RACING Kumai And Jackpot Are Main Attractions At Trentham

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32038, 12 July 1969, Page 6

RACING Kumai And Jackpot Are Main Attractions At Trentham

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON.

The lure of a valuable jackpot and the presence of that great crowd pleaser, Kumai, will assure the Wellington Racing Club of a successful end to its 1969 winter meeting at Trentham today.

Kumai and the Wellington Steeplechase winner, Fleeting Moment, will meet in the $6OOO Eric Riddiford Steeplechase, of three miles. Ground conditions will suit both notable mudlarks and their fortunes should be finally shaped by the standard of their jumping throughout the three miles. There is nothing spectacular about Fleeting Moment’s jumping but he is tidy enough at his fences, and it has an even quality about it that Kumai has not matched in his two races so far at the meeting. Kumai’s superior speed under a handy weight gave him the easiest of wins in the Matai Steeples on Wednesday but the jumping purists would not have found his display of a generally high standard. He appeared to be on the wrong foot at three or four fences early in the race, which meant he had to put in a short stride before his take-off. It was encouraging though to see that as the race ran its course Kumai got steadily better. Kumai has 10.7 or 31b less than Fleeting Moment in the Riddiford. It is doubtful if any of the others will pose strong threats in the conditions at three miles, although Sifta Sam comes into consideration as a place possibility after a late run to a distant second in the Wellington Steeplechase. Jackpot Races The Riddiford Steeples will be the, second of the five jack-

. pot races on today’s programme. The others are the ’ Haywards Hack and Hunters’ > Steeples, the Winter Oats, I Winter Hurdles and the Ons- . low Handicap. Devil Dancer should make ' a favourable first impression I at the meeting in the Hay- - wards Steeplechase. She was . placed at Ellerslie in the colours of Sir Woolf Fisher, but was withdrawn from the cor- ’ responding race last Saturday. Representation was left to Mo-I-Rana and the move paid off The three-year-old Lord Cheval is “The Press’ selection for the Winter Oats Handicap. He appeared to be at least one race short when he ran among the milers in the Whyte Handicap last Saturday. That was confirmed when he finished fast for fourth in the Parliamentary Handicap, on Wednesday. If he has made anything like the same rate of improvement with his latest race he should be too strong for the others in today’s feature flat race. The Great Northern Hurdles winner, Foxonewa, which again showed his versatile qualities with a third in the Parliamentary Handicap will switch back to jumping in the Winter Hurdles today. His bid to win this marathon with topweight of 10.11 has come in for greater attention since his owner, Mr R. Autridge, announced his intention to take the mount. Foxonewa might find Sunseeker one of the hardest to beat today. The ground will be heavier than it was last Saturday and that will suit Sunseeker, which was fourth when favourite in the Trentham Hurdles on the first day of the meeting. Honda, Chill and Ardfern may be the best of the sprinters in the Onslow Handicap, second leg of the T.A.B. double.