RACING Trentham caps off good year for S.I. horses

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32970, 17 July 1972, Page 8

RACING Trentham caps off good year for S.I. horses

Bright Blue and Mountain Lion carried off a good ’chasing double for South Island owners at Trentham on Saturday to cap off a year of splendid achievements on the national racing scene for the South.

Bright Blue’s Wellington-Riddiford Steeples double ranks high on the list of notable deeds on the winter calendar.

With the record-break-ing achievements by Sailing Home and Princess Mellay earlier in the season, it has given the South Island success out of all proportion to representation in some of the big races of the year. The successes of Bright | Blue and Mountain Lion on I Saturday give the Wingatui horseman, B. P. Kennedy, a I record over jumps at Tren-I

itbam that would be the envy of anyone. I Kennedy has ridden in 25 jumping races on the course, and his tally is 11 wins— Kumai (2), Mountain Lion (2), David William (3), Pseudonym (2), Bright Blue (1), and Cassbridge (1). The fact that he also trains , Mountain Lion made his latiest trip there more memorable. Placed earlier | Mountain Lion was twice placed against the top ’chaslers earlier at the meeting and

when Kennedy decided to go for something easier in the minor steeplechase on Saturday he was in a position to ride Bright Blue in the Riddiford. Kennedy is undecided yet about Mountain Lion’s programme in the next few weeks. Mr and Mrs A. J. Brown left late last week for a holiday in Fiji and at the time of their departure it was undecided whether their horse would start on Saturday. They will return to Christchurch two days before the

Grand National, and a final decision about a start in the big race at Riccarton will be left until their arrival. Conditions suit “He’s a young horse and has shown what a good horse he is in Trentham conditions,” Kennedy said on Saturday. “We might decide to pass over the Grand National and concentrate on Trentham next winter.” Kennedy’s handling of Bright Blue in the Riddiford almost certainly had a bearing on the result. Just as certainly, the fortunes of Timbrook, which finished third, took a sharp setback through the surprise tactics of G. Bell on the Waikato jumper. Kept wide Bell was obviously under instructions to give Timbrook lot of room for manoeuvre because of his tendency to run down his fences. But his decision to keep him on the wide outside, yet still bustle him into the lead each time he left the home straight in the run to the fence beyond the mile surved a doubtful purpose. Timbrook showed cat-like jumping ability in springing off a mess of a tract in the back straight, but he could not find enough for the final pinch when Bright Blue and Modern Myth came at him.