Braless ran her Ellerslie rivals ragged

Press, 28 November 1977, Page 18

Braless ran her Ellerslie rivals ragged

By

J. J. BOYLE

The impressive ease with, which Braless won the §22,500 Owens Stakes at weight-for-age at Ellerslie on Saturday carried a convincing message as to the class of the top three-year-olds this season. The only runner of her age in the field of 14, Braless- made some of her distinguished elders look like candidates for bathchairs as she hared away to win by four lengths. This placed guineas form from Riccarton in the most favourable light. Braless won the New Zealand One Thousand Guineas in style after running Uncle Remus to a long neck in the Two Thousand Guineas a week earlier.

Braless again showed her front-running powers on Saturday and ran the others ragged before they reached the last 200 m.

Although the false rail was out around the home turn, and the track was slightly easy in patches,

| Braless sped over the 1600 m | lin Imin 36.02 s in the handsj [of Danny Southworth, who; also partnered the Showoff; II filly in her triumph atj Riccarton.

Southworth is certainly having a happier association with Braless than he did on

Saturday with Divine Cloud in the Dominion Handicap, first leg of the T.A.Bdouble. Divine Cloud shifted ground and caused interference in the straight; and Southworth was suspended up to and including next Saturday for his failure to apply corrective action. One of the keenest and most satisfied observers of the race was Uncle Remus’s par t-owner, Mr Kim Clotworthy; “The way our fellow’ beat the older horses in the Canterbury Cup, and now that filly tonging them up today . . . that’s the background to our confidence that we have a good one in his box at home today,” Mr Clotworthy said after Saturday’s race.

11 La Mer, a battling third > j when favourite on Saturday, )iover five lengths from the f | winner and a length and a ! quarter behind the runnerup, Shifnal’s Pride, did not

disappoint her New Plymouth trainer, Malcolm Smith.

“She had to gallop in pouring rain last Tuesday and we could not give her much on Thursday because we were going to travel her a few hours later,” Smith said later. Smith said he was confident La Mer would improve further with that race and would return to Auck-

land right at her top for her attempt to win the Avondale Cup next month.

Savoir, one of the too three-year-old fillies in Melbourne last year, looked close to her best when fourth on Saturday. Her trainer, and part-owner, Bob Morris, said he thought the Sovereign Edition filly might have been one short and was delighted with her run. The nine-year-old Kiwi Can made headway from the 1

I turn for fifth, but the Sdutl Island’s only runner, Gre; Way, dropped out of Con tention after helping to leal the chase alter Braless.

Both horses scrambled ,oi a patch of looser grnur.i near the home turn, Kiw Can dipping badly just whti he was mounting a likelv looking run. Earlier in the aftemooi Grey Way’s Geraldiru owner. Mr Peter South, wa> presented with a painting u< his big winner. This was r< mark Grey Way’s title a the Ellerslie Horse of th< Year Award, as voted b’ club patrons, last season and thoroughly earned aftei the grey won the Easte: Handicap. Grey Way’s next oppor tunity to prove his latest form all wrong will probablj be in the Topsy Stakes at Otaki next week. He will bi brought back to Washdyk* for the Timaru Cun. and u he goes well will be flowi back to Auckland for thi George Adams Handicap oi the final day of the Auck 'land Cup carnival.