TROTTING Small but strong team from south stables

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32564, 25 March 1971, Page 8

TROTTING Small but strong team from south stables

Hundred Chance and Mister Smart look to be two fine winning prospects among a fairly select, small team of pacers and trotters from Southland stables engaged on. the first night of the Canterbury Park Trotting Club’s meeting at Addington Raceway on Saturday.

Hundred Chance will be having his first race north of Dunedin when he contests the Christchurch Stakes, a race which has drawn an open field of seasoned Canterbury pacers, many of which have shown worth-while form in the last few months. Hundred Chance, a four-year-old gelding by Hundred Proof from Smokey Eyes, is trained near Invercargill by his part-owner, L. A. Officer, who drove him in most of his races before he competed at the Dunedin Festival Cup meeting late in January and early in February. D. J. Townley handled the speedy southerner in his two races at Forbury Park. On the first night, from behind the mobile barrier, he showed ability far above average to hold off Heatherloch by a narrow margin after pacing the 13 furlongs in 3min 27 4-ssec. A week later he was even more impressive when he won by a wide margin over 11 furlongs,' again from behind the mobile barrier, in the very fast time of 2min 50 3-ssec. Hundred Chance is obviously well above average in ability and even though he has drawn badly at No. 10 at the barrier, he might make a winning debut at Addington. There is every chance that he will start from the outside of the front line as Pine Globe, which has drawn No. 6, requires two scratchings before he can re-enter the field, and his chances of doing that look remote at this stage. Mister Smart, a member of the small team trained at Gore by I. B. McPherson, has also shown outstanding promise this season. He has had 12 starts for five wins and two placings, his last three wins being in succession. Two of his wins were at Forbury Park in January and February, and he was successful on both days of the Wyndham meeting earlier in the month. Mister Smart will have to contend with a sharp rise in class in the Farewell Handicap, but he is expected to make a bold bid. He will as usual be driven by his partowner, his trainer’s son, C. B. McPherson, who seems to get on well with him.

From Winton The Winton trainer, H. W. Cox, is no stranger to Canterbury meetings, particularly those in the autumn and early winter. He will have Clifford Bay in the Harewood Handicap and Alpha Girl in the Christchurch Stakes. Clifford Bay has had only

four starts this season, one third being his best effort. At times he has shown promising form and he might yet live up to the high opinion held of him. He is a sound stayer and will only have to trot solidly to pay expenses on the trip. Alpha Girl has been off the scene since she won at Addington in November, 1969. Her lack of recent racing will be against her. Two former Southland horses will be having their first starts for Canterbury trainers. Honest John, a promising six-year-old trotter formerly trained at Edendale by C. T. Woodward, will race in future from D. G. Nyhan’s Templeton stables. Honest John failed at Forbury Park earlier in the year, but he will have to nave shown very little improvement in the month or so he has been with Nyhan to do well in Canterbury. Aranga, a four-year-old by Lumber Dream, is now being trained by C. C. Devine at Templeton. He weakened badly over two miles at Wyndham on March 6 at his latest start. Interest will centre in his performance in the Airways Handicap, a mobile start race over two miles. His opponents include David Frost, Boy Louw, Apollo King, Late Command and Dancing Step and if he can finish among them he will have a great chance of being an early winner’ in Canterbury. At the moment the 2:-17 class is particularly strong, but Aranga should measure up to it. Practice The Canterbury Park club has arranged for its starter, Mr R. Carter, to give horses engaged at its meeting on

Saturday practice this morning behind the mobile barrier. The barrier will be available between 9.30 and 11 a.m. From north The fine Auckland trotter, Paula, is to be flown south for engagements at the Canterbury Park meeting. Provided she comes through her two races at that meeting, she will stay on for the New Brighton meeting on Easter Saturday. Paula finished a fine third to Geffin and Beau Winter in the the Inter-Dominion Championship Trotters’ Grand Final in her last start at Addington Raceway. She finished fourth in two subsequent starts at the recent Auckland meeting. Special meeting A special meeting of the Trotting Conference will be held in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon to consider amendments to the Rules of Trotting affecting the composition of the executive. The meeting has been made necessary because of a drafting error in the amendments passed at the last annual meeting of the conference in Wellington last July. In addition a clause clarifying other rules has been included for approval. As from the end of this season the executive will consist of five representatives from both the North Island and the South Island. At present the South has six representatives to four for the North. All members of the executive will come up for election, the South Island members being Messrs J. G. Barnes (Dunedin), J. Corrigan (Waimate), W. A. Craddock (Westport), G. C. Craick-

shank (Invercargill), H. J. Hewson (Kaikoura), and A. E. Laing (Christchurch). In addition, the treasurer will in future be appointed from the executive, or if no suitable person is available, he can be appointed from outside. The present treasurer, Mr C. E. Hoy (Christchurch) is expected to be a candidate for one of the five South Island seats.