Royal Sovereign Best Aust. Three-Year-Old

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30603, 20 November 1964, Page 5

Royal Sovereign Best Aust. Three-Year-Old

(From the Australian Racing Correspondent of "The Press.”)

When the spring campaign opened, one of the least fancied among the prospective three-year-old stayers was Royal Sovereign, which now emerges the best of his year, with victories in three Derbies to his credit Saturday’s success in the Queensland Derby was accomplished at his ease. It had to be so, for the only serious opposition was from Park Lane, and it had been efficiently demonstrated that Royal Sovereign was superior to that colt over practically all distances, certainly over the mile and a half of the classic. The fact that Royal Sovereign could beat Park Lane by 10 lengths, with the Queenslander Rocky Court six lengths further away third showed how the winner had retained his form. What was more amazing was that without opposition Royal Sovereign could run a time that was only two tenths of a second slower than the record he set when he won the Victoria Derby. It is widely known that Tulloch won the three Derbies in his year. No-one ever expected that Royal Sovereign would develop the ability to equal that performance. Now that he has done so he will be the glamour horse of the autumn. Royal Sovereign is New Zealand-bred, in that his dam was sent to New Zealand to be mated with Chatsworth 11. This mare, Sabah, was by Empyrean, which stood in Victoria. Whether Royal Soverneign will develop as a real stayer is a moot point, but he certainly can be trusted for the mile and a half, and there will be plenty to engage his attention in the autumn and during his four-year-old career. Light Fingers The other outstanding performance among Saturday’s winners was the continued success of the Adelaide owned but New Zealand-bred, filly, Light Fingers. This daughter of Le Filou was another surprise packet of the spring. In Adelaide it was known that she had great potential, but it must have been with some misgiving that her campaign in Melbourne was begun. She was not even a match for the Sydney filly, Reveille, in the Caulfield Guineas, but after that there was no holding Light Fingers, which went from strength to strength, working up to success in the Wakeful Stakes, the Oaks at Flemington, and now the Sandown Guineas. She stood up so well to the hard campaign. It is to be hoped that the autumn meeting in Sydney next Easter is made

sufficiently attractive to bring her here. With Royal Sovereign and Light Fingers—and a little promotion—the A.J.C. has prospects of drawing big crowds back to the sport. Form too Late Sir Wynyard, the son of Summer time, developed his form a little too late to get the greatest reward. His attempt on the Metropolitan at Randwick was a promising effort, but from then on he scarcely measured up to the standard of the other stayers until the final day of the V.R.C. meeting. At least that is the way it seemed by the time the Sandown Cup came round for decision on Saturday. In an open betting race Sir Wynyard was only sixth favourite, but that did not stop him winning by a length from the disappointingly unlucky Bon Filou, with old Quite Able the closest of thirds. It was an all-New Zealand finish, for the placegetters were all bred in the Dominion. Sir Wynyard broke the Australian record for one mile and threequarters when he won at Flemington the previous Saturday, and obviously he has at last come very solid. At the half-mile in Satur. day’s race over one mile and a half he was in the rear of the field. A little further on his run was begun, but he still was only sixth on the turn into the straight. From then on he was in command as he swept down the outside to run to the front and show his superiority. He was running away in the finish, and Bon Filou, conceding 181 b, certainly could not

hold him. Sir Wynward now will be spelled, but he will be back in Melbourne in the autumn for the rich handicaps that will be run then. Good Combination The affinity between the apprentice. R. Jensen, and New Zealand-bred Pharmacy was again demonstrated on Saturday when Pharmacy won the Milperra Handicap at Warwick Farm. In New Zealand, Pharmacy had won two juvenile races before he was bought bv H. L. Smith and L. Tidmarsh. First, T. Kennedy trained Pharmacy, but results were anything but promising. Then P. Murray became the trainer, and Pharmacy has won six races, four of them under the guidance of young Jensen. If Pharmacy could be depended on to be in racing mood each time he comes out he would not occupy the comparatively lowly position he does in handicaps. But he is a horse of moods, and apparently young Jensen has the way with him to make the horse do his best. In Melbourne, Pharmacy was. in one of his worst phases and refused to do his best in any race.

On Saturday it seemed that he was about to shirk his job again, particularly in the middle stages of the race. Then near the half-mile Jensen switched his mount to the outside, and with daylight and grass in front of him Pharmacy consented to stretch out.

Although he had covered a good deal of extra ground in doing so Pharmacy reached the front full of running and easily strode away from Bannock and Tamure.