NATIONAL MEETING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 165, 30 July 1937, Page 15

NATIONAL MEETING

"The Barb. ' ')

Dress Rehearsals at Christchurch Hunt FIELDS REVIEWED

(By

The annual raee moeting of the Christchurch Hunt will be hold at Riccarton to-morrow, the last day of the 1936-37 racing season. The fields in most of the races are large. The interesting events are the Homeby Steeplechase, the Longbeach Hurdles and the Brabazon Handicap, regarded as preliminaries of the Grand National Steeplechase, the National Hurdles and the Winter Cup respectlvely. Hastings stables will be represented ' by Tiger Gain, Journet, Blue Tiger and Le Touquet. Blue Tiger will contest the mile hack. The betting will be on the win and place system. CHRISTCHURCH HUNT CLUB steeplechase. This event is conlined .to qualihed uunters and has drawn the sinallest field. of the day. Keily the Crow has proved himse'if a hunter of quaMy, but nis 12.9 will surely test him. Glenmure nas been in the money in each of his mst brace of starts. Scotsden is also a possibility on iorm, which appears lacking in the remaining two. Maybe most money will be invested on the chanees of KELLY THE CROW aml SCOTSDEN. * , LAWFORD HACK AND HUNTERS' steeplechase. Black Banner won last Saturday and, liaving paid up in the. National, must uo considered a promising eort by his party. Arctic Star ran a very fair third to fetreamlihe and Polydora at Washdyke and it looks as if, had more patience been adopted by his jockey , ho wonld have been a winning possibility. Tangled is a fair hunter and Shillelagh Wood the making of a useful cross-country geldmg — he too is Still in the National. Lycidus is the bestperformed jumper of the others. The favourites look like coming from SHILLELAGH WOOD, ARCTIO STAR and BLACK BANNER, MAIDEN STAKES.

Twenty-three have made entry for this event including the lotally-b'rod Lustral (Tidal — Asterism), Mother-in-law (Siegfried — Arbitration) and Rockmgham (Tidal — Crown Gem). There is promising material in this race and, though opinions may be widely divided, the best backed may eventually prove to be SCREAMER, RO CKIN GH AM and MOTHER-IN-LAW,-HOMEBY STEEPLECHASE. Since arriving at Riccarton, Tudor has thrown off nis Soreness. This topvveight, who occupies a similar position m the National, is a class jumper and, despite his 12.3, will take some beating. lioyal Limond on Monday morning gave a very disappointing display over the Riccarton country; in fact it was ko bad that Mr Symes, his owner, asked the trainer to school him again on i'uesday morning when the Limond gelding gavo one of his very bcst exnibitions.- ;Valpeen is doing most Of his work on the road, and his o\vner-traincr can be trusted to do the right thing as he knows his gelding perfectly. Manavvatu will find the track conditions much more suitable than at Trentham. Nocturnus goes fast, jumps brilliantly and is now showing more stamina tiian formerly andi as he is being given a light-weight's chance in the National, must be fiard tO-mofrow. * Burglar won both his races at Wellington, but his form prior to that was only moderate and maybe it was the mud that assisted him and hampered the others so that his running to-morrow on top of the going will be eagerly watched. Forest Glow has yet to show something of his last season 's form. Pahu is a .plodder so perkaps the 24 miles will be too short for him. Cock of the North ao far has not wOn in open company. All nine acceptors are in the National, henc'e the event being so interesting to speculators. What will be favourite, NOCTURNUS, TUDOR or MANAWATTTf CAMLA HAOK HaNDICAP. They are not what could be termed a strohg field of hacks. Win e Card is flattered in being awarded top-weight. Mi.tt'ie we kuow to be a brilliant galloper and, haviiig thrown off all sigus of the autumn soreness, tho LSVin owned and trained maro will have inany i'riends. Palmyra won easily last Saturday. Countervane, Peacock, Liane, V'ola Dalo and Le Toquet have all shown fair form of late. Most money may be on MITTiE, PALMYRA ainl JS'OLANDA

JLONGBEACH HURDLES. Red Sun when right is one of the best hurdlers in tho Dominion on firxa going and, as he is likely tb" be one of the favourites in the National will be closely watched in this mile and threoquarter race. Oolfision is one that came mto promiuence ae a hurdler only tkreo months back when winning on the YVoodvillo course — he P-kes it soft. Ethiep rau well at. Wanganui and this Niggor Miustrel gelding may be anotber that is bo.st >n Jlrm going. Higli (.Jaality, another that likes good going, has been trained (lown s'outh for soiue 1'ew weeks and is wcJl reported upoit. Cottixigham when w.nning at Ashburton i the end of Juno beat only a moderatu j lot. Jouvnot was slightly injured ut I Wellington and, as he Itad to be eased a little when roturning here, may be in want. of a race. Ilowever. he left hero looking in the pink. Signaller has not beon at the game long, but is a winner. Giggleswick may prove tlie best of the remainder. Three ihat may appeal most are REI) SUN, HlCIl QUAT.TTY nncl ETHIOP.

BRABAJ20N HANDICAP. The big majority of the twenty-six acceptons are listed also in; the Winter Cup. Concert Pitch is well reported upon, while Trench Fight has been rattling off attraetive gailops and promises to start favourite for this race as well aa for the Winter Cup. Queeu of Song appears to have slipped a little. The seven furlongs may ilot be far cnough for Arctic King or Tiger Gain. Pukanui 's win last week-end was narrow. Grey Honour is well liked for the Winter Cup and Wino, last year's winner of the event, is regarded as good enough to go close to repeating that dose, Bay Duke, Land Raid, Araboa and Shy are all going well. That useful Chief Ruler hack, Dietate, has gone out of favour a little of late on account of having to be eased when a eplint was being treated, but is now working satisfactorily and has plenty of time to be got to his best for the Winter Cup. If a surprise ia to come from a lightwoight the probables may be Fiord and Top Rank. Speculation may centre round TRENCH FIGHT, GREY HONOUR and ARABOA. KENNELS HANDICAP. Hack conditions. Jolly Beggar is having his dress rehearsal in this race as also Blue Tiger, another National Hurdles eandidate. They are not a flash lot of hacks and most money looks like being carried by TEERY GEAHPIAN and JOLLY BEGGAR. TO-MORROW'S PROSPECTS The curtain-raiser to the Oanterbury Jockey Club's Grand National meeting, which opens at Riccarton next Tuesday week, is the fixture to be held at Riccarton to-morrow by the Christchurch Hunt Club, and as the form will be very interesting in vi.ew of coming events, the minor body ought to have a very successful gathering. Betting will be conducted under the win and place system. The steeplechase country will be in full use for the cross-country races tomorrow, and this will give some idea as to how the National candidates and horses for other events will shape over the formidable fences. So it will be in the case of the hurdlers. The fields are excellent all round, and unless rain falls the going will be good, for Riccarton is a very fine wet-weather course. The following may be keenly supported in their engagements tomorrow: — 11.52: Hunt Cup. — Kelly, The Crow, Nightwind. 12.27 : Lawford Steeples. — Arctic Star, Black Banner, Tangled. 1.12: Maiden Stakes. — Screamer, Mother-in-Law, Stromboli, 1.52: Homeby Steeplechase. — Burglar, Nocturnus, Tudor. 2.32: Camla Handicap. — Liane, Palmyra, Le Touquet. 3.12: Longbeach Hurdles. — Collision, High Quality, Journet. 3.52: Brabazon Handicap.— Arctic King, Pakanui, Grey Honour. 4.32: Kennels Handicap. — Waitaha, Terry, Sir Hugh.