CUP DAY AT RICCARTON

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33064, 3 November 1972, Page 1 (Supplement)

CUP DAY AT RICCARTON

Trelay’s turn this year?

By

J. J. Boyle

The approach to a New Zealand Cup renders most pre-race calculations dependent upon whether the horse of your fancy is sound, superbly fit, fast, courageous, and lucky.

Luck has not smiled on Trelay in earlier attempts at two miles, but the Otago six-year-old has an admirable combination of individual qualities to carry off a top-weight’s victory in the Canterbury Jockey Clttb’s $20,600 two-miler at Riccarton tomorrow.

Trelay is the very embodiment of the word thoroughbred—he gives generously of his ability every time he goes out. It was his misfortune In the last two years to be a contemporary of Princess

Mellay, a mare with true greatness as a two-miler, and had to settle for seconds in the 1970 and 1971 cups behind his stablemate.

Now Trelay’s Wingatui trainer, H. A. Anderton, has the glittering prospect of a New Zealand Cup treble. By any reckoning, the field is strong, and it is by no means certain that Trelay will go out favourite, well merited though that would be.

In a race that has produced three six-year-old

winners in the last 15 years, good cases can be made out for Mediate and Kartika in their bids to improve the record of horses from this age bracket. Fine runs Kartika won her Wellington Handicap at a mile and a half at Trentham on October 14 with a performance that carried the authoritative stamp of stamina. But hardly less impressive was Mediate in winning over a mile and a quarter in the Banks Peninsula club’s New Zealand Cup and Derby Trial last Saturday, Kartika is by the brilliantly successful sire, Fair’s Fair, from an English-bred daughter of Precipitation, whose influence in New Zealand, mainly through his sons, has been profound. Mediate is a cut-and-come-again stayer by Better Honey, whose early loss to the New Zealand bloodstock industry was felt more deeply than ever after Simon de Montfort brought off a surprise in the last Wellington Cup. Ribaldo is another six-year-old with much to commend him for a hard-run twomiler. While overshadowed by Mediate in the feature race at the Banks Peninsula meeting, his third contained much merit and promised further improvement. Eight of the last 14 cup winners have been five-year-olds and notable from that age group this year is Golden Sam, the second top weight with Bst lib.

. Exception? Unlike Trelay, Golden Sam does not meet the standards demanded by some of the old-timers who believe that to win the cup a horse must be in or close to winning form in August. But there are flaws in most of racing’s dogmas, and as winner of his last two races, the most recent of them over a middle distance at Rangiora on Labour Day, Golden Sam will have obvious appeal. To back his spring form, Golden Sam commends himself for his close and unlucky third behind Dyak and Kartika over two miles at Trentham last autumn. Golden Sam will be ridden

by J. R. Dowling, who partnered Princess Mellay in the first of her New Zealand Cup victories two years ago. Four-year-old representation will be left to the Waikato pair, Aito and Monition.

Monition was brought south for the New Zealand Derby a year ago, but came up against a good one in Master John, and had to settle for second. Back to a mile and a quarter in the Canterbury Gold Cup four days later Monition was a respectable third behind Game and Trelay.

Game was at his brilliant best and came home on his own in a dazzling 2min 1 4-ssec, but Trelay was only half a length better than Monition on 51b better terms than they will meet tomorrow.

Aito and Monition met at a mile and a quarter in the Waikato Guineas later that month. Aito won easily on a rain-affected track. Monition was fourth.

On their four-year-old records so far. Monition looks the stronger chance, and with 241 b less than weight-for-age he might be the danger to them all from his place on the minimum.