Gold Arc best in stakes

Press, 4 December 1978, Page 18

Gold Arc best in stakes

Special Correspondent Auckland The five runners from outside Auckland and Waikato filled all first five placings in the Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Pukekohe on Saturday. Gold Arc and Gold Dust, which had the finish practically to themselves, made the" trip from Awapuni end Hawera respectively tor the big race, while Tang (third), came from Hastings, My Binnie (fourth) from Hawera and Orchidra (fifth) from Woodville. Lady Belle, from Matamata, finished next but much more a disappointment was Braless, a couple of lengths further back alongside Award in seventh P' lce except that she came third the time before, in the Woodville Cup, Gold Arc f id done nothing to suggest Liat she could match the majority of those against her on Saturday, especially t -der the weight-for-age c nditions. She won clearly i ; her merits as it happened, even if by no I ore than a head from Gold I ust to which she had to concede 4.5 kg. The rider. Bob Skelton, showing again his knack of i -couraging horses to lift I ;ir form for a big occasion, had Gold Arc

i quickly settled in fourth I ■ place, outside Tang and three or four lengths from i the early leader, Braless. I Rocky Dellah led them dthe last 800 m, by four II lengths from Braless and Hasty Amber, but all three I’were beaten quickly in the home straight. Once clear of; , Hasty Amber, Gold Arc ram i to the front chased by Gold , Dust and she stayed there in i the finish by a head. Tang, for which the rider, > Des Harris, had some little ’ trouble finding a clear way i from the home turn, was a i

i length and a quarter away 1 in third place shading My . Binnje which had a length on Orchidra and Lady Belle. i The time was ’ disappointing — imin 36.45, I compared with La Mer’s i imin 33.9 s last year and the : Imin 35s returned by TRhadamanthus later on iiSaturday afternoon, winning! lithe class two Kingseati 1 Handicap. It had been expected that; > Braless would set the pace: ' and make it pretty hot,; ’ however she was never' ‘ going well enough. “When I -■asked her for an effort.”; ■said her rider John Grylls, “there was just nothing there.” Although from the Central Districts — she is owned by a father-and-son partnership at Linton near Palmerston > North — Gold Arc has an s association, with Waikato, j being by Rodmor Stud’s r Gold Sovereign from a t former fine Te Rapa race mare, Royal Crescent. 1 Her owners are Mr D. , Pollard and his son Mr N. t Pollard, who secured her as i a yearling for no more than i $3OOO, her trainer a former! < jockey, Bernard Browne, t-aged 21. ! Browne, who is private r trainer for the Pollards, took t over charge of Gold Arc a - year ago. He has had more t than his share of worries a-with her and on that account thoroughly deserves

the success that has now come his way. Gold Arc, as Browne recalled yesterday, was terribly foot sore to start with and prone as well to muscle stiffness. Corrective shoeing cured the first complaint. To remedy the second Browne found he had ■to remove oats altogether from the mare’s diet so that ■she now trains on maize, barley and horse nuts. Next for Gold Arc, will be the weight-for-age Manawatu !Ch a 11 en g e Stakes on December 16. Through that one successfully she would be a welcome visitor to the Auckland Racing Club’s Cup meeting for which general entries close on Thursday.