NORTHERN CLASSICS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 135, 5 December 1939, Page 13

NORTHERN CLASSICS

DERBY AND §JAKES

EFFECT OF THE FORFEIT

, The Auckland Racing Club's Summer- Meeting is generally one of the milestones that decides what horses are to be ranked as foremost two-year-olds and three-year-olds of the season. The meeting of Beaulivre and Beau Vite in the Great Northern Derby will assist in, if not determine, this quest among the three-year-olds for the current term, but supremacy among the two-year-olds will probably still remain uncertain after the. .running of the Great Northern Foal Stakes. The forfeit for the Great Northern Derby includes numerous horses who have obviously been left in the field by oversight. It has been a costly oversight for the owners of sucn horses, as they are now liable to pay the full subscription of £15 though there is no intention of running their horse or horses, The final field, with Beaulivre and Beau Vite parading, may not be much larger than half a dozen. BEAUUVRE'S DOMINANCE. On all form that has been shown this season, Beaulivre stands out apart j among the three-year-olds who have raced in the Dominion, and the only source of fear for his connections seems; to lie in Beau Vite, who raced in Aus-■ tralia during the spring and at times ] disclosed ability that would rank him as a colt of the first water, j Beaulivre has had a respite since winning the New Zealand Derby so! decisively, and he should strip as well j as ever at Christmas and the New Year, as he is one of those" colts of champion calibre who come up at top form, following brief spells. He will be assisted, in his Derby preparation with a race in the King's Plate, w.f.a., 1 mile, on the second day of the meeting, four days prior to the classic, when he may also have to face Beau Vite, as well as older horses such as Amigo, Disdain, Homily, and Beaupartir, and possibly other three-year-olds in, Our Jean, Orelio, Beau Repaire, Sleeveless, Winning Rival, Konneta, Baran, and Submission. At the distance of this event the Beau If ere colt should have little trouble in maintaining his unbeaten sequence. The race in which Beau Vite's connections hope to test Beaulivre is the Derby. They are confident that their colt will at least extend Beaulivre, and they are not so sure that even victory may not yet rest with them. Beau Vite has done exceptionally well since his return from Australia, without so far being sharpened up with galloping. The belief that he might beat Beaulivre at the Derby distance is founded on the knowledge that he is a colt of exceptional stamina, combined with the fact that the slow time of the New Zealand Derby did not prove, anything definite as to Beaulivre's possession of true stamina. i Stamina, however, will not necessarily win a race such as the;' Great Northern Derby, unless there is something in the race to set a stiff pace. Beaulivre certainly has no reason to oblige in this respect. If it became essential in the battle of tactics A. E. Ellis might require Beau Vite to do so, though it would not be the.best policy unless forced. Moorsotis, Fils de Vaals, Orelio, and Baran, after previous defeats at the hands of Beaulivre, may prefer to wait rather than risk an attempt to foil the champion out in front. Beau Repaire also seems more likely to do his best if allowed to come from behind. As there is nothing else in the payment that could be named as a probable starter on the day, it is difficult to forecast a horse who might go out and set a proper pace. Yet this is the way in which Beaulivre could be beaten, and in the end some rider will probably decide to take the risk of running his mount to a standstill rather than make the Great Northern Derby another New Zealand, Derby. It is perhaps worth reflecting, too, that there is often much rain in Auckland over the Christmas-New Year holidays and many Derbies have been run on wet or dampened tracks. Such going would not incommode Beaulivre. who has shown ability to handle soft and dead ground. It might be even more important on such a track to "keep up steam," otherwise Beaulivre would almost certainly swamp his opposition at the close. v FEW JUVENILE VISITORS. Whereas the- Derby should finally settle the three-year-old crown for the season, the Great Northern Foal- Stakes will only partially clarify the present confused two-year-old situation. When this juvenile classic is over there will still remain a deal to be settled before any real forecast vcould be made as to which youngster was entitled to be rated best of the term. Among the two-year-olds who have not met the payment for the Foal Stakes are the Trentham stablemat.es Enrich and Absolve. On actual form Enrich had claims to be regarded as the best of his age during the spring, for there were excuses for- his defeat in the C.J.C. Welcome Stakes and his confident victory on the final day at Riccarton was achieved in time that equalled the Australian and Dominion record. Enrich may not now race again till the Wellington Meeting next month. ' , , Others who will not be present at Ellerslie are Cetewayo and Chary, also stablemates, who have won their only start to date. Cetewayo impressed greatly in his performance last October, and the two-year-old struggle cannot be deemed over until this, colt has faced the best classic winners. If the clash occurs at Trentham next month it will be in one of the valuable juvenile handicap events, as Cetewayo is not engaged in the Wellington Stakes. The Foal Stakes on Boxing Day will be more or less another vying among the youngsters who are domiciled m the Auckland district, with only the smallest opposition from outside the territory. The most important of the visitors will be the South Island filly Doria who has shown herself .best of the season across the Strait. When she won the C.J.C. Welcome Stakes, Enrich was only third, but the Trencham colt would have been different mettle to subdue that day if he had not climbed so badly in the straight, the only time he has done this. Still, if Doria can settle the Aucklanders, she will have done a deal towards clearing up the juvenile position. If she fails, the situation will be very much as it was except that the north- J crn two-year-olds will hold a rightful claim to be considered on top till they, have faced the cracks of the southern portion of the North Island. Others from outside .districts who may take their place in the Foal Stakes are Cherry Bay, a winner at Trentham in October; Ringcraft, who was third in the Wellesley Stakes and then second to Black Robe on the final day at Trentham in his two starts to date; Kindergarten, who won the Hastings Stakes after having previously had a couple of races at Avondale, and Mr. T. H. Lowry's Tiderace—Oreum filly Oragon (a half-sister to Gold Rod), who has been woi%king promisingly at Awspuni but has not yet raced. The Aucklanders themselves include the best winners in the province this season to date, among them Queen City, Phaleron, Nightbeam, Lovaals, and Lou Rosa, also the consistent Kentucky (of whom the best might not yet have been seen), Harmony, Grandora, and Beau Leon, who have all been in the minor money in the best class, and the Whangareij winner in a single start, the Diatomous colt Cillas. Two other well-bred sorts in the field who are expected to develop good form in due course are Sporting Blood's full-brother Rich Blood and the Iliad cplt Stratford. '