GOOD PRICES AT OPAKI

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 90, 13 October 1938, Page 13

GOOD PRICES AT OPAKI

MASTERTON'S OPENING DAY

ARCTIC KING AND GAY CHOU IN BEST FORM

There were > times during the day when the weather was very threatening, but the penetrating. southerly brought only, very light showers of short duration, and the afternoon ended with. the wind dying tp a breeze and the sun breaking through with welcome warmth. . ■;.*.'■

Trentham stables had good measure of success, but. several of those most warmly fancied failed to justify their support. Winners. froh*. the centre were Arctic King, Beau Livre, Royal Star.ll, and War Cloud.

Two attractive performances were the successes of Arctic King and Gay Chou in the open events. Both have Riccarton as their main objective and Arctic King gained many friends for the New Zealand Cup, and Gay Chou demonstrated that he. is a real Stewards' Handicap hope. A brilliant effort was that of the two-year-old Beau. Pere colt Beau Livre, who wholly outclassed his opponents in the juvenile event. Beau Livre showed himself to be a youngster of exceptional promise and he may prove to.be the best of his. age yet seen out this season. He galloped in exquisite style, and left one wondering what he might have done if he had been pressed. Seldom has an early two-year-old impressed more in his first outing. BEAU LIVRE'S BRILLIANCE. Beau Livre completely spreadeagled his opposition in the Nursery Handicap, and an easier, win in a juvenile half-mile. could hardly be envisaged. Jumping out two lengths clear from No. 3 marble at the start, he had established an invincible advantage at the distance and he cantered home four lengths ahead of the red-hot favourite, Nora Gregor. , Beau Livre Has always been looked on as one of the best juveniles -at Trentham this season, and on this showing, he may prove at Trentham next week that he is the best of the early two-year-olds in the Dominion. He was having his first race and was on his toes before the start, but he was well behaved at the barrier and produced brilliance that nonplussed the rest of the big field. The time would have been much faster but for the fact that the horses were running into the wind down the long straight. Beau Livre is a half-brother by Beau Pere to Deficit, and he carries the colours of his breeder,? Mr. W. Higgins, for whom he is trained by H. A. Telford. The same event last year was won for Beau Pere by Gay Son, whom Beau Livre resembles in colour and also a great deal in conformation. Nora Gregor, the Hastings winner, was easily best of the others. She was second out from No. 9 marble but did not show anything like the brilliance of the winner. Her running wide entering the straight shortly after the start did not affect the-result. Deflation and Equity, two of Inflation's first crop, were next in most of the running, and Deflation, a son of True Step, hung on for third, though the distance finally found Equity, a filly out of Div Ola. tiring. Inflation himself won this race m his another Inflation filly, came home through the field for fourth, just ahead of Vascones, who was always fifth or sixth but hung out a bit. War Lord, Beau Vite (who drew very wide), Filbert, and Anita Joe were nearest.the remainder. Wedding Eve was out of line at the start and stood on the mark. A CHANGE OF LUCK. Earl Colossus, who was a .consistent performer last season without always the best of the luck, opened his account for the current term by winning the Electric Hack Handicap at his third appearance this season *. Following Sunny Blonde .till, well into the straight, he threw out his challenge near the distance and wore down the pacemaker inside the last, hunctreq a Now seven years'old. Earl Colossus is a s?lid!?-ma5e.bay g.eWtarCoto* qTi<. from the Treadmill—Thetis mare ™rries the colours of his breeder, Mr. carries ineu, v who alsQ brel j S<f*ra Gc ee°. rS the"dam. «%, V Ve^Sd races before being retired to tne; siuo. Earl Colossus has had some schoolmg xXXXa v.ac raced once over hurdles, ana next winSr he may make a good sort ofSunn dv eßlonde, improving on recent eff SortX yattehi P ted to lead from end to end, and it was only h| f laK n r; ontS that she gave first sign of having xo yi lc dco%lfcr^v harmsappointing for she drifted badly and was making no impression on the leaders till the race was practically over.. S!^ rl ea ;. o ld has grown into a big three-year oia, anl this son of Beau Pere should be preatlv improved as the result oi vn*face his first since the autumn. Raroa Sn up alongside Earl Colossus in the firSt furlong, but she f was; thusc mnelled to go over extra ground ana SI in thi straight. Lustral wen one of his slowest races, a bad last, all the way. j AN EARLY RETURN. Cricket made an early return for Mr. H F Wood, of Wellington, by winning | the Highweight Handicap third time j out in his new colours. Cricket, formerly owned by Mr. W. Higgins, was put up for sale during the Wellington Meeting last March and . Mr. Wood paid 110 guineas for him, giving him a single start, at Easter and then spelling him till recently. The surprising part about the. win yesterday was the dividend, as this horse was noticed i running fast through his^field.at the end of the open seven furlongs .-at dtaki a fortnight ago when having his first start after his resumption. ... Cricket owed his success to finishing on better than Golden Ridge. While Golden Ridge was out making:, every post a winner, Cricket remained on the rail in third place, It was not J;ill they were fairly, in the straight that Cricket came out on the track with his challenge, and he had charge a fur-, long from the post, but it was a battle royal from that point; with Cricket hard pressed to hold a head advantage. Cricket is still big in condition, but he has always raced well this way. Indeed he is a horse who does not' usually improve a great deal as he shapes up. He is now being trained at Porirua by D. Prosser. Golden Ridge was nearly.a surprise packet on form, but apparently from the betting he was expected to go near winning. He will be watched from now oh when he has roomy tracks. Warehi, who. early raced up to Golden Ridge, was unable to remain with the leader on the home turn, but he kept going, well enough to retain third money. Tareha finished on for fourth, but nothing ran in so fast right at the death as Southern Blood. Beau Gallante^ was on the outer, of, Cricket to. the straight and finished handy. Twilight Song and Pango failed to improve their positions in the straight, and Red Rufus stopped badly. The favourite Alloa, after a slow beginning, moved up nearing the straight but did not sustain the effort. PLEASING CUP TRIAL. Arctic King gained admirers for his New Zealand Cup engagement with an attractive victory in the Masterton Handicap, a race in which he finished second last year. Always well placed,

