RACING NOTES AND FORM PROSPECTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 69, 12 November 1931, Page 2

RACING NOTES AND FORM PROSPECTS

"The Judge

' Speeially Written for Ihe "Post" by

9 * fc - * v - - The big event at the opening at Te Raparon Saturday next of the spring meetihg of the Waikato Racing Club is the Waikato Cup, * which has attracted a fine field, Unless- sei-atchings reduee it considerably, as has been the case in the past. The fine roomy track, with its two f urlong straight, is a popular one with sportsmen, for it asSists the good horses, in that it oirers! a fme test of starnina. Most interdst willjcentre upon the "double" event; the Waikato Cup and Cambridge Handicap. Eaglet^ heads the cup list, and as she is lmproved' considerably as a result of her recent outings. She is a fine galloper when right, and she is believed to be near her best at this stage. Little Doubt is handsomely treated when his form at Trentham is remembered, and his fine second in the Wellington Handicap was followed by a go6d race in the mile, when he fiuished just behind the first three. At 8(3 he reads very well, more especiajly as he won a double on this track in the autumn. True Blood likes the Te Rapa course too, for he has a wonderful -record in -the handicaps, but his present from does not point to this record being extended, unless very heavy rain makes the course heavy. * A Possible Surprise Nekt.on'the Cup l:st is Vali, a horsy that was expected to go close to wlnning the A.J.C. Metropolitan last month, but he did not progress in his preparation as well as was de- i siredl He is in good order and may prove a surprise, for with eight stone he has been chanced by the handicapper. Grand Tea ran good races at Whangarei, but like True Blood he will not be sought after unless there is some mud about. Motere, a genuine stayer, has been world ng brilliantly at Te Awamutu, and already he is being looked to, to win his second Auckland Cup next month. Sinee h's suceess in that event last season Motere has i'ailed to get in the money, • but he may improve at Te Rapa, judged on his recent fine efforts at his home track, where he has been working cpnsistently over a mile, mile and a quafter and a mile and a half. Turnmg for home in the Mitchelson Cup jffast month Motere looked like a wihner, but faded. . ThK second half of the Cup field is headlll by Prptpniint, a fine horse usuatty pilotecbh^.a , poor horseman, this iiact beffig- r.esp'o'nsible for anothentdefeat iusUyveek, in the Whan- ; garej? Cup, bTit northern sportsmen | are lxfconciled to this state of affairs. j Yy ithJSa good lightweight 'in the sad- | dle protomint would.be" the p'ek of j of n£tt, Saturday's field. Cruachan is ; a fai£ sort, and Flying-Prince is al- j way^'liable, for his recent form has j beent&piite good. However be is a moody galloper^ Nassoek represents | the surprise efement, but Brampton, who ifas a-'eKanee, is more fancied in i the l High-Wexght event. Sumined,] un, |ic Waikato, Cup contest is onej full ef possibdiiies, with Little Doubt j and (Vali to be considered as having a bit'below what they were entitled to in/fhe matter of weight. However, the best backed will probably compriserjdaglet,. Little Doubt, Vali and Frotppiint. % Cambridge Handicap The second leg at Te Rapa is the j Cambridge Handicap, and liere again j eieven horses have been paid up for. ! Pega$ay is to have his first race.foF a long timo, and' with his impost could

not he recommended just yet. Leitrim is in similar case, and he too is right up on top. Paganelli will have to show that he is something like his old self before he would he selected, but one factor in his favour is that this time he will be racing at home. There, is a solid drop to the next on the list, Gay Lap, and he is the logical one to go for the way the weights are framed, for he is in receipt of form 151b to 281b from those above him. His form at Ellerslie last meeting was good, f8r his close third to Puriri Park and Sir Mond was impressive. Lucky Alice does not appear to be up to the standard of the class spriuters, and she has all the worst of it in being asked to give weight to an improving horse in Ganpat. The latter is a coming sprinter and he may race very prominently this week-end. Royal Ruler showed a flash of his old form which he ran second at Cambridge; there is no doubt of his speed, and he has only to become solid. King Ford will be in demand if a soft track is experienced, while Barascope may live up to his two-year-old form. Speedmint is a good filly, and the best many not be seen of her until later. She sticks on well, but the difficulty with her is that she may not be able to go with these horses. Mar? echal is a speedy hack, and he toq will later on be found winning in this i class. It looks as if backers will be forced to go for the lightweights, and. the best of them may he Gay Lap,; Ganpat, Royal Ruler and King Ford. Easy Derby Victory The easy victory gained in the N.Z. Derby on Monday has confounded the cr'tics, who were very nearly unanimous that Bronze Eagle was a nonstayer. Certainly he had raced as such in his races to date this seasons but now it must he confessed that •the Riccarton classic was his trainer's and owner's objective all along, and the colt's training and racing had , been planned with this race in view. Bronze Eagle started a firm favourite, a fact that makes it out that •the stable had no qualms about his staying power. But perhaps it was not this, only a tendency* on the part of speculators to pin their faith to the rider rather than to the horse in a field of three-year-cl'M when the form had heen topsy turvy throughout the spring, for it is well known that most of Gray's mounts are made favourite, generally at very cramped priees. There could no.t have heen any fluke about Bronze Eagle's win on Monday, for the victory was a very easy one, and moreover this time equalled the best ever recorded for the race. The Brazen colt's victory places an entirely new aspect on the contest for the Great Northern Derby at Ellerslie on New Year's Day, for he must now enter as a very live factor into that contest and as a real danger to Ammon Ra. It is to be hoped that this pair will clash. The Stead Cup is decided over ten furlongs, as was the Harcourt Cup, and it remains to be seen if Bronze Eagle on this occasion can bridge the gap of two and a half lengths that Croupier beat him by over that journey at Trentham. The northern colt is obviously a better horse now than he was last month, and if the Derby form was a true guide — and apparently there was no fluke about it — then he- should succeed in turning the tables on Croupier. i