RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 2

RACING NOTES

[Bt St, Claib.]

RACING. February 24, 26.—Wanganui J.C. February 25, 26.—Westland E.C. February 25, 26.—Gore R.C. February 26.—Waiapu R.C. February 26, 28.—Te Aroha R.C. March 3, s.—Napier Park R.C, March s.—Franklin R.C. March s.—Banks Peninsula R.C. March s.—Rangitikei R.C. March 11, 12.—Cromwell R.C. March 12. —Carterton R.C. March 12.—Opunake R.C. March 17, 19.—Ohinemun J.C. March 17, 19.—Wellington R.C. March 23, 26.—Oamaru J.C. March 25, 26.—Manawatu R.C.

/ ■ JOTTINGS The first race at Gore on Friday is timed to start at 12.30. The express train leaving Dunedin at 8.32 will stop opposite the course on both Friday and Saturday, and on the latter day a special train leaves Gore for Dunedin after the races. Liverpool Grand National. In reply to an inquiry the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase will be run on Friday, March 25. Brackets at Gore. If both Guste and Astral Flash start in the Novice Handicap at Gore on Friday they will be bracketed on the totalisator. Riding Engagements at Gore. P. Spratt has been engaged to ride Daring Deed in the Racing Club Handicap at Gore, and will alsp be on Lumiere, Astaire, and Rodeur. H. A. Andertou will pilot in the High-weight Handicap, and T. J. Boyle will be on Last Post in the same raqe. Should Win Again. When Galleon won the Jockey Club Handicap early this month be conceded Daring Deed, who finished fifth, 6£lb. In the Racing Club Handicap to be decided at Gore on Friday Galleon will meet her on only 7ilb worse terms, and should again finish in front of the Shambles mare. Gore Acceptances. The acceptances for the first day of the Gore meeting total 81 as compared with 96 last year. The decrease is chiefly accounted for in the Racing Club and Summer Hack Handicaps, two races which last year atracted good fields. The firm track at Winton last w;eek was responsible for several horses at Gore not being able to fulfil their engagements at this week’s meeting. Should be Worth Following. Salalon, a six-year-old gelding by Adioo Guy from Our Nurse, the dam of Sure, stepped 2min 57sec when he easily wen over a mile and a-quarter at Tapanui early this month, and was second to Happy Locanda over a mile and a-half in 3min 28 2-sseo. In the Progressive Trot, to be run at Gore next Friday, Salalon has been handicapped on the limit, 3min 39sec, and should be worth following. Compensation for Injuries. The stewards of the National Hunt Committee gave notice that on and from January 1, 1938, to the end of the current steeplechase season, the maximum benefit payable will be at the rate of £lO 10s a week for the first three weeks, and for the remainder of the period of disablement the amount of benefit shall be at the discretion of the stewards, the maximum period of benefit for temporary disablement to be 30 weeks. Protest from Gore. While the Winton Jockey Club did not experience a successful meeting last week, it also worked against the welfare of the Gore Meeting this week. One or two defections from badlyneeded fields for the local meeting on Friday can be traced to the racing at Winton. After last week’s fixture it may dawn on the Winton Jockey Club that its unsporting and unpopular change of racing dates was not exactly a wise move.— ‘ Mataura Ensign.’ Clashes with Oamaru. The Birchwood Hunt Meeting, to be held at Invercargill on March 26, will distribute £748 and a trophy of £ls 15s donated by the Riverton Racing Club. The stakes have been increased by £63 on the amount given last year, and the programme includes two steeplechases, £lO5 for an open race over twq miles and - £125 and trophy for a race for qualified hunters over two and a-half miles. The President’s Handicap, one mile and a-quarter, carries a stake of £IOO, two hack races, a hunters’ flat race run over a mile and a-quarter, and two light harness events complete an interesting Unfortunately this meeting clashes with the second day of the Oamaru Autumn Meeting, and outside the jumpers is' not likely to attract many horses from Wingatui.. Light Harness Events at Gore. Of the 13 acceptors for the Electric Trot, to he run on the opening day of the Gore Racing Club’s Summer. Meeting. 12 figure on the limit, and the following is the order of the draw for harrier positions :—Provincial, Mulguy, Dawn Direct, Loyalist, Kentucky Sun, Dora Lindsay, June Tide, Catawrack, Glenlad, Ochiltree, Sun Gauge, and Central Lad. There will be no couplings in this race. The draw for barrier positions in the Progressive Trot is as follows : Limit Grattanella, Edith Grattan, Capricorn, Jesse Owens, Salalon, and Dolores Silk.; 12yds—Sydney Grand, King Drusus, Capri, and Crown Peak; 24yds—Bonnie Brydone and Dewey Cloud; 48yds— Happy Locanda and Gold Streak. In this'r’ace Grattanella and Gold Streak, Capricorn and Gay Avon, and Jesse Owens and Dolores Silk will be coupled on the totalisator.

