TO-DAY'S, RACE MEETINGS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1632, 26 December 1912, Page 6

TO-DAY'S, RACE MEETINGS.

AT ELLERSLIE.

A field of thirteen horses is likely to go to the post for the Auckland Cup, to be run at Ellerslie to-day. • What was oxpected to be a record field has dwindled down to this number and were (he race to be decided a week hence it is safe to say that tho numbers would be still further reduced owing to the hard nature of the Ellerslie tracks at this time of the year. It goes without saying that the best horses of the ver.r are still m the race for the field contains the runner and runnerup of the New /enUiiid Cup, the Canterbury Cup, and Metropolitan winner, the runner-up in the Canterbury Cup and m the Stead Cup, and last year's Auckland Cup winner. Surely it ought to be a battle of. giants to-dny. Goldfindcr: and Los Angelos aru at. the-top of the list with 9st. This is a Ivg weight to bo carried successfully orer two miles in a fast race, which may b; looked for to-day with horses like, Royal Soult; Bon Ton, and La Keina in the Fold. Midnight Suu, with 31b. from the top. weights, .has not been going too well on the tracks, and tho touts are iniJined to pass him by. Domino (Sst. ML) is a laru stayer, probably the best in the field, but his weight is a'big factor, an.l in most quarters it ii argued that ho cannot succeed to-day. Bobrikoil' (Sst. 31b.) has consistently failed over long distances, and it is hardly likely that he is improving, but the Chokeboro horso Masterpiece (Sst. Gib.) has done everything on the tracks in a most satisfactory manner, and if we aro to believo that he was unlucky to miss the Now Zealand Cup he must he given a great chance in to-day's event. Eoyal Soult (Sst. lib.) lias yet to earn distinction over a distance, and tho fact that he is sore will not assist him. Bon Ton (7st. 121b.) is believed by many to bo tho best three-year-old of the year, tut lis has been handicapped up (o his reputation, and on the same'mark as Santa Rosa, Inst year's winner, he 'has none the best of it. The latter has come on a lot of late, and his gallop on Saturday morning has set Auckland sportsmen thinking. In fact, the cognoscenti in tho north regard the Cup as all over bar shouting. The black horso will be ridden by Ci Brown, who was in Hie saddle on the occasion of his victory twelve'months ago.

Seventeen horses have made the final payment for Hie liailwny Handicap, and some very smart sprinters aro engaged,

including Ventura, Culprit, and Walo* rava. The last-named will _be coupled with Bleriot, and the pair will prpbally be mado favouritte. "Waiorewa is a very fast beginner, and aa she will be quite at homo on her own course, Bhe may carry too many guns for the southern sprinters. The distance, six furlongs, and the long straight, should suit Mowbray in the Foal Stakes, and the Stepriiak filly. The Hague, will be meeting a very poor lot in the Nursery Handicap.