Racing and trotting Splendid win by Sapling in Pan Am Mile

Press, 4 December 1978, Page 18

Racing and trotting Splendid win by Sapling in Pan Am Mile

By

G.K.YULE

In spite of a slushy track, rain and a coolish night, Sapling raced away with the Pan Am Mile in an astounding Imin 59.2 s at Addington Raceway on Saturday.

Before the race most thought that a time of better than 2min 2sec would be respectable in the conditions, but thanks mainly to Roydon Scott the feature; mile, now run on eight occasions, has always been; won in 2min or better.

Roydon Scott, four wide early, forced his way to the front over the first quarter in 27.8 sec and the half-way mark was reached in 58.8 sec, with Sapling tracking the pacemaker. With this section being run at such a torrid pace, it was generally expected that the field would start to feel ,2 0 9 the strain, especially were so spread. But Rovdon Scott maintained the pressure, with Henry Skinner pulling Sapling out at the straight entrance. He mastered Roydon Scott inside the final 200 m and, without:

being seriously tested, he ; won by three lengths. ;i Roydon Scott showed rare'; ■courage to hold on fori ! second, a nose in front of i ; Palestine, with a length and j a half to Belmer’s Image, 'half a length to Trustv Scot, . never in the clear over the last 75m, and the same 1 margin to Lord Module, i which also finished full of ' running after changing I course several times in the ’ run home. i “I held them up a fraction i near the last quarter in the i hopes that another horse t would come round Sapling, 1 but it didn’t happen,” said [ Fred Fletcher, the trainerdriver of Roydon Scott, who ’ was delighted with his i horse’s run. Roydon Scott T will now go on to Alexandra < Park later in the month. is Raced in partnership by:; the president of the Trotting is Conference, Mr George; Cruickshank, of Invercargill, 1 s

and his wife, and Lionel ; Given, who trains the five-year-old at Gore, Sapling ; will now race at Invercargill on December 12 and 16 and probably in the Clarendon Free-for-all at Addington on January 2. By Young Charles from Haakondahl, Sapling has now had 38 starts for 14 wins and 17 placings for $94,305 in stakes, a total which should be greatly increased by the end of the autumn. He has the $lOO,OOO Auckland Cup in February and the Benson and Hedges Inter-Dominion series on his programme, too. Trusty Scot, paying $2.90, was the favourite for the race. “He didn’t seem to handle the track with much confidence early, but was going well when he couldn’t get clear in the run home.” said Henderson Hunter. Cecil Devine was also! disappointed that Lord I

; Module did not secure a j clear run in the straight [Devine was later suspender ■until after December 23 fo> ■ causing interference tc Rocky Tryax with about 100 m to run. Waralene overcame a rocky run early to win the second leg, the A. G. Jamieson Handicap. Stephen Little sprinted him up with more than 1600 m left and he was in the open from then on. He passed the tiring pacemaker, Torle, early in the run home and showed rare gameness to withstand a final challenge from Ice Wise by half a head. Locarno came solidly but too late for third a similar distance back, clear of Enna Gee and Hurricane Squire. A four-year-old gelding by Waratah, Waralene is trained by Little for Mr Dave Condick.