Cardigan Bay Will Have Meadow Skipper To Beat

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30453, 29 May 1964, Page 4

Cardigan Bay Will Have Meadow Skipper To Beat

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK, May 28. New Zealand’s Cardigan Bay will have Meadow Skipper instead of Overtrick as his main opposition tomorrow night when he takes on a field of 10 top-flight American and Canadian pacers in the 64,000-dollar Good Time Pace at Yonkers (at 2 p.m. New Zealand time on Friday).

There is a strong field of free-for-all specialists and they will test Cardigan Bay to the limit over the mile and a quarter, two furlongs

shorter than last week’s journey. The inclusion of Meadow Skipper, which did not start last Thursday, adds a new element of conjecture. After his gallant performance last Thursday when beaten a neck by Overtrick in a 58sec last half-mile, Cardigan Bay is obviously entitled to the role of favourite. He is 8 to 5 in the early betting, with Meadow Skipper second favourite at 5 to 2. He will start from No. 4 at the mobile barrier, and Cardigan Bay is drawn a little wide at No. 6. Two Lines at Start Hie front line at Yonkers can take eight horses and this race is unusual in that there will be three horses in a second line at the start. Most American fields on halfmile tracks are confined to eight The Good Time Pace, traditional second leg of Yonkers’ three-race annual international series, always attracts a big field and is usually a “scramble’" from the start, with the pace on all the way. The style of the race can be expected to favour the Americans more than it will Cardigan Bay, but the Sydney horse, Apmat, proved the difficulties not insurmountable by winning the race in 1961. Big and Powerful Meadow Skipper is a four-year-old son of Dale Frost

and is big and powerful, with great speed that he is able to carry long distances, rather like Cardigan Bay. Both horses lack the manoeuvrability and blazing acceleration of Overtrick.

Meadow Skipper won a free-for-all recently comfortably in 2min 0 l-ssec, equalling Overtrick’s best mile time of the season at Yonkers. He was not invited for the International Pace after finishing a surprising last in a free-for-all won by Overtrick the previous week. His 70-year-old trainer-driver, E. Avery, explained that the horse had had a sore right front leg and it suddenly affected him in that race, accounting for his bad run. Avery says the horse now is perfectly fit. £67,000 Sale Meadow Skipper was developed as a young horse by D. Miller, and sold te Mr N. Woolworth early last year for a reported 150,000 dollars (£66,960). He beat Overtrick in the 100,000 dollars (£44,642) Cane Pace last September at Yonkers, equalling the track’s mile record of Imin 58 4-ssec. He duelled with Overtrick most of last season—the champion had the better of the clashes over-all—and has done some fast racing this year. The field for the race in post position Is:— Front Line Adora’s Dream (J. O’Brien) (1) 6-1 Great Credit (W. Haughton) (2) .. 20-1 Cold Front (C. Hodgins) (3) .. 20-1 Meadow Skipper (E. Avery) (4) 5-2 Rusty Range (W. Niles) (5) 10-1 Cardigan Bay (S. Dancer) (6) .. 8-5 Royal Rick (G. Sholty) (7) 15-1 Henry T. Adios (D. Insko) (8) .. 15-1 Second Line Country Don (W. Gilmour), (9) .. .. 12-1 Irvin Paul <C. King) <10) 30-1 Adios Mir (M. Dostie) (11) 30-1