TROTING Championship Series Opening On Saturday

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28823, 18 February 1959, Page 4

TROTING Championship Series Opening On Saturday

Six New Zealand horses will meet most of the best pacers in Australia in the eighteenth InterDominion Championship series, which will open at Melbourne on Saturday night. The Melbourne Trotting Control Board has not spread the New Zealand horses throughout the five heats. None of the New Zealand horses has been included in the third heat, but three will meet in the fifth heat.

’The New Zealand representation is the strongest numerically for many years at ah InterDominion series in Australia.

New Zealand horses had their greatest success in a series in Australia in 1950 at Melbourne. Captain Sandy won the rich Grand Final from two other New Zealand horses, Globe Direct and Sprayman. v

The horses in this year's contest include Gentleman John, Mineral Spring and Caduceus, which tilled the first three placings in the Grand Final at Harold Park, Sydney, in 1956, and Free Hall and First Division, which finished first and third respectively in the Grand Final at Wayville, Adelaide, last year. . The New Zealand horse. Gold Indian, will contest the first heat bn Saturday night. A six-year-old gelding by Gold Change from Indianote, he is raced by Mr W. W. Johnstone, of Te Kuiti. He won two races from P. Skousgaard's Cambridge stables earlier this season, but his efforts were hardly good enough to entitle him to serious consideration at Melbourne. He will be driven by P. Wells, who was for some years in Australia. 1 Wells has done much of the driving for Skousgaard this season and he has met with considerable subcess. He win probably drive Super Royal in her heats.

Strong Opposition .Gold Indian will meet stern opposition on Saturday. The Light Brigade pacer, First Division, is reported to have come through a searching preparation in great style and he will be one of the favourites for this heat Diabolo Don, from New South Wales, will also be in demand. He has shown fine form in Sydney and is being widely discussed as a prospect for the Grand Final on March 7. Diabolo Don also has New Zealand connexions. He is by Fire Bar, a son of Gold Bar and Golden Travis. Fire Bar was bred by the Yaldhurst trainer, N. E. Browne, and he took a record of 2min 43 l-ssec for 10 furlongs in this country. Free Hall, named as’ an unlikely starter, and Percy’s Elect are others expected to trouble Gold Indian. The Christchurch-owned mare Suzendy, one of the favourites for the Grand'Final, will be the only New Zealand representative in the second heat The U. Scott mare is reported to have travelled well and if she comes up as good as she 'was when she left New Zealand, her prospects will -be highly regarded. She will be driven by Frank Kersley and may start favourite for this heat . X _... One of her main opponents will be the brilliant New South Wales pacer, First Kiss. He failed in the £6OOO race won by Caduceus at Harold Park last month after forcing a scorching pace. If he is allowed to make ms own rules in his heat, he will be hard to catch. . , . Mineral Spring’s form background is not as good as when he finished second to Gentleman John three years ago. However, he is a class horse and if he strikes form, he should be a bright prospect _ „ Kensington and Vapour Trail are two other New Zealand-bred horses in this heat but they look to'be out of their class. No NZ Horses

No'horses trained in New Zealand will contest the third heat Heroic Action, the firm favourite early this week for the Grand Final, looks to be the logical favourite for this heat He looks favourably placed on the front niawarra■ Ayr, Gamblng Raid and Maestro’s Melody are among other horses being discussed as prospects in this heat Maestro’s Melody, a six-year-old stallion by U. Scott from Melody Maid, has a sound form background and he is expected to be a worthy representative for New South Wales. Two veteran New Zealand-bred pacers, Worthy Chief and Grand Monarch, are on 12 yards in this field. Worthy Chief has paced some sound raees since being sent to Australia, but it is unlikely that he will be capable of extending Heroic Action. Grand Monarch, which was formerly raced by the Templeton trainer, C. R. Berkett is by Light Brigade from'the Dunedin Cup winner Safari. He was one of the best-performed horses in' Victoria when he first went to Australia, but has been rather disappointing lately. It is probable that be will be retired after the meeting. New Zealand interest in the fourth heat will centre on the Auckland-owned Derive, which will start from 12 yards. Derive has shown plenty of dash in his races since his strrival in Australia. He was runner-up to Macklin in the last Auckland Cup and if he races as well at Melbourne he will have prospects. This heat looks to be one of the weakest of the five to be run on Saturday. None of the highlyfancied horses is engaged. Rendral, Bannalagh and Gentleman John could be the hardest for Derive to beat. The field includes the veteran Übakim gelding, Te Koi, but. he should be safely held by Derive. - Strong Heat

Singlena, Super Royal and Caduceus will meet iti the fifth heat. Singleha' is being prepared for the meeting by J. D. Watts at Sydney for Mr Noel Simpson, of Auckland. The Medoro mare is closely related to Single Direct, winner of the Gfand Final in Adelaide in 1949. She won at the Auckland Cup meeting, but it is doubtful whether she will measure up to the class of horse she will meet in Melbourne. Super Royal should be safely

held by Caduceus, which will give her a start of 24 yards. The Dillon Hall mare is a capable pacer and if she can handle the turning Melbourne track, she may be placed.

Caduceus, the backmarker on 36 yards, will not be set an easy task. He is a brilliant pacer at his best, and if Frank Kersley can work him into a handy position without covering too much extra ground, he should go close to winning this heat. Caduceus is almost certain to record fastest time in this heat and this should enable him to qualify for the final.

Buller Pass and Rich Dale are two Australian horses favoured for the Grand Final and they will offer strong opposition to the New Zealand trio. Crown Law is another well-performed horse, but his recent efforts have been disappointing. The other New Zealand horses will have to win at least one heat and record fastest time to have much chance of qualifying for the Grand Final There will be 15 qualifying heats and placings are unlikely to be sufficient to qualify them.

The fields and the order at the barrier for the opening night are:—

8 pin.—lnter-Dominion Championship (first heat) 11 furlongs.— Apparently, Gold Indian, First Division, Maori Hall, Billabong Scott, Kodak, Percy's Elect, Columbus, Noble, Western scr; Diabolo Don, Free Hall, Flare Alley 12. 8115 pm.—lnter-Dominion Championship (second heat) 11 furlongs.—Vapour Trail Suzendy, Erridon, Fiery Land, Sir Raider, Imperial Robert, Volo Gift Kensington. Whispering scr; Mineral Spring, Kiwi Dillon, First Kiss 12, 9.50 pm.—lnter-Dominion Championship (third heat) 11 furlongs.— Gambling Raid, Park Raid, Maestro’s Melody. Habieby, Sa-idy Highland, Heroic Action, First Rank, Summer Hill, Illawarra, Ayr scr; Worthy Chief, Sultana, Grand Monarch 12. 10.20 pm.—lnter-D omln i o n Championship (fourth heat) 11 furlongs.—Scotch Dillon, Young Pedro, Dusty Miller, Interpretation, Rendral, Wondrous, Te Koi, Bannalagh, Mimosa Lawn scr; Derive. Mainiri 12; Gentleman John 24.

11.0 p.m.—lnter-Dominion Championship (fifth heat) 11 furlongs.—Chief Spring, Befana Spring, Alcoran Belora, Main Power, Rich Dale, Sheffield Globe, Singlena scr; Buffer Pass, Super Royal, Crown Law. 12; Caduceus 36.