AT HASTINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 104, 3 May 1926, Page 7

AT HASTINGS

REREMOANA'S EASY VICTORY

OPA WINS BURKE MEMORIAL.

(By Telegraph, from "Vedette.")

When many were awakened in the earlytours of: Saturday; morning by the sound of heavy rain, it seemed as if the Hawkea Bay drought■■ had broken. But it was not so, and the Autumn Meeting of the Hawkes Bay Jockey Club was concluded in fine, clear weather, with an absence of wind. .The shower of rain had improved the track, which was very fast. When the condition of the countryside is considered, the anxious times through which the primary producers of the district are passing can be understood, so that a totalisator turnover of £40/294 must be considered very, satisfactory, for it shows a big increase on that of two years ago. A comparison with'last, year is hardly fair, for then; there was an extraordinary amount of interest displayed in the clash between Gloaming; and The; Hawk, people coming from all parts of New Zealand, while the result of the race was anxiously awaited all over. Australia. ORMOND GOLD CUP. i The recent meeting will, not be by any means the worst in the history of the club, and it has fallen to the lot of few, if any, clubs this year ;to obtain such a select field as that paraded for the Ormond Gold Cup. - Rapine was more or less in his own territory; Reremoana, who is owned in Wanganui, is trained at Hawera; Grand Knight hails from Wellington; and Glentruin is Riccarton-trained, but owned in the far South. It can thus be seen what a thoroughly representative field it was, in addition to the unquestionable class. The race was hardly what wag expected, for Reremoana on the day outclassed the opposition. His condition wag.a greM credit to his trainer, 0. Cox, for the winner was easily the least distressed horse on returning to weigh-in. It wag great judgment to miss the Hawkes Bay Stakes so as not to jeopardise the chances of so great a victory. Rapine, though, beaten, was not disgraced, and by the way he was finishing might have won had the distance been.ten furlongs, but certainly Jnot at nine or less. As it was he was lucky to be second, for had B. H. Morris ridden Grand Knight out to the very end, the English horse would have been second. When Moms realised that it was useless unduly pushing his mount in the stei-n chase.of Reremoana, he stopped riding, with the result that Rapine just beat Grand Knight home. Glentruin held her;"place for half the journey, but the handsome mare was found wanting in the final pinch, and was a decided last. On this showing she,would, have had a very slim chance with .Reremoana. at 6% furlongs in the Hawkes Bay Stakes. KARAMU HURDLES. Toa Taua, the winner, stayed on well, but perhaps was lucky that Little River yria so badly interfered with. To be pulled up almost to a standstill just after jumpteg a fence is a 'serious handicap to a horse with a pound" short of 12.0 on his back. As, it was, it was a miracle Little River ' escaped falling .over the fallen Maungaroni;o, who tad broken his neck. It is understood that Toa Taua is underoffer to a .Southern owner, and there is every reason to believe that he will be sold. Suspicion wept;, only fairly ,well, and Wilmoreana; although'"He "did better than oh the first day, was unimpressive. He is proving a disappointment. Polyastra with 241b overweight, and again with the amateur Mr. G. Green up, tried to bolt prior to the race, and charged .through the railings on the outside of the'course. In the actual race he shaped well enough to suggest that if qualified during the winter, he should be useful in hunters' races. Inquiries made yesterday, into the condition of the jockey, P. J. Jenkins, rider of Maungarongo, showed that he was pregressing as well as could be expected. PAKI PAKI HANDICAP. Imitation was confidently handled by P. Waddell, who allowed, the long-striding chestnut to foverhaul Plain Sailing inch by inch all the way down the straight. Imitation raced each day right up to his earlier promise.'--Plain Sailing, although she appeared : sore before the race; began very smartly, and .was just beaten over the last part of the journey:; Mount Clyde, who was produced, in this race, but ran very inconspicuously, is' a big six-year-old gelding by Mountain Knight from Amber and White. On appearances he should be useful as a jumper. -First and second horses quite outclassed the rest. ' JUVENILE HANDICAP. This race was disastrous for backers, for outsiders filled -'the".'dividend-paying' places. The horses we'^;'backed as they appeared in the handicap; i Decoy Bird, favourite and top weight, not really flattering his supporters at any stage. The winner, Silver Tray, ia a useful filly by the recently-sold stallion Tea. Tray from Miss Girons. She ran a useful race on the first day, and on this occasion stayed on just too well for Eloquent, who showed plenty o£ dash. Decoy Bird was lucky to get a run on the rails, or it is doubtful if he would have been third. Hymgreat and Inner Harbour failed to produce, their first day form, while Beth was very wide out at the turn. She is settling down with racing. BURKE MEMORIAL STAKES. With a less accomplished horseman than M. M'Carten in the saddle it is doubtful if Opa would have won, and as it was his backers must have almost abandoned hope as the field turned for home. At this stage Opa was last, with Gaze and Kilceit going very, well in front. Fired perhaps by the exploits, a race earlier, o£ his kinsman, Reremoana (both geldings are by Hallowmas), Opa put in some great work over the last furlongs, and just got up in time to beat Kilcait. The latter ran her best race for some time, nearly, bringing off a surprise victory to all but those who closely watched her race on the first day. Gaze owed his forward position as much as anything to superior horsemanship. Kilfaire was sore, and did well to finish so close up. Xovar"and Phoenix Park both ran indifferently. They look in need of a Ppell. AKITIO HANDICAP. Rapiata, Vivo,, and Minstrel Boy raced neck and neck from barrierrise to the judge's line. One hundred yards from home Vivo had weakened slightly, and it looked as if .Minstrel Boy would win, but in the end Rapiata's advantage in the weights told, and he won by a bare head. The Trentham apprentice, S. Wilson, was shaken tip rather badly when Cohesion fell with him, and he was not fit to ride again during the clay. OHITI HANDICAP. Mr. A. B. Williams's bracket were conspicuous by being first and last, My Hobby, the winner, and Gauntlet, the whipper-in. My Hobby, who won, raced with more determination than on the first day, but the feature of the race was the great effort of Perle de Leon. He was too sore to go in the early stages, whipping in the mam body to the turn with only Gauntlet behind him. He then came with an electrifying run, which made him a winner a stride or two past the post. Hillation again ran an excellent race, and fifty yards from home his handful of backers looked to have a great chance of obtaining a comfortable dividend, but he was relegated to third place at the end. Haurangi, Royal Diadem, and Clandhu all went fair races, but Malatour was beaten nearly two furlongs from home. Killoch was never out of the ruck. OK AW A HANDICAP. Shirley gave a taste of her quality, for although drawp No. 10 at the barrier, she

