FUTURE FORM CLUES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 89, 12 October 1937, Page 13

FUTURE FORM CLUES

MASTERTON EVENTS THURSDAY'S SPLENDID CARD • With an excellent list of acceptor: quality superior in most of tht Glasses to that ot recent years, the Masterton Racing Club' has reason tc look forward to a most successful opening to its Spring Meeting on Thursday The fields are numerous for all the events except the two open items, bul even in each of these there is ar acceptance of seven. Such a- carc should be an Attraction for the mosl fastidious racegoer, arid the form, along with that on the second day, will provide a capital line for the Trenthani opening on the Thursday of next week. , The Opaki course is a splendid testing ground, undoubtedly one of the best in the Dominion. It is l'i miles round,, with a three-furlong straight and the' going there in the spring is nearly always'firm and good. Horses who race well at Masterton have often been seen in a similarly favourable light at Trentham and a little later also at the New Zealand Cup Meeting. Two years ago Cuddle, who went on to win the New Zealand Cup and later the Auckland Cup, opened her season's racing by winning the principal event on the first day; and a year earlier Gold Tfail, after being third each day at Masterton, won the next week at Trentham, finished second to Steeton in- the New Zealand Cup, and then won the Auckland Cup. In Gold Trail's year. Might, winner of the, handicap on the second day at Masterton, also won at Trentham and was third in the New Zealand Cup; last, year this gelding was second each day and was probably unlucky in not doing much better than fourth in the New Zealand Cup. .... SPEAKFUL AND SINAPIS. During • the last thirty years or so Cuddle is the only 'actual Masterton winner who has gone on to success in the New Zealand Cup, but two horses who finished second in the principal events at Masterton, run under various titles, were victorious within a month in ,the . New Zealand Cup; The last such horse was Spearful, who was the runner-up to Ephialtes at Masterton in 1931. The earlier instance was Sinapis in 1913. In the 1913 race at Masterton, then called the . Spring Handicap, Sinapis; at her 7 first start for the season, was beaten half a length by Expect, and at her next appearance she easily beat Mr. E. J.. Watt's pair, Sea Pink and Midnight Sun, into the minor piaces in the New Zealand Cup. Siriapis's Riccarton victory was extraordinary, as the mare had missed her passage south the preceding Wednesday and was shipped down only on the Friday night, arriving at Lyttelton on- the morning of Cup Day. It /was no wonder that she was at an outside Pf lt would serve no purpose to review in detail the performances of the many other winners'of the Masterton Cup (or its substitutes) who have gone on to notable successes, but one may name among them such . as. Aberbrothock, Undecided,, Affectation, Bonetter, Bitters, Vagabond ..(after he had won the New Zealand Cup), „ Merry - Day, Tresham, Royal Game, Rabbi, Takakua, and Rona "Bay'(l?st year). This tot alone, -without taking further note, of good horses who f have filled _ minor places, is amply sufficient ,to the general value of the Masterton year the open event on the first day, the , Masterton Handicap, will be. run over a distance of 1 mile, ana the C. F. Valjance Memorial Handicap 6n the second day (Saturday) will be the open li-mile event. Until the alteration was made last year, - the longer race was the feature of the first day's card. Twelve months ago the club's stewards, because of . poor fields ih ■ the- proceeding few years, decided that the shorter race on the opening day . might make the greater appeal to - owners^arid last year's mile,' in which Rona Bay ; narrowly defeated Might, Korero, Gay Boy, and others, was certainly a successful inauguration of the change, even though in general it is not good policy to hold the better prize for the final day of. a meeting. The difference in the two stakes st Masterton is small, however, and_ the increasing distance is helpful in taking the horses along by stages. - MIGHT OR PUKEKO? ■>/Eh«rc are seven acceptors for Thursday's. Masterton. Handicap, and most of them are In disclosed form. Three of them, AWic King, : Might; and Hazoor, still remain in the New, Zealand Cup field,'and all except* Passion- Fruit are engaged at Trentham. ; Arctic King, -who heads the weights With 0,3,. lias had an easy time since winning the ' Islington Handicap, 11 milts; at the Grand National Meeting in' August, but he- has been brought slong v again during the past fortnight in"his usual way and he races-.so well when fresh that' one could not leave him out of calculations. However, purely'on recent track work, one would pick Might to beat him-at present with a concession of 151b.. Not "only is Might galloping more freely than be lias ever done in the past, but he is also doing 'his . job right in his races, for he was unlucky just to miss at Foxton and then won after pulling tabst of the way at Qtaki. If this gelding continues to hold his form he should be one of the toughest lightweights in the New Zealand Cup, Pukeko, who separates the Trentham pair in the list with 0.13, has failed at his last two starts, but he was not too •lucky at Otaki, and, with Might brought 101b closer to him and on his home track, he might return to ..winning form, for he is a versatile horse who is liable to pop up at any time. Might is still preferred,, but Pukeko looks ;the most troublesome of the others. Hazoor's excellent second first up after bis spell suggested better things before long, and he is not badly handicapped with ; 8.2, particularly . when it is noted that he receives 151b from Arctic King on Thursday, compared with only 61b in the New Zealand Cup, and actually is on the same mark as •Might, .instead of conceding 81b. Any improvement as a result of that Otaki ruti—though he often races as well fresh as with his condition harder— should see him in the Masterton finishes. •: ■. Of the others Tiger Gain and Passion Fruit were starters at Hastings, on Saturday, when neither greatly impressed, the former finishing last and the latter pulling up lame. However, the slow pac6 would hardly have suited Tiger .Gain, who. is due for improvement .and -Passion. Fruit's lameness after races is chronic. Helen Ford, who completes the field, has not raced . since the late autumn, and though she is a rare sticker.it may be too early yet for her in this class. NOT MUCH RECENT FORM. The Grandstand Handicap, in which the sprinters figure, is a rather more puzzling issue, because there is so little exposed recent .form. The best of what there is is that of the topweight, Pakanui, who, though he failed to dc better than third at Hastings on Saturday, should find this company easier tackling if the ground is not too hard, One who is likely to have benefited from her race last Saturday is the three-year-old filly Brunhild, w\ > ij due to show fojro shortly if sh ' is to make a showing in the coming classics. Brunhild was having her first outing of the season at Hastings, with a rider aboard who does little race riding, and when trained at Trentham she was a whom a race did a power of good.' Clessamor will be making his first (appearance this season, indeed since