AUCKLAND CUP FIELD

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1929, Page 5

AUCKLAND CUP FIELD

RACE APPEARS MORE OPEN

FAVOURITES CAUSE A SENSATION

LAST YEAR’S WINNER IN BOOM

PAQUITO LENIENTLY TREATED. U— .

While the defection of the two ' fancied ..candidates, Nightmarch and Chide, from the Auckland Gup has been little short of a calamity to many, their absence gives a wider scope for speculation, and it must be remembered that while the meeting of the two Cup winners would have been a great drawing card, two horses cannot make a good race. There is sufficient talent left in the field to give the sporting public all the thrills they are looking for, and a wider range of opinion must add more interest to the race.

.Star Stranger, at his best ’ would be leniently treated with' 8.12, but. he has not yet struck form and it ia reported that he will do his racing '.this Christ-

mas at the minor meetings. Historic on the same mark will need to improve on his showing at Riccarton, and it seems obvious that a mile and a half is

as far ag he will go this season. Two miles might worry Pegaway, too, but he. always runs well at Ellerslie.

Paquito ran a good second to Nightmarch in the Melbourne Cup, and as he drops four pounds on his weight in Melbourne it must be said that he has been given an invitation to take on the Auckland Cup. Weighted on terms that favour him a stone better than his assessment with Nightmarch in the Melbourne Cup he must make a big appeal, and a repetition of v his form over the Tasman would find him in the fighting line at the finish. In The Shade’s failure at Takapuna will not be taken into consideration by many, and a big improvement is looked for. Probably a dangerous opponent will be Concentrate. The full-brother to Oratrix ran miles below form in the New Zealand Cup, but his subsequent race in the Canterbury Cup was a big improvement on that display. It ia now understood that Trainer Lorigan considered that Concentrate was not ready for the Cup, and it is safe to say he will leave no stone unturned to have his charge in tip-top order for Boxing Day.

Taranaki sportsmen who saw Corinax at’ Takapuna agree that the winner of last year’s Auckland Cup never looked better, and in making the pace and beating more seasoned horses on Monday he proved that he cannot be far from his best form. Last year he carried 7.4 and won in decisive fashion. Giving him only five pounds more to carry the handicapper apears to have treated him very leniently, and with Chide and Nnghtmarch out of the way his prospects are being discussed eagerly in many quarters.

Prince Humphrey will be passed over, but the veteran Count Cavour cannot be left out of calculations, and surely no horse i.s more worthy of a change of fortune in the Auckland Cup. This will be the fifth time he has been weighted for the race, and in his four starts he

has not run a bad race. In 1925 he was beaten by a head by Rapine, and in the heavy going, he ran a good second to Tanadees the following year. Another second was recorded to him when he failed to give nine pounds to Rapier in 1927, and last year he fell. It is a great record. Hoylake would make more appeal than Kick Off, but Prodice should have more admirers than either. It is against her that' two miles will have her scratching. Seatown in form would have a host of friends with a pound above the minimum, and the Taranaki ? elding hag been given a great opporunity to rehabilitate himself here. He should hold the others on the same mark in hand. • With more than half of the field on

the minimum the handicapper has taken the easy way to dispose of the “rough material,” but of the 21 sevenstoners Goshawk, Hunting Cry, Desert Glow, Spearmiss, Flying Juliet, Shrewd and Talisker should be the pick of their division.

At this stage the weight of public opinion has established Corinax.the public choice in the place of Chide. However, the market is liable to alarming fluctuations in the next three weeks, and it w r ould occasion no surprise to find Paquito, by reason of his good form in Australia, In The Shade and the improving Concentrate advance steadily in favour,, while those looking for something outside the pale may hold a fancy for Shrewd.