FIRST CLASSIC

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 201, 10 September 1937, Page 15

FIRST CLASSIC

"Early Bird. ")

The Wanganui Guineas To-morrow ROYAL CHIEFS FORM

(Spccial — From

The first classic race of the season always attraets the keenest interest, for it is important in view of the many other events of similar nature whick follow. This applies to the two and three-year-olds. The new seaeon starts in earnest at Wanganui this week with the Wanganui Guineas to-morrow and it will not be a largo field; it never is. Elevcn three-year-olds survived the (mai forfeit, rnore than ono being left in in crror, and it will surprise if moro than half a dozen facc the starter. The £5 sweepstahe for starters will not detcr owners of a fair three-year-old from starting. The distanee is the usual Guineas course, oue mile, and it is always a matter for thaukfulness that the lield is always small at Wanganui, for the start is at the winning post and immediately after the deopatch the horscs are on the turn — and this turn out of tho Wanganui straight is one ,of the worst in the Dominion. Three Prospects. Of the likely runncrs to-morrow only j three cun be seriously eonsidercd on hi'st scason's form — Boyal Chief, Haughty Winner and The Crooner. Victory for anything else will i'urnish a genuine surpriso. although the local enthusiasts will look to the coupled pair Eclativo and Ieing to be right in the running. However, apart from this the issue shouid lie where indicated, and the trio mentioned are favoured in that ordcr so far as their twO-year-old running was concerned. lloyal Chief was a long way ahead of Haughty Winner and The Crooner last season and at the finish oplnions could be easily divided as to whether he or Smoke Screeu was supreme among their age; subsequent running may show that Courtcraft was fcetter than either, but as he is now in Australia after the A.J.C. Derby and Melbourne Cup ho will not enter into calculations in New Zealand until Christmas at the , earliest. Eoyal Chief was a winner I over seven furlongs and it is this that ; indicates that he will be a stayeri and \ therefore 'superior to any of the others at a niile and probably farther. A Tricky Course. The only thing that may count against hiin to-morrow is tliat he may not be quite tuned up as a result of unworkaole tracks being expenenced at Biccarton for a week or so prior to going to Wanganui, when he would otherwise have been asked to run along smartly. The race yesterday in which he was to be asked to contest shouid therefore have worked a big improvement in his condition. Another factor that may tell against the South Island colt is the turnlng track and the bad starting point, both j factons in favour of horses more en- ] dowed with speed than stamina — ^for j Wanganui is a notorious course favour- J ing rank non-stayers. But it is con- j fidently anticipated that Boyal Chief j will be brilliant enough to overcomo both these handicaps. Haughty Winner was boomed towards the autumn as likcly to be the best of his age, but he | did not go on with it as expected and I at his last appearance Boyal Chief de^ i feated him decisively over six furlongs | at level weigiits, there being a coupJe | of lcngths separating them and Haugh- ! ty Winner was only third. It is an- ! ticipated that the Clifford representa- | tive will also be improved, but in sta- j mina he may be not so well equipped as Boyal Chief. Whefe Danger Lies. The Crooner, ti • a horse of great possibilities, for there wore times last Beason when he threatened to be a near champion. He has the physiqae and the pace and so he will be well suited at Wanganui. If anything is to beat Boyal Cbief to-morrow it may be The Crooner. But in the meantime tho most conlldence is reposed in Eoyal Chief as being an outstanding proposition £0morrow. The ilrst real test of three-year-old supremacy will not be etaged at Wanganui to-morrow nor at Avondale nine days later, although at the northern fixture a few Auckland three-year-olds may tend to make it more interosting. It may not be until the Great Northern Guineas at Ellerslie on October 9 that all the craclcs will meofc. Then it is expected tliat Smoke Sereen will enter the ranks again to take on lioyal Chief and any others that have shown form at Wanganui and Avondale, and then on New Year's Day there may be a further show down with the returu of Courtcraft and Francis Drake from Australia. The position is .full of pleasant possibilities to the st"dent of three-year-old iorm. Until then, hoivover^ Boyal Chief dominates tho situation, for he was the most likely staycr seen out last season, although The Crooner may make it iriterestiug tomorrow.