TROTTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21827, 14 December 1932, Page 11

TROTTING

By Sentinel.

Soraerby received a bad passage in the Mace Memorial in which he finished six horses in the New Brighton Handicap for unhobbled trotters finished in a close bunch and the race is described as one of the best ever seen on t ' l A C °ecen’t foaling is that of the erstwhile good race performer. Bonny Logan, who has produced a colt to Key de Oro. She has visited Grattan Loyal. Honeymoon did everything wrong in his race at New Brighton. He is, hoi ever, not the only horse who occasionally suffers from an eclipse of form. . Royal Wrack, who has become notorious for his waywardness at the barrier, has been given to G. S. Smith to tram, in the hope that the Addington mentor will effect a cure of the Ashburton-owned Pa iL ’ Holmes has leased the stables at Russley from Messrs Clarkson, Graham, and Ollivier, and will set up as a public trainer. Included m bis team wil be the horses owned by Messrs .Clarkson and Graham and Mr C. M. Ollivier, There has been a. great deal, of discussion in trotting circles regarding the Red Shadow case which came beiore me board of the New Zealand Trotting Association. Under Rule 376, the horse is under a disability and is automatically debarred from starting. . , Betty Wrack was • going strongly in sixth place with seven furlongs to. go in the Bowhill Handicap at New Brighton when she was brought down. She escaped injury, but her driver, W. Warren, will have an arm in a sling for a few days. At a meeting of the Judicial Committee of the New Brighton Trotting Club, R- Donald, driver of Dark Girl in the Bowhill Handicap, was fined £5 for careless driving, and interfering with Hard Words, driven by M. Holmes and Authorwood, driven by M. B. Edwards. Full accounts of the Mace Memorial Handicap show that Gold Country won comfortably if not easily. He won in 4min 21sec, third in 2mm 8 2-ssec, ana third in the Free-for-All at Addington in 2min 39 4-sscc. At Ashburton Gold Country figures on the front of a 4mm 27sec class, , . Trotting clubs will have seriously to consider the deletion of the term handicap from the name of a race. The definition of a handicap is that the handicapper should give each, horse on paper an equal chance of winning. Under the present system of handicapping, so called, the word becomes a misnomer. The five-year-old mare, Resound, went a solid race in the Trial Handicap at New Brighton to beat all but Mataunga/ She was fifth when the field had traversed a furlong, and after being carefully handled by D. Withers until approaching the straight, she made a big effort to catch Mataunga. but (says Argus ) he was too good for her. Resound trotted the mile and a-half in omm 37sec, so off a Srain 51sec mark she should soon win a race. She is by Wrack from Echo, and is owned by Messrs Clarkson I 'Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club has decided to include a feature in its programme for its February meeting in the shape of a Free-for-All for unhoppled trotters, to be decided over a mile and a-half from a flying start, all to begin from the same mark. Already Wraekler and Stanley T have been secured to take part in the race, and negotiations are in progress with tne owners of Olive Nelson, and Huon Voy* age, with the object of getting their horses to take part in the contest. # ouch an event will be a splendid attraction. Great Loeanda, who figured as an acceptor for the Improvers’ Handicap at the New Brighton meeting, died at II o’clock of the morning of the races. In losing this horse, Mr M. C. Walker, a Wellington sportsman, and A. B. Bussell, his trainer, sustained a severe loss, as Great Loeanda was a most, promising young pacer, and it was anticipated that he would have raced with prominence at the West Coast holiday fixtures for which he was nominated. Great Loeanda was a four-year-old stallion,by Brent Loeanda from Hold On, and he had one winning performance to his credit. . . G. King drove Roddy to win the Wainoni Handicap in very decisive fashion at New Brighton, bringing his total winning drives for the season to 11, while J. Bryce, jun., who handled Little Victor, still retains second position on the list with 10 wins. Both horsemen are young drivers of marked ability and both , are attached to stables where they are given fair opportunities to show their prowess. King is attached to the stable presided over by C. S. Donald, who, unlike some other trainers, does not always take the pick of the drives when he has more than one horse engaged in a race. The same applies to Bryce, who is at Oakhampton Lodge. It would probably be better for all concerned (says the Press) if the many capable young drivers available were given the opportunities that King and Bryce, jnn., enjoy. The slow- class trotters’ race that invariably opens the New Brighton Trotting Club’s programme is not a very profitable one for the club (says the Press), so far as totalisator business is concerned, and the unknown quantities engaged do not imbue speculators with any degree of confidence. In the Trial Handicap on Saturday only £765 10s was put through the machine, an amount that was increased to £1431 10s in the second race, the Improvers’ Handicap, which was contested by a field of 12, two being bracketed on the totalisator. In the Maco Memorial, in which the star performers were engaged, £1946 went through the machine, and the following race, the Bowhill Handicap, saw £1903 registered. The small field of six resulted in £1474 10s being invested on the Saltaire Handicap, while backers showed some confidence in supporting the unhoppled trotters in the New Brighton Handicap, to the extent of £1636 10s. Presumably in an attempt to retrieve their lost fortunes, or substantially to build up those they had made, backers showed the greatest enthusiasm in the last two races, for totals of £2121 and £2203 were put through on these events. Gold Country was installed a good favourite for the Mace Memorial Handicap, and he duly won by three lengths, there being a great deal of merit in his performance as he began slowly, and (says the Press) then he did not receive any the best of the running. Arethusa, Somerby and Dillon Logan were the smartest to’begin, and the trio opened up a clear lead. At the end of two furlongs Cranleigh, George Key, Colorado, Muriel de Oro, and Gold Country were following the leading bunch in that order. By the time the half-mile post was reached Gold Country had improved to be in fifth place just behind Cranleigh, Muriel de Oro being next, but Colorado was getting further back as the race progressed. The leading division was the same as the straight was entered, but Arethusa stopped badly from there on and Cranleigh challenged Dillon Logan. A furlong from home Gold Coun-

try was sent after the leaders and he quickly silenced the opposition and went on to win easily. Cranleigh could not head Dillon Logan, and he was still two lengths behind him at the post, with Somerby another length away in fourth place. Muriel de Oro and Arethusa were next to finish. It appeared that had Somerby secured an opening he would have finished in the money, as he was full of running, but he • was on the rail, and he had to be brought out to make his run at a critical time, and that check was sufficient to ruin his chance. Arethusa stopped in front of him and the horses coining round on the outside prevented him from doing his best over the concluding stages. . , According to a report a smash in the early stages of the Bowhill Handicap spoilt the contest, but perhaps did not affect the result as Little Victor was in front at the time and he is a difficult horse to head if he gets to the front early in a race. The Wellington-owned and trained David M'Elwyn was favourite from Betty Wrack, and he began fast to take the lead, but at the end of a furlong and a-half Little Victor was in front from the favourite, with Liberty Hall, Authorwood, Dark Girl, Hard Words, and Betty Wrack following. Just before the field left the straight there was some interference, which caused Authorwood, Stowaway, and Betty Wrack to fall, and Avaunt, Harvest Time, and Harold Denver to be pulled up. Several other horses had their chances spoilt. This left only Little Victor, David M'Elwyn, Liberty Hall, Dark Gijl, and Hard Words —the last-named met with trouble also—to be considered. The leading trio drew away and they were_ the only ones in the race with half the journey gone. They maintained the same order to the straight, where it appeared that David M'Elwyn would come on and win, but when asked to wrest the lead from Little Victor he did not respond very well, and Little Victor had a comfortable win by two lengths. Liberty Hall was four lengths further back, and Dark Girl was a poor fourth, with Ruth Logan a lone way back next. The winner has improved greatly since he was taken over by J. Bryce a few months ago, and he has raced well in his recent outings. He won in fast time at the club’s previous meeting, running a similar type of race. He races best in front. David M'Elwyn had every chance, but was not good enough on the day, and Liberty Hall recorded his best performance for some considerable time. B. Lynskey, driver of Stowaway, was not injured, but M. B. Edwards (Authorwood) was shaken and bruised, and W. Warren (Betty Wrack) bad a shoulder injured.