WIN-AND-PLACE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 99, 28 April 1937, Page 15

WIN-AND-PLACE

TIMARU'S SUCCESS

In view of the violent antagonism to the . win-and-place system of betting that has developed in Canterbury and Otago during the past few months, tha experience of the South Canterbury Jockey Club on Saturday-;s illuminating. At the March meeting 12 months ago the % totalisator handled £9515, against £10,395 10s the previous year, the 75-25 division of the pool being in operation. The win-and-place method of wagering was adopted by the club for. Saturday's meeting, the amount handled'being £16,494, an increase of £6979. Although it would be fallacious to ascribe all the improvement to win-and-place, the increase was such a substantial one that some credit must be given it. A number of clubs, both in the south and in the north, have certainly reverted to the old method of wagering after experimenting with win-and-place, but it can reasonably be claimed that in many cases they did not give it a fair trial. The opponents of win-and-place will assuredly find it difficult to explain away South Canterbury's signal success,' and it -is hoped that clubs who have been considering a reversion to the old order of things will bear it in mind before being stampeded in taking any retrograde ■ step. Working1 Weil. The Gisborne Bly Gain, who scored a surprise win in the open sprint on the second day of the Wairarapa Meeting, is reported to be working well on the Hastings track. Coming Back. Wino, who was at a very profitable price when he fimshed in a place in the sprint at Washdyke on Saturday, looked to be in a hopeless position as the straight was reached, but put in a determined finish. , He will be more at home over a. -longer distance, and it looks .as if his turn is not far away, and should be a useful stake-earner during the winter, even if he is not quite ready for Oamaru. Classy ,Three-year-old. The half-sister by Day Comet to Concertpitch, Irish Fiddle, is expected to develop into a classy three-year-old next season, and. her win at Washdyke was most impressive. The Day Comets generally take time to mature, but Irish Fiddle is an exception, and as she is likely to go on developing she might at least prove as useful as her relative. Day Comet Novice. Among the novice hurdlers seen out at the Timaru Meeting on Saturday was Sunny Comet, who is from Granuale, a half-sister to Rapier. He has already demonstrated prowess as a jumper,' and he might prove a welcome addition to the jumping ranks . before the season is over. Fine Sprinter. The South Canterbury winner Cyrillian was awarded' 9.9 in the hack six at Otmaru, but her. name was missing on acceptance night. She was sent to Oamaru along ■ with others of J. S. Shaw's team ■ after Saturday's. Meeting, and she may be .' raced on the second day. By the ■ manner of her win 'this*lliacTfilly looks capable.of Holding her own in the best sprint company nfixt season. At WoodviJle. If there is a club that deserves a turn of luck it is Dannevirke, who will race at Woodville on Friday arid Saturday. The fields ate. of. useful ..dimensions, and though the chief event, the Dannevirke Cup, has thinned down somewhat, Catalogue, Hazoor, and Arctic King -should help to make it an interesting contest. The open six furlongs will provide a much more difficult problem for backers, as the form of some of the contestants will be hard to assess. Hed Manfred heads the list, but this is not his distance, but there will be a good deal of interest centred in his effort. . Well-bred Winner. The three-year-old Dutiful, who won in Sydney on Saturday, was purchased at the yearling sales at Trentham in 1935 for 250gs, being secured by J. T,. Jamieson on behalf, of Mr. J. Harris. Dutiful belongs to a family that has produced some good horses, his dam. Chelae, being a .sister to HerowinKie, who produced Hall Mark, and. also a sister-in-blood to the Melbourne Cup winner Trivalve. New Handicapper. The handicapping for the second day of the Nelson Jockey Club's Meeting and both days of the Marlborough Racing Club's Meeting was done by Mr. A. V. O'Brien, deputising for Mr. J. E Henrys. Mr. O'Brien, who is one of the best-known Turf writers in the Dominion, and who was earlier a Parliamentary reporter on the "New Zealand Times," had the satisfaction of seeing most of his fields staging close finishes. He is also handicapper to the Westport Jockey Club, and is judge for a number of North Island clubs. . Cigby's Team, The latest additions to R. S. Bagby's team at Ellerslie are Stretto and Privy Seal, who arrived from Te Awamutu yesterday; Both horses have been hacked around the roads for a few weeks, and are in nice order to undergo a further preparation. Stretto was a brilliant galloper as a two-year-old, and would only heed to strike form again in order to win more races. A Novel Scheme. To' stimulate steeplechasing at major race tracks in the New York area, 36 millionaire Turf enthusiasts pooled £ 18,000 for the . importation of 36 French jumpers. On the arrival of the horses their names were tossed into a Lit and each subscriber became the ,j\/ner of the horse he drew. Only three tracks in the New York area, namely,- Belmont, Saratoga, and Aqueduct, stage jumping races. The number of top-flight performers had become so small that hurdle fields usually pared down to four or five mounts. Owned Recorfl-holder. The Finland—Trebeli mare Finora, who held the seven-furlong record for Australia and New Zealand for many years, was the best performer that R. Ellis whose death is just reported ■from Christchurch, ever owned though a number of good horses passed through his hands. Finora's record was made in the Craven Plate at the C.J.C. 1925 Summer Meeting when ■she easily accounted for a useful field which included Winning Hit. She did not win another race until the'following season when she showed a return to her old-time brilliance oy accounting for the. Wakanui Handicap. She only won one small race after that, and was-retired to the stud in 1928 where she produced Golden Dart to Arrowsmith. ' . Will Oakland, a fullbrother to Finora, was a most consist- j ent winner. ■ j Refresher's Good Gallop. Although Refresner has been racing since 1929, he is still showing enough dash on the tracks and in his races to demonstrate that he is not yet a spent light. On Monday at New Plymouth, Refresher, Ringside, and Glenthawn were- sent out together over six furlongs on the trial grass. Ringside immediately set a very fast pace, leading his companions to the three furlongs in 36sec and to the half-mile in 48sec. He then- tired slightly and Refresher finlished better to hold an advantage at the post with Glen-thawn a couple of lengths back. The full distance was j covered in lmin 35sec. Refresher is engaged at Woodville this week. |