Trentham winners for Nationals

Press, 14 July 1980, Page 24

Trentham winners for Nationals

By

J. J. BOYLE

The Te Awamutu trainer Graeme Sanders brought off one of the notable doubles of the year when he won the Wellington Hurdles with Mr Hickey and the Riddiford Steeples with Sparkling Brew at Trentham on Saturday.

Sanders will now prepare these jumpers for the Grand Nationals at Riccarton next month. Mr Hickey will come in for special attention as he tries to complete the Triple Crown for the hurdlers. On May 31, Mr Hickey won the Great Northern Hurdles under 62.5 kg by three lengths and a half. He won the Wellington Hurdles with 66kg on one of Trentham’s heaviest tracks with such ease that one would have thought he had one more oxygen tank than anything else in the race. An enduring memory of the race was his cat-like, impeccable leap out of bad ground at the last flight be-

Tore scurrying away to his 'margin of 12 lengths. 1 He is another ot the great i bargains often unearthed in I New Zealand racing. A Ivouthful Mr Nick Littlejohn secured the Mastead II ge ' ing for less than $5OO and the return from nine wins, including two on the flat, has been spectacular. Graeme Sanders already' had the fondest memories ot Trentham after a rewarding visit in January when he won the Wellington Derby with Lovelace Watkins and sold the gelding that evening for $lOO,OOO. He said on Saturday that he was confident of Mr Hickey’s ability to adapt to the brush hurdles at Riccarton. He plans to race Mr Hickey on the flat at the Taumaranui meeting next week before sending him south.

Sparkling Brew, the six-year-old Tazrula gelding which gave the Sanders stable and also the jockey . Lance Rokela the first leg of

la great jumps double t. 4 'Saturday, did not su-.y 5500 m in the Wellington 'Steeples a week earlier but She found too much for tire others over 4800 m in the I Riddiford. Sparkling Brew mulled his leap at the fourth-to-last fence but rallied well and there was not much doubt what he would win when he engaged for the fast-tiring (Arest for the lead. Sparkling Brew’ has strong jumping influences in his family “background, notably Hunting Song and also Probation. No Title, the best of Sparkling Brew’s rivals, is booked for Riccarton and present plans are to run him in the Homeby Steeples next week as a lead-up to the Grand National. George, the Riddiford Steeples favourite, has a life at the double early in the race. He rallied briefly but dropped away from a contending position to finish a ’distant fifth.