CANTERBURY TROTTING

NZ Truth, Issue 602, 30 December 1916, Page 10

CANTERBURY TROTTING

(By "Tne Looker On.") The New Brighton meeting was by far and away the best meeting held by the seaside club. The racing was of the very best brand, and all who saw it were satisfied that the time method of starting is far m front of the yards system. Sceptre, who won the Summer Handicap at Brighton, has been penalised lsec. in 1 the Westland Trotting Club Handicap. By the way, Sceptre's win was one of the most popular at the meeting. Young Tohu does not raoo well on a grass track. Lady Teddington put up a rather smart performance m winning the Sec. ond Amateur m 2.41 for the eleven furlongs. She Is of good racing blood on both sides, being- by Teddington (whose dam also left Revenue and Myosotls) from Arclight. Until recently this mare: used to hit herself very badly, but she lias been cured of the habit, and is sure to win many more races. The American-bred fllly, Trlxle Pointer, made her first appearance at New Brighton, but she could not go the pace set by Lady Teddington, and was never seen. Agnes Chief, who la booked to race on the West Coast, leaves her feet very easily, Vermtlllon does not appear to pace as solidly as he did twelve months ago. Nancy Stair, by Qallndo, from the dam of Irvar, made her bow at Brighton. She Is not nearly ready, and will see a much better day before the season closes. Lady Hollywood, a four-year-old mare by Mambrlno King— Lady Jack, gave a good impression last week. Klelios, a well-bred gelding by Haroid^Dillon — Aliicewood, has the name of being fast, but lust week he would not settle down to race. Lord Agapanthus, a six-year-old horse, by Prince Imperial — Agapanthus, is a nice pacer, and one that will be heard of again. Radiance has raced twice this season, but on each occasion did not show a* good form ft s aho did In her maiden effort last year. Able Boy is a bad breaker, and those who propose to back him ought to know the fact, Paddy Lynd will trot kindly for his owner, but with anyone elso at the steering-gear the creamy cannot b« depended upon for a furlong, Arcadian was very short of work at Brighton, and his rider had almost to carry the chestnut over tho last mile. With more work ho could not have lost. "Manny" Edwards wa« fined £10 for crossing tho line before his bell In the Shirley Handicap. To line a rider for deliberately beating his bell In one thing, but to charge a man £10 who has done his best to stop a hot -headed mount from crossing tho mark before hi.s time*, and ha*« on his own initiation pulled out of the r»c<\ Is quluv a different matter. Writer gleans that tho starter (Mr. Reynold*)) on recopnlslntr that h<> watt rut her severe, asked the Brighton Club to place the fact* before the Association with a view of having the fhw remitted. The writer quite nfireea that the "tenner" should I>*t refunded, but ho does not agrefl (hut tho Association should be asked to make n precedent that may cause a lot of trouble. McDermott was fined tho usunl for going before the bell with Wild Tree, who certainly wen? too soon. >!<;• Dermott was dolnj? his bait to stop him. and broke him In trying to do It. Old Cmlbwood went the beat race he hns run for years at Brighton. Dollywood l» tho rtMirheftr .rtdu the writer has ever,<rp«'> In a troulnir r&c*.

