SPORTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 1 July 1926, Page 3

SPORTING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By Atneeenas.) Acceptances for the V ellington meeting will appear to-morrow and will arouse interest in the fixture. As very little rain has fallen at Trentham of late, the tracks are better than has been the ease for many years.

Polar, which won at the Hawke’s Bay meeting last Saturday, is a soliclIcoiiing .sou of Polydamon. Polar is young and may develop into a. useful handicap performer. T'anaaees is again galloping well, and may prove at the 'Wellington meeting that his Ellerslie form was wrong — The Iticcarton trainer F. D. Jones leaves Wellington for Sydney to-mor-row. His team will comprise Limerick, Young Loehinvar, Batt.ement, and Reouui. All are iising three-year-olds and, with average luck, should at least pav expenses. j On the first day of the Hawke’s Bay meeting San Fera ran a very poor race, but oil the second; day the Egmonttra i ned gelding showed much improved form, in fact, more patiently ridden San Fera might have won. As Pamplona was not nominated at either the Wellington or Canterbury meetings', it is almost certain that he has again gone wrong. As he lias all the qualifications of a great ’chaser, it is-unfortunate that Pamplona is uutrainable In awarding Kiosk 21b above weight-for-ago in the Metropolitan Handicap, the Australian Jockey Club’s liandieapper leaves, no doubt as to the class to which lie thinks Kiosk belongs. When last lie raced in the Dominion, Kiosk was getting a lot of weight from our best two-year-olds. Trainer Stuart Waddell will be represented by Rascal in the Trial Plate at Trentham on Tuesday next. Rascal is reported as well. Landbitd. Fireblight. Nine of Spades and Hraeinar will comprise trainer A . Collclo’s team for the AVellington meeting. After racing at Trentham the team will return home,' but Laiidbird and Firebligbt will race at Riccarton Inter. - In the New Zealand stud book, and also all “correct cards,” Mangatoetoe is written up as a mare, when in reality that animal is a gelding. Going to the Hawke’s Bay meeting a discussion took place, about the sex of this particular animal, and one wellknown sporting writer had such confidence in the reliability of our official documents that lie made two separate wagers that Mangatoetoe was a mare. His faith in the so-called “correct cards” has undergone a sudden change. Llandudno was backed as a certainty at the Hawke’s Bay meeting, but was never once prominent in the running. He blew somewhat on returning to the bird-cage, and perhaps the form was not reliable. As he is engaged at the coming Wellington meeting, Llandudno may return some of the big losses sustained through his defeats at the Napier Park and Hawke’s Bay meetings.

Master Peter is a ball of muscle just now, and as he Jed for most of the way in the recently-run Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase, and gave a faultless hibition of jumping, he is certain to have many friends in the coming Well--ington Steeplechase. The class Master Peter will meet at Trentham on Tuesday next will be much stronger than the field he beat last week Readers may remember the magnificent display of clean and quick fencing Sturdee gave when lie won the Grand National Steeplechase of 1924. At Hastings last Saturday the son of Advance gave a repetition of the performance, with the result that lie had the race won all the way and, incidentally, caused disaster to practically all of his opponents, which met trouble at one jump or another. Sturclee does not go well in soft ground, and for this reason may not show his Best at Trentham if rain falls from now on. Although it was erroneously stated in some of the Australian papers that the New Zealand owned and brecl Kaahumanu had no performances to her credit, it did not influence the different handicappers over there, as in the difficult Caulfield Cup she was awarded 7.4 (111 b above the minimum), and, amongst the best in Australasia, Kaahumauu was weighted at 7.6 in the Metropolitan Handicap. The exhibition of riding given by some of the amateur riders during the [last- week was shocking, and it is a mental weakness that men should betoil such events. Yet, at Hawke’s Bay last week, one runner was entrusted with just on a thousand pounds, being backed down to considerably less than level money. The rider of this, same favourite gave sucli a poor display that, had lie been mounted on Gloaming at his best- in the same event, it is no certainty that the champion could have won.