FIRST OF THE SPRING

NZ Truth, Issue 1187, 30 August 1928, Page 11

FIRST OF THE SPRING

Hunt Meeting At New Plymouth On Saturday The first meeting" m the North Island under the seven stone stone minimum will be the Hunt fixture aU New Plymouth on Saturday.

•THE club has received excellent acA ceptances and there are two considerations that can mar the meeting- — and they are big considerations, too. Hunters comprise a goodly proportion of the acceptors, and there is always some hesitation m supporting unknown quantities. Then there is a whole heap of j the handicap horses coming into the public gaze again after wintering. Just how forward m condition they are cannot be told until they are looked over. And, let it be said, there is a strong inclination to look on such gatherings as Saturday's with distrust. Spring is here, and the stake money will be very much bigger m a few weeks' time. The Lepperton Hunters' Hurdles may find money for Inahman, which, twelye months back, ran second to a good horse m Just John. Blago was taken to Hastings last week and backed as a good thing, only to run third. This was on the flat. Pikimai once gave promise — he is a relation to Nukumai — and then failed to go on with it. The Scurry has a bunch of newcomers and -local talk will probably make the favorite. Lady Quex and Calamine gave out promise last season, and if the former has gone on right she would be the hardest to beat.

At the autumn meeting on the same track she ran third to Gold Dawn and Tea Miss. In the. Maiden Hunters' Steeplechase the crowd will be somewhat tied up. There is little between the field apparently, for the handicjapper only saw fit to put seven pounds between the top arid the bottom "weights. Two that may 'go as well as any of the others are Hats Off and Trouble. TTiis pair showed up at the point-to-point at Palmerston the other day. In condition, Flying Shot would give a lot of cheek m the Waihi Handicap, going on the form he showed m the early and late autumn. Kaha is spoken of, but the one that may trouble . Flying Shot is Miss Mercia. Haeremai should be m a class by himself m the Hunt Cup Steeplechase. He has been guilty of running quite respectable races m open company. . Being brought down from Auckland will bring support for Pompeius. It is m his favor tha,t he can jump well. The field for the Stratford Handicap will be closely scanned — m view of events ahead. The consistent Partaga is there, while Hoariri, with 7.11, would set them a task if he was right. The day finishes with the Hunters' Flat Handicap, and running earlier m the day will count. Let Blago give any indication and he will be the best backed.