Bolton Byrd fancied in 3-year-old championship

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34130, 17 April 1976, Page 8

Bolton Byrd fancied in 3-year-old championship

Bolton Byrd will be a popular fancy when he tries to add the New Zealand Metropolitan Three-year-old Championship at Addington Raceway today to his Great Northern Derby Stakes victory of earlier i n the year.

Bolton Byrd did not make much impression in a sprint race on the first night, but he made ground near the end to finish eighth.

The extra distance in this race will suit the staying son of Out to Win and a peak effort should give him a win. This is the second race of the Triple Crown Series No. 2, the first, the New Zealand

s Welcome Stakes, being won ’ 12 months ago by Fancy a Fred, a rival of Bolton Byrd 1 todav. Fancy Fred failed over f one mile on February 28 at . his latest start, but he could d be harder to beat this time.

Smokey Lopez, too, will be in demand in spite of his failure to finish on in his race last Saturday when he pulled hard in the open in the middle stages. Olga Korbut and Tarport Toby will be other prospects, while American Chief and Stars and Stripes, both badly drawn, will be worthy of consideration.

Much interest will centre, too, in the Welcome Stakes today. This is the first leg of the Triple Crown Series No 3 and it has attracted a particularly strong and open field of first-season runners.

Ruling Lobell, Starport and Watbro Trick have returned sound winning runs in the last few months and they will be three of the more fancied runners. But there will be solid support also for Fancy Dick, Tact Del and Sunseeker, all of which have winning form close up in their records.

The Welcome Stakes is the final leg of the on-course treble, the Wilkins Handicap and the G. W. Blaxall Junior Free-for-all being the other races involved.