CABANA SELECTED FOR HURDLES AT TRENTHAM

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27397, 9 July 1954, Page 4

CABANA SELECTED FOR HURDLES AT TRENTHAM

RACING

Cabana and Colonel Argosy, two ! clever jumpers right at their best in bad ground, may be well to the fore in the struggle for the major honours in the Trentham Hurdles on the first day of the Wellington winter meeting tomorrow. They are proved performers at Trentham, and finished first and second in this race last year. Superior pace gave Cabana his victory. Cabana then won the Winter Hurdles on the third day of the meeting. A jaded Colonel Argosy failed in that i race, though he had won the Lambton ■ Hurdles on the second day of the meeting.

Cabana started disappointingly this winter, and his form was all to pieces until he ran third to Viewfield and Cogitation in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles last Saturday. The race was run on good going. On a heavy track, Ca- , bana would have probably mastered the two that beat him, and he may i prove that with track conditions to his liking tomorrow. ( Success at Invercargill ( Colonel Argosy has raced twice over • hurdles this winter. He won at In- < yercargill and lost his rider at the first ' jump in the Otago Hurdles. < He has won three races on two I, earlier trips to Trentham. His ability { to gallop freely in bad ground was the { main factor contributing towards his : success. Cabana at his best will prob- 2 ably have too much ability for him on 4

the flat, but he is a good place prospect Canadian was the beaten favourite in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles last Saturday. He would have done better on a heavy track, because he had those conditions when he won the Waikato Hurdles in May. This will be Canadian’s most solid test, but he is the right type to make the grade, and his weight, 10-9, should not beat him. Cogitation, one of three South Island horses in the field, does not appeal much now that the track has deteriorated. He will get top marks if he can carry top weight of 11-9 to victory under the conditions.

Viewfield has raced consistently, and his win at Hastings was well deserved. At the weights, he should beat Wellfield, another winner at Hastings. The Te Rapa-trained Bhikoo and the Invercargill jumper Reproof appear to dominate the light-weights. Bhikoo made a big impression in winning two hack hurdle races at Ellerslie last month, and the drop in the weights will help him to get into the

Reproof was placed twice over hurdles at Wingatui, and went to Trentham looking better than he has done for some time. Horses with winning performances in the Trentham mud to their credit must be respected. Reproof won a hack hurdle race on a very heavy track at this meeting last year. Further rain would brighten his chance. Plans for Riverstone Unless there is more rdin before tomorrow, Riverstone will probably run in the Mariri Hack Steeplechase. This In ver car gill-trained Lo Zingaro gelding may do more to improve his

record than any of the other South Island horses at the meeting. He stays 'well and is a neat jumper over country and hurdles, his versatility being a parent at Wingatui last month when he won in both roles. The North Island hack steeplechasers are not a good lot this year. Trimnell, ® *s inn e r , at Hastings last Saturday, ■will probably be the best-supported of them, but his chance looks little brighter than Ivanhoe’s. Ivanhoe was runner-up to Fox Fun in this race last year. He has not yet raced over country this winter, but has had two races over hurdles since his spell, and should be in the right run race out strongly. The Oamaru-trained Border Reiver jumped the Trentham country competently yesterday, and he will have conditions made to order for him. He failed on his home course last month, when the track was firm, but his two appearances in bad ground at Wingatui produced a win and a second. Upright's Chance

Upright, Sonloch, and Sasin appear to have the best fom backgrounds for tbe r Vittoria Hack Hurdles. Upright has had a busy season, and has. been mixing hurdling with flat racing lately. He is a first-season hurdler, and has made a good beginning. Two starts ago, he won over a mile and three-quarters on a heavy track at Awapuni. Among those he beat was Puketoi, now one of the early favourites on the strength of his win at Hastings last Saturday. Two starts before he won at AwaJ)uni. Upright was runner-up to Sonoch in the hack hurdle race at Masterton. A length separated them at the end of a hard-run race on a heavy track. There was merit in both performances, because they beat Viewfield, which later won the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles. Sasin was having his second race after a spell when he won the hack hurdle race on a heavy track on the second day of the Manawatu winter meeting. He led for the last six furlongs, and easily beat Boleigh, fourth in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles last saturwinner of this race often comes i from below 10-0 in the handicap. The best of the light-weights in this field should be Anvil Song and Eastern Appeal. Wingatui Horse In Form

The field for the open sprint, the Stewards’ Handicap, is a small one. and it lacks a really good sprinter. The Whyte Handicap has been a powerful counter-attraction. Delaved is the only South Islandtrained horse in the field of nine. South Island horses have done well in Trentham sprint fields during the last few seasons, and Delayed has gone north right at his peak and with good prospects of furthering that record. At his last start, Delayed decisively won over six furlongs on a heavy track at Wingatui. He is versatile and should be well up to this class. He has raced well in stronger fields on earlier visits to Trentham.

