TROTTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 7, 30 March 1927, Page 6

TROTTING

A Reminder Owners are reminded that acceptances for the first day’s events of the Wanganui Trotting Club close on Monday next at 5 p.m. Handicaps for the Hawera meeting, which follows a week after Wanganui, are due to make their appearance on Tuesday next. Logan Pointer’s Record Nelson Bingen and Logan Pointer are having a great duel for premiership in the winning sires’ list, and it will be interesting to see the final figures when the season concludes. Logan Pointer has been a great sire, and during the past three seasons his progeny have won £77,620. A Nimble Performer Mr. McFarlane, who returned to Australia with Nimble Direct, Rockcretia and Tom Marvin, did not have too successful a time in the Dominion, though Nimble Direct with the stake money he earned must have helped to make up for some of the expenses incurred on the trip. Nimble Direct appealed to many when he ran second at the Auckland summer meeting after receiving a rough passage and having to negotiate a large bunch of horses over the concluding stages of the race. In Australia Nimble Direct is sure to win more money. An Average Sort Direct Morning, imported from Australia last season, impressed track •watchers by the manner in which he worked, and it was anticipated that he would be a good winner. The Australian pacer has so far failed to live up to expectations, and though on a couple of occasions he looked a possibility in events at Alexandra Park and Northlands, he failed to materialise through making mistakes. His owner tried a couple of trainers, but the attempts of Direct Morning so di 'pleased him that he leased the pacer to the Ellerslie owner-trainer J. Shaw. Whether Direct Morning improves or not under new tuition remains to be seen, for in his first race in the new colours at Thames he did not impress, and it looks as if he is not going to develop above the average class. One Blank? When it comes to selecting a payable proposition, Mr. George McMillan, of Auckland, shows good judgment. When that owner purchased Sea Pearl she began to improve straight away and won so much stake money that by now Mr. McMillan lias received much in advance of what he paid in effecting the purchase. His recently acquired Machine Gun returned somewhere near half what he cost when he won the Timaru Cup, while previous horses in Man-o'-War, Dillon Wilkes and Nipper also were successful for Mr. McMillan. However. a "recent purchase in Haydock has to win a couple of decent stakes to repay his cost and upkeep, for she has so far only credited her owner with a very small return. Still, as Haydock is only four years old, there is time for her to follow in the footsteps of the others mentioned. The Sydney Thousand Handicaps have been declared for the Sydney Thousand Trot, one mile and a-half, to be run at Victoria Park on Tuesday, April 19, as follows: Alaska, Lee Huon, The Bishop, Lord Lulu, Lady Brownwood (Vic.), Charming Chimes, Jimmy Elliott, Gipsy Love, Radiola,' Goonumbla, Golden Rose, Regina Cole, Stroller, Ribbons Pic, Reai Silk, Chiming Bells (Q.), Marie Dillon, Lady E-erris, Bulleranger, Boston Again, Delavan May, Birthday, scr.; Silver Ray, Lila Rock, Raeribkon, Some Rock, 12yd.: Kathle: n Derby, Count Bingen (Vic.), Spring Bells, Native Prince, 24; Ribbonwood’s Last, Mirralwood, 36; Isabel Wilkes (Q.)» Monoline, 48; Auto Machine, Western King, 60; Harold Pronto (Vic.), 72; Machine Brick, 96; There are 39 entrants. The pacing mare Response, owned by Mr. Job;* \uld. was withdrawn before the handicaps were issued. Australia’s Best The Sydney Thousand handicaps will prove interesting to many enthusiasts to- note the various marks to which a number of performers seen in action in New Zealand in the past couple of seasons have been relegated. Stroller, who did not show up too conspicuously When raced by Peter Riddle in New Zealand, is on the limit. A free - legged pacer in Some Rock figures on 12yd., and after his display in the Epping Five Hundred, when he made Western King step 4.32 to win, he looks a possibility. Native Prince on 24yd. won in Auckland, and is a good >sort. He is in the same ownership as Ribbonwood’s Last, wb«» won the event last year from Luvan, now owned and racing in Auckland, and who is relegated to 36yds. Auto Machine, wh«> notched two seconds at the Waikato meeting, appears on GOyd.s with tv estern King, while the Otahuhu Cup winner, Machine BrLk, sire of Auto Machine, is on 96yds. There is some good material engaged, but the ones most likely to figure prominently are Auto Machine, Western King, and the Victorian champion, Harold Pronto. Distances and Times The distances between the placed horses given to the press representatives at the Thames meeting varied with the times submitted, and either one or the other was wrong. For example the judge estimated Lola Rocklaw as being two lengths in front of Charming Pronto, with Anseline fifteen yards away third. The times submitted were 3.40 2-5, 3.42, 3.42 1-5. For Charming Pronto to have tied with Lola Reklaw he would have had to go 1 the same time, 3.40 2-5, so being two lengths away it