RACING NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 11, 14 January 1929, Page 7

RACING NEWS

RACING FIXTURES. January I(3—Opotiki J.a January 1«, 17—i-'o.Uon K.C. January 19—Bay of Islands K.C. ' January 22—Ashliurst-rohangiua B.C. January iJ.'l'l^M'nlroa K.C. Jauuary --. -1. 26—Wellington K.C. January 2t>.. 2'J— Takapuna J.C. January i'J, 3U—l'nhlnlua R-C. ; January 30 — Cllfden K.C. January 31; February .2—Egnionl EC. r.ROTTINO mTURES. January 19— Wellington T.C. January 2-1, -2C—t'orbury Park T.C. February 1, 2—Nelson T.C. February U—N.Z.- Metropolitan T.C. . February IB—Wellington T.C. February 23—Kalkoura T.C. j February-23. 27-Otahutu T.C February 27. 2S — itivercarglU T.C., , "* " . ' '"."• '■ • i —r-^ •■ ,'' '. ' : Reminders. ■ Acceptances for the first day of the Wellington Meeting close to-morrow liignc at2fomSh?tio»w for the ■ Kgmoiit BaringClub's Meeting arc due to-night at 8.30 ° Nominations for the/ Taranak'i Jockey Club's Meeting and lirst forfeits Tor the Taranaki Stakes are due next luiday at , ; 9 p.m. A Day Out.fbr the "Boys." The Thames Meeting on Saturday saw Die various types of. Boys well to the lore. Good Boy was hardly good enough in the second division of the Tapu Handicap, and not up to Valuation, but ionr races . later he more than made amends by wm : jiing handsomely.- Two races. later Maori Boy played his part to the satisfaction ot his backers, while in the concluding event Modest Boy, true to label, was content to divide first j>lace with Ohinemun. Discourse and Foxton. Discourse is/trained on the lroxton course, and it'is interesting to note that at the last Poxtou Meeting she was saddled up three times and won each time. Incidentally, when- she scored in the Novice Stakes it was her first success.' Discourse .ran a fair rhce in the Manawatu Cup, fin- . ishing alongside Historic, so that with 7 stone at Foxton on Wednesday she should be hard, to beat. Not every horse can handle the ground at Foxton, which is of a sandy nature, and on her home track Discourse should be well suited. ; Horses for Courses. Working, on ■ the line of "horses_ for courses," a glance back at last year's re- " suits at Foxton show that the following horses, in addition to Discourse, engaged this year did well twelve months ago:— Kilmiss, Lin Arlington, Maui, Epistle, Helotis, White Ringlet, and Vigilance. The recent form of the majority of these lias also been encouraging, so that it is possible that they may deserve some consideration for this week's Meeting. .The Novice at Foxton. The Trial Platers-at Foxton will be' of all ages, and there are some two-year-olds engaged. Three-year-olds and upwards have to carry 8.5, and the two-year-olds 7.7. Of the juvenile brigade the Acre- ■ Absurdity filly Acredity showed very fair form at -Morton when she finished second to Lucky Bag, who won again on the second day. The older brigade do not appear very strong, unless Tenacre, who is being worked 'with Silvermine at Hawera, is improved. So far he has shown no form in public. He is a three-year-old by Acre from Lubrilihe. Warzoue, who is trained on the Foxton course, showed' a bit of speed at Feildiug. She is a three-year-old by Bisogne from Woletta. Transformer Well. Transformer looks fit and"well after his racing at the Auckland Meeting. The Thurnham gelding has been doing his work on the tracks at Te Rapa with the freedom thai. jnarked his v.work preceding his successes-in the Te Kuiti and''Alison Cups, says a Waikato exchange. There is ._ no doubt a.bout. his' relish for the galloping surfaces as they are- at present. At the time of writing there is nothing definite in regard to Transformer's visit to the Wellington Meeting, It would not altogether' surprise if "his Thames owner, Mr. Dave Twohill, decided, to send the Thurnham gelding south, especially when Transformer could also keep his Takapnna engagements. , . The National Winner. .The winner of last year's Grand National Steeplechase, Wiltshire, with Pendavies and Pendennis, are jumpers B. C. Syme ■will have racing over the latter part of the term. Wiltshire will be on hand more quickly, and'the Day Comet gelding will be given a run/or two ;on the flat before he is asked to enter the department in which he has shaped so well for a young campaigner. • Not Encouraging. ' The Te Eapa trainer T. E. Wilson left for Foxton on Friday with Bright Day. The Day Comet—Lady Gwendoline chestnut is engaged there this week, and is also entered in two highweight races at .Wellington. Although, the chestnut 'is .looking better now than at any stage of the season, it is reported that he does not appear to be putting the dash into Bis efforts that marked his form a couple of seasons back. It will, surprise . the watchers of work at Te Rapa.if Bright Day earns a winning bracket. Repaid. , ; Last year Mervctte was rather costly to her connections, for. she failed badly once or twice with the colours up when there, was plenty-of evidence that she was expected to do-better.,' A. Tinker has had a very successful innings lately with Mervette. The Lucullus—Brayton mare has had five -wins, two 'thirds, and a fourth placing in "as many starts, while £1235 lias come her way in stakes. Mervette is having an easy, time just now, but will be running along oh the tracks shortly. ■ in view of Takapuna engagements. New Zealand-Successes. The luck of racing was well exemplified on Saturday, for had not Stock Regulations forbidden the transport of horses 1 on the Maunganiii, Boston would have been on his •way home to New Zealand instead of winning a mile welter event at Mooreiield. His form was'quite fair, for Patadawn (Kilbroney—Bon Chic), who finished third to him at even weights, was a useful galloper last season in New Zealand, when trained by J. T. Jameson., He is now trained by P. Riddle, v/hile G. Price, of course, has Boston. ' Flicker probably was having her first •run amongst the "horses" in Sydney when she dead-heated on Saturday, for-all-her previous successes had been gained at the :pony meetings in strictly pony events. •Sir Tarsia, who dead-heated with her, Van contesting maiden three-year-old events until quite recently. He is by ksremond from Tarsia. Flicker _ must have paid her way handsomely in Australia, for she has beeh well backed on each occasion she has won for a good 'deal more money than would be possible in New Zealand. The English Derby. ' According to the opinions expressed .by London critics, the Aga Khan claimed the best two-year-old that performed in Eng : land last year in the shape of Costaki Pasha, and that colt will, it. is stated, probably stand out as the winter favourite for the Derby. The race that gave Costaki Pasha the leading position among the juvenile division was the Middle Park Stakes at Doncaster, which event he is credited with winning in good style. Costaki Pasha, who was bred by his owner, is said to be a colt o£ true masculine type, and he is by Gainsborough (son of Bayardo) from Cos, daughter of Flying Orb (son of Orby). For several years the Indian nobleman has" "expended lavish sums in the purchase of. yearlings in the hope ot securing a horse equal to winning the Derby, but so far he has not been placed in the happy position of leading in the winner of the classic race at Epsom. Should Costaki Pasha win this year's Derby the victory will not be out of its turn for the Aga Khan. Major M'Calmont fe credited with the ownership o£ a good colt named Mr. Jinks (by Tetratema— False Piety), who won the Hurst Park Swo-year-old Stakes in November. Mr. $H?ks, "who is a grejr, is stated to be a ooH in-«veTy -way fitted- fco-aspire io Derby i

