TROTTING Merrin fancied for Greymouth

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 8

TROTTING Merrin fancied for Greymouth

Merrin’s dashing first-up win for the season in the Banks Peninsula Trotting Cup a week ago is form good enough to give him another success in the West Coast Trotting Stakes at Victoria Park, Greymouth, on Monday evening.

The Greymouth club’s first venture into topclass racing for trotters has drawn a splendid response from owners and trainers and a field of about a dozen is expected to parade. Quite a number of the topranked trotters are not engaged, but the material is available for a thrilling race, which should prove a great attraction for West Coast trotting patrons, as well as providing a more interesting medium for off-course betters than the slow-class pacers usually catered for at Greymouth. Merrin, which will be driven-by F. E. Newfield, has been penalised 12 yards foi his win at Motukarara, but that is unlikely to prove enough to keep him out of the finish as he should improve immensely as a result of that race, which was his first since Boxing Day, 1969. Waterloo, rather unluckily beaten into second in two starts at the recent Wanganui meeting, and a fine third to Merrin a week ago, is certain to be in demand. Waterloo has trotted first-class races this season for little reward. Beau Winter is one of a number of young and highlypromising trotters in Canterbury at present. The Winterlight five-year-old is a splendid front-runner and he might be able to use those qualities to advantage on Monday. He was ninth to Merrin al Motukarara. Briganelli and Conclusion should prove the pick of the others on the front, although both Aronmot and Cardigan Lass might show up. Briganelli is a proven performer on small, turning tracks and he might add to the fine record of trotters trained at Templeton by W. R. Butt. Conclusion will appreciate the drop in class in this field

and might improve on hei fifth in the Banks Peninsula Cup. Fair Play, in the probable

absence of his stablemate, Light View, will be a worthy representative for J. Grant and D. G. Jones. Along with Direct Globe, he appeals most of the remainder. Prince Onyx, Our Guy and Tullamore Dew form a likely trio in the second leg, the Scottish Command Handicap. The on-eourse concession double will be run on the Garrison Hanover Handicap and the Fallacy Handicap, Slumber On and Garrison House looking a likely combination.