WELLINGTON. MEETING

Evening Post, Issue 13, 16 January 1936, Page 8

WELLINGTON. MEETING

fTHE THREE OPEN EVENTS

ANALYSIS ■OF PROSPECTS

As was.anticipated, the fields for the open events' on'the-first day of the Wellington'ltacing ChibV; Summer Meeting 'were not -materially, reduced at the acceptance.- : \ The clUbs officials must feel highly gratified at,'the excellent card'that has paid up, particularly for the Cup..: The effect of the acceptance has been to .clear up, the main issues to a- great degree,- as.only Queen of Song-remains, with; a double engagement, and it is a -reasonable1 assumption that the Cup. is; her more likely race. ..<.'■■'. '-\ ■- '•-., - •'■ -.'.. ' . ■!■.;' -~''

It is not possible to make a closer, inspection of the prjhcipal; events, and to discover what horses may be the more likely candidates on; their, recent form and'at the weights they have received. One feels naturally drawn to thehorses-near the top.of the various 1 lists, but'thdse who have Other fancies may offset the natural leaning by remembering that .Trentham has : always. proved itself;one of.the trickiest tracks, in the land and has brought about the downfall of many outstanding performers. •'■• :' "'■ '■ , . ■ ■ WELLINGTON CUP. A critical review of the weights in the Wellington.Cup has already been given, and bneMnay now look for the horses' who-appear best favoured in form or handicap.,' First among them must be the .'tdpweight Cuddle, a brilliant mare, who will be' attempting a performance :ihat-would-be a! record in nearly every way weife it to'succeed.7 It is believed that Cuddle may great' enough for. the job. Whether she will essay to win, the Cup from end to end, as she did at Riccarton and Ellerslie, remains to be seen; but she is a mare .who might do even this. Her near record time on a rain-splashed track in the mile King's Plate at Ellerslie is sufficient to show what she is capable of doing. If she wins next Wednesday she will be the greatest handicap . mare that has ever raced South of the Line. On figures purely Silver Ring would look to hold a call over Cuddle, for, as both are six-year-olds, he has an advantage of 51b under scale, and he meets the mare 31b better than when he beat her in the C.J.C. Metropolitan at his last start. Against this one believes that Cuddle is much more improved since Riccarton than he can be, and, though he had a sprint at Greymouth 'last Saturday and is said to have been carrying no surplus condition, he is at a disadvantage in lacking a recent race. If Cuddle had been the mare on the final day- in the south that she was at Ellerslie Silver Ring would never have caught her in the Metropolitan. , Then again figures must give the three-year-old Kinnoull a great chance of registering his third victory over Cuddle, but the figures do not take into account Cuddle's subsequent improvement, and Kinnoull may also be at the same disadvantage as Silver Eing with respect to lack of holiday racing. Kinnoull,! as has been shown previously, is set a very big task for a colt who was unplaced'in the Derby. The only horse of his age to have won the Cup on the Trentham track was Rapine under 7.12 (71b less), though on the old Hutt Park course jtenpwn succeeded with 8.10 and Glad-,

some (a filly) with 8.5 (the same weight as Kinrioull has, without taking the sex allowance into account). Kmnoull will have to be as great as his warmest admirers claim to win next •week. ;: -.'■ \ '. ■ . _ Through; figures again Lowenberg, as Derby, winner,, must read very much better than KinnouU at a 121b advantage. Indeed he is the three-year-old who might record a further victory for the-age in the race. Lowenbprg certainly failed at Ellerslie, but it is said that the reverse way of going does not suit him. ■■ ■•; ''■■■:■'. :■ ' ' • This disposes of the class horses, and now one may look at the,pure handicappers. So far the majority of them' have been' rather futile in their, attempts at pursuing. Cuddle, but it may not be the-case again with, their considerably increased >. advantages, in weights. ' -Weight in the end will bring class and-ordinary-"together. . Might, on his day/ would: have a chance at 8.0, and his connections believe he' will'be better suited by the easier Trehthamstrack. . It is perhaps significant that S.: Wilson had rip-in-clination';-to • get off hinvfor his stablemate Cuddle when the": ride, on .the mare became vacant. It would not surprise tt 'Might went his1 best race this seasons - ■'■ ■'-. ■ Grand Jury will require to ■ have improved since he faced during the holidays. Spiral appeals only as a .possible place-getter, and so do Argentic, Gay Broney. Ssnior, and Tout le Monde, all of whom in the past have lacked just that necessary extra bit to seal victory. Hunting Cat and Sunee are two holiday winners who may go on to further improvement, sufficient possibly to, win a race such as this. Sweet Agnes is always a prospect in good company, but Dav.olo, though nicely handicapped, is a difficult horse to prepare because of , unsoundness. Queen of Song' has her Invercargill form to offer some recommendation. The four on the minimum can make little appeal in such,,elass, though 'occasionally such a lightweight has br6ught off a, surprise. SPRINT AND MILE. The issue in the Telegraph Handicap has become rather clearer with the removal of Silver Eing from the list, and also to a degree by the non-pay-ment of recent winners in Rebel Chief and Invoice. It is still, of course, not an easy race to reduce to one or two, but the owners of most horses will undoubtedly be very pleased to see the high-class Silver Ring dropping this engagement for the Cup.

