WANGANUI'S CLASSIC

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 42, 19 February 1931, Page 8

WANGANUI'S CLASSIC

THE JACKSON STAKES

CLASH BETWEEN AM'MON ]U AND KARAPOTI

Of particular interest to racegoers on Saturday will be the Jackson Stakes at Wanganui, a weight-for-ago race without penalties or allowances, rim over six furlongs, for there is promise of a flush between Kavapoti and Ammon Ka, the season's leading three and two-year-old respectively. The contest may not be confined to these two, however, for it is likely that some of the best older sprinters in the Dominion will also take their place in the field. At final forfeit fourteen horses remained in the race, but Paganelli and Pegaway have since been withdrawn, and the field now remains as: JACKSON STAKES, of 500 sort; , six furlongs. st lb -■ st Ib Silvcrmine ... fl 0 Sporting Chance 8 7 Hunting Cry .« » 0 Love Song ... 8 7 Hunting Day . 9 0 Vandyke .... S 7 Ceremony .., !> 0 Arisus S 7 Lady Quex .. Sll Neil Lap .... 8 i Karapotl ...... S 7 Ammon Ra ... 7 0 ' There is no certainty that, even half of these horses will face the starter, but there seems a probability that Ceremony, Karajioti, Arisus, and Ammon Ka will fulfil their engagement, and Hunting Cry and Tjudy Quex are also possible starters. A battle among them alone would be worth going a long way to see. The main interest, will be the struggle between Karapoti and Ammon Ra, and they are almost certain to be the actual favourites. Jvarapoti and Ammon Ka, on performances, both appear to%be something much above the average of an ordinary year. Karapoti' has succeeded in all the three-year-old classics in which he has taken part, but he has done so not solely because he has been the best stayer in his fields, liut also because he is endowed with remarkable brilliance, as he has proved by winning open sprints. Karapoti is the type of. true champion, for he can excel at any distance. Ammon Ea is also a really high-class racehorse. In his one start against older rivals he simply loft them standing at the end, and the possibility of his being defeated by the topweights on Saturday will not be countenanced by many. On the relative chances of Karapoti and Ammon Ka no actual line can be obtained, but, on general grounds, preference is for the two-year-old. No,horse runs more truly to form than a two-year-old who knows his business thoroughly. In the hands of a capable jockey he can be relied on always to give of his best. Fresh to the game, he.is enthusiastic about the job in hand, and if he is really iirst class he will often exceed the highest "es£mate of his connections. What E.'Mspeii i can do is now definitely known to hV ' stable, but Ammon .Ra's full ability has not yet been thoroughly sounded, and, as he has done everything so far asked of him in comfortable fashion, it is reason-' able to assume that, in a titanic test, he can do even better. The history of past contests at least points that way. A glance at the record for the race over the past decade will show that in that period only once has a two-year-old succeeded, that being when Lady Cavendish beat Tamatete, Tukia, and Motley in 1925, and the bare printed fact would appear to indicate that two-year-olds have fared badly in the contest. Analysis, however, ■ reveals that such deduction is fallacious. For ten years the best two-year-olds have never competed, and even Lady Cavendish was by no means the best nf her year. On several occasions no two-year-old has been engaged. _ In 1928 Prince Humphrey was beaten into third place, but in spite of his A.J.C. Derby, he was not truly high class. Last year Tenterden was the best of his age in the race, but he also was only a moderate, and his failure'had little practical significance. The record of three-year-olds would appear even less attractive, for Gloaming, in 1919, was the last of the age to succeed. But ■again, good three-year-olds have rarely taken, part in the contest. In conclusion, while the history of the race would appear against two and threeyearolds, the contest this year is likely, to provide exceptional strength in these ■ divisions, and the chief representatives, Ammon Ka and Karapoti respectively, are going to make the task of any older horse .with pretensions a very difficult one. Ammon Ra will have a more severe test than he had last Saturday, but it will be a surprise to many if his colours are not still flying after the race.