NOTES FROM ELLERSLIE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 6

NOTES FROM ELLERSLIE.

GOSSIP OF THE TRACKS. BY ARCHER. . A rather unusual incident occurred in connection with a juiup.ng event at a receui meeting, The rider oi tne winner weighed out without u breastplate, which was used •| om his mount in tliu race. 'there was no ; harm iu tuis ii ho liad weighed in with it. j provided ho was not more than lib overj weight, which had not been duly declared; j but he failed to weigh in with the breast- ' plato and under the rule ot racing, which says that " any muzzle, martingale, breastplate, or cloth.ng (other than boots or bandages) iu which a horse runs shall be put into tho scales and included in the icckey's v eight, otherwise the horse shall be disqualified for the race," tho horse should ' have been disaualified. The trainer of the , second horse lodged an objection, but this j was immediately withdrawn by the owenr, who said ho did not wish to win under protest, and no action was taken in the matter. It was purely a technical breach of the rules, for it is unlikely that the breastplate would have made the jockey overweight above the amount allowed. Tho matter has caused a considerable amount of discussion and it is considered by some that the committee erred in not taking action when tho matter was brought under notice. 1 7 . 1,, . wa3 quiet at Ellerslie yesterday and i i? er f- waa verv little of interest in the work, i hxplorer and Kawini were schooled over i tne steeplechase fences on the flat and after \ wards ran seven furlongs on the outside of j tne course proper in lm 3S l-ss. Explorer hit the stonewall hard, but recovered cleverly, I while Kawini fenced carefully. Ballymov IT. and Royal Pciture arrived i back from Trentham yesterday. As a ret suit of her latest success Ballvmoy 11. is now out of hack class and her future racing 1 will have to be done in open events. This, however, should not prevent her from wm- , nn >3 more races, as she has previously raced well m good company. 'lho imported horse Royal Picture failed to begin properly in his only start at trentham and lost any chance he may have had. It is to bo hoped that he is not going to develop wayward tendencies at 'he barrier, for he promises to be a good class horse. It is possible that he was unlucky to be left, as ho has always gone all right when facing tho barrier at headciuarters. . Notwithstanding that he was unsttccessful in his three starts, there were not many two-year-olds in this province last season who showed more pace than Dimmer. His . failures were due to tho fact that he was never ready to show his best, and better ' things can bo expected of him this season. The grev coit has lots of speed and may . be verv troublesome to the maiden sprinters at Thames. Tbo race lie had at Whangarei. where i he ran second in tho cup, should have heen ; beneficial to Spoony, who is likely to strip near his best at Thames on Satnrdav. Spoony is an honest customer and will ' Probably start favourite in the Goldfields [ Cup, wherein the class is similar to that in ! which ho has shown his best form. Few hacks at EHerslio havo been gallop--1 ing better thn Star Comet, and ho is due t to win at any time now. Star Comet is ( engaged in hack oyents at Thames and will take a deal of beating if he races up to his ■ track form. ■ Early in the season Ring Potoa ran two good races, but he did not do well while travelling and raced below expectations at • Wanganui. Sinco then he has had time . to freshen '.ip and he mav be worth remembering at Thames, where he is in a class that should suit him well. L Three horses that raced well in the back . steeplechases at Ellerslie in June in Pen- [ dennis. Greekson, and Prince Rufus are engaged in the Thames Valley Steeplechase on Satnrdav. Tho trio are country-trained ; and have not raced since tho winter, and nothing is known concerning their present condition. Fit and well, anv one of the trio would be likely to win. Wendav has engagements at Thames and , should give a good account of herself. Her finishing effort at Cambridge was attractive and she should bo worth keening in mind. Present indications are that she will return to the winning list very shortly. Among the acceptors for tho Trial Plato at Thames on Saturday is Valken, who finished second to Arch Arrow in the Putarum Stakes at Matamata last March. Many who witnessed Valken's came finishing effort on that occasion formed the opinion that he would bo useful as a three-year-old this season. The son of Valkyrian has been a<id«d to the list since racing last. There has been nothing special about the recent track doings of Chairman, but he has been getting through his work in pleasing fashion and is verv well. Chairman won 1 attractively at his last start and should bo very hard to beat in his engagements at Thames Baby Bun has