CONCLUDING DAY AT ADDINGTON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 15 November 1937, Page 2

CONCLUDING DAY AT ADDINGTON

POT LUCK SURPRISES IN BIG HANDICAP SENSATIONAL FREE FOR ALL (From Our Own Correspondent.) The contest for the Free For All gave rise to one of the biggest sensations associated with racing at Addington for many a day. There were seven starters of whom Indianapolis, coupled with Tempest, was backed to an absurdly short price. In his preliminary the big pacer went with all his accustomed freedom and has never looked in better racing trim. The veteran Roi l’Or, making his reappearance after a lengthy absence from the racetracks, carried his 14 years like a juvenile, while Lucky Jack was none the worse for his hard race in the Louisson Handicap earlier in the afternoon. Getting to business with his accustomed !smartness Roi I'Or was soon out in ! front with Indianapolis, Supertax and | Lucky Jack racing in close order. Be- ! fore four furlongs had been covered i Indianapolis ran past Roi l’Or as if Ihe was standing. His backers were i already calculating their winnings when ;suddenly the favourite commenced ’0 l come back to his field. No sooner was I the home straight entered than Roi l’Or | and Bonny Azure raced up to him and | he at once retired a well beaten horse. | This appeared to clear the way for Roi | l’Or, but then Supertax came along j with a well sustained challenge which | landed a winner by half a length. , Lucky Jack stayed on to defeat Bonny Azure for third money with Indianapolis a long way back. Twelve months ago there was a somewhat similar happening in the same race. On that occas--1 ion Indianapolis, when a staunch fav- | ourite, refused to race from the start, land failed to gain a place behind Harold | Logan. It is hard to account for his (failure in this race. I A NICE DOUBLE FIGURE Most of the horses that contested the j Trotting Cup were soon out again m j the Louisson Handicap. The Edwards : bracket, Gamble and War Buoy, carried i the heaviest investments, hut there was i j solid backing also for De Soto, King’s (Play, and Lucky Jack. Quickly racing : to the front Glenrossie gained both lap ; prizes by twice piloting the field past | the winning post. All through the early stages he had King’s Play, War Buoy, and Evicus as his nearest attendants. Once into line for home Glenrossie was beaten, and King’s Play looked a winner. Then Pot Luck came along with a strong finishing effort which landed him a winner by threequarters of a length from the Aucklander. This was the best race Pot Luck has gone for a long time and the few who followed him got a nice double figure price.

I j CONFIDENCE JUSTIFIED I I Despite her two earlier failures Paris- , ienne was again backed with extreme , confidence for the Lyttelton Handicap, the only other of the 9 starters in de- , mand being Village Guy. Soon after ' the start Smooger took up the role of pacemaker only to fade out two furlongs from home. In the meantime Parisienne, after a slow beginning, had been gradually making up her leeway. : By one of her characteristic finishing efforts she got up to defeat that fine trotter Sea Gift by a length. I TROTTING NOTES ( The injuries sustained by King’s i Warrior when he fell in the Trotting Cup were of such a nature as to prevent his reappearance at the meeting. His trainer, F. J. Smith, anticipated having the pacer right for engagements next month. All is not well with De Soto who pulled up sore after his race in the Louisson Handicap. It is doubtful if his proposed visit to Auckland next month will be undertaken. | After his win in the Trotting Gup I Lucky Jack was reassessed from a 4.26 to a 4.23 mark. Subsequently he was jlet out to a 4.24 mark and that will be j his place till he wins again. The son of Jack Potts raced very consistently at the meeting, his record being first in the Cup, third in the Free For All and fourth in the Louisson Handicap. Ciro, who now races as a gelding, is the sire of Perula, runner-up to Two’s Loose in the Trotting Derby. The operation performed on Ciro did not have the desired results for in the Australasian Handicap he absolutely refused to strike a gait. The new electric totalisator at Addington did not fulfil the expectations formed of it. On the first and last days in particular slowness at the selling windows resulted in a lot of money ; being shut out, while the paying out ■

department was lamentably mndeo^'to. Speculation was particularly keen all through the New Zealand Metropolitan meeting. For the three days the total realised £17.3,752 compared with £ 150,717 last spring. When Plutus won the Hornby Handicap he registered the sixth win for C. S. Donald’s stable at the meeting.

