RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25214, 1 May 1943, Page 6

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel Tfcere is an opinion abroad that the test has not yet been seen- of Lady Nuffield. Jacksonville appears among the acceptances for the Peerswick Hurdles at Riccarton to-day. He developed bleeding when racing at Wingatui. Starting times: Southland (win and place)—ll.4o, 12.20, 1 p.m., 1.40, 2.20, 3 run. 3.40, 4.20; Avondale (win and place) 11.35 1225, 1.15, 2.5, 2.45, 3.30, 4.15 , 5.5.

Hunting Charm won so well at Timaru that she cannot be overlooked in connection with the Gimcrack Handicap at Riccarton. At Timaru Hunting Charm won with 8.10 in lmin 14sec, and later in the day Grilse 7.2 and Lord Advocate 7.3 fought out the finish of the Doncaster Handicap in lmin 13 3-ssec. Royal Writ put up the best performance amongst the defeated lot at Timaru. He drew an extreme outside position at the barrier in the Rosewill Hack Handicap, and after running wide all the way ran Sascha to a head at the finish. He got into trouble on the first day at Riccarton, and should pay his way in the future.

If the going is firm at Riccarton Royal Lancer will be far more dangerous than in any race he has run since winning the New Zealand Cup. In the first place he will not be carrying so much dead weight, and in A. E. Ellis he will have the assistance of one who holds claims to the distinction of being the best horseman. in New Zealand. Royal Lancer suffered a short head defeat in the Wellington Cup, nad again in the W.R.C. Handicap .by the same margin. The opinion is ventured that the result would have been reversed in at least one of these races, in which he suffered defeat in the last stride, if he had not attempted to win too soon. On Wellington Cup form Royal Lancer meets The Joker on 101 b better terms under a scale of weights which he can carry, and The Joker has yet to prove himself under weight. Royal Lancer will no doubt be hard to beat with all his weight, but The Joker is ■n improving sort who now appears to be in better racing shape than when winning earlier in the season. Macedoine’s chance in the Great Autumn Handicap should not be judged on her recent racing. When she won the Otaio Plate at the New Zealand Cup meeting she scored one of the easiest of wins and was galloping away at the finish. She won full of running with 7.13 in 2min 8 3-ssec, and The Joker won the Metropolitan with 7.6 in comfortable style in 2min 34sec. Allowing 26sec for an extra quarter of' a mile. Macedoine would run a mile and a-half around the time put up by The Joker, who has to put up an extra 201 b in the Great Autumn Handicap. Macedoine should be Close to The Joker wherever they finish.

Prior to The Joker leaving on his present campaign in the north he looked bigger and brighter in condition than earlier in the season. He was a bit on the mellow side when racing in the Timaru Cup, but the race evidently brought him on more than was anticipated, as it was thought he would require a race or two or some rousing gallops to get him up to concert pitch for the Great Autumn Handicap. His win in he Sockburn Handicap has cost him an increased weight, which may not stop him, but the extra burden will tell a tale at the end of a mile and a-half. Still, on the assumption that The Joker is now a better horse than ever, he must be hard to beat. There is no doubt that Dominate was a high-class two-year-old, as he displayed excellent form under big weights. Nevertheless so far he has failed to race up to the expectations which caused the hammer to fall on him at llOOgns when sold at the end of his first season. Dominate did not run a great number of times in his first season—ll in all—but they may have been sufficient to make him ■how a lack of courage in his early racing this season. Whatever the cause, the fact remains that he ran nine times this season before reaching a place. He then ran third in the Autumn Handicap at Trentham, when he finished third in a slow-run race over a mile and a-half in 2min 36Jsec. He finished in the ruck in the Timaru Cup, but displayed much more encouraging form in the Sockburn Handicap, run in fast time. The Joker won well, but over the extra three furlongs two light-weights in Dominate and Kevin may be capable of giving a good deal of trouble. If Dominate ran up to the promise of his two-year-old form he would beat all those near the top of the handieaßj.