TROTTING Sharp Improvement By Horses From Duntroon

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28792, 13 January 1959, Page 5

TROTTING Sharp Improvement By Horses From Duntroon

Members of the team of the Duntroon trainer, I. S. Sutherland, have derived considerable benefit from their campaign on the West Coast during the holidays and three of the four houses he started M the Timaru Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday earned stake money.

Sutherland has a fairly large team in work at present, but he seldom travels very far afield and members of his team usually lack sufficient hard racing to keep them at their peak. horses were extensively raced at Westport, Reefton and Greymouth, but they all obviously thrived on the trip as they stripped in great order on Saturday. Gay Craig had six starts on the West Coast, his best effort being a second to Royal Prince at Westport. He was the outsider but one in the Fairlie Handicap at Washdyke and finished on well for third to Femleaf and Lucky Dora. He paid £l6 13s for a place. Gay Craig has had several trainers, but so far he has failed to live up to his breeding. He is a 10-year-old gelding by Sandydale from Craigneuk, the dam of the winners, Imperial Grattan, Ben Ledi, Our Flicka, Spring Walk, and Compo Jack. First Night was having her tenth start since December 26 when she paraded in the.Kerrytown Handicap. She was well beaten by Daisy Doro, but would probably have finished much closer had she been able to work clear when Bargee raced clear at the three furlongs. First Night finished well for her placing and she should not be long making amends for that defeat. Won Two Races First Night won two races on the West Coast, beating Nigger Hall in the Gothard handicap, at Westport, and Roxburgh Lad in the Paparoa Handicap, at Greymouth. She also finished third to Skean Dhu and Kiwi Grattan tn the Grtymouth Cup and was placed in two other races. First Night is a grand staying five-year-old mare by the Aus-tralian-bred stallion, Andy Derby, from Night Bell by Gallant Knight from Adio Bell, tracing back to a thoroughbred mare. Ace, Mendel, Rollicking Hall and Great Hall are other winners from this family. Dalgelia, a surprise winner on the first day of the Canterbury Park meeting on January 1, when he paid £72 16s for a win, was the only members of Sutherland’s team not to pay a dividend at Washdyke. He broke at the start and did not appear to trot comfortably on the track. He was never in a challenging position and finished well towards the rear.

he was always close to the lead in the Taiko Handicap and over the last furlong he gave none of his opponents a chance. He won with something in hand by two lengths and paid £56 7s 6d for a win. Rovindale is a seven-year-old gelding by Sandydale from Tourist, by Happy Voyage from Colleen Bingen, by Nelson Bingen. Rovindale can sprint and stay. If he continues to race as well as he did at Washdyke, he should win again at short notice. Sutherland also raced Worthy Flicka at Westport, but this three-year-old gelding by Worthy Monarch from Our Flicka was given only two starts, finishing fourth in a maiden race at Westport in one of them. Failed Badly The Gore mare, Charmante, had solid support in the John Hole Memorial Handicap at Washdyke on Saturday as a result of two winning runs in Southland in the holidays. The Light Brigade mare did not flatter her supporters at any stage of the race. She drifted badly in the first furlong and did not recover, finishing second last. Charmante is unlikely to do much more racing as she has been mated with the imported stallion, Hal Tryax. Short Odds Bargee was showing a win dividend of less than £1 10s in the Kerrytown Handicap, the first leg of the double at Washdyke on Saturday. He also dominated betting on the double, and was showing about even-money at the close of betting. He was forced wide early, and had to work hard to get to the front at the end of half a mile. He forced a solid pace and it was not surprising that he began to wilt at the furlong post With better fortune in the running, he should soon make amends for that failure. He had been unbeaten in his previous three starts. For Wyndham Dusky Minstrel, Highland Don and Ginger Top are three members of G. B. Noble’s team due to race at the Wyndham Trotting Club’s meeting this week. Dusky Ministrel is an acceptor for the second division of the Telegraph Handicap, a mile and a half event for maiden pacers, and Highland Don and Ginger Top are both engaged in the Railway Handicap, a race restricted to three-year-olds. Dusky Minstrel, a four-year-old brother to a useful pacer in Royal Minstrel, showed a lot of ability when having his first start at a totalisator meeting in the Fairlie Handicap at Washdyke last Saturday. In that race he tangled badly at the start and wa? one of the ta.’l-enders in a strung out field for the first mile and a quarter. With five furlongs to run he had only one of 17 runners behind him but made ground steadily from there to finish tenth. Dusky Minstrel should have benefited considerably from that experience an should not take long to win a race once he learns to begin correctly. Leaving Today Caduceus will be shipped to Wellington this evening and he will sail for Sydney on Thursday. He will start his Australian campaign in the £6OOO Harold Park Cup on January 23. Caduceus will be In the care of his part-owner, Mr Dudley Moore, but he will remain in the training of J. D. Litten until after the Sydney meeting. Litten will not go to Australia to drive the horse, but arrangements have been made for the Victorian trainer, Frank Kersley, to drive him in, Sydney. Kersley will then take over the training of Caduceus and he will prepare him for the Inter-Dominion Championship meeting in Melbourne in February and March. / )

Dalgelia is only a five-year-old and Sutherland should get him to develop worthwhile form. He is by Josedale Grattan from Great Nulgeria, the dam Qlso of Our Nulgie, Lady Inchcape and Lady Baffelan. He is bred to be a good winner at the trotting gait. Rovindale had seven starts on the West Coast holiday circuit and was a winner over a sprint distance at Westport. He failed at Reefton and Greymouth, but at the latter meeting he failed to handle the small, turning track. The racing he had on the West Coast had a settling effect on Rovindale, which was not always reliable at the start. On Saturday