Captain Harcourt for Auckland Cup

Press, 30 December 1976, Page 12

Captain Harcourt for Auckland Cup

Ep*-'a! cnrre«pndt Auckland < aptain Harcourt look.* to have a great chant e al Alex andra Paik tonight of becoming t.«> fifth dual winner of the Auckland Trotting Cup in auccewvive years. With neaih ail the best pacers In the country engaged, the race ohnulri b»- a thriller. Such i* the strength of the Feld the time for the 3200 m journev seems certain to be wers fast, as long as it does not rain Xuckland Trotting Club offirials could be excused tor feeling Cup night is ’’jinxed.” Certainly good weather for the biggest occasion of the season at Alexandra Park has been a rarity in recent years < aptam Harcourt, a striking chestnut trained at Pukekohe b\ \rnie Gad.*by . gained a runawav victory last sear alter his driver. Tom Knowles, slipped the field about 500 m from the finish It is verv unlikelv Knowles will be able to adopt the same tactic* again this year, but this should not affect Captain Harcourt's chance. According to <;*d«bv. the gelding is better if he can be driven in behind, in' wav < aptam Harcourt appeals as having had an ideal Cup preparation. He tailed in two races after finishing second to Stanley Rio in the Neu Zealand Cup and wisely, was allowed to miss the Miracle Mile at Addington nn December 4 so as to freshen up foi this meeting On the earlier nights, he performed boldly for third in both the Benson and Hedges Flving M'le and the M. G Pezaro Mem erial B\ the look of him xesterdav he is right at his peak Previous winners of the race In successive veais were Soangetar.a m 1951-52. Captain Sandv. ’©4B-49 Gold Jacket 1928-29 and Man O’ Mar. 1920-21 Steel Bell Md • artttgam Boy also won the cun twice Captain Harcourt’s toughest rivals should b** Sole Command and Manley Rio although all 12 t andidates have earned their pIMMN ir. the field through sheer merit and none can be ruled out Sole Command is among thiee horses from Rov Purdon* triable in the line-up He was having onlv his second race in a fresh campaign when he turned in an eve < atvhing performance for fourth in the M G. Pezaro Memorial and looks susceptible to more improvement than most In the field Purdon's other representatives. Final Curtain and Classic Move, must also be respected. Final Curtain i* one of the best stay ers in the count rv. hut he is fa» from reliable at the start. Me would be a formidable con tender if he did happen to gel under wav safelv. Stanlev Rio faces a tremendou* assignment for a tour-v ear-old But he ha* shown himself to be uncommonly talented and. even f-om 20m there is sure to be heavy backing to say he can Bolton B'rd. another four-vear-o?d from the South Island also ha* splendid credential*. Forto Prontex/a and Lunar Chance vv ill not lack supporter s Neither has had much luck lately. I ree-tor-ails for tight-das* ♦rotters have produced some outstanding contests thi* season There should be another in the New Zealand National Trot, the a-, ond leg of the TAB double On the strength of two dashing v»n« so far at the meet i fng Pef’te Evander deserves to b- the favourite He*- main op po*'tion ma' rotne from Wai potinamu and Be*t Bet Selections' — 5 45 o m — Unite Mobde p 4 Mvron Egmont Matilda, Sir Miles 6 15 pm.—Caduceus Mobile Pace Theseus Momentous, H»v Dryden 5 50 p.m —Prince Pelka Hanffirap Bonn«e Loch Paul fvander. Barbara Jean ?75 pm so*noetaha Mobile Annes Dav, Volo Bay, : Taitoru.

