NOTES ON THE RACING.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19, 24 January 1911, Page 3

NOTES ON THE RACING.

The principal and decidedly the most ! interesting event of the second day's card was the Wellington Stakes. Its Tesult- was destined to throw further ! light upon the respective merits of Cul- j prit and Orton, who were to meet on exactly even terms. Those who witnessed the decision of the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie were practically unanimously of the opinion that Orton was lucky to beat the Charlemagne filly, and there can now no longer be any doubt that Culprit is both the better of the two and the smartest juvenile that has yefc been unearthed this season. In the paddock she was distinctly anxious and perspired freely, whilst Orton, who behaves in the most exemplary manner until he reaches the post, walked round the weighing enclosure as though he had no cares whatsoever. Of the other pair Tenterhook was nervous, but Sunburnt appeared to move with greater freedom than he did on Saturday", and not a few experienced Tacing men expected him to give a good account of himself. Bootle looked all the better for the race he had had en Satiirday, but his form was not sufficiently attractive to warrant his chance being seriously fancied. Culprit, Orton, and Bootle were taken, straight to the pest without doing th? orthodox preliminary, in which, however, Tenterhook moved much more attractively than Sunburnt, whose fore fetlocks are a bit straight and are not unlikely to _ cause him trouble. Once at the post Orton repeated the tricks he showed at Ellerslie, and as Tenterhook was also inclined to twist about, Mr. O'Connor's task was anjijhing but an enviable fine. After exercising great patience, However, be got his chance, and the quintette were ient away to a good stait. Culprit, who led throughout, was doing her level best as the straight was entered, Price then having to use both hands and heels, but once fairly in the running she had Orion's measure, and the result was subsequently never in doubt. She is a wonderfully smart filly, and though some may decry her on account of her being a bit undersized, she shows remarkable muscular development and promises ito bs able to stay. Sunburnt was outj paced during the early stages; but finished strongly. Though there was only half a length between them as the winning post was past, however, Orton held him safely enough, and would probably havo still beaten him had there been another half a furlong to go. THE W.R.C. HANDICAP. In selecting Lady Medallist as the most likely winner of the Racing Club Handicap, backers showed good judgment. Maori King, however, was almosL equally well fancied, and a capital race was confidently looked forward to. This time Los Angelos showed no signs of anxiety in the weighing enclosure, and thereupon not a few people determined to support him. Maori King, on the other hand, was not as cool and collected as he was on Saturday. Lady Medallist never looked better, and those I who had not seen her previously this season were surprised to note the condition which she now carries. Birkdale also stripped well, but another candidate that had not previously been seen out at this meeting, in Outlander, scarcely looked the horse ho was when he won the Great Autumn Handicap at Riccarton. The result of this event at least proved two things. One, that Maori King, as some of us were previously of the opinion, should have beaten Los Angelos in the Stead Memorial Gold Cup, and, two, that Lady Medallist is the best filly over a tenfurlong course now in commission in the Dominion. Luck was all against her, and only sheer merit carried her through. Jenkins was over-anxious at the post, and, instead of his mount being one of the first to move, she was the last but one to leave the mark. Making up her lost ground in the back stretch, however, she collared Maori King halfway down the running, and, stili having enough left to ctall, off a late challenge on the part of Birkdale, she .won a grand race by a bare length. i Hor performance was full of merit, and, i unenthtisiastic though tho crowd was, she was not allowed to return to scale i without a cheer. Merrivonia scarcely reproduced the form she showed at Christmas, and Goldfinder would have been far; better* at homo in his stable. His showing — he was hopelessly beaten from the very "outset — conclusively proved that he is dead stale, and sadly in want of a let up. Los Angelos again ran well until the business end of the journey came to be faced, when he faded away beaten, and so made it apparent that sprinting, rather than staying, is his forte. THE MINOR EVENTS. The only one of the minor events that calls for much comment is the Fitzherbert Handicap. When writing of Saturday's results 1 ventured the opinion that *boih Byron and Counterfeit would be seen to better advantage later on in the season, ;md the form they showed yesterday leaves no doubt as' to this. Byron, who did not bagin quite so quickly as some of his opponents, came with an undeniable run at the right end and won quite cleverly. That he is a smart* colt now goes without saying, and it is by no means uncertain that ere the season ends he will show himself to be at least the equal of Miscount, with whom chief honours unquestionably rested yesterday. Counterfeit, who was meeting him on 31b worse than weighi-for-age. also ran a sterling good race, and until the half distance she looked a certain winner. She is a nicely turned filly, and may be expected to turn out at least as good as her elder sister Miss Mischief. Khansim scarcely ran as well as might have been anticipated, and Sinapis has plainly gone stale. The opening event resulted in a particularly fine finish, and it was pretty to sec the battle-royal between two such good horsemen as Oliver and Jenkins. The question was, which would ask his mount for a final effort first. In its decision Oliver had a slight advantage. He had already got Kilosteri's head in front, and it was thus iip to Jenkins to play the next card. This the Porirua horseman did, but he just failed to take the deciding trick, and Oliver beat him by a head. Genius proved far too good for the opposition in the January Welter, in which Dazzling, whe still bore distinct evidence of Goldfuider's attentions to her, outstayed the rest of the field, and the Disposal Strikes turned out, as anticipated, the best of good things for All Guns. A smart lot of "hacks" contested the Douro Cup, and Colleen Mary was exceedingly unlucky to lose. After being slow to begin, she appeared to get chopped out, and with two furlongs gone her chanco sr-emed to be scarcely worthy of consideration. Making up her lost ground

in great style, however, she eventually ran past all but the winner. Fortunate though Rill was to beat her, she was allowed to pay an exceedingly false price. The issue of the concluding event was generally considered to lie between Dearest and Full Rate, though why the former should have been so liberally supported it is difficult to conceive. Both, however, were easily beaten by Obsono, whose showing made it appear' that he was unlucky to miss- winning the-prin-cipal sprint event on the opening day. Full Rate, however, put up a great performance in gaining second honours under lOst lib, as after misbehaving himself at the post, he got none the best of the start, and had to fight his way through. ,