THE TURE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 109, 10 May 1910, Page 4

THE TURE.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. ' (By Sir Bedivere.) The Egmont Earing Chib's autumn meeting commences to-morrow and excellent acceptances having been received, pome interesting sport should be forthcoming. The meeting between Paisano, Paritutu, Continuance, Waitapu, and Nicotine in the Tongahoe Hurdles will perhaps bo the feature of the first day's card, and the. winner promises to be anything but easy to find. r A number of maiden performers will be seen ont in the Ladies' Pur&e, in which Handsome Paul, who won easily at Manaia, has got off with 1X.2, The M'Bae Memorial Slakeo -will be decided for the first time, and its result will considerably depend upor. tlie, condition in which John may happen to be. At Hastings lie was all to pieces, but if he has since pulled >rottnd a. bit he will frobably be well suppoTte/J. The handicaps for the 1 principal crosscountry and '^hurdle races to be decided at Wangonui a»d Ellerslie ha,ve now been published, and, as was only to be expected, they are in each instance very similar. Kiatere, . .who was awarded 12.5 at Wanganui, and was scratched as soon as • the • weights appeared, is set Ur carry lib leas over the Ellerslie country, and, well into the sere and yellow though he is, he must be difficult to beat. Last year he ran second to Capitol under 12.5, and as, he has been iri active . commission during the summer months he should have an advantage over the majority of his opponents in respect to condition. The sq.d wall brought Sol to grass in last year'». icice, and he subsequently fell, but was remounted and finished third under 12.0 in the Winter Steeplechase. In 1906 Sol won the Great v Northern Steeplechase with 11.3 up, and if he should be landed at the post .fit and v, - ell next month he should give "a good account of himself under 11.7. After running second to Nadador in, the Grand National Steeplechase last August, El Ddrardo won both the Beaufort and Lincoln Steeplechases, iv the latter of which he carried 11.0. jMr- Morte vow a>-ks him to carry 11.5, and in doing .°o he cannot be said to have treated this promising yoijng 'chaser harsfeJy. Te Arai showed good form at' l Eventham la^t July, but he appears to have none the best of the deal as compared with Capi tol, to whom he is set to ~ concede 71b. When these two geldings met in the Wellington Steeplechase Capitol was carrying 10.13, whilst Te Arai had only 9.11 on his back. Te Arai won. but quite a. number of people were of the opinion that had not CapitoD come to grief about three furlongs fiwjn home he would have prevailed. Be that as it may, Capitol was certainly- putting in a wonderful run when he car.ne dowQ, and as he will now meet Te lArai on 221b better terms, he should beat the Gisborne horse. Loch Fyne won the Great Northern two years ago under 10.2, finishing four lengths ahead of Sol, who was burdened with 12.5. . _Thr6e days Later he beat Sol by a head in tljaf Winter Steeplechase, their respective weight*. being 11.1 and 12.9. Since then he was badly beaten at Hawkes i3ay > ran second under 1J..7 to Nadador (10.7) at Trentham, and fell in the Grand National at Iticcarton, in which he carried 12.4 (including 101b penalty). Nothing was of him last winter, and this year he 1 ran fourth in the Autumn Steeplechase at Ellerslie, and baulked at Avondale. He was not an easy horse, to deal with, but if at -his best he must; take all sorts' of beating under 11.1. Andax*i< set to meet Kiatere on 18lb worse terms than when he made mincemeat of the Castor gelding in the Lincoln Steepiecluise at lUeearton, and he cannot be said to be unduly taxed. Jack Pot, who failed last yeai under 10.6, but subsequently won the Hawkes Bay Steeplechase, seems to have hit- full share, and of the others the maiden performers 1 Waione and Makn may perhaps command most respect. Speaking stnrtly by t-he book, Sol appears to be the p'ifk of trie handicap, but it is, I think, safe to Aay that Mr. Morse." adjustments will meet with general approval, and that a., good acceptance v. ill result. There being no x-eal smashers among our preser»k-day hurdlers, there was every opportunity for framing the handicap for tfce Great Northern Hurdles on a flatterimg scale, and this, in taking a range of '.only 311b, Mr. Morse has fully accomplished. Compass won the last Grand Iftational at Riccarton under 10.8, beating Pikopo, after a hard race, by two lengths, whilst Ben Jonson (11.4) was a •Jengih and a half away third. Ben Jtm'son is now handicapped to meet Comcanr on -81b more favourable terms, and\on the face of it hs might bo consiiier-sd well treated. The Ellerslie event, however, is run oveihalP a mi'e of "pxtra ground as compare J with that sit Iticcarton, and over the lengthier journey I skoxild much prefer Compass, vviho is unquestionably the better stayer ol" the two. As compared with the top weights, Waiono seems harshly used.\.4ind I certainly cannot fancy his chancei of holding his own with Compass with a difference of only 31b. Maku, too, hstt received a very' full share of weight, though he is such a fine slayer that cyan under 10.12 he must be dangerous. Those who saw Paisano make such San exhibition of his opponents at Na[<>v or Park in th* spring gained a very A*"Sh opinion of him, and promptly proclaimed him as, a likely National winner. 1 His form at Hastings last month may safely be ignoicd, and Mr. Morse could not reasonably have" let hini off .with less than 10.10. It is said he has ii»ecome affected in the wind, but as to* the tiuth of this f know nothing, and .^a the meantime I shall be content t<s> await the decision of the Century ]\rurd}cs\ r urd}cs at Wanganui.. Tauira ts nicely placed, for there is no doubt that, when i's fit, as he was at Trentham lasC July, he, is a capable getding, and old PaHtuti^ has beea given some chance to distinguish himself. It- is, however, from th«A 10.2 and under division that danger may chiefly be expected, foi among the lighft weights are some that are exceptionaHy well treated. Start with Audax. Here is one of the best-bred and best Rooking geldings seen in New Zealand io\ many a long day. His dam, Temaraiie, was out of Sister Mary, by Ingomar '(great jumping strain), from Sister Agnes (halE-sister to'Placida, winner of* the Oaks), by Eosicrucian — Penance, by 'The Flying Dutchman (winner of the Derby)— Rosary (sister to Surplice, winner of the Derby' and St. Leger). L'iow good he may us probably even hh^ trainer does not yet know', for he just tantered in for the Hunters.' Hurdles and Lincoln Steeplechase, after which he unfortunately went amiss. Wimmera won very easily at-hrs first attempt over hurdles, and so capable a horse on the i flat may be considered lucky to get off i with 10.2. Taking a line through Maku, | Gold Bird is rightly placed, but Grena Uier and Continuance are smely we!! in, and if this be so, what about Waitapu, who won the Taranaki Cup and Empire -Handicap at Wanganui last season ? Then there is another, namely, Woolloomooloo. This horse recently won a jumpers' flat lace in Australia, and his owner is not the sort of man to bring i a duffer back with him.