Birthright For First Leg At Washdyke

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30634, 28 December 1964, Page 5

Birthright For First Leg At Washdyke

Birthright and Bell Man are selected to win the T.A.B. double for southern stables on the first day of the South Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting at Washdyke tomorrow.

Birthright is second top-weight with 9-10 in the first leg. the St. Andrew’s Highweight.

Much of his racing in the last year or so has been done in handicap races, but he showed his mastery of highweight conditions at the 1963 Wellington Cup meeting

when he won the Wallaceville High-weight on the final day. Last season the rangy Wingatui - trained Cassock gelding won three handicap races, and in one of them, at Invercargill, he beat Royal Estate, which is a big fancy for today’s Dunedin Cup after an easy win in the Hazlett Gold Cup on Saturday. Birthright also ran in the Hazlett Gold Cup, but a mile was too short for him, and he beat five after giving ground early.

Zinder, the top weight in the St. Andrews High-weight, would have been a force to reckon with in the same form he held a year ago—he won the Timaru Cup after a fourth in the high.weight—but he made a weak run in the Dunedin Jockey Club Handicap on Saturday and finished at the tai! of the field. Baalbek, which is from the strong Winsloe stable at Gore, has done nothing of any account lately, but he won last season in fair southern company, and should have a chance in this field. Fieldmaster should run out this distance better than most of the other light-weights. He picked up a lot of ground for fourth in the Hororata Cup and lost a chance of paying a dividend when he lost five lengths at the start. Tuborg has been scratched for the high-weight, and will run in the Publicans' Intermediate Handicap.

She failed in a race at the Greymouth meeting last month, but easily won the Otaio Plate on the final day of .the New Zealand Cup meeting. If she runs close to her peak form she should be one to test Bell Man. Bell Man, the Otaio Plate third, has since won at Invercargill.

Another form -runner is Last Count, a winner at Hororata at his latest start. Last Count had earned that win after three minor placings at the New Zealand Cup meeting—seconds behind Tuborg and Trial By Jury, and a third behind Benefice and Bell Man.

Apache, Beach Gold, Filspar, Clipper, and Windvale Lass are others with form and chances in one of the most interesting fields on the programme. Fields for the T.A.B. double are:—

1.45 p.m.—ST. ANDREWS HIGH-WEIGHT, £500; lira. st. lb. 0000 Zinder (5) 9 13 0030 Birthright (12) 9 10 0000 Baalbek (4) .. 9 8 5000 St. Malo (1) i.. 9 3 0000 Picright (6) 9 1 02 Apache (3) 9 0 0 Bandashar (10) 9 0 0 Bodkin (11) . 9 0 4004 Fieldmaster (13) .. 0 0 Kazaan (7) .. 9 0 3 Timna (2) 9 0 400 White Skies (8) Scratched: Tuborg (9). 3.35 p.m.— 9 0 PUBLICANS' INTERMEDIATE HANDICAP, £475; 14 m. st. b. 2131 Bell Man (4) 8 12 1102 Knight Of York (3) 8 12 3221 Last Count (12) 8 12 02 Apache (1) 8 10 5534 Marlow (2) 8 10 0310 Tuborg (11) 8 10 1011 Beach Gold (8) 8 4 2433 Clipper (9) 8 1 Great Guns (7) 8 0 1005 Windvale Lass (10) 7 12 0005 Bronze Knight (14) 7 11 0000 Leslie Bell (5) 7 10 Scratched: Filspar (13), kin (6). Bod-