RACING & TROTTING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19953, 10 November 1934, Page 19

RACING & TROTTING

On and Off the Track

A BUDGET OF NEWS AND VIEWS FIXTURES Racing: Nov. 10—Canterbury J.C. Nov. 10 —Whangarei R.C. Nov. 10—Hawke’s Bay J.C. Nov. 17—Carterton R.C. Nov 17, 19,—Waikato R.C. Nov. 24.—Levin R.C. Trotting: Nov. 22, 24 —Forbury Park T.C. §ec. I—Northland1 —Northland T.C. ec. 1, 3—Nelson T.C. Dec. B—New8 —New Brighton T.C. Dec. B—Te8 —Te Aroha T.C. The New Zealand Cup meeting will end to-day. Silver Coat will be a short-priced favourite for the Pioneer Handicap at Riccartcn to-day. Red'Boa is engaged in two races at Riccarton to-day, but in view of the small field is likely to run in the Members’ Handicap. L. J. Ellis has ridden seven winners during the three days of he C.J.C. meeting. He has two or three promising mounts for to-day, and is certain to top the list for the week. Bun Fight, the two-year-old sister to Fracas, has improved with racing during the Cup meeting, and she should not be long in returning another dividend. The feature event at Flemington this afternoon —the final day of the Melbourne Cup fixture—will be the Duke of Gloucester Cup. Another big. handicap, a £3OOO cup at Williamstown. will be run next Saturday. Mother Superior appeared to be going easily half a mile from home in the Oaks, but she made a weak response when challenged by Variant and apparently is unlikely to gain distinction as a stayer. Nightly’s defeat of Hall Mark in the Fisher Stakes at Flemington was reassuring, as it demonstrated that his collapse in the Melbourne Cup was due to nothing more than the deplorable state of the track. Encounter was allowed to occupy 4.28 4-5 in winning the November Handicap, 4.35 limit, at Addington on Thursday, but Elvo was called on to step 4.24 1-5 to score in the Metropolitan Handicap, a 4.40 class race. Arthur Eastwood was 21 when he decided to learn the business of a jockey. He quickly made an impression as a rider in working gallops, and won the second race in which he took part, this being the Ohapi Handicap at Orari in 1926, his mount being Lancer. Only five horses were paid up for in the Members’ Handicap, the race placed last on the card for the final day of Cup week, and it was decided to transpose the second race, the Cressy Handicap, and the Members, to give wider scope for betting at the end of the day. J. E. Pike’s suspension at Randwick for careless riding sems to have been a costly one, as he forfeited the ride on Peter Pan in the Melbourne Cup. JOn Pike being barred, J. Munro was engaged, but he accepted an offer to go to India and the mount on Peter Pan fell to D. Munro, a young brother. Orris and Chidden are two fillies of which a lot was expected earlier in the season, but they will have to improve a good deal if they are to carry on family traditions. Chidden is a sister to Chide, and it is worth remembering that that horse did not do much until the back end of his three-year-old season. Nell Volo was nominated for the Dominion Handicap on the final day at Addington, but it was necessary for her to win twice earlier in the meeting to qualify for a 3.24 class. This she failed to do, but if the conditions had permitted her to give away a second to start yesterday the American mare would have been a hot favourite. Worthy Light, a hot favourite at Addington on Cup Day, put up a poor fight at the business end, and when he beat a stronger field on Thursday he was given a rather mixed reception by the “outside” public. His driver, F. J. Smith, acknowledged the '“ovation” in a manner which is fortunately not usual at headquarters. The poor performance of Sweet Agnes at Motukarara may have been a blessing in disguise. It was one of the reasons for her withdrawal from the New Zealand Cup, a task which might have knocked her out. She has won her last three races at Riccarton, over seven, nine and eight furlongs, and is bred for this type of race rather than cups. Nightly’s defeat of Hall Mark in the Fisher Plate at Flemington demonstrated that his Melbourne Cup collapse was due solely to the deplorable state of the track. There «ue many varieties of heavy going, and horses which go well on slushy tracks often are tied up when they sink deep into clay. When Gamble registered an otherwise good Derby trial by winning at Washdyke last month, the Jack Potts colt took up a lot of the straight, and roused doubts concerning his ability to handle the six-furlongs course at Addington. These were quickly dispelled in the Derby, and Gamble will be a hot favourite at his next appearance on any track. Equipment’s stock, including Centrepiece, Full Feather, Ball Dress, Semper Paratus, as well as Cricket Bat, have been liable to race indifferently on occasions, but during the last year or two Cricket Bat has raced generously and consistently. There was a valid excuse for his failure in the Jockey Club Handicap, as he was running in behind Manetho when that unlucky gelding got on to the heels of The Masquerador and fell. Peter Pan, the Melbourne Cup winner, is by Pantheon, son of Tracery. The runner-up, Sarchere, is by Archery (another son of Tracery) who was for a time located at Elderslie Stud. Alwina, dam of Peter Pan, traces back to Multiform, son of Hotchkiss; Sarkara, dam of Earcherie, back to Hotchkiss; and Saucy Sue, dam of La Trobe, back to Multiform, so that all the Cup place-getters have Musket blood and New Zealand associations. Although engagements at Addington kept many people away, there was a big attendance at Riccarton yesterday at the funeral of Arthur Eastwood. Everybody who ever came in contact with the little man liked him, and no rider in New Zealand ever enjoyed a higher reputation for integrity. He was credited with never having backed a horse, except when an owner or trainer might have invested a pound or two on his behalf as an addition to his riding fee.

Nell Volo was nominated for the Dominion Handicap, the “fastest” race for trotters at the Metropolitan meeting, but her entry was contingent on securing two wins on earlier days of the week. In this she failed and consequently was ineligible for the big race yesterday. Had she been allowed, as would have happened at some courses, to give away a second and start, she would have been a pronounced favourite.

If there are giants on the trotting tracks we see them in these days, and nobody has the hardihood to suggest that our pacers are not what they used to be. Harold Logan and Roi l’Or won at 12 and 11, are not deteriorating, and are the best adult pacers New Zealand has known. Indianapolis eclipses everything previously shown by a five-year-old, and it is only a question of soundness for him in a year or two to reach a much higher plane. Then there is War Buoy, the unbeaten four-year-old, the best of his age yet produced, and with possibilities of overshadowing all the great ones mentioned above.