TURF TOPICS

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 24 April 1935, Page 3

TURF TOPICS

TRACK A m STABLE CHAT

(By "Childers”)

■RACING FIXTURES

Orac is Good.

■April. 26, 27—Greymouth J.C. April. 27,..29 —-Avondale J.C. April 27—Marton J.C. May I—Reefton J.C. May 4, 6—Hawke’s Bay J.C. MAy "4, 6—Eginont -R.C. Mky 10, 11—Southland R.C. ■May 11—Amberley R.C. •May 11, 13 —Nelson J.C. May 16, 18—Wanganui J.C. May 17, i8 —Marlborough R.C. -May 18 —Ashburton. May .23, id—te Kuiti R.C. (at Te Rapa). % May 25—South Canterbury. •May 25,-27—Dannevirkb R.C.

Northern Hurdles. • “.Enquirer" asks the list of the -Great-'Northern-Hurdles since 1929. It is as follows: — 1929 —Mister Gamp. -1930—King's Jest. 1931 — Prince Lu. 1932 — Landmark. 1933 Make Up. 1934 Wee Pat.

, Gold . Mission Consistent. Perhaps the most impressive hack seen out at Feilding was Gold Mission, who Tan. two very solid races. It appeared that with a slightly better run on the Monday, when she was forced to coyer a good,, deal of extra ground, .the New Plymouth mare would have won her second race at the meeting instead of being only third. Gold Mission is racing most consistently at. present, ’her last five starts having resulted in three firsts, one second and one third. In all of her starts to date the Royal Divorce mare has. shown a tendency to commence slowly, but to finish fast, which indicates that she should be seen to advantage over a middle distance.

Pair to .Remember. ' -Two erstwhile smart sprinters who showed a return to i’orm on the soft track at Ellerslie on Monday are Gay Lap and Tradesman, both of whom filled second place. With winter conditions prevalent from now on these two are a pair worth remembering for their approaching engagements. Tradesman. appears to "be very handily placed in the 'Railway Handicap at Avondale ’.on Saturday,.‘for.he usually races well on .this track.

Clever Horsemanship. ■Spectators at Fcilulng on Monday witnessed a rather remarkable feat of horsemanship in the hurdle event, when {Park Acre, ridden by M. Niehol, hit a fence hard, tossing his jockey high ip the air. \He .was thrown forward slightly and when landing came down astride Parle Acre's neck. By a brilliant effort, he managed to regain his proper seat, earning a round of applause from the crowd. The jest of the journey was completed without further mishap, Park Acre occupying second place. Another ovation awaited Niehol on returning to scale, exceptional enthusiasm being aroused. A Likely Sort. Vivienne, winner of the maiden event on .the second day at Feilding, won in very handsome fashion, showing a fine burst , of speed at the outset to quickly open up a gap on the rest of the field, none of whom ever really looked like catching her. While the opposition was undoubtedly weak, Vivienne's win was impressive and she should have little difficulty in winning races in hack company. She is a! very bold galloper, although a trifle "carty” and is an excellent cut of a jumper. A four-year-old chestnut mare by Cockpit out of Yvonne, she is owned and trained at Otalci by Mr W. Mcßeth. Bed Manfred Makes Good. In winning the A.B.C. Handicap, Bed Manfred registered a performance that amazed even his most optimistic. supporters, for few would liavo expected him to run the mile in the great time of 1.36,3-5. The Australianbred four-year-old is better at present than lie has ever been and he .must now.be ranked as one of the outstanding milers to Have raced in the 3>ominion in recent years. His success on Saturday was a much better performance than that of Jonathan in the §ame. event last year, but it is doubtful .whether it could be rated as highly as the wins of Pegaway (1013) with 9,5 and Hunting Cry (1031) with 0.3, although he ran much faster time than either of this pair, while it definitely is not as good as Golden Wings 1 win (1033) with 9.0 or Beremoana’s win (1926) with ,0.11. A mile appears to be : Bed Manfred's best distance, despite .the Tact fhat he has frequently .won oyer a mile and a-q.uarter and at times has .shown excellent form over a mile and a-half. Croupier Strikes Form. While the field he defeated was by no means a strong one, by his success at Tauherenilcau on Monday Croupier showed that he is still by .no means a forlorn hope, and Trainer T. B. George should win again with him before long and should the Surveyor horse continue to improve he may yet be a winner again in first-class company. Croupier's win was his first since he led the field home in the C.J.C. Handicap eighteen months ago.

