RACING AND TROTTING

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22204, 23 February 1942, Page 6

RACING AND TROTTING

ON AND OFF THE TRACK

A Budget Of News And Views FIXTURES Racing Feb. 28—Dunedin J.C Feb. 28—Taranaki J.C. Feb. 28—Te Aroha J.C. Feb. 28—Greymouth J.C. trotting March 7—lnvercargill T.C. March 14—Timaru T.C. March 21—Wyndham T.C. March 21—Cambridge T.C. March 21—Westland T.C. March 28—Ashburton T.C. Mervyn Derby made a successful conversion from pacing to trotting, winning at his first essay without the hopples, but since then he has mixed his gait repeatedly, and has never flattered his supporters. Jock McGrath began correctly at New Brighton and before long put a break on the field. He was still in front in the home stretch, but then broke up completely and disappeared. Jock McGrath is about the most disappointing trotter in commission. Although it was stated that Kindergarten would race at the Manawatu meeting next month, the report that he is allowed the run of the paddock is not indicative to an early reappearance. Possibly his owner is yielding after all to Sydney veterinary opinion. The New Zealand-owned galloper All Veil carried No. 1 saddlecloth to victory in the sprint handicap at Flemington on Saturday. After a brace of wins earlier in the season the son of Veilmond developed a splint, and on being put into work again he was given a. course of swimming. All Veil should have benefited by Saturday’s race, and will be in favour for the Newmarket, which he won last year. Burrabil, who won the valuable Futurity Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, is an aged gelding by a little

known sire, Brunewang. He got into the race by the late-entry door on payment of the late fee of £6O. Burrabil first drew serious attention to his prospects in class races by running High Caste to a neck in the Linlithgow Stakes at Flemington in the spring. In that race he received only 31b from the Colossus, and on Saturday came in on much more favourable terms. The Harold Park (Sydney) record "of 3.14 1-5, established in 1938 by Lawn Derby, was reduced, in the same race, to 3.13 3-5 by Miss Lawnham, a daughter of Lawn Derby. Miss Lawnham has a double strain of Globe Derby, her dam. Miss Anthony, being from a mare by Globe Derby, who sired Robert Derby, sire of Lawn Derby. Referring to Miss Lawnham’s performance, the Australian Trotting Record says: “Miss Lawnham won the Harold Park Handicap very easily and judging by the effortless manner in which this wonder mare ran her race, she is going to follow in Lawn Derby’s footsteps. If taken to New Zealand, Miss Lawnham would be a certainty to break two minutes, and if ever there looked one in sight to lower Lawn Derby’s record of 1.59 2-5, it is this wonderful Miss Lawnham.” Miss Lawnham would be welcomed here, but there are dozens of horses here capable of 3.13 3-5. even on a half-mile track. Bv winning the Juvenile Handicap at Te Rapa under 9.12, Bonny Pay provided further complications in regard to the two-year-old championship. After winning his first two races in the spring. Bonny Pay slumped temporarily, but he came back to defeat Beau Vaals in the Great Northern Foal Stakes. He did not run again until Saturday, but Beau Vaals went on to win the Royal Stakes, and again at Trentham, and was rated as the best of his age. Until he has beaten Bonny Pay he is not entitled to the crown. Lou Rosa had some fine handicap performances to his credit, but his victory at Te Rapa on Saturday was his first in this department for the current season His only other win during the term was in the Clifford Plate at Ellerslie. The Foxbridge four-year-old has established himself as one of the best handier,-, horses in commission, and must n<«v be weighted on a par with Beau Leon. Sonja Henie registered her first win when she took a division of the Waiheke Handicap at Epsom, but her time (2.46) was the fastest ever posted In a 3.5 class on the Auckland course. The going must have been particularly fast, as on the same afternoon Flower Potts stepped 3.18 3-5 off 3.35, and Isabella Pointer (who was in retirement for two years) broke 3.14 and missed a place. According to the weights for the Flying Handicap at New Plymouth, Prince Plato is the best sprinter among this season's three-year-olds. On the second day at Trentham, Route March 8.8 beat Sir Beau 9.9 by a head. A reasonable assessment of the two now would place 111 b between them. At New Plymouth, Sir Beau has to give Prince Plato only 41b, so that Mr Coyle rates Prince Plato about half a stone higher than Route March. At weight-for-age, Prince Plato would receive "lib from Sir Beau, and apparently he is assessed as the best class short-distance performer in the Dominion. On that reckoning the Taranaki Stakes should be exercise for him.

Southland was responsible for another striking but erratic performance at New Brighton. He broke and swerved nearly off the course at the start, and then paced into third place in a fast-run race. Waywardness is a family trait just as much as speed. The places in the first trotters’ race at New Brighton were filled by the three horses which were in the money a week earlier. At the Canterbury Park meeting. Lady Scott appeared to beat Mac’s Jimmy comfortably, and she confirmed that impression by going back 36 yards, conceding Mac’s Jimmy another 24 yards, and winning on the post. Lady Scott was flat out on Saturday, but she is steadily improving. Her sire U Scott raced as a pacer in New Zealand, but he was a trotter when he arrived from U.S.A. Entries for the New Zealand Sapling Stakes, 1943, New Zealand Champion Stakes, 1943. and New Zealand Futurity Stakes, 1944 (all for present yi rlings) close with the secretary, Ashburton Trotting Club, on Thursday, February 26, 1942, at 5 p.m Lizzie Woods, who appeared to be a trifle unlucky when beaten by Festivity at Washdyke, decisively defeated a smart field at New Brighton. J. Bell (her driver on her successful Coast trip) took her to the front fairly early, and thereafter the Ashburton mare was never in serious danger, scoring comfortably from the bracketed pair Fragment and Star Ace. Lizzie Woods had never seen a racecouse until Christmas week, and in two months she has registered three wins and four seconds in seven starts.

Margin, second to Ganton at the Canterbury Park meeting, confirmed that form by winning at New Brighton in fast time, but apparently he was unlucky, as part of Jimmy Drusus’s gear broke and caused him to break over a round from home. This gelding's sojourn in Auckland seems to have rejuvenated him, as he is a greatly improved trotter since he left Southland.