RACING FIVE-YEAR-OLDS’ GOOD CEP RECORD

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29101, 13 January 1960, Page 4

RACING FIVE-YEAR-OLDS’ GOOD CEP RECORD

Five-year-olds have the best record of any age group in the Wellington Cup since the distance of the race was increased to two miles in 1942. Eight of the 19 winners since the distance was increased have been five-year-olds.

The extra winner in 18 contests is accounted for by the head-heat in 1951, when the camera could not separate Almora and Prawns. These two stayers were five-year-olds.

Others of that age to have won the race over two miles have been Happy Ending, Royal Tan, Reformed, Golden Tan, Fox Myth, and Yeman.

The superior record of five-year-olds might have a simple explanation. If this year’s Cup field is anything like an average one, five-year-olds have probably outnumbered those of any other age group in Wellington Cup fields. Five-year-olds in the Cup field this year are Marie Brizard, Picaroon. Foglia d’Oro, Gentoleno Somain, Aircraft, Melody Man. Jim’s Count, Elsted, Prince Argon. Magic Circle, and Manchu. It could be significant that on that list are this season’s winners of the Auckland Cup (Marie Brizard) and the New Zealand Cup (Foglia d’Oro). Another, Aircraft, was runnerup in the Auckland Cup. Five Wellington Cup acceptors are six-year-olds and amongst them are stayers good enough to brighten the record of horses of that age fashioned by The Joker Golden Galleon, Sombrero, and Ark Royal. Six-year-olds in the Cup field this years are Red Eagle, Mediterranean. Liban, Summer Glow, and Resemblance. Red Eagle and Resemblance have won at two miles, and Summer Glow and Mediterranean have been placed. Red Eagle was the Auckland Cup winner two years ago and Resemblance won the Autumn Handicap at Trentham last March after his third to Ark Royal and Summer Glow in the Wellington Cup. Mediterranean was the runnerup to Balfast in the 1958 New Zealand Cup. The Joker, the Wellington Cup winner with 7-2 in 1943, is closely related to Great Sensation, which will attempt to master the good weight of 9-1 this year. Very Good Form . . . Great Sensation, now seven will be having his first test at two miles, but he will have solid backing after striking a brilliant patch of form to win the James Hazlett Gold Cup at Wingatui and the Invercargill Gold Cup at holiday meetings. Ark Royal won these races before his Wellington Cup victory last year, and in 1948 Snare Part won the Invercargill Gold Cup before a decisive win in a much tougher test at Trentham. Great Sensation is from Wingatui, which will have a second worthy representative on Saturday. This is Sparkler, one of five four-year-olds in the field. Sparkler was fourth in the Auckland Cup on January 1, losing a winning chance by failing to keep straight from the home turn. Very likely he will be much more at ease on the left-handed way of going at Trentham, and he is certain to be one of the favoured runners.

Fair Filou, the beaten win favourite in the Auckland Cup. is another four-year-old in the Wellington Cup field. He will carry 41b less than he did at Ellerslie but 9-2 is still 21b more than weight-for-age so he has been set quite a formidable task. Fair Filou felt the strain a good way out in the Auckland Cup. That was a race notable for a very fast pace for the first seven furlongs, and Fair Filou had the additional handicap of a wide barrier position. Very likely Fair Filou will be able to get a good position without much rush or bother in the Wellington Cun, and that could make a big difference. Light-weight Prospect Jalna. one of the four-year-olds in the Cup field, is one of the most interesting light-weights. She is a four-year-old daughter of Count Rendered and is a stablemate of the Auckland Cup winner, Marie Brizard. It must be some time since one trainer had two such good handicap mares in one stable. D. J. Arnott, who trains MarieBrizzard and Jalna at Te Aroha, prepared Jalna for important victories including the Great Northern Oaks and the Desert Gold Stakes at Trentham last season. In her only start at the Auckland Cup meeting Jalna ran Fair Filou very close in the Queen Elizabeth Handicap, one mile and a half. Jalna is by Count Rendered from the Nizami mare Mahzami and everything about her breeding suggests she should master two miles. She belongs to the famous March family and is a descendant of Muskerina, a daughter of Carbine’s sire. Musket. From this family have come stayers that have made good contributions to. Auckland Cup records. Te Kara won the Auckland Cup twice, one a dead-heat. He also won the Brisbane Cup. Pinfire, Wairiki, Santa Rosa, and Waimangu were other Auckland Cup winners belonging to this family..... .