$l0,000 bonus up for grabs on Coast circuit

Press, 26 December 1984, Page 21

$l0,000 bonus up for grabs on Coast circuit

G. K. YULE

With a $lO,OOO bonus payable after the Greymouth Trotting Club’s meeting on January 5, much more than usual interest will centre on five events for maiden pacers on the first day of the Westport Trotting Club’s annual meeting today. The bonus is payable to the horse winning a maiden race on either of the two days at Westport, a Cl

event at the Reefton meeting on Saturday and finally a C2 race at the Greymouth meeting. Since the bonus was introduced, only Our Mana, a pacer to have proved himself in the top company, has been able to achieve the feat. King Turk went fairly close last year, but he had to settle for fourth in the final leg. Lordshipman, to be

driven by his youthful partowner, Maria Perriton, has shown sufficient potential to be a leading chance of taking out the bonus.

But there are others which have raced reasonably well at times and they look capable of reasonably fast promotion. Should they strike form on the two days at Westport, they could carry on to be sound prospects in tighter classes at

Reefton and Greymouth. Top Abbe, a stablemate of Our Mana, Sure He Can, Out to Bee and Nortap are among those which look to hold leading chances in their races, but there could well be a few dark horses among those with little or no race experience, ensuring that the events for maidens in the next two days will be extremely keenly contested.