AUTUMN MEETING AT RICCARTON

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27629, 9 April 1955, Page 4

AUTUMN MEETING AT RICCARTON

Kingship Selected To Win Great Easter

AVENGE FAVOURED FOR CHAMPAGNE STAKES

Four-year-olds have won seven of the last 10 contests for the Canterbury Jockey Club’s big autumn sprint test, the Great Easter Handicap, and that good record may be improved on Monday, when the club will open its Easter carnival at Riccarton.

Kingship, Copenhagen, Tamrin, Pack Drill, Rio Negro and Scotch Gift are four-year-olds in a field of 15 as it stands. The winner could well be amongst that lot, and it will not be surprising to find two or more of them in the struggle for the £l3OO first prize.

Kingship beat all but the brilliant Clinker in last year’s Great Easter, in which he carried Bst 101 b, 71b less than his weight on Monday. Tamrin also ran last year, but it was hardly a race at all for him because he could not find racing room in the straight. He was out of a place but close behind the placed horses.

Kingship has won twice in the last year, and faces Monday’s test right at his peak. He recorded the most notable success of his career in the Wellington Racing Club’s Thompson Handicap last month and since his return to Riccarton has given every satisfaction.

Tamrin has had a light programme of racing this season and has failed so far to improve on minor placings, each in strong sprint fields. His nervousness could have contributed largely to his failure in the Thompson Handicap; his slow start from wide out and the ground he had to cover to get into a challenging position set a task.too formidable for him in the open sprint on the second day at Trentham. But his great brilliance is well recognised. He only needs a firm track and a reasonably good run to carry him right into the finish on Monday.

The Riccarton trainer, J. C. Tomkinson, is in the fortunate position of having a second top-flight sprinter to represent his stable in the Great Easter.

The other is Copenhagen, whose rebord of two wins—one at Trentham', the other at Riccarton—from four starts in open company gives him a chance to be highly respected. Copenhagen’s wins in open company have been over seven furlongs and on tracks affected to a varying degree by rain. Tamrin may be his master if conditions remain unchanged, but any easing in the track will suit Copenhagen more. Pack Drill has been away from racing since December, but K. J. Thomson has brought him to good racing condition through a steady course of training.

Pack Drill’s early-season form was of a high standard. His all-the-way win over nine furlongs in the Riccarton Handicap and his rather unlucky third behind Sawdust and Pharoah’s Castle in the Jockey Club Handicap, one mile, at the last New Zealand Cup meeting, stamped his as a galloper likely to take high ranking, and an ideal type for a race like the Great Easter.

Success has dodged the three-year-olds in the Great Easter in the last 10 years, but sprinters of that age won the race four years in succession during World War 11. Ma Reine and Russleigh, both fillies, are three-year-olds in this field. Ma Reine is well on the way towards building up a fine record for her Christchurch owner, Mr D. McFarlane, and her last-start third in the Hutt Handicap at Trentham last month encourages the belief that she will face this test at her best. Sound Form Ma Reine won at a mile and was rather unluckily beaten over seven furlongs at the Wellington Cup meeting in January. Her performances have been marked by her gameness; and her ability to accelerate quickly from the barrier is an advantage in a field of even average size, such as this is.

Russleigh, one of the best of her age in the spring racing, has lost winning chances through her failure to begin well in her autumn racing. She will need ability much above the average to give the best of the others in this field a start and a beating, but if she begins reasonably well she will be a formidable candidate from her place in the weights. The form book suggests that Lord Fort has lost some of that great brilliance that made him one of New Zealand’s top-flight sprinters earlier in his career< He has had a good drop in the weights because of his run of failures in this class and anything approaching one of his best performances of the past would give him a first-class chance. Lord Rowallan has had his winning days on firm tracks by this powerful galloper can go with much greater freedom when the ground is soft. Paulette is versatile and has raced with marked consistency at Riccarton before, but if the track stays firm she may be shaded for brilliance and finishing speed by the Southlandowned Zingabo, winner of four races up to a mile and a quarter this season. Zingabo is the right type for Riccarton’s roomy straight. Given conditions to suit him, few if any should run the race out more strongly. Strato has been a shade disappointing since he won two sprints at the Dunedin Cup meeting and beat all but Copenhagen in the Members’ Handicap at Riccarton last November. Improvement on anything he has shown lately will be necessary. Success would not be beyond his reach if he could make that improvement. Rio Negro’s recent trials have left the impression that she should soon improve on her last-start fourth against the sprinters at Motukarara. Her semi-final trial at Riccarton on Thursday attracted further attention to her chance as a winning lightweight prospect. Champagne Stakes The North Islander Avenge, a wellperformed Ruthless colt owned by Mr W. S. Goosman, gives the Champagne Stakes a more open look than it would have had if the race had been confined to South Island youngsters. Avenge is the North Island’s only representative, but he should do the job well. He faces this test with a background of four wins and some creditable placings from 13 starts. Avenge has won twice .over six

