BIG CANTERBURY DOUBLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 80, 5 April 1938, Page 15

BIG CANTERBURY DOUBLE

(By "Rangatira.")

. , 'In years gone, by; the Great Easter and Great Autumn were the races that ; . tested -the -pretensions for supremacy among the handicappers over the whole ' extent of the land. - With the improve- • ment in. the stakes at other meetings, ;' particularly at; Auckland; Riccarton ' ceased to be quite the magnet', it was, ■ -though there-was usually still good , patronage from outside centres. The . fields,this year, however, will comprise i almost wholly South islanders. : ■ '. It; is. surprising to find: so few North .Islanders prepared, to undertake the -■•< trip south this year when (here is the ; inducement of two £1000 stakes, easily ■ the1 largest on offer over the holidays. ■■' .Only five' northerners';were originally nominated for the two events,1 and, with Alunga's failing to meet the .first acceptance, the possible visitors from this end are.reduced to two in each race. Lady Ina 'and Brunhild in the Easter :. and Lowenbefg and Arctic, King in • the Autumn. ;', . ■'..■'■ . • It is therefore fortunate for the Can- ; terbury - Jockey Club that the South Island handicap form this season is the best it has been for several years. The southerners, are quite capable of making the two events racing successes. In--deed each- -field is still well up to the mean past standard, despite the absence of material northern patronage. DIFFICULT DOUBLE, The Easter, and the Autumn are de- :' cide'd on different days,' the former on Easter-Monday and the latter on the following day.. The. double is therefore of ten essayed by the same horse. However, it is a.difflciult. double, :as the records reveal, the only: horses so to • have-, succeeded- being Lady Zetland "■'■(lß94),' Lady Lilian (1903), and. Grand Knight (1920): Rebel Song was somewhat: urihicky five'years ago in stnk- ' - ing Princess Argosy on: 6ne of her. occasional good -days ;in v the Great ; ..Autumn, but, the class that year was below•'standard; ; \ >• • Twb horses were • sent' after the - double honours1 last year. /Concertpitch and Chief Ranger, the pair refer- "'" red to, ran- first and second respective- ( ly in the Great Easter, but both failed in the Great Autumn1, though Concertpitch managed to ■ secure the barren - honour of weighing in again. v ; There are "no less' than six horses '"■ with the double ambition this year— probably vicariously, as ■ -representing their owners-desires. The half-dozen who met both payments on Friday • evening-are Wild Chase, Silver Streak, : Dictate, Ponty,,Wild Career, .and Cocksure. : It is- likely,'however, that there •: willbefewej -with; : double; claims at .'• ■ = the final payment tomorrow week: wild Chase-, Dictate, and Ponty are, three '' Mo have the versatility"'to win in the :'-'• best class at each distance,The presence of Silver Ring among • the nominations for both events helped to keep down the weights 'of the rest * :'of the fields, and now that-the chest---'ilut'has been allqWed to drop out the "■■ handicaps look 'flattering ones._ Such handicaps, however, are often the most difficult*!c?-:anaiyse' satisfactorily. They; '"■Hand all horses whatis;apparently a ;- ioo'd chance, but they generally present the best', opportunity to those around the, top of the scale; This is ■\ simply logic, as the; cracks have less -:-;. \Veight'than rthsy;might have had. the EASTEiat;;x6ps. - s' ;,;' .' Paper Slipper ;and 'Alma, who are •'■■•• the first pair iri the 'Great '■ Easter list with 9.2 and 8.13-respectively, are quite ~_ • well in: on-their -best;'performances. There has been a tendency to let Paper <■■■■■■ Slipper-down lately/and he did not .show up with 8!11 in the Thompson '-■ Handicap at Tfentham last month; but . . a horse who was rated.9.6 in