Balkan Chief shows dash at Te Rapa

Press, 11 May 1981, Page 29

Balkan Chief shows dash at Te Rapa

Auckland Balkan Chief, the hobby horse of a retired Te Aroha farmer, Mr Geoff Feaver,

showed the requirements of t a Great Northern Winner in c the way he won the Waikato Hurdles on Saturday. I All through the 3200 m I Balkan Chief was much too 1 quick for his 11 opponents, e His jumping was fast and : clean and he showed spirit t as well to shake off Stipula- - tion a brief challenger when thev had about 1400 m to go Stipulation stayed on Bal- J kan Chief’s heels for a bit < but was three or four lengths behind on the home bend. Soon afterwards he dropped away altogether j Manly Warrior, Hasty Saint ; and Diprose taking up the ; hopeless chase. ■ Balkan Chief had them all 1 : well beaten, but his rider Trevor Harrison, him i 1 right up to it so that he ] won bv 15 lengths. I Manly Warrior, Hasty i [ Saint and Diprose had a set- ; to for the minor placings 1 . which Manly Warrior won narrowly. There was a short ; gap after Diprose to No t Worries (fifth) which was followed -in by Stipulation 1 leading tire others. 1 A heartbreak on the flat after showing any amount ot ' early promise, Balkan Chief 2 has had eight starts as a - hurdler for five wins and a f third placing. In his twc 1 other attempts he ran off ’ once and the other time fin- - ished seventh. 1 The race yesterday was his third after a summer lay-off, following middle-dis-

tances on the flat at Rotorua and Matamata. Besides winning so easily, Balkan Chief turned in a Te Rapa record for 3200 m ever hurdles, a remarkable achievement when it is considered that the previous best, by Battle Chief, was set during the summer. Battle Chief, in November, 1976 went 3min 36.85, and Balkan Chiefs time was 3min 36.28 -

A five-year-old bay gelding, bought as a weanling by Mr Feaver, Balkan Chief is by Balkan Knight, a United States-bred, imported in 1974, from Barbado, by Gold Sovereign from a Khorassan mare, Miss Waihou.

He cost his owner-trainer no more than §l5OO and looks very much as though he can win the Great Northern Hurdles, run for $24,000 at Ellerslie in a little less than three weeks.