TO-DAY'S PROGRAMME

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 203, 20 April 1932, Page 7

TO-DAY'S PROGRAMME

QUALITY AND QUANTITY WELL R'EPRESENTED AT AWAPUNI FORM AND PROSPECTS Large acceptanees have been received for the opening, to-day, of the Manawatu Racing Club's autumn meeting at Awapuni. The course is reported to be in excellent order after last week's rains, but the going may be on the soft side if anything. Quality as well as quantity is strongly represented among the horses paid up for. There is some good material figuring among the Karere Hurdles field, but the best may be the recent winners, Royal Lineage, Just an Idea and Arrowhead, but there are possibilities about Avro, Easterly, Balloon and Henry of Navarre. Perhaps Royal Lineage and Just an Idea will dispule favouritism, with Arrowhead and Balloon next in demand. It will be interesting to see if the two-year-old Copper King, whose failures at the last Dannevirke and Woodville meetings were so disconcerting, will be better suited by the seven furlongs of the Autumn Plate. If he can he will stand an excellent chance of winning at the expense of Riotous, Thornproof and Porlock. With no less than nineteen engaged in the principal handicap, the Prinee of Wales, luck in running is going to play a big part. There is only a straight run of a furlong from the barrier to the turn, and unless a horse is well placed there his chance is hopeless. Grand Jury won so well at Masterton that he cannot be overlooked, while King Colossus is the type to get a good position early. Higb Falutin' is a possibility if he takes it into his head, while of those farther down Chopin, Gold Dawn, Shrewd and Eastertime are fancied. The issue appears to lie between Grand Jury and King Colossus, with Shrewd and Eastertime holding chances also. Royal Hunting is very fast, and despite his big impost lie will go a nierry six on this track. He is within a few pounds of Ganpat, a horse that has been racing fairly well in open company In the north. Alpinist is an improver, and Royal Bengal is highly thought of, especially after he ran good races at Trentham last month. Orby's Choice is getting back to his best, and Grand Review, Lady Ronald, Lady Court and Seneschal appear to be the pick of the remainder. The two at the top — Royal Hunting and jGanpat — are fancied most, with Orby's Choice and Royal Bengal not lacking support. The Sires' Produce Stakes should be a fine contest, and it is a pity that Gaine Carrington and Silver Ring are missing, for they are all that is required to make it the final and supreme test of the two-year-olds. Inflation is a solid sort of customer, a bit lacking in brilliancy, but the straight run from the barrier of three and a half furlongs will assist him. Tea Trader will go as fast as any of them, and if he does not go off the course he may well be the winner. His defeat of Lady Quex at Avondale, ' after hanging out badly, points strongly to him. The other pronounced possibility is Midinette, who cornes in on most favourable terms with the other pair, for Inflation and Tea Trader have to concede the filly 131b and 81b respectively. If Midinette is as good as considered she has a royal opportunity of showing it to-day. All the same she will need to pull out everything she has got to beat Tea Trader. Of the others there is Speed, who keeps on winning; La Moderne, Tout le Mond and Fleeting Glance. However, the issue appears to be between Tea Trader, Midinette and Inflation, and it iis hard to separate the remainder. I A fine field will take on the weght-for-age race, the Awapuni Cup. That \ good horse, Gay Crest, has had a fine ■season in this country, and if the Bleading horseman was on his back Hagain he would be given a first-rate 9 chance of defeating Nightmarch, es■pecially after the latter had such a ■rough spin in his last race at RandBwick. Nightmarch, too, will be with■out his usual pilot. This pair domiSnate the situaton,. and Gibraltar may ■be the best of the three-year-olds, deaBspite his Masterton failure, for he ■takes a lot of riding. Properly ridden, ®Jay Crest has a good chance of beatSng Nightmarch. « Another brilliant field is engaged in ijSlie sprint, the Johnston Memorial. |mady Quex will have a good chance, Bor she was very unlucky the secOnd goav at Avondale, where she was finish■fcg on with a couple of pounds more |Bfter getting knocked back early in sprint. High Comedy and Orapai ■e also useful sorts over this trip, fHhile Great Star won the sprint so |Bjsily at Avondale that he cannot be |»led out. They are fancied as writm,. ■There are sorne good rniddle disIBnce hacks due to line up for the conIBuding event to-day, the Te Matai IBandicap. Pomp, Winsome Hind, Upical, Attentive, Davidstock (paid in preference to Constant Sun, «ho was considered good enough to j|B after the gold cup at Masterton), iBirway, Saltpot, Air Laddie, CapeIBwn (a dual winner at Masterton), ■ Van, Kalmuk, and Decree Nisi |Bry many of those engaged have pBospects of getting in the money, Wm when it is all over it may be f ound |Bat those who have done well in the ^■uggle are Davidstock, Attentive, iBbetown and Winsome Hind. jl^Eo-morrow one of the most interest- « races at Awapuni will be the IgBssic, the Manawatu Stakes, in the good older sprinters will on the two-year-olds. It would !■ be surprising if Inflation did bet^Bhere than in the first day's classic.