RECORD STAKES FOR RIVERTON MEETING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26980, 15 January 1949, Page 5

RECORD STAKES FOR RIVERTON MEETING

Record stakes totalling £13.275 —an increase of £I4OO on last year—will be given for the Riverton Racing Club's annual Easter meeting to be Held in April. The programme is to be submitted to the Southland District Committee for approval. Tlte Riverton Cup Handicap this year will be worth £ISOO, a record stake for any race in Southland. Other events on the first day will be the Great Western Steeplechase, of £1200; the Aparima Handicap, of £600; and the Pourakino Handicap, of £6OO. On the second day the Easter Handicap has been raised to £IOOO. with the Riverton Steeplechase worth £BOO and the Southern Champion Hack worth £7OO. The Fiord Handicap, the principal race on the third day, has been raised to £7OO. The hack races on the first two days are all worth £4OO. The distances of all events remain unchanged. Jottings Gold Medallion’s two wins on the West Coast were his first since Mr T. J. Lister sold him some time ago at a four-figure price. The Awapuni trainer, G. W. New, suffered a broken bone in his knee when Hush reared and fell on him in the birdcage at Woodville last Saturday. Nominations for the Winton Jockey Club’s meeting to be held on February 5 close on Monday. . _ , Nominations for the Hororata Racing Club’s meeting on January 29 close on Monday. King’s Ransom’s Progress King’s Ransom’s trainer, A. McDonald, is experiencing trouble in his attempt to bring his charge back to his form of a year ago. The big Gisborne horse was not at his best at Ellerslie. an enlarged joint restricting his preparation. He will have his next race in the Wellington Cup, in which he has drawn 20 at the barrier. Stanfred’s Class Stanfred, a two-year-old colt by Ruthless out of the former Southland mare, Blissful Lady, owned by Mr W. S. Goosman, appears to dominate the field for the Avondale Guineas to be run to-day. Mr Goosman has another outstanding two-year-old in Lord Cranleigh engaged in the same race. Stanfred's dam is a sister to the dual Winter Cup winner, Bashful Lady. Solimbine’s Good Win Solimbine, who is top-weight in the Pencarrow .Hack Handicap on the first day of the Wellington Cup meeting, confirmed his good form at the New Zealand Cup meeting by beating a mediocre field of hacks at Woodville in easy fashion. He has been verv consistent this season, and in 11 starts has been out of the money only twice. He will do his future racing in open company after running out his hack nominations at Trentham. NZ-bred Winners in India The Bulundshar horse, Alien, who has proved a good winner in Calcutta, recently won the principal event of the day, defeating last year’s winner of the Governor’s Cup, the Irish-bred Redboy. in very easy fashion. Alien carried equal top-weight, 9.3, with Redboy. Alien is a half-brother to Ladyship, and, like the latter, was bred by Messrs F. R. and B A. Robertson .at, Greytown. Alien was shipped to India as a three-year-old. Another recent winner in India was Night Ops, a sister of Regal Praise, Representative, Seranata, and Russian Ballet. She scored in two successive starts. Night Ops was purchased as a yearling at the Trentham sales for the Maharajah of Kashmir at 3500gns, and was senfr to India with Blithe Spirit, by Spiral, who is said to be the best mare racing in India at present. i