BIRTHDAY BOY'S PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 138, 8 December 1938, Page 13

BIRTHDAY BOY'S PROGRESS

(Special from "Early Bird.")

AUCKLAND, December 7

As was only to be expected, the entries received for the Waipa Meeting at Te Rapa next Saturday week have exceeded considerably the nominations for the carnival held at Te Awamutu last year. An entry of 21 in the Te Awamutu Cup is satisfactory, for most of those engaged are also in the Auckland Cup.

One of the most interesting races at Ellerslie on Boxing Day is going to be the Great Northern Foal Stakes. Usually one or two youngsters stand out in this event, but this time there are several who can be rated as having excellent prospects, these including Beaulivre, Konneta, Hign Caste, Anopheles, Winning Rival, Submission, and Foxmond. It was rather a pity that the Waipa Club did not alter its original programme for the Summer Meeting by [including a race for two-year-olds, as this class is not now catered for, other than in the Waipa Plate. The latter event is for non-winners and is run lat weight-for-age, in which the youngIsters carry 6.9, with an allowance of '51b for fillies. The Takanini apprentice G. Smith is about the only rider in the north capable of riding at 6.4, I and he will probably be on the stable representative Proud Fox. I A win at Whangarei last month suggested that Glen Abb would be a good horse this season, but since then he has failed badly in his few outings, and it is not surprising to find his owner contemplating a trip to southern centres during the holidays. On his day the Australian-bred gelding is good enough to win any handicap event, and with a drop in the class he may be difficult to beat if the tour is undertaken this month. While the class at Ellerslie may be a bit too- good for him, it should be possible to place Barrister to advantage once the provincial circuit opens in earnest after the holidays. His effort in the Alison Cup indicated that he is once again on the upgrade, for in that fine finish he was not very far away from the placed horses. He had shown up at Te Rapa a week earlier after being made a lot of use of, and his return to the winning list may not be much longer deferred. Judged on the work he is doing at Ellerslie, Birthday Boy's Auckland Cup engagement will probably be continued when the acceptances fall due. He is being given long steady tasks, and should be a very fit horse when he steps out on Boxing Day. At his last start he was a close third in the mile and a quarter Alison Cup, and that run should have done a good deal towards fitting him for the two miles at Ellerslie. He certainly looks the pick of those on the minimum.

Mention of Birthday Boy and his Auckland Cup prospects will once again draw attention to the possibilities of the stock of Limond over two miles. The records indicate that they have yet to prove themselves as great stayers. When he won two races in. Australia Birthday Boy numbered among his victims Bourbon, who finished second to Catalogue in the recent Melbourne Cup, and while that would not in itself suggest that he would beat Bourbon at two miles it certainly is a pointer and a help to those who favour the Ellerslie horse's chances.