'■■ (From "Rangatira.") Investors who braved a very bleak day found the winners difficult to locate in most of the events on the opening day of the Masterton Racing Club's Annual Meeting at Opaki yesterday. Several heavily-supported horses failed to return a dividend, but generally the winners were horses who had recently given evidence of being on the way back to form. Considering the unpleasant weather and the betting reverses, the increase in the totalisator returns must have been very gratifying to the stewards.

he kept improving his position steadily, and in the straight he dashed through brilliantly to the van* and had the race well won over a furlong from the post.

Arctic King has been a very successful performer throughout his career, but, despite, his other notable wins, he has never. pleased more in any performance than he did yesterday. He assumed the upper hand so readily and made his opposition. look almost cheap at the close. .It is interesting to note how W. J. Wood, owner-trainer of Arctic King, has mapped out the gelding's Cup preparation. First he was started this season in an open seven at Otaki, when he w*as running on well at the close, and then next he contested yesterday's mile race. For the first day at Trentham he was entered only for the open mile and not for the bigger handicap. His only mile and a quarter engagement at Trentham is the Harcourt Stakes on the final day. His connections expect him to be a fit horse on this plan of campaign for the New Zealand Cup, in which he will be ridden by his usual pilot, S. "Wilson, and he has certainly never looked better than he does at present. Tiger Gain, as so often in the past, has come quickly to hand. His apprentice rider,. T. Treacy, handled him like an experienced horseman. He assumed charge after a couple of furlongs, and, though he succumbed without much struggle to Arctic King in the straight, he kept the others at bay and- so secured a good second dividend for his party. ■'. ' • Siegmund's chance faded when he was unable to strike his proper stride in the middle stages, where he drifted back to nearly last. Over the last furlong he stretched out with something like his real action and he finished very strongly along the fence to fill third berth, only half a neck behind Tiger Gain. Silvanus, the early leader and third to the straight, hung on for fourth, and this showing suggests an early success for her. Master Cyklon and Dungarvan (wide out) attempted challenges in the straight, but the leaders were going too well for them. Dorado went up to second at the half-mile but weakened in the home run. Roaming was prominent most of the way and was still handy at the close. Liane once again was disappointing, never being in the serious picture, though she was not far away at the post. It was an exhilarating finish, with the field spreading across the track: Arctic King, however, was always de-. finitely on top in the straight, and he scored with something in hand. Against a strong southerly; the last half-mile was run in 50 3-ssec, which was two-fifths of a second faster than the. first, half, with the wind behind. TRENTHAM'S MAIDEN. There- were two substantial dividends in the Maiden Plate, in which the places were filled by Trenthamtrained three-year-olds. Lady Baron, from the George stable, ran to the lead early and was Kept goipg by the vigorous horsemanship _of S. Anderson, but War Cloud, from the Lorigan establishment, Tfinif jtied-too well for her over the last fufclorig and beat her home by a length. ' * War Cloud made a good beginning from the inner marble, but W. J. Broughton allowed him time to find his feet and settled him down in fifth place. On reaching the straight he was following Lady Baron, Telamon, Acrobat, and Imogen. Moved out, he issued his claim nearing the distance and he was too solid at the