SPORTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 July 1924, Page 3

SPORTING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By Maecenas.) On present indications the "Wellington Racing- Club will have a host successful meeting. Splendid weather lias been experienced in Wellington for some time past, and the race track should be in great order at Trentham to-morrow. The trip to Australia has made Carav\ock a very fit gelding, and the chestnut son of Spalpeen will have an army of supporters in the Wellington Steeplechase on Saturday next. H. Gray was originally engaged to ride Peach Brandy in the Trial Plate, to be 1 run at Trentham to-morrow, but J. Lowe does not like the chance of the imported one, so he has allowed Gray to stagd down. The tWo-year-olcl Tanadees will he ridden by J. Barry in the TrialPlnte to-morrow, and as horses of this age get a, liberal allowance of weight, it will probably be found that Tanadees, too, will play an important part in the event.

The writer hears on the best of authority that Gardenia will not be a runner in the Trial Plate at Trentham to-morrow, but will contest the Te Aro Hack Handicap instead. This will not mean that trainer Stuart' Waddel is not to be represented in the Trial Plate; as a matter of fact the stable will be represented by Razzle Dazzle’s sister,'Dazzling Light, which is report, ed to have run a remarkably good gallop recently. A s Merry Singer is endowed with pace, and already has given promise of turning out a useful hurdler, Mr. Vallance’s gelding should get support in the Vittoria. Hurdles at Trentham to-morrow., Royal Star won the open hurdle race at the recent Ashburton meeting hut the southerner, will have to do his best in the hack hurdles at Trentham if he is to heat geldings like Merry Singer and Admiral Codrington. The Egmont-trained Ecuador gallops well in heavy going, hut at the weights he will have trouble to beat fast sprinters like Soliform and Lady Fingers, both of which will oppose Ecuador in the Stewards’ Handicap ot Trentham to-morrow.

When Yoma won on the middle day of the recent Auckland meeting he was responsible for an excellent performance, as starting from the extreme outsjde in a field of twenty-one horses, Yoma got to the front in a couple of chains and thereafter did not look like being defeated. As Yoma carried 9.10 and ran the mile on a dead track in 1.45£, the performance was an exceptionally good one. Yoma may show up in the open races at Trentliam. Considering the event is a hack one. the steeplechase to be run at Trentham to-morrow contains a particularly good lot of Jumpers, -and it i s possible that the winner of to-morrow’s race may be prominent in the Wellington Steeplechase, to Jie run on Saturday next. Carawock is certain to he favourite tomorrow, but I expect Galwav and Bustler,to worry him. The class engaged in the high-weight Handicap at the Wellington meeting is not by any means good. At times Uralla has run . fair races, and as the Aucklander appears to be well it will not come a s a surprise should Uralla show up well.

Gardenia is described as a most promising sort, and no doubt will start favourite for the Te Aro Hack Handicap to-morrow ;• but as Rafa was suppoited to beat the best of the sprinters at the recent Auckland meeting. it is possible that he showed his connections a good gallop, and may produce the gallop to-morrow

£^r! 6 i Wr,^er f ol " me d a good opinion ot Galwav when that gelding Won recently, and is quite prepared to see the soiKof Kilbroney perform well in coming steeplechases. To-morrow Galwav will'encounter a fair lot at Trentham, and should he succeed lie can be written down as a promising ’chaser Personally the writer has not seen First Born since he raced at the late Auckland meeting, and cannot say how the son of Thurnham has progressed • .but unless First Born had clone well it is hardly likelv his owner would ask the gelding to tackle a difficult A-mile hurdle race like the Winter Hurdles i,s certain to be> If well. First Born will have an excellent chance; but if at all backward it is useless running him.

a good P rider like A. NVormald or R. S. Bagby in the saddle the New Plymouth trained Lochson would have a second to none chance in the Winter Hurdles at Trentham tomorrow, hut with 11.0 over miles on a dead track this gelding will need careful handling, and in this respect Lochson has been unlucky in the choice of riders in many of his races hence excellent chances have often been lost Comical is much in demand for the Parliamentary Handicap, which event is to be decided to-morrow; hut there are other horses which can do better than Mr. Campbell’s gelding if fancied by their connections. Musketoon, for one', will be very hard to dispose of if correctly labelled; then there is Cold Steel, a gelding that is capable of puttmg up a great ten furlong s if on his best behaviour.

Mikumai is a muc-h-improved geiding of late, and is now at his best, and many good judges are going to support him in the \\ inter Hurdles to-morrow. N'ukumai is nicely handicapped and hails from a. stable that has turned out some successful jumpers, and incidentally it may be stated that trainer A If. Wright is sweet on the chance of Nuku mai to-morrow.

On Saturday last the black gelding Oniallu was hacked from ;t well-informed quarter to win the double, the Winter Hurdles and Wellington Steeplechase. Although thi s comTnhation of races is hard to win. the fact of there being three days between the events will give a horse a better chance to win the double

A writer, in commenting on the large number of remits that are to come l.efore the Racing Conference this week, states that there is too much interfernee with raring rules in Xew Zealand. Possibly this is correct, hut when the same writer draws a comparison with the few chances that are attempted by the racing authorities in England hi* argument is not convincing, as we all know that the way racing~’is managed in England would not do in Australasia, as the Old Land is much behind the times and could certainly take and learn many noint-s in the management of racing from the Australian and Ne-t- Zealand controlling bodies. There are a number of formidable fences to be negotiated in the running of the Wellington Steeplechase, and a poor jumper will have little or no chance of getting round the course. Altogether there are twenty-four jumps in the race, which will be run three times round the course, and oh ea'h circuit the following fpnees have to he jumped: First, nost and rails, 3ft. Sin!: second, brush fence, 4ft. Sin.; third, hoard fence, 3ft. (lilt., wilh 2ft. brush in front: fourth, brush fence, 4ft. Sin.; fifth, double brush first 4ft. din., second 4ft. Gin. ; ,s : \th. brush ,4ft. Gin. : seventh, sod wall, 4ft. Sin., w : th ditch in front: eighth, log fence, 3ft. 6in., with ditch in front.