HARRIER RACING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23052, 1 June 1938, Page 22

HARRIER RACING

CLUB COMPETITIONS FORTHCOMING ROAD EVENTS REAPPEARANCE OF SAVIDAN ANNUAL RACE AT TAKAPUNA Winter athletics continued as usual on Saturday, when all clubs again had big attendances at their various meetings. In view of the three open road races to be held within the next month a good deal of road work was included in the runs on Saturday. The first of the three open races will be the 3J miles "lake" race at Takapuna next Saturday. The entry of 124 runners constitutes a record for the event, which provides a good trial race for the more difficult Pakuranga to Ellerslie contest on the following Saturday. The Takapuna race will he run on the usual time handicap system. The race between the backmarkers for fastest time should finally lie between C'ronipton and Watters, wiib Ambler, of Calliope, forcing them hum However, surprises are always in on lei at this stage of the season, when some runners are much further advanced in their training than others. Regular training is being carried out at the Domain during the week, particularly by the Auckland and Technical members, who are very keen this season. J. W. Savidan has had a few runs and it is reported that he will be competing again this season. It will be pleasing to see Savidan racing again, but after his long spell he will find it very difficult to regain his old form. He is now over 30 years of age and, consequently, must have lost a lot of his speed. TRIAL AT ROAD WORK PROMISING JUNIOR TALENT L. R. Watters, the leading competitor of the Auckland Club this season, had a road run on Saturday as a change from the usual routine race at the Domain. He was out with the Technical and Ellerslie Clubs, which held a combined run on the Howick road over the course to be used on Saturday week. Watters and Harding, of Technical, were the fastest men, both showing a liking for the hard going and giving smart performances. M. Baker, of Ellerslie, continues to show up well in harrier runs, displaying much more staying power than one would expect from a runner of his build. The present national quartermile champion may turn out to be a very fine half-miler next season. The Lvniidale, Presbyterian and Baptist clubs held novice races, some very promising talent being revealed in all three clubs. A four miles event was decided at Avondale and the winner was R. Jones, who finished very strongly in front of C. Munro and L. H. Kemp. The last-named is a young runner who is likely to improve into a solid cross-country exponent. He showed promise in winning distance events at Mount Albert and Grammar. In the Presbyterian event C. Robinson was in a class of his own and; in winning comfortably from the scratch mark, gave an impressive display. With the object of sorting out their best men, the Papatoetoe Club held its first club race of the season over a six miles road course. Unfortunately, C. Littler was not a starter and D. Porter had a rather easy victory from R. French, who in turn was a long way ahead of the third man, A. Potter. Another big field contested the threelap steeplechase at the Domain. Quite a good race resulted between the limit men and middle-markers, and in the end N. P. McKinven, off 60s, won in a tight finish from B. L, Evans, off 70s, with K. French right up in third place. Fastest time went to F. Savidan, a brother of the former champion, who registered 10m os in gaining sixth position. McKinven had the third fastest time, while G. Hill showed improved form to register 10m 21s. The latter will be seen to better advantage in the more important events. University had one of its best meetings of the season and the big field was divided into four packs, ranging from slow to racing. E. Stephenson and L. Barker were again outstanding, although Tweedie, Collins and Ball also ran very well.