TROTTING Robalan favoured for Easter Cup final

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32879, 30 March 1972, Page 6

TROTTING Robalan favoured for Easter Cup final

Robalan and Rauka Lad, the two horses down to start from 12 yards, are selected to dispute the finish to the $12,300 Easter Gup Final on Saturday at Addington Raceway. Although the field numbers only eight, these two by no means exhaust the possibilities in what should be a thrilling encounter.

There was much to admire about the performances of both Robalan and Rauka Lad when they filled the first two platings in the final qualifying heat last week. Robalan won easily by two lengths from Rauka Lad in a race in which the leaders took 2min 2 2-ssec for their final mile. Had Robalan been kept up to his work his winning margin would have been substantial. The free-legged son of Lumber Dream has raced rather unluckily in some of the major events decided earlier in the season and a

win in this race would be deserved compensation. He looks better now than at any stage of the season and the manner in which he surged to the front on Saturday after an unlucky third a week earlier was a tremendous trial for a searching two miles. Rauka Lad’s battling last furlong to close rapidly on Robalan was right in line with his win of a week earlier and before that in the New Brighton Cup over two miles in 4min 11 3-ssec. He received a shocking run over the first mile and was one of the tail-enders with less than two furlongs left That he managed to run the winner so close was commendable.

Chances of success for C. S. Donald’s stables will be strengthened by Forest King, fourth and third in the qualifying heats. He will be all the better for those races. He was second in the New Brighton Cup in 4min 12sec and is certain to play his part in ensuring that this is a true test of stamina.

December, should be capable of a merry two miles. Precocious, winner of the Dominion Handicap last November, Philemon, and Good Admiral form a likely trio in the second leg, the two-mile New Zealand Trotting Championship, a race in which the chances of Marius, Johnny Gee and Light View are also highly rated. The meeting between Young Quinn and the Hard-craft-Willie Win bracket in the New Zealand Welcome Stakes will be a highlight of the racing, while another thrilling race will be the New Zealand Three-year-old Championship, for which Van Glory, Pippo and Kilat are expected to make bold bids.

Arapaho contested the two most slowly-run heats on the opening nights of the meeting, finishing with a handy win last Saturday. He looks to be right at the improving stage and if favoured with a reasonable run, he will play a prominent part in the finish, as should Radiant Globe, while Violetta and Bella’s Command, second in Garcon Roux’s Auckland Cup last