WELLINGTON AUTUMN MEETING

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 76, 31 March 1922, Page 10

WELLINGTON AUTUMN MEETING

SOME EXCITING FINISHES

NOTES ON THE SPORT.

(BY' "SIR LANCELOT.")

The weather at Trentham yesterday was fino for the. opening Jay 6i the Autumn Meeting, although the northerly wind was chilly. The racing witnessed was. interesting, and in several of the events exciting finishes were witnessed. With only three runners and little speculation on the classic events a big,falling off on the tolalisator turnover compared with the previous gathering was expected. The amount handled during the afternoon was £39,110, which is a decrease of £17,812 10s compared with the same day last year. A WELLINGTON-OWNED WINNER. All started for the First High Weight Handicap except Bairnsdale, who was on the ground and v/horn E. Copestake was engaged to ride- Grim. Joke, who had shown fair form at Riccarton the previous Saturday, was sent out favourite. He ran a good race, being well placed behind the leaders, and finished in fourth place. Active and Rimutaka, who essayed the role of pacemakers, found the journey too far, and dropped out at the bend, leaving Wamba. and .Eerie in charge. The. latter drew clear at the distance and won comfortably from Blue Hall, who finished on well, and Active. Sir Roseberry failed to run up to expectations. The best showing of the top weights was. made by Maniahera, who was handy atithe finishing post. Eerie is trained at Hawera for Mr . J. Harle, of Wellington. On her previous appearance on the concluding day of the Rangitikei Meeting, in heavy going,l she shaped disappointingly. KICK OFF WINS ST. LEGER. ..The New Zealand St.' Leger brought out only three starters. . Pluto 'was better backed than Kick Off, while Cleasanta was the outsider of the party. The latter was taken to the front, and at the stand led Kick Off by two lengths, with Pluto about the same distance away. At the mile post Cleasanta, drew out, and got a good break. Half a mile from home Kick Off started to reduce the advantage gained. He overhauled Cleasanta at the straight entrance, and won easily by a good margin from Pluto; who only just managed to beat Cleasanta. The time was fair, considering the going was dead and the manner in which ■ the victory was accomplished. Kick Off was bred by his owner, Mr. J. S. M'Leod, who was present to see him win. He is ona of the last of the Dominion-bred, progeny of All Black, and is trained by W. Donovan, who prepared Duo for the race a year ago. Kick Off's name may yet be added to the list of three-year-olds that have won the St. Leger and Trentham. Gold Cup. AN OUTSIDER SCORES'. There were no withdrawals from the Plunket Nursery Handicap. The Napier Park double winner wa« actual favourite, but the best he could do was to get fourth. " The bright colours of Lucius were early in the van, and at the course proper, Zany, on the rails, and The Dunce were also well placed. Inside the distance Rapine assumed charge, and had to be kept going to secure the verdict from Gold Light, with Lucius next. Th« first four hoTses all hail from Hawkes Bay. ..■ Rapine (who is ■ a full brother to Penitent) had to put up some overwieght ,to secure Roy Reed's services. He carries the well-known colours .of Mr. A. B. Williams, and this was his first, success. THOMPSON HANDICAP TO PRINTEMPS. All started for the Thompson Handicap except Songbird and Sunny Corner. Half a dozen of the runners wore well backed, with Anomaly favourite. Blackmail rushed into the lead, and at halfway .was showing out clear of Gasbag, Anomaly, and .Quest, with Printemps clear of the others. Blackmail was still going strong at the turn, but gave way to Printemps in the straight. The Autumnus gelding was clear at the distance, Ybut had to be ridden out to win liy a neck from Silver Peak, who put in =i great finish, in which Gasbag and Marqueteur also took part. The solid pace set in- the early part probably accounted for the 1 failure of Insurrection. Aureate was tailed pff most of the way, and with Martial Dawn was one of the last to finish. For some reason or other the winner was neglected on the machine, and his supporters collected a double-figure dividend. Printemps was bred and trained by his owner, A. Goodman. EASY MONEY FOR GLOAMING. Only Rational and Ares, who was probably started to get the place money, opposed Gloaming in the North Island Challenge Stakes. Gloaming drew inside position, jumped out in his best style, and won without being extended. It was a good race between the other pair for second. Ares led in the early part, but was headed by Rational at half-way, where the two-year-old had a couple' of lengths the worst of it. He drew level at the turn, and was only beaten by a narrow margin. This was Gloaming's first success in the race, which he contested three years ago, when Warplane won. On that occasion Gloaming got caught in the tapes and fell. Local racegoers are hoping that Gloaming will be brought out on Saturday to oppose Amythas and Kick Off. in the Trentham Gold Cup. , Owing to G. Young . being under suspension," R. Hatch was lucky enough to get the mount on Mr. Greenwood!s champion. The horseman named won the race on previous occasions on Diabolo and Provocation. • • SILVERSTREAM HANDICAP TO PETUNIA. TeKuri was the only scratching for the Silverstream Handicap, for apprentice riders. Petunia was out in front all the way, and won with something in hand from Prince Hal, who was conceding his opponent a liberal allowance in weight, and , Five-Eighths. Redlogue and Spook did the best of the others. The South Island representative, Liqueur, ra.n a fair race for three parts of the journey. Lord Desmond and Island did not run up to expectations, • the latter being well back at the finishing post. Petunia (AbsurdBronze) is a. cast-off from Mr. G'f D. Greenwood's stable. He is now owned in Wellington and trained at Otaki, and won recently at Blenheim. OPEN SPRINT WON BY MIREUSONTA. Absurdum, Roseday, and Astinome were- the defections from the Railway Handicap, the open* sprint race. Songbird and Still Sea. were the popular picks with backers. The colours of Backsheesh, Sunny Corner, and Grotesque were prominent in the early part. When the course proper was reached, Mireusonta and Bon Spec were well placed. At the distance Mireusonta was joined by. Still Sea,'and this pair took part in a good finish. Grotesque and Birkie did best of the others. The three placed horses were all sired by Absurd. The four locally-trained horses that took part failed to get iir the money. SMART HACK FROM RICCARTON. J»zz, En Route, Pink Rose, St. Waipa. "«—» n \ Day, and Hailpa .were scratched

