N.Z. CUP CONDITIONS

Chronicle (Levin), 9 October 1946, Page 6

N.Z. CUP CONDITIONS

Objection lias been takeii to the fact tliat the top weight in the New Zealand Cup will be limited to 9.7. Nightmarch followed his win in the Melbourne Cup with 9.2 by winning the New Zealaiid Cup with 9.6 in 1930. Sinee then only Arctie King 8.1, lioyal Lanoer 8.11 and Golden Souvenir 8.2 have won with over 8.0, and siuee the race was first run in 1883 (Tasman 7s year), only 18 horses have won with over 8.0. In the same period only one horse succeeded with over 9.0. This shows that a top1 weight liolds a very remote chance of success (says ' ' Sentinel Nightmarch (9.6) is the only winner with over 9.0, and he was lucky to win. He won from Concentrate 8.10 and In the Shade 8.2. Riding instructions cost In the Shade the race. A much more objectionable feature of the conditions attached to the New Zealand Cup is the limiting of the rehandicapping conditions to weight-for-age. This means that a good three-year-old such as Noctuiform, who won the A.J.C. Derby, can get into the New Zealand Cup at weight-for-age, wliereas a horse four years old or more could be sent up from 7.0 to 9.6. There should be a limit to a rehandicap, as it is />n record that the winner of a minor race at Riccarton was sent up 171b. for the Grand National Hurdles. With the new racing season a little over two months old, N. B. Holland and W. J. Broughton, who finished first and second respectively in the winning jockeys7 premiership last term, have again sorted themselves out and have ridden-considerably more winners than their nearest rivfils. Broughton leads at present with 14 winning rides, Holland liaving won with 12 of his mounts.