RACING AND TROTTING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21531, 19 December 1939, Page 9

RACING AND TROTTING

ON AND OFF THE TRACK

A Budget of News And Views FIXTURES Racin';: Dec. 23, 28. 27— ManawatU R.O. Dec. 26—Waipukuiau J.C. Dec. 26—Westland R.C. Dec. "6, 27—Pur.sc i.i J. C. Dec S, 27—Taranaki J.C. r ? 26, 211, Jan. 2—Auckland R.C. Dec. 30. Jan. I—Walrarapa R.C. Dec. 30. Jan. I—Greymouth J.C. Dec. 30, Jan. I—Hawke’s Bay J.C. Jan. I—Wyndham R.C. Jan. 1, 2—Stratford R.C. Jan. 1, 2—Marton J.C. Jan. 2—Oamaru J.C. Jan. 2, 3—Southland R.C. Jan. 6, B—Reefton J.C. Jan. 12, 13—Vincent J.C. Jan. 19—Wureo R.C. Trotting: Dec. 26—Ashburton T.C. Dec. 26—Gore T.C. Dec. 26, 27—Westport T.C. Dec. 27, 29, 30 —Auckland T.C. Dec. 29—Reefton T.C. Dec. 30—Winton T.C. Jan. 1, 2—Canterbury Park T.C. Jan. 4, s—Greymouth T.C. Jan. 13—Cambridge T.C. Acceptances for the Waikouaiti and Oamaru meetings will close at Oamaru at 8 to-night. The two-year-old Enrich is unlikely to be seen in public before the Wellington Cup meeting. Te Hero continues to misbehave at the barrier in Sydney, and it may soon happen that his entry will be rejected. Not much has been seen lately of Brazen Bold, but his early spring form was good, and his second to Our Jean at Te Awamutu makes him a good prospect for the Taranaki meeting. Milestone was entered for the Selby and Rowe Handicap at Auckland, but in view of his failure at Washdyke he is not likely to start. To do so would entail giving away a lot of time. A good many of the thirty-three horses entered for the Waikouaiti Cup are likely to drop out to-night. Quite a number would be more in their element in the hack ranks.

Formerly trained at Ellerslie by F. Davis, Francis Drake is now a member of Mrs A. W. McDonald’s stable at Awapuni. He is reported to be doing well, and it is likely that he will race at the Wellington summer meeting next month.

A good prospect on the Taranaki circuit will be Wynardo, who is engaged in hurdle races, and it would not be surprising to find him winning more than one event before he returns to Takanini.

The field for the Auckland Trotting Cup is not so strong as had been anticipated. A noteworthy absentee from the acceptance list is Great Jewel, whose acceptance was overlooked.

R. B. Berry intended to drive at Ashburton on Boxing Day, and to travel by ’plane to steer Great Jewel next day in the Auckland Trotting Cup, but the acceptance date was overlooked and the project has fallen through.

Our Jean won at Te Rapa with 8.2, and again at Te Awamutu with 8.7, and as she is a big filly she will not be worried by a penalty in the Railway. Our Jean is apt to dwell at the barrier, but she has jumped out well at her last two appearances. The decrease of about £B5O in investments at Washdyke on Saturday cannot be attributed to the changeover to win and place. The gate receipts were approximately £2OO below those at the last summer meeting, and comparatively the turnover was much higher.

Lawn Derby appears in the list of acceptors for the Auckland Trotting Cup, but from 108 behind his chance is remote, unless the first mile is crawled. It is pretty certain that the stable will rely on Springfield Globe, who has been brought from Sydney especially for the race.

Springfield Globe, who has arrived in Auckland to compete in the Trotting Cup, is a stable-mate of Lawn Derby. He won the final of the interdominion “championship” at Launceston in 3.19 J on a half-mile track. He has no two mile performance on which his stamina can be estimated. Owing to a slight ailment the speedy Ellerslie two-year-old. Nightbeam, has had his preparation checked, and it is unlikely that he will be seen out in the Great Northern Foal Stakes at Ellerslie. He may be fit to race on the later days of the Auckland meeting.

