Hasty Saint fancied in Waikato Hurdles

Press, 9 May 1981, Page 24

Hasty Saint fancied in Waikato Hurdles

Special correspondent Auckland

If he follows the pattern of last year, Hasty Saint will win or certainly run close in the Waikato Hurdles today. Twelve months ago he began a run of performances that made him a star of the early winter.

On the first day of last year’s Waikato winter meeting, held at Tauranga, T..sty Saint won the Plaza Hurdles, on the second day, at Ellerslie, the Seddon Hurdles, and only Mr Hickey, in the Great Northern a fortnight later, kept him from a hat-trick. In his remaining race of the season the Campbell Hurdles on the third day at the Great Northern meeting, Hasty Saint finished only fifth of seven but he had done sufficient by then to be rated very highly indeed. Hasty Saint returned a little more than a month ago and he has looked as good as ever—fourth in his first comeback race, at Avondale, then an impressive

I winner in the other one. the 13200 m Brighton Hurdles at Ellerslie on Easter Monday. Naturally Hasty Saint is required to carry more weight this time up. His 61.5 kg is 2.5 kg more than he had in the Great Northern and puts him within 2.5 kg of two solid hurdlers, Stipulation (63.5 kg and Young Jeff (62kg), which head the field today. Both Stipulation and Young Jeff seem to have had adequate preliminary racing so they should be hard to beat. Stipulation returned to racing with 2300 m on the flat at Te Awamutu on April 11, and meanwhile managed a middle-distance highweight well for third at Matamata on April 28. Young Jeff was runner-up to Hasty Saint in the Brighton, again to Candiman over hurdles at Ellerslie last Saturday. Stipulation won four hurdles races last winter—three at Ellerslie and one at Rotorua. Young Jeff was successful over hurdles then,

last spring, he mixed hurdling and steeplechasing profitable

No Worries, a Manawatu seven-year-old, Candiman and Royalvaro are other prospects. Royalvaro might seem to lack recent racing but he seems to come to hand readily. The Lady Norrie Stakes, new to the club’s winter meeting, looks another worthwhile attraction, and good races are promised, too, in the T.A.B. -double, the Waikato Wines and Spirits Handicap and the J. C. Pollock Handicap. The Lady Norrie Stakes has attracted some extremely talented fillies and mares, including a Taranaki visitor, Sally Sovereign. A model of consistency, Sally Sovereign seems to have turned in another excellent performance when third at Trentham last Saturday behind Mun Lee and Gold Dust in the Cuddle Stakes.

Under the special conditions, Sally Sovereign has 53kg, so she will receive weight from several of her opponents—3kg from Gold Dust, River Queen and Sylvaner, and I.skg from Monody. Sylvaner, judging by the way she has been going in training at Takanini,. will be hard to beat all the same and the other three, if in top form, should certainly go well.