Taciturn worthy opponent for Bonecrusher at Wingatui

Press, 1 February 1988, Page 29

Taciturn worthy opponent for Bonecrusher at Wingatui

By DAVID MCCARTHY

Whatever special arrangements the Otago Racing Club need to make for Bonecrusher’s southern foray next week, finding suitable opposition will not be one of them.

That was underlined by the latest addition to the ranks of White Robe Handicap contenders, Taciturn, as she treated the history books and her race rivals with disdain in the South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’s Stakes at Riccarton on Saturday. The chestnut filly, not-

ably improved since her last visit to Riccarton when she cleared maidens in November, charged out of the pack at a great rate of knots, after receiving a good rails run, and had over four lengths to spare at the finish post, easing down. She is the first three-year-old to win the 1800 m feature since its inception seven years ago,, when Another Story set a national record for the distance of 1:48.73. The best previous effort by a filly was when Hint ran second to the North Island mare, Gossip, three years

later. Saturday’s victory was not only a better result for Taciturn’s trainer, Cliff Reese-Jones, who produced Noble Ella to run second to Connie Lawn last year, but was admirably timed for Taciturn’s breeders and owners, Mr Stuart and Mrs Margaret Mclntosh. iThey have a half-brother, by Sea Anchor, entered at the Karaka sale on Wednesday and, being in the north with him, they missed Saturday’s win. The Mclntosh family had considerable success at Riccarton and else-

where with Taciturn’s dam, Top Secret, a Mellay mare which won 17 races, and her half-sister, Trade Secret, which won nine. Oddly Taciturn’s maiden win in November is the only one of the many Riccarton victories the immediate family has chalked up in the last decade that the Mclntosh’s have been able to witness.

The ease of Saturday’s win had Reese-Jones pondering his decision to bypass the New Zealand Oaks in favour of the Breeders’ Stakes. On bal-

ance he believes he did the right thing even if the ease of Taciturn's win at Riccarton must have placed doubts in his mind.

"There were several angles to the Wellington trip. For one thing I wanted her to run in the Douro Cup as a lead-up and the travel arrangements weren’t suitable. She is a Noble Bijou and they are the type which need time. She’s improved a lot in the last couple of months but she still has plenty of developing to do. I reasoned that if I wasn’t too tough on her

I’d still have a horse left,” Keese-Jones said.

The White Robe Lodge Handicap is an obvious target for the filly which may also run in the Mannequin Stakes (1600 m on the second day of the Dunedin meeting.

The presence of Bonecrusher is likely to make the White Robe a bonanza for jockeys able to, ride light. Taciturn cannot be given more than weight-for-age (52.5 kg and is sure to get less.

That should be no bother for rider Russell McAra however. The senior Wingatui horseman has struck up an affinity with Taciturn. Four of his last seven winning rides have been on her, including the Dunedin Guineas. McAra can ride a comfortable 48kg when necessary.

Taciturn’s win left few excuses for the others. Beks and Eye Full, two older mares resuming after Auckland and New Zealand Cup bids respectively, found the transition to 1800 m too great a task though both fought on well. Eye Full was not helped by being caught wide in the midfield and faded to fifth. Some Bird ran on well to gain third behind Beks with Impound battling away for fourth. Reese-Jones has no “head in the clouds” assessment of Taciturn and indeed feels she is not the equal of her dam at the same stage but she has it all in front of her and she should add considerable interest to the White Robe Handicap on Saturday week.