Phillips and Lyndon at Riccarton on Friday

Press, 5 December 1984, Page 52

Phillips and Lyndon at Riccarton on Friday

By

J. J. BOYLE

Gary Phillips and Maree Lyndon, North Island jockeys who had spectacular success in November racing, will come south for the Canterbury Jockey Club’s Christmas meeting on Friday. Phillips, who rode eight winners for North Island stables at the New Zealand Cup meeting last month, will apply his skills this time with runners for Riccarton trainers. Peter Jones has engaged him to ride Hide The Loot, Rattle The Sabre, Aegean Princess and Mr Big, and another of his mounts will be Chiasso, a form runner

for John Bourne’s stable in the Ranfurly Shield Handicap. Maree Lyndon will come south to ride six members of the Tom Lalor team — Buffy Beaufort, His Latest, Binkie’s Double, Blovinski, Oak King, and Alvaro King. Lyndon rode 13 winners in the space of 10 days on North Island courses last month, and she was the toast of the day at Levin last Wednesday when she partnered Princess Dram to win the Bayer Classic and had two other successes as well. The Riccarton jockey, Grant Davison, has a strong book for the C.J.C. meeting.

He will be hoping to improve on a successful partnership with Noble Note, the favourite for the feature race, The Canterbury “1600,” and another of his hopefuls will be the promising Washdyke tlirge-year-old Orb in the Ranfurly Shield Handicap. Noble Note and his stablemate Chiasso sprinted attractively in training on the outside of the course proper at Riccarton yesterday. They ran in from the 800 m on terms in 49.85. Noble Note appears to have thrived since the New Zealand Cup meeting where he ran second in the Canterbury Gold Cup after winning over 1400 m in his first

start back from Australia. He will probably go to Wingatui for the James Hazlett Stakes, and if he comes through that race satisfactorily the Timaru Cup will also be on his programme. Steel King, one of Noble Note’s rivals in Friday’s feature race, was paired with Xerox for an 800 m gallop on the outside of the course proper yesterday, but worked lazily, and finished behind the John Bourne-trained chestnut. They took 52.35, and 41s for the final 600 m. Xerox is a last-start winner in the Aitken Handicap, second leg of the T.A.B. double and first leg of the T.A.B. treble on Friday.