Havana went 4.51 when he won the ; Shirley Handicap, and he was only r paddling over the last half mile. ( Ben- Jarden/ drove Author Dillon a ' good race when he won the New Brighton Handicap. The son of Har- > old Dillon — Authoress went the two i miles m 4.30 2-5," which is a fine per--1 formance for a four-year-old. Mr. W. Kerr was the recipient of ■ many congratulations after the big 1 race at Brighton." Not only did he breed Author Dillon, who won the race, i but he also raised Admiral Wood, who ; burst all existing race records m ruhi ning second to Author Dillon. There i is a lot of the same blood m Admiral Wood and Author Dillon. The first mentioned is by Wildwood Junr., and ' Author Dillon's dam is a full-sister to ; Wildwood Junr. Frandocia, who was looking light, did not go well over the first half mile ■ of the Brighton Handicap, but after that he paced m fine form. Cappriccio found the lot opposed to ; him at Brighton a trifle too high-class. l Hendricksen drove Sherwood m the b{g race. Albert drove his usual patient race, but once the last quarter of ■ a mile was entered on he soon recog- ' nlsed he was gone. ' '. Brown Bell was the duffer of the big , race field, and they had her tangling , all the way. v * Emiuus would not settle down to hl3 . work last week, and, m consequence, was at the tail end of the field before [ the first half mile had been covered. : At one stage of the last mile of the ; big handicap, Tommy C. put m one of lxis brilliant bursts, but when Admiral Wood kept at him Reay's pacer soon decided that he did not want the money. ' Adelaide Direct was the unlucky ; runner at Brighton. She left her feot ! after going seven furlongs, and before ' Edwards got her back she was behind I Admiral Wood. She ran up to the big horse about five furlongs from home but left her feet again. . Then she put » m another run and finished third, close ■ behind Admiral Wood. But for leav- ' ing her feet it looks as if she might have won. "Manny" Edwards intends sending this mare against the New Zealand mile record during the Auckland t meeting. The big gelding m MoDermotfs stable i by Norval King is beginning to shape as l( hs will yet make a trotter. j Cox is bringing Reta Peta along the right way. She is engaged m the Forbury Derby and her opponents will find her a tough nut to crack. Marietta, who is also trained by Cor, • is another filly engaged m the Fofbury Derby that will 'take a lot of beating. The Ashburton - owned Imperial Tracey has been an inmate of Teddy, McCann's stable for Borne weeks. If 1 there is anything m the big pacer, MeCann will develop it. Willie Lincoln was made a hot favor* ite for the Summer Handicap, but for losing some ground through the race he might have beaten Sceptre, Scenery went 2.58 off the limit m the Summer Handicap. It was two seconds better than she was handicapped; but the mare could only get a poor third. Proud Girl, who was oft Oje scene for a long time, looks as If she la coming back to form. J, Bryce drove Woodvere on tho second day at Brighton. She behaved' much Better at the start with htm than she did on the first day tor an amateur, but did not go steadily m the race and finished fourth. Galindo was m good humor while running the first half mile or too Beach Handicap, and looked to have a good chance of winning, but at the end of j another furlong she changed her mind and tried to bolt off the course. Bundura is only a pony, but she can go fast. So far, she has been decided- ! ly unlucky In her racing efforts. Rorke's Drift Is a much-improved gelding. Ha did not get the best run over the first part of the Beach Handicup, but the son of Driftwood finished third la 3,38 for the twelve furlongs. Nordlea got a big break on her field over the Unit quarter of tho Bench Handicap, but with all the advantage she would have been beaten m the bands of a less experienced driver, as aha Yfixs ready to quit at any part of the last quarter. The long- priced Jciclo doe» not shape as If he will ever repay his owner for the time and money spent on him. Red Heather must be classed as a very unlucky trotter. He has not won any money to speak of, and m running second to Kelso m the smashing time of 4.41 2-5 for the two miles he has got right back with the best m the land. Put Madam Shaw In a Hold of poorclass trotters and she will beat them like a racehorse. Put her amongst i racehorses, and you can bet that she i goes In the air. Eruption gave a sorry showing at Brighton. His exhibitions of temper > at the start cast him some seconds, and during the race he continually , threalonod to leave his feet. Uk« all of wilte'i traitors, Ml«» ■ Vivian does not lose much when atie ■ break*. A couple of pluniros and she ' lrt into her stride again. She was nan- • dlcapped at 4,53 for the two miles at i Brighton, and, m running third to i Kelao and Red Heather, she did exact* ly that tlmo. KeUo went 4.50 when ho won ihe Park Handicap. Ho deserved the win. fts he trotted solidly oil the way n ml knocked 6 sees, off his handicap [ time. GaUclan does not look right. He did ! not trot, nearly as well m hi? did owr , twelve months ngo. Starting off tho , 4A6 mark he did not go anything like that spued In the race. Truganlnl looked to bo well ptacea on the -1.48 mark at Brighton. Though Hho was ostensibly a trier, sh* did not stop the two miles In her handicap time, and was never near the Ittdera. Olive h. found the lot opposed to her In the Park Handicap fur too solid. Sh<? would hnve had to t?a better than 4.40 to beat Kelso. and this Is beyond her. Trc-amiru Soaker. «ho never \vm a good tunyw. found the pace much t**o ■y ? olid for M* liklnij. Coming home ul--1 tor the raq«.s he foil down and gav«j hi* },boy v budly-m-lKted Joint. | I'rlnto I'nulc, who U» unuully a good beginner, lost » lot of ground at the »tJirt ot tho Avon Handicap, and. In tor.nflqmnnce. could not get near the teA'tvrt, John Dillon went 2.12 at Brighton wh<M» he rah third In the mil* hum*** rate. it wita n treat #o. n* he )»»«! to jtw rmmti (ho iitjlU. Thu UilUm >wr*v vva* on tho $»,n mark, suui hi* effort %vs*4» oats <>t th« boat mile*-' «?vcr run. r ,pn.A fJT««ji' truck In thf Dominion. c V I The Mftltl hiUc S «h<> iMght <*f hopple*. ' h\i\ what i» to b» don«? JUce her