As anticipated, the northerner Orac had little difficulty in opening; liis winning account at Peilding, for he scored a very decisive win. He ran another fine race on Monday, to go under by only a nose to the speedy Reipar, it being quite a good field behind him. Orac appears to he very nicely placed at tMarton on .Saturday and it wfill come as a. surprise if he fails to pick up at least one more race on the West Coast circuit before returning home. The Two-Year-Olds.

Easter racing did little to plear the two-year-old situation. In fact, if anything, the position seems to be even more confusing than before. Dubarry’s victory in the Champagne Stakes brings her to the fore as the best youngster seen out at Ellerslie, for it is stated that there was not the semblance of a fluke about her W i-n. It was a big improvement on her recent form. Haut Monde made a very solid showing in the Stakes, while lie was not assisted in that event by being asked to carry 21bs. overweight. However, he was soundly beaten on the second day, when Galilee, who had every chance in the .Stakes, but could not do better than third, won well. Gay Sheik’s failure is attributed to liis being rather off colour. Plato bore out the high opinions lieid of him. by winning the minor two-year-old event and should go on to better things. At Peilding Severe produced her usual consistent form to 'win well, while so impressively did Fulojoy lump 9.4 to victory on the second day that many are rating this greatly improved filly as being one of the best of her age. At Riccarton Kinnoul and Heritage both increased their already large circle of admirers, but so close was the decision at their meeting that few would be prepared to choose between the pair. It is rather a pity that Kinnoul should have been left yesterday, for "this spoilt what promised.to be a fine encounter between the southerner and Heritage.

Death, of Slump. Slump, who foil in the Autumn Steeples at Ellerslie and had to be destroyed, is thus the first defection from the field for the Egmont Steeplechase. However, he would not have been a fancied candidate even had he made the trip, so his absence is of little consequence. Slump was rising fourteen at the time of his demise and had no recent form. In fact, he raced for nine seasons as a jumper with very meagre success. He was one* of the last of the stock of Absurd to race. Silver Jubilee Makes Amends. That Silver Jubilee’s form in his first start in Australia was too bad to be true he clearly proved by his splendid win in the La Perouse -’Handicap at Bandwick on Monday. The field was composed of the majority of Australia’s leading sprinters, so it seems to be only a matter of Silver Jubilee being produced in the same fettle to score further successes before returning to the Dominion. Promising Young Bider. Undoubtedly the feature of the Feilding meeting was the riding of the young New Plymouth apprentice; B. W. Savage, who is attached to-n. Dulicu’s stable. This lad was licensed only a. few weeks ago, but made a promising start by winning on Gold Mission at Opunake. Thus, few were prepared for his fine feat in securing four wins and three thirds in his nine rides over the week-end. Por a lad, he showed unusual ability, particularly on the second day, when he- rode a very clever race to win on Lapel, hugging the rails tnroughout and timing his finishing run to a nicety. On Chief Marionette also he rode with great judgment, securing a position on the rails almost immediately the barrier rose. Although Mocked by the rest of the field, he was content to wait his opportunity, unii7re most beginners who would more than likely have become overanxious and taken their mount on the outside. When the leaders swung out slightly entering the straight Savage pushed his mount through the opening like a veteran horseman and it was no fault of his that Chief Marionette was not able to win then, for he had given her every chance. Competent lightweights are not plentiful at present and from now lon Savage’s services arc certain to be in demand and as he is a level-headed and likeable lad, he should have a successful career before him.