NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 17 October 1923, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

As the course was very bad afc Gpaki little notice can be taken or form tiieie.

The form of Quest in the shore instance race at Masterton will at itassC show his admirers that he is doing well for JRiccarton.

Up to the present Quest can be described as a disappointment, but as he is bred in the purpie and is in : a "dangerous" stable, his New Zealand Cup chance must be seriously considered.

Jumpers are very scarce down south, and a fair "hack" would certainly have won each day at Wingatui.

After racing badly at Dunedjn it was decided to retire -Silver Peak. This further reduces the New Zealand Cup field. >

Racing clubs continue to experience declining totalisator figures., and it is safe to prophesy that both the Dnnedin and Masterton Clubs will have to face a loss over recent meetings.

The South Island youngsters appear to be a very moderate lot, and even the wanner of the McLean Stakes at the Dunedin meeting (Count Cavour) is as yet only a moderate.

In Rational (9.2) and Reremoana (7.4) the Taranaki province will have two worthy representatives in the big sprint race at Riccarton, and as each is endowed with brilliancy they should at least run well in the event..

The Waverley Racing Club receiveda liberal response from owners for their annual meeting, which takes place on Monday. A few notes on the meeting will appear in Saturday's issue of this paper. .

Vagabond's win at Masterton will bring the old son of Martian prominently before the public, and he is certain to have admirers for the coming big handicaps; but it is rare to find them winning at his age in first-class races. -

Under big weights little Limelight ran well at the Dunedin meeting, so with the racing impost of 7.11 in the Stewards' Handicap, Limelight may again run well in this event. The Absurd filly. Parody has been responsible for good work at Riccarton, and she stripped well for the Dunedin Guineas; but any chance she had was spoilt by being kept too far back in the early part of the contest. Parody should be one of the favourites for the Stewards' at Riccarton.

As BaJlymena ran the A.J.C Derby in 2.33. it looks only a. matter of his being well to win the Canterbury and Great Northern Derbies, as it looks like being a moderate season for threo^ year-olds.

It is stated that something like £1500 was won in a certain quarter over the success of the Boadicea-Roseday double at Dunedin. It w:as easily got, too.

The lanieness of Cupidon further weakens the South Island contingent for the New Zealand Cup, and although nothing so far in the North Island has displayed remarkable form, of the horses seen in action I prefer those of the North. The conclusion of the Wellington meeting may reveal good form for the big two-mile handicap.

The writer saw several New Zealand Cup candidates in action at the Dunedin spring meeting, and of them Roseday impressed most. This "leggy" gelding is much more forward than last year, and in the Electric Handicap made "hacks" of Limelight and the balance of the company. As Roseday will be given a run at Gore he should be at his best iv the first week of November1. •

Keen Australian critics state that M. McCarten rode Ballymena in splendid style in the Derby, and that excellent judge "Pilot" states that the Taranaki boy compares favourably with Australia's best. This is indeed a high compliment for the rider named, but it is certainly no more than he deserves, as McCarten is a model apprentices would do well to emulate.