Dashing Canterbury wins

Press, 14 April 1980, Page 22

Dashing Canterbury wins

By

J. J. BOYLE

Just a Rebel . and Spy Force restored some respectability to the records of the home brigade in major races at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s Easter-meeting with brilliant wins at Riccarton on Saturday.

Spy Force clinched- the' $lOOO trainer’s prize for G. H. (Mick) Murfitt by snatchfng victory in the last stride In the Waltham Handicap. Earlier, Just- a Rebel brought up his third win from as many .starts when he landed the Champagne Stakes by two lengths.

Just a Rebel, a $4OO pur-’ chase as a weanling, could be exciting three-year-old material next season for Mr David Clarkson, who races the Weyand gelding in partnership with the Riccarton trainer, David Kerr.

The Chairman, is another talented first-season winner in the Kerr stable, and if both youngsters make average improvement with age Riccarton will be looking for a likely successor for Little Frown 5 Jug- in the spring classics next season. < -

Just a Rebel's popular partner in Saturday’s win was Wayne Hillis,, who stoi-

cally shed close to five kilos in three days last week to make the weight of 55.5 kg, This was young -Hillis’s seventh and most important winning ride. Spy .Force was on his nose: soon/.after the start of the Waltham Handicap, and his' rider Ron McCann ’ believed he was on a 100 to one chance when he found he was giving the pacemakihg Sharebroker, a start of more than 10 lengths. 1200 m out; ' But what a transformation came over the/ race in the last 100 yards. Sharebroker had scurried away to a wid

ish lead, but he was “dying” in David Walsh’s hands 100 m out, while Spy Force was charging forward with Ay Em in his wake. It was a near thing; neither rider of the principal contenders was sure what had won. The camera showed it was Spy Force’s race, his second successive Waltham, by a half-head. Ay Em was a game third a long neck back, but the others were well out of it, with The Twinkle fading right out in seventh position.