THE JUMPING ISSUES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 13

THE JUMPING ISSUES

WANGANUI MEETING

LIGHT STEEPLES PAYMENT

The surprise of the acceptances for the first day of the Wanganui Jockey Club's Winter Meeting on Saturday is the excellence of the response for the Century Hurdles and the, somewhat unexpected thinning of the fields for P^fr,i W« ot, he?r JumP jne events, the SMl^ Hurdles and the Grandstand Steeplechase-. It is disappointing ™M& J seve" of the eig hteen horse! «T£f id u lem*in in the Grandstand Steeplechase, but most of the acceptors are^ probable runners, and the good tw?« ? r the flat events should in themselves, assure a most successful «Sf,i^A^ c f Uh lf the weather contmues to be fine. Compared with last year, when the m^ ng di d .not clash with the Great Northern fixture, the acceptances are TW» ,ataoSt W the card. There was no hack hurdles last June, a_ gentlemen riders' event, for which xne aay. The acceptance for the fhif v^- Ste-S? les- ™as the "™« « j ? ears< Wlth six of the seven 'ftp*! , r"nnin.g. and in all other five «,I+£ ti. erV* s a larSer acceptance, better 7 generally a good deal CENTURY HURDLES ISSUE. • + The Century Hurdles, which will be the .days main attraction, has drawn all the original entrants except Lord Hereford, and although two of the nine acceptors claim another engagement °" ,th.c same day it is almost certain that there will now be a good field going to the post. Last year, when the race was won by Ruaform, there were only four runners. Clarion Call, who heads the list with 11.2, is the likely favourite, despite the fact that,he was a shade disappointing when; he was beaten out of the. money recently under 11.4 in the - Coronation Hurdles at the Waikato Meeting. Prior to that he was second to Boughal at the Egmont Meeting. -It will be well remembered, however, how nearly he won the Great Northern Hurdles last year, when he had an .invincible lead going to the last fencs but then dropped his rider. He comes to hand readily and his connections are hopeful of winning the CenturyWanganui Steeples double with him during the next week. . The opposition for the topweight is stronger than it looked like being at nomination day. Perhaps one of the most formidable of his opponents will prove to be the staying Journet, who at his last start yielded only to Lord Hereford at the Hawke's Bay Meeting, -and was generally regarded at the time as having been a good thing beaten. Journet is very well at present. His form at Trentham in the spring was sufficient to suggest that he might go far among the hurdlers this .winter. . ■ , ' WELL HANDICAPPED. ' ' t • A horse in the field who appears to have been particularly well treated by the handicappers since he resumed — he had his first race since the spring at Foxton last. Saturday—is John Charles, who incidentally paraded lasc ■weekend looking as though he had ■ done a whole lot of recent work. At the last Grand National Meeting John i .Charles won the Styx Hurdles under 10.1, conceding 101b to Lord Hereford, who was unplaced; yet, without an- ' other start before being handicapped for Wanganui, he was let-in 61b below Lord Hereford,' whose non-acceptance •i-at 161b/.worse : terms, is therefore Tiot at 'all ■ surprising: :' ■: ; ••■■ Moreover, the last occasion on 'which John Charles and Journet met, ■the former's'in'receipt of 81b, won and " the latter was unplaced; now John • Charles is allowed in in receipt of 101b. Through the weighting of these two noises against the southerner Redolent in the spring there was not Inear. JWlb .between them. • The result of this survey may induce many to believe that the horse who may trouble the best of the neia on Saturday is John Charles. Journet has the advantage of better recent seasoning; but John' Charles is not 'very far from 'fitness, and he might •have been much.closer at the end. of his race at Foxton if the falling King Thomond had not interfered with Bed Sun and him. ; . ■ . There are possibilities among most of the rest of, the field as well. Ruaform may be better after another race or two, and Beau Gallante is likely to be troubled by the distance. Brigadore, however, after his two thirds at itici carton at Easter, may be ready to show his best form, for at one period he was a most promising hurdler. ..Contact will need to improve on his ,_ Foxton effort, but,' more patiently ridden, he might. Sporting Song and Red Rufus have each , another engagement, out the former would have many friends ■ if run in the hurdles, as he is fit with recent racing. I GRANDSTAND STEEPLECHASE. The Grandstand Steeplechase is going' to be contested by a much ' ■ smaller field than was anticipated, but 'there is still the material to make for a keen race, and the form is likely ito afford a good line on the more important Wanganui.Steeplechase on the concluding day next Wednesday. All • seven acceptors are engaged in the Wanganui Steeples.as well, and addi- . tions to the second day's field may include- Clarion. Call, Manawatu, Pet- . rarch, Brigadore, Invictus, and possibly Tudor. . ' Bonnie Rollox.has the honour of No. i place again in the book, and if he runs his showing will afford plenty of .interest. It is much doubted if his Australian form warranted the weight he has; and in any case he should not ■have received it after he had evpcaed his apparent ability at Egmcvit, unless ■it has been the intentio:. of the handicappers who ,!?sv* peen dealing with him to ujdvp-tne position of stipendiary ste'vy^Kis, «as well as acting as figure- • ex«£jrts. • Thi iwffli "m the Grandstand, except:ic« ior that of Sporting. Song and perhaps also of Royal Banquet, is lacking in recent deeds, so that it is a race in which Bonnie Rollox, if his connections decide to start him, or any of the others have quite sound prospects, provided they can compass the course of sixteen fences. , Sporting Song looks the obvious favourite, as he has a record of two wins and a second in three essays over country,: and he is still not at all badly placed in the weights at 9.11. At the recent Egmont Meeting he ran second to Monastic, to whom he was conceding 51b, and among the unplaced division was Riotous, who was giving him 161b, only lib more than their present On figures purely Riotous should find Sporting Song difficult to account for again on Saturday; but that race at Hawera, only his second since his resumption, is likely to have benefited him immensely, and he is a wellexperienced jumper who has already won two Wanganui Steeplechases and therefore knows the course thoroughly In the betting Riotous may have nearly as big a following as Sporting Song, and it is even possible that the post of favourite will finally be occupied by him. Royal Banquet's good form on the flat last Saturday gives him an excellent chance of success, if he survives the country. He was inclined to be risky, however, in his short spell at the game last winter, and his schooling at Hastings recently seemed to • show something of the same fault still remaining, though he jumped satisfactorily at Wanganui yesterday morning. The other three, Battleground, Rioghail, and Platter, will not be among the better fancies, but is due to reveal some improvement, and Platter's, debut at Foxton was distinctly promising.

