PROSPECTS FOR TO-DAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19771, 19 February 1927, Page 4

PROSPECTS FOR TO-DAY

THE PROGRAMME REVIEWED LYSANDER’S STAKES ENGAGEMENT (By “EARLY BIRD.”) The fields for to-day. the concluding day of the Wanganui Jockey Club’s autumn masting, are of excellent dimensions and quality, and another highly interesting series of contests seems assured. Principal interest will be focussed upon the race for the Jackson Stakes, in which a wonderful lot of class sprinters are engaged. The chief interest in the event will be centred upon the prospects of those good three-year-olds, Lysander and Limited, against the older horses at wdght-for-age. The bill of fare commences with the 19 Q OKOIA HACK HANDICAP. (Of 200 sovs.; mile and distance.) Kilmiss .... 9 o It is a handy sized field, and the first and second 812 horses in a similar race the first day will be able to fight Outfit .. .. 811 ° ut their battle again. Kilmiss, Capitulation, Great (-apt. Gazeiey 8 5 Day, Outfit, Bent, Blue Peter and Airtight are the most J 7 12 of the dozen acceptors, and they may supply the Blue Peter ZI 711 three home. Kilmiss was unlucky the first* day, Airtight .... 7 3 and with the experience Outfit will probably go better 7 o to-day. A liking is expressed for Biseac .. .. 7 q Outfit, Capitulation and Kilmiss. 1 9 Aft AUTUMN HANDICAP. tv (Of 300 sovs.; 8j furtiomgs). Quite a fair lot will parade for this event, in which there are nine acceptors. Glenross was rather unlucky Glenross .... 9 6 on Thursday, and he may be capable of turning the First Acre .. 8 9 tables on First Acre. Benzora must be given a show 8 3 if started h ere ** Preference to the open sprint, for he has Hipo 712 won over 1110 distance, although as a hack. Hipo meets Buoyant .... 7 9 the pair that finished in front of him the first day on 72 muc h better terms, and of the three newcomers the best Glengariff .. 7 0 may be Star Area. Three that will count most friends are Glenross. Hipo and First Acre. <1 Oft JACKSON STAKES. (Of 500 sovs.; six furlongs.) This should easily be the race of the day. Most probably there will be five runners, and should that be The Hawk ..90 50 tiien an excellent struggle is assured. The Hawk finished in front of Grand Knight and Beremoana in the Grand Knight 9 0 Taranaki Stakes last Saturday, and judged on his effort Beremoana ..9 0 on Thursday in the Flying Handicap he appears to be nearly back to his best. The other two, however, will Oration .... 9 a in all probability act better on the Wanganui track than Tukia .. .. 811 they did last week. In addition to these three there Limited 8 ” are t^ree 'y ear ' Lysander and Limited. The former does not seem to be so well as in the earlier part Lysander ..87 of the season, although he will still have to be reckBtelissa 611 one d with. Limited may be troubled by the last pinch, and up to that point he will set a merry pace. The Hawk, Reremoana, Grand Knight, Lysander and Limited will be the most likely starters, and of the quintette those preferred are Lysander, Grand Knight and The Hawk. ZY FOEDELL HURDLES. (Of 200 so vs.; miles). It is a very small field, with the three placed horses Ardath .. .. 10 12 of the first day again engaged. A newcomer is Ardath, Elvaette ..10 9 and on his recent form must be one of the hardest to Matu .. .. •• 10 3 beat. Elvaette and Gold Peak will again go well, while Comedy Prince 10 1 . . » ® ’ Gold Peak .. 910 both Matu and Comedy Prince are capable of improvement. Those liked most are Ardath and Matu. 2 4* HARBISON TWO-YEAR-OLD HANDICAP. •w (Of 200 sovs.; five furlongs). Thus is exactly the same field as was engaged on Melissa .... 9 2 the opening day, and Melissa, Ruanui and Damans, who Ruanui .... 