THE OAKS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10924, 13 November 1913, Page 1

THE OAKS.

BON NY HELEN WINS. RENCONTRE TO THE ¥ORE. CHEERS FOR THE STARTER. Tile rain which set in on Tuesday jvening continued with slight intoriiissiou until Jin early hour vestciday morning, and the outloon for tho thiid •lay' of tho Canterbury Jockey Club's ipring meeting was far from bright until nearly noon, when the threatening clouds cleared away. Jor tho remainder of the day tho weather was line, Uiough tho sun was only in evidence \t brief intervals during the afternoon. There was a largo attendance lor an off-day, and j;he tctulisntor investments were £35,570, compared with £30,29 A on the third day of last years meeting. A BOLD JUMPER. The day's racing was full ol" interest, though some of the lirushes were not particularly exciting. There were only 'iou?Starters for tho Suburban Hurdle I7&hdicv.p, all of them making a iiist »'.pi)Saranco at the meeting, l'or moro Aaii a wile Witched was ridden quietly beJifind . tho leaders, but : ho had tiie at his mercy from the entrance co t the straight. Like many of 'Birkenhead 1 s progeny he is a bold ■jumper and tho easy manner in which \e woiV emphasised the weakness 01 the South Island hurdlers at the present time. ALL THE WAY. , A useful field of two-year-olds, twelve in number, took part in tho Spring Nursery Handicap, but there xas a mix-up at the start, due to the Jcractiousness of some of the competitors, and several of them had no chance of success from the time the carrier rose. The winner, Rencontre, wqs prominent all the way and finished in> good style. This was her third appearance at the , meeting, and she _ improved" with racing. She was trained by P. V. Mason, who had charge or portion of Mr-G. D. Greenwood s team during the absence of the remainder in Australia. for some - months; Brocade ran on much better than she did in the Welcome Stakes. Hymettius finished . well after beginning slowly. .Sir George Clifford's bracket was the favourite selection with backers, but neither of his representatives got off veil and they finished Jn tho middlo of the field. GASOLINE GETS HOME. The start- .of. the Avon Welter Handicap' was'.. delayed ■ for :: '6ome time, some of the competitors breaking, through the v twice. _ Eoyal. Arms was specially prominent in this respect and his. rider, A. Oliver, was subsequently suspended for the day by the stewards for misbehaviour, a result which occasioned little surprise. _ Gasoline got off well when the barrier' was released and registered a smart per- j formance by leading all the way. On Monday Gasoline was _one of the outsiders in the Epsom High-Weight Handicap, but he finished with a very fast run and that, coupled with tlft fact that he had the services of H. Gray, caused him to' be well backed yesterdav. Gasoline did a lot of racing on the West-Coast last season, with a fair measure of Success. He failed to win a race at Greymouth a fortnight ago, and there was nothing in his form prior to his arrival at Riccarton to suggest that he . was capable of beating such a useful field as he met yesterday. His sire, Hamna, an . Aus-tralian-bred horse by Cyndus, a eon of Trenton, was brought to New Zealand' -by J. H. - Pressor, as one of a batch of yearlings, which ! also included Achillss, Ghoorka and i Exmoor. A LEISURELY AFFAIR. j 'ln view of the large fields which i have taken part in the raco during "recent years, it was disappointing bo find only three competitors taking part in the Canterbury Cup, and they did not provide- a> very exciting contest. The early stages of the race were run at a very leisurely pace, the lirst .six furlongs occupying lmin itosec. From that point there was a gradual j improvement, but the time for the full journey was very slow. .Midnight Sun was in front till less than half a mile from home, when he faded out without A struggle, leaving the Derby winner, Gherabini, with a very easy task, though Thrax put up a decent fight to the distance. This, was the first time Mr G. D. Greenwood's colours had been carried successfully in the race, though he was interested in Vice-Admiral when ho *if6n two years ago. It was also 'first time th© Canterbury Cup had \ feeh won by a descendant of Martian, Vhojfecored an'easy victory in the race jXnej "tears ago. The two important rajfes to Cherubini this week ' , shjpuld' recompense Mr Greenwood for. Wis want of success for some time preBLISS SETS THE PACE. The Jockey Olub Handicap did not come up to expectation. Possibly they were troubled by the solid pace set by Bliss, but most of the competitors straggled out rather badly at the finish. Potoa was the only one with, a challenge left when the concluding furlong had to be negotiated, and he Just failed to catch Bliss, who ' was evidently Benefited by her race on when she stopped quickly at the end of the Criterion Handicap, tan over. a furlong less' ground. Her •.improvement was not generally anticipated,- as slie was allowed to pay a substantial dividend,- whereas she was ' favourite for the Criterion Handicap. INCH BY INCH. ; The field for the Oaks numbered six. War step was favourite, on the strength of her prominent showing earlier in the meeting, but Bonny Helen, who was malcing her first appearance, also 9»me in for a lot of support-, while Immer had a. fair number of admirers. Six furlongs from home the race resolved itself into a match between the two favourites. Every inch 'of ground stubbornly contested and they yaced down the straight locked to- : gether, Bonny Helen gradually gaining an advantage, amounting to a neck ! at the finish. The struggle was ; highly interesting and there is evi-j Sently very little between these two ; over a "journey. Bonny Helen showed i aarlier in the season, when she won i the Wanganui Guineas, that she was a very smart galloper and but for her (tjefeat in the Champion Plato a t. •Jrentham last month "she would have been much more strongly supported for yesterday's race. She is the first winner of the Oaks sired by Boniform, whose half brother, Martian, was ; j represented in second, and third places, j ! Helen Portland, the dam of Bonus; j

Helen, is by Dorchester, by Bill ofPortland—Woodnympli, a sister to Martini Henry, by Musket—Sylvia., so that the Oaks winner boasts a double' strain of Musket, with one of StSimon, a combination that has proved successful on several occasions in important events ■ Bonny Helen was bred, by Mr G. F. Moore, a prominent Nprth .island studmaster,_ and, was sold as a yearling for 500 guineas. NOTHING ELSE A CHANCE. The-largest field seen at the meeting, numbering twenty-four, contested the Randolpli Handic-ap, a race confined to hacks. It proved a runaway, Speedometer • giving nothing else a chance from start to finish. He is a very fast galloper by the imported horse Bezonian, who • has not had many winning representatives yet. 'Pedometer, tho dam of the winner, is by Stepniak—Demeter, by Wallace Eleusis, so that she is a member of the same family as Delusive and Elusive, two successful matrons in Sir George Clifford's stud. Secret Link showed some pace, 'but failed to see the journey 'out, while Birkful, though unable to get neav the front in. the 'early stages, was running on in great style at tne end. FLORA IN FORM. The day's programme was concluded with tho Otaio Plate, which provided a good race to the straight,' after which Flora Macdonald had matters all her. own way. The winner is a three-year-old by Boniform, her dam, Lady Lochiel", a half sister to White Cockade, Chief Lochiel and Scotch Plaid, being by Formosan, a brother to Cruciform, from Miss Lochiel, by Lochiel—Miss Russlev. For some time past Flora Macdonald has been showing greatly improved form and a fortnight ago she won two races at Gore. , Jbike many of Boniform's progeny, she seems partial to a long journey. An interesting incident m connection with the Otaio Plate, which was started in front of the stand, was the' hearty round of applause which was accorded Mr H. Piper for the particularly successful way in which he got the field off. The following are the details of the racing:—