WINTER IN EARNEST

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 133, 7 June 1937, Page 13

WINTER IN EARNEST

WANGANUI'S OPENING

THREE WINS FOR JENKINS

Weather that only snow could have made more bleak was experienced for the opening of the Wanganui Jockey Club's Winter Meeting at Wanganui on Saturday. The wind was at gale force and like a blizzard at times, and at intervals, rather inconsistently between fleeting breaks of sunshine, cold squalls of heavy hail and rain swept across the course. On such a day it was a wonder that any who had the choice thought of going racing, but there was quite a fair muster of racing enthusiasts to witness some excellent sport. • The racing was of a particularly high standard, and every one of the seven finishes were keenly contested, even in the jumping events. No winning margin was greater than a length, and most of them were much shorter. It was one of the best day's racing all round for a long time, helping to compensate a little for the inclemency of the weather.

The track was soft after so much rain, and in parts inclined to be slippery, but it was not actually ■ heavy. The totalisator suffered through the wretched day, but a small increase of £419 was still shown on the Saturday's figures of last year. The turnover was £12,822, compared with £12,403 twelve months ago. But for a veritable cloudburst between the two final events it might have been considerably greater. A feature of the day was the success of A. Jenkins in the saddle. He won the Century Hurdles on-Clarion Call and the Grandstand Steeples on Royal Banquet, and then closed the day with another win on Rotoma, a very versatile performance. In the other jumping event he was narrowly beaten on Hunting Queen. As ■ a result of an 'incident in the Steeplechase, in which Riotous hung in on Royal Banquet and pushed him over on to the rails, W. J. Bowden was suspended for one month. The Trentham steeplechaser Bonnie Rollox, a horse who has been well in the news this winter, broke down in the Grandstand Steeples, and he will probably be off the scene for the vest of the session. . ■ .