1.5 p.m.—Auckland Trotting Cup: Captain Harcourt. Sole Command. Stanley Rio. 8.45 p.m.—N.Z. National Trot Free-for-all: Petite Evander, Waipounamu, Best Bet. 9.20 p.m.—Victory Globe Free-for-all: Barley Bree, Helen of Tara Direct Magic. 9.55 p.m—First Captain Sandy Mobile Pace: Kancho, Royal Waldorf, Pleasant Com mand. 10.25 p.m—Second Captain Sandy Mobile Pace: Mister Spry© Dels Dream, Yankee Lad 5.45 p.m.— UNIT PACE, $2675; C2: piobationarv drivers: mobile: 22u0m.— Emorv Globe • 1 Night Slave '2-. Roval Willie <3> Blue Toreador 4 . Queen Streak ts>. Myron (7*. Belle Brydon <B*. Egmont Matilda • 9i. Sir Miles iJ2». Camlar «13». Roval Junior <l4». Kenwood Rowan <ls*. Longmeadow* Lady • 16i. Danty Tudor I 17» It. Balloted out in order of re entry: Reve Fille tlOi. Vai Trust • 6*. Tactless t unruly*, Nelson Adios <!li It. 4.15 p.m.— CADUCEUS PACE, $2870: C 3; mobile. 2200m.—Winnafreda <♦». Splashover >2» Hey Dryden <3». Wagner 4*. Cane (utter <5«. Momentous -6., Theseus (7*, Al Sum me i 8 . American Kiwi 9 . High Aloft 10., Lady Andra (11), : Monken Hadley (12) It. 6.50 p.m.— PRINCE POLKA HANDICAP $3440; ( 4 trotter*; 220 Um. -Barbara lean ! . Alb' Dee 1 matoa 3» Coiim 4», Honey Shey • s*. Deb's Pal •6*. Cutaway •?< It; Bonnie Loch -1 1 . Milford DeOl in 2 Quick Pick t 3», Paul Evander 4« 10; Artful Lad »i*. Jack'* Evander >2i, Te Puna (3* • 20; Van Lome <lt 30 Balloted out with right of reentry: Mav Spark -4 20. T AB. TREBLE 7.25 p.m.— SOANGETAHA RACE $3240; C 4: -mobile; 27«»0m. 1 2581 Taitoru «1» It J. Langdon 2 4100 Gymea GoJd (2> It L Purdon 3 3UUO Mamma Cass t 3) It E. Harding 4 336 Stormy Night .4 It D. Alexander 5 0509 Ginger Megs (5) It O. Purdon 6 9*455 Volo Bay 6) It T. Knowles 7 1680 Southern Reel (7) It J. Hunter 8 0«80 Dawn Prince (8) It M. Barrv 9 0322 Anne's Day (9) It I Thorn <ts 10 0779 Khamsa Bay (10) It P. Young 11 1821 Leitrim 111 It A. Fausett 12 0070 Miss Ireland (12j it P. Jones T.A.B DOUBLE 8.5 p.m.— AUCKLAND TROTTING CUP, 550.000 and $lOOO trophv. OC; 3200 m. 1 2374 Sole Command (I) It H Timmins 2 3116 Classic Move <2) It P W'olfenden 3 7512 Young Tennessee (3) It J Smolensk! 4 8848 Forto Prontezza *4* It H Skinner 5 1135 Bolton Byrd 's> It R Dunn 6 A 562 Palestine *6) It T Mav 7 2479 Final Curtain It • unrul}) R. Mitchell , Jun. ‘

8 OU9B Ripper's Delight It • unruly 2> A. Holmes 9 6765 Speedy Guest !» 10 P. Jones 110 5733 Captain Harcourt <l, 15 T Knowles H 7339 Lunar Chance 1) 20 F. Newfield 12 4221 Stanley Rio (2) 20 J. Noble TAB. TREBLE 8.45 p.m.— N.Z. NATIONAL TROT FREE FOR ALL, '7oo'i; C 6 trotters; moblie; 2700 m 1 3572 Waipounamu (1) It H. Skinner 2 2990 Robyn Evander (2) It J. Smith 3 9140 Diogenes (3) It G. Pruden 4 1557 Framalda <4) It T. Know les 5 5086 Easton Light (5) It B Running 6 7880 Castleton's Pride (6) It I. Hunter 7 4324 Best Bet <7) It A. Holmes 8 1211 Petite Evander <8) It J. Langdon 9 0483 Good Admiral (9) It H. Timmins 10 0269 Mighty Lee 10) It M. de Filippi it 6736 Tuteena 111 > It P. W'olfenden 12 0908 Balia's Best • 12) It M. Halloran T.A.B. DOUBLE 9.20 p.m.— VICTORY GLOBE FREE FOR ALL. $5370. C 7. 8,9; mobile; 22(10m. 1 7111 Barley Bree (1) It J. Noble 2 4423 Helen Of Tara i2) It H Timmins 3 7512 Young Tennessee (3) It I. Fleming 4 2001 Direct Magic (4) it J. Smolensk! 5 0044 Hill High is> It O. Purdon 6 041 Emee Smile fi) It 7 4035 Good Sport 7) It C. Holmes 8 7900 Marlborough Miss (8) It .1. (. tile 9 2667 Ritch Hill <9> It B. Running 10 5256 Maverick 110) It L. Purdon 1 11 079 Reuter < 11) It .1. Baker 12 8808 Captain's Priae (12) It T. Knowles 9.55 p.m.— FIRST CAPTAIN SANDY PACE, *3910; C5-C6: mobile; 2700 m - Royal Waldorf ill. Puissant (2). 1 BSS< Sly Brewer -5 1 . Double Whirl i6>. Captain Pete i7>. Tar Fovle .8 . Gaelic Princess 9i. Hey Pronto lOi. Pleasant Command ill), Colonel Brydon 112) It. T A B, TREBLE 10.30 p.m.— SECOND CAPTAIN SANDY PACE, $3910; C5-C6; mobile; 2700 m. 1 0070 Carmen Averil (1) It W. Smith 2 1247 Playdate <2) It H Purdon 3 0818 Fleetmae <3) G. Smith 4 5804 Frosty Lea (4) it G. Mangos 5 9000 John Robert (5) it M. Stormont 6 4013 Sally Belwin »6) It L. Purdon 7 1070 Yankee Lad i 7) it 11. Skinner 8 6387 Greg Robinson <8) It M Robinson 9 5012 Mister Snyro >9» It L Langdon 10 6322 Del's Dream (10) It P W'olfenden II 6045 Classiebawn ill) it O. Purdon 12 W0 Worthy Light It, (unruly) B. Running