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(BY "VEDETTE."!

honours. Two fillies that scored attractively at two years old are Arabella (by Buehan—Polly Flinders), and Tiffin (by Tetratema—Dawn-wind), but- doubts are expressed as to either developing the staying quality. , .

The' Paliiafua Nominations. • 'Surprisingly gootl nominations have been received by the Pahiatua Club compared with those of recent years, and, what is more, the' quality is correspondingly good. In these days of costly travelling it is not surprising that handily-placed clubs receive good patronage, for Bnhiatua is in the centre of things, and only an easy journey "from the Masterton, Carterton, Tuiihereiiikau, Woodville, and Awapum training grounds, lv addition, the meeting follows just after the Trcntham gathering, and may provide some consolation events- for disappointed owners at the major gathering. The course,-in addition, is quite a good one. Handicaps are quc on Thursday and acceptances close next Monday at-9 p.m.

Keeping the Flacj Flyirfg. The important victoties .registered in New South Wales by Limerick has kept New Zealand on the map, as the saying goes. ' Now, more recently, Second Wind and Jemidar, who first saw the light in this Dominion, have respectively accounted for the ' opposition in the decision of the West Australian Derby and the Perth Cup, two of the valuable races of the season. Second Wind and Jemidar, it is interesting to relate, had both been raced in New Zealand prior to their. transportation to Perth,'but they were only moderate performers here. Evidently both, horses-have.'-found-the climate at Perth quite to their liking and possibly the future has something more of an attractive character in store for them.. This may be specially applied to Jemidar, for it is a welt-known trait with the progeny of Martian that they improve with age. . The victory registered by Jemidar in the Perth Cup furnished an illustration of how a horse will develop form as age comes to him. When racing-in New 'Zealand the son of Martian was an indifferent performer, and, though the sum for which he was sold last year was not divulged, it would seem safe"to conclude that it was only a moderate amount that was involved in the transaction. The value of the first prize attached to the Perth Cup • won by Jemidar amounted to £1750, so that the New' Zealand-bred gelding can be referred to as a bargain. ',

A Question of Style. An English writer states that in connection with the steeplechasiiig at Liverpool Mr. George Lambton rightly drew attention to the fact that amateur riders as a rule "get. round" with much greater frequency than the professional jockeys. He instanced the Valentine Steeplechase, which was confined to amateurs, in which all the thirteen runners finished, inclusive of Fairfieid, who fell early in the race, but was remounted and completed (ho course, coming in last of all. Mr. Lambton rightly attributed the success of the amateurs to their riding with longer stirrups than. the. professionals, this giving the horses more freedom in jumping than when they are A'idden in something more approaching the ' "monkey-up-the-slick" style. '