Strong support for Gaelic Skipper

Press, 22 January 1988, Page 27

Strong support for Gaelic Skipper

Special correspondent Auckland Gaelic Skipper’s astounding effort when second behind Luxury Liner in the Auckland Cup last month should see him strongly supported in the first leg of the T.A.B. double at the Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting at Alexandra Park this evening. After racing handy to the pace early on, Gaelic Skipper was pushed back towards the tail of the field during the running and, with 700 metres to go, had his chance terminated — or so it seemed — when he received a nasty check. Gaelic Skipper lost at least 30 metres and the prospect of him getting into the first six, let alone second, looked worse than nil. No-one was more surprised than his driver, David Butcher, when Gaelic Skipper rattled home wide out on the track to nose Skipper Dale out of second right on the line. "When he broke I thought that was it,” said Butcher at the time. "To get up for second was a mighty effort.” Indeed it was, because Luxury Liner had paced the 3200 m from a stand in 4:5.3 — a race A six-year-old by Mercedes from the broodmare gem, Gaelic Princess, Gaelic Skipper is part-owned and trained at

Jetbet: 5 Race 1 TF 6.25 MURRAY FORGIE MOBILE PACE $6?00; Cl: 2200 m 1 0009 Black Dave 1 P. Cave It 2 7398 Regal Emperor 2 It 3 8481 Lord Regal 3 G. Jones It 4 1056 Papoose 4 R. Wolfenden It 5 4640 Charlie Morris 5 M. Purdon It 6 Nyaflo’s Admiral 6 .... D. Gibbons It 7 4556 Tar Mate 7 G. Harris It 8 0154 Patiki Ridge 8 A. Heriihy it 9 6297 Snap Election 9 B. Owen It 10 1 Tudor Hero 10 B. Purdon it 11 0332 Dees Row II J. Stormont It 12 7423 Shoes 12 It 13 4492 Notable 13 J. Fraser it

Ardmore by Lou Driver. A long range plan is for Driver to have the horse near peak in March for a campaign in Sydney at the InterDominion Championships at Harold Park. “I’ve nominated him and sent a cheque down to Christchurch,” he said yesterday, “but I have yet to sit down and organise details regarding transport and a place to stay.” Driver believes Gaelic Skipper will continue to improve from now on. “I didn’t nominate him for the (Lion Red) mile at Cambridge after the cup,” he said. “There was nothing for him. “So I gave him a week off. I might have even been a bit too kind to him. But I’ve got no complaints with his condition.” Driver is hopeful if an Inter-Dominion tilt comes to fruition, Gaelic Skipper will show his best form. “Hopefully he will be a force, rather than just a number,” he said. African Man and Lord Lenny, according to Driver, should be the hardest for Gaelic Skipper to beat in the Newstalk IZB Handicap. “He (African Man) must be tough after his great run for second behind Bionic Chance in the Wellington Cup,” he said.

14 1627 Placid Lynar 14 S. Reed It 15 3443 Wellsford Lad 15 ... . M. Nicholas It 16 5864 Don’t Panic 16 ... . M. McKendry it 17 01 Tintern Heather 17 F. Cooney It 18 2318 Wayne Lobell 18 It Emergencies: Shoes, Black Dave, Tintern Heather, Charlie Morris. Race 2 T 6.50 LEIGHTON SMITH HANDICAP TROT $7455; C 3; 2200 m 1 Mountain Peaks 1 J. Smith it 2 7570 Special Poplar 2 P. Young It 3 7850 Dale Gentry 3 C. Butler It 4 1434 Yankee Count 4 W. Thomas It 5 1156 Evander Rose 5 J. Smith It 6 0900 Galvin’s Pride 1. . . . R. Carmichael 10 7 1134 Aron Del 2 R. Mitchell 10 8 3575 Four Leaf 3 B. Neill 10

