TROTTING Easter Cup Handicapping Should Be Changed

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30392, 17 March 1964, Page 5

TROTTING Easter Cup Handicapping Should Be Changed

The Easter Cup, run on lines similar to those used for the Dunedin Festival Cup at Forbury Park, should ensure that the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club has its most successful Easter meeting for years. The first two qualifying heats for the Easter Cup were run on Saturday. Both were keenly contested and showed that the final, to be run on March 28, will be one of the highlights of the season.

If the Easter Cup is the success expected, it is probable that other feature races will be run under similar conditions. One unsatisfactory feature of the Easter Cup, which should not be repeated, is the method of handicapping adopted.

As at Forbury Park in the Dunedin Festival Cup, handicaps for each series of heats and the final are declared separately. A much more satisfactory method would be the declaration at the one time of handicaps for both sets of heats and the final. This method is used for handicapping of Inter-Dominion Championship series. The Easter Cup Final, with its stake of £2750 and a trophy valued at £lOO, will be run over 13 furlongs, the same distance as the first two qualifying heats on Saturday. The second set of qualifying heats, next Saturday night, will be run over 10 furlongs, all four qualifying heats carrying stakes of £llOO.

The horses winning the 13furlong qualifying heats will almost certainly be on longer handicap marks in the final. Gay Reel won her heat from 18 yards and Lordship his from 30 yards. They will probably go back six or 12 yards as a result of those wins. On the other hand, horses winning the sprint heats on the second night of the meeting can hardly be handicapped for the final further back than they were in the first set of heats. Sprint wins usually have no bearing on handicaps for middle distance or distance events.

While there was no suggestion that any horses were not run on their merits on Saturday, or earlier in the year at Forbury Park, the method of handicapping leaves the way open for such an inference to be drawn. Any future races to be run with qualifying heats and a final should have handicaps declared for all events at the one time, and these should not be subject to any alteration. This does not mean that horses assessed at 2min llsec and slower which win heats will not be re-assessed at their open handicap marks. Heavy Losses The one-way traffic of brood mares from the best winning families from New Zealand to Australia continues in. ever-increasing numbers. The loss of these mares to New Zealand is becoming serious and if allowed to continue it will not be long before its effect is felt. Sound Effort Grand Charge, which was having his first start since January 25, trotted a sound race for fifth in the Spreydon Handicap at Addington on Saturday. The Light Brigade gelding is one of the most consistent trotters in his class and he might not be long showing improvement. Cloudy Bay looks to be in line for an early win. He was having his third start at a totalisator meeting when he

finished fourth in the President’s Handicap won by Wildwood Chief at Addington on Saturday. He gave S. D. Edge a difficult drive in the straight as he ran about and had to be straightened several times over the last furlong. Cloudy Bay is a three-year-old gelding by Court Martial from University and is trained at Dunsandel by L. Forde for Mrs M. E. Forde.

In Stakes Le Chant, a candidate for the New Zealand Trotting Stakes at Addington on Saturday week, gave a splendid display of trotting to win the Ferry Handicap at Wyndham on Saturday. A filly by Flying Song from Moccasin, she is trained at Edendale by C. C. Scott. Le Chant is the sixth three-year-old trotter to win a totalisator race this season. The others are Mighty Chief, Paying Guest, Phenoma, Phoebe Martial, and Remember When. All six have been entered for the Addington classic. Back To Form

Smoke Screen, one of the most promising pacers racing more than 18 months ago, showed his first glimpse of form for the season when he finished third to Lady Charles and Sentimental in the Bryndwr Handicap on the first night of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club’s Easter meeting. Smoke Screen, which was having only his fourth start for the season, looked the likely

winner when he took a short lead inside the furlong. However, he came to the end of his run soon after and battled on for his placing. Raced by his Rangiora trainer, F. P. Watson, Smoke Screen will only have to remain sound to be an early winner. Second Win Glen Direct gained his second win from three starts when he outclassed his rivals in the Juvenile Stakes at the Cambridge meeting last Friday. He had finished fifth in the Great Northern Stakes at Auckland two days earlier after losing ground at the start. Glen Direct is a black gelding by Express Direct, a son of Billy Direct, from Dorothy Lyn, tracing back to the imported mare, Belle Keller, ancestress of Certissimus and others. Glen Direct is trained at Ohaupo by W. S. Akehurst, who races him in partnership with Mrs L. M. Akehurst. Glen Direct will probably race at the Hawera meeting later in the month.

Unlucky Mountain Song looked most unlucky when he finished third to Glenurquhart and Nigger Minstrel in the Fendalton Handicap, a race for probationary drivers at Addington on Saturday. He was well placed until inside the last two furlongs when several horses raced past him. He then became awkwardly positioned and it was late when he worked clear. He finished with a determined run and was a little more than a length from the winner at the finish. Mountain Song has had a win and two placings from his last five starts and he should not be difficult to place to advantage in the near future.