenge Sftakes, beating the champion Riccarton-trained sprinter by a neck. Felicitous’s performance was marked by the game manner in which he finished over the final stages of the seven-furlong journey. That effort should leave little doubt about his ability to run out a mile this season.

Davey Jones and Felicitous met twice as two-year-olds. That was at Trentham in January, and on each occasion Davey Jones was the winner. On the first occasion Davey Jones received 21b from Felicitous, which finished third five lengths back, and at their second meeting Davey Jones conceded 101 b and finished two lengths and a half in front. Those races were over six furlongs.

Like Davey Jones. Felicitous is attractively bred, and he is from English parents. His dam, Cheney, is by Limelight. which, like Nearco and Pharis, two of the most successful sires in France and England, is by Pharos. Cheney’s second dam. Rhetoric, did not race, but she was a sister to the Derby winner Cicero. At Carterton

The Riccarton horsemen, A. J. Stokes and N. Eastwood, will be riding at the Carterton meeting on Saturday. Stokes will ride Fortune, Gay Lady. Full of Fun, Lady Lucina. and either Linkman or Professor. Eastwood will be on Adios, Repudiate. and Clyde Bridge. New Zealand-bred Sires

The three plhcings in the Avondale Stakes last Saturday were filled by progeny of Dominion-bred sires, the winner, Delco, being by Brer Fox; Goldfield, the runner-up. by Gold Stand; and the third horse. Te Rapa, by Beau Leon. Delco is a filly from Fancy Lady, while Goldfield, which carries the Conspiracy colours, is a colt from the Raceful mare Lady Achilles. Te Rapa is a colt from the Limon mare Pacify. All three youngsters are trained at Te Rapa. Plunge on Great Trek Shining Ray, product of a five-guinea service by a Riverina sire, upset plunges on Goldak and the New Zealand-bred Great Trek when he won the Welter Handicap at Canterbury. New South Wales, on Saturday. Shining Ray finished a length in front of Goldak; with Great Trek, which had been sensationally backed, a length and a quarter further back in third place. A country gelding. Shining Ray was having only his second run in Sydney. He was bred- by Mrs K. Nuttall, of Jugiong, in the Riverina, and is by Blue Ray. a son of the imported Excitement. For Westport The speedy Connair, which did not race at Reefton. will be taken by her Riccarton trainer, L. V. Lee. to Westport for the two-day spring meeting, which opens on Saturday. She is engaged in the Scanlon Hack Handicap on the first day. and she should race well if the track is not heavy. Connair raced five times as a two-year-old last season, and she won the first divi•sion of the Novice Stakes at the Ashburton winter meeting. Promising Jumper Victory Flight, one of the less distinguished members of the successful Francolin family in Southland, has been showing encouraging form at flag steeplechase meetings in Southland, and he may race well in the Irwin Steeplechase at the Otago Hunt Club’s meeting on Saturday. He is a half-brother by Man’s Pal to the good winners, Dark Flight, Royal Flight, and Super Flight.

Double Acceptor Gleneagles, which was purchased by a patron of A. B. Stove’s stable last month, is a double acceptor for the Otago Hunt Club’s meeting on Saturday. His engagements are the Seaview Hack and Hunters’ Hurdles and the Tally-Ho Handicap. The Siegfried gelding has shown pro-

mise in his schooling. He won two races last season, the first of them being the Maungatua Hack Handicap at the Dunedin Jockey Club’s autumn meeting. In that race he paid £2B 5s 6d for a win, but his owner had backed another runner by mistake. He won again on the second day, when he was the each-way favourite. Son of Dante - r -;_ The Kia-Ora Stud, at Scone, has secured the first Dante horse to become available to Australian breeding. He is the rising four-year-old bay, Brimstone, an aptlynamed son of Dante and the Hyperion mare. Tropical Son. Brimstone’s pedigree shows links with the outstanding stallions of present-day thoroughbreed breeding—Nearco, Dante, Hyperion, Tourbillon, Djebel, and. in female descent a dash of Carbine’s great son. Spearmint. Dante is a son of Nearco, and therefore is of th«e Phalaris sire line. His dam, Rosy Legend, was by Dark Legend. Dante won himself recognition as the outstanding horse of his two-year-old and three-year-old year, winning the Derby easily. He was an immediate stud success, and in his first season sired eight two-year-old winners of 19 races, valued at £19.855. Brimstone was one of Dante’s first crop. He was not seriously tried at two years; having only one race. Recently, however, he won two races in England—one at a mile and three-quar-ters, and the other at a mile and five furlongs, the latter by eight lengths. Brimstone’s dam. Tropical Sun, is from Brulette, a great staying mare, which - won the Oaks and the Goodwood Cup (two miles and five furlongs). Moreover, she is a sister to Hotweed, which won the French Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris and which subsequently sired Pearlweed, which also won the French Derby. Brulette was by Bruleur from Seaweed, which was by the Carbine horse. Spearmint. Newcomers The Riccarton trainer, E. W. A. Rosewarne, made a start recently with two two-year-olds. One is a filly by Gold Nib from Theatrical, by Rocket from Dialogist, by Diacquenod from Oratress, which won the New Zealand Cup in 1920. Dialogist was a half-sister to Concentrate, winner of 10 races, including the New -Zealand and Great Northern. St. Legers and the Wellington and Auckland Cups, while he was third in the Melbourne Cup; to Oratrix, winner of the New Zealand Cup in 1928, giving L. J. Ellis his first winning ride in the race; and to Oratory, which won the New Zealand Oaks and the Wellington Racing Club’s Thompson Handicap. The other two-year-old is a Royal Chief colt whose dam is a Tractor mare. Carterton Meeting Originally drawn in the Maiden Plate No. 1 at the Carterton Racing Club’s meeting on Saturday' Chat Lass (9) has been transferred to the Maiden Plate No. 2. Civilfort (6) has been transferred from the Maiden Plate No. 2 to the Maiden Plate No. I.—(P.A.) Space Available Space available in a waggon for one horse, going to Auckland next week. Cheap rate. 'Phone 131 A, Methven, 10 a.m., Friday. Advt.