RACING Parliamentary triumph for Skelton brothers

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32659, 15 July 1971, Page 8

RACING Parliamentary triumph for Skelton brothers

—— TRENTHAM. • Members of the Skelton family have often been formidable rivals in feature races at Trentham but yesterday E. B. and W. D. Skelton joined forces to associate themselves with the surprise win of Frederik in the Parliamentary Handicap. » ‘

W. D. Skelton made • one act of this testing ‘ 11-furlong handicap by * taking Frederik to the t front immediately. t I These tactics paid off hand-t somely, Frederik won by six t lengths on a heavy, testing j ( track. - Frederik appeared as a t hurdler on the first day of ] the meeting and fell close to j home when leading. t Before E. B. Skeltonbrought him to Trentham, t the five-year-old Better t Honey gelding won over a c mile and a quarter at« Egmont. t Frederik is raced by Mrs B. t Madsen, of Wellington, whose husband prepared him / for his early racing. The first\ time he went to the races, at s Trentham, Frederik was a bad s last, but he got better as the t tracks got worse and he won a his first face at Masterton / just over a year ago. Skoota, the tenth fav- f ourite, earned $l2OO fot t second after a battle with j Josie Glow. There was only a head between them and ( then two lengths to Gather, j another little-fancied runner, r The failures of Nipawin t and Sir Cullus cost the punters dearly. Sir Cullus trailed Frederik to the home turn then dropped back through the t field quickly and beat only c

Twitchit. N. D. Riordan thought the favourite was going just as well as Frederik at the half-mile. “Then he fell to pieces in my hands,” Riordan said. “The horse appeared to choke when I pulled him up which made me think he might have 'got his tongue over the bit’’ Riordan told the chief stipendiary steward (Mr P. J. Reid) about the horse appearing to choke and a veterinary examination was ordered. The horse gave every appearance of having had his tongue over the bit, and his owner, Mr Autridge, was instructed to run the four-year-old in a tongue strap next time out. The leading jockey, B. F. Andrews, never felt hopeful with Nipawin. “He was struggling going out of the straight, and you would have thought he had never been able to handle this ground,” Andrews said. The Auckland jockey said he tried Nipawin again at the half-mile but there was nothing there. Win and place bets on Sir Cullus and Nipawin totalled $41,239 and doubles investments would have been much heavier. Big coup The Trentham ownertrainer, Mr P. Louis, who is one of New Zealand’s biggest'

cess Donna gave Mr Louis a spectacular result when she won the Jockey Club Handi- : cap at a New Zealand Cup meeting several years ago. Thia was Donna Bella,' which arrived in Christchurch on the morning of the, race, and carried one of the biggest wagers recorded at Riccarton when she won the mile event. That day Mr Louis collected a five-figure cheque (in pounds). ' A year or so later he set Jus sights on a bigger slice of racing’s riches when he set Princess Donna (dam of Harry’s Pal) and Donna Bella to Win a double at Riccartoh. Donna Bella won but Princess Donna was beaten by inches. Cambridge Fair, the eachway favourite in the Members’ Handicap, drifted a good way from the pace early and made ground from the home turn, but without ever raising the hopes of his backers.

betting owners, brought off i a coup in the second leg of: 1 the T.A.B. double. ' He produced the four-year- < old Harry’s Pal to win fresh- i up in the Members’ HandicapHarry’s Pal, which had not 1 raced since last spring won < by four lengths from Mr i Hing. The tiring pacemaker, Mr Sovereign, wa» three- i quarters of a length back’ i fltird. wariaat Btaa:a i “Don’t win by more than I half a furlong,” Mr Louis in-1 structed R. B. Marsh before the race. ...J Harry’s Pal was third Tav-1 ourite to win and . eighth ' favourite for a place. In on - course win bet-i ting he was the second : fancy but only the seventh < choice off the course. Off- i course win bets on the My Pal gelding totalled $9Bl but' he carried $2718 on the 1 course. i Mr Louis bred Harry’s Pal i from the Castle Donnington I mare Princess Donna. A contemporary of Prin- i