REVIEW FROM WELLINGTON

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 July 1927, Page 6

REVIEW FROM WELLINGTON

STEEPLECHASE AND WINTER HURDLES FIELDS DISCUSSED (.Special to THE SUN.) The Wellington Steeplechase meeting which opens on July 12 at Trentham, will be the next of the big fixtures to be run off. Present prospects are for a good meeting as far as the quality of the jumpers engaged is concerned, but nothing very special can be claimed for the horses which are entered for the flat races. The Wellington Steeplechase As to the Wellington Steeplechase, it can be said with fairness that nearly all the best steeplechasers who have been seen out this season have been entered. One of the good ones who is missing is Maunga, and perhaps he was left out on account of his connections considering he might not go well in the mud which is expected to prevail during the gathering. In any case he has been entered for the hurdle events, and even if he cannot be backed in the Winter Hurdles on the last day the run will sharpen him up for his subsequent engagements at Riccarton. Comical’s Task A perusal of the weights will convince one that the handicap has been arranged with quite sufficient skill to attract a big field to the post. Most of those who drop out will be the horses whose chances are nearly nil. Comical remains well up in the weights and is Ho. 1 on the list. For a horse who has failed so badly over steeplechase courses since he made his debut at Wanganui, it may be considered that he is badly treated, but his performances on the flat and his victory in the Grand National Hurdles have had an influence on the mind of the handicapper, and rightly so. Comical might never be the great steeplechaser we all thought he was going to turn out, but he gave indications at Auckland that in time he would come good. To expect him to do so by the time of the Wellington meeting seems to be expecting a shade too much, and the probability is that he will be beaten. This time he will be ridden by Harry McSweeney, whose skill with steeplechasers will be a considerable help to the big chestnut, but unless the horse is sufficiently seasoned McSweeney will have very little hope of getting him home first, even if he gets him all the way round the course. Comical looks like getting beaten for want of seasoning, but he might win a race before the jumping season is through. An Early Favourite

One of the early favourites for the race is Beau Cavalier, and this is only natural after the success of the Auckland horse in the Great Northern Steeplechase. With 10.7 to carry, Beau Cavalier has a stone more than he had at Ellerslie, but over the flat country he will be able to carry it with the same ease as he bore the lighter burden over the hill. His Auckland success was so convincing that no one who was present at the meeting can do otherwise than expect him to be one of the most difficult to dispose of at Trentham.

A Nut to Crack One of those who might get a great deal nearer to Beau Cavalier than he did in the Great Northern Steeplechase is Tuki. Tuki never looked like winning the Great Northern, but on the last day he revealed his true form and won with ridiculous ease and was going right away from everything at the end of the contest. Before the race for

the Great Northern those who ought to be well informed expected Tuki to win. He let them down, but his form on the last day of the gathering showed that their high opinion of him was based on something solid. Tuki is now expected to race better at Riccarton than at Trentham, but one cannot leave him out of calculations for any steeplechase provided there is a good distance of ground to be covered. He is a first-class stayer over

steeplechase country, and that will stand to him in the three miles and aquarter at Trentham, as well as Riccarton. Can Kawini Improve? Ivawini is not as well thought of in Wellington as he is in Auckland, but the Aucklanders know him best, and their opinion should be the more valuable. He ran merely fair races at Ellerslie, and on the last day when he had every chance to win the Winter Steeplechase he failed to stay on well enough to hold the position that Bowden had secured for him in the lead. He went well for Bowden, but it is not certain that that horseman will ride him at the Wellington meeting, as he might be required for Zircon. Kawini improved with the racing he was getting at Ellerslie. and if he has been given plenty of work since he was taken home after the meeting he should be one of those well up in the van when the final run is being taken in the Wellington Steeplechase.

Old Omahu Omahu ran one good race at Ellerslie, but with everything in his favour he could not win. It does not look as if the old fellow will win the big one at Trentham, but don’t rule him right out, as he has a jumper’s chance. Dick has run badly every time he has been started this season, and unless the wilful little fellow makes a vast improvement on anything he was able to show at Ellerslie, no one will want to be on him. This is the worst season he has had, and some who were once his friends have come to the conclusion that he has had enough. Has Lost Form

Passin’ Through has been running so badly that he looks to be a light of the past. He failed at Hawera, at Wanganui, at Ellerslie, and at Hastings. In the circumstances, how can he be expected to win at Trentham? The fields he met at Hastings were weak, and he showed to great disadvantage among them. If he is sent to the post for the Wellington Steeplechase he will be done with a long way from home, even though he will not have a great deal more than the minimum to carry.

One That Improves The same poov opinion cannot be expressed about the possibilities of Crown Coin. He is up to 10.4 in the weights, but that is not harsh treatment seeing that he has run two firsts and a second this season out of four starts. He has a bit to learn about clearing steeplechase fences yet, but he is not the worst of jumpers by a long way, and he is improving all the time. His strongest point is his ability to stay, and he should be still going strongly toward the end of the race when the non-stayers have had more than sufficient. He won both the Napier and Hawke’s Bay Steeplechases very comfortably, but the opposition was not strong. However, he did all he could do in beating them, and he has a great chance at Trentham, and also at Riccarton later on. In his East Coast engagements he was ridden by R. E. Thomson, and in all probability that rider will be in the saddle at the Wellington meeting.

Injured at Napier One cannot see how Bonny Rill can be given serious consideration. She knocked herself about badly in the

Napier Steeplechase, and was cut and bruised afterwards. It would not be surprising if she were relieved of her engagement. If she runs, H. Gordon is likely to be aboard. Sanforte is improving a lot and was running on I strongly at the end of his race on the last day of the Hawke’s Bay meeting. Still he does not appear to be quite class enough. Birkenella has been unable to do anything right this season, and his trainer handed him on to another mentor to have a go at. He must be passed over till he reforms. Lady Comet and Lupineel have not shown form which will bring them into much favour, and neither has Sir Wai, who is liable to run off at any time that he gets an opportunity. From the South The South Island trio, Cartoon, Scamp and Pamplona, have not been given big burdens, and if there is a good one in the three that good one has a royal chance. Little is known of how Royal Abbey will shape, but he, to, has every chance if he is any good, as he has but little weight to carry. One who has a better chance on performances is Zircon, but though he won on the concluding day at Ellerslie, he did not have much to spare from a field that could not be classed as strong. Zircon will not be one of the favourites, but he has a rough chance. Fair Prospects Two with very fair prospects are Peter Maxwell and Wedding March. Peter Maxwell was somewhat disappointing at Ellerslie, and if it was the sticky going that troubled him, he might again be in bother at Trentham, and perhaps will not show to advantage till he runs at Riccarton. which was the case a year ago. Wedding March, of course, scored in the Great Northern Hurdles, and was prevented from running in the Great Northern Steeplechase, for which he would' have carried big support. On his form in the hurdles, he looks to be a strong possibility in an important steeplechase, and there appears to be no reason why the Wellington Steeplchase should not suit him as well as any other. He is one that takes the fancy very strongly. The Big Question No one cares to attempt to sum up a big steeplechase before the acceptances are out, but in this case a fair idea can be gathered as to which horses will run, so it may not be out of place to mention that at the time of writing the most reliable of the field appear to be Beau Cavalier, Tuhi, Wedding March and Kawini.