Silver Streak, who now takes number one place on the list, will also hold the same position with many in early analysis of the prospects. It is the third time that the Paper Money gelding has attempted to win this event, and perhaps it will be a case of third time lucky. He is undoubtedly in as good form as he has ever held this season, if not better, as he showed on the final day at the New Zealand Cup Meeting, and L. J. Ellis's engagement to continue the recent Ellerslie association with him will influence many. He was unlucky in the north; but the roomy Trentham course will afford him every chance to atone for those defeats.

Knockfin, the last Stewards' winner, is" a great little galloper, and she must remain in high esteem, even though she will be without '- the '.service's- of Ellis. Her winning, performance at Riccarton was, a truly-outstanding effort, but she did not repeat it on the final day, nor had she produced it in her two ■ races immediately prior to the Stewards'. ■ As' she is to go up for sale the'day after the;race it-may be her last-start in vher present colours...

Of, the others the two >vho may make,

greatest present .appeal are Diatomous and Variant, for they are both in well on the weights because they have failed in their recent races. Diatomous is particularly favoured in this respect, and it was on the Trentham track as a three-year-old that he registered his most notable achievement yet, when he won the Wellington Stakes in 58.^ sec, race record time. Variant is long overdue.

Back at sprinting Princess Dorcen has still to be respected, though one would prefer her over a greater distance. Bon Tray, as winner of the Shorts in October, will have numerous friends, and he is a very consistent galloper. At six furlongs Acceptable, Copyist,' and Fulojoy may appeal most among the rest, as all have previously run well down the Trentham sprint course; Copyist indeed is first horse on weights alone, and Fulojoy looks to be returning to form.

The Anniversary Handicap, which will conclude the first day's racing, has attracted a solid-field of milers. Fracas, last year's, winner, declined under her 9.13 inipost this year, but there are plenty verging .on good, class among the eleven who remain in the list.

Rebel Chief was,a winner over a mile at Oamaru, and the fact that he has preferred this race to the sprint is a pointer in his direction, especially as in addition he-will have the riding servces of L. J.Ellis. ■ He'is certain to be among the favourites. , .

- Perhaps the most dangerous opponent the topweight will have to face is the unlucky After Money, who is well overdue for a win from her present quarters. This mare has '• been four times second and once third in five starts since she returned from Sydney. Her track work is improving all the time.' . V ■'..' . ' • Plato ■ and Superex add three-year-old flavour to the race; though not the highest class. Plato has not lately lived up to his spring promise; nor did Superex improve quite as expected, though he was recently a winner again at Waikouaiti on New Year's Day.

Tunneller is a useful southerner who has previously won at Trentham, and he was also successful at the New Zealand Cup Meeting in an open mile, when he beat Superex: and Dollar Prince into the minor places. On the latter occasion all three, horses carried 7.11, and now their respective weights are 8.7. 8.2, and 8.0. : ■Another southerner who. will, be! noted is Metal Bird, who won all three races in'which he started: recently on' the West Coast and . must,' be ' considered a little .lucky in being in here on the minimum/ Kama! Pasha is nowadays a consistent galloper, one who has often raced well at Trentham. Round Score has yet to win in open class, but is good enough on his best hack performances. Full Throttle might be a surprise, as he went some excellent races during the holidays, including a second to Queen's Pride at Tauherenikau at his last start, and he seems to be improving all the time.