HOOFBEATS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1343, 22 January 1912, Page 6

HOOFBEATS.

CUP HORSE WITH A HISTORY. •"HE .'WALKS iho cream of New Zealand's jockeys were engaged to ride the sit raodera'to candidates engaged in\ the Trentham \\ elter,' but t bo horses ,'" were scarcely •■worthy of the horsemen, and (hero was 110 room for any very linn display' of horsemanship. Keeerit winning form was represented by Odessa. Turna, and Blake-ney,-tho' last-named'being matin a pronounced favourite. The'going was jift a triilo slippery at the .lime, and this'.probably prevented Odessa from being seen at his best. Re made a good showing until- half-way up tho straight, when Oliver brought the favourite along, and won easily. The Opening Races. In the Anniversary Welter Handicap, St. I'elix and Negative wero'practically equal favourites. The ."former appeared to have the race won. entering tho straight, but BcJogue got through on tho rails,' and won comfortably,'' whilo Heacon, who had made the early. running, came on again and beat St. i'elix for second money. The winner was the absolute outsider of the lield, and his supporters received a handsome dividend. : Gipsy 'Hello and Deploy wore withdrawn from" the' Electric Handicap, and reserved for the concluding event. Gladiole, with Olivor in tho saddle, was made a warm favourite, and, after Nauru ;j i had led for half a mile, the St. Clcmciits maro went ahead and won nicely. The remainder • of the candidates were beaten off by several lengths. All th'o acceptors wer'e' se'nt to the post for tho Nursery Handicap. .Canute, from tiio Yaldhurst stable, was a. pronounced favourite,. .but Peroneal, Glade, and Imagination .all had large folloivings. A big ' surprise .wa.s in Store ' for buckors, for, when the liuld had settled down,/'it was seen thai, the rank .'outsider,' Stvx, wan iii front, and lionc'o.f I ho other eiind:'(l»t«s were alterv.ards able to get within striking distance. The 'favourite, who

was hanging on! from the rails iu the early stages just got up in time to out Wurlight out of socond place. Had the latter rim second, she would have paid a still larger dividend than the winner. Undccidcd's Cup. It seemed to be the prevailing opinion that the fnurttyn horses which went, to the post ill the Cup were a poor lot us compared with lielils which had faced the starter in previous Years. Comparisons are, of course, difficult, hut the fact remains that the raw was won in the slowest time for ten years. Wight: from the time the weights appeared Midnight Sun hail lieen favourite, and, after the hor>es had paraded, Imckers appeared to lie.well satisfied with lii.s condition, and invested heavily on him. lie was the hottest favourite of the day, f'oromnndel and Birklino being the only others liberally supported. .Deeley, on the favourite, endeavoured lp win from tjie leading position, and the colt certainly made a gallant effort, hut. over Hi? last furlong, he simply had no chance with I'ndeciderf. II was not that the latter won so much as the manner of his winning that impressed- the spectators. Passing the stand iiie first: lime, he was tailed off, and Wilson made no move on him until after a third of Hie distance had been covered. . -After that he gradually made lip the lost ground, until, entering the straight, he was on the heels of the leaders. The next phase of the Wellington Cup of 1912 was a general cry that "Undecided walks in," and that is really the best way to describe his victory. Hail Coromandel not been shut out wlieu endeavouring to get. through an opening in the straight, he might have been sccond, for ho finished well, but he could have had no chance with the winner. Jjirkline ,ran a good race for a mile and a quarter, but, in tho early stages, he bnd been rushed forward to get a position, and this probably prejudiced his finishing effort. Of the light-weights,' Flingot and Koyal iAlarine both ran capital races. " • Undecided's History. Undecided is a horse with a history. Originally his breeding used to be given as by Monseh ikoff or Seaton JJelaval, but now he is accepted as by Mc.nschikott. Formerly owned by Mr.. K. .1. Watt, he came into Air. W. Smart's possession by means of an exchange, ono of the terms of which was that Mr. Watt should receive Tupono, a mare by Jledallion. Later Undecided was operated on for respiratory trouble, and soon commenced form wlien put into work. After winning various hack races, lie carried j oft the, Winter Cup (under a penalty) at I Kiccarton last August, and also showed capital form ,at the Wairarapa meeting this month. At one stage lie was m favour for the' Wellington v Cup, but backers subsequently turned from him as recently as Wednesday last, when Mr. F. Crossley had to. operate on him for boils on the mouth. As it proved, however, the ailment did not interfere with his chance," aiid his party, who had an early bet about him at goad odds, aro liandsdrnewinners as the result of the race. In .the big handicap to-day, Undecided will have tho services of his usual pilot , It. Hatch. L. Wilson, who rode him on ' Saturday, had previously won the Wellington Cup'on Moloch, and, among other good races which he has won, the .New Zealand Cup (on Downfall) may be mentioned. Outward, carrying the Karamu colours, i was' the popular fancy in tho Trial Plate, ' and the Birkenhead iilly won from end to eflcl, while. Ivimona easily beat tho other candidates. ■ ■ in: the: ItUapehu- .Handicap, _ l)irge was sacked in the same-manner as Midnight Sun'-had-been'-in the Cup,-and tnerc is very-'little: doubt that the Birkenhead fi(ly -should -have won. Sanguinary camp into the straight with a goud lfiad, but Dirge-, quiiikiy rah .up to her. Fuierson,- on - the favourite, then looked ■ round, and, in •,a trice, Sanguinary was;'llalf-.a length in front, and Dirge coulu not'improve her position. Some bumping took place between the' pair over the last 51) yards, as Sanguinary came out from the rails, and there was little surprise when a protest was entered against ■ the winner. The .stewards, alter hearing tiio ovideiice, dismissed the protest, on the ground that the bumping was accidental! What Happened to Dearest. There was a . peculiar occurrence in tho concluding event, when Dearest won, tut was disqualified for being over-weight. From what was learned by a reporter attor the race, it appeared that; Deeley weighed out at 7st. 61b.—lib. over.' When asked .if ho wished to declare, he took advantage of the 21b. allowance, and declined to do so. After the race he weighed in at Tst. 71b. 20z., and Mr. Hartgill had no option but to disqualify the horse. Tho affair gavo double backers and supporters of tile winner a shock, but it is not without parallel. A couple of years l ago Passive was disqualified on similar I grounds at Awapuni, and frequently horses have been disqualified for being underweight. A. Oliver, who had the mount on Nyland. was riding in fine form and was credited with three wins during the afternoon. ,'