813 finished in that order, should again have the same say, Pander " " 7 5 particularly the last-named, who ran very green, and Viailanc* ~ 7 0 may this afternoon reverse piacings. The most likely pair arDemaris and Melissa, Q Qfl EARLE STAKES. O.Ov (Of 50 Osovs.; 1$ mfles). The fact that the three placed /torses in the Cup are missing here will detract somewhat from its importance, although otherwise it may make for a more even race. x u g 0 Two new ones are Mask and Euphonium, and if the latM*sk **B 0 ter improved any since Hawera he will have to be Mint Leaf ..7 8 considered. Ngata does not impress, although up to a NoJar”*™ 1 7 <» certain stage he ran well on Thursday.. Mint Leaf will Nukumai Il 7 0 no doubt be better suited by the company he is in. Ona 7 0 Novar ran quite a good race in the Cup, and he may be the most dangerous. Of Nukumai and Opa an improvement of form is •anticipated. The best may prove to b© Novar, Mint Leaf, and Nukumai. 41 * MATARAWA HACK HANDICAP. •19 (Of 200 sovs.; six furlongs). This race appears to be between the four at the top Whenuanui 9 1’ handicap—Whenuanui, King’s Folly, Orazone and King's Folly 813 Royal Elm—and of those further down the list Ohui and Orazone .... 8 8 Paitonu should receive most consideration. King’s Ohu? 1 Eln * 7 6 Folly was the easiest winner of the eight on Thursday, Break o’ Day 7 3 and even with a rise of thirteen pounds it is hard to Paitonu .. .. 7 2 sor f ou t anything at all likely to bother him. He will Skypoint be a firm favourite, and his supporters will have to be Seastar .. .. 7 o content with a small price if he scores again. The Musket Vein 7 0 three probables may be put down as King’s Foliy, Whenuanui and Orazone. r FAREWELL HANDICAP. (Of 350 sovs.; six furlongs). Seven of the first day's runners will be again enCivility 9 2 with the addition of fresh horses in Mireusonta, Tamatete II 812 w ho is fast coming down in the weights; Gaillard, who Shirley .... 8 9 ran two seconds at New Plymouth; and Merry Jest and Tukia™ ' 8 5 Nadarino. Civility has gone up eleven pounds for her Mireusonta II 7 6 success, and so she will have a much more difficult task. Deluge .... 7 3 Shirley has come down a pound, and it is very probable GaiHaS II 7 3 that she wiU be foun d running it out better this evenMerry Jest ..7 o ing. Benzora should again be on the premises, for he Madarino ..7 0 has speed to burn. Those that threaten to be conspicuous again are Shirley, Benzora and Civility.

THE CUP RACE

PTUTHAIB’S CONSISTENCY AIDED TO VICTORY BY CLARINDA The race for the Wanganui Cup on Thursday was a real thriller, and it can be said at once that the best horse at the weights won, even making due allowance for the fact that Rapine would have scored “if” the post had been a bit further away. He had his chance, but straight was too short. Piuthair was ridden another ideal race by T. Green, who seems to get on well with her. She was patiently handled, and it was not until half a mile from home that she was asked to go up to the leaders. She responded nicely, and at the straight entrance she was lying handy in fourth place. Less than a furlong from the post she had drawn up to her companion, Clarinda, and quickly settled her, and then kept going long enough to stall off Rapine’s ‘finishing run, to get a head decision. Piuthair has been consistency itself over the past four weeks, and the Wanganui race was the third cup she has won in the past fortnight. Her earnings this season total £2930, these figures representing the value alsn of one silver and two gold cups. Praise for Rapine. Nothing but praise can be given Rapine for his wonderful effort in conceding a brilliant performer—for such Piuthair has of late proved herself—23lbs and running her to a head. R. Reed rode, a confident race on the favourite, and contrary to expectations he was never at the rear of the field. When they set out for the final mile he was lying sixth, on the rails, five lengths behind the leader, and with Piuthair on the outside of him, and in fact he was on the rails all the way until