TROTTING North Island Horses To Race At N.Z. Cup Meeting

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27498, 4 November 1954, Page 5

TROTTING North Island Horses To Race At N.Z. Cup Meeting

North Island representation at the New Zealand Trotting Cup meeting, which will open at Addington next Tuesday, will be stronger than for tome years. Nine North Island horses are engaged on the first ’day of the meeting, and it is expected that others will come south for the later days. The first Auckland horses to arrive were two cup candidates, Vedette and Laureldale, which arrived on Tuesday. The other six Auckland horses will arrive this morning. They are Petite Yvonne, Beau Marie, Wayward Peter. Highland Flirt, Douglas Derby, and Single Medoro. The Hutt Parktrained Little Robin will probably not arrive until after the week-end. Vedette, for which no driver in the cup has yet been announced, showed up in his races at Epsom in September, but at Labour weekend he did not fare so well. Nevertheless, he is reported to be in good order for his engagements at Addington. He has been unplaced in three previous attempts to win the New Zealand Cup, but his record in free-for-alls is outstaading. His chances in the cup are not highly regarded, but in the free-br-alls on the later days of the meetin. he should be in his element Laureldale raced well from awkward Barks in -sprint races at Epsom at Labour weekend, and he, too, has made good progress in his cup prearation. Laureldale, for which no river has been announced, is no tranger at Addington On previous trips be has not raced against the class of hdrse he will meet in the cup. The Epsom pair. Petite Yyonne and JeariMarie. will arrive with their trainer (C. Pauli and P. Wolfenden. who will probably handle them in Addington engagements. Petite Yvonne has never failed to ay expenses on her various trips to

: Addington, but she will not find it easy , tins .timQ to reach a place against t horses of the calibre of Rupee, : Johnny Globe, or Soangetaha, all of 5 which are at their peak. Petite ? * S® 6 "as been working well lately 5 at Epsom and she will strip a very .fit horse at Addington. [ Disappointing Mare Beau Marie has been a disappoint- ; ment since she raced at Addington in j August. Her recent track efforts sug- ( gest that she is returning to form, and , she may show up at the cup meeting. . The Croughton mare is a fine type of : pacer and, if at her best, she should more than’pay her way. ; H. M. Allen, who has campaigned [ the brilliant but unbound Greek Bri- . gade with success at Addington, will [ have Highland Flirt and Wayward ; Peter, both recent winners, to reprei sent him at Addington. Prince Polka, i a half-brother to Soangetaha, was to have been brought south, but he will be reserved for the Wanganui meeting. Wayward Peter showed improved stamina when he outstayed Prince Polka in the President’s Handicap at the Franklin meeting last Saturday. Highland Flirt was an imnressive winner over one mile and a. half in 3min 13sec on the first day of the ; recent Auckland meeting, and the Highland Fling mare may show up at Addington. R. D. Kennerley, who last season , brought Single Direct to the cup meet- ; ing, will have Single Medoro and Douglas Derby to represent him. Douglas Derby was narrowly beaten by Rellek in the main race on the second day of the recent Auckland meeting, and Single Medoro struck form when he beat the promising Earl Marie in the Franklin Futurity Stakes last Saturday. Single Medoro has

gained confidence at the start of his races this season, and he is expected to race well against the Canterbury three-year-olds. The other North Island horse engaged at Addington is Little Robin, a three-year-old gelding by Young Bob from Needlepoint, which is trained by J. S. Hunter for Messrs R. A. McKenzie and R. A. Vance. Little Robin, which was bought for 50gns as a yearling, raced at Hutt Park last week, and is engaged there again on Saturday. The Pukekohe trainer, J. K. Hughes, has withdrawn his team from the first day of the meeting, but they remain in for the last three days. He has Frontiersman, Celestial, Scottish Star, Big Shot, and Heroism engaged, and it is possible that some of them will be brought south for the later days at Addington. # The Hawera trainer, D. R. Grantham, intended bringing Patrick Earl, Parklight, and Earl Marie south for the meeting, but they have not progressed as well as expected, and have been withdrawn from all engagements. So has the Waiuku trotter, Sheryll Scott, a good performer at the recent Auckland meeting. Hutt Park Brackets

