Club rewarded with fine field for Louisson

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 50

Club rewarded with fine field for Louisson

By

G. K. YULE

The wisdom of the Metropolitan Trotting Club’s programme committee in deciding to revert to invitation conditions has been rewarded by an outstanding field of 13 for the Louisson Handicap, the feature race on the first night of the national meeting at Addington Raceway on Saturday. The field Includes 10 open class pacers, the most notable of which will be the backmarker, Hands Down, which will be trying to win the race for the fifth successive year.

Twelve months ago when the club introduced a C 8 front for the event, Hands Down won by half a head from Our Mana after conceding him a start of 30m. This time Hands Down, now nine, will come in on 25m, by no means a prohibitive mark for a horse with 22 of his 33 wins gained at Addington. That the club should secure a field with such a great depth of class so early in the season seemed doubtful last term when there were heavy retirements and

other open class horses were struck with injury. The Louisson should be the forerunner of intriguing racing of the best possible standard in events catering for the top pacers. This will culminate, as far as spring racing is concerned, with the New Zealand Cup on November 6, while later there will be the Auckland Cup and other feature events.

The performances last season of Our Mana, Derby, Borana, and Camelot were of a splendid standard, but they were overshadowed in the latter part of the period by Norton, whose earlier career had been interrupted on several occasions by injury. Norton’s run of four successive wins included the Pan Am Mile and the Easter Cup. In both races he encountered the best pacers available and beat them handsomely.

The son of a former champion juvenile in Tactile looks even stronger this time up and he could well be the star of spring racing. Only three C 9 horses are

in Saturday’s race, trying to gain the one victory which will qualify them for the Cup. They are Double Cove, Kind Nature and the double Derby winner, Mighty Me, now being prepared by Cecil Devine.

Agrinion is a C 9 pacer expected to be on hand for early spring races, while Elans have been revised for yndon Robert, which is unlikely to be seen in action until the Cup meeting at the earliest. His trainer-driver, Robert Dunn, thinks it possible he will not be ready until December.

The ranks of open class pacers will be strengthened later by the reappearance of such horses as Delightful Lady, Ben, Diamond Moose, Dillon Dale, last season’s Auckland Cup winner, Enterprise, Miss Clevedon, Supreme Ruler, now trained by Richard Brosnan, Stampede, and Zabadak. There is a possibility Melton Monarch and Te Puke Expects will be back, but Rain Girl has'been retired and her absence will be sadly felt in the north, where the number of fastclass horses has dwindled greatly. Harvest Gold is a C 9 horse definitely retired because of a broken sesamoid bone, but it is possible Dryden Amanda, Country

Star, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Trilobal will reappear. The C 8 horses include some capable performers, including Ansett, now being prepared by Terry May, Harper’s Bazaar, King Aurea, Mytop Sweetie, Regal Maina, and Timely Play. Opportunities for them to race from the front in other invitation events will be restricted, but one or two of them have the ability to gain the two wins necessary to graduate them to New Zealand Cup class before November.

Some of the more talented young horses of last season finished on C 7. They include Comedy Lad, Delark, Slugger, King Alba, Nostradamus, and Tucker’s Rule. They are unlikely to get to Cup class before November, but they should add much interest to intermediate racing throughout the country. Most are eligible for restricted age racing where they will have rich opportunities later in the season.