Rain holds key to Tancred Stakes

Press, 14 April 1984, Page 21

Rain holds key to Tancred Stakes

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney Rain which fell in Sydney yesterday holds the key to the fortunes of the top runners in the $300,000 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill today. If it persists, the track will be at least classed as dead, and could spell the end of McGinty’s chance of taking out the second leg of the Rawson-Tancred weight-for-age double. The One Pound Sterling four-year-old has a distinct dislike for wet tracks, and his trainer, Colin Jillings, said yestersday morning that if the weather really “turned bad” he would not start. Showers were forecast overnight and the question will be how well the track dries out before today’s eight-race programme. If McGinty wins today it will be a triumph for the New Zealand entire on a number of fronts: his first victory over 2400 m, he will have beaten a hoof injury

which could have ended his chances of starting, he will collect $50,000 bonus for taking the Rawson-Tancred double, and he will have earned the crown as weight-for-age king of Australia. Jillings had McGinty checked by a veterinarian yesterday morning to confirm his belief that the stallion was fit to race, and he said the horse passed with flying colours. His main rival in the Tancred will be the Sir Tristram gelding, Trissaro, which turned on one of his famed rocket finishes to take the race last year in record time shortly after being sold by his New Zealand interests. So far this autumn the pair have met twjice for even honours with Trissaro bursting home to snatch second place in the Chipping Norton Stakes behind Emancipation, then McGinty showing his class by winning the 2000 m Rawson Stakes a fortnight ago. Trissaro’s trainer, Bart Cummings, believes his charge has the measure of McGinty over today’s 2400 m, citing the fact that the gelding had got clear late in the Rawson and still .got to within half a length of the New Zealander. However, Jillings has pointed to McGinty’s good runs over 2400 m in the past, and in the 2000 m Rawson his jockey, Bobby Vance, rode only hands and heels to the line. The New Zealander, Fountaincourt, will be at home whatever the conditions and will be reunited with his former jockey, Phillip Smith, who is now based in Sydney. Smith rode the Pass the Bottle gelding in his successful campaign last autumn, and will be sure to keep him working hard. His trainer, Cyril Pfefferle, has been pleased with the way Fountaincourt has gone in training, and said he was looking in top order. Another New Zealander in the race is the Lonesome Dude six-year-old, Stylish Dude, which has been giving his trainer, Roger McGlade, some problems but is at last coming right for his main target, the Sydney Cup. “He’s had a slight virus, but he’s looking much better now and is doing everything right,” McGlade said yesterday. “He worked better yesterday than on Tuesday and we’re very happy with his draw.”

Jbt: 10 Tab: AUST Race 1 4.25 (N.Z. Time) GOLDEN SLIPPER STAKES $400,000; two-year-olds; 1200 m 1 9113 Street Cafe 7 54.0 R. Quinton 2 2121 Inspired 14 54.0 D. Beadman 3 1311 County 1 54.0 P. Hyland 4 11 Hula Drum 9 54.0 P. Smith 5 1374 Slick Draw 4 54.0 H. White 6 612 Pete’s Choice 16 54.0 M. Schumacher 7 4141 Royal Troubador 5 54.0 B. Compton 8 4229 Fair Verdict 2 54.0 N. Barker 9 111 Rivage 15 51.0 W. Harris 10 5011 Vain Display 8 51.0 G. Willetts 11 1141 Rass Dancer 18 51.0 B. Thomson 12 123 Giostra 17 51.0 G. Allendorf 13 1321 Pashenka's Gem 6 51.0 L. Dittman 14 1291 Spirit of Kingston 13 51.0 P. Cook 15 0114 Irradiate 11 51.0 K. Langby 16 0249 Love A Kiss 3 51.0 J. Marshall 17 1128 Quiet Little Drink 12 51.0 N. Voigt 18 157 Lady Lustre 10 51.0 L. Masters Emergencies: Quiet Little Drink, Lady Lustre. Race 2 6.25 (N.Z. Time) T.A.B. TRIFECTA T.A.B. QUINELLA BOWATER-SCOTT TANCRED STAKES $300,000; w-f-a; 2400 m 1 522 Trissaro 5 58.5 W. Harris 2 2686 Guner’s Lane 11 58.5 G. Willetts 3 2514 Fountaincourt 12 58.5 P. B. Smith 4 3170 Stylish Dude 2 58.5 G. Childs 5 4540 No Peer 1 58.5 P. Cook 6 4131 Mr McGinty 8 57.0 R. Vance 7 355 Strawberry Road 6 57.0 L. Dittman 8 0090 Veloso 14 57.0 S. Jeffries 9 4893 Hayai 9 57.0 N. Voigt 10 2170 Sanatate 10 57.0 R. Kemp 11 2260 Chiamare 7 57.0 R. Quinton 12 1113 Admiral Lincoln 4 57.0 K. Forrester 13 1228 Bounty Hawk 3 52.5 J. Marshall 14 3312 Beechcraft 15 52.5 B. Thomson 15 1118 English Wonder 13 56.0 Emergency: English Wonder.