MAY BE A GUIDE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20649, 25 June 1935, Page 12

MAY BE A GUIDE.

ss Form at Levin Likely to Have Bearing on Trentham. JUMPERS ENGAGED. 50 (Special to the ” Star.”) . _ ELLINGTON, This Day. ia In past seasons one has usually had :d to relv exclusively on outside form for a guide to the W ellington winter meeting, one of the most difficult fixtures of a r yea r. or > nves tors. but this season ir the Levin Racing Club’s extra meeting, et to be held next Saturdav, will offer the c- opportunity for a study of at least some of the form. The Levin meeting n satisfies a real need. and. nidged on the v excellent acceptance list that has been n received, the club might do well to conie sider winter meetings again for the future. The club has applied for its usual date in November next season, » but it is probable that there will be vacant permits again next year, one of 1 which might possibly be used at Levin ■ on June 27, ten days before the Wel- * lington winter meeting, if the Danne--1 \ irke Hunt Club, which is applying for 1 July 1, raises no 'objection. In most of the races at Levin on Saturday are horses who have been nomi--1 nated for Trentham. Thev mav not 1 eventually discover the winners of the W ellington events, but thev should cer- I tainlv provide the public ' with some better line to the prospects of several of the candidates for bigger honours. Horses successful at Levin are subieet T t( ? a rehandicap, but it is unlikelv that - t . he >’ Le reassessed, or at most only lightlv, when engaged in the open x Trentham events. The change from the I - penaltv to rehandicap conditions at Trentham was probably made this year to allow horses to be raced with better security at Levin. Among the Jumpers. The only race for the jumpers at } Levin is the Waitarere Hack and Hunters’ Steeplechase, for which the field accepted numbers thirteen, including seven Wellington candidates, those weighted above and one on the minimum. on which the remaining six are placed. This is a short event, 2} miles, and as the Levin Club will have to erect a special set of obstacles, \ probablv borrowing them from Manawatu. the country should not be very formidable. \ At the head of the list is the Wellington Steeplechase aspirant Transact, who is weighted a stone above the next horse (Diamond). Transact made a successful change to the game from hurdling by winning the two crosscountry events at Egmont last month, and in two appearances he ran fourth on the first day at Wanganui and second to Riotous on the second day. He is now up 101 b on his Wangai nui weight, but this is poorer class, and if going is heavv, as it promises to be, he should be dangerous, for he revels in the mud. He won a hurdles double oh very pasty going Otaki twelve months ago. was successful on a heavy track at Trentham last winter, and ap'ain nloughed through the mud to notch his recent steepling double at Hflwera. The next five on the list—Diamond. Tnvictus. Gallivanter, Cardhu and Hard Gold—are engaged in the minor] ’chases at Trentham. Diamond and Callivanter are new to the game, but the others have had ’chasing exper- . ience. Gallivanter. Cardhu and Hard Gold, however, have not yet been out in public this winter. Diamond is one who might make an ( even greater success of ’chasing than he has of hurdling, and he has done • well indeed at this department for a - horse who had his first racing just six • months ago. Diamond is one of those horses been t.»-p4n o d for th“ came in the old way. that is. he learned iumpmg two years before ever he was , Put into race training. At show’s in the Nelson district he won several first prizes. lie quickly revealed his jumping skill wh°n sent over to Trentbam < f or racing. At first he w«»s confined to ‘ hurdling, but during the past fort- ] night he has been schooled over the bigger fences ,o nc i be gave a reallv impressive exhibition in a bout with Pahu and The Ranger a* Trentham last Saturday morning. There is no need to 1 have any fear about his iumping 1 ability, and the main thing that mav 1 be against him at present is that he c is a very hard puller. i Invictus As ’Chaser. * Invictus has failed at hurdling this winter, and it is significant that his only engagements at Trentham are l over the country. As he has been hunted he should not be troubled by ® the bigger fences, and in one appear- 5 a nee in the role last year, he ran third l to Manuiri and Silent Bill at Bulls, r He recently ran a fair race in the \ hurdles at Foxton, finishing fifth, so he mav now be coming to hand again. ? Gallivanter was a winner over 1 hurdles at the 1933 New Zealand 'Cup s meeting at Riccarton, but he was a c failure last winter, and nothing is n known about how he has been doing . since he came north. Cardhu, a halfbrother to Flower Bag. was a winner last winter among the hunters, in his first of three starts, and he is one in whom improvement might be anticipated this wdnter, especially now that L. Knapp has charge of him. Hard Gold has won a Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase, but he has been an unsound horse. Now eleven years old, he is c at the declining age, but he is certainly not badly treated with only 9.2 on j: Saturday. Among the others is Te Rangihimau. t who is in the hack hurdles on the first day at Trentham. He had a race over hurdles at Otaki in the spring. when he led for a considerable portion e of the trip, so he may pay his way at Q the game. It was on the last day at Trentham two years ago that Mor- s rath, in the same colours, caught most t ' investors by surprise. The majority of the remaining half-dozen ip Satur- J day Is field are. little-known quantities, j but Hunting Boy, who has been fol- | lowing the hounds for several seasons. d has twice run into the money in Hunt j Cup. events, which would place him among the possibilities at Levin. d Open Flat Candidates. a The open fiat performers on Satur- b day will be catered for in the Kopu- a taroa Handicap, run over seven fur- n longs, and for this there is an accept- tl ance of ten. all of whom, excepting ir only Carfex, claim engagements as well c’ at Trentham. The fie’ld is a strong T one for a provincial meeting at this a: period of the season, and it might j n well lead up to success at Wellington |eafterwards. it Orapai. who tops the weights, recent- se 1v returned to the winners’ list at the w Te ICuiti meeting, where he won on n the first day and was third on the n second, and he then returned home to hi New Plymouth without going on to sj Ellerslie. Since then he has been fc working in his best style, revealing his , cc fitness in a good gallop last week. He si likes the sting out of the ground, and ir

