RACING Rego Star Picked In Celebrity Stakes

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 4

RACING Rego Star Picked In Celebrity Stakes

■"The Presi” Special Service

PALMERSTON NORTH.

Rego Star will need to win today’s Celebrity Stakes at Wanganui to preserve his rating as the season’s leading two-year-old. The Rego colt, unbeaten in his three latest runs, will tackle the race with a better form background than any of his rivals.

In a season notable, perhaps, for the absence of any one outstanding youngster, Rego Star appeals as much as any which have gone to the races. He has had five starts for three firsts and a second, but it is the improvement he has made with each run that will assure him of favouritism for tomorrow’s £6OO

He has developed rapidly since he first struck form at the Otaki spring meeting. Since then he has beaten the best that lined up against him at Trentham and Ellerslie.

After today’s race Rego Star will be prepared for the Great Northern Foal Stakes at Ellerslie. In that race he will be ridden by J. F. Grylls. H. N. Rauhihi has the mount today. These jockeys have shared the success of the colt and both suit his galloping style. Britannicus is the only real rival for Rego Star. He has won his two latest starts, both of them at Riccarton during the New Zealand Cup meeting.

On the first day there, Britannicus beat the top southerner, v Canny Day, in the Welcome Stakes with 8-5. Four days later he added the Irwell Handicap under 9-0 without any difficulty. Heavy rain during Monday and yesterday has put an entirely different complexion on the T.A.B. double events. The track has become soft and indications are that it will cut

out early in the day and favour those horses with proven form on winter footing. In the first leg, the Wattie’s Gold Cup, the outstanding contender is the top-weight, Lei. She has won on the course before and all her best form has been on ground with the sting out of it. Two races at Feilding last month served to bring Lei to top condition. In fact she won on the opening day and went a bold race in spite of a hard track in her next appearance. Surf Boy has come into calculations with the changed conditions. He may be Lei’s main rival. In his last start at Woodville, Surf Boy did not hit out well on hard ground but the race did him no harm and he also is proven at Wanganui where the sandy surface does not suit all horses. Another decided possibility is Beira, which was a winner on the track earlier this season. With a light weight, she could trouble Lei and Surf Boy. The best of the others could be Mukupai, which is preparing for the Auckland Cup. The second leg of the double will be the Bristol Thousand. By the time it is run, the track could be well cut up, and this would favour the lightly-weighted Automaton, which will be racing on her favourite course.

Already this season Automaton has won twice at Wanganui and two bold races at Woodville this month point to her as an early improver.

Classical Glow is certain to be her main rival. She won so well last time up at Woodville that she must be a lead-

>ing prospect, especially as she also is at home on winter footing.

None of the others would appreciate the change more than Valentino, which has been racing in rubber lined plates lately to take the jar out of the grounds.