was into her stride in a flash, and for all her 8.13 was in front before a furlong had been covered. S!;e settled Huikai at five furlongs, and then had enough to hold off Automne and Royal Damon. Automne really had every chance, and was well beaten, but Royal Damon lost his chance at the start, for he missed the jump-out altogether, the effort to .regain his lost ground proving too much for him at the end. Peneus is not himself, and ran accordingly, while Papaponga was outclassed. Tuahine ran badly, and Serene, 101b overweight, and Standard ran fair races. Results :— ' Karamu Hurdles, of 150 sots; ono mile and a uiilf.—2 Toa Taua, 9.13 (A. H. Burt), 1; 1 Little River, 11.13, 2; 3 Suspicion, 9.5, 3. Also started: Polyastra 9.0 (bracketed with winner), 5 Wilmoreana 8.1, 6 Mahla 9.0, I Martona 9.0, 8 Maungaronga 9.0, 4, Strongholt 9.0. Time, 2min 46 4-ssec., Paki-Pakl Handicap, of 150 soys; five fur-longs.-l Imitation, 9.3 (F. Waddell), 1; 2 Flam Sailing, 9.2, 2; 6 Coot, 7.6,3. Also started: 3 Break o' Day 7.0, 5 Merry Imp 7.0, 8 Hiwlnul 7.4, 4 Lin Arlington 7.2, 7 Hakawal 7.0, 9 Mount Clyde 7.0, 8 Jen 7.0. Time, lmin 11-5 sec. Juvenile Handicap, of 150 soys; five furlongs. —4 Silver Tray (N. TriUo), 1; 5 Eloquent, 7.2, 2; 1 Decoy Bird, 9.2, 3. Also started: 2 Inner Harbour 8.4, 3 Hymgreat 7.5, 6 Beth 7.0. Time, lmln 1 2-ssec. Ormond Cup, of 3G5 sots; weight-for-age; one mile.—l Reremoana, 9.10 (L. Morris), 1; 2 Rapine, 9.10, 2; 3 Grand Knight, 9.10, 3. Also started: 4 Glentruin 9.8. Time, lmln 38 l-ssec—a record for the race. Burke Memorial Handicap, of 300, sots; one mile and a quarter.—2 Opa, 8.5 (M. M'Carten), 1; 6 Kilceit, 7.G, 2; 5 Gaze, 7.12, 3. Also started: 4 NoTar 7.10, 3 Phoenix Park 7.9, 1 De Luxe 7.0, 7 Wristlet 7.0. Time, 2mln 5 3-5 sec. Akitio Handicap, of 150 sots; six furlongs.— 4 Rapiata, 7.0 (T. Green), 1; 1 Minstrel Boy, 8.3, 2; 2 Vlto, 7.7, 3. Also started: 3 Cohesion 7.5, 6 Wairipo 7.0, 6. Mountain Star 7.0, 7 Windy Night- 7.0. Time,1 imin 14 2-ssec. Ohitl Handicap, of 150 sots; nine furlongs.— 1 My. Hobby, 7.12 (R. Reed), 1; 5 Perle da Leon, 9.0, 2; 10 Hillation, 7.6, 3. Also started: T Olympic 8.8, Gauntlet 8.4 (bracketed with the winner), 3 Malatour 8.4, 11 Haurangi 7.13, 8 Clandhu 7.12, 9 Royal Diadem 7.8, 2 Killoch 7.7, 4 Road Hog 7.6, 12 Mountain Top 7.0, 6 Serenade 7.0, 13 Gurnion 7.0. Time, lmln 54 3-ssec. Okawa Handicap, of 200 sots; six furlongs.— 1-Shirley, 8.3 (F. Waddell), 1; 2 Automne, 8.0, 2; 4 Royal Damon, 7.12, 3. Also started: 3 Peneus D.4, 5 Papaponga 7.13, 8 Tuahine 7.5, 7 Hulkal 7.0, 6 Standard 7.0, 10 Morose 7.0, 9 Serene 7.0. Time, lmin 12 4-ssec.