Great effort by True Averil

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32459, 20 November 1970, Page 2 (Supplement)

Great effort by True Averil

Not since the days of Cardigan Bay has there been such a display of sheer speed at Addington Raceway than that provided by True Averil when he finished third in the Allan Matson Stakes on Tuesday evening.

After tangling at the start he was checked badly by another breaking runner, losing a distance estimated by some! at about 60 yards and others upward of half a furlong. In any case it was sufficient to suggest that he had no chance of getting near the leaders, let alone returning a dividend. One private watch timed True Averil to pace his last

mile in ' Imin 57sec, and it has been estimated that he paced his last 12 furlongs in even time. The fact that he got up for third suggests that these times are not far astray, especially as the leaders took 2min 2 2-ssec for their final mile.

Starting this section there was much daylight between the second-last horse and True Averil. If that race, coming on top of a fairly hard run in the New Zealand Cup, has not taken the edge from him, he should make a bold bid to gain a deserved win in the Ollivier Handicap tomorrow. Radiant Globe has been penalised six yards for his dashing win on Tuesday when, as his enthusiastic trainer, J. G. Hampton, said afterwards: “He showed them a clean pair of heels.” That

is unlikely to be sufficient to stop him winning again, but he will have to produce something extra if True Averil is at his peak. Intrepid, Monsignor, Royal Count, Sam Tryax and Rhinego ide are others expected to add interest to the finish. If handicaps count for anything the Melbourne-owned Tony Bear should cap off three placings at the meeting with a win in the Greyhound Handicap. He has had two thirds and a second so far at the meeting, and his turn cannot be far off. He will again be bracketed with

Johnny Gee, which cannot be left out even though he will start from 36 yards. The Te Awamutu trotter fnfemd returned an amazing performance to win the free-for-all on Tuesday after drifting very badly from the start. This is his style of racing, but until Tuesday he had not been able to win at Addington. He should be even better tomorrow and looks sure to be prominent. . Most of the others are racing rather inconsistently and die pick of them might be. Cleome, Waterloo and Precocious.