Sonnetary May Improve Fine Record At Trentham

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27912, 8 March 1956, Page 4

Sonnetary May Improve Fine Record At Trentham

The five-year-old Sonnetary, and Llanisfar and Calcutta Sweep, both four-year-olds, should keep youth to the fore in the finish of the £5OOO Autumn Handicap on the first day.of the Wellington autumn meeting on Saturday Sonnetary has Ost. and has only Deceptive above him in the weights. He deserves that rating, too. because he has won twice since his rather unlucky second to Fox Myth in the Wellington Cup in January. Sonnetary’s good form since the Wellington Cup meeting has shown his hardiness and consistency. His Wellington Cup second, and earlier .his fourth in the Auckland Cup, left no room for doubt about his stamina. He has the physique to go strongly right to the end with the good horse’s weight of 9st. They are some good reasons why Sonnetary will probably be favourite on Saturday. The Felous gelding’s sound trial at Trentham on Tuesday must have increased the number of his intending supporters. Llanisfair did not run in the last Wellington Cup. but he made the grade over this distance by running Tesla to a length in the Auckland Cup. He carried Bst 61b, and finished half a length clear of Fox Myth, which was followed in closely by Sonnetary <Bst 4ib). Llanisfair will meet Sonnetary on 131 b better terms this time. The Wellington Cup showed the value of the Auckland Cup as a form pointer this season. The position may be no different this time, and Llanisfair may be one of the hardest to beat over this distance. Test for Calcutta Sweep Riccarton’s Calcutta Sweep will have his first test over two miles. Eut nearly every race he has run in open company has stamped him as a real stayer

With better luck, he would have won the Wellington Racing Club Handicap over a mile and a half in Janu-

ary. That he was able to finish third that day after a shocking run said much for his ability. Luck was not with him. either, at Motukarara last Saturday, when he finished fourth over 11 furlongs. He hardly had a race at all: certainly he could not get racing room for one of his best gallops, from the three furlongs to the post. Mr M. M. Hibbard's Royal Chief gelding has not raced well on soft tracks. The weather at Trentham later in the week will do much to determine his chance. Deceptive fully deserves his 9st 81b. which will make him top weight now that Fox Mvth has been scratched. He has seldom raced badly over this distance, and did riot get many of the breaks in the running when he finished fourth in Fox Myth’s Wellington Cup. A year ago. Mr S. F. Besley's tough Alonzo gelding ran Hy-Spin to half a head in this race after a torrid lastfurlong battle. Conditions were made to order for Deceptive that day: light rain had eased the track. He was not disgraced in failing to take the race away from Hy-Spin. a very game and hardy mare with a great store of stamina Idaho and Finite dominated the finish of the main race at Masterton last Saturday. Idaho scrambled home narrowly; Finito was the faster finisher at the end of 11 furlongs. It is difficult to assess the value of that result as a form pointer. Finito's earlier performances in weaker fields were nothing better than moderate, and he is probably past the stage—he is seven—where much improvement can be hoped for. Light-weight's Chance i Merry Lees is likely to have a strong light-weight's chance. Success has dodged him since the Te Awamutu Cup in December, but there has been his second to Arawa in the Storey Memorial at Te Rapa and his third to Sonnetary and Big Blow in the Herries Memorial Cup at Te Aroha. Saba’s win at Motukarara made him one of the most hightly-regarded prospects on the minimum. It also indicated that there is a brightened chance of a South Island victory, although the northerners have f a much stronger numerical representation. By any yardstick. Saba’s win last Saturday was highly creditable, the official time for the 11 furlongs was 2min 17 l-ssec. and Saba was privately timed to better that figure. The four-year-old Sabaean entire made his run from the tail of the field, and won going away by a length and a half. Saba has not had racing experience over two miles but, in his present I form, he should very nearly make the grade from his position in the handicap.

A favoured trio are Sonnetary, Llanisfair, and Calcutta Sweep. Second Leg In contrast to the position in the Autumn Handicap, the South Island will meet the North on something like equal terms, numerically, in the Thompson Handicap, the second leg of the double. There will probably be at least 10 South Island milers in the big field.