the Easter '"■ twelve months ago as,a three-year-old • (even, allowing for, the then ,7.7 minimum), when Tie was sent out second ■ favourite,'has really nothing to com- , •■ plain about his present mark.. He is „. at his best on the;. Riccarton track, . where he was .a winner iri November ' and in February. Alma, likewise, who ,-,. had 9.5 in .the Criterion Handicap in November, arid was sent out favourite, :;. is not;at all harshly dealt with^now in being assessed 111b 'better- with Paper Slipper, judged through her best form of the season. That she "is back in :; forrp she demonstrated at Waimate on . Saturday by scoring under'9,ll. .- Wild Chase has1 failed to produce winning form this term, and so there is justification for his decline in the weights. He would have been con'sid- ■ ■■ eired exceptionally well handicapped ;' with 8.12 as a three-year-old—actually he was given 9.9 in the race—but until he shows more definitely that he is . capable of recovering something of his last season's form he can be taken only on trust. There is a vie^w 100 that the best has been seen of this fine galloper. ' ■ Kinnoull has been off the scene since he raced, and won, at Trentham in October. Unless the tracks should become easier he is unlikely to claim , much attention in this field of seasoned horses. : ■- Lady Ina is a stout-hearted mare who is always liable to be: troublesome in ■•' the best of class. She is also a mare 'who does her best on big courses, so one need not be disconcerted that she failed to win at Hastings last week. She now has her right measure of -. . weight, however, as she has been lined through Paper Slipper who. ran secbnd to her on the final day at Trentham last month, and now comes in at " . a 51b narrower difference. MAY BE PAST BEST. , Silver Streak is. still able to win ' races in turn, as witness his success in average class at Oamaru, but he does not appear to be'the horse he once was in the best open class. He is quite leniently assessed in both races next month, though even this is unlikely to induce his elevation to the more-fav-oured section. . Dictate's form is not always easy to keep abreast of, but it has been suffi- : ciently good at "times this season to classify him among the best handicap-- ' pers in the land. At 8.0 he is handily placed in the Easter, despite the fact that he was not sighted till the close of the Thompson Handicap at Trentham last month. It may be noted that he is now set to meet Alma 31b better " than over a furlong further, at Trentham in January, and on that day Die- : tate outclassed his opposition. • • Two-thirds of the Easter field have been handicapped below eight stone, and many of the horses in this group would look capitally in were it not for the scale of the weights on top. Always '' remembering that such weighting favours the upper section of the list, one - may note possibilities among the lower ■■-■ group in Grey Honour, Ponty, Brunhild, Janet Gaynor (unbeaten at Riccarton), Rebel . Mate, and :■'-' Wino. besides which' there are others who may later on come into some de- •'•: mand because .of their track progress. Ponty is a horse who returned conveniently to form at Oamaru, just after the weights for Riccarton had been released and in form he is a match for the best company!, The race he won at Oamaru was.over a.mile, but with the much more complete scale of weights in the Easter he has to meet Silver ' Streak and Dictate, who are unplaced, at Oamaru, at considerably worse terms. .The Ponty stable also has Wino and' Cocksure in the Easter field. , . . LINES TO AUTUMN, The Great Autumn issue is'more difficult to assess ahead than the Great Easter, because the first day's racing at the meeting so often has such a bearing on the result.. Two events on the first day give valuable lines to the Autumn, the nine, furlongs Sockburn

