Hands Down has fine chance in cup

Press, 4 December 1981, Page 20

Hands Down has fine chance in cup

By

G. K. YULE

Hands Down could reinstate himself as one of the greatest stayers racing in New Zealand today when he contests the $lO,OOO New Brighton Cup at Addington Raceway tomorrow evening.

His encounter with the talented Kerrytown-trained mare. Bonnie’s Chance, is expected to be one of the highlights of racing in Canterbury during the remainder of 1981. Hands Down managed a rather disappointing third, a neck from Bonnie’s Chance and seven lengths from Armalight at the end of the New Zealand Cup. But he was only a shadow of the horse which eight days earlier had won the Kaikoura Cup in national record time for 2400 m. He followed up that placing with a determined bid

from far back for fifth in Armalight’s world-record mobile 2000 m three days later, and suggested that he was right back to his best when he made ground for a grand fourth to Lord Module in the Allan Matson Stakes on November 21. Bonnie’s Chance picked up $26,000 in stakes at the Cup meeting where she was second in both the cup and the Benson and Hedges Free-for-all. Then she finished an unlucky fifth in the Allan Matson Stakes, failing to clear a pocket on the rails until the race was virtually over.

That she can sprint and stay is not in doubt, but whether she can match Hands Down in a true test of stamina when the last-named is in peak condition remains to be seen: this could be proved tomorrow, when there is unlikely to be a great deal between the pair. Idolmite will be trying to win the New Brighton Cup for the second time in the one year. She won in 4min 12s last season when the event was run in February. Glen Moria and Hands Down followed her home in a tight finish. The daughter of Local

Light went a respectable race when fourth in the Cup on November 10 and that run might be a sound guide to her chances, at least as a place prospect. Victory for any of the others would be against the runs they turned in at the Cup meeting, but Cyllarus, Right Bower and Glen Moria are all capable of adding interest to the last 200 m. Hilarious Guest, Portfolio and Norton should be leading contenders for honours in the Pacemakers Celebrity Stakes, a mile race for three-year-olds.