close for the pacemaker. War Cloud had only a couple of starts as a juvenile, and he ran a' good race in a forward position most of the way when opening his three-year-old career at Otaki recently. He is a bright chestnut son of Lord Warden and the Tractqr-Droski mare Cloudburst,, a half-sister to Overdrawn and to Ravenna (dam of Ventrac, Travenna, and Alma) and Bonnie Lake (dam. of Mobile), hence he claims some very successful South Island relatives. At last year's Trentham sales ;he was bought by the Trenthani trainer H. B. Lorigan, with an eye to a? bargain, for only 55 guineas," and Lorigan resold him to his patron, Mr. F; Elbe, of Wellington, who also races Sunny Blonde. Even allowing .that he was assisted to victory by the riding of W. J. Broughton, War Cloud finished so resolutely as to make him look a good prospect for hack events in the near future. . Lady Baron saw out the distance better than her connections anticipated, l 'responding well to hard riding. She is an Australian-bred Baralong filly who was bought at the Sydney sales by T. R. George and resold some months ago to Mr. K. Watson, of Wellington. Floral Robe, a half-sister to Silver Ring, was the preferred of the George candidates, but she missed a dividend. She covered a lot of ground going up on the turn and ran out wide making the straight, but for which she would have been second. Doctor Defoe went his best race yet in finishing fast into fourth place. Acrobat, who carries Lor'igan's own colours, was always prominent with the leaders and was a handy fifth. Lady Melfort came home well, but she had to thread a tortuous way through in' the straight from several places back. Maturity and Great Quex were others running on. . Telamon made quite a promising showing..lmogen was first away but'she drifted in Jhe middle stages and finished weakly. Royal Show, who threw his rider before the start and bolted, produced a good turn of speed on the bend, but swung too wide out into the straight to come on from that point. CONFIRMATION OF FORM. Gay Chou stayed the set against the favourites in the Grandstand Handicap, in which he was at a better price than he would have been if the public had been picking the winners better hi the immediately previous events. The race served to show that this Australian horse is every bit as good as the reputation, he brought over with him. A feature of Gay Chou's success was the demonstration that he can finish on solidly as well as gallop freely out in front. As'at Otaki, he was first out, but he allowed Race Call to pass him after a furlong and he was three lengths behind the leader at the top of the'straight. When asked to challenge, he responded brilliantly, and j after reassuming control he had the others always safely.at his mercy. If it had been necessary he could have scored.more easily than he did. Gay Chou has now won two out of his four races in the Dominion and he must already be a cheap purchase for Mr. W. Devon, who also won a race with him in Sydney before having him sent across. His further success when bumped up 81b for his Otaki win is further proof of the contention that he was altogether wrongly handicapped when first raced on this side of the Tasman. He must be considered well in the running for a race such as the C.J.C. Stewards' Handicap. •Race Call, after opening a break in the middle stages, was unable to counter the topweight, but he safely held off Brunhild and Meamea for the other dividend. It should not be long before he is winning races again. Brunhild had full chance, but, though she failed to reach Race Call, she was not disgraced and is likely to improve with the racing. Meamea is another who should have a turn before, long, as he was right up fourth after having to move out on the track when challenging. Lady Montana was a close fifth. Omarere was last all the way.

