THE RACING WORLD CUDDLE AGAIN

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 127, 23 February 1938, Page 17

THE RACING WORLD

CUDDLE AGAIN

To-morrow At Wanganui ROYAL CHIEF’S PROGRESS Royevrus A Promising Horse <r. . *■ (Bt Cabbine.) A feature of the racing at Wanganui to-morrow will be the appearance of Cuddle iu the cup. It is a while since Cuddle has raced, but she has done a lot of steady work at Treutham. She has galloped freely and attractively and she looks well. Tomorrow she will have 9.18 to carry against a good field, but the course (which is turning) and the distance (a mile and a quarter) will suit her. She races well' when fresh and is expected to run prominently. Next week she may contest the Napier Cup. At Wanganui she will be ridden by Li. J. Ellis. '■ Promising Colt. Royevrus, winner (at double -figures) of the two-.vear-old handicap on the second day at Te Rapa, is a chestnut colt by Surveyor from Desert Fire. Royevrus resembles his sire and may be one of the best of the line. He looks speedy and has a nice action., As he has not done much racing and is green, it Was good play to have him ridden by an experienced jockey. L. J. Ellis rode him ,at 61b. overweight. Royevrus was troublesome at the barrier and was sent to the outside of the line. He lost several lengths /at the start, but when the field had gone a furlong he was in front. He was a couple of lengths clear entering the straight, and ran in a very comfortable winner. His was a good performance and stamps him as a very promising young horse. Silver River. ' ,

The Wellington-owned and Awapunitrained Silver River ran a good pice in the Waikato Hack Cup on Monday, but was riot quite good enough to finish in the money. Silver River was one of the early leaders and was prominent throughout the race, but weakened a little toward the end and finished a good fourth.

Sergia’s Task. At Wanganui to-morrow the northern mare Sergia will endeavour to equal the feat of another mare, Piuthair, who won the Egmont, Taranaki and Wanganui Cups in the autumn of 1927. Already Sergia has won the Taranaki Cup and the Egmont Cup. She has a good field to beat to-morroW, but is a smart mare, and her form entitles her to respect.

When Piuthdlr won the treble for Mr. ,'R. A. McKenzie, who won at the recent Taranaki and Egmont meetings, with Clessamor, she carried 8.1 in the Eginont Cup, 8.7 in the Taranaki Cup, and 8.9 in the Wanganui Cup. Sergia’s weight fb-morrow is 8.5. Piuthair was ridden in her three-successes by T. Green. Sergia’s jockey at New Plymouth and Hawera was R. Glading, her regular pilot, who is a son of the mare’s owner. ■ .’ i.'

Royal Appellants Amiss. Royal Appellant developed slight lameness after his gallop at Ellerslie on Thursday morning. The trouble does not appear to be very serious, aiid there is a chance that he will be recovered in time to race at Te Aroha_this,,week..,

'Gallop by Valamito. Several horses with engagements at Te Arolia on Saturday were galloped at Takanini, when the poles were Out 15ft. The most interesting gallopwas that of Valamito,. who gave Round Up five lengths’ start, and finished with him at the end of a mile in 1.47. Valamito ran the first two furlongs ip 25, three in 41, and four in 52. It was a solid effort on the part of Valamito. Round Up is a lazy worker. Anion (Inglis) gave Arvakur (Collett) a .break of several lengths and beat him over five furlongs in the good time of 1.3 oT’N Alllon ran the first two furlongs in - 4 ,'T. a ? d went pleasingly. Arvakur L? Oa ,. 4- „ *o complete the five furlongs. Nordic Song did useful work, sprinting "up the straight. .

N.Z. Colt for Adelaide. A colt by Siegfried from'Sungift, bred by Mrs. M. E. Fletcher, Hastings, and purchased in New Zealand by C. Wheeler for Mr. M. Young, has reached Adelaide and has gone into C. A. Northway’s stable at Victoria Park. Mr. Youu'g races Jeune Star, who Is trained at Morphetville. _Mr. Young is a brother to the late Mr. Horace Young, who raced extensively in Adelaide years ago. He owned Auotto and Wire Wheels, also Hare Hatch, a disappointing brother to Gloaming,

Jockeys Want Safer Hurdles. The type Of hurdle iu use at Ellerslie and Avondale was discussed at some length at a special meeting of hurdle riders called by the New Zealand Jockeys’ Association, and held in Hamilton bn Saturday evening, when the vicepresident, Mr. L. Diilicu, presided. It was the unanimously opinion that having, regard to the pace at which hurdle races - were run, and to other relevant features, the hurdles in use at these two courses constituted a very definite menace not only to the horses, but also to those who had to do the riding, ft was decided to approach the Auckland branch of the Owners, Trainers and Breeders’ Association, and seek their eo-operation in an effort to have safer fences provided at Ellerslie and Avondale. Royal Chief. “The three-year-old Royal Chief was allowed, to run along for half a mile one morning last week, though not at top speed,” says the Christchurch “Star.” “He has done a lot of useful exercise, and as he has nearly thrown off the effects of the- soreness that troubled him at the Auckland meeting, he is about ready for more serious tasks. Provided he goes on all right, lie will be sent to Trenthara next month for the New Zealand St. Leger. A few weeks ago it looked as if this would be an easy race for him, but there now seems a good prospect of Courtcraft .being on the scene. It should provide an interesting contest. As a rule the three-year-old form has been fully sized up before the St. Leger is run, but if Courtcraft and Royal Chief go to the post next month's contest should provide one of the chief attractions at the Wellington Racing Club’s autumn meeting. '• There would be time enbugh after that to send Courtcraft to Sydney for Easter engagements at Randwick if Mr. W. H. Gaisford decided to go on with the trip.” Stipendiary Stewards.

’ It must be nearly 35 years since the stipendiary stewards’ system was adopted by the A.J.C., and, no matter what may be said by people who see a nontrier in nearly every beaten horse (says “Pilot”), it has greatly benefited racing. Stipendiary stewards are not infallible, and while they may occasionally miss occurrences that could be dealt with officially, their errors in that respect are light by comparison with the “bad old days” of honorary stewards. There are many mOn still following racing who can recall the fact that some owners were immune, and could safely do things that would mean disaster for them nowadays, even if the severity of the stewards falls short of the standard demanded by some. Another thing was that honorary stewards were often sympathetic,, because the smallness Of the stakes’made a win undesirable by a “battling” oyoer, unsupported by a punter. This specially applied to .. unregistered .meetings. Jockeys, too, wore not over-particular in the days of honorary stewards. While we still hear complaints on that score, most present-day happenings are mild compared with many that passed muster prior to the days of paid stewards.