a little over a furlong from the finish, when he came on the outside to make his last effort. Three furlongs from home he appeared to be a beaten horse, but Reed was only giving him a breather, for when asked he gave of his very best, and the manner in which he began to cut the leader down thrilled the spectators. Where Piuthair Won. That he failed was not the horse’s fault, nor the rider’s. He could not have started his run much earlier, and then there was not enough of the straight to enable him to concede a length and a half to Piuthair and then beat her. The winner made her run very quickly as they came into the straight, and it was this burst of speed that enabled her to establish the lead that Rapine found it impossible to overhaul. That, in short., is how the favourite was beaten. But while he had the inside running for thirteen out of the fourteen furlongs, Piuthair had always one horse on the inside of her, and as they were coming to the home stretch she was three horses out from the fence. This makes her performance all the more outstanding. Policy Justified. Clarinda played her part well, setting a solid pace all the way. It was a wise move on the part of the stable to start their second string, for it was only by doing so that they got the pace set that was required to give Piuthair a chance. The race was also run to suit the topweight, for it was solid if not too hectic. They ran the first half-mile in 54 1-5, the mile in 1.47 3-5, mile and a quarter in 2.11 1-5 and the mile and a half in 2.35 3-5. The last mile was cut out in 1.40 1-5, which was pretty smart travelling on this track. Clarinda herself ran a good race out in front, and it should not be long before she will win a handicap. A Family Record. An interesting sidelight on the Cup race was the fact that three of the progeny of Kilbroney and Blackada were competitors, and they finished first, third and fourth. Another, Clandhu, was also a good performer a couple of seasons ago, and the four of them have won cups. Rather an- extraordinary record. Novar ran quite a good fourth on Thursday, after being second into the straight, and it was the distance that found him out. Nukumai was near the tail end of the field most of the journey, but he finished strongly in fifth ,place, so was not disgraced. Opa ran a fair race, and Ngata was prominent, for a mile and three furlongs, at which stage he retired beaten. A Well-Beaten Pair. Mint Leaf and Te Monanui, both E. George’s representatives, ran badly, and it may be that they require a letup after a strenuous season. Mint Leaf was with Nukumai at the rear for most of the time, but two fui4ongs from home he was a possibility, for at this stage he was lying in behind Piuthair; then he stopped suddenly. Te Monanui was the last to finish, and from holding a nice position up to five furlongs from home he gradually dropped out and tailed the field coming into the straight. That is the story of the race and a review of how the horses performed. Mr B. A. McKenzie thus won his second Wanganui Cup, his first being four years ago, when Sunart won “on three legs.” The winner was cheered for her meritorious victory, but gallant Rapine received just as flattering a reception. FLYING VALICARE A REMARKABLE SPRINT Most of the Sydney horses used the course proper at Flemington on a recent morning, where the barriers were 33ft. from the rails. Easily the outstanding performance on this track was that of Valicare. With H. Jones in the saddle she put up 1.1 for five furlongs. The first two were covered in 24, three in 36J, and half a mile in 49. This is a record for the course proper outside the barriers, the nearest approacn to it being Woorak’s 1.2. Galloping over the Maribyrnong Plate course in the spring, Rampion, as a two-year-old, equalled this gallop by Valicare. Valicare would not be carrying less than 8.7, so the , gallop would be a thorough test.

