TROTTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21360, 13 June 1931, Page 19

TROTTING

By Sentinel. Mr W.' M'Laughlan’s mare Ambition is now a’ member of C. S. Donald’s stable, but will not race again until the August meeting at Addington. ■ A sporting bet has been made whether horses that have done better than 4min 26see in a race are eligible for the New Zealand Trotting Cup. It is claimed that horses must have been handicapped at 4min 26sec or better to be eligible. There seems no doubt that a horse with, a record of 4min 26sec or better is eligible even though his handicap may be outside the qualification mark. Bracken is one sure to show further improvement (says an exchange). She had t 0... work her way through a large field on the second day of the Forbury Park meeting and finished full of running to beat Probationer. She failed to show lup at Oamaru, but was out of it from the start, and that one failure is considerably outweighed by her previous good performances. ' , George Rey is due to reappear at Ashburton. He proved a smart three-year-old, opening his winning account at the Cheviot meeting, and later winning a double at the Forbury Park earthquake relief meeting. His best performance (says “ Ribbonwood ”) was his defeat of Sodium and Morrison in the Advance Handicap, a race for four-year-olds at the Metropolitan August the field also including Glenrossie, Erins Pointer, Ngingongingo, Royal Silk, and Pro Rata. . . , Modern Girl is booked to race at Ashburton to-day,'- and her owner, Mr J. Richardson, has gone north to see his mare race In her races up to date Modern Girl hag broken up at the start, but may go better with the benefit of experience. She went off at Oamaru, but broke up after going a few strides. Owing to the outside course at Addington being ploughed up trainers are now being allowed jto use the inside ot the track. Some of the best trainersclaim that the more a track is used the better the going becomes. This, of course, applies to a dirt track which, if in constant use, requires more work to keep it in order, but that is or should be a very minor consideration. Trainers should insist on being allowed to work their horses occasionally on the rails, particularly when they are handling youngsters. When youngsters are continuously worked on the outside fii a track they are apt to try and go to the same ground when in a race, and thus they develop into “ luggers ” and “ borers/* 0, E. Hooper and F.'Holmes each have three horses to represent them in /he Ashburton County Handicap. Satin Kang, Milo Minto, and Great Logan comprise Hooper’s trio, while Avenger, Cyone, and Harvest Child are those of F. Holmes The conditions attached to the New Zealand Trotting Clip made it open to horses that had done or have been handicapped to do 4.26. It is claimed that under the new system of handicapping only, horses handicapped to go 4.26 or better were eligible, but according to the conditions of this year’s race a horse with a race record of 4.26 can be nominated. The death is announced of the erstwhile good racehorse Dillon Bell at the ■ age. of 23 years, Dillon Bell was by Harold Dillon from Wild Belle, by Wildwood from Fanny Belle, who was by. General Tracey from the imported Fanny Belle. M. Edwards raced Dillon Bell with a good deal <pf success, winning a Christchurch Handicap with him as a three-year-old in 4min 41 3-ssec, and a Dunedin Cup as a four-year-old m 4mm 35sec. After that he was raced in Australia in the joint ownership of M. Edwards and R. Geddis, where, after winning a Plying Mile at Victoria Park, Sydney, he took a placed record of 2mm 12jsec on the same track in 1914 Finnebrogue, • May Chenault, Eastern Queen, Avernus, find Speed Quefen are the only candidates for the Sapling Stakes to be decided at Ashburton, who have faced the starter. At his first attempt (says the Press) Finnebrogue went away very badly, but at his second, which was at Manawatu. he moved off quite well, but the state of the'going was all against him, and he con'd not show his true form. May Chenault raced well for a mile in the Selma Handicap at the Ashburton Racing Club’s meeting last month, and considering the speed at which the race was run her performance was quite creditable, Avernus and Speed Queen also started in the same race. The former Was, not prominent over the first mile, but finished the journey strongly in seventh place, while' Speed Queen held her place in the ■-.-. bid 1 - of the field throughout. Eastern Queen was raced on the Blenheim-Nelson circuit, and is the only two-year-old to have won anything in stake money, she having been twice placed second over a mile and a-half in 3min 35 l-ssec and 3min ; 37 2-seec respectively.