Howe’s Connections Confident of Success In Melbourne Cup

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26915, 29 October 1948, Page 8

Howe’s Connections Confident of Success In Melbourne Cup

MELBOURNE, Oct. 23. Howe, Dominion owned and bred, already with a brilliant Moonee Valley Gold Cup success and a courageous second in the Caulfield Cup, will probably add the £12,500 Melbourne Cup to his imposing Australian record at Flemington next Tuesday. Only seven horses have won the Melbourne Cup With 9st or more in the last 30 years, but Howe appears well up to weight, he is fit, and is to be ridden by H. Badger who is in great form. Hardest for Howe to defeat may be the A.J.C. Derby winner. Carbon Copy. Best of the others may be Vagabond (if the appeal against his two years’ disqualification is upheld), and the Sydney light-weight, Steady, a son of the former New Zealand sire. Mr Standfast. The great two-mile event is timed to start at Flemington at 4.30 New Zealand time. Howe, whose stake winnings in New Zealand and Australia now total about £18,657 10s, is considered by his stable connections to be better than ever. His constant attendant, W. {BiU) Lewis, from J. Bromby’s Trentham stable, said before the Moonee Valley Cup: “I think the chestnut is more brilliant than at any stage of his career.’’ Before the race at Moonee Valley the five-year-old looked in oerfect condition, and ridden in copybook style by his Melbourne Cup rider, Harold Badger, .he not only won convincingly but proved conclusively how unlucky he was to have been beaten by Red Fury in the Caulfield Cup. With Badger merely shaking the whip at him in the straight, the big chestnut won in runaway style by four lengths from the Sydney-trained but New Zealand-bred Neptune gelding, Karachi, with Steady. 100 lo 1 chance, third. Fresh Boy’s fourth gave New Zealandbred horses a first, second and fourth in the first four placings, while Master Dash, the only other New Zealand-bred horse in the field, was not disgraced in ninth place in 17 stayers at his first attempt over the distance (1 mile 5 furlongs) Features of the betting on the Moonee Valley Cup were the plunges on Howe at short odds and Master Dash at long odds. Karachi was also heavily supported, mainly by Sydney punters. Howe and Badger received a remarkable reception on their return to scale from a record Moonee Valley Cup crowd of 47,000 racegoers. Wellington sportsman, Mr T Coltman, received 'he gold cup on behalf of Howe’s owner. Mr J. H Marshall, while trainer H. C. Nesbit was presented with a bouquet of roses by tne club's chairman, Mr Alister Clark, a noted Australian grower. Mr Marshall was at the course hut preferred to admire his champion at his stall. Karachi, who started second favourite, ran a good honest race without ever threatening Howe In the Melbourne Cup, the Neptune four-year-old is nicely handicapped at 7.12 and he may be a danger to Howe at the big weight advantage. His trainer, Maurice McCarten rode Nightly, the last New Zealander before Howe to win the Moonee Valley Cup in 1934. Yours Truly, the winner in 1941, was a New Zealander but was owned in Sydney.