CHAMPION YOUNGSTER

Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1931, Page 10

CHAMPION YOUNGSTER

AMMON RA THE SEASON’S BEST WON TARANAKI STAKES BRILLIANTLY WILL BE TESTED IN JACKSON STAKES Had the connections of Ammon Ra visualised the. prospect of having a champion two-year-old, the son of of Limond and Hyades would probably have had . an unbeaten record for his five starts. He was not half readv when his stable-mate Chief Jewel defeated him sensationally at Takapuna, and the fact that the stewards saw fit to . criticise the manner in which he was ridden leaves the impression that that defeat should not have been recorded against him. In ms tour starts since then he has beaten the cream of the two-year-olds, and on Saturday he set the seal on his fame by decisively defeating the best sprinters in the Dominion in the Taranaki Stakes. There was no semblance of a fluke about the victory, and it is open to doubt whether if Lady Quex had been given an Eiintermpted run she would have even extended the youngster He ; sim, ply outclassed Hunting Cry and Paganelli and ran Ceremony off his feet in the first half-mile. The illusion that horses cannot gallop at both ends-of a.race was completely shattered, for Ammon Ka measured stride for stride with Ceremony from the rier and when Hunting Cry put in his claim at the bottom of the straight the youngster simply left the champion handicap sprinter as xLfla was a common hack. He won pulling up and never turned Such a performance is surely reminiscent of the ease with which Gloaming ran away from champions as a four and five-year-old. In the past decade it is doubtful if any two-year-old has show such pronounced superiority when pitted against the best - tete, Mermin, Epitaph, Winning Hit, Motley, kysander, Qom - tion, Agrion, Gay Ballerina, Gesture, Eulahe, Child Splay and others were all acclaimed champions, Commendation probably being the pick of the bunch, but there is every indication of Ammon Ra proving a truer champion than any of these Should^ three-year-old Karapoti be included in the Jackson Stakes field together S Hunting Cry, Ceremony, and others at Wanganui on. Satorday the acid test will be applied to Ammon Ra, and those who witnessed his scintillating performance at New Plymouth will be prepared to see another triumph added to his already splendid record. ■ Possessing a wonderful finishing effort and being bred staying lines/Ammon Ra at once claims attention as a greaVDerby prospect. His sire Limond, in a short career at the Stud, has siready given the New Zealand Turf the blue-riband winners Commendation, Agrion, Honour and Cylinder and toe Oaks Praise and Damaris, and is the descendant of a great staying line, being a grandson of St-Simon. Hyades, the dam of Ammon Ra, was not a great success as a racing proposition but she has not yet le±t a bad one- Prodice won the Great Northern Oaks, ran _a.c second in the Great Northern Derby, won the Avondale and Great Northern Guineas, Avondale, Takapuna and oilier Cnps, Phaola won the Avondale Stakes,, and Seven Stars was u goo<Lwmner in Western Australia. A true son of a successful family, Ammon Ra is faultless in conformation and powerfully attractive in actlOn - He is a type produced only occasionally, and.who knows but that he is another Gloaming, or even a Phar Lap in the making.

Oral, the half sister by Chief Ruler to Oratrix and Concentrate, who was severely cut about when galloped on at the Pahiatua meeting, is in a bsd way at present, and it is practically certain that her racing days are over. If she makes a good recovery she will be used next season as a brood mare. ft’ # o’o

When returning from the New Plymouth races Mr. Doug.. Webster and a party of Otaki sportsmen had a narrow escape from serious injury near Turakina on Sunday morrihjg, the sedan car in which they were travelling getting out of control in loose metal and overturning. Fortunately the car swung biick on to its wheels and the occupants escaped with a severe shaking. The side windows of the car were broken and the hood badly damaged, but the pkrty was able to resume the journey little the worse for an exciting experience. # 0 0 *

Among the acceptors for the Okato Hack Handicap at New Plymouth on Thursday was Manawhenua, but the Ellerslie-trained candidate did not put in an appearance. Manawhenua had a hai-d race at Matamata- and his owner is giving him an easy time for a few days. Both Manawhenua and Tanerir are due to make their next appearance at the Te Aroha meeting, which is being held at the end of this month, i'anerir failed to get in the money at Matamata, but should be improved as the result of his race at that meeting., 0 * « * Pangolin’s Crash.

Pangolin crashed very heavily when he misjudged the last fence in the hurdle race at Winghtui on the opening day of the Dunedin meeting, and both he and his rider, I. Tilson, lay on the ground for some time. Pangolin found his feet when assistance ajrived, and suffered no ill-effects, while Tilson was conveyed to the casualty ward in the ambulance. He, however, was not long under treatment, arid except for a severe shaking and a slight injury to his mouth, was soon about again un- : hurt.

Vertigern in Form. Vertigcrn’s stake winnings to date total £7OBO, of whiqh £l3B0’ has been won this season. Included in the total are three gbld cups, Wellington, Awapuni and Taranaki, each valued at £lOO, and one silver cup, Feilding, valued at £25. Vertigern was one of five yearlings sent up for sale at Rand wick, New South Wales, from the Kingfield stud, in the autumn of 1925, and he was bought by the late Mr, C. E. Elgar, of Featherston, for 800 guineas. Last season, the two-yeaf-old full-brother to Vertigern, who has ‘since been named. Ranchero, brought 2000 guineas at the sales. Tliis colt has had only one race yet, and he shaped promisingly. Not Acquainted.

Thompson had been to the first day’s races at Trentham, and, like many others! had returned defeated. Of course, all his pals who didn’t go to the races could have picked practically the whole card, though they hadn’t backed them. “They looked dead easy,” said the fat man at the end of the bar. “They might have been/’ replied Thompson, suggestively, “to a foreigner, but how the Hades could a man back things with names like Ammon Ra, Al Jolson, Fitzquex, Fedora, Palermo and Llandudno? The only thing I got on to was ‘Dulen,’ and that was as near as dammit to ‘Dbolah.’ ”