Second Hunt Cup for Beau Rouge?

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33929, 23 August 1975, Page 8

Second Hunt Cup for Beau Rouge?

<"Tlk« Preu" Special Serc«ce> ■ AUCKLAND. [J for all the hackinglikely for Frederik from ; his home district. Beau Rouge will be a popular choice at Ellerslie today 1 to win the Pakuranga Hunt Cup for the second time on end. Beau Rouge made hardly a •] race of it when winning the Hunt Cup last year, by eight/ lengths. That he had worn well meanwhile was shown by his win over the ' same 4900 m about 10 days ago. His victory in the Winter, Steeplechase on August 13. was achieved by 20 lengths from Gunmetal, a steeple-; chaser of no little account. With 1000 m to go it seemed the finish could be fairly close. Gunmetal was travelling welt, but Beau Rouge proved much too good a stayer. Gunmetal likes to race up tn or near the front so he 1 will almost certainly be very prominent again today. ’ Frederik. last month, raised the speed to lead a middledistance handicap field at I rentham — for a while at any rate — and in anything like that form would have no; trouble keeping up with i Gunmetal or which ever horse goes for the pacemaking. Now 10 years old, Frederik has shown himself capable of

'Winning in the best company, on the flat, over hurdles and as a steeplechaser. He is -reckoned to be one of the. ’ cleverest horses, an opinion .that gained weight when he! 1 won the McGregor Grant Steeplechase at the 1974 Great Northern meeting in I( his very first race over the; i, Ellerslie steeplechase course. Frederik’s latest racing Was at Riccarton earlier thisi month when he finished’ , fourth in both the Grand; National Steeples and; ■; Hurdles. LIGHTER WEIGHTS Apart from Beau Rouge,; Gunmetal and Frederik. the best prospects seem to be! ■ Town Cierk and Count ■ Cyrano. They have not yet ■; looked the class of the three • favourites but they will 1 enjoy a pull in the weights. Beau Rouge has 66.5 kg, no - more than he won with the e other week, Frederik 66kg' I and Gunmetal 59.5 kg. I Even more of an attraction! p than the Hunt Cup will be; sthe big collection of good; y sprinters in the T.A.B. i double, the Jellicoe Handii cap and the Admiralty; -’Handicap. The Jellicoe; t Handicap has "drawn its best! t field for years and the; ? Admiralty, with three-year-j > | olds like Inky’s Gold, Jocasta! l and Battle Fury, and the I r| staying mare, Rosie’s Girl, I - could not be much more; 1 interesting.

Cornelius, trying for his fourth win on end. might be the hardest to beat in the Jellicoe and Inky’s Gold appeals most in the Admiralty Handicap. A five-year-old gelding from J. A. Gibbs’s stable at Matamata, Cornelius has been well placed for his hattrick of wins and, it might be said, well prepared and ; well ridden by Grenville ; Hughes, who will be on him i again tomorrow. I The other possibilities in [ the Jellicoe Handicap include ;Kauere Lad, Dumar, Serroeo ;and El Fuego. all of which are in top form. '