The following horses will be bracketed at Hutt Park on Saturday:— Featherston Handicap: Marathon and Keslette. Empire Handicap: Logan Fame and Scottish Star. • Electric Handicap: Electric Ring and Onward Peter, Marathon, Procter and Keslette. Fallacy’s Form Fallacy was having his first start for more than a year when he beat all but Black Douglas in the £9OO National Handicap at Hutt Park last Saturday. The Light Brigade stallion is expected to show marked improvement as a result of that ruh, and he will be very hard to beat in the Empire Handicap on the second day of the meeting. Fallacy will be driven by R. Morris, who drove him competently on the first day of the meeting. Tribal Song The Springfield Globe pacer, Tribal Song, will have his first start since joining D. G. Nyhan’s team in the

Canterbury Park Handicap at Addington next Tuesday. < Tribal Song has more ability than most others in his class, but in the majority of his races he has lost considerable ground at the start. On the few occasions when he has begun smoothly, he has recorded sound efforts. If his new trainer can make him begin well, he should not be long winning.

Addington Brackets The following horses will be bracketed on the totalisator on the first day of the New Zealand Trotting Cup meeting at Addington next Tuesday:— Introductory Handicap: Superfortress and General Lee. Spring Handicap: Lodestar and Loraine. Canterbury Handicap: Moss Hall, Speed King and Rowan Star, Lauder Lass and Luckylast, Girl Black and Tribal Song, Highland Flirt and Wav ward Peter. Worthy Queen Handicap: Fingal’s Cave and Battle Cry. Final Handicap:/Chief .Lochiel and Merval, Dancing Years and Countermark. Won in Melbourne

Romanesque and Imperial Trust, both of which are prepared by a former Addington trainer, C. H. Fairman, were winners at Melbourne last Saturday evening. Romanesque, which started at 10 to 1, gained a decisive win in his division of the Otira Handicap, and he paid a win dividend of £22 Bs. Imperial Trust, which started at 3 to 1 and paid a win dividend of £4 6s, made short work of Prince Regent and a New South Wales pacer, Wilbur’s Hope, in the main race, the Slade Handicap. Both Romanesque and Imperial Trust were driven by H. Mazoudifcr, of Sydney.

New Zealand horses had a poor night at JJarold Park, Sydney, on Saturday, and failed to win a race. However. Scottish Bank, Travis Hall, Oban, Kate Rama, Magician, Meg Mundy* Brucus, Pleasant News, Rosarita, Powerful Lady, and Our Smith were placed. Hutt Park Improvements Expenditure of more than £200.000 is envisaged on the Wellington Trot-

ting Club’s course at Hutt Park. This includes the cost of a hew grandstand, for which sketch pldns have been prepared. The club also intends to extend its tracks and amenities. The club’s plans recently came before a meeting of the Eastbourne Borough Council, which has a representative on the club’s committee. The council agreed to the; conditional sale of land to the club, so that the club could offer the land as freehold in arranging finance for improvements.

Construction of a new grandstand costing not more than £25,000 had been authorised by the Building Controller, arid sketch plans had been drawn for a concrete two-storey 700seat stand on part of the land between the stewards’ stand and an old iron grandstand on the lawn, the club said in a letter to the council. The club had been advised to demolish the old wooden members’ stand and also the old iron grandstand. and in their place erect new concrete structures. The club was therefore faced with an ultimate expenditure of more than £200,000. When the club started racing at Hutt Park in 1916, it took over the race tracks, buildings, and facilities established by the Wellington Racing Club, said the letter. Entirely new tracks had been constructed and most of the buildings replaced. the last 14 years, the club had/spent more than £55,000 on buildings and grounds.

Costs had become so high that it appeared finance could be arranged only if the freehold of the racecourse was offered as security, said the club. The club sought to purchase the property it used as a racecourse, together with a strip adjoining the northern boundary of the club’s grass race track, to allow the track to be reformed northwards and to provide future additional ground for lawns, gardens, and facilities.

SCRATCHINGS FOR HUTT PARK (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 3. Scratchings for the aecond day of the

Wellington Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday are:— Empire Handicap: Real Class. Spring Handicap: Surfman. Electric Handicap: Ductile. *