9 0111 Our Tony 4 A. Heriihy 10 10 3214 Idle Scott 1 D. Gibbons 20 112210 Directorship 2 M. McKendry 20 Race 3 T 7.15 PAUL HOLMES MOBILE PACE $7000; C2; junior drivers; 2700 m 1 18 Meriden 1 A. Purdon It 2 2000 Super Max 2 B. Anderson It 3 5125 Asian Command 3 It 4 8083 Rapture 4 S. Garvey It 5 7078 Storm Command 5. .. . C. Dalgety It 6 6061 Lusty Bridge 6 C. Cave It 7 5196 Starboy 7 L. Paterson It 8 3586 Kennedy Road 8 .... M. Ferguson It 9 9336 Dominion Jem 9 T. Shaw It 10 0940 Ima Precious 10 L. Barnes It 12 07 Honest Vance 12 P. Jeffries It 13 0500 Electrolyte 13 It 14 7987 Lord Denning 14 It 15 5127 Go For Broke 15 . C. Rose It 16 5104 Exceler Byrd 16 It 17 01)2 Royal Prince 17 R. Haddon It 18 0000 Jackpot 18 It Emergencies: Jackpot, Electrolyte, Asian Command. Scratched: Sweet Innocence. Race 4 . T 7.40 CHRIS CARTER HANDICAP PACE $7055; three and four-year-olds; 2200 m 1 1216 Glenfern Pride 1 D. Mangos It 2 01 Tintern Heather 2 F. Cooney It 3 1614 Don’t Look Back 3. . M. McKendry It 4 7696 Thai Dara Liline 1 10 5 6545 Dual Fuel 2 B. Purdon 10 6 6364 Suzerain 3 G. Wolfenden 10 7 5125 Asian Command 4 R. Oliveri 10 8 0343 Advance Phee 5 D. Butcher 10 9 3510 Smokey Tabella 6 ... .J. Stormont 10 10 4640 Charlie Morris 7 10 11 4426 Greden 8 It 13 4152 Bladerunner 10 A. Heriihy 10 15 1121 Tricky Rhythm I W. Larsen 20 16 4211 Most Happy Miss 2 . . P. Ferguson 20 17 9572 Folk’s Hanover 3 D. Gibbons 20 18 3324 Arabian Blue 1 A. Heriihy 30 Emergency: Felk’s Hanover. Scratched: Nyallo’s Admiral, Trim Lass. Race 5 TF 8.10 JOHN CORDEROY MOBILE PACE $7400; C 3; one mile 1 0 Miss Ella 1 B. Purdon It 2 8503 Prince of Karz 2 0. Purdon It 3 3 Kylie's Hero 3 G. Reaks It 4 2251 Smooth Tina 4 M. Purdon It 5 4909 Muskie 5. ' M. Neill It 6 4232 Skip Hick 6 A. Heriihy It 7 0056 Shamrock Prince 7 G. Small It 8 7 Pay Day 8 . It 9 0000 Mud Fever 9 N. Driver It 10 100 Full Alert 10 S. Reid It 11 4261 Knight Rider 11 P. Jeffries It 12 Nintoku 12 R. Oliveri It 13 0300 Yankee Wina 13 It 14 7219 Smooth Rowan 14 . . M. McKendry It 15 Nashville Tennessee 15 P. Ferguson It 16 2634 Bonnie Dean 16 B. Mangos It 17 0000 Imperial Jack 17 T. Phillips It 18 3410 Sonny Vance 18 D. Butcher It Emergencies: Yankee Wina, Imperial Jack, Bonnie Dean, Muskie. Race 6 D 8.40 THE NEWSTALK IZB HANDICAP PACE $12,055; C 8; 2200 m 1 0274 Present Laughter 1. . . M. Nicholas It 2 8181 Star of Shanghai 2 F. Kirk . It 3 1056 Lord Lenny 3 M. McKendry It 4 0087 Direct Kiwi 4 ....... J. Langdon It 5 3432 Gaelic Skipper 5 D. Butcher It 6 0698 Metal Mickey 6.. . . G. Wolfenden It 7 2732 African Man 7 G. Hillier It 8 7287 Regional Bromac 8. .. M. Stormont It 10 7626 John Paul 10 P. Ferguson It 11 5405 Ben 11 B. Mangos It 12 1515 Reilly UR M. Purdon It 13 0008 Comedy Lady 1 M. Purdon 10 Scratched: Captain Cavalla. Race 7 9.10 PETER EVERETT MOBILE PACE $6500; Cl; 2200 m 1 ~ 0 Elisatross 1 . ,P. Wolfenden It 2 35,(50 Tudor Kelly 2 G. Wolfenden It