RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25306, 17 August 1943, Page 5

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel

Nominations are due to-day for the Otago Hunt Club’s meeting. Heidelberg was well in the picture in tlie Grand National Hurdles until reaching the straight, but faded over the final furlong. Young Charles has the reputation of being a good horse when in the mood. He came from the tail of the field to finish third in the Grand National Hurdles, arid only started to gallop when it was too late to win. The Melbourne Cup will be run on November 20, a week before the New Zealand Cup. Treasurer is improving as a hurdler and will not require a great deal of additional experience to make him a winner. The turnover on the totalisator at Riccarton would have been much greater but for the fact that a large number of intending investors were shut out. Tring went out of the ring unsold at 170gns when offered last week. Irish Lass sold at 53gns. and Ferriby changed owners at sgns. Native Chief, the brother to the crack performer Kindergarten, sold at 90gns last week He was bought by Mr E N. Reid, of Outram. The Gascony mare Symbol ran a good race in the August Handicap. She was one of the pace-makers, and suffered defeat when worried out of it by Poutatau in the last few strides. The Martian horse Martarma, who was foaled in 1924, carried himself like a much younger horse when sent under the hammer last week. He displayed a bloom on his coat and may yet prove useful at the stud, where he got good winners with limited opportunities. He was sold at 45gns. The Wingatui trainer W. McEwan was among the buyers at the sales held last week. He secured a two-year-old filly by Nightmarch from Wink-a-pep, by Winkie, at 55gns. The filly will have a good stud value when finished racing. Anini has always been more or less unsound, and her breakdown in the Grand National Steeplechase may mean that she has made her final appearance on the turf. She is now nine years old, an age at which most mares have been retired to the paddock. The imported brood mare Saone, who made 625gns at the bloodstock sales, is rather attractively bred and was foaled in 1934. She was got by Parth, and on the dam’s side comes from French stock. The fact that she looked in foal to Battle Song helped to make the price. March of Time, a shapely black mare, sold cheaply at 175gns when under the hammer. She would be cheap at the price as a brood mare even if she never raced again. She was got by Jay, a son of Magpie, from Lady March, by Lucullus. and so is related to such good winners as Limarch, King March, Te Kara, and Royal Appellant. The chestnut colt by Solicitor General— Robbie’s Mistake, who made top price at the bloodstock sales, is a well-set-up youngster with the good manners derived from being well handled. His dam is a sister of Cupidity, the dam of Skipton, a winner of the Victoria Derby and Melbourne Cup. Cupidity is closely related to such good winners as Beau Vite, Old Bill, Wotan, Gaine Carrington, Peter Jackson, Motere, and Menelaus. The youngster was bought on behalf of the Sydney trainer F. Dalton. There is a strong and growing opinion that fields running to the full safety number should be reduced. Any condition attached to racing which appears to destroy a chance of winning, and, incidentally, creates extra risk in the running, should be eliminated. The big fields seen out at Riccarton soon spread out over a considerable amount of ground, and the fact suggested that a number of horses were getting a bad run in crowded fields, or else their trainers are very bad judges, of the necessary merit required by a horse capable of winning at Riccarton. It is, however, quite safe to attribute the spreading to lack of room in unwieldy fields. For that very good reason the question of reducing the safety numbers of a track requires consideration. If a lack of room exists at Riccarton the position must obviously be much worse on smaller tracks,