WELLINGTON MEETING

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 61, 13 March 1934, Page 4

WELLINGTON MEETING

THOMPSON; AND; RAILWAY

FORM HORSES FOR DOUBLE

Although; fields of excellent dimensions have accepted, for the opening day:p£'tlie WellingtonV; Racing . Club's Antumir. Meet' 4 ing, on Fridaj'-andi'Satijirdaj- nest, it pirn: hardlyibe sHidl^tith'ah^feblin'g-'of convict tion that the Quality is quite Yip to the standard .of . recent years. , The . 'hack events, with the valuable-Haqkv'Cup on the second .day' as a premier ' attraction; are of quite useful class*but the opeir events, and particularly; the sprint, t,are: not. ofthe attractive' quality, that' ttiey "ini'glit have, been."; Still the fields arehthVoughout evenly .composed,, and, provided theweather behaves'better ■ tliah it has! lately, the meeting should be in every way successful. . .; THOMPSQN;. HANDICAP; ; ' TKe defeetionjof such' likely performers as Silver King, : ■"Curie, anil ,Gar ; Sheila makes the Thompson Handicap issue decidedly easier for early selectors than it was. The.fifteen .horses,.remaining in are | two less in;, point) o£ number/ than: last years list, audrif'is probable that tlie field that finally parades will be near the same as last year's strength of 14. Several 'horsed are' already being discussed as possessing excellent prospects, and among these are last year's winner Autopay, the three-year-olds Golden Hair, Red Manfred, and . Epigram, also Cadland, Cricket Bat, Argentic, and Takakua. :;■■"■■ Autopay, on performances, is one of the first milers in Australia or New Zealand, and with only ,11b more to. carry than he had last,;year.;he needs .must.again" be serioiis)y.Scqneidered.'\: He ". made a qliick : recovery, from, the injuries he received when he was galloped on at the last Wellington Meeting, and it can be accepted that he will parade a .fit'horse.. One point that some may be inclined-to consider against his chance of a double success,: however, is that L. G. Morris will not now be available to ride him. Still any strong rider• should be-ableHo get the best out of this "toy bulldog." •-- The thl:ee-year : olds form a formidable list, and due ' "of them may well' add another success, for a .horse of the,age after a lapse since Highland scored under 7.13 in 1023. Golden Hair has 41b above weight-for-age and. will be in big favour if she is started, but it .ha'sitobe,noted that'she is also in the Railway Handicap and no announcement has yet'been .made about her mission. It is also just'possible'that, as on other occasions, she may feel the lack of a prior race. ..:'.'- Red Manfred, with weight-for-nge (8.6), may be expected to run out a solid mile, but in the past Trentham has been' a ■somewhat unlucky track v with him. He certainly won the Harcourt Cup there in the spring, but he twice failed badly at the January meeting, as well as also preI viously as a two-year-old. There is a body | of opinion favouring him round about his home quarters, and it is understood that this race will probably be his mission, in preference to the St. Leger. Epigram, with 121b below weight-for-age, is probably at his best at a mile, and on top of his Queen's Plate, and Plunket Handicap wins at Auckland, with his subsequent creditable fifth in the Wellington Cup and success at Woodville last Saturday,, he looks to .hold very • favourable prospects indeed of succeeding in this important heat. Moreover he will have the services of W. J.- Broughton, who is riding at his peak at present and is just the type of horseman -to draw the best out of him. \ '■ . .' 7 ■ Cadland's return to . form, at Te" Aroha sets him also in line for a reasonable chance at 8.13. which is Gib less than he carried when sent out favourite for the race two years ago. Cricket Bat is galloping in improved style and he can go a great mile :on top of the ground. Argentic may not appeal t? Wellington racegoers, but it cannot be overlooked that he is a great galloper, with the ability to win always in him. Takakua has a double engagement, and after his good Woodville win first time up for nearly five months he should go a dangerous race in 1.-whichever event he starts. Still Takakua meets Epigram' at 111b Worse .".terms'fin ..thfe Thompson than whenjlieVteat him' a';length' last Friday, and;' taking into full account difference of riders and the longer distance, one is inclined) to (eel the odds- as between' this pair •weighing; slightly in favour of the thrce-yenr-'oltLV !'■ ■■'.-■•V'.':-'.' ■ •■. '■ ' There are quite a number of possibilities among the remaining seven candidates, but they will be at longer quotes on the .day. than those. Whose merits have been briefly "traversed. : True Shaft, Pomp, Miladi, and Davolo- look probably le more likely upsetting .'factors'.among them/; ; v».;; ; ; '.■.'■,;'?'■'"'•''"■?}''•■"■■■ ■ ''i-i.-i.: ■'■■. "■!■';■ RAILWAY HANDICAP. The field of ten remaining in the Rail wny Handicap should not offer for th< majority of. racegoers the same testing search for the likely winner as the Thomp son. The lightweights as often as liaK supply the victor of this event, and as ll is practically a lightweight field this yeai they may again prevail, but all the saint it will probably-be found after the rae< that one of the upper half of the list hai been the successful- aspirant. Golden Hair heads the acceptance witl 8.11,.and as she has not had a race sinei he Auckland Summer Meeting this nia; be the event selected for her. At firs' sight she would appear to^have been- allot ed a fair parcel-of .Weightt with/her, 8.11 Hit she -.brilliantly1 -won the 'six:'furlong Royal Stakes. : at Ellerslie under a 1011 penalty. (making the" weight she" carfiei 8.7), :>nd she had to be ■ set ahead o Diatomous/whom' she; beat into third pla'c" with'G.p in the Royal. She looks a rathe better..prospect-herevthan in-the Thomr son, but one would have preferred he chances with a race in her. ' Biatomous. despite the fact that he wil be meeting GoldenJlair,at-31b worse tha their Royal .Stakes difference, is almos certain to be preferred to-her in the bei ting, and it is very probable that he will be a big favourite over the'whole.of his opposition/After his Royal: Stakes third he won the Wellington Stakes antl Metropolitan Handicap at the Wellington Summer Meeting in brilliant fashion, and as those. have.bSen his only starts since his racing at.Ellerslie. his prospei-ts deserve to be very -highly, assessed. Indeed, if Golden Hair had not been in .the field theWellington liandicapper might 'jiossibly nave felt justified in setting him oveii furthers apartfrom the rest.than he hn<. Diatomous certainly, looks to ;hdld a great chance of succeeding. in this .race, and much .money will bo lost if he- fails.'-. The remainder; aie not a really Rporl lot. though they have some fairly capable sprinters among them. Royal Hunting is speedy, but though he is more solid i\ow than previously he is a doubtful proposition down an elbow six. Copyist is reported to be fit. yet in the past he lias been seen to better advantage as' a meetins.'; progresses. Kerbside wiis last year's winner, carrying 3'/41b less than she has on this occasion, but she is not too: reliable a. mare. Cranford, as recent winner of (he seven furlongs Craven Plate at the C..T.C. Meeting, is a very likely lightweight prospect, though it should be noted that at Riccarton she beat Kerbside only by a neck at 71b better terms than here. , ' Takakua, like Golden Hair, has the dual engagement. He is bred rather for middle distances and has so far shown himself best in such races, but after his Woodville'success over six furlongs, there ar6 more impossible things that .might' happen, than that he, should win this good sprintV The remaining- three. Sanguine King, Good Hunting, and Lack, will not make any great present appeal. Sanguine King has been vi solid form, but he did nothit out at all pleasingly .at Woodville. Good Hunting is on the improve and might spring a, surprise, especially on a heavy track. Lack has done nothing since • his early two-year-old wins.