Luck smiles on Verner

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33515, 22 April 1974, Page 9

Luck smiles on Verner

'“I fit Press" Special Service AUCKLAND. ( Although he mitred buying hei at the Tientham Yeailing baiet. ; the Takanini trainer. R. C. ; Verner, was lated it now .seems,P to have the handling ui Vibeke. Vernei. who had considered buy ing Vibeke for a client of ins’; stable, for one reason or another- 1 passed her b>. then had the J good luck tor her to be bought J by another of his clienlb. The owner who secured;? Vibeke on his own account was 1 Mr G A Mitchell, of Palmer!; ston North this fact put her!® halfwax al least toward joining ■ Verner's team because Mr Mitchell already had Marinda in the stable. Marmda’s continued success probablx assured Vibeke s joining her. Mr Mitchell paid $13,000 tot ; Vibeke and. with the SI 1.675 tori first in tire Ellerslie hires’ Produce Stakes on Saturdaj. has al-; ready recovered the purchase! price and .$755 beside*-. And as hi bought her mainly for breeding she must be considered a great bargain Vibeke had onl\ torn faces be- l fore Saturday s big one. She c came third at her Hist outing, v then won twice, at Te Rapa and \ Awapuni. and immediately before .' her Ellerslie race, was seventh in Hie Manawatu Sires' Produce I Stakes. I The Awapuni failure, excusable 1 in the tricky going, was sufficient \ to put Vibeke in the background; a trifle, and along with a doubt,! of her ability to handle Satur-A day’s ground, made her an out- r sider for the Ellerslie event. t

Whereas a’ Awapum \ ibe-kt became flapped on the inside where the track was uorst. she raced out toward the centte oi; Saturday, and judging from e suits all through the da\. that was the place to be After Soliloquy, one of hei stabieniates. bad yielded the lead to Harrisand and Kiloran tairh close to home. Vibeke tame on very determinedly and grabbed her win by three-quarters of a length. There was practically nothing between Harri.-and ondi and Kiloran third . thru a gap to Soliloauy and another to Mansingh. fifth Smolensk! now third DINSLAKEN <German\ •. .1. W . Smolensk!, of Neu Zea land, won the Dinslaken Trotting Competition on Saturday and advanced to third place in the World Drivers’ Championship. Associated Press reported J. Marsh, of the I iiited States leads in the championship with 120 points after 15 races. K Brook, of Australia, is second with 96 and Smolensk! has 75. In a competition, matched by 10.000 spectators. Smolensk! won one race and had three second placing* tn iump from seventh to third over-all.