RACING NOTES AND FORM PROSPECTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 50, 21 October 1931, Page 5

RACING NOTES AND FORM PROSPECTS

Arranged for seven weeks later than usual, the spring meeting of the Marton Joekey Club is to be held today. The fields are good, although in a couple of events there is every prospect of one dividend only. There are several promising two and three-year-old engaged in the opening race, the Trial Plate, an event that has served in the past to J introduce many smart performers. Sastrugi is a good youngster if she has got over the shin soreness experi-v enced at Auckland, where she raced well under difiiculties. Joan Ladosio raced well at Otaki and Masterton, and of the others support will be on hand for Pedestal, the TavoraMiss Cavendish bracket, Furlong and ' All Humbug. Those liked best are the bracket, Sastrugi and Furlong. Warzone is a pretty smart sort of hurdler, but she is up in the weights and something farther down might ap- \ peal more. Hard Gold should have ; improved as a result of recent racing, .. and Okapua and the disappointing Coon Song are nicely placed. Now ■ that the public has gone off the lat- j ter he may take it into his head to : fulfil his early promise. They are ' fancied as named.

The Ladies' Bracelet is one for the amateur riders, and on top of this drawback for bettors, few of those engaged has any f orm on the flat. Winnagan, Platina and Thrasher may be the pick. Leisure and Korokio, the dangerous pair in the Tutaenui Hack, are enI gaged in a more suitable event later | in the day. Perhaps in any case they | would be held safe by Saltpot, Nava3 ho and Chief Clerk over the seven I furlongs. | Marton Handicap. I They are not at all a bad lot in the I big race, the Marton Handicap, and I the eight remaining in should furnish I a spirited contest. Count Palatine j was always a good handicapper, some1 what unlucky, and now that he is re- | turning to form and is in a different j stable his chance may come sooner ] than expected. Pahu won recently j at Otaki and is evidently returning I to form; it was in the spring twelve ] months .ago that he registered his best I performance.

j Little Doubt raced at Avondale during the week-end, and he found the course a bit hard the first day. If taken south he would be a possibility on the easier turf. King Colossus will be the most interesting runner of the lot, for he claims an engagement in the Derby at Riccarton soon and this ten furlongs outing will be the guiding line as to his prospects as a stayer. To date he has shaped well and is a decided possibility. Habit is well treated for a mare with her performances in Australia; the distance will be the trouble. Briar Root has raced well of late without being too lucky. Royal Black sticks on well, and Monsogne is an outside chance. It is a very nice field, in which King Colossus, Count Palatine and Pahu promise to play their part. Gibraltar is a very good three-year-old, and one that is expected to stay so well that he is likely to develop into a Derby horse. Nightmare is only a couple of pounds above him, and this favours the latter, for she is a bit above the ordinary hack. Grand Jury may not be ready, and Royal Black is a stayer now dropped in the weights, and Thrasher has a chance over the journey. Gibraltar, Royal Black and Nightmare are fancied. It is a pity that there are only five in the sprint, the Railway Handicap, for the quintette will furnish material for a great race. The two at the top, Arisus and Axora, will monopolise the market. The latter has a brilliant burst of speed and will go well on her home track, especially as she revealed winning form at Otaki. Arisus was one of the leaders to the home turn each day at Ellerslie, and in this field he ought to be hard to beat up the straight. Equitant goes fast from the barrier, but she has not raced for some time. Trojan Melody and Sight Draft too are smart beginners, so that there will be some pace on even in the small field. Arisus, Acora and Trojan Melody may furnish the money winners. A field of smart short-distance horses remains in the Farewell Hack. Leisure, Korokio, Navaho, Jean Ladosio, Interlocutor, Sanguine King (said to be something above the ordinary), and Sir Gallant all have the speed, so that it should be a hot finish. Thosq liable to play a prominent part in the run to the judge are Sanguine King, Korokio and Interlocutor. Team for Trentham. Under orders for Trentham early this week were the three-year-olds High Comedy, Bronze Eagle, Lady Vane, Royal Artist, and the two-year-olds Tea Trader, Lady Whirlwind, Tanlcard and Rippling Waters. All except the latter pair are from Takanini, the other two being from Te Awamutu and Te Rapa respectively. This is a pretty strong team and its doing at the Wellington meeting will be closely followed by northerners. Outside of Bronze Eagle, they will all be seen in action the first day, the Brazen colt being kept for the Harcourt Cup on Monday. Three of the northern team raced at the Dargaville meeting over the week-end. In the Taita Handicap at Trentham on Saturday, a four furlong scamper, Rippling Waters and Lady Whirlwind will represent the north, and they will endeavour to emulate Princess Bede's performance in this same race twelve months ago. Rippling Waters is very fast, for she led all the way in the A.R.C. Welcome Stakes to win fairly comfortably. This filly is also engaged in the Wellesley Stakes, but if sent for the handicap she ought to very nearly win. A high opinion is held of Lady Whirlwind, but she has not lived up to that to date. However, the filly is a good looker, and she certainly has pace. Wainui Handicap. Royal Artist is the only northerner engaged in the Wainui Handicap, and he ought to give a good account of himself. He was set an impossible task last Saturday at Avondale, and here his treatment.is mueh more lenient. His big weight told the tale last week, but for all that he'ran a fine race, atid was running on strongly at the en'd of the mile. On this showing, with nirie stone up, he should