By "Rangatira" ana "flibbonwood."

A CORRESPONDENT'S VIEW

Disagreement with the reasons given by Mr. J. E. Henrys in support of the totalisator is expressed by a correspondent ("Amused"), who writes:— "In Tuesday's 'Post' there is an account of Mr. Henrys's opinion of the totalisator. I would like to state my opinion, which is the reverse of his. He gives six reasons why the totansator system should be continued. These, with my view in parentheses, were:— The racegoer who bets does so of his own free will. (So he would if the registered bookmakers were allowed on the course.) The investor is certain of a start for his money. (So he would if. the registered bookmakers were allowed to operate on the course.) If he is successful the investor is not urged1 to reinvest his winnings. (Neither would he be with the bookmaker.) ~ No credit is given by the totalisator. (Neither is there by the book- ' maker on the course.) The totalisator does not pay owners to scratch their horses. (My reply to the next paragraph will cover this.)' . ■ . ■ The totalisator has no agents to arrange with the owners, trainers, and jockeys for horses to be raced dishonestly.

"Now this point is the greatest joke of all, as it must be apparent to anyone having had experience with racing and bookmakers that if an owner can get a price about his horse satisfactory to himself, which can only be obtained through the bookmaker, he knows what he must lay out and what he stands to win; and so long as the price suits him he can tell his friends. Whether the horse starts favourite or not doesn't concern him, as he has made his bet. . . . "How often here in New Zealand is a horse shouted about in town: that hasn't a dog's chance, usually in order to mislead the public from the sitter! With the totalisator an owner has to be content with what price the punters allow his horse-to pay. As a result, to put the punters off his horse, he has to run the horse dishonestly to make a living. With registered bookmakers this would be unnecessary, as he could take a price about his horse the morning of the race or weeks beforehand and let the horse run on its merits. ■ ■ ■ ■ "Why do all our best horses go to Australia? This is too' obvious for further comment."