RAVEN’S WING AN IMPROVER

Southland Times, Issue 23736, 7 February 1939, Page 10

RAVEN’S WING AN IMPROVER

INDIANAPOLIS MAY BE RETIRED ANNA’S VOYAGE NOW AT ADDINGTON Blair Athol has now won £3260 in stakes. His record is 10 wins, 11 seconds and eight thirds. Indianapolis It is likely that at fhe end of the current season Indianapolis will bo retired to stud duty. The Wrack stallion appears to be past his best. Plans Indefinite . A Christchurch report states that plans for Grand Mogul are indefinite, but it is possible that he will be sold to an Australian owner. An Improver Waterloo Direct is an improving novice; He has plenty of speed, but does not stay too well. He may be expected' to improve with racing. Our Guy Our’ Guy, who shaped promisingly earlier in his career, has been raced very little during the past two seasons. His third placing at Tapanui was an encouraging effort. New Quarters Anna’s Voyage has joined up with V. Alborn’s team and the Happy Voyage gelding will in future be raced in Canterbury. His present mark almost prohibits him from racing in Southland, but in Canterbury he will be able to be placed to advantage. As a member of A. McLellan’s team Anna s Voyage won several races in good style and looks certain to improve on his present mark. Injured Neck When Coquette fell on the second day of the Forbury Park meeting last week she injured her neck, and it has not been possible to work her since. Always a speedy filly, she has recently developed stamina, and it will be a pity if she has to be put aside at this stage of the season. First Success Irish Guy, who won her first race at Tapanui on Saturday, is a six-year-old mare by Adioo Guy from a John Dillon mare, the dam of a useful winner in Dewey Cloud. Irish Guy has done very little racing and she won on Saturday by staying on. She faces in the colours of her trainer, F. Langford. Bright Future Raven’s Wing looks capable of winning in much better company than she beat at Tapanui. When she finished third to, Irish Guy and Honest Charlie she lost several seconds at the start and her placing was a creditable one. In the Fassifern Handicap she moved off correctly and over the last half-mile was always a winner. She was got by Worthy Bond from Dark Belle, by Adonis from Bay Bells, the dam of Matchlight. Gold Bank and Sydney Grand, both by Worthy Bond, also descend from the same maternal line as Raven’s Wing.

May Be Retired Little Reta’s recent displays have not been greatly attractive, and it is possible that if she does show an improvement at the Canterbury Park meeting next week her owner will give her up as a racing proposition. She has plenty of speed and stays on well, but at times she appears to be troubled with a soreness that will not allow her to hit out in her best style. She recently paid a visit to Sandydale, and she has the breeding and ability to prove a successful matron.

The Trotting Cup For many years the New Zealand Trotting Cup has not provided a contest worthy either of the big prize given, or the occasion. Many experiments have been made, but none has been successful. A change came with the inter-Dominion championship which was run in heats and a final, states a Christchurch writer. The conditions of the championship culminated in the pick of the horses available at that time meeting in a contest for the Grand Final, and it was one of the greatest races staged at Addington. Many advocated that similar conditions be attached to the last New Zealand Trotting Cup, and much work was done to bring the proposal to function, but for some reason best known to themselves the authorities decided to adhere to an old method of making the race for horses that could do two miles in 4min 26sec or faster. The result was a huge entry made up of horses that could not measure up to the standard, “has beens” and about 10 horses capable of providing a real contest. The result was that a number of the candidates ruined the chances of the best horses engaged in the race. Since then, the fact of two-mile races being made farcical through not being truly run has worried the officials. The programme committee of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club is determined to rearrange the conditions for the next .Trotting Cup so that only horses capable of repeating their best performances can go to the starting post. From Easter to September the officials will keep statistics of the performances of all horses aspiring to cup class, and after making the limit probably 4min 25sec, it will then decide which of the horses available may compete for the prize, other conditions to ensure the race being truly run will also be incorporated in the programme.

The Championships One important point can be gained from the Tasmanian contests. It is clearly shown that a mistake was made in departing from the original method of deciding the grand champion (says a Melbourne writer), as introduced by Western Australia. Under the Western Australian method winners, placed horses, and the horse securing the fastest time in each heat were allotted points, and the 10 horses securing the greatest number of points gained entry to the Grand Final. The points aggregate was carried on into the Grand Final, and the horse finishing the carnival with the highest aggregate of points was declared grand champion, whether he won or lost the final. There was a separate prize apart from place money, for the grand champion. In the Tasmanian championships fastest time was not a points gatherer, and points for placing was only a means of gaining entry into the grand final, the winner of which is considered champion. The grand final under this method is only a glorified handicap. The merit of the Western Australian plan is that it is absolutely necessary for every horse to sain as many points as he can, and there is no incentive to give a horse an easy race with a view to winning the final.