Hope for fourth Easter victory

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34129, 15 April 1976, Page 2 (Supplement)

Hope for fourth Easter victory

Bill Skelton's hope tor a fourth Great Easter Handicap victory at Riccarton next Monday will be I nluckx In Love.

He won the Great Easter : last year on Grey Way, and his earlier victories were on Fairassan (1961) and Tess (1957). No other rider at Riccar|ton next Monday will have a better record in the Great Easter than the popular former South Islander, who made a flying trip south for ithe North Canterbury meeting on Monday, but failed to land a winner. “If I don't do something desperate soon no one will know I’m riding at the meeting.” Skelton quipped before the last race at Rangiora. But he came under some notice a few minutes later when he rode Galapan into second place in the Oxford Handicap. Unlucky in Love will go into the second leg of the Canterbury Jockey Club’s T.A.B. double as a last-start winner. That victory was in the Members’ Handicap on the last day of the New Zealand Cup meeting in Nmrm

ber, before slie was sold to a client of Garth Ivil’s stable Unlucky In Love has 49kg in the Great Easter, 13kg les> than Grey Way Bill Skelton’s Georg® Adams Handicap mount ui 1 be the Ivil-trained Ayub Khan At 10 years. Avub Khan is easily the veteran of the field, but he has winning form this season, and did not have luck in running when sixth in a sprint field at Hastings on April 3. A victory for Ayub Khan in the George Adams Hand cap would give Bill Skelton a second victory in the race, which was first run in 1964 The Levin jockey won the fifth renewal of the Riccarton autumn feature race on Dalvui in 1968 Hearing adjourned.— An inquir was opened into the breaking of * Petite Evander tn the run home in the Reta Peter Hand cap at Addington Racevax la<’ Saturday The hearing '• a adjourned until next