Rewarding National meeting for southern horses

Press, 14 August 1978, Page 20

Rewarding National meeting for southern horses

Bv

J. J. BOYLE

All against trends on the first day South Island horses finished the thrce-day Grand National meeting on Saturday leading North Island runners in the stakes tally by close to $lO,OO0 —$58,120 against $47,720.

Spearheaded by the Riverton stablemates, Rapid Flight and First Wood, and Riccarton’s Firpo, South Island-trained horses finished strongly to capture six wins and amass §23,955 on Grand National Hurdles day on Saturday. North Islanders earned §12,245 for the day. On the first day of the meeting North Island horses won the two big races, the Grand National Steeples and the Winter Cup. on their way to amassing §30,775 compared with the south’s §17,675. South Island horses pulled ahead on the second day by earning §16.450 compared with the north’s §4250. South Island - trained horses won 19 races and the North Islanders eight at the three-day C.J.C. carnival. First Wood and Rapid Flight gave the Riverton trainer, Bill Hillis, a memorable back-to-back double when within the space of an hour they won the Koral Steeplechase and the Grand National Hurdles on Saturday.

e And little more than an d hour after Rapid Flight, d triumphed in a spectacular h hurdles finish the Hillisd trained Will Bee won the s Redcliffs Handicap. i 8200 purchase s Bill Hillis was wearing his e twin caps in racing with s Rapid Flight. He races this e §2OO purchase in partnership j w'ith his brother Monty / Hillis, and this first-season' -jumper goes out for a spell s as earner of §9500 in a fortnight at Riccarton. Not sur--1 prisingly Hillis w>as moved to! /remark on Saturday that' 1 Riccarton retains its place in his affections as his I i favourite course. j Rapid Flight’s triumph in; 1 the Grand National Hurdles; was one over adversity. 11l 1 luck in the running could i have knocked him out of the i race near the 1000 m. The : nine-year-old and his 18-; • year-old rider, Jim Collett, I i were pushed against the run-1 I ning rail by an off-line Good; > Nip, but the southern combination rallied bravely, and I

i,stormed through to snatch t j victory by a nose over the i r! Levin-trained Five Ways. ' • Captain General con- ‘ ' tributed to the excitement of 1 one of the greatest finishes / ever seen in the 89 years’ 1 history of the race by com-; ing doggedly down the out-|’ ’ side for third only half a;' ■'head back. P Captain General, at 11 one j 1 of the veterans of the field, ( was left with a lot to do; | [ front back in the field after;) 1 also meeting trouble. If his; ’ strong late challenge had t ' paid off he would have im- s 1 proved a remarkable record j on the course for Mr andj Mrs Gordon Pollock and the c Matangi trainer, Fred Phillips, who have won two j New Zealand Cups with j ijHeidsieck. ( First Wood’s victory in 1 the Koral Steeplechase'l: ' brought with it some poig-;} ' nant moments for the family!} 'of the late Mr W. E. Hazlett, if This Lomond gelding was! racing for the estate of the i I late Mr Hazlett in a race'f ' named after a famous Haz- < Hett colour-bearer. c

The Hazlett family do-; nated a §5OO trophy to the; winner of Saturday’s race, and the presentation was made by Mr Bill Hazlett Jun. to his mother after the race. fn the flush of victory Bill Hillis still found time to ponder over First Wood’s disappointing performance a week earlier in the Grand National — the seven-year-old was well beaten before he was tripped at the second last fence by a fallen rival. “He possibly choked in the Grand National,” Hillis said on Saturday. "I decided to tie his tongue down today, and he was a different horse.” Thun, the favourite for the Koral Steeples, faltered in his run some way out and could only struggle in for fifth. Michael Gillis led him back and a veterinary sur- ( geon found that the Fondu gelding was sore in the near! foreleg. Trocar, the Grand National third a week earlier, broke down and was pulled i out of the race about 2000 m out. >