HACK CUP CANDIDATES

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 62, 14 March 1934, Page 6

HACK CUP CANDIDATES

INTEREST IN THEIR DEEDS

With the -valuable Champion Hack Cup an addition to the concluding day o£ the Wellington Racing Club's Autumn Meeting yeai more than ordinary interest will be manifested iv the showing made by hoises engaged in this event on theopening day on Friday. A field upwards or 30 stiong ib at present. possible in the ,HatL Cup, and it may be of some value to consider briefly the credentials of, the likeliest aspirants for champion nonoms. Most of, the probable runners ha\e engagements on Friday. It may be noted before dealing with the candidates that ■ the race is- -unusual m that it is to be contested over, a distance of 11 fuiloiigs; Mife arid, a quarter hacfc laces ale by no. means uncommon, especially m the South Island, but a hack event ot a longer distance" is completely exceptional. Ihere 'are very . few horses m Satmdaj'b lace who have tackled'such a distance, but there are quite a number who hare been up to VA miles, and there are otheis -\ ho have given every indication of being able to stay. * ' One of the first day's races that may tin ow much light on the Hack Cup outlook is natmally the Silverstream Hack Handicap, -which, is run over one mile. However, there are also a few horses engaged in the linakori Hack Handicap, six furlongs, -nho may get the long distance, and the Rimu Highweight and the St. Leger Stakes offer o.ther candidates whose chances must be critically considered. Peihaps aftei all the St. Leger will .yield the best clue. ■'...;■ '" SILVERSTREAM CANDIDATES. On top of the Silverstream Handicap, as well also as heading the Tinakori Handicap, is Lone Raider, a galloper who has,shown himself- to be something out of the oidinaij run. After a long .spell following a few starts as a three-year-old this solitdiv offspring of Martian's grandson The Raidei came -back to the arena as a., six-year-old this season and he has .already won four of his five starts, all Veiy deu-neh In his List outing he earned 9 0 to .1 .two length \lctoly in the Kclbiun Handicap, one mile, at the Wellington Summer Meeting in January, and he left the nnpie^sion that, as his bleeding undoubtedly hints, he -nould go a. longer distance vithout stress On what has been seen of him he js a "freak" srallopei, and though he, will be one of the topweights in the Champion Hack Cup the tabk'of winning may not piove be\ond him. Xoailj a <.iono beneath Lone Raider 111 the Sihet>>treain are Might, Round Table, Rust, and Jjiinbohm, all on the 8 8 mhik Might does not appeal as a stajei, thougli hia former trainer had some hopes foi him-in this respect, and Round Table should have done better at Bulls to have a decent chance; Rust looks a much likelier prospect than either, for she has lately -non three successive races at distances above a mile, and, though by an Absurd sue (Lysandcr), she mhciits stout staying blood through her dam Bionze, -who was .by Musket's grand: son l>ield Batteiy.^ LimbohTi is another well enough bied' foi he is by Lnnond from the impoited 'mare Bonny Bnar, one of vho^e eailier progeny, 13nar Root, could a middle distance, but slijjlitly against his piospects is the fact of his numerous narrow defeats on. occasions on which a tiilly good hoise would ha\e succeeded. The next group includes Silver Sight, 'Tntportanec, Taitoru, Ruri,. Cleaner, and Senior, a set of horses who have time and again been just.noj; good enough to wm. Especially 111 tins category arc Silver Sight, Taitor.ii/and Cleaner, and Ruri does not requue paiticiil.ll attention because he n is not .nominated [or the Hack Cup. Importance and Senior, in contrast, are bred to.stay; well, and at .the longer distance than they Tune pie\iously tackled tliey may piovidc moie solid opposition than they ha\ c done on occasions in the past. Senior, as a half-brother by Chief Ruler to Second Wind, looks well woith holding in. mental: note, for he is a colt of whom the best:' has