I th, B ,Tinakori Handicap*. Red Hind, who had won on her previous appearance at Akaroa, was a solid favourite. She got a good run on the rails, and gradually worked her way to the front. She had nothing to spare at the finish to get. the Verdict from Merry Day, the Masterton double winner, whoso rider claimed 71b apprentice allowance. Danger /one did well to carry •. 9.4 into third Place, and Dissertation did best of the others. Red Hind (Autumnus—Kirriem mr) js a fiill sister to Royal Stag and Moorfowl, and carries the colours of her 'breeder, Sir Georga Clifford. DETAILS OF CONCLUDING j. EVENTS. Details oE the concluding events are appended :— , SILVERSTREAM HANDICAP, of 350 soys; one mile. P. R. Pierces br g Petunia, by Absurd—Bronze, 4yrs, 7.2, inc. slb all. (T. Gordon) 1 W. Galbraith's b c Prince Hal, by Marble Arch—Martian Princess, 4yrs, 8.9, car 8.13 (H. Stuart.) 2 W. Teasdale's b c Five-eighths, 6.13, inc. 51b all. (W. BagbyJ 3 (Winner trained-"by W. H. Bowden.) Also started: Spook, 9.2 (H. Godfrey); Island, 7.12, inc. 51b'all. (E. Jones); Redlogue, 7.7, inc. slb all. (B. Brodie); Lord Desmond, 8.1, inc. 51b pen. (L. Butler); Patuki, 7.7 (H. Wheeler); Liqueur, 7.5, car. 7.10 (A. Peart); Lord Usk, 6.8, inc. 51b all. (C. Robinson); Good Mark, 6.7 (D. Butler). Time, lmin A3 2-ssec. ' . RAILWAY HANDICAP, of 500 soys; six furlongs. R. A. M'Kenzie's eh g Mireusonta., by Absurd—Ro-sie Desmond, 3yrs, 6.9 (D. Gunn) 1 B. Joll's eh c Still Sea, by AbsurdSea Spray, Uyr;!, 7.6, car. 7.7 (A. Reed) ; :...: 2 A. B. Williams's eh g Grotesque, . by Absurd—-Bronze, 3yrs, 7.9 (R. Keed) 3 ■ (Winner trained by T. Lloyd.) jMso started: . Surveyor, 8.13 (J. O'Shea); Songbird, 8.11 ("j. M'Chesney); Bon Spec, 8.1 (E. Ludlow); Sunny Corner, 7.8 (J. 'Barry).; Backsheesh, 7.3 (A. Dixon); Birkie, 7.2 (H. Wiggins); Capping D&y; 6.7, car. G. 13 (W. Kitchener); Triboulet, 6.9 (H: Wheeler). Time, lmin 13seo. TINAKORI HANDICAP, of 350 soys; six .furlongs. Sir Geovge Clifford's _b f Eed Hind, by Autumnus —JCirriemuir, 3yrs, 7.13, car. 8.0 (H. Young) 1 A. Booth's br f Merry Day, by Merry Moments—Labour Day, 3yrs, 6.12, *Inc. 101b pen. and 71b all. (E. Garrett) , 2 B. L. Joll's br g Danger Zone, by Martian—Crimson Rose, 3yrs, 9.4 (A. Reed) 3 1 Also started: Dissertation, 8.7 (C. Reed); Landbird, 8.7 (R. Reed); Warpath, 8.3 (R. S. Bagby); Jackaroo, 8.0 (H. Wheeler); Lady Nassau, 7.13 (H. Goldfinch);- All Cerise, 7.12 (C. Emerson); Blackhead, 7.11 (Gunn); Roset, 7.1, inc. 31b all. (H. Stuart); Moonstruck, 6.13 (A. Dixon); Sagacity, 6.7 (L. Butler); In the Pink, 6.7 (C. Robinson); Yellow Hammer, 6.10, car. 6.13^ (J. Nicholas); Basso, 6.7 (D. Butler); Black Arrow, 6.7, car. 6.9 (C. Holmes); Solace, 6.7 (H. Dunn). Time, lmin U l-ssec.