furlongs, once under 9-10 on the roomy Masterton track where the long straight takes its toll of many horses with big weights. On form, he should safely hold the Dunedin Champagne Stakes winner Blue Count. They met twice at the Wellington Cup meeting in January, and each time Avenge was first of the two to finish, Their first meeting was in the Wellington Stakes, won by Hush Money, in January. Avenge was fourth, with two three-year-olds in front of him. Blue Count was tenth.

They met again in the Nursery Handicap at the same meeting. Avenge carried 8-10 to a clear-cut win. Blue Count was third.

Avenge has had a fairly busy season, but he has much of the hardiness of the Ruthless breed and his autumn racing has been -of a good standard. His immediate form background is his highly creditable second to Romanos in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes in which-he attempted to lead all the way over seven furlongs, setting a strong pace that forced Romanos to record Imin 25sec to win. Blue Count has won on his home track since the Wellington Cup meeting. He won the two-year-old race on the second day of the Dunedin Jockey Club’s autumn meeting, wearing down Ark Royal and Red Elf very close to the post. The distance was five furlongs, and Blue Count was running on, but something better was expected of the Dunedin Champagne Stakes winner. Blue Count’s defeat of Seven Seas in the Champagne. Stakes at Wingatui was something of a sensation, but his success at the expense of the Invercargill colt could be a false pointer. Seven Seas had a set-back shortly before the meeting and was obviously not holding the form that carried him to victory in the Welcome Stakes at Riccarton a few weeks earlier. Seven Seas has not raced since, but his appearance and the standard of his training trials suggest that he will be at his best. If so, Seven Seas and Avenge should come to the fore at the end of six furlongs. They may run the race out too strongly for the fast Riccarton colt Motueka, which was a weakening third behind Seven Seas in the C.J.C. Welcome Stakes.

Ark Royal will probably do best of the non-winners in this field. He is a colt of some class, and improvement can be expected from a youngster capable of running Blue Count close when having only his second race.

Americus and Sir William are two or the early favourites for the Dominion Handicap, in which there will also be solid support for Fulgent because of his consistency and his „ le< L Ord over the distance; Vitalogy, because of the brilliance oi his winning run against the sprinters at Oamaru when making a fresh start last month; and Half-a-Crown ® P °Y erful , dr .y track galloper whose recent work at Riccarton has been of a high standard.

SCRATCHINGS ‘week r . a end ln >?’eA’ SUed tOT this

, , Auckland Onslow Handicap: Thicket Great Northern Oaks: First Nibble Champagne Stakes: Trevor Bov K“n?o e ßov. HaCk S ‘ eep,es: Quandary, H « ndic «P: Gloaming Prince Gold Venture, Royal Chancellor. Qualify Barter Handicap: Master Proven Pharoah s Castle, Corolu, Himiler' Sublime (Ruthless Sal, Prone, Peter Boy’ Crusoe Bay and Elcano (re-enter). Brown Se'L" LaChlan <Clune _ , Waipukurau Pukeora Handicap: Marsden. Wairarapa Tuhitarata High-weight: Beau Coeur. Rototawai Hack Handicap: Foghorn. m Feilding Taonui Nursery: Tosseli. Feilding Cup: Lucky Cast, Anod (Claire and Roving Boy re-enter). Mangaone Handicap: John Gilpin. Onga Hack Handicap: Chevalier. Orepuhi Hack Handicap: Gay Cavalier. Addington Members’ Handicap: King’a Order. Riccarton Courtenay Handicap: Hunt the Slipper (Super Find re-enters). Dominion Handicap: Golden Jest, Zingabo. Great Easter Handicap: Super Maru. Riverton Trial Handicap: Brace. Waiau Steeplechase: Kilmacrenan. Longwood Handicap: Suphero.