Courageous effort by Aran Blaze

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 36

Courageous effort by Aran Blaze

From

JEFF SCOTT

Blenheim

The course specialist, Aran Blaze, notched her fourth success on the Waterlea track with a gritty performance to win the City Hotel Marlborough Cup on Saturday. The co-backmarker on 30m, Aran Blaze improved wide with cover in the middle stages and after getting to the lead early in the run home, held out a spirited challenge from World of Fame and Lordshipman, which trailed, by a neck. Andronicus, which shared the 30m mark with Aran Blaze, improved to be handy but wide in the straight, and battled on for fourth. By winning, Aran Blaze became ineligible for the corresponding race on the second day today, and

will now contest a mile event at Addington on Wednesday evening. The six-year-old daughter of the defunct Scottish Hanover entire, Red John, and Replete ran the 2300 m from a stand in 3min 1.25, the leaders running their last mile in 2min 4.7 s and their closing 800 m in 58.65. Aran Blaze credited her Fernside trainer-driver, lan Cameron, with his eighteenth training success and twenty-first driving win for the season.

The richly-bred Sarasota was an impressive winner of the Middlepark Motels Mobile Pace after leading throughout The four-year-old halfsister by Smooth Fella to the big winners Mighty Gay, Del’s Dream, Valiant Dream and Bronze Trail, gave nothing else a chance by sprinting over her closing 800 m in 58.65,

winning by three lengths. The Templeton horseman, Murray Butt, whose team has been in good form in recent weeks, produced a first-starter in Furillo, a three-year-old half-sister by Farm Timer to Real Lumber (Imin 58.45), to score a game win in the Colonial Motels Pace, and Danum Lady, which improved from the back to be in the open, to win the Aorangi Lodge Motels Pace, wearing down the pacemaker, Jason Mac Faber.

Butt’s wife, Jenny, races Furillo with Dunedin caterer, Zeke Wilson, while Danum Lady is raced on her own account. Shirt’s Lord, which overcame a break at the rear on the inner on the home turn, gained a fortuitous rails run in the straight to win the final event going away.