RACING Sandbank Wins Waimate Cup

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 5

RACING Sandbank Wins Waimate Cup

The Wingatui jockey, E. J. Didham, was engaged to ride Beau Supreme in the Dunedin Jockey Club’s Birthday Handicap soon after the three-year-old ran an unlucky second in the Waimate Cup on Saturday.

Beau Supreme’s big run from last to run the winner, Sandbank, to a length was a feature of Waimate club’s feature race and first leg of the T.A.B. double.

Didham’s Waimate Cup mount was Manana, which dominated betting on the race, but was a well-beaten thii;d, two lengths from the winner.

“Sandbank had me well beaten at the three furlongs,” Didham said after the race. Closer to home Manana lost second to Beau Supreme, which appeared to lose a winning chance when he drifted to last from a handy position about half way through the race.

Sandbank, a four-year-old son of Dogger Bank raced by his Mt. Hutt- breeder, Mr R. G. Gerard, was ridden by A. H. Eastwood, who was having only his fifth race ride since he resumed after recovering from an eye injury which kept him out of racing for about 11 months. Eastwood took Sandbank forward to close on the pacemaking Tumble near the half-

mile, and he was clear near the three furlongs. Manana was then leading the chase after him, but was not going freely enough to hearten his win backers. It was clear on the home turn that it would not be a favourite's victory. This was Sandbank’s first open class win, but he did not look the least of the chances after a third in the Amberley Cup. Sandbank, which is trained at Washdyke by J. E. Shaw, carried 4318 10s tickets in a pool of £30,144. Manana carried 22,305 tickets. Whshdyke also supplied the winner of the second leg, the President’s Challenge Cup, in Ronrico, an eight-year-old and a horse bought at a bargain price by Mrs E. P. Corboy a few years ago. Ronrico has been no great shakes so far, but he showed complete mastery of a soft track and won handily by a length from the Riccartontrained Status Symbol, which just caught Etoile Este.

Ronrico carried 360 5s tickets on the double, only 14 of them being held on the course, and completed a double worth £276 16s for £l. Status Symbol, which is in the catalogue for a bloodstock sale at Wingatui this week,

surprised her rider, B. A. Edens. “She was slipping so much on that track that I did not think she had a chance of running into a place until near the end,” Edens said. Etoile Este improved a fairly solid record with her third half a length ahead of the veteran, Bold Venture won this race last year. Bold Venture was responsible for much of the pace to the straight. Fairlane, the second favourite, picked up a few places for fifth, but Donnaway (sixth) was always in close touch with the pace. San Saba was seventh, and Our Leigh, which drifted to the tail of the field at the start, made much ground for eighth. Time and Tide, a stablemate of Manana, and the second strongest fancy on the double, provided another setback for the Tomkinson stable when he struck trouble near the half-mile and fell. It was found that he came down when being eased and got on the heels of the runner in front of him.

Stipendiary stewards could find no conclusive evidence that any one rider had shifted ground, and no action was taken.