without the straps and she leaves her fe«?t, put them on her and she almost goes crazy! Ben Dillon is far from being: reliable at the start of a race, but once away he will do his best. Louie Drift is improving m her manners at the post, but it is no moray that she will get away properly. As expected, Uie niite circuit at Nsw Brighton suited Lodestar much better than the six-furlong track at Addington. Once the field turned for home m the mile saddle last Monday week, he bolted from them and won pulling up m 2.18. There was a great fight for second place In the Farewell Handicap all the way down the straight. About six of the runners were fighting it out like heroes. Young Tohu was second by a neck, but how tho judge placed the third and fourth no one knows. But for leaving his feet half a mila from home, Submarine must have been knocking at the door m the Farewell Handicap. As it was, he finished close behind the placed horses. A trotter has to be very brilliant or pacers are sure to carry It off Its feot m the first port of a mile race. McCann has First Alarm going well. When dressed m his best the aged son of O.T.M. and Rita Is a reliable inller. 0.1.C. was never m the hunt m tho Farewell at Brighton. She was not class enough to give away two seconds to a 2.18 hors"e. ' It is rumored that Admiral Wood will he retired from racing at the finish of the holiday meetings. This would be a great pity, as ho is only five years old and thoroughly sound. Surely wi have not seen the best of him yet? R. Allen is keeping Don Caesar go* Ing. He does not look right yet, but\ as far as that goes, he has not struck A form this season. . Admiral Wood has been placed oi the 4.26 mark for tho thousand pound race at Canterbury Park. This is quit© fair, as it is the good horses which the public wish to see racing. Will o' th' Wisp does not shape as if he will ever make a stayer. R. Allen has gono to a lot of trouble with this paoer with' 'little prospects of getting any return. Lady Renetta was worked In saddle during the week. She did not like it. and the results was that sho overreadied and gave herself a good gasl» just under the near side front fotlook joint. She is very sore on account of it. ' Fran* Josef did not look ready to bo? out a mile at Brighton. Nowadays it is not possible to win racea with horses which ore only half ready. L. Hagerty, the well-known hurdle rider, has made a start at handling pacers. Jim Bryce has always maintained that Admiral Wood was uot only the. best pacer that ho had over trained or driven, but that he was also the great-* est horse he had ever seen. After the Admiral's magnificent performance In the New Brighton Handicap/when he ran second to Author Dillon, covered tho two miles m the terrifio timo of 4.23 8-5, and created not only an Australasian record, but a world's race record for the distance, he quite established the fact that Bryce was right when ho said that the brown horse was the best pacer m his stable. Ono wanted to see tho race to fully recognise tho great performance that the Admiral put up. To start with, it was done on a grass track and one that experts consider fully 3secs. slower to the mile than either the Auckland or Metropolitan tracks. Bryce had to leave tho rails after covering the first four furlongs, and from there to the end of the two miles he was on tho outsido of tho field, well away from the fence, which means that Admiral Wood covered well over sixteen furlongs. As for tho race Itself, Admiral Wood began smartly, and from commencement to finish never put m a falso stride, but moved like a piece of porfect machinery all tho way. Good judges think that Bryce did not make quite enough use of hi* horso over the first half mile, but it Is much easier to drivo a race from tho stand than from tho sulky, and that ho made rather too much hasto over tho second half mile. Tho times for each half mile as taken by two private watches are as follows: Author DUIoA (who led all tho way) went tho first half mile In 1.9 2-5. while Admiral Wood took 1.10, and so was 2-5 sec», farther back than at the start. Author Dillon got to the end of the mile m 3.15 2-6, and Admiral Wood covered it m 2.12 3-6. The twelve furlongs was covered, Author Dillon 5.24, the Admiral 3.19; thofull two miles, Author Dillon 4.30 2-5, Bryoe'a horse 4.23 3*5. It will be noted that Admiral Wood covered tho second half milo m 1.2 3-5 and the last milo and u-half m tho magnificent time of 3.13 3-5, und it must b© remembered that the twelvo furlongs was run on the outiflde of a flt-ld. Bryco took his champion to Auckland.