Visitors should feature prominently at Rangiora

Press, 1 April 1985, Page 34

Visitors should feature prominently at Rangiora

By

J. J. BOYLE

The talented Auckland horseman, Peter Johnson, might turn his first day of race riding at Rangiora into a profitable exercise by winning the first leg of the North Canterbury Racing Club’s T.A.B. double on Buffy Beaufort today.

Buffy Beaufort is the highest-weighted of the four-year-olds in the Amalgamated Packaging Handicap. Others include her stablemate, His Latest, the last-start winner of the Dunedin Gold Cup; and Royal Sceptre, All Trebles, and Samasaan, the dividendpayers in the Pyne, Gould, Guiness Hororata Cup at Riccarton 10 days ago. Buffy Beaufort has done most of her racing short of middle distances, but she has been placed at 2000 m, and there are sturdy family influences in her pedigree to invite confidence in her ability to improve her sound record for the Tom Lalor

stable. She was only nosed away from victory in a weight-for-age 1600 m event at Ashburton at her last start.

Her conqueror that day, Amacola, has since run second to Gay King at Oamaru, and must again be one of the brighter chances amongst Buffy Beaufort’s older rivals.

The leading jockey, David Walsh, who rode All Trebles in the Hororata Cup, will again team up with that Three Legs gelding today, and his skills will do much towards building confidence in a home track victory for Don Corbett’s hopeful. Walsh has Tim Lea as his

hopeful for the Lion Brown Handicap, second leg of today’s T.A.B. double. Last time out Tim Lea had to bow out to the high class galloper, Reingard, at Riccarton. Today he can expect spirited competition from Reingard’s stablemate, Sea Poppy, a winner at her only two starts this season. Bo Diddley, for which Peter Johnson was engaged, was scratched at the weekend, and Johnson has switched to Chiasso, a runner for John Bourne’s Riccarton stable which failed over 1410 m at Ashburton last time out, but won over today’s distance, 1200 m, at Riccarton in February.

The North Island presence at today’s meeting will not be restricted to visiting jockeys. Maurice Campbell will have runners for his Awapuni stable on the programme — O’what Legs in the Inglewood Stakes, for three-year-old fillies; Waterman in the Plough Hotel Handicap, for two-year-olds; Proceed in one of the maiden events; and Rapsea in the Ashley Handicap, third leg of the T.A.B. treble.

Rapsea is one of the stronger chances in the Ashley Handicap after a win and two seconds in his last three starts.