TO-DAY’S BIG RACE

THE JACKSON STAKES LIKELY STARTERS Although there are nine horses remaining in the Jackson Stakes, to be run this afternoon, it is unlikely that there will be more than five runners, as follows: Jackson Stakes. (Of 500 sovs.; six furlongs). The Hawk (R. Reed) 9 0 Grand Knight (B. H. Morris) . . 9 0 Beremoana (J. Barry) 9 0 Lysander (L. A. Pine) 8 7 Limited (L. G. Morris) 8 7 The other four are Inferno, who is on the schooling list and is therefore not eligible to start in flat races, Oration and Tukia who are also in the open sprint, and Melissa, who claims an engagement in the race for two-year-olds. —— v FINAL GALLOPS OF JACKSON STAKES CANDIDATES. LIMITED GOES FAST. On the local track on Thursday morning there were a few interesting gallops, principtilly by horses claiming an engagement in this afternoon’s Jackson Stakes, run under strict weight-for-age conditions. Number two grase was open, but for such important work it was rather unfortunate that number one tr»ack, a more reliable one, was not made available. Mr G. M. Currie was present to see Lysander work. With his trainer up, the colt was given a try-out over half (a mile. He was given a moving start and got to the end of the first furlong in 13 1-5, two furlongs in 251-5, and came home the last quarter, ridden out, in 241-5, the colt’s time for the four furlongs being 49 2-5. The colt was inclined to be sluggish over the first part, but he revelled in his work up the straight. The track was a bit dead eJarly in the morning, and Lysander’s time compared favourably with that put up by other horses. The Thorn accompanied him over the first part, when the colt left him standing. An Easy Task. Grand Knight, ridden by D. C. Watts, went over the stime ground in a nice working gallop without going for time, returning 514-5 for the four furlongs. He looks in nice order. Limited, ridden by J. Potter, galloped five furlongs. He was under a ■pull all the way, and he wanted to be allowed to go. He ran the first two furlongs in 23 3-5, three furlongs in 36 2-5, and he was being hard held over the final quarter, which occupied 26. The time for the five furlongs was 1.2 2-5. Limited .is wonderfully well, and were the race to-day over five furlongs he would go out favourite. The sixth furlong is generally regarded as being beyond him, but he is getting well seasoned and may be able to fight it out all the way. A VALUABLE HORSE HAS WON BIG MONEY HEROIC’S DIFFICULT TASK Heroic having now won £35,983 10s in stakes, has headed Windbag’s £35,729, and will probably easily pass the £36,891 which makes Eurythmic the second greatest Australian stake-winner, commented a Sydney writer recently. He will, however, find it a more difficult task to catch Gloaming’s £43,100, much as Mr Herbert Thompson would like to be able to announce Ifim as Australia’s biggest stake-winner when he goes to “Oakleigh” stud next season. Champion though he is, Heroic’s troubles begin now. His last two wins were against weak opposition, but from now on he will have to deal with the champions. The races in which the great chestnut ran at this period last season may be recalled to show the possibilities. Caulfield. £ St. George Stakes, nine furlongs 750 Futurity Stakes, seven furlongs 2500 Flemington. Newmarket, six furlongs 2625 C. M. Lloyd Stakes, one mile 1100 Bandwick. Autumn Stakes, mile and a half 1929 Cumberland Stakes, 1| miles 1556 A.J.C. Plate 1557 Of these Heroic won the Newmarket and Cumberland Stakes, representing £4056, and he picked up a further £1025 in place money. As Holt seems, with the doubt about Heroic’s forelegs, to have abandoned training him for long races, he may pass the last two in'Sydney and tackle the All Aged Stakes, of a mile, which is worth about £2350 to the winner. Assuming that Heroic’s legs stand the strain of so much racing again, he will have to settle with Valicare in races up to a mile, and while many astute judges think that with his massive frame he will beat the mare when both have penalised weights to carry, even some of them doubt his ability to do so in the C. M. Lloyd and All Aged Stakes, in which there Are no penalties. Manfred, too, who *ran Heroic to a neck in the Memsie Stakes in the Spring, when at the disadvantage of not having had a race for months, may prove a lion in his path. It does not, however, seem to be at all certain that Manfred’s leg will stand the pressure of severe racing, and unless Mr Chaffey is quite sure that it will he is not likely to risk his champion. And when Heroic has done with his opponents in Melbourne there may be Windbag to be tackled in Sydney. Judged by last week’s work it will not be long before G. Price asks the Magpie champion a severe question on the track, and after it we should be able to form a fair idea whether he will be ready to settle his old score with Heroic. Truly some rich feasts are in for racegoers.