prove on that performance the Rimutake Handicap should not be beyond her. She is a pretty smart filly, and from all accounts age has improved a good deal. In the early part of her two-year-old career this filly was second and third respectively in the Avondale and A.R.C. Welcome Stakes and it looks as if she is now going toa ct up her early reputation. While there are no Aucklanders in the Wellington Handicap (in which northern sportsmen wil/l ■ not |havei Lady Pam beaten, unless it be by the good three-year-old Cricket Bat or the Cup horse Compris) , no less than four juveniles figure in the Wellesley Stakes. Tankard, of course, is outstanding, and on his form to date, in which he outclassed the tyvo handicap fields he met, the last time with nine stone up, he looks good for the Trentham classic. Despite Rippling Waters' win at Ellerslie, she is preferred in the handicap, and the same with Lady Whirlwind, who will be coupled with Tea Trader if started here.

Tea Trader Coming Right. Tea Trader early in the season was being hailed as the outstanding joungster in the north, previous to any of the two-year-olds racing, and now he looks as if he is coming right at last. There' is no doubt that he ought to have won the juvenile race at Avondale last aSturday by the proverbial street. Making the home turn he took charge, as he has done before, and it was all that Gray's vigorous exertions, aided by the whip, could do to keep him away from the ' outside rails on thsi 99-foot course. He lost a lot of ground and pace before he could be hauled back, and even so he should have defeated Closing Time, hsi early struggle evidently leaving his rider with little punch for a hard finish. Tea Trader showed taht he has a torrent of speed and he is one that might well have to be taken into consideration when the remaining two-year-old classics are reached. At Trentham the five furlong course has one elbow in it only, and, furthermore, it is a left-handed track, so that should be to the advantage of a wayward customer such as the Tea Tray colt. In Tankard and Tea Trader, Auckland has strong hopes of capturing first and second money in the Wellesley Stakes on Saturday next. High Comedy is not engaged the first day at Trentham, and perhaps his psecial mission is the sprint on Monday. He won last week at the Dargaville meeting, but he was all out to catch Tradesman, a bout that should not lead one to underrate High Comedy, for Tradesman is a regular speed merchant when in form. High Comedy ought to show up in his race.

Bronze Eagle's Chances. As Bronbe Eagle has been left in the Harcourt Cup, it is safe to say that he will take on the opopsition at weight-for-|age unless the track is heavy. He just failed to ru nout the mile in the Great Northern Guineas, so it does not look good for him over ten furlongs. However, he should be a much better horse as a result of taht outing, and in any case the performance by Golden Wings when he defeated the Brazen colt was outstanding, which the southern three-year-old may not repeat. In the Harcourt Cup, Bronze Eagle will have to carry 7.11, and he therefore meets Lady Pam at a concession of 121b in his favour. For a seasoned horse and one of our leading handicapers, Lady Pam thus comes in pretty well, and she may prove too good for Bronze Eagle under the scale. On the other hand, the connections of Bronze Eagle still maintain that they have an exceptional galloper in that colt, so ought to be in the dividend place, one or two, it fhe conditions are favourable on Monday. e