CANTERBURY.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1533, 11 September 1919, Page 11

CANTERBURY.

Snow Covers Riccarton Tracks —Ashburton Meeting Indefinitely Postponed—Sea Blue’s Promising Showing Over the Big Hurdles —Rorke’s Drift Goes Amiss. (Telegraph—Christchurch Correspondent) CHRISTCHURCH, Monday. The Riccarton tracks were covered with a thick mantle of snow on Tuesday, and were quite unfit for work till Saturday. This quite precluded training operations, the only exercises available being road work. After announcing that it would hold its spring meeting under any conditions, the Ashburton Racing Club decided on Friday that as there was no chance of the train service being reinstated, to indefinitely postpone the fixture. This will upset the calculations of those Riccarton trainers who were getting teams ready for the meeting, entries for which were already in. Link Up is making a good recovery from the injuries recently received to her face, but her mouth is so tender that it will be some time before she can be put into work again. Sea Blue continues to show attractive form in his schooling efforts, and on Thursday morning was responsible for a nice showing over several

flights of the big hurdles with L. Hagerty in the saddle. After doing light exercise on Friday morning the gelding by Cronstadt from Miss Hamilton, was decidedly lame and his trainer has been compelled to throw him out of work. A few days ago Starland, one of Mr. G. L. Stead’s representatives in the New Zealand Cup, was liberally supported for that event. He is a three-year-old by Nassau from Stardancer, who only started once last season.

The Southland-owned Primum and the colt by Martian —Two Step are still at Riccarton waiting an opportunity of returning home. During his stay at headquarters, the former has sobered down a lot, due mainly to his course of schooling over the small hurdles.

After doing a recent gallop with Eleus at Invercargill Rorke’s Drift pulled up lame, and is evidently still feeling the effects of the mishap which befel him at Wingatui last autumn. It was this that led to his withdrawal from the New Zealand Cup.