he is a prospect for Saturday, though the big course at Trentham might suit him better. The Levin track is inclined to be slippery when wet. a state that puts the top-weight§ at a disadvantage, as it did at the recent Otaki meeting there. Cottesmore. Cawbeen, Royal Bengal, and Hunting Lodge have also recently been in winning form in open races, and all of them are at their best on soft tracks. Cottesmore was a winner on the course earl} 7 in the month; Cawbeen and Royal Bengal, who haii from the same stablp, were successful at Hastings, though they then failed at Napier Park last week: and Hunting Lodge scored impressively over a small but speedy field at Foxton. The only one of these horses who is engaged in the Whyte Handicap at Trentham is Cawbeen, but the other three are in the open sprint on the first day, and Royal Bengal (who won the Whyte three years ago) is in the Parliamentary Handicap. 11 miles, on the middle day. All four horses are obviously fit, but the one who appeals most at the weights is Hunting Lodge, who seems still susceptible to improvement. Pladie, another Whyte Handicap candidate, reappeared after a short letup at the Otaki meeting, and though he weakened at the end of the nine furlongs he went a very fair race. He, too. likes it soft, and on the weights he should account for Miss Hushabye, who has been off the scene since last Faster. Miss Hushabye’s Wellington engagements include the Whyte Handicap. and on the way she won the Douro Cup in the slush last January she will be respected next month by those looking for an outside shot, especially if she should make a showing on Saturday. > Carfex, whose racing distances have l been shortened recently, owing to a doubt about his wind, was second to Hunting Lodge at Foxton, but though he now comes in at 71b better terms the mare may again prove his superior, as she can improve more and may be better suited by the track. Trishna and Gold Cure, who complete the field, may not be quite up to the class, though Gold Cure, while he is remainj ing sound, is not without an outside chance. At the Wellington meeting Trishna is to tackle the hurdles again 'and the high-weight: but Gold Cure has | not been engaged in the jumping I events, the high-weight and the open mile on the final day, having been selected for his nomination, and this would tend to indicate that his connections have some hope that he is not yet a spent light on the flat. In half a dozen starts since his long spell Gold Cure has won once, been four times second, and once third, a consistent enough performance and sufficiently encouraging to keep him in the limelight.