WEIGHT SCALE FAVOURS THOSE ON TOP .

The autumn race campaigning in the Dominion' comes to its climax-with the Easter meetings, which' will be opened on Saturday week. Many leading items will engage the attention of investors this year, but foremost among them will be the big handicap double at Riccarton, the Great Easter and Great Autumn, for which the first acceptance has already been made. These southern races have regained the distinction, after many years, of being endowed with the most valuable stakes of the Easter session.

r Handicap and the Great master, «>« t former event usually being the better pointer. Twelve months ago, foi m- ' stance, Willie "Win went on from win- - ning the Sockburn to success in the " AOn weights alone Willie Win has been ,' accorded an excellent chance of_ re--1 peating last year's success in a. fort•night's time. He will now have 131b 1 more to carry, but-sine* that double » twelve months ago he has recorded some of his best efforts. Fresh up vi ' the spring he most easily won the Heathcote Handicap, nine tol°n% "^ » the Grand National Meeting, and then, • taken over to Victoria, he beat every- • thing except The Trump in the Mel- ' bourne Cup after having charge till a • few strides from the finish. That Flemr ington form stamped him as one of the 1 best horses in Australia t Subsequently ' he went amiss and has not raced since 3 his return from the Melbourne Cup • Meeting, but he ' has been back in ■ steady work for some time past witli 1 the Great Autumn in view. His trainer is able to produce her charges fit first '. up and he is a horse who has never , required racing into form. He will ; doubtless be afforded the opportunity ' of a prior race in the Sockburn Han- '. dicap again on the opening day at > Riccarton. . : . '. Sovereign Lady is the clue to how well Willie Win is handicapped, in the Heathcote Handicap last August she ran second a length behind Willie ■ Win. from whom she ■ was : receiving i 201b. i In the Great Autumn she re- ! ceives only 81b. In other words, Willie • Win comes down from 9.6, to 8.12 and • Sovereign Lady goes up from 8.0 to 8.4. ■ Sovereign Lady may lately have won ! the C.J.C. Midsummer Handicap ana the Peninsula Cup; but one may well ask/why such form has been rated at ' least a stone better than such a fine : second as Willie Win ran in the Mel- ' bourne Cup. Still, it has been clear ; for some time that Sovereign Lady was ' being ..set for the Great Autumn, and , there is always the chance that Willie ; Wiri.maynot be at his best. That seems the mare's main hope of success. Davolo; Lowehberg, and Arctic King are all proved handicappers who should be suited, by the race'and the course, as they have all been1 winners previously, on- the track. : -Of. them, Lowenberg,- with a rider who- knows his peculiarities in the saddle,, may be the most formidable. He, is able to handle any going, but soft going might enhance his chance, as it would most assuredly do Arctic King'Si Twelve months ago Arctic King-ran second to Willie Win in the race with ,3Jib more than he has this year. ■ ; The Southlander Galleon, -whose form has been solid recently, is greatly favoured in his home territory for the Great Autumn.' He Won; the Dunedin Handicap and the Oamaru Cup and was second to Studley Royal- in; the Dunedin Cup, and though that opposition was .nothing to what he- will strike in the Autumn .a horse can: do nothing more in his preliminaries than , -win^iY•■. >- .:■:.■-.-- ■.•.)■-■.••■ .-.'■■ •■...'■.> '.'>:■■ ■ i ■ • i Dictate1: ' and : Ponty; - are: -.a" rp'air weighted well: enough, to win the double at their best form. ■ The Great Easter winner is liable to a penalty up to 71b, but' that would take their Autumn weight up to only 8.2 or B.Q, respectively. Twelve months ago Ponty, who. has a Wellington Cup over the distance to his credit,-'had 8.11 in the Great Autumn, so that the handicap- ; per has:taken a risk in letting him :in at 7.7 this year—a' risk niore or less '. forced on him by ; .other recent assess- ■ ments, combined with -failures; till he [' won at Oamaru.' » ■■■. v ,: ■ ; Of ".those lower' down;, the list the • horse who will probably make most [ appeal with his weight is Rebel: Lad, . who .came back into winning form at I Waimate on Saturday. Big things have . at (times been expected from this son !of Robespierre; A , spell during, the , summer appears to have done him an' ■ amount of good that may enable him i to secure for-his owner one of the i bigger prizes remaining to: be collected , this season. Another among the i lighter weights who must be accorded ' a chance of success'is Studley Royal, i who won the Dunedin Cup over this 1 distance, beating Galleon; whom he 1 now meets at BJlb better terms. If Galleon is to be given a chance, so ; logically must Studley Royal be in- ; eluded among the better prospects.