ft AC ING ON AND OFF THE TRACK

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22478, 13 January 1943, Page 6

ft AC ING ON AND OFF THE TRACK

Wellington Cup next Saturday. The South Canterbury Jockey Club has deputed its totalisator committee to inquire into the possibility of improving arrangements for its autumn meeting. Sal, who was favourite for the Waihola Handicap at Wingatui, had had very little racing experience. and was set a stiff task to tackle 105 furlongs so early in her career. The Salmagundi filly is distinctly promising and should win more races during the season. Piastre is now out of work and will possibly not race again. He is quite sound, but has not been performing well enough to warrant further racing. The little brown gelding is seven years old and is owned by Mr J. L. Chees - man. By Salmagundi from Love Lake, Piastre was bought in Australia by his trainer, T. R. George. His most noteworthy win was the Auckland Cup. Strip shaped rather poorly in his first essay over hurdles, but he quickly i acquired the art of jumping, and his win at Wingatui was his third in succession over the battens. The Welcome Stakes marked Royal Flight’s only win, but she has never been out of the money and her earnings for three months total £735. Filibeg, one of the form horses at Dunedin, completely failed to reproduce his New Year running. Apparently two hard races at Wyndham and Invercargill knocked him out temporarily. The exact amount in the pool on the last race at Dunedin was £BB4O, a record for any race south of Christchurch. Colonel Rouge, who spoiled his chance in the hurdle race at Dunedin bypunching the last fence, has been in the money without a win five times in six starts this season. Royal Lancer has won about £2750 in stakes and trophies this season. The previous highest for a Southland horse in one season was £2150, by Tommy Dodd about 17 years ago. Forte was nearly on her nose as the field turned out of the straight in the Waihola Handicap at Dunedin, and she was never afterwards prominent. It is frequently stated that Paper Money never sired a two-mile winner. That is correct so far as New Zealand is concerned, but Bonny Note (Paper Money-Bonny Helen) was successful in the Perth Cup. This is interesting, because one of the lots to be submitted at Trentham on behalf of Miss J. Edgar Jones is by Battle Song out of Helen Gold, a sister to Bonny Note. A Melbourne paper is responsible for the following: “No matter what opinion was held of Kindergarten after his defeat in the Warwick Stakes in Sydney, there can be no question now that he is an extraordinary performer.” That is a handsome apology. The same writer says that the connections of Tranquil Star and Colonus should be pleased that arrangements could not be made to send Kindergarten across for the Cups. “He should have been capable of winning either.” Kindergarten gave Lou Rosa 161 b and beat him pointlessly in the Auckland Cup. In the Wellington Cup the difference was 241 b. Eight pounds looked little enough for a five-lengths beating, but 81b on top of 10.2 is equivalent to a stone lower in the scale, and later Lou Rosa won the A.R.C. Handicap with 9.6 in record time. Lou Rosa has the same weight as he carried into second place in the Auckland Cup, and is not badly treated. On Boxing Day, Botany was unequal to the task of conceding 41b to Macedoine. In the Invercargill Cup Royal Lancer gave Macedoine 261 b and beat her slightly more easily than he did Botany at a difference of 221 b in the Hazlett Cup. Obviously Botany is improving with racing, and he has reasonable prospects at Trentham. Nobody seems to have devised a method of reducing fields that gives universal satisfaction. The A.J.C. ballots the horses at the bottom of the handicap only; other Sydney clubs put all the acceptors into the draw. The V.A.T.C. “graded” the acceptors for the Caulfield Cup, and eliminated Phocion. The Ascot proprietary club “seeds” the draw by leaving the eight top-weights out. The Wellington Racing Club proposes to divide the acceptors into three groups, and ballot out an equal number in each. Under this system Kindergarten might be eliminated while horses on the minimum are allowed to run. It appears most equitable that when it is necessary to exclude any acceptors the axe should be applied to the undergrowth.