A feature of the Christmas racing at New Plymouth will be the big number of Auckland provincial-trained horses competing, and most of them will remain for the racing at Stratford the following week. There are so many horses in Auckland province that there are not opportunities for them all at Ellerslie.

After galloping a mile in 1.45 3-5 on the middle grass at Takanini, Birthday Boy, one of the early favourites for the Auckland Cup, developed lameness, and he was withdrawn from all engagements at the Auckland meeting at 2.5 p.m. on Thursday. Birthday Boy was also scratched for the Paterangi Handicap at the Waipa meeting. It will be remembered that Birthday Boy went amiss about this time last year, and the lameness is evidently a recurrence of his former trouble. The crowd on the lawn at the Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday appeared to be larger than usual, but it was swelled by people who usually patronised the outside stand. That the attendance was not up to last summer’s mark is revealed by a drop of about £2OO in gate receipts. Whether the change of date was in a measure responsible cannot be estimated. Saturday was the day hurriedly selected for a record number of social functions in town, and these must have been largely responsible for the decrease in the numbers of race-goers.

Mr T. H. Lowry has won Auckland Cups with Bobrikoff and Balboa, and there had been a fairly wide-spread opinion in the north that he is likely to add a third with Beaupartir. There is, however, no evidence that the Beau Pere horse is a genuine stayer. His best performance against all ages was his win in the Auckland Easter Handicap, over a mile. He ran well in the Metropolitan, but was tiring at the finish, and another half mile might have worried him sorely. It is not surprising that Beaupartir is reserved for shorter races at the meeting. He races well at Ellerslie, having won the St. Leger and the Easter Handicap on the right-handed course.

Re-handicaps have been declared for the Ashburton and Waiau meetings. At the Ashburton Trotting Club’s meeting Loyal Rey has been penalised 24yds in the Midsummer Handicap, and will begin from 24yds behind. At the Waiau Racing Club’s meeting, Top Hand has been penalised 60yds in the Amuri Handicap and will begin from 72yds behind. In the Publicans’ Handicap Top Hand has been penalised 72yds, and will now start from 84yds behind. Mile Record The first horse to trot or pace a mile in Now Zealand in 2.10 or better was Ribbonwood 2.9 (in 1903). This stood until 1911, when Ribbonwood’s son, King Cole, stepped 2.8 3-5, time which was equalled in the following year by Emmeline. In 1915 Country Belle hung up 2.7 1-5, but in 1916 the Australianbred mare Adelaide Direct reduced this to 2.6 2-5. Our Thorpe (1917) shaved this to 2.6 1-5, and held the record until Author Dillon made it 2.6 in 1920. The next cut, a substantial one, was effected when Acron, from a moving start, scored his sensational Free-for-all win in 2.3 3-5. That was in 1923, and these figures have not since been equalled in a race, although Walla Walla has been credited with 2.4 1-5 from a walk-in. Arrangements were made for Walla Walla (who had a record of 2.2 2-5 in Australia) to pace against the watch at Addington, and he equalled Acron’s time, but his thunder was stolen by Auburn Lad, who ran 2.2 2-5. Indianapolis in successive seasons paced 2.1 2-5 and 2.0 2-5. and then came Lawn Derby’s wonderful achievement of 1.59 2-5. In 1923, Happy Voyage at New Brighton made new figures at 2.4 1-5 for grass. He equalled this at Epsom, and later Impromptu hung up 2.4 1-5 at Claudelands. A year ago Lawn Derby did 2.3 3-5 at New Brighton but was beaten in a match at Epsom by Van Derby in 2.1 2-5. In a subsequent trial against time Van Derby was clocked at 2.0 2-5. and this is the existing best on grass. In Western Australia Evicus was credited with 2.3, and New Derby with even faster time, and it is interesting to recall that these horses and Auburn Lad were not in the first flight as racehorses judged by New Zealand standards. New Derby, in fact, was a complete wash-out, and Auburn Lad and Evicus required substantial starts from Harold Logan and Roi I’Oi. The best race performer who has come from Australia has been Logan Derby, who took a two-mile mark of 4.14 4-5.