Pumpernickel may rise to occasion

Press, 3 November 1989, Page 28

Pumpernickel may rise to occasion

By

DAVID MCCARTHY

The successful Matamata trainer, Roger James, does not like travelling a long way with his charges unless his confidence is backed by performance, but where Pumpernickel is concerned he admits to be playing something of a hunch.

Pumpernickel is on trial for the Two Thousand Guineas when he runs in the Racecourse Hotel handicap at Riccarton tomorrow and he might go better than his second, beaten five lengths by Veda in class three company at Egmont on October 18, might suggest.

That came after a class four win by a short head at Ellerslie in September and a moderate tenth at Matamata a month previous.

But there could be more to Pumpernickel than meets the eye. “I'd normally like a horse to have done more before travelling so far, but I’m sure, in my own mind, he will improve lengths on top of the ground. That is why we are here and. Saturday well tell us whether we are right or wrong,” said James.

His last visit to Riccarton was for another Two Thousand Guineas, the year Field Dancer, which he part-trained, was good enough to beat Bonecrusher for second, but could not quite top off southerner Random Chance for the major honours.

Besides a private reputation and some smart form as a two-year-old, Pumpernickel also has some high-powered connections.

The Diplomatic Star youngster is part-owned by Auckland Racing club executive Peter Grieve,

part-owner and also trainer of Braless, which nearly brought off a unique Guineas double at Riccarton in 1977. Braless beat all but the brilliant Uncle Remus in the Two Thousand Guineas on the first day and won the One Thousand Guineas, then held on the final day of the meeting. One of Grieve’s partners in Pumpernickel is Auckland Racing Club secretary Richard Benson, who shares in the ownership of Super Fiesta, a race rival for Pumpernickel tomorrow. Pumpernickel was taken over by James this season. Trained in the Central Districts as a two-year-old, his sole win at that age, at Foxton in January, was a defeat of Centime, which is the likely favourite in the Racecourse Handicap tomorrow.