and five of them are in the first seven positions in the handicap. Riccarton’s Pack Drill is top weight with 9-5, and Mighty Dollar, Field Chief, Copenhagen, and Watch and Wait are other South Island representatives just below him. Pack Drill has probably never been better. With a shade more luck, he would have won twice over this distance at the Wellington Cup meeting. Since then, he finished a close second under 9-6 to Cornflake in the Midsummer Handicap, one mile and a quarter, at Riccarton. Mighty Dollar and Field Chief are both trained at Wingatui by A. E. Didham, and both have excellent credentials for such a test. Field Chief decisively won the Pearce Handicap at Trentham in October, and has since shown his versatility by mastering a mile and a I half in the Wellington Racing Club Handicap. He has not raced since then, but in his present trim he should not find that a handicap. Mighty Dollar brilliantly made the grade as a miler in the James Hazlett Gold Cup at Wingatui in December. He did not race again until the Banks Peninsula meeting last Saturday, when he made up ground for fourth in the Kinloch Handicap, won by Copenhagen. Mighty Dollar has already beat topflight sprinters at six and seven furlongs this season, and it will be surprising if he fails to match the best in this field for ability. Copenhagen’s Form Copenhagen has already won as a miler this season. He was runner-up to Field Chief in the Pearce Handicap, and showed his fitness for this test with a sound winning run in the Kinloch Handicap at Motukarara. He I has not ■ thrived on earlier trips to I Trentham. but has still been able to race well in strong fields. This says much for his class and gameness. Watch and Wait raced twice at the Wellington Cup meeting, each time as a miler. She decisively won the Anniversary Handicap under 8-13 on the first day. Next time out, she struck trouble and finished well. back. Watch and Wait is small, but her wide barrier position could be to her advantage in this big field.

Pinnacle Ridge will be the most heavily supported northerner in the top part of the handicap. She wasnarrowly beaten by Marsden in thei Lady Norrie Stakes at Te Rapa on February 18, but was unbeaten in two starts at the Wellington Cup meeting. She starred as a sprinter on the second day, and then won over a mile and a half two days later. Pinnacle Ridge’s weight. 9-3, could dull some of her speed, but success will be well within her reach if she shows her usual gameness. Lingual is not the force at Trentham that he is on the smaller course at ‘ Ellerslie. Saboteur will make the form book valueless if he wins; and that would not have been beyond him when he was at his peak. Recent Winners Silver King and Desperado have both been recent winners in the South Island. They were fourth and third respectively in the Midsummer Handicap at Riccarton last month, and there will be little between them again on Saturday. Shaun and Yoho may be the best candidates closer to the tail of the handicap, but there are other possibilities in a field of this size. Luck should enter largely into the result unless there are several withdrawals. There is good reason for confidence in the ability of the South Island milers. Copenhagen, Mighty Dollar, and Silver King have the ability to be very prominent.

TRENTHAM RIDING ENGAGEMENTS

"The Press" Special Service WELLINGTON, March 7. Riding engagements for the opening of J he Wellington autumn meeting at Trentham on Saturdav include ! W. Broughton: Fancy Dress. Idaho Absent. Summersette, Lingual, Flair R J. Skelton: Field Chief. Raglan. Rav Ribbon, Desert Cloud, Swayalong. G F Hughes: Tehrana. Roving Boy, Jollette Llanisfair. Coleridge, Alonsun. N. B. Holland: Cattiva, Syntax. Merrv Legs, Grand Bank. J. A. McFarlane: Finito, Yoho, Resoect. K. A. Nuttall’ Byway. Horatius, Hot Drop. Dutch Flag J. W. Harris: Bugle Boy, Baraden Royal Inca. Royal Pledge, Lord Barton’ W. L. Aitken: Deceptive, Detect, Highlander, Young Robin, Xixies. V. J. Sellars: Timanah, Solepic, Redcraze, Nelson’s Blood. C. A. Bowry: Aloe, Coral's Son. A. E Skinner: Bernard, Peony. R. A. Jenkins: Foxborough, Lucrative, Desperado. J. Garth: The Wake, Flying Dragon. A. Johnson: Big Business, Lady Broie, Shaun. P. M. Mudsway: Lord Valna, Double Beau. Baby Beau, Sombrero. A. C. Messervy. Dolores, Hilili, Gold Pin. B. J. Clements: Smith of York, Benefactor. Salhia. G. Jenkins: Ben Lux. A. Skipper: Annexe. Amber Lu. Arganda. S. A. Waddell: Maire. D. F. Coombe: De Falla, Foghorn. W. A. Smith: Land Agent, Gay Cavalier. H. R. Skipper: Nugget. B. P. Wood: Tamatoa. J—. R. O'Neill: Brent. Gonfanon. L. J. Hodren: Golden Galleon. A. G. Waddell: Probational. C. R. Cooksley: Saboteur, Yankee Land. T. J. Perawiti: Harleston. Capola. W. H. Rout: Gold Belle. A. T. Haitana: Sonnetary. C. T. Wilson: Watch and Wait. V. R. Coley: Whistling Breeze. C. I. Goss: Maquana. C. H. Mackie: Rheingold. A. M. Dulieu: Bassanio. A. J. Stokes: Saba, Copenhagen, Merrimayes, Tartillon. D. J. Thistoll: Curtain Raiser. N. E. Eastwood: Lorica, Calcutta Sweep, Undergrowth, Dhofar. J. N. Didham: Ma Reine, Red Admiral, Mighty Dollar. C. McDonald: Pack Drill, Shahwan. E. G. Low: Dahlia. L. W. Hare: Silver King.

Canterbury Jockey Club Entries Entries for all events at the autumn meeting, to be held at Riccarton on Easter Monday and Tuesday and the following Saturday, will close at 4 p.m. tomorrow. —Advt.