WAIRARAPA'S £500 PRIZE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 22

WAIRARAPA'S £500 PRIZE

Considerable increases have been made to all stakes at the rarapa Racing Club's Easter Meetine.lo be held on March 27 ana 29. The Easter Handicap, llmilps, now carries a prize of £500, which makes it one of the most valuable stakes to be won at a provincial meeting during the autumn.. The race was endowed with a stance of only half the amount last year.

at the finish. ■ She is apparently . improving and if she can .get over what appears to be almost a chronic tenderness she may win a good race shortly, especially if the tracks' begin to ease again. After racing at Te Aroha she will probably contest the Franklin and Ohinemuri Cups, neither of which; will be-beyond her. on-latest showings. STEEPLECHASE OPENING. Year after year the steeplechase season is opened at Paeroa by the Ohinemuri Jockey Club, which races in the middle of March, and invariably the two events there provide most 'exciting contests. Whether this will be -the case at the coming meeting is a .matter for conjecture,: .for . the • entries are smaller than ever, : with , only nine nominated each.day. Of this lot the outstanding performer is the dual National winner . Valpeen, and there will be a couple of veterans.in. Nukutere. and Maunga .: King also in the fieTr!une is the sole Auckland entrant for important events at the Wellington Autumn Meeting next month, his first-day engagements including the Thompson. Handicap and the open sprint. At his last appearance Triune gave a good mile field a few lengths, start at Te Rapa and defeated all except Respectful, who was receiving 201b from the big angular chestnut, so that on this showing he could be accounted a Thompson Handicap prospect if he could be guaranteed to get away with his field. The son of Tippler is also entered for sprint races at Paeroa, and the handicap, on. the second'day, so his trip to Trentham.is by no means certain. . .. . It is a doubtful policy to rmxjuirdle racing with flat racing, and the wisdom of doing this has often been discussed. > Calcutta may be a case m point if this programme is- carried out. When he commenced racing as a hurdler at Te Awamutu nearly three months ago he finished third, and then went on to Thames to finish second and then first over brush hurdles, another win over obstacles following at Matamata. Their he won on the flat both days at Rotorua, and, back to hurdling again, he defeated Modern Maid at Te Rapa. On the second day there he took on the flat again, having such a good lead coming into the straight that he looked unbeatable, but he finished well back. He is.to race over the sticks at Te Aroha this weekend, and then next Saturday is entered for flat racing only at Pukekohe, and also at Paeroa a week later. Jan Ridd was not paid up for on the first day, but from all accounts he may be produced in the hack sprint on Monday, and if he is then he should stand an excellent winning chance. His form last weekend was first class, and he might have been a bit unfortunate in striking an improver like Day Wind good enough to wm^first up after a lengthy spell. Jan Ridd is a much improved sprinter and he may be good enough to leave the hack class before the season ends, for there are still plenty of opportunities at the remaining fixtures on the provincial circuit.