MANAWATU STAKES

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 68, 21 March 1931, Page 23

MANAWATU STAKES

MONDAY'S MAIN RACE

LADY QUEX'S GOOD CHANCE

Principal attraction o£ the sveond day of the Manawatu Racing Club's Autumn Sleeting on Monday is the Manawatu Stakes, a weight-for-age event, with penalties and allowances, run over six furlongs*. In this race two-ycnr-olds meet older, horses, and the clash between the two sections nearly always arouses more than usual interest. The younger brigade has had good representation in most years, and it has had fair measure of success. The last of the age to score was Kiosk in 1926, Seatoun (third) and Limerick (unplaced) being other two-year-olds engaged on that occasion. At the final payment this year, the following, less the scratching^ that have since been made, remained iv the race: — TWENTY-SEVENTH MANAWATU STAKK.I, of 500 sots; wclght-for-aec, with penalties and allowances; six furlongs.

The weights given lucludo tlio penalties niul allowances to date, but there may bo some adjustment as the result of to-diiy's racing. Several of those listed arc not on hand, and Monday's field will probably be less than half the strength shown. Favourite is almost certain to bo made of Lady Quex, and her recent showings point to her being very hard to beat. She lias earned the full 101b penalty, but she has a pound less than she carried in the Challenge Stakes, over a furlong further, at Trentham last Saturday, and only a really good three-year-old in Karapoti was able to lead her home in that race. She indicated definite improvement on her Wanganui effort, which, nevertheless, was also excellent, and she will probably strip an even fitter mare on Monday than she did at Trentham. The only one among the older division who may give her any trouble is Consent, but he is hardly her class. It is unlikely, however, that many of the older horses engaged will parade against her, and her principal opposition ■will possibly come from the two-year-olds. Racing iiv the Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes to-day will give some line on their prospects, but, provided they register satisfactory efforts to-day, La Poupee, Aspian, Orotoriuu, and Cricket Bat should <:lairn. a fair measure of support. Performances point to La Poupee as the best of the group, and to-day's race, even if she does not win, should freshen her up and make her a worthy foe for the Taranaki contender. it i 3 worth,recording in this connection that two-year-olds have had their fair measure of success in the race, and it only sometimes happens* that the best of the year are engaged. In the first contest, in 1905, the best of the year's moderate lot, Munjeet and King Billy, did not compete, and the race was won by the brilliant Machine Gun, then a four-year-old, from the five-year-old and hotlyi'anced Achilles. The next year the best two-year-olds of the season, Kirriemuir and Cambrian, were not in the field, and Achilles easily beat a moderate two-year-old in Loftus. The three following years the race was •won by two-year-olds, these being Count Witte, Aborigine, and Provocation respectively. It was a two-year-old triumph in Count Witte's year, for the other place-fillers, Gleocullooh and Elevation, ■were also of that age. Gleneulloch was leading youngster at the end of the term, but Count Witte's record was better, for le had but two starts for two wins. It was another two-year-old triumph the next year, for again the other place-fillers, Elysium and Husbandman, were juveniles. And the year's best, Fleetfoot and Armlet, were not in the race! The last of the sequence was when Procation, best two-year-old of the season., beat famous Bobrikoff, then a four-year-old, with other good youngster in Maori King third. Three-year-olds in Polymorphous and Sunburnt were- successful the following two years, and then came another two-year-old victory when Autumnus won his first Manawatu Stakes. The next two-year-old success was Kstlaml's, live years later (1917), tw° others of the same age, Vagabond and Silver Tongue, following him home on that occasion. The crack colt o£ the year, Hymestra, was not in the race. The only subsequent two-year-old successes were those of The Hawk (1921) and Kiosk (1926). Limerick was unplaced in Kiosk's year^ after having won the Sires' Produce Stakes the prctjous day. Kiosk did not run in the .Sires' Produce Stakes. Three-year-olds have the best record in the race with eight wins, but two-year-olds hare scored on only a single occasion less, and the four-year-old tally is but only another single point more. Five-year-olds have won. three times and six-year-olds twice, but no aged horse _ has yet succeeded. Last year's victor,_ Cimabue, was a five-year-old, and this does not assist Lady Quex's chance, because she, too, is a five-year-old, and the record is against the age, particularly in successive years. However, she has such Superior form that she will probably confound the empirical deduction that might be made from the figures.

stlb sllb PaganeM ... 9 10 La Poupco ... 7 '.) Lady Quei .. R 7 Teller ....... 1 S Consent .... 0 S Esteem .... 7 5 Supremacy ..9 0 Asplan ...~.. 7 2 Tahoma .... D 0 Oratoriau ... (; 11 AwaTcan ..^. S S Cricket Hat .. fi Jl Jtoyal Ruler .. S 8 Movietone ,^_, fi U Slelpner .... S 8 X'sycliDlotfst . 6 11 Courtesy .... S 5 Keel Itufus .. K 11 rakltere ... S 5 Bella 6 S