PROMISING SORT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 187, 25 August 1937, Page 15

PROMISING SORT

'-'Early

Bird ")

The Vanip's Form in Auckland Handicap UNLUCKY 0WNER

(Special — From-

A u Uivij u, n«asc iNigm. Tierei liavo been sucli tliings as a racecourso certainty; in fact, oue liears of them evory day, Tlie majority of them get beateh, but tlijat does noi : always mean. ' tkat the horses ref erred to should have gone uuder. Not many know The Vajnp'was ixi tho Auckland Handicap -at Ellerslie lasfc Saturday until the race was about over, so il was not surprisifig tkat whcn tkis ma finished gecond her divldgnd wa§ just under doublq figures, In her previous races among tho maiden classes The Vamp has revealed promise on one or two occasions, al. though not gufficient to cq.usq her to be heralded as likely to be a good hack, which her "latest running certainly guggested. Sq the fact that £117 was inyested on her chances on Saturdiay indicated that she was lightly fanoied instead of being regarded as a hopeless casg. The race was moro than iost when The Yamp stoppcd at the barrier and did not move until the others h^d left, but once ghe did go she revealed a torrent of speed and - she bad gqt up haudy passing the halfmile. Making tho home turix she was lying fifjth and jn a winning positipn if'she was (a) good°enough and (b) if she had not taken too much out of herself by this early burst of speed. Scissors Movement. As soon as the field had straigktened up, Young Paddon, fast becoming a spent force, was joined in front by the cliallenging Top Toes, while Mai de Mer, just outside this; pair, suddenly began to bore out. At this very moment The Yajnp was beginning to f orge -f orward between Mai do Mer and Erlick, and the former's boringj tendency caugkt tho Y&wp in the vice or scissors and when they closed she was knocked rigjit back. Thi§ ghopld havq been sufficient to leave the mara dowp the track, but nothing daupted she turned insidq and again she rnrne. By this time Tip Toes was a couple of lengths clear of Tho Yamp) and was fighting it out with Mel de Mer ftud Erlick, Under punishqaent The Vamp closed on the ieaders, and finishing very faat, she got tQ witjiin a neck of Tip Toes, having passed the other pair. It was a phenomenal perforinanco qltogothei and caused The Vamp rightly to be regarded! as a certainty feqaten, Eor a maiden it was a really staitling ef-. fort and will caase her to be at a short price when she gets back to the nonwinners' class. It is tq be hoped that a very hard race will not find'a weakness in her make-up, for further im- ! provement should place her in the minor handicap class at least. Then agaiu alie m^y be up against some very good and promising throe-year-olds in maiden company. Left witli the Money. Tho real tragedy surrounding the defeat of The Yamp began befOre she was left at tho post, for her owner, Mr. E. Grimmond, of Pukekohe (he has raced kfiss Lu very gugcesgfully) was next in line in the totalisator queue when the window shut down and he was shut put. He was only going to place a modest investiiient on The Vamp, but it was unfortunate that he was also holding several pounds given him by friends to invest and they too had to watch tho horsq run with their money not on. Sp after all it seemed that Mr. Grimmond wa3 fated not to win that race. and ypu can't beat Eftte when it apparently §ets out to beat you. The Vamp is a fire-year-old now, so she has been' a long time coming to her peak, which is surprising when it is known that her relativqs Have done well early in their racing qareers. She is by Sargon from Shebang, by Nassau frpm Shqbeen IT„ by Veles. Shebang 's first foal, by Catmint, was killed in an aceident, and her second foal was Wild Time, this filly winning a few races when trained by J. T. Jamiesor 4 'Lion Heart &nd Tavern Knight wero also ont Pf Shebang, the latter being a yery fast gallopqr, Tavern Knight won here and was then taken across to Australia, whero he also " impressed, an accident cutting short a promising career.