VALAMITO VERY FIT

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 122, 26 May 1938, Page 13

VALAMITO VERY FIT

FARLAND'S UNIQUE RECORD

(Special from "Early Bird.") 1 AUCKLAND, May 25. ] Melvanui was one of the unlucky : gallopers at Te Rapa, as he was finish- • ing on strongly both days after being badly placed in the early part. He : carries weight well and may be aj; prospect among the hacks at the Auckland fixture, which opens at lerslie on Monday week. . , Maori Song is at his best in soft going, and he relished the state of the track at Te Rapa. On the first day he finished in sixth place but when produced on Monday looked a won-derfully-improved horse, an impressive preliminary causing a^? ntic "\ . nt ; ce focused upon him. His a PP re rider revealed good Judgment when he was overhauling Whirling by not drawing the whip as the horse won very nicely without undue P un ishm6nt Farland has a unique record at Te Rapa, having gained all his cesses on this course. .from this quartet of victories his only P lac J" [performance is a second at TfAapuria. He is a five-year-old gelding by Acre and is trained at Rotorua by -p- • cvl Valamito won the President's Handicap last Saturday in very convincing style and amply justified the promise he showed at Avondale last month. He was always well placed and when asked for his effort in the final furlong he responded splendidly, and was definitely superior to the opposition, a rise of 71b should not jeopardise his chances in the Cornwall Handicap, he is in splendid fettle at present. Gold Vaals was a decided favourite for the mile at Te Rapa on Monday, and his failure to gain a place must have been disconcerting to his backers. However, he would have had to register an outstanding performance to win, as he was at the rear of the field early, and had to cover much extra ground in going round the field. He showed up momentarily in the straight, finishing among the bunch behind the placed division. He was in the boom a fter his runaway win at Avondale, and must still be- regarded as a Cornwall Handicap possibility. ' A pleasing feature of Day winds success at Te Rapa was the fact that he was travelling very easily at the post, and even with 61b extra in the Cornwall Handicap he may take some beating. He is not an every-day horse, although in Ihe same form and condition he exhibited on Monday he is liable to win in any company. The higher scale of weights to be carried on the flat at the coming Great Northern fixture at headquarters may cause some upsets in form. It is a peculiar feature of winter racing that the horses who are genuine mudlarks do not seem to be hampered when the weight is piled on, while even with the minimum impost others who are not partial to mud, but might be expected to run well on top of the ground, are hopeless propositions. Two years ago the Auckland Winter Meeting was held under perfect autumn conditions, so far as the track was concerned, so this aspect did not apply, but generally Ellerslie in June is anything but a bowling green. With the 8.0 minimum in the hack event on the opening day, Du Maurier heads the list with the steadier of 10.10, and if he can handle the conditions this would not beat him, for outstanding hacks have scored at Ellerslie with more weight than that. Greek Gold was a specially good horse there in June; he won with 9.0 (7.0 minimum) and was second with 10.13 (8.0 minimum), and. on the same day Seatown won the handicap with 10.0.