ANTIQUE PREFERRED

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 13, 17 January 1933, Page 4

ANTIQUE PREFERRED

POINTERS FROM NORTH

(Special from "Early Bird.") AUCKLAND, This Day. ■■ Quite a few northern horses raced at the Wellington Racing Club's Summer Meeting twelve months ago, but for the fisture opening on Thursday there are only two from the district, Antique, who hails from Te Aroha, and Royal Artist, a Takanini representative. : Both are aspirants for the Wellington Cup.

Antique;promises to go out-one of .the first choices for -the Cup, avid he should be very: hard to-beat; even though the re-cord-of,, the race .may be, against one carrying' his weight (9.5). Te Aroha _reportstates that he goes south no inferior in form than he was when he left for Ellerslie~s"o he has the required condition to see out the" Trentham mile and a half at;as solid a pace as they like to make it.,- .. -: ; •■ . .■■-..■„ ..- ■ : The reason-for Royal ■ Artist's presence in the Cup field is not so much that he has- shown winning ability of late, but rather,that.hie owner (Mr. R. T. Reid) was.sending a couple of yearlings down to the gales,: and he is ■ accompanying them. On, his moderate showings at Ellerslie /his'chances .cannot be very highly assessed. Perhaps it would be advisable to overlook his recent failures, which, by the way, were, at - least very complete. He is capable of doing better than Ellerslie running would indicate, so that with his!nice Weight he may put'up-more of a" fight at Trentham. He was in the picture ■ in- the-Auckland- Gup for nearly a mile and,three-quarters.and then stopped suddenly. .Whilelife' could go two miles there seems little doubt as to his ability up to a mile and a half, for he won the' Mitchelson Cup a little more than two months ago; -■-. . ELLERSLIE FORM NOTES., As, there-is a dearth of Auckland horses doing the Wellington .fixture, a brief review of the chances of those horses that rac^e.4: at Ellerslie and are engaged at the. big-nieetin^opening on Thursday-'.may proye; a -Eelpful/giiidei :...;'. ' ' ""' '...

■ Five of the Wellington Stakes;field con« tested classic and other races at; Ellerslie—Lack, Princess Doreen, Diatomous, Guarantee, and Fracas^ Of this quintet the best may be .Princess Doreen, Diatomous, and Guarantee. The last-named is a rare finisher, but the field may get away from him, unless the almost straight Trentham five helps him, as it well might. Princess Doreen is a brilliant lady, capable of winning, but she was very sick after the Royal Stakes, although the fact that she is back again seems to indicate -that it was only a passing phase. Diatomous is a real speed merchaut, probably .the fastest two-year-old seen out to dat 6, and over five furlongs he promises to lead the field a merry dance. On Ellerslie running Diatomous should again account for' Princess Doreen, at least-over five furlongs. Five Telegraph Handicap-aspirants took on. the shorter distances at Ellerslie, these being Golden Wings, Cricket Bat, La Moderne, The Quorn, and Lordly Knight. The last,three were winners, and Cricket Bat performed consistently. Golden Wings failed to get near the front in the Railway Handicap, but his form was too bad-to be true. With-a "more experienced horseman aboard this week'he will let them know he is engaged. ,La Moderne- was ; always in the picture at Bllerslie, with, ttfo wins achieved in brilliant style, a second to Silver Scorn in the Derby,, and then (need it be wondered; at?) an unplaced performance on the final day, quite a strenuous ■ programme, for a filly. 'Even at a couple of pounds over weight-for-age she should be one of the hardest to beat on Thursday. The : Quorn struck many as the luckiest winner of the Railway Handicap, for his subsequent form revealed that he was by no means a class sprinter. Of course he will probably go on improving, but his Railway win was certainly lucky. THE CJJP ASPIRANTS. Nearly lialf the field engaged ;i n the Wellington Cup \reve seen 'in action at Ellerslie^ these being Antique, Concentrate, Great Star, Gold Trail (the four at the Top of the Wellington Cup), Jaloux Red Sun, Royal Artist, and Tout le Mond. Aorthern opinion and running definitely points to Antique and Gold Trail as being the hardest of this lot on Auckland running. > • . . Antique ran four great races at Ellerslie, and shrewd judges consider that he was the horse that really ought to have won the Auckland Cup, a view that was nearly confirmed by* his subsequent running. He beat i Concentrate every time they met, on each of. the four days, and on their present marks the northerner should again; .prove triumphant, for he is a great galloper and he is probably as good a fiuisher as, if not a better than Concentrated >:' -' . '

Gold Trail: is. a-.-very solid filly, capable of winning any race from now on. Her Ellerslie running was first class, and' it must not be forgotten that two furlongs from home ;in the Auckland Cup she was travelling like a winner,, finally finishing fifth. She . might have beaten, La Moderne for second money in the Derby'with anything like - a run, and on the final day she beat Antique strictly on the merits over a mile and a quarter at weigh t-fc-r-age. While the history of the Wellington' Cup •is all against 'three-year-olds, Gold Trailis just one hat may be the expeption that, proves the general-rule. j ■■-' • Great.Star is a, wiry customer, who does his best at Ellerslie. On his present form and his handy place in the handicaps he is a fair Oup prospect. Jalous appears to be just so good and not better than that. He had every chance :in:his Ellerslie outings and failed, but 'he raced well enough to encourage liis admirers. ' '

Red Sun won the A.R.C. Handicap like.a. racehorse, this effort being one of the most-decisive of the meeting, so with 51b more he is -placed to run the race; of. his life. He is improving and is therefore a very good prospect. Royal Artist's chances were discussed earlier. The other engaged is the three-year-bid Tout le Mohd, who' went some good races at Ellerslie, particularly in the Auckland Cup (for a mile and a half), the Derby, and the Clifford Plate, in the last : named event finishing right up on the heels .of the placed horses. X . Summed up on Auckland form, Antique and Gold Trail impress most in the Wellington Cup, with Red Sun and Tout le Mond probably nest best.