Mares face daunting task in cap

Press, 28 January 1988, Page 37

Mares face daunting task in cap

Special correspondent Wellington Daria’s Fun, and Empire Rose, plus the other six mares which make up half the field in Saturday’s $300,000 Foster’s Wellington Cup (3200 m face a 'daunting task.

That is, to beat the record book. As good as mares have been in recent years, they have not been able to win a Wellington Cup although, in recent times, Maurita and Show Gate stand out as two mares which went close to victory. After running second in the Auckland Cup behind Fountaincourt, Maurita went under by a nose to Kiwi in 1983. Show Gate was second in 1977 to Good Lord, the winner of the race a second time the next year. Good Lord is the only horse to win the Wellington Cup twice — remembering that Great Sensation and, before the turn of the century, Cynisca won the race three times. Given Kiwi’s run in Melbourne some 10 months later it seems that the record book has held its status by dint of some outstanding performances. But with Daria’s Fun and Empire Rose in the field this time — and that should not detract from the presence of Threesome, Dungarvan, Frosty Heir, Hypatia, Cure and Nymphe Noire — 1988 should really be the year for the mares. The female strength, along with the light Central Districts challenge, are the main Wellington Cup talking points at this stage. Sir Zeus, Gallipoli and Nymphe Noire are the Central Districts runners and surprisingly not one galloper from Awapuni or

Levin is in the field. Since the first Wellington Cup on record, in 1874, only 22 wins by females have been recorded. One mare, Cynisca, won the race three times, while another, Gladsome in 1904, was first to the line, but lost the race because her apprentice did not have a licence to ride. It took almost six months for the placing to be confirmed, but club records still list Gladsome as a joint winner, which may say something for the verdict. Three of the 20 mares figured in dead-heats and not all were winners at two miles. The first four mares all won at 3200 metres, but between 1890 and 1941 the distance was a mile and a half. In modern day terms only Almora, which deadheated in 1951, and Jalna, in 1960, have won the Wellington Cup at two miles. No mare has won the cup at 3200 metres. Nevertheless, Daria’s Fun and Empire Rose will dispute favouritism on Saturday. Empire Rose has been one of the leading lights all along, but in a day of quality performances, Daria’s Fun was outstanding in her Mobil Trentham Stakes win last Saturday. Her winning margin was three lengths over She Might Hula, but between her and Cure, the closest of her cup rivals, the margin was five lengths and a quarter. Daria’s Fun was seventh in the Auckland Cup last year and second behind Sea Swift this year. She was eighth as well in the Melbourne Cup. In this current campaign Daria’s Fun has won the Jaguar Cup at Ellerslie. Her trainer, Susan Ellis, thought that this might be the final season for the mare, but her maturity is such that at this stage another campaign is contemplated. For her current Wellington Cup campaign, Daria’s Fun has been based at Otaki. Work on the track has been supple-

mented with regular visits to the nearby Otaki beach. Empire Rose, for her part, is settling in at Trentham. She has had a busy time, but apart from her lapse (sixteenth of 18 runners) in the Auckland Cup, she has a win in the New Zealand Cup, along with a second in the Melbourne Cup this season. She will make her own bit of history on Saturday for it is hard to find any galloper which has contested the three major cup races in New Zealand and the big two-miler at Flemington in the one season. Dungarvan comes to Trentham as a winner of the NZ St Leger last season and she was third in the Terrace Regency on Saturday. Threesome was first to the finish line, and after months of wrangling, lost the Trentham Stakes. This will be her first race since a miss in the Auckland Cup when second favourite. She was ninth in the Wellington Cup last year. Cure won the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton last season and the Kuhtze Handicap at Avondale. Her form this season has been sound. Frosty Heir won the Invercargill Gold Cup before failing in the Trentham Stakes. Hypatia was second in the Invercargill Cup and that came after wins in the Timaru Handicap and the Waikouaiti Cup. Nymphe Noire has had a solid build-up as well. Good wins at Hastings and Woodville came after a late dab to get third in the Summer Handicap at Trentham last Monday. Nymphe Noire’s connections rate her good enough to pay a late entry fee to run in the Wellington Cup on Saturday. The last time a mare won the Wellington Cup; Marie Brizard (Auckland Cup) and Foglia d’Oro (N.Z. Cup) were the other big cup winners that season. It may be an omen as Empire Rose (N.Z. Cup) and Sea Swift (Auckland Cup) have already taken these races this season.