Alunga's withdrawal is understood to have been due to his pulling up sore again after his gallop on Tuesday. CLEAN-BOWLED AGAIN. Investors were once again cleanbowled in the Lawn Hack Handicap, and this time it was Larwood who sent down the bodyliner. Nereus. looked all over the winner when he measured Misurina and Twenty Grand shortly after entering the straight, but when Larwood loomed up out on the track he was unable to stall off this claimant. It was a case of the last shall be first. Larwood missed the jump-out so badly that his chance then and there looked very, forlorn. On top.of that he went very wide when going up on the home turn. In spite of all. these setbacks he finished like a train out on the track and he had caught the topweight nearly a hundred yards from the judge. ' „ ~' Larwood was having his first race since early last season. A month, ago he was taken on a year's lease from his breeder, Mr. A. F. M. Symes, by Mr. R. D. Vance, of Greytown, and success came at his first outing in his new colours. He is a five-year-old half-brother by Danilof to Round Up and Bodyline, and he is now in H. P.. Reed's stable, at Tauherenikau. Though it was only a small field he paid over a score. Nereus appeared to be hanging out most of the way, for several horses went up on his inner during the running. However, he cut down the leaders, Misurina and Twenty Grand, shortly after eriteririg the straight, arid until Larwood came on the scene he looked fairly safe for the verdict. A. Jenkins strove vainly to retrieve the situation in the last hundred yards. Son and Heir had a good run through in the middle stages without having to leave the fence, but he was not good enough to do better than third. Silver Fox was running on fourth. Misurina and Twenty Grand both found the straight too long. Prediction once again failed his stable after threatening danger briefly halfway down the straight.: ENGLISH HORSE SCORES. Having only-his second race in the Dominion, the imported English-bred gelding Royal Star II upset the known form in the Lansdowne Hack Handicap. He has been working quite well at Trentham lately, but on his appearance it was thought that he might need another race or two. Royal Star II drew the outside, but in a ragged dispatch he was quickly in third position in the running. With Rhodesian hanging out in front, he got through along the inner to assume control as they entered the straight, and he then went jon to comfortable victory by over a length from the fastfinishing Saki. r *: Now five years old, Royal Star II is a chestnut gelding by the Flying Orb horse Vesington Star from'the Mount Royal mare Royal Gala. He was purchased by Mr. W. Higgins out of a selling plater in England as a two-year-old for 420 guineas, and he won a*' further race for Mr. Higgins before being sent out to the Dominion Jast year. Royal .Star's being handicapped on 8.6 in hack class here -so', early was most astounding, as he was already Within a few pounds of going out of hack class because of three wins in England. His racing after the' Wellington Meeting will have to be done in open class. "* ■ With Beau Livre winning the first event and Royal' Star II the final event, it was a good day for the Telford stable yesterday. Saki, an Australian- importation, came home brilliantly from well back for second. Kurrawong, who followed Rhodesian out from the barrier, was third, with Rhodesian weakening into fourth. Rhodesian and Kurrawong received all the best of the start. - :■'; / The favourite, White Lady, was one of those who lost a. lot of ground 'in the dispatch and others ,to suffer were Morning Flight,/ .Gay Artist, Mother-in-Law, Rowana, and Saki. Free Gold and Ruling Spi were handy to the straight but each failed tb finish on. Free. Gold went out wide, but was "disappointing. Ruling i Spi- hung on for fifth and is ,due for a better effort before long. Mother-in-Law and Coronado' were running on well after their poor start. 7 •-.« -.yy

lengths; five lengths.,., Time, 49 2-ssec.

