TROTTING Radiant Globe beats Intrepid in Cup

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32810, 10 January 1972, Page 6

TROTTING Radiant Globe beats Intrepid in Cup

The competition among the top pacers is so even at present that victory invariably hinges on which ever gets the best run. This fact was emphasised at Washdyke on Saturday when Radiant Globe beat Intrepid narrowly and seven others easily in the Timaru Gup.

Radiant Globe’s Templeton trainer, J. G. Hampton, could not haver wished for—or received a better run than he had! in the Timaru Trotting! Club’s $3250 sprint. j

When the rush for positions was over, Hampton had Radiant Globe three places back on the outside and tracking Intrepid, which was left with the unenviable task of "facing the breeze” all the way. The hopes of Intrepid’s backers were still high when he mastered the tiring pacemaker, Manaroa, near the furlong, and they had not diminished much when he still had a length on Radiant Globe half a furlong out. But the latter began to cut into the favourite’s lead quickly a bit closer to home, and pegged him back just short of the line. Although the winner and' runner-up virtually had the finish to themselves, the outcome might have been; different altogether had| Robalan not struck trouble at: the start. He began safely j from the No. 1 position, but; within a few strides had' locked sulky wheels with the’ breaking Globe Bay. By the time these two were free of each other, they were at the tail of the field.

Except for Globe Bay, which broke again and lost another 100 yards after going a furlong, Robalan was last of those still with a chance on the home turn. His powerful finish for third, although five lengths from Intrepid, was one of the minor features of the race. There was much merit, too, in Rauka Lad s performance to take fourth. He was on the inside and just ahead of Robalan on the home turn, and was unable to make any I progress at all until late in the race. ENERGY USED Rauka Lad outfinished Manaroa by a head. The latter might have lasted a bit longer had he not used up most of his reserve energy rushing around the field to lead at the end of three and a half furlongs after dawdling off the mark from the unruly position. The others, led in by Sam Tryax. were simply outclassed. When Radiant Globe’s time, of 2min 29 4-ssec for the mile and a quarter was i posted on the semaphore board there was muchl speculation as to its authen-j ticity. It meant that the Johnny Globe six-year-old I had bettered Cauduceus’: world record from a standing: start by 1:0 3-5 seconds and had run within one-fifth of a I second of Irvin Paul's world!

record from a flying start. As jit turned out the timekeeper had mis-read his watch by ijust five seconds. Radiant Globe’s victory was his second this season for his Blenheim owners, Messrs R. A. White and J. K. Hart. His other win was at

Hutt Park Raceway in September. Meantime, his form had been a bit patchy, but one notable placing on his record had been his second to True Averil in the New (Zealand Cup in November. Radiant Globe and Intrepid will probably meet next at the Canterbury Park meeting next Friday week, but Robalan and Rauka Lad will be rivals again at the Wellington Trotting Club’s meeting which begans next Saturday. The Timaru Cup was the first leg of the T.A.B. concession double. Honours in the second leg —the Kerrytown Handicap—went to the consistent Kaipuke Song in a spectacular finish with Snow Light and the winner’s stable-mate, jWinter Queen.

D. J. Townley had Kaipuke Song in front for a while early, but for the best part of the last mile and a half of the two-mile contest he ran in third place behind Snow Light and Apollo King. Mr J. C. Bishop’s Hunting Song gelding joined Snow Light in front at the straight entrance and in a battling last furlong lasted it out best for victory by a nose. Winter Queen was only half a neck away third. Her performance was very sound, and she might well have won but for losing valuable ground in a break early in the contest.

The tiring Apollo King was two lengths and a half back fourth, and Kimbell Duke led in the rest of a very tired lot. The big disappointment was the warm favourite, Mosaic. He lost a lot of ground at the start, but had joined the tail-enders after half a mile. From that point he made no further improvement and eventually beat only Clandeboye, which broke and drifted out with half a mile to run, home.