been sprinting nicely and is in good heart. Her lack of size is against her. but she begins well and may race prominently among the hack sprinters at Thames. Tho three-vear-old filly Atapai. who is engaged in the Trial Handicap at Thames, showed some speed in her engagements last season and notched three minor placings. Probablv her best effort was a c1of« third to Tea Bell and Baby Bun in the Calliope Handicap at Takapuna. It should not be for lack of condition if Advent fails to race well in the steeplechase events at Thames. She hns raced at several meetings this spring and is a very fit mare, whereas manv of her opponents have had no recent racing. Advent's latest form ha 3 been verv consistent and sho is due for a winning turn soon. In addition to an engagement in the Thames Valley Steeplechase op Saturday, Pendennis is also engaged in the Thames Hurdles. Pendennis has shown good promiso in both departments of the lumping business., and. if backers are satisfied with 1 his condition, he will probably receive solid support in whatever event he starts. Despite the fact that the going was against him, Schorr ran two creditable races at Whangarei. even though he was unplaced in both. The conditions should be more to his liking at Thames, where he may race in improved fashion. Schorr has done nicelv in the past couple of weeks and should strip in excellent trim. ' Nassock ran a nice four furlongs on Tuesday. Wo have been expecting this fellow to show some furm this spring, but so rar ' he has not materialised. Perhaps be may improve upon recent displays at Thames, , where he is favourably nlaced to show his , ability in the Borough Handicap. As a rule Ellerslie trainers, when patronising the meetings at. Thames, have sent their horses bv steamer, but this vear the steamer arrangements are very unsuitable and most of tho horses from Ellerslie will go by rail, which will make the trip slightly more expensive. WANGANUI NOTES. i j [by telegraph.—own correspondent.] WANGANUI, Wednesday. Demure has built up wonderfully well lecently and looks better than ever, but she was not taken to Waverloy, as sho is suflering from an ailment that will necessitate a slight operation, and it may ho s;x months before she is ready to race again. Deluge looks as if he is going to be bigger than ever when he races thiß season. He ip already sprinting in great style, and it is evident ho is going to be as fast as ever ud to six furlong 3. He will make his first appearance for the season at tne Feilding meeting, probably in the Feilding Stakes, though Mr. George Currie also has Lvsander engaged in that event. Mask continues to do good work, and there is reason to anticipate that tho Limond geldinc will run well in his engagements at Ellerslie on November 6 and 8. However, much dojiends on how he ib ridden, as he reauires driving along in the early stages of his races, being a -err lazy kind. Mr. W. Glenn, M.P., has purchased Diamond Ring with the idea of breeding from her. She will bo given a spell of a month ot so, and then, if appearances warrant it. she will be given into J, Hay's charge to race for three months before finally retiring. Elysianor recently contracted a skin disease, and this led to him being thrown out of work. Civility has made hor reappearance on the track after three weeks' spell, during which she has rounded up splendidly and is looking .nice and fresh. She is to be got ready lor the Feilding meeting. W. Dwver has come to the conclusion that Kiosk will have to be operated upon. It is a great pity this colt has gone in the wind, as he gave every promise of making a slashing three-vear-old. Calculation, the half-brother (by California) to Civility, is in steady work, but he will not be raced until February, i W. Rayner has been verv unfortunate with his two-vear-olds so far this season. The three of them were going along nicely, when they had to bo spoiled owing to developing colds, which they have not yet thrown off. . Thaw was hitting out so well lust before the Wanganui meeting as to make it look as if this son of Limond would win a race or two early in the season, but he had to be laid aside. Then Covent Garden and Damaris also had to be spelled for the samo reason. Thaw was put into work threa weeks ago. but the continued damp weather ' prevented him from throwing off his cough, and the idea of taking him to Ellerslie for the Welcome Stakes had to be abanWhenunnui has not done much fast work since he fell when being schooled over the hurdles some three weeks ago. M. Gardner has him nice and fresh and may give him a run on the second day at Waverley. The two-year-old Paletta has been showing signs of lameness behind ' lately, but < appears to be throwing off the trouble, j W. Ravner intends leaving here next Monday for Auckland, _ with Mask and j Lysander. F. Tilley will also go north cay with kin team.