BILLY BOY'S CHANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 2, 3 July 1933, Page 6

BILLY BOY'S CHANCE

WELLINGTON STEEPLECHASE

THE NORTH'S MAIN HAND

(Special from "Early Bird.") i ;/:■'.- -]f AUCKLAND, July 1./ , It is by no;: inieans an: unusual occurrence; for! Auckland ihorses to fill all. orjnost 1 o£-:the .ipiices: in' the Wellington Steeplechase. ji-iFir^t and second in 1927 ivith Beau Cavalie'rj and Ka)vini^ first and second again the "following year with Pouri and Kawini, first aiid third in 1029 with Kiiig's Guard and •Katfini (who can ever •forget^' the -great struggle all -the way up the straight, that. King's 'Guard..had with ilabriano,' the ;iibrthei;ner,sticking, on to win by half a heajl?), first and third in 1930 wijth Jlangani and Master Lv, and then- first last year with' Billy Boy—these are examples-.without*going further than half, a'dozen y.ears^back. '.'Thus Auckland horses'/have ]wpri ;fiye 'jOuf of the lasts six Wellington, Steeplechasea. Oiie'-.thing, is cei;|ani' this year, and that is that the north-will not provide all the placegetters on this '.occasion—unless all except the two northerners fail to" complete, and that is' too rem6te a prospect to anticipate. . Billy Boy and' High Pitch are the Auckland jpair engaged, and with one it is almost a forlorn hope, for even the most sanguine', of-.optimists-could not hope to see High Pitch win, barring a .singular chapter of accidents. It will therefore be seen that northerners will have to lean heavily upon Billy Boy to hold the fort for the ppcond occasion, and in, this respect much is hoped for from the present conditions of the racr, which impose a. maximum weight of twelve stone, half a stone le^s than Billy Boy received in the Great Northern and Winter Steeplechases at El!er=lie. The drop of half a stone certainly plates the northern champion in a strong fighting position again, and he will fight hard. With 12.0 over Icvpl country he may well prove a tougher proposition {than with 12.7 three times over the tiring Ellcrslic hill. It is another factor in Billy Boy's favour that ho now, meets Callamart on much more advantageous terms than at .Ellerslio. There was 241b and 131b respectively separating them on the second and third 'days last month, and now there is 41b. Callamart won so well each day in the north that he ■ will again be one of the hardest for Billy Boy to defeat, and, even allowing for the 12.0 maximum, Callamart cannot be considered at all badly treated. Makeup, of course, must come into the discussion also, for his finishing effort in the- Winter Steeplechase the last day at Ellerslie was impressive. Tt was little short of miraculous how he freshened up in the two intervening daj-s. He won RACING FIXTURES. July S—Vi'aimato District' n.C. July 11, 13. 13—VVelllnjUm R.C. July 22—Auckland R.C. July 22—Hnwke's Bay Hunt, luly 22—South Canterbury Hunt. July 2G— RnngitlkelSHuht (at Jlaiton). July 2", 29—Gisbomo R.C July 20—ChristclnircU Hunt. July 29—Foxton R.C. the Groat Xorthein Huidlcs the lirsl d.iv and looked a spoilt foice when he took on the Great Northern Steeplechase. Yet two days liter he saddled up as tres.li as a youngstei. The more one hears of Luna Lux the more one is inclined .to .favour this horse against .all comers in the Wellington Steepkcha.se, and with his handy impost ho is" going to be the horse those above have to beat. Copey should go better than at EUcr&lic, where he did not look so well as when he won at Hawcra a month earlier. Aucklanders have no reason to forsake Billy Boy, arid he has yet to |>c beaten at Trentham, despite the new stars that have arisen. He is a better h^rse now than at Ellerslic last month, and this suggests that he may well repeat his performance of twelve months ago, when he won the Wellington Steeplechase under 11.3. His supporters can be heartened by the fact' that in the last sixteen contests horses with over 12.0 have won twice (Master Strowan 12.5 and Coalition 12.11), and horses with over. 11.0 have won four time?. (It was not till 1929 that the 12.0 maximum was imposed.)