TROTTING. . February 26.—Kaikoura T.C. February 26. —Wairarapa T.C. March s.—lnvercargill T.C. March s.—Wellington T.C. March 12.—Timaru T.C. March 12,—Wairarapa T.C. March 19.—Wyndham T.C. March 19. —Cheviot T.C. • April 2.—Roxburgh T.C. April 2.—Westland T.C. April 9.—Taranaki T.C. April 9. —Ashburton T.C. April 16, 18. —Hawera T.C. April 16, 20, 21, 23.—New Zealand Metro, politan T.C.

The Minimum Weight Question. It is stated in Wellington that the next Racing Conference meeting m July will give further consideration to the subject of minimum weights. This Week’s Racing. There will, bo racing this week at Wanganui (to-morrow and Saturday), Westland, and Gore (Friday and Saturday), Waiapu (Saturday), and Te Arena (Saturday and the following Monday), Omitted from List. Mazir, who won the Vercoe Handicap at the Waikato Meeting on Monday, was omitted from the list of acceptances telegraphed from Hamilton, and his name was not included in the official race card .published. Improving. Moneyless, who has been racing very badly lately, is evidently improving, as at Invercargill yesterday morning he is reported to have run - six furlongs about 15ft out from the rails in Imin 16 3-ssec, the last half-mile in 52sec. This was a really good gallop, and should bring him into favour for the Croydon Handicap on Friday, in which he has 8.0. Courtcraft Doing Well. The brilliant three-year-old Courtcraft is doing well in his work at Woodville, and it is expected that he will make his next appearance in the Waihou Handicap at Te Aroha next week. Another trip to Sydney is in view for Courtcraft, and he will probably leave after competing at Trentham next month. Totalisator Returns. Reduced gate returns naturally go hand in hand with decreased totalisator investments at a race meeting, but at Winton last week there was a suggestion that it was more than the smaller attendances each day that affected the investments. In farming communities (such as Winton and Gore are) the drop in the value of the wool clips must have a steadying influence on the spending power, and it will be interesting to note how the totalisator returns at Gore on Friday and Saturday of this week pan out. Last year this meeting handled £21,456, as against £16,672 10s the previous year and £14,498. Becoming Solid. Royal Doulton has not been given credit for being a genuine racehorse, and in several of her displays she has plainly shown the white feather (says the ‘Press’). Yet in her Wellington and New Brighton displays sJie exhibited the qualities of a genuine fighter in a hard finish. Her trainer, J. Fraser, jun., selected D. C. Watts to drive her in her latest engagements, and the results have been encouraging. It seems that Royal Doulton, who cost a big sum as a two-year-old, will yet repay the money expended on her. Galleon’s Good Gallop. The feature of the morning’s proceedings at Invercargill on Tuesday (says the Southland ‘News’) was a mile gallop on the course proper by Galleon (W. Ellis), who was assisted over the last six furlongs by Amelita (Baker). Galleon moved away slowly from the mile and a-quarter post and ran the mile in 1.44 1-5, the last six in 1.16 2-5, and the last half-pile in 51 2-ssec. Galleon finished on nicely under his feather-weight, and beat Amelita, who was not knocked about, by three lengths. Galleon will contest the Racing Club Handicap at, Gore on Friday, and he promises to take a power of beating. Rona Bay’s Record, Rona Bay’s win in the Rotorua Cup brought her- winnings up to £2,727. The little mare has now captured 19 races in 80 starts, and as she never gets high in the weights she is liable to win again. Rona Bay was bought as a yearling from her breeder (Mr R. B. Hines) by Mrs C- 'B. Gill, Te Aroha, hut it was not till this season that she carried Mrs Gill’s colours. At first she was leased to J. W. Pankburst, but before she began racing the lease was transferred to Mr O. Disley, of Wellington, a relative of the owner, and she was trained by W. H. Jones.' Her first 15 wins were in Mr Disley’s jacket. The lease ran out last July, and the mare, returned to Auckland district, has continued her winning ways in the north, with useful dividends still the result of her successes.