Geraldine Cup winner cost only $400

Press, 27 September 1983, Page 24

Geraldine Cup winner cost only $400

By

J. J. BOYLE

Three Winchester friends, one a wool classer, another a shearer, and the third an engineer, decided over a few beers to have a stab at racing ownership.

For an outlay of only 5400 they became the owners of Pamdora, whose win in the DB Geraldine Trust Cup at Orari yesterday was her ninth. It was also her fourth on the Orari track, and her second from as many starts from the Riccarton stable of Garth Jackson. Where next? “We’re happy to leave it to our trainer,” said Mr David Corse-Scott with support from his partners, Murray Donaldson and Tom Rooney, after their seven-year-old Lucifer mare won unchallenged yesterday. Jackie Oakeshott, the stable apprentice, was under instructions to search for the best footing wider on

the track. Such a search left Pamdora with lots of ground to cover, but she made a for-midable-looking task look easy. She came to the front almost at her leisure near the home turn, and Handsome Heir and Noble Jewel which had started their runs from far down the field never had her within challenging range. Garth Jackson will not decide on Pamdora’s immediate programme until he has had time to see how she recovers from yesterday’s race. She could be back at Orari for the second Geraldine spring meeting. And she will almost certainly be

in the North Canterbury Cup at Rangiora on Labour Day. Handsome Heir’s position as runner-up was never under threat.

Noble Jewel made good headway coming to the home turn, but top weight of 57kg on a soft track blunted the power of his finish and he saved third by only a neck from Sir Ashley. Lord La Di Da broke through for his first win since he came from the North Island to join Ivan Thomas’s Riccarton stable when he outpaced the other sprinters in the Derrick Gould Handicap. A , seven-year-old by Taipan II from Shelley Bur-

ford, winner of 15 races, Lord La Di Da had been bogged down on minor places in previous attempts in Canterbury. But there was no holding him yesterday. Astral Row and Landofair cut at him in the lead coming to the straight, but Lord La Di Da was boss on straightening up and went clear to win by three and a half lengths. Jendra easily outfinished the others. As might have been expected of a mare that has shown her best over a bit of ground, Jendra was well beaten for early speed, but the soft track helped her to lift her work rate in time to carry her quinella backers through.