NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 3, 5 January 1926, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(PY "VEDETTE.")

Nominations for the Foxtpn Racing Club's Annual Meeting close to-night at 8 o'clock. ■

Nominations for the Pahiatna Racind; Chjb's Meeting close on Friday at 9 p.mj The teiegraph.office closes at's p.m.' Handicaps for the Wellington' Cup ancj minoi' handicaps on the first day are due on Friday.

Now that the hurly-btorly of the holiday racing is over, regulars in the great ijame can sit back for week or so, and regain Ineath. From all parts come're; ports of good racing and first-class out: floor entertainment for holiday-makers. Fields became smaller towards the end; due chiefly to hard tracks. In Auckland in particular t)»fere were very many sore horses, and the rain of tjie jfpw Year was' a heaven-sent blessing to many trainers. 'Ihe abundance 'ot' meeting's in the south of this island reduced fields still further.'-,' A study* of the holiday" form has to be made wjth some care, Jor i it is difficult to reduce that at jneetin'gs like Ellerslie and Tauherenikau to the I same cftrnmon pleasure. Horses who jyere racing all rqund the country will be at Trehtharn lafep this month, where there should/be some great rach}g. The features of the holidays were the dual downfall of Commendation, Rapine's great effort with 9.8 in" the Auckland Cup and his subsequent defeat by Dount Cavoiir, the consistency of Star Stranger arid Mandane amongst the thr.ee-year-olds, Grand Knight's rise in the social scale, the come-bacfe staged. by Ngata and ' Glentruin, and -' Jeisser but quite' meritoripus performances by Sleet and Kilbrqnsyth. It is generally conceded that' Rapine was lucky to beat Count Cayp'ur in the Auckland Cup, but be that as it may, condition, or the lack of it, contributed very largely to Rapine's defeat in the Clifford Plate on Saturday. He .was a very distressed horse'jjl the last furlong of that race. Commendation hag slipped a little, but ' handled fight and -yy-itji'sj, stronger horseman lip he wjll'yet' show himself a two-ytear-old above the average. Many claim him to be the best seen out for years, and if. he is not spoiled he may yet prove himself the champion he is claimed to be., Count Cavpur at present is a rnasp of condition, and evidently thrived on Jjis racing at Ellerslip. A typical Soliermo,' he' is still jmprpying. Star Stranger is a really good tliree-year-pld, and ptpmises to be a great stayer. He was rjinriihg on in boflj his races at Ellerslie. Mandane is more brilliant'than the colt, and at her best on a weight-tpr'-age basis, might be his superior at 12 furlo'rjgs,. iihd 'certainly at ten. On Derby day at Ellerslie; she was still a little off.colour. Grand Knight now is a force to be reckpned' with in any midfHe-distance field, a really good horse. Lovers of the genuine thoroughbred will rejoice at the successes of Ngaja ant| Ulenfruiii, both of whpm had'^eenili retirement'fdr long periods. Sleet hag a rather amazing record. She won a' division of tlij? Maiden' Stakes' at Ashhursj; ih the middle of November, scored a second and third at Feilding, two firsts at 'jypodyille, i success at A}vapuni, and imot|ier 4Pvi?f° siipceßs'at. the ■Mavtoi) Meeting, lit' Kjlbronsyth Mr. W. Biggins has a very promising gelding, w]iq should, win iii tlje Jj'esi; company^ In. t|ie meaiifime,' he is a much-discussed I}ourq (Jtip proposition. " ' : Mr. D. J. Barry was approached to bring his horses to Trentham, but AutohinS;. will be raced iiext.tttth'e Gisborne meetings next month.. Autonine, Ngijwati; and Tiireadiieedle will- then go to Auckland again, ja-ll [ieiijpr well, the JSaipt-er Mejetinjr at JSlJerslie. Mp. A.' B. had a wonderful run of liick at Ellerslie. He carried off the Auckland Cup of 3QQO soys with Rapine, the'Perby of fJOOO. povs with' Star Stranger, the Royal' Siajies of 1000 spvp witjl Joy King, in addrtipn to a two-year-qld-haiidiiap." Added to these wpre Stair Stranger^' Queen's Plate, Rapine'j second in tlie Clifford Plate, and Joy King's third in the Foal Stakes. Mimetic was ' fhe phly failure, but he was'cast fh his box on the njght after the second day at Ellerslie; His injuries were sjjgh.ti but ip was decided not to race him again' at the "meeting;. Tlie nominations for the Wellington Summer Sleeting are very satisfactory, being on a par with those of last! year. A good quality entry of 25 ih the Wellington Cup Should provide a great race. Rapine is a notable absentee, but Star Stranger represents the stable. Wlfh Count Cavpiir, Suggestion, MusUetobn, Te Mpiianuj, The Banker, Surveyor, and Rfiyal Jjitfoppe there is no deartji P1 lU^" ity. Right throughout the entries in the ill!!)!?!' Faces are good, and it seems likely jfr'a't fiel4s will be large. ; As usual, the entries are from all parfs q£ tjie pplhinidn. The Wellington Stakes is a little' disappointing, Mr. Q. M. Currie having left in The Thorn 'in preference to tysaiider, while Commendation also did not have his engagement continued. Owing to the absurd time of taking of classic entries by the local club, Jpy King, being Australian bred, was npt eligible for the Wellington Stakes. Haze is in the Apprentices' FJate on the firiSj! (Jay at Trent|}ain, the Uoiiro Cup oufihe second day, ana* the 'Summer Handicap on the'last day, a crescendo entry. The special horse train from Auckland arrived r at: Thorndon -'yesterday. In all seventy-two horses left the North for stations iii the south of this island, apd after 4rofping >' f4'iPu6 ]pt.S P) I WWe^ c thiyty-e\g]}i horses arrived jp i.^Hngtdn, the'iiiajority being for the South Island. Amongst these were Count Cavoiir and filentruin, who go on tp Rjccartpn to-night.. T. H. oillett expects to return' to tlte Trentham Meeting with Count "Cavoiir »nd . the" English mate Celei-jty IJ. . , , It' is uuderslopd that Piquant has.been acquired by W- lan Duncan as a brood mare.' Backers should not be sorry that sne lias been retired from the racecourse. jSlje lias been very costly. . The disqualificatipn of Mosaic IQr thfi EUefslie Handicap was under Rule 5 of Part XVIII.' of the' Rules 'of Racing,, which states that no apprentice allowance can be claimed if a horse is weighted at 8.5 Qt over. Mosaic was weigpfefl at 9.8. put ridden at; 8.3, a 51b al}owonce haying bepn claimed. It. was not until late in the day that J. P. Tutchen, trainer of Miss Vera, the runner-up to Mosaic, realised the position, The stew r ards' had no option but to disqualify the winner; but in the meantime the dividends had been paid on the judges pine- ' (i. Murray Aynsley has FpotWl, Stavmia't. and Bpavkligbt running in the paddqek fora few days, following Qn thenracing at Wingatiii. They will not be required again" till the Dunedin Jockey Club's Autumn Meeting. A. Gntts is spelling Retrospect, ScfQtiua, atid ]!rpnt Rank, whom ho had racing at Wingatuj. He will take them in hand a^in nest as they will probably be neewetl this niontli for a trip to _ Trentliain, where they niay be accompanied by Wild Work, a maiden two-year-rtld by Autumnil* frqm itelter Slfelter. Mifjs Mijierva raced ini.'Hy ftt the Dunedin Jtyectnig, and K. lOmppipn took her home without bptheiing about her engagements at tlip Wyndham and Invercargill Meetings.--■'Battleßient, the two-year-old brother to The Cypher and Torque (by Martian or Paladin from Tprquato), may carryMr. J. F. Buchanan's colours at Trentham. ' It is'some time since the Kinloch stiidinaster has had a horse racing. Power, the Tractor tiyp-ycar-old golding w|ip was oijK pf the hoises' J. ■M'Combe sent to Wingului t'py sale, has returned home, ipid is now having a speM. ]\in daw js un umiaiucd marc by filencmllocU I'voni Alton .Loch, ' the dam. of Sunny Lpeli, so he is bred on attractive lines, and he may be useful later- on. The following description of thcMijvtoii Cup is clipped from au eschaßse:-rThc .

