EASTER PROSPECT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1939, Page 13

EASTER PROSPECT

PIRATE KING VERY WELL

(Special from "Early Bird.")

AUCKLAND. March 29

Pirate King was a double winner at Tauranga and his success each day was well anticipated. He was well back in the early stages of the open sprint on Saturday and then he put in an irresistible run that saw him sweep on to a decisive victory. On Monday he was better placed in the mile handicap and again he scored decisively. He is an Easter Handicap lightweight possibility.

On the weights for the Easter Handicap. Beaupartir, the winner of the Awapuni Gold Cup, and Suleiman, a winner at Trentham, appeal as the most likely prospects. The three-year-old has furnished up into a fine horse and with just weight-for-age he should be an excellent proposition for a race like' this, particularly as he won over the Ellerslie mile course last Boxing Day. The Brighton Hurdles, which is the second of the combination commencing with the Easter Handicap, once again reflects the paucity of good jumping talent in the north, and the visiting hurdlers, Red Sun and Riotous, if they make the trip, should both do well, for both are sufficiently seasoned. However. Auckland may have a worthy representative in Electric Spear, who in his first starts over the sticks in the past month has scored three wins, a second, and a third, and that form reads really good for the Brighton Hurdles. It seems as if there will be more runners than usual in the Steeplechase at Ellerslie on Easter Saturday, and, while the class is not good and there is a big tail, the field will be sufficient to make the reintroduced win-and-place betting system very interesting. Hanover has a good deal of weight, but he is a fine jumper who should be in at the finish, although there are some other promising sorts engaged in Desert Star, Manawahae, Baldric, and British Sovereign. A big disappointment at Tauranga was Son of the Soil, for this Austra-lian-bred gelding seemed to have a first-rate chance of scoring his first win. On the first day. Midland, also a maiden runner, just nosed him out of first prize. Backed again on the second day, he failed to gain a place in a five-horse race. He has the necessary pace but seems to lack something, and it would appear as if he may be a better proposition as a juniper if his owner desired to go on with him to that extent.

Tosh raced consistently at Tauranga, finishing- second in. the sprint each day, so it may not be long before he begins to reveal winning form again. He has been entered for the Feilding fixture at Easter, and it is probable that he will travel south next week, the hack Bronze Step accompanying him.