ARGENTIC’S SUCCESS

CUDDLE BEATEN IN METROPOLITAN DIVIDEND OF OVER A CENTURY FINAL DAY AT RICCARTON Canterbury's spring racing carnival was brought to a successful conclusion on Saturday in fine though cold weather. There was a marked falling off in the number of visitors present, but local enthusiasts turned out in strong force. Despite the hard nature of the track the fields kept up well and there was no want of interest in the racing. Money for speculative purposes was plentiful, the day's turnover reaching £68,314 compared with £65,301 on the corresponding day last year. For the meeting the grand total was £220,201. as against £183,778, an increase of £36,423. COTTINGHAM’S EASY WIN The North Islander Sunny Blonde failed to justify the solid support accorded her for the Suburban Handicap. She was in charge for three parts of the journey and then retired well beaten. After being well back in the early stages Cottingham gradually improved his position, and, taking charge / |at the distance, went jn for a comfortable two lengths win from Drinkup and The Surgeon. Evidently the hurdle racing he did through the winter has improved the Polazel gelding as he raced consistently all through the meeting. ANOTHER FOR JANET GAYNOR The Otago owned Janet Gaynor continued her winning sequence by scoring another clear cut win in the Seymour Handicap and will now have to do her racing in open company. She was not as speedy as usual out of the barrier, but at the end of two furlongs had taken charge from Fog Peak, Haerepo, Phalanx and Lord Nuffield. Without being called on for a serious effort Janet Gaynor ran home the easiest of winners by three lengths from Fog Peak and Norseman. The doubtfully bred daughter of Rosenor or Last Dart can muster up such a torrent of speed as to ensure her showing to still further advantage in open company. DAVOLO UNLUCKY Davolo was responsible for a great performance in the Cressy Handicap, for which backers preferred the chances of Dictate and Big Dook. After racing in what looked to be an almost hopeless position for more than half the journey the son of Pombal commenced a pheno'y menal run that soon brought him with- 1 in striking distance of the leaders. At the distance he had the measure of everything except Trench Fight, who won by two lengths after being favourably placed all through. It was a smart performance on the part of Trench Fight who carried his 9.6 like a real racehorse. The hard track evidently settled Dictate’s chance, for he failed to put the least heart into his final effort.

- BRILLIANT FINISH BY PEERLESS j Though the Pioneer Handicap attracted only five juveniles, it produced a , j thrilling contest. For once Peerless, a , staunch favourite, was slow out of the barrier. Defaulter and Surmount carried on the running at a very solid pace and at the distance iit looked as if they 'would fight out the finish. Then Pecr- : less put in a brilliant challenge which ’ landed her a winner by half a length ’ from Surmount. On this effort the j shapely daughter of Bean Perc and ; Prestige can be acclaimed the smartest ; two-year-old seen out this season. CUDDLE’S GALLANT EFFORT I The reappearance of Cuddle in han- | dicap company added much to the interest taken in the Metropolitan Handicap, and, after her great victory in the Canterbury Cup. she was made the elect of backers. On this occasion she was unlucky enough to strike Argentic when in one of his galloping humours. Despite her solid impost of 9.12 “Jimmy” Ellis at once rushed her to the front and she piloted the field all through the first mile with a big advantage from Silver Streak. Boomerang, Argentic and Cerene Abbas. When heads were in line for the post Cuddle was still bowling alpng freely in front. Here Argentic got out of the ruck and set sail after the leader. Cuddle stuck to her task with the utmost gameness, but in the last furlong weight commenced to tell and Argentic beat her home by two lengths. Evidently the crowd recognised the merits of Cuddle’s achievement for on returning to the birdcage she received a well deserved ovation. Cerne Abbas went a solid race into _ third place, but Catalogue and Silver Streak never flattered their backers. This is the second year in succession that Argentic has carried Miss Wilson’s colours to victory in the Metropolitan Handicap. A HUGE DIVIDEND The only notable feature associated with the Hagley Handicap was the sensational dividend of well over a century. returned by the winner Made Money. It was only when nearing the post that the outsider became prominent, and staying on better than in any of his previous efforts the son of Paper Money or Tea Tray won decisively by a head. In a big pool there were only 281. tickets recorded against Made Money on the win machine A SPIRITED FINISH As usual Rockingham was slow to begin in the Stonyhurst Handicap. Had it not been for this he should have been returned the winner. Making up his leeway in fine style the Trentham trained gelding fought out a spirited finish with Top Row, only suffering defeat by a head. When this massive son of Tidal and Crown Gem can be inluced to jump out smartly he will win :ood races for the Wellington sportsnan, Mr If. Blundell. A FAVOURITE MAKES GOOD An interesting day’s sport was nought to a fitting conclusion with a jopular win for Sir Charles Clifford n the Members’ Handicap through the igency of Paper Slipper. After making he early running at a solid pace, Gold soa and Ben Braggie were first into the ourse proper. At the distance Papett-j flipper dashed to the front and had no ' ifficultv in defeating Black Thread by wo lengths.