field was let go well in line, Clarinda leatling into the straight from Martiijtaj but Ngata was in frqnt at the stand fron^ Imperial Sparjv,'Grand Knight, and Clay: inda. Th'erewas no change as they rac: ed down the back, but at! the three fm 1: long post Imperial Spark closed oij Ngata, Graiid Knight being handy, with Kilceit next. They turned for home iij the same positipns, but at the distance Grand "Knight," Kilceit, Ngafa, and Tm: perial Spark were inline. There wif Koine crowding, and Ngata w^g nearly down, losing his position. Grand Knight and Kilceit fought out the finish, ihp verdict going to Grand Knight by a head* with Ngata a length and a half away' third, came Ifartulla ano} Iniperial Spark. ' . ' "On Jfew Yearns pay at Ellerslie th« opportunity "was taken of presentjn| Messrs. J. Cliadwi'ck and Archie Bruce: the'two veteran sporting'journalists o{ the Dominion,'\vith small tokens of apf preciatip'n frpni their fellow-pressmen. The pon. J. G- .Cpates jiiade the ptespii: tatiqn, expressing his oiyn perspnal ap; pieciation of the men named. Mr. Briica (•'Phaeton?' of the "New Zealapd Her} fild"-)"has been writing on racing mafteri since 1880. Mr. Chadwick ("Spectator! of the "New Zealand Referee") has" an even longer record, for he began hii career with the pen in 1868. C. Emerson was invgreat form at Invercargill yesterday, winning in three successive races on Set Sail, Obljgio, and Tommy Dpd4. . Set Sail and Tomniy Dodd, who won t]ie two principal handicaps, hfiye' been entered for t'*P Wellington Meeting." Strangely enough, npt one of the trio was favourite. When Radial bfdke down in Flying Handicap at Inyerbargill qn Satin-, day it was quite obvious tnijj; his trouble was serious. On examination it ■yras found that he had split a j>antcrn, and he was subsequently destroyed, : In hw younger days. Radial was' a good sprinter. Bjstanc'e's beyond t|ie tiiile 'were usually" juj^'a trifle far for him, ]thqiigh he won sthe Nprth QtagQ Clip over a iriilp and a quartpr. Radial way by All Red ffpin tlie southern mare Aeriha, and was" foaled in V)\i.'