Turf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 614, 16 March 1929, Page 10

Turf Notes

CONDUCTED BY

"EARLY BIRD"

Trentham Gold Cup There is going to be a lot of support for the three-year-old Xightmarch (C. Emerson) in the Gold Cup (two milea> at Trentham on Monday. Pegaway and Rapier may bother him. For Australia The unnamed Marble Arch gelding i in P. Conway’s stable has been sold to a Melbourne sportsman, and is expected to be shipped across the other side shortly. Not Doing Much In light exercise under F. Gilchrist's I charge is the five-year-old filly known i ;as Mint Moiselle. The daughter of Catmint and .Demoiselle (hence a lull j sister to a promising maiden in MyOla; did not give particular promise i when trained at Ellerslie se- *al months ago, but it is expected that she will i gain much benefit as the result of havi ing had a spell. A Newcomer j T. Kelly, well-known due to his i association with Fane, has a five-year- | old daughter of Day Comet and Cultrij form under his charge at headquarters i fho mare is very big in condition, sug- ! gesting that it will be some time be- | fore she is seen out tinder silk. Has the Looks , While on a recent visit to the farm I of a patron, Mr. F. E. Lewis, the Li - ierslie trainer, R. E. Brown, had an opportunity to inspect the bloodstock gambolling about in the various paddocks. Trainer Brown was particularly impressed with a fine big yearling filly, by Valkyrian from Titanium, a half sister to Kaiwanga (winner oi' the Higli-weiglit at Franklin on Saturday). The youngster is nicely moulded, and appears more like a ■ two-year-old than a yearling. This filly may be included in Brown’s team later on, and so, too, may Adjuster, who is being pottered about on Mr. ; Lewis’s property. Grand National Next Friday The oldest entrant for next Friday’s 1 Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase j is a 15-year-old gelding nahied Hawker. He is by Ardoon (sire of the A.J.C. Anniversary Handicap winner Urney), and though he did not race in the 1927-28 cross-country season, won six times in 1926-27. Beggar’s End is only a year younger than Hawker, and other veterans in the National are Carfax, Golden Ashe, Mabestown’s Pride and Rathory, each 13 years. Of the 120 entrants only eight are less than seven, the youngest being the j five-year-old Derrygraph. Previous I winners in Tipperary Tim and Sprig 1 are engaged. Last year’s second, Billy ■ Barton, was made favourite as soon j as entries closed. Limerick’s First To-day

The Rawson Stakes (nine furlongs), to bo run at the Rosehill meeting this afternoon will probably find Limerick among the contestants. The New Zealand champion won this race in the two immediately preceding years, so that should a third victory go down to his credit his already attractive record will be further embellished. Winsome Boy’s Chance

W. J. Tomkinsort took Winsome Boy to Riecarton on Tuesday morning and gave him a smart sprint over half a milo on the course proper. The gedding has done well since coming from the North Island, and is to have his first race for Mr. M. O’Brien at the Hororata meeting next week. Where the Gold Comes From

The well-known Wingatui trainer, C. Christie, who has just returned from over a seven months’ sojourn in Western Australia, speaks very interestingly of racing in that part of the world. He achieved a considerable amount of success with the horses he took across, and just missed a really good win on a couple of occasions, says the Otago “Daily Times.” He says that there is a splendid grass track for racing at the Western Australian Turf Club’s meeting, but the training tracks of sand formation leave something to be desired. The outside of the course proper is thrown open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and if a gallop is desired at the Belmont Park or Goodwood tracks a fee of £ 1 is charged. He paid the fee on sev- ' oral occasions, and must have thought j how fortunate trainers in this part of j the world were where they get their gallops free, gratis, and for nothing. The grass track is kept in order by constant irrigation, which keeps an excellent turf alive. Mr. Christie spoke in glowing terms of the flourishing state of racing in that ffcart of the world, but he has recognised that it takes a fairly good horse to win a big prize. One of the best sprinters is the New Zealander, Autobiography (Sutala —Egotism), and he wonders why Jemidar (Martian —Ayah) was allowed to leave New Zealand, as he has developed into a good stayer. There is no doubt, however, in Mr. Christie’s opinion, that our horses improve a good deal after being acclimatised, and this fact helped Jemidar to win the valuable Perth Cup. There is a good market in connection with sport, and evidence in that direction is supplied by the fact that the returned sporting explorer had a bet of £ 5,000 to £2O about Jemidar, and one of his own horses, who. however, could do no better than run third. Light-harness racing is enjoying a great run of prosperity in the West, and in September a. new course, modelled on Addington, will be opened. The tracks are already formed and the buildings are well forward toward completion. Mr. Christie thinks that trotting might supplant racing in popularity in the West. What be would like, no doubt, would be something like his old campaigner. John Barleycorn. whom he saddled to win some good races. Mr. Christie has not reduced his shadow during his stay in the West, and one can easily believe that its splendid climate makes Western Australia, by no means the least desirable place on the map in which to pursue both gold and glory-

Resumed Work Noticed at Ellerslie during the week j was Lido, the three-year-old filly in M. Ryan’s stable. She has been on the easy list for the past few weeks, but wili resume work immediately. A ; couple of minor placings in important hack events make Lido out to be a fine galloper, and trainer Ryan will only need to have the Lucullus filly in first-class order next season to reap the harvest he has so patiently sown. Back to Harness It is interesting to glean from the entry list for the Tuapeka and Beaumont Jockey Club fixtures that quite a number of old racecourse favourites have been resurrected, so to speak, somo of whom may stage come backs, but the majority are unlikely to do su. writes “Sir Modred.” First and foremost comes that good horse in his time, Roseday. * The Solferino gelding has been in the discard for a lengthy period, and. if he is likely to return to form, the firm tracks of Central Otago are not going to assist him in doing so. Valdamo is too old to expect to come back to his best form. Margaret Birney is a stout little galloper and if not unduly weighted she may win in her turn and also come back. Martis is a stout old gelding now seasoned to Otago Central conditions and likely to win there again. Lady McKenna and Green Cloth are not too old and may both display useful form, Roman Archer may improve, while the five-year-old gelding Crossbow, by Archery—Peace, should be a veritable rod in pickle. The Rising Sun

How they run to salute the rising sun! In more than one journalists quarter a rush has been made to ex tol the Victorian two-year-old filly

Spanish Galleon, as the conqueror of Nedda and Parkwood in the V.R.C. Ascot Vale Stakes on Thursday last, the writers either knowingly or ignorantly overlooking the fact that both the beaten youngsters referred to each carried 101 b. penalties, and, in addition, the winner raced on the outside, comments the “Southland Times. The latter statement will not appeal to manv people here, but it has a deep significance in professional circles in Melbourne, where it is reckoned, and rightly so in the writer’s judgment, that the outside of the track at Flemington, as used in these straightaway events, provides the faster going, in days gone by the inner going was the fastest, but care and attention brought, about the result referred to. so say the experts, and personal inspection bears this out.