SPRING FORM

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 46, 17 November 1937, Page 15

SPRING FORM

Performances at C.J.C. Cup Meeting NOTES 0N RUNNING (Special to Herald-Tribune.) WELLINGTON, Last Night. Spring form at the New Zealand Cup rueeting is likely to have an important bearing on the racing betweon now and Christmas, and not a great deal will be asked of the best of the horses until the holiday circuits commence in a month'a time. Although she wou only the one race, the Canterbury Cup, in which she recorded the unique performance of defeating the Derby winner at weight-for-age, Ouddle gave further' evidence of her class when going down niirrowly to Argentic in the Metropolitan Handicap, She is as well now as ever she has been, and althoirgh she is assur'ed of a big weight in the Auckland Cup, her eifort t'o wiri her third one in succession will be followed with keen interest through1 out the Dominion. Many. who saw her race at Riccarton will be prepared to r.oncede her a chance of performing this unusual feat; It is doubtful whether she;is a true stayer, but if allowcd to run her race in a series of sprints and spells, as in the Canterbury Cup, she would be a difficult mare to beat. Ccrne Abbas w.as a little unlucky in the Metropolitan, and her minor placing was a creditable performance in the circiimstanees. She. has improved just as npich as Small Boy has gene back since the Mitchelson Cup at Auckland. The latter has had a solid 12 inonths of racing. Wild Ch'ase has gone to a riimcult position in the weights for handicaps, ana will bave to be a good borse to win. II is magnilicent effort io make history iu the New -Zealand Cup evidently got to the hottom of him, as he showed no dash in the Canterbury Cup. If the lcaders in the Kew Zealand Cup nad hung on for another furlong, Wild Chase would have been inuch harder to beat. Eriesland can be lsept in mind for a good handicap in the near future. While he is not a true stayer, he received a very rocky passage in the iinal two furlongs of the New Zealand Cup, but he was remarkably fresh when paraded f0> the Fendalton Handicap which ne won brilliantly. He may always be seen at his best up to 12 furlongs. Queen of Song ran good races without getting any money^ and would have done better on softer tracks, She is coming down ih the weights. The big disappointment amohg the sprinters was Ben Braggie, It is difficult to offer exouses for him, because he looked well and appeared to have eveiy chance in his races. Paper Slippef ran excellent races. and the slight concession in weight which he received on the iinal day proved again what- a few pounds will mean to a good horse. Probably he would have done much better had the going been easier. He iS up to the best class. Brunhild is a brilliant filly who is going to win something more than sprint races. Her effort in the Stewards' Handicap was an exceptional one for a three-year-old, and although she won the Oaks Stakes by half a head only, there was never much risk of her being defeated. She is the likely type of mare to succeed in a good mile handicap, but will have to settle down ilrst, for she is very bad at the barrier. In each of her sprint races she had to use much of her speed early to recover froin a slow start, usually from the outside of the field. Oratory should win a good handicap up to a mile before long. Her second to Catalogue in the Jockey Club Handicap. was a sound performance, and she is much more reliable than her stablemate^ Laughing Laas. Another member of L. G. Morris 7s team in The Bigot can be kept in mind for future' handicaps. There is no more courageous horse racing to^day than this one-eyed son of Baralong. He ^ a good beginner, which enables him to secure a favourable position in the early stages of his races, and he gallops generously under pressure. The manner in whieh he extended - Trench Fight in the Epsom Handicap says much for his class, and Morris should have a good season with him. The Manawatu Cup might not be be- : yond a horse of his type. First-Clasg Hacks. There were several first-class hacks engaged at Riccarton, the cutstanding performer being Janet Gaynor who raced better and won more decisively with eacfi suceeeding starf. Open company in the South Island will be no trouble to this daughter of Last Dart. Lady Montana twice chased her home, and if the Masterton-owned mare reproduces that form in the Taupiri Handicap at "Waikato on Saturday she can be afforded a good chance. A half-sister to Red Heckle named Glenogil, by Colossus from Glenluce, and the only filly thrown by the uam, is a good type of maiden from whom much more will be heard. She has turned in many fast half-miles at Riccarton in track work. and it tooK a fairly good hack in Rabble to beat her in the Strowan Plate. Sigurd was another in the class that ran consisfently, and it looks like him losing his maiden status at Levin this 1 week. Rockingham raced without much luck. He is so big that it takes him time to gel balanced and fairly into his stride, and he usually loses ground at the beginning of his races. Others who suffered through the sizo of the hAek fields were Norseman, Fog Peak and Sovereign Lady. The latter cast a shoe in the Spring Plate, and seored a leg before the shoe e.".me free, while on the last day it. is donblf'.il whether Made Money would have won had this maro, got a clear run from the distance. Siegmund. raced cbnsistently, but I'ound the weight beyond him, He has

only one race to win to leave the hack ranks, and it would appear a sounder policy to let him take his chance iu cpen company where the weight would be less trying. a Happy Night, a Nightmarch, three-year-oldt. js now racing, more .solidly, He was very erratic in earlier races, but he scored an impressi-ve victory in the Apprentices' Plate and there was rnerit in his third to Top Row and Rockingham in the Stonyhurst Handicap. • Top Row looks like doing further good service for P. T. HogiM. He is not a big horse, but is sensible and easy to handle in a race. He vtas the best of the three-year-olds not contesting the classic races. Poeiless was the outstanding juvenile at the Cup meeting, and looks like developing into the best of her age in the autumn. Gay Son was a little unlucky in the Welcome Stakes for he was hampered by Defaulter running greenly, and he also was developing a cold, Defaulter is" a big-framed colt by Defoe, carrying the Gloaming colours... He may not reach the tOp class, but he is a good galloper and shapes like a stayer.