A string of failures since his success in this race last year has put Lord Milling back on the minimum. From that place in the handicap, this Opakitrained gelding should be very prominent if ne runs generously. A heavy track usually helps him to show his best, and his fast-finishing fifth at Hastings last week was a pointer to an early win when conditions suit bun.

Red Star will be one of the bestbacked runners, on the strength of a pood second to Saboteur at Wingatui last month. He is small and 9-3 may trouble him if the track becomes any heavier, but he has more class than most of the others, and is a strong place possibility. Selections:— 11 am.—Mariri Hack and Hunters’ Steeplechase: Riverstone. Ivanhoe, Border 11.42 a.m.—Vittoria Hack Hurdles: Uptight, Sasin, Puketoi. 12JS p.m.—Trentham Hurdles: Cabana, Canadian, Colonel Argosy.

■ 1.10 p.m.—Wellington Steeplechase: Song of India, Oklahoma, Repayment. 1.55 pan.—Woburn Hack Handicap: Sir William, Josudi. Red Admiral. 2.40 p.m.—Stewards’ Handicap: Delayed. Lord Milling, Red Star.

3-27 pan.—Whyte Handicap: Golden Coronach, Santiago, Curzon. 4.15 pan.—Te Aro Hack Handicap: Copperfield, Beaverbrook, Royal Warrant. Rain fell on Wednesday and again yesterday morning, but it has not damaged the track to any great extent. If there : is no further rain, the going win be soft, but not as heavy as it usually is for July meetings at Trentham. The double is on the Wellington Steeplechase and the Whyte Handicap. Fields for those races, with form backgrounds and available riders are:— WELLINGTON STEEPLECHASE HANDICAP, Of £3500. Three miles and three furlongs.

Br-ckets: Battle Ensign’‘and Himiler, Payloch and Sanford. Gold ratChed: Royal V °s ra ®®» Rareka, Pretty _ , Un Starters: Saboteur, Meresun, Glenkay.

st. lb. 0041 Dunwold (23) J. Woolliams .. 11 3 111 Song of India (14) J. P. Carter 10 13 0311 Oklahoma (22) A. G. Waddell 10 6 2223 Repayment (7) J. R. Potter 10 6 0400 Gay Echo (19) J. W. Harris .. 10 2 1011 Parsifal (17) H. J. Ford 10 1 3301 Beauform (8) G. Jenkins 10 0 2330 Count Minerva (3) I. Lord .. 9 9 3302 Peaseblossom (24) R. B. Shield 9 9 0310 Brown Jester (12) 9 8 020 Fox Fun (11) R. J. Turnwald 9 7 0000 Mr Thunder (4) K. Dulieu .. 9 5 0000 Windfall (9) 9 5 9 3 0240 Swift View (13) 2000 Game Felous (15) 9 2 2220 Mickie (5) W. Rout .. 9 1 4030 Jimmy Woodser (1) F. L Robinson .. 9 0 0000 3000 Bagot (21) Boyhood (10) 9 0 9 0 3103 Green Light (2) C. G. Low .. 9 0 4120 Lay Off (6) B. J. Langford .. 9 0 0000 Loyal Subject (16) 9 0 4204 The Piper (20) R. A. Jenkins 9 0 Brackets: Peaseblossom and Green Ligh , Mickie and Jimmy Woodser. WHYTE HANDICAP, Of £2250. One mile. 0001 Curzon (23) N. A. Crombie .. 9 3 3213 Royal Mail (11) L. W. Hare .. 9 3 0100 The Wake (2) Glenkay (5) C. A. Bo wry Golden Coronach (13) N. B. 9 2 0221 9 0 0001 Holland 8 13 1000 Vitalogy C19) W. D. Skelton 8 13 4132 Bretton (17) J. W. Harris .. 8 10 0010 Gay Minstrel (3) J. Grath .. 8 10 0010 Sir Nicholas (8) D. J. Wyatt 8 10 3032 John Gilpin (24) J. A. McFarlane 8 9 0120 Lyndomar (16) 8 9 1010 M er esun (26) A. C. Messervy .. 8 9 2011 Saboteur (10) W. J. Broughton 8 9 1001 Dormant (22) C. H. Mackie .. 8 7 1311 Santiago (15) W. L. Aitken .. 8 7 1010 Mainlander (27) T. Carbin .. 8 5 0003 Topmost (1) K. A. Thomson .. 8 4 2210 Blackfellow (25) C. McDonald 8 3 0000 Windsor (12) 8 3 0001 0300 Battle Ensign (6) N. Eastwood Himiler (14) 8 2 8 2 1010 Battle Fort (9) V. J. Sellers 8 1 0002 Berne (4) G. R. Tattersail .. 8 0 4040 Payloch (18) 7 12 2004 Sanford (21) B. P. Wood 7 8 0000 General Grant (20) .. 7 7