SOME COMMENTS. (By Sir Bedivere.)

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 72, 28 March 1910, Page 4

SOME COMMENTS. (By Sir Bedivere.)

Wellington was pretty strongly represented At the picturesque raceground at Tauhorenikau on Saturday, but other centres did not lend the gathering their support as freely as might have been anticipated, and the attendance appeared a trifl*. disappointing. As the special train from, the Capital City skirted the Wairarapa Lake a high wind was blowing, but on our arrival at Foatherston the 3ir wa3 absolutely Ftill, and until the eecond event was due to be run, when jq&t the suspicion of a breeze sprung ut>, tho weather was oppressively hot. The course was in wonderfully fine order, and the going was simply perfection, being fast and entirely devoid of stint.'. Taking it as a whole, the racing was of an interesting description, and \va». chiefly remarkable for the downfall of a number of hot favourites, as the result of which the general run of backers had an exceedingly bad day. Truganini wa? sent out a good favourite for thp principal event, namely, the Easter Handicap, and in view of the form she t-howed at Dannevirke, it I really did not look as though she could get beaten. Her defeat was> brought about by Lethean, however, and was solely due to her inability to sec tho journey out at the warm pace set, fop which she herself w«s mainly responMble. Ryan appeared to take matteis a little easily when he realised he had no chance of beating Lethean, and -o veiy nearly missed landing second money. A> it was, however, Truganini ju>t Hjueezed home half v. head to the ;_;oo<l of llilarian. and so added yet another second to her extraordinary list of thorn. Skyo wa.s If ft at the* po.-t, and walked back to the paddock. Merrie R<i=e and Aberration were well be«t«ji three fnriongs from home, and Mataari barely ran up to his best form. Next to the Easter Handicap, the.

Wardell Handicap attracted most attention, and, In consideration of - having such an awkward customer an Full Rale to deal with, Mr. Fisher, whoxe starting in at least two events was defective, got the- field away in a creditable manner. Advantage, who was favourite on the totalizator, but whoce name was not written to a proportionate extent by <the layers, hopped away smartly, and ran jn an easy v inner by two lengths. She is new back to 'form, but her effort was to some extent discounted by 4he «uspiciouMv moderate displnys of what •hould nave been two of her most dangarous opponents. She is, however, a speedy mare, and will always be hard to beat- over a short course. A remarkably moderate lot contested j the Maiden Hack Race, which on ap- | pearanceß looked, good for Leapuki. The Lethe gelding, however, was the lact to move from & moderate Mart, and, though he managed to overhaul the remainder of hi* opponents, he was unable to catih Mifs Peaty, who won comfortably by a length, and would probably havo beaten him in any circumstances Merrie Land, who was only meeting Succession on 111b worse terms than when he cantered in in front of her nl Masterton, looked n certain winner of the Te Waka Welter, for everything fointed to his being an improving horse, n !<o viewing things, however, backers were destined to lose their money, for, after Retting well away, Succession never gave him a chance to gel on term*, and won very comfortably by four length*. Marengo wa& tiie popular choice lor the. Wangaimoana Handicap, and when the tap« rose and he was eeen to be the last to Icavo tho mark, thoic who had supported him would have probably out cheaply. Gradually making up his lost ground, however, lie wan lying handy at the home turn, and, coming through in the straight, he won comfortably by a length and a half. HiK performance was a meritori- ! ous one, and it is evident that' ho is going to turn out useful. Curator was unable to see the distance out, and Bally Shannon, who was prominent for half the journey, also failed to complete hit com ract. t,,«, J 6ry . S f COndrate lot of juveniles turned out to try conclusions in the Nursery Handicap, for which Killaloo was much fancied. British Maid, however, had a large following, and Inspection w a3 not entirely neglected. As luck would have it, only these three had afiy sort of a chance, for tho *Urt was v wretched one, and the remainder of vmi i w " e r left "any lengths behind. ™!.!fci £ /.""I*?* 101 * M«> stayed on much better than his condition suggestft hl f. bei »S . ab »c t<> do) led until well B«vJS rU" 1 .? 11 * 11 *'. w , heu lhe miniature British Maid put in her claim and scored decisively. Longwood is » shapely on, and Merry Widow, who was also not nearly ready, is not a bad sort. *r i i • ?I V V port concl «d»J with the S' kl ,% k « an *«»P. for which Aim Ifi H l d A th * Taranakfowned filly Bow Bells had most friends. The winner, however, turned up in Palestine, who beat Prancer by a narrow margin, and returned her supporters a very acceptable dividend indeed. AUCKLAND AUTUMN MEETING. FIRST DAY. WAIARI WINs"THE EASTER HANDICAP. f_BT TEtZGEAPH— JRESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, 26th March. The first day of the Auckland Racing Club's autumn carnival was held at the EHerslie course to-day in magnificent weather. There was a large attendance. The sum of £11,818 was invested on the totalisator. Thirty-five bookmakers were licensed. Balance of results :—: — Easter Handicap, of 750 sove ; one mile. one mile. Mr. T. Hikaka's "Waiari, by St. Paul — Thirhnere, 4yrs, 7.13 (C. Brown) 1 Mr. X Preston's Equitas, 8.9 Mr. W. C. King's Wauchope, Til (Gray) 3 Also started — Salute, Meirivonia, Uranium, Advocate, Maheno, Ngapuka, Woodhe>», Tamainupo, Dawn, Santa Rosa, First Wairiki, Elegance, and Ambala. Won by half a length, Equilas just beating Wauchope by a neck for second honours. Merrivonia was fourth. Santa Rosa, Elegance, and Woodhey followed in that order, and Ambala was last. Time, lmin 40sec. Salute, First Wairiki, and Advocate fell. Price, tho rider of First Wairiki, was badly injured, but the other two got off with a severe shaking. Eden Handicap, of 175 soys ; seven furlongc— MiE3 Winnie, 8.0, 1; Jena, 7.2, 2; Zinnia, 0.9, 3. Also started— Maiora, Tattoo, Coromandel, Auldearn, Haldane, Genera! Soult, Electrakoff, and Dogger Bank. Won by a length and ahalf. Time, lmin 28sec. EHerslie Handicap, of 175 soys ; six furlongs. — Wareong. 8.2. 1 ; Antoinette, 8.5, 2; Wenonah, 7.12. 3. Also started : Virtue, Goldfinder, Solus. Princess Soul t, Birkdale. Master Wairiki, Lady Kilcheran, Doughboy, Hamad ly ad, Mi« Ada, Velta, Wee" Olga, His Highness, and Duma. Warsong won by two lengths. Time, lmin 16sec. Nelson Handicap, of 125 soys ; seven fnriongs.— Sea Elf, 8.9, 1 ; Epsom Lass, 8.1, 2; Admiral Soult, 8.12, 3. Also started : Prince Leo, Michaeloff, All's Well. Fus*. Waiotahi. Lloyds, Flatfish, and Monocle. Won by a length and a half. Time, lmin 28 2-ssec. Tramway Handicap, of 150 eovs ; five furlongs. — Turbine, 7.9, 1 ; Mnhinga, 7.13, 2j Waiata, 8.4, 3. Also started: Sir Artegal, Tarina, Hyperion, and Pairawaatu. Won by three lengths. Time, lmin 1 4-ssec.