-Electric Hack Handicap, £95; 1 mile. —1' Earl Colossus,' car. 8.2 <P. Williams), 1; 5 Sunny Blonde, 7.9 (S. Wilson), 2; 2 Accomplice, 8.10 (P. Atkins), 3. Also started: 3 Lustral car. 8.2, 4 Cherry Plum car. B.o h 6 Raroa car. 7.2^. Half a length; two lengths. Time, lmin 42 2-ssec. Highweight Handicap, £100; 1 mile. —8 Cricket, 10.2 (T. Tito), 1; 5 Golden Ridge, 9.0 (W. E. Pine),. 2; 2 Warehi (C. Thomson), 3. Also started: 4 Red Rufus 10.7, 6 Beau Gallante 10.5, 3 Pango 10.0, 1 Alloa 10.0, 7 Umpire 10.0, 9 Southern Blood 9.9, 12 Tareha 9.0, 10 Sky Full 9.0, .11 Twilight Song 9.0, 13 Sunder 9.0. Head; three lengths. Time,, lmin 42 4-ssec. MASTERTON HANDICAP, '£130; 1 mile. 6 Arctic King, 8.13 (S. Wilson) .. 1 9 Tiger Gain, car. 8.4 (T. Treacy) 2 1 Siegmund, 8.7 (W. J. Broughton) 3 Also started: 4 Dungarvan car, 9.2, 2 Master Cyklon 9.2, 5 Roaming car. 8.0, 3 Dorado 7.10, 8 Liane car. 7.0, 7 Silvanus car. 7.6. -, Three-quarters of a length; half a neck. Time, lmin 41 3-ssec. Maiden Stakes, £75; 6 furlongs.—6 War Cloud, 9.0 (W. J. Broughton), 1; 11 Lady Baron (S. Anderson), 2; 4 Floral Robe, 8.0 (W. Doyle), 3. Also started: 8 Doctor Defoe car, 8.4£, 14 Teiamon car. 8.2, : 5;; Great Quex car. B.os, 15 Binkie 8.0, 11 Royal Show car. 8.2, 16 Cherokee car. B.ls, 7 Ugly Duckling 8.0, 1 Lady Melfort 8.0, 3 Maturity 8.0, 10 Sardue 8.0, 9 Acrobat car. 8.35. 2 Imogen 8.0, 13 Quimper 8.0. Half a neck; three-quarters of a length. Time, lmin 16 4^ssec. GRANDSTAND HANDICAP, £100; ,6 furlongs. . 1 Gay Chou, 9.6 .(A.- Jenkins) .... 1 4 Race Call, car. 8.8 (D. Lamb) '.. 2 2 Brunhild, car. 7.13$ (P. Atkins) ... 3 Also started: 5 Lady Montana car. 7.5, 3 Meamea car. 7.11, 6 Qmarere 7.0. Length; half a length. Time, lmin 14 3-ssec. .*■ , Lawn Hack Handicap, £95; 7 fur-! longs.—7 Larwood. car. 7;2 (A. E. Ben-1 net), 1; 1 Nereus. 8.4 (A. Jenkins), 2; 2 Son and Heir. 8.8 (H. N. Wiggins), 3. Also started: 4 Misurina 8.4, 5 Twenty Grand car. 7,10,.,6 Silver Fox car. 7.13, 3 Prediction car. 7.115, 8 Pirinoa car. 7.115. Neck; two lengths. Time, lmin 27 2-ssec. Lansdowne Hack Handicap. £95; 6 furlongs.—7 Royal Star 11, 8.6 (P. Atkins), 1; 9 Saki, 7.7 (J. Forsyth), 2: 12 Kurrawong, car. 7.10$ (W; J. Broughton), 3, . Also.started: 2 Rhodesian 9.2, 3 Free Gold 8.7, 1 White Lady 8.4, 10 Gay Artist 8.4-5 Rulingl Spi car. 8.3, 8 Mother-in-Law car. 7.135. 6 Rowana car. 7.10, 4 Morning Flighty.cap. 7.13, 11 Coronado car. 7.2. Length; . half "a. length. ■ Time,, lmin 15sec.