TROTTING Increased Stakes For Timaru Cup Meeting

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32166, 9 December 1969, Page 6

TROTTING Increased Stakes For Timaru Cup Meeting

An increase of $3lOO in stakes has been announced for the Timaru Trotting Club’s summer meeting at Washdyke on January 10 and 17, and the Forbury Park Trotting Club has produced a programme giving an increase of $1550 for its three*night Festival Cup meeting on January 31, and February 4 and 7.

The Timaru club has applied increases to the stakes for all classes and these are now more or less in line with those paid away from Addington Raceway.

The Forbury Park club has also applied increases to most classes, but it has reduced the number of races to be run each night from nine to eight-

The Timaru club intends improving the standard Of the programmes at all of its meetings by including feature races or increasing the stakes for such events already being run. A substantial increase Is to be applied to the stake for the Timaru Nursery Stakes in February.

The Timaru Cup, run on the second day of the meeting will be run under free-for-all conditions over 10 furlongs for a stake of $2250 and a trophy valued at $lOO. Whether there will be sufficient horses available for a sizeable field of good class is problematical. Most horses will have had heavy racing from Christmas until the Wellington Cup meeting, which will end on January 13, and trainers might be trying to freshen their charges before racing at Forbury Park. However, horses on 2min 12sec are eligible to enter and they should help build up numbersz

The Timaru Challenge Stakes, for three-year-olds, will be the main race on the first day. A new race, it will carry a stake of $llOO and it will be run over 10 furlongs. Non-winners will start from the limit, winners of one race from 12 yards, two races from 24 yards, and three or more races from 36 yards. , Increases of $l5O have been applied to races for maiden pacers and trotters, and most other classes - have had increases of from $lOO to $l5O allocated to them. No Heats \ The Dunedin Festival Cup will not be run in heats and a final as has been the cue in most recent years. Instead there wilt be invitation races

over 13 furlongs and 11 furlongs on the first two nights, each carrying' a stake of $3OOO. The so-called “final” will be run over two miles for a stake of $5OOO and a trophy valued at $3OO. In addition, the horse gaining most points in the three races will receive a bonus of $5OO and the horse gaining the second highest total will receive $2OO. The decision to delete qualifying heats is a surprising one, possibly resulting from fears that there will be insufficient horses available to fill fields. The club is unlikely to have problems in this direction. In fact, the reverse will probably be the case-

A limit of 2min 15see will apply to the main races each night for trotters. Stakes will amount to $6750, plus a trophy valued at $3OO, compared with $5700 last year. In addition there will be a bonus of $350 paid to the horse gaining most points in the three races, and $l5O to the hone with the second highest total.

Last season the club inaugurated the $3OOO Forbury Futurity Stakes. This season it will run the Forbury Juvenile Stakes, of $2lOO and a trophy valued at $l5O. The club has, unfortunately, made far too much use of restricted free-for-alls on the first two nights, combining the 2min 16sec and 2min 15sec classes, and the 2min 14sec and 2min 13sec classes. On the last night there will be races with limits of 2min 16sec and 2min 14sec, with the other two classes having to start on back marks. The stakes of $lBOO for the 2min 16sec class and $2250 for the 2min Msec class races are superior to most paid in the South Island for the same horses. Three Races The inclusion of $l3OO races for three-year-old pacers in the programmes for each night is another surprise. Then on the final night there is a two-mile race restricted to four-year-olds with a stake of only $l2OO.

Too many such restricted age races at metropolitan meetings affect the smooth flow of horses through the classes and they do not necessarily provide good racing or satisfactory betting mediums. There are 2min 18sec class races for pacers each night, but not one with a limit of 2min 17sec. The replacement of one 2min 18sec class race and one race for three-year-olds by races for 2min 17sec horses would have been of assistance to other clubs catering for them and also for owners and trainers.

There, are some good features of the Forbury Park programme, especially as far as some stakes are concerned, but these are offset by the decision to reduce the number of races by one each night and the inclusion of too many restricted age events.