Straight Line streets rivals

Press, 19 December 1988, Page 32

Straight Line streets rivals

By DAVID MCCARTHY

The Riccarton stable of Dave and Jan Kerr maintained a high profile when Straight Line was the most impressive of three winners from four starters the stable produced at the Riccarton Turf Club trials at Riccarton yesterday. Straight Line, with Lorna Cook up, ran in the 800 m two-year-old trial and streeted her rivals by eight lengths. That was no surprise given the form she has shown on raceday and the subsequent runs of youngsters like Wise Counsel, which suffered defeat at the hands of the Riccarton filly last month and then returned north to show winning form, but by any standards it was a highly impressive trial. Straight Line ran the 800 m in 48 seconds and while under a light weight was not under any pressure. She looks to have a mortgage on the Champagne Stakes at Wingatui on Boxing Day, her next assignment. The Kerr stable was in grand form at that track on Saturday winning three races. Cook also piloted Time Flies to victory in the 1600 m heat later in the day the strapping gelding jumping on terms with the field, in contrast to his raceday debut back in September. The other big winner yesterday was leading

horseman Grant Davison who chalked up seven successes. The victories included each of the three 1200 m maiden heats, with the Garth Jackson-trained Imperialtrix (Imperial Seal—Set Sail Maple) raced by Bev Smith; Balmacewan, a recent firststarter for Southern Syndicates, and a dead-heat, in the fastest of the three trials, on Scoff which shared the honours after a late charge from Four Cee’s ridden by Corin Pemberton. Davison also guided a slimmer looking Decree Nisi to a narrow win over his stablemate, Shady News. Others to impress on the day included a Western Bay filly trained by Tony Lawrey which made ground late for fourth in the heat for two-year-olds, China Bay a close third for the Davison-Jackson combination over 800 m, Amanda Hall, Golf Ball and Wreck The Tote. Results. Track firm. 800 m, Inexperienced. Heat 1: Kayla (L. Cook) 1, Dominique 2, Bottler filly 3. iy 2 len, U/ 2 len. Time: 36.02. Trainers: D. and J. Kerr. Heat 2: Tom Shu filly (G. Davison) 1, Bottler gelding, 2, Murphy 3. 1 len, % len. Time: 36.44. Trainer: R. Bergerson. 800 m, two-year-olds; catch weights. Straight Line (Cook) 1, Amanda Hall (Fallen) 2, Schantai (Johnson) 3. 8 len.

iy 2 len. Time: 48. Trainers: D. and J. Kerr. 800 m, maidens; catchweights. State Beauty (Fallen) 1, Barney (Johnson) 2, China Bay (Davison) 3. 6 started. Nose, head. Time: 50.07. Trainer: M. Pitman. Heat 2: Laurel Bay (Kenyon) 1, Double Nearco mare (Johnson) 2, Rakau Diamond (Jamieson) 3. 8 started. y 2 nk,. y 2 len. Time: 49.6. Trainer: J. Parsons. Heat 3: Super Car (D, Hancock) 1, Arana Angel (Johnson) 2, Ride the Light (Davison) 3. 9 started. Hd, hd. Time: 49.12. Trainers: A. and L. Prendergast. 800 m, all classes: catchweights. Bounty Queen (Pemberton) 1, Explosive (Jamieson) 2, Malak Star 3. 6 started. 3 len, 2 len. Time: 49.01. Trainer: L. Woods. 1200 m maiden qualifying, set weights. Heat 1: Imperiatrix (Davison) 1, Irish Eyes 2, Rakau Smokey 3. 10 started. 1 len, hd. Time: 1:12.2. Trainer: G. A. Jackson. Heat 2: Scoff (Davison) 1, Four Cee’s (Pemberton) 1, Sunset Palace 3. 10 started. Dead-heat, 2 len. Time: 1:11.8. Trainers: G. Murfitt (Scoff), L. Henigan (Four Cee’s). Heat 3: Balmacewan (Davison) 1, Tip Off 2, Jambri 3. 10 started. % len, hd. Time: 1:12.67. Trainer: G. A. Jackson. 1200 m, all classes; catchweights. ■ Decree Nisi (Davison) 1, Shady News (Kenyon) 2, Tai Yang (Johnson) 3. 6 started. Nk, 3 len. Time: .1:10.5. Trainer: T. Lalor. 1600 m, maiden qualifying; set weight.

Carat (Williams) 1, Sertaw 2, Jake 3. 6 started, 2 len, 6 len. Time: 1:39.23. 1600 m, all classes; catch weights. Time Flies (Cook) 1, War Effort 2, Star Day 3. 4 started. 1 len, 2 len. Time: 1:40.97. Trainer: J. Bourne.