RACING Good Abbot Should Fare Well In Parliamentary At Trentham

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27679, 8 June 1955, Page 4

RACING Good Abbot Should Fare Well In Parliamentary At Trentham

* Bought privately from a Hawke’s * Bay owner, Mr T. C. Lowry, for 500 • guineas earlier in the season. Good ; Abbot, winner of the Birthday Handi- ■ cap at Wingatui on Monday, has now • won £1930 in stakes for his Inver- ; cargill owner, Mr A. Eunson. ; Good Abbot, whose success at. » Wingatui was his third in his last ' three starts, will be taken to Tren- ’ tham next month to run in the ParI

liamentary Handicap. He has now : had nine races for Mr Eunson, for ‘ three wins, two seconds, one third. • and one fourth. • When he arrived in Invercargill . from the North Island to join T. E. 5 Pankhurst’s stable, he was very ; lame. Corns caused this lameness, but when they were removed he was soon «in work. Progress in his training ; was smooth and uninterrupted, and . he quickly showed promise of a re- • turn to winning form. . Placed at Riverton Good Abbot raced soundly at Riverton at Easter, but could not improve on minor placings. He showed further improvement soon after, and was i at his best when he won a double • on his home track last month. He has been ridden in his three victories for Mr Eunson by the lead- . ing South Island jockey, R. J. .’ Skelton. Deterioration in the track at • Wingatui, if anything, brightened • Good Abbot’s chance, because he had ■ shown sound form on heavy tracks ‘ and under big weights in hack races . in the North Island, and was racing ’ on a rain-affected track when, rather ■ unluckily, he was beaten by Gold • Scheme in the New Zealand St. • Leger two seasons ago. ; Good Abbot’s three successive wins in open company have been worth . only £1415, and at Trentham he will . be giving away weight to much bigger I winners, but his stamina and ability ; in bad ground will still make him a ; formidable opponent for the best of • the others in the Parliamentary Hanl dicap. • Ballast’s Effort • Ballast made a big effort to give (Riccarton an overdue win in the Birthday Handicap, and to justify his position as win favourite. He was a length and a half from Good Abbot at the finish, but that margin flattered • his performance to some extent. This

was only Ballast’s second race since February, and it should have improved him. He is a good galloper on winter tracks, and from his place in the weights he should take beating in the Provincial Handicap on Saturday.

Wait-a-Bit was the best-supported Wingatui-trained runner, but he could not muster enough speed at the end of a mile and a half to reach the lead from a handy trailing position. He will probably do better later, over slightly shorter distances. Balveine was running on for his fourth, but Ballast’s run over the last half-mile, which they entered practically together, was the stronger one. Cheerio Fails Cheerio, which had beaten Good Abbot in the Riverton Cup, was heavily backed to do so again, but he was unable to improve from the ruck, and finished about the middle of the field. Cheerio races well on soft tracks, but showed little of nis ability in the very heavy going he .encountered on Monday. Little could be said for the unplaced division, most of which were very tired in the going some way out : Naval Treaty and Zingabo, the two horses which collided at the start and took no part in the race, did not have outstanding form recommendations for such a test but those who invested £3206 on them in win-and-place and doubles betting would have been much more satisfied with runs, if weak ones, for their money, rather than no runs nt all This mix-up was unfortunate.

Trainer May Complete Double I The Washdyke trainer, F. Trilford,

who had Ironside at a high peak of fitness for his winning performance in the Otago Steeplechase on Monday, has a first-class chance of providing the winner of the Otago Hurdles next Saturday. Brown Baron’s strong run from well back into second place in the Greenfield Hurdles, one mile and a half, on Monday, was an encouraging pointer to a win for the staying son of Columcille over two miles. Starting the last half-mile in the Greenfield Hurdles, Brown Baron was easily 15 lengths from the leaders. He ran the winner, Felicitous, to threequarters of a length. Felicitous, also trained at Washdyke, was closer to the front all the way, though still several lengths from Brutus and Vocalize on the home turn. A strong run in the straight carried him up to Brutus going to the last hurdle, and his speed took him clear soon after. It was just as well for Felicitous that his run was not launched a shade later. He would have had difficulty in holding Brown Baron at bay if he had taken longer to reach the lead.

Brown Baron will be generally expected to beat Felicitous over two miles, but the latter should not go under easily. He is a strong galloper, and his jumping is of a good standard for a hurdler with little racing experience.

Brutus was confidently backed and made favourite. He was called on to make a long run on the outside in the middle stages to get to the front on the home turn, so there was merit in his effort to battle on, less than two lengths from the winner at the finish. Brutus had had a slight set-back with lameness, and this was only his second race since August; so he could be an improved horse when he races next.

Milwaukee Unlucky \ Brisbane’s leading apprentice jockey, M. Schumacher, has been engaged to ride the New Zealand horse, Milwaukee, in the Brisbane Cup next Monday, says a Press Association report from Brisbane. Milwaukee seemed right out of luck when beaten into fourth place in the Ipswich Cup on Saturday. The Brisbane Cup favourite, Hellion, caused a stir at the week-end when he left the training track showing obvious signs of tenderness. His trainer found pieces of grit stuck between Hellion’s shoes and hoofs. He said he was not disturbed, and would have Hellion reshod.

Royal Legend, a New Zealand horse, will be withdrawn from the Stradbroke Handicap.

As a result of his defeat on Saturday, Dicast has drifted in the Stradbroke market. He was a solid favourite last week, but now is only a firm third favourite. Fire Dust is favourite, with Cragsley on the second line. Every Time’s Dam a Twin Every Time, winner of the Great Northern Steeplechase at Ellerslie on Monday, is the first foal of Never Fail, an unraced twin. The other twin was dead when foaled.

Never Fail is a daughter of Baffles and Requiem. The imported Baffles, bred in 1933, has built up a reputation as a sire of good performers in bad ground, and of some very capable jumpers; but Requiem was only a moderate performer on the flat. However, Requiem was bred on good jumping lines, being by Hunting Song, one of the most noted sires of hurdlers and steeplechasers in recent years, from Dodo, the dam also of an outstanding jumper in Hunto. Hunto won the 1944 Great Northern Hurdles with lOst 101 b, finished third with list 41b in 1945, and third with list in 1946. He was also placed as a steeplechaser.

. Contact, the are of Every Time, is also noted as a sire of good ers on wet and he, too, has been represented by some very wellperformed jumpers. Every Time is a six-year-old, and so he has ample time in which to earn further distinctions for his connexions,