probably not yet been seen. The remaining half o£ the Silverstream contajn only two or three names worth present consideration in a Hack Cup connection. Sibella is a well-bred filly by Silverado —out o£ Zaragoza, a half-sister .to' Malaga, and Paqnito, and.that says a lot?" in. her favour. ' Then Scarlet Ramblev, a half-sister by Day Comet' to Prickles and-Brambletorn, has won at her only outmg tin*, reason Oiampian, if he beoomes cliprible in ith a a\ in 011 Fridaj, in \y be the likeliest upsetting element fiom the remamdei, as he i-> capitally bicd to stay. 1 FROM OTHER' EVENTS. The Tinakon Hack offeii onl> a few Hack Cup candidates -with leasonable prospects on paper of seeing out the testing joumev on the Sdtmdat Lone Raider has. aheadv been mentioned, and otheis m P^J(ln^'s <.punt nho may not be incommoded >by the longer distance are Blue Boy, llirli Grndei, and I'rostration Bliiq Hoy,1 a four-year-old full-brother to Gay Couit, has i\on his last tluec stalls, -.all at,a mile or further, and although the class he has beaten has not ah\ajs been very? select it cannot be overlooked that in the Ahinui Hack Cup at Xapiei Park •he beat Limbohm, High Grader, and Senior, all hoises who will have following afTrentham. High Grader is an improving son of Lord, Quex, but he is taking time to reach hi-, peak Pio^tialion -was beaten into second ]ilaco i\ lien tucd o\ ci a mile in the Waitavapa Hack Cup at the New Year, but he is from the dam of Stanchion imV Cessation, so there should eventually ■be middle-distance races in him Other items on Friday's card which may ha\p a definite beat ing on tlie Hack Cup aie the St Lecei mil the TTighwcight Tv the St. Lcjjer arc Spiral, Catalogue, Palm Queen, and Weiohia, four horses" who would need only to: make a decent show-i ing to become among the best-fancied divit sion in Satrndav's champion item Spnal is a -\ery promising three-jear-old who has already won at a mile-and a quarter in open company, and .on all that has been seen of him he. is rather a stayer than anything else. Indeed, should tin- Lnnond colt wm the St Logci he may become the Hack Cup faiounte , Catalogue is another A\ho has demonstrated staging wOl th, butjip has been disappointing in recent races. Palm, Queen wa-> thml 111 the Ahsnn Cup at ,'Lakapuna, run at. a shade further"than ■ Saturday'srace, so she is well endowed with stamina credentials-. Werohia claims notice because he is a son of Gi-eyspear and Toxeuma's half-sister Huiarau, and becnuso he has recently struck a winning patch with three successes in line, though admittedly only among the smaller-fry. . : A pair from Friday's Highweight liable to make creditable showings in the Hack Cup are Hazoor and Te Ua. Hazoor is.a particularly useful hack with all the indications about him of staying ability, and he may prove well up to finishing in the money in the champion heat. Te Ua is another solid sort who almost always runs a good race, but Hazoor looks a rather better prospect than he does. Other highweight runners witli chances oh1 Saturday arc Pango and Walton Park; andAesculus requires passing note too because he won the Victory Hack Handicap, VA miles, at Trentham in the spring. . '; Besides all these horses are some others who are not engaged on the first day but who Ynay be on hand on Saturday,. Mps.t. noteworthy among them are Korero, Oriel, Some Shamble, and Vanestep. Korero and Oriel look like developing into good.-stay-ers, but they may not y«t be quite up to the class. It is a matter with Some Shamble-.-and Yane.step,,hjOwever. for these two have won open handicaps^oyer \M miles, arid they were winners of'such' events at their latest starts. Vanestep actually is no longer a hack, and she has the splendid record of eight wins in thirteen starts since she began racing at the back end of last season. Reasonably weighted both Vanestep and Some Shamble should be excellent prospects on the big Trentham track, and in the end they may provide the main opposition for the St. Leger winner, Lone Raider, and Hazoor.