Hopefuls vying for Cup start

Press, 8 October 1977, Page 20

Hopefuls vying for Cup start

NZPA Melbourne Eleven horses will be vying for two guaranteed places in the Caulfied Cup field at Caulfield today. The winners of the §40,000 Toorak Handicap (1600 m and the $15,000 Herbert Power Handicap (2400 m are exempt from rei handicap or the ballot for the $135,000 Cup, to be run (over 2400 m next Saturday. I There is a similar exjemption for the winner of I the .$60,000 Caulfield Guineas (1600 m but none of the , three-year-olds in the i Guineas are among second [ acceptors for the Cup. ; Trochee, Tom’s Mate, i all acceptors for the Berbert j Power — are among those I in desperate need of success. t Fhe Herbert Power Handicap is the event in which > Van der Hum announced his ! arrival on the Melbourne racing scene last year. He ; was flown across from New i Zealand on the Friday, and . then, stepped out the next day and completely overl whelmed his opposition. A > week later he ran third in; the Caulfield Cup, and followed that with his great, • Melbourne Cup win in the! •imud at Flemington. Van der Hum already) meets the criteria this year,! and he starts his Melbourne ( campaign today in the) $20,000 Caulfield Stakes: (1984 m The Stakes is al weight-for-age event and] therefore penalty tree. The Berbert Power has at-j tracted the biggest line-up of Caulfield Cup hopetuis. Apart from the New Zealand gallopers. Impeller, Yashmak, Vetsera, and Sprig O’Heather are seeking the right to be among the 18 starters in the Caulfield Cup. In addition, there are five I runners. Wave King, Brailos, [inceptor, Massuk and Mainspring, which are low lon the order of entry and in (danger of being balloted out. j The three other unqualified hopefuls (Sir! Flight, Grand Supreme and Alfred the Great) start in the Toorak Handicap. The field for that event includes the New Zealand mare Lady • Blintz, and the New Zea- | land-bred Tulia Honey, two j others which are low in thel |order of entry. ! Among their opposition ■ : will be the four-year-old i 'New Zealand entire Elton,[ I having his first run in Aus-1 itralia this campaign. i Other New Zealand horses: 1 making their first appear- ■ ances are Shaitan (Caulfield i Stakes). Tai Mahal (Thor’oughbred Club Stakes j( 1400 m, for three year-old; I fillies) and Sir Show Time (Clark Welter). CAULFIELD STAKES The 11-horse Caulfield (Stakes field brings together la number of the top contenders for the Caulfield and (Melbourne Cups. The Mel- ! bourne Cup favourites. Gold

and Black and Reckless, will be opposed by Unaware, Vice Regal and Family of Man. which come oehind Raffindale in the latest Caulfield Cup markets. The winners of last year’s Cups — How Now and Van der Hum — are acceptors, and Royal Cadenza, highly-fan-cied in markets for both Cups this year, completes the field with Bonfield and Bundoora. The Caulfield Stakes is, in effect, a conditioning event for the big events ahead, whereas the Herbert Power Handicap is a race which will be contested almost as keenly as the Cups themselves.

Heavy rain fell in Melbourne on Thursday, and the prospect of a slow track is encouraging news to most of the New Zealand trainers. The Caulfield Guineas could prove to be Luskin Star’s first real test on a wet track, and the laziness of the brilliant colt in his trackwork has led to some opinion that he will not (handle heavy going. GUINEAS j The leading Sydney •trainer T. J. Smith has (entered his tough filly, Prin,‘cess Taiaria. ( "I reckon a heavy track, (could knock a few lengths (off Luskin Star,” Smith said. The horse expected to (give Luskin Star his greatest ! challenge, however, is the (New Zealand-bred, Guns I Away. From eight starts. I Guns Away has had six (wins and two seconds. Luskin Star’s two defeats in an 11-race career have both been on rain-affected tracks, but he lias also won in slow conditions. The fields, with probable riders, for the two events at Caulfield today on which the New Zealand Totalisator Agency Board | will operate are: 5 p.m.—(N.Z. time) CAULFIELD STAKES I 820.000; weight-for-age; 1584 m. I

j 1 1430 Bonfield (1) 59.0 M. Goreham 2 0650 Gold and Black (2> 59.0 J. Duggan 3 1058 Reckless <10» 59.0 P. Trotter 4 1227 Royal Cadenza <4) 59.0 B. Thomson 5 3112 Shaitan (9) 59.0 R. Taylor 6 1207 Van der Hum 7» 59.0 7 2224 Family Of Man <6* 57.0 R. Higgins 8 4124 Vice Regal (11) 57.0, G. Willetts • 9 6332 Unaware *B' 57.0 I!0 0773 How Now (3) 56.5 |IJ 8106 Bundoera (5) 48.5; i 7 p.m.— HERBERT POWER HANDICAP $15,000; 2400 m. 1 5194 Wave King <6> 55.0 R. McCarthy 2 2111 Tom's Mate (16) 54.5 ! 3 3001 Brailos (4) 53.5 ! 4 0072 Inceptor (13) 53.5; ! 5 5560 Trochee (9) 53.0 6 3111 Massuk (11 52.0 7 6212 Impeller (15) 51.0 8 1412 Mainspring (10) 51.0 9 1631 Syndrome < 12) 51.0 R. Heffernan 10 7343 Evander (2) 50.5 11 0789 Yashmak (31 50.5 J. Letts 12 6304 Vetsera (14) 47.5 13 0857 Charismatic 181 47.0 14 0405 Hard To Hold (7) 47.0 15 7896 Sprig O'Heather .5) 47.0 16 7032 Supremo (11) 47.0