THE TURF NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 46, 24 February 1913, Page 2

THE TURF NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By Sir Bediv«r#.)

Needless to say the talk is all fIOW of Waiiganui. Tha Cup field hns been reduced to twelve, the most notable of these that failed to make the acceptance being Bobrikoff, Los Angolos, Le Reina, Bon Ton, and Dearest. Few -people expected to see Bobrikoff at the post, and it Was 6trongly hihted in what are toitally .•well-informed •rcles that Labour Day Would also be an absentee. Mr. Lowry evidently intends to run her. how* over, ahd she mtwfc now be regarded us one of 'the most dangerous candidates. She will have flo more weight to handle than &he had when ehe last scored over ten furlongs at t'lllemlie, and judging by her displays at Trenthsun and Hawera. she is now vacing into form. Mira, is doubtless to be brought north from Wingatui, and Bronze is of course a certain starter. If Mr. Highden's filly were na well as fiho wa* last year no one would look further for th© winner. So far this season ehe hae failed to strike form, however,' and it must be remembered that she haa been kept pretty bu&y ever since she made an. carry start in Australia. Still she ran a good enough race in the principal handicaps at Trentham. last month, and if, && reported , she haa pleased her trainer in the interim, ehe mu&t take a lot of beating. In the absence of La Reina, Auckland will have a sterling representative in Domino, a hardy, honest horse who, under 8.2, should render an excellent &ocbtin<t of himself. One never knows quite what to expect from Ma&teTntece, but he gave otte of his 'worse displays at HaWera, and personally I cannot see him a winner ; , nor do I think th* Wanganui course will'suit him. Some people are talking a lot about Cheddar, though for what reason it is difficult to determine. Since he won the Great Autumn at RiccaTton two years ago he haa practically done nothing, i.e., beyond doing layers a good turn, for he has been "expected" more than once. He has admittedly been short of work recently, and may, therefore, be deemed likely to improve, but these horses whose names are co frequently mentioned in a kind of stage whisper rarely deliver, the goods. t There has been ,a rather serious falling away in connection with the 1 Flying Handicap, but the sixteen left in include most of the best' sprinter* now .in the Dominion, and a great race may be confidently looked forward to. Ermengarde, who was nicely enough in, is presumably to have a. let up, but there have been , other unlooked-for withdrawals. Kotua, for instance, should have had a chance under 7.6, and Vibration, who was unlucky to suffer the narrowest of defeats at Woodville, did not seem out of it with only 7.0 to carry, So, too, Vocation, •6.12. However, a high-elate field remains, and the battle between Gladiole, Culprit, Vehtura, Potoa,- Autumnjiß, and the more leniently burdened division should be well worth witnessing/ J. H. Prodser left for Wangahuf this morning. a»d, unless plans were changed at the last moment, he took Dearest, Styx, Stepney, Mahinawa, and Hansard North. The many members of his team which have been laid aside with influenza, have now cot over their troubles, and it is hoped that the luck of the Porirun stable may at length change for the better. The adjourned enquiry into the running of the Second Hack Hurdles at New PJvmouth .will he heW to-morrow,. aM^cMtteraWlntertert'to' beirfg takin*. therein by parties immediately concerned and otherwise. Final payments for the Wftnganui Cap are due -with'-Mr, W. Hall -at 9.30 tMis evening. tt is not anticipated that, there' will be any further withdrawals. . Mr. Angus Keith has been appointed to act as starter, at, the Pahiatua Racing Club's meeting to be held in April. Mr. J. E. Henrys will frame the handicap*. Brown Owl seem* to have at length struck form, and her success may be regarded as a happy augury in connection with Bronze- and the big' event at Wanganui. Many mares and fillies invariably do better in the autumn, than earlier in the season. Eudorus was quite expected to win the Futurity at Caulfield, for he was in receipt of some very handsome allowances in the matter of weight. He waa merely a selling plater in England, and his form gives further evidence of the comparative inferiority of the Australafeian thoroughbred.