TROTTING Urrall Selected For First Leg At Methven

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29778, 22 March 1962, Page 4

TROTTING Urrall Selected For First Leg At Methven

Lack of racing since November might not prevent Urrali or Southern Gross from being among the principal contenders for the J. McCloy Memorial Handicap at Methven on Saturday. This is the principal race and first leg of the double at the Meth ven Trotting Club’s autumn meeting.

Urrall and Southern Cross will both try to improve sound records as two milers this season. The last time Urrall competed over toe distance he was successful in the President’s Handicap on the testing Ashburton course in September. Two of his four earlier races this season were also over two miles and he was placed in both. Southern Cross’s latest race was the two mile Cashmere Handicap on the second day of toe New Zealand Cup meeting in November. In that event he ran Sentimental to a nose and managed it after a slow start and a run which was not free of trouble. Two starts earlier Southern Cross had been successful over two miles in the Banks Peninsula Handicap at Motukanara in October and that brought to an end his winning sequence of three which began at Methven a month earlier. But Urrall and Southern Cross will have to produce their best runs to win on Sat-

urday for they will be opposed by a number of rivals with good two-mile form close up on their records.

Gold Globe and Heathmount could be the strongest of Southern Cross’s rivals on the limit. The three wins on Gold Globe’s record this season include the Reefton and Greymouth Cups, both of two miles.

Heathmount will try for her third win in succession and her second as a twomiler. She was successful as a stayer in the Geraldine Cup last month. The Methven stablemates, First Song and Gailey, could be the best of Urrall’s rivals on the 12 yard mark but it is generally expected most opposition for him will come from among those further back in the handicap. Robin Dundee and Aerobee are strong form runners on 24 yards. The former showed exceptional stamina when she ran two miles out successfully in the Wigram Handicap at Addington early last month. In the meantime she has been second twice from three starts over shorter distances. Aerobee’s record from five starts this season includes two wins and two seconds. The first of those victories was over two miles in the Hororata Handicap in January. Stormont, a winner over two miles at New Brighton in December and a last start fourth over 14 furlongs in the Timaru Cup, makes most appeal of those on the back mark of 48 yards. But his chance will probably be de-

termined by the pace at which the race is run. Meadow Haze Meadow Haze, the runnerup to King Diamond in the Rangiora Handicap last Saturday, is selected to win the Springbum Handicap, the second leg of the double. Meadow Haze’s record this season has been marked by consistency. She won over 14 furlongs at Washdyke in January and has been the runer-up in six of her other 12 races.

The best of Meadow Haze’s rivals may be S'iki. This three-year-old colt showed that he was above average when he won two races on a campaign at Blenheim early last month, Siki is one of three laststart winners in the field. The others are Chirp, a sprint winner at Orari last month, and Sunhappy, which won the Parnassus Handicap impressively at Rangiora last Saturday. Chirp will form a useful bracket with My Share. Lady Charles, which made ground for sixth after a slow start in the Parnassus Handicap last Saturday, and Lucky Helen, a Rangiora failure but a winner over two miles at Washdyke at her previous start, could be the best of the other runners from the limit. Anama and Trusted, stablemates of Urrall, will probably have the strongest backing of the rest. They share the 12 yard mark with Meadow Haze.