Sporting.

Maoriland Worker, Volume I, Issue 7, 20 March 1911, Page 3

Sporting.

(By Recorder.) ' By winning the Dunedin Cup under 9.5 Los A-iigelos added considerably to hijb. reputation. ■- No hoarse in the Dominion has been the subject of more discussion this season than O'DonnelFs San Francisco—La Valiere gelding. He had previously' shown that he was a, good one over a short,, course, but his staying had to b© taken on trust. Notwithstanding this he was one of the early horses . backed for New Zealand ' Cup, and for big money, too. The first to step into the market, much to the annoyance of the horse's own connections, were a ibody of punters closely allied to another stable, presided over by a recent recruit from the jockey ranks. They picked tip alot of wagers at last Grand National meeting, causing Los Angelos to- materially shorten in price. Soon afterwards the stable commission was put on, the market, and from that time " till the race he remained one of the favourites. At this time questions were being. raised as to whether he ■would stay out two miles, and'on this point a tew critics never missed an "opportunity of casting doubts, a strong argument used being that he was such .a, hard puller he would beat himself long before the end of the journey. His admirers, however, never wavered in their support. Towards the finish some of them even ridiculed the idea of defeat, and. 1 -heard one telling a few daj's before the race just how Los Angelos would spreadeagle his ileld in the Cup. But the sceptics had the laugh on the day. When the horses turned for home things certainly looked well for backers of Los Angelos, but halfway down the .straight he collapsed like a pricked balloon. The race was a real bad one for one of .the Dominion's heavy ting brigades. . Though, never an admirer of Los Angelos as a solid stayer, I always believed that he would have ■done better with another rider; in fact, much of 1 nay opposition to his New Zealand Cup cFiance, stated freely at the time, was based on the belief that his jockey could not make the".best use of him. .Later in the -meeting the Jockey Club Handicap, one mile,, was picked on as a race on which to retrieve the Cup losses, but lie lost so much ground at the start that, brilliant horse though he is, he had no chance of catching the three-years-olds Madam Madcap and Form-' toy. This settled his old jockey, who was freely blamed for going to sleep at the post, and his discomfiture was completed when Oliver came out on Los Angelos on the last day of the meeting and won in decisive style the Stead Cup, one. mile and a quarter. After a spell he took on the Wellington Cup, but . again failed. Possibly he was unlucky, but I do not think he ever had a chance of- giving Miss Mischief that weight. A win over a mile at Wellington followed, then came Jiis Dunedin Cup success. It was not a. great field he beat, but he proved he. cqujd win over a mile and a half, .and he may add further to his record up to that distance yet. One .thing is certain, however, he will never be thrown into a race again at the luxurious, weight awarded him in the last New Zealand Cup. Weight might not trouble him much, up to a mile and a quarter, as he ie a good one, but his ■chance of winning two-mile races does not look rosy. So far as breeding goes one _ would expect Los Angelos to stay. His sire, San Francisco, by St. Simon, has everything to recommend him in this direction, while his dam,

La Valiere, is a sister to Nonette, a proved good one over long courses. The star sprinter of the Dunedin meeting was Obsono," one of the sensatiojial horses of the season. In the spring he was a very ordinary performer, capable of winning in his, turn in moderate Otago company, but never thought of where good form was in evidence. When he went to Riccarton for New Zealand Cup meeting he was looked on as a fair prospect for a minor race, in hack company for choice, but nothing more. . He ■ only had a featherweight to carry in the Stewards' Handicap, in which he kept Equitas on the stretch. Since then he has steadily improved, and novr finds himself at the top of the handicap over short courses, even in good company. I expect we . will see him carrying' a decent load of weight in the Great Easter. Handicap next month at Ricearton. He is well up to weight and just the sort of horse that might put the finishing touch on a .bi'illiaiit season's work by winning that, valuable race. When Obsono'is pedigree is looked into it is scarcely a matter for surprise that he can gallop. He is officially credited_to two sires, but is generally accepted as by the English-bred Obligate, who was neglected in this Island, but whose progeny are running well this season, among them being the two-year-old Orton, the only horse that has so far Culprit. lima, the d,a,m of Obsono, is by Stepniak—Ranee Nuna, and is thus a sister to Indian Qvieen, the dam of King Billy, Aborigine, and Maori King, three high-class horses. In the early part of the season they had a horse in Otago, My Lawyer, who wais always the superior of sono. He met with bad luck at the New Zealand Cup meeting, with the result that he had to be given a spell. He is once more on the scene, and has run one or two good races recently. An. offer of 750 guineas was made for him at Timaru, but his owner would not sell. He is not nearly ready yet, but before the season is bver I expect to see him win a good, race, as he is very useful up to a mile. A peculiar thing about My Lawyer is that he was a roarer, as a two-year-old, .but instead of the ailment growing worse he appears to have outr grown it. Recent racing has not enhanced the reputation of the three-year-old filly Madam Madcap. After her win in the Palmerston North Stakes at Christmas I heard a good judge say there was nothing in New Zealand could beat her, weight for age, over six furlotigs, and at the same time, he vowed the Jackson Stakes at Wanganui was a certainty for her. • She went .to Wanganui, but was badly beaten each day. This filly has run some fine races, and also some very bad ones, and it looks as if she suffered from the complaint of being unreliable—a disability that can be urged against a great many of Clanranald's stock. Dearest, the sister to Master Soult, in another three-year-old that appears somewhat under a cloud at present, as she has done nothing for some time to compare with the form she showed at the New Zealand Cup meeting. However I expect it. will be found to be only a temporary lapse, and possibly before the end of the season we will find her figuring prominently in a big handicap. A race like the Great Easter or the Thompson Handicap would not be beyond her at her best. With reference to the three-year-olds, Formless is one that represents the other side of the picture. This filly was one of the most brilliant two-year-olds out last season, but she is ■

badly gone in the wind. This did not stop her at Timaru, where she won twice under big weights, but only over short courses. The misfortune is it will always be necessary to pick out short sprints for her, for I doubt if she could get to the end of a solid six furlongs in good company. ViceAdmiral is another three-year-old that hais come into the limelight lately.: This brother to Nautiform created a favourable impression last autumn, and keen sports at one .time had an idea that he .might be a New Zealand Cup and Derby ' possibility. In the spring he did no good, and~there was nothing very impressive about his second : in the Middle Park Plate. It is true he .beat Orton, but at an advantage of lover a stone on the weight-for-age scale. At Wanganui he ,did much better, as he beat Peirene> one of the best two-year-olds out this season, at scale weight's in the Jackson Stakes, and 'even allowing that there may have been a little luck about it, this was a* good, performance. Taking a line through Vice-Admiral is form in the Middle Park Plate and Jackson Stakes/ it may fairly be argued that Orton is better than Peirene, though this, of course, may not work out if Mr Greenwood's pair ever meet this season. Certainly, on spring form, Peirene was much the better ; in fact, the earliest running suggested that Orton was not much good, an idea that has long since been upset. The impression formed of Byron by his form at Trentham has undergone some change since he was twice beaten at Dunedin. It may not be wise, however, to simply conclude from this that Byron is no good. The fact is that Counterfeit, who won the Dunedin Champagne Stakes, is a filly of pretty good class. Slow, in coming to hand,, now she has made a start she may be

found capable of pretty good deeds. There should be some great racing this autumn among the two-year-olds, and perhaps the Manawatu RaTcing Club will' stage the star performances at the April meeting, at which two valuable events, the Sires' Produce Stakes and: the Manawatu Stakes, will be decided. I hear there is pr6spect of Culprit,Antagonist, Counterfeit and one :of jMr. trreenwood's two-year-olds being on the scene, and if the .best of the North Island lot, including Miscount, also put in an appearance there should be some racing worth going a, long " way to see. At one stage of the season Culprit" dominated the position, but recent running suggests there ~ia " danger that she -will be: asked more than one serious question before getting through the autumn campaign. If asked for an opinion now, I would say that Antagonist will finish up the best, provided he keeps sound.