RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22398, 20 October 1934, Page 19

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel.

The Southland racing season will begin on Monday next with the Gore spring meeting.

It is reported that the stable lifted £IO,OOO out of the ring over Sir Simper s jvin in the Toorak Handicap. ; As a line on the New Zealand Cup tlie form in the Harcourt, Cup may prove a better guide than the Wellington Handicap.

Autopay would make light of his burden of 9.5 in the Shorts Handicap, but ha is apt to misbehave himself at the barrier. . ■ . - ■

. Copyist reads nicely treated in the Shorts Handicap, • and two that were brilliant two-year-olds in Burnish and Pin Money may prove a better class than the majority in the field. Waterpower adn Slippery both won races in heavy going at the Wellington winter meeting, and, under similar track conditions, may act well at the spring meeting.

It is understood that Hazoor will be ridden at Wellington and also in the New Zealand Cup by S. Wilson, whose application for . the restoration of his license is to be dealt with this week.

Vintage was amongst those behind Princess Doreen in the Winter Cup. He has trained on since then, and • may go well in the Wainui Handicap if the going is not against him. There are no fewer than sis trophies attached to the programme for the Vincent Jockey Club’s jubilee meeting. The Clare Gold Cup is valued at SOOsovs, and would bring more in the present, market. Princess Doreen beat Davolo in the Winter Cup, and yet meets him on 101 b better terms in the Wellington Handicap. She has shaped a. bit disappointingly since winning at Riccarton, but she has considerable poundage in her favour.

Polydora was giving Davolo 2lb in the Winter Cup, in which she did not show anything like her best form. She meets Davolo on 91b better terms in the Wellington Handicap, and if on her best behaviour will take a power of beating. Walton Park . has displayed , winning form this season and, taken in conjunction with what he displayed last year, should make a hold show in the Wellington Handicap. He is a solid stayer,-and the distance will not trouble him.

The es-New Zealand jockey, M. M‘C_arten, earned in percentages!,at. Randwick £276. He was the most successful rider at the meeting, scoring five wins, including one on Nightly in the Randwick Plate. In that race ,he also earned £3B 15s for R. Reed, for whom he was substituted. Unless he changes his plans, the Auckland horseman, L: Dulieu, who has been riding in Australia for some months, will return to New Zealand. Dulieu has not had the best of luck in Australia, meeting with a couple of mishaps while riding, but he 'has wins to his credit on Royal Visitor and

Copper King displayed'form- last season that should result in a display of more than useful racing this year. His-final witi last year was in the Connolly Handicap, when he carried 8.7 and won by a length from Takakua 8.10, with 1 Spiral 9.0 a neck away third, in 2miu 8 3-ssec. Copper King has also won over a mile and a-quarter in heavy going. It is often said that jockeys are the worst judges of racing in the world. An amazing thing happened in connection with the Caulfield Guineas on Saturday, and the win of Theo was sensational. Mr E. Moss also had Sir John in the race and, with M'Carten taking the ride on him, they put a fortune on him. The result was that Theo went out at forlorn odds and won, while Sir John finished down the course. ' , '

F. Dempsey, the doyen of flat jockeys in Victoria, is riding with conspicuous success at present. At Flemingtou on October 6 he won the three .principal races, the . Maribyrnong . Trial Stakes on Matinee, the Edward Manifold Stakes on Arachne, and the October Stakes on Hall Mark, while last Saturday at Caulfield he won the Debutante Stakes on Matinee, the Caulfield Stakes on Hall Mark, and the Toorak Handicap on Sir Simper. The injury that necessitated the destruction of the New Zealand jumper Royal Visitor in Melbourne was a fracture of the, near front sesamoid bone,, received through contact with a fence while contesting the October Hurdles at Flemington on October 0. Mr C. Dawson’s other horse, the two-year-old Teak, appears to have run a good race when he finishedfourth in the Debutante Stakes at Caulfield, and evidently he is fairly smart. On the first and third days of the Riccarton carnival next month, the programme will open .with a brush hurdle race, but on the second and fourth days they will be replaced by high-weight handicaps. These events will be restricted to horses that have completed the course in three hurdle races or steeplechases or who can comply with the club’s special conditions for the events replacing hack races.

There is a big field engaged in the Rimutaka Handicap, and a speedy sort such as Dollar Prince should be able to obtain a handy position. At the Grand National meeting he won the Avonhead Handicap with 8.10 in Imin 28 3-ssee, and on the second day carried 9.6 and finished fourth to Knockfin 9.0, Hunting Jay 10.0, and Weatherly 8.6 in the Woolston Handicap, won in Imin 26 3-ssec. Dollar Prince should run out a good seven furlongs under 8.8.

True Shaft has been treated to a turn over hurdles, but figures amongst those engaged in the Wainui Handicap at'Ti’cntham. At the Wellington Cup meeting True Shaft carried 9.8 and won the Anniversary Handicap, and in the January Handicap carried 10.0 to half a length from Miladi when he dead-heated behind her with Courtyard 8.0. A repetition of that form would make him dangerous over the same distance when meeting- better company.

The winner of the Toorak .Handicap' does not incur a penalty for the.Caulfield Cup. The Toorak Handicap winner is specially exempt under .the conditions of the-race. It seems -parochial and decidedly unfair that a top-weight in Silver Ring.should be penalised for winning the Epsom Handicap while a light-weight in Sir Simper should be exempt from a penalty although the winner of a race just about as difficult to win as the Randwick event. The conditions are decidedly in Sir Simper’s favour. Miss Dazzle, who won the Hunters’ Steeplechase at Ellerslie, was bred by Mr G. Gillett, of. All Black fame, at Te Rapa. He broke her into harness as a two-year-old, and then loaned her to Mr Harry Clarldn, of Eureka, who hunted her as a three and four-year-old. She was returned to Mr Gillett when he resided at Takaniui previous to going to Whaiigarei, where he took over the Whang.lrei Hotel. Mr Gillett offered her for sale, eventually swapping her for three Jersey cows. She has since turned out a bargain, for she also won at the I’akuranga meeting, and her total earnings arc £2lO.

There is a tendency in some quarters to doubt if Sweet Agnes will stay two miles. She may or may not stay, but the fact that she was defeated in heavy going at Timaru should not be accepted as a reliable indication in that ( direction. Sweet Agnes won the Oaks Stakes last season and travelled the distance as if extra ground would not trouble her. Her win in the classic when carrying 8.10 in 2inin 37sec compares favourably with that put up earlier in the day in the Canterbury Cup, which Nightly won under in 2min 36 3-Dsec from Palantua 8.9, Red Manfred 7.9, and Southdown 7.9. Still, winning amongst horses of the same age may not supply a reliable line to stamina. At Timaru Sweet Agnes beat them all bar Polydora and had Vintage behind her with only 21b to balance the year between them. !

The light scale of weights in the Shorts Handicap suggests that it should be a very fast-run race if the going is at all firm. When a speedy three-year-old like Pin Money is in at only 21b above the minimum there should be speed on all the way. Pin Money was _ a smart two-ycar-old, and after winning the Welcome Stakes followed with seven placed perfovmances, concluding With a third in the Great Northern Champagne Stakes to the dead-heaters, Burnish and Gay Blonde. On that form Burnish should beat Pin Money at Trentham. Pin Money beat Burnish in the Wanganui Guineas, but the latter may be better suited by the shorter distance at Trentham. Burnish w-qn five times as a two-year-old out of eight starts, and was got by Pombal from Episode, by Limond—Homage, by Absurd, and hence the brilliancy displayed in her first season is only in line with the pedigree.

Commemorating his A.J.C. Derby success with Theo, the prominent owner, Mr jB. Moss, informally entertained a number of friends at Tattersall’s Club, Sydney, last week. Tattersall’s chairman (Mr W. W. Hill) paid a tribute to the good fellowship of Mr -Moss, and to his remarkable charitable works, and Messrs Jack O’Dea, George Marlowe, and F. G. Underwood also spoke highly of the good work of Mr Moss iusporting and other spheres. “I am proud to have won the A.J.C. Derby, the greatest ambition of my life,” replied Mr Moss, “ and it added greater pleasure to the win that the horse was named after one of the greatest sportsmen and gentlemen who ever put foot on a racecourse, my friend, Mr Theo Marks. Now that I have won the Derby,' I don’t care if I am beaten in it every year in future. It is someone else’s turn to enjoy the success.” More interest than usual will be taken in the Caulfield Cup this year than what has generally •’been the case. New Zealand will be represented by three horses bred in the Dominion, but chief in interest will be attached to Mr W. T. Hazlett’s Sir Simper, whose win in the Toorak Handicap should prove a great trial for the Caulfield Cup. Sir Simper has won four races on end, and his most important win does not penalise him for the Caulfield Cup. Prior to Sir Simper’s latest success Rogilla was ruling as fayourite, but he will have a difficult, if not impossible, task to concede Sir Simper 331 b if the latter has any pretensions to class. Sir Simper’s win in the Toorak Handicap strongly suggests that: wherever Rogilla is at the finish the- New Zealander should be well in front of him if there is any value in Handicapping. There are, of course, other Richmonds in, the field, bfit Sir Simper will probably start a sound favourite and give his supporters a good run for their money.

The first of the big guns in the Victorian sporting world, the Caulfield Cup ,and--Mel bourne Cup, will bo fired to-day, and the' result awaited, with considerable interest. Sir Simper will start what might be termed, a justifiable favourite. Some little while ago Mr F. M'Gfath, the trainer of Peter Pan, was quoted as a leading authority in Australia, and said that his horse would run a great race in the Melbourne Cup and that the greatest danger might be supplied by a three-year-old. That danger has cropped up in Theo, who shapes like a good staying three-year-bld. With all duo respect to Mr M'Grath’s opinion, there may be a far greater danger in the Melbourne Cup than "what could be supplied by a three-year-old. Take the case of Statesman, who won in 1928 with 8.0 ; from Strephon 7.6, one of the ' best three-year-olds seen in recent years. Statesman finished close up to the placed lot in the previous year’s race and he then became a “ rod in pickle ” for the fallowing year, and duly landed the stakes from a really high-class three-year-old who won the Victoria Derby. Statesman ran second to Trivalve in'the Victoria Derby in 1927, . and the ■ latter also won the Melbourne Gupi An even more dangerous factor in a Melbourne Cup field may be a five or six-year-old well seasoned horse in at a light weight. For instance, Revenue was tried to be an absolute certainty when he won with 7.10, and ,a Peter Pan with 9.10, or a Theo with 7.6 would find a Revenue at 7.10 far too tough a proposition for them. If Sir Simper was a really good staying four-year-old and reserved for the Melbourne Cup with 7.7 the common sense of racing says that he should beat the best three-year-old in the race and incidentally all the topweights. There As more delving to be done in connection with the Melbourne Cup than turning out a comparison between the top-weights and the best three-year-old of the year. Those of fully exposed form may not constitute danger, but when such a stake as that attached to the Melbourne Cup is on the calendar it is worth waiting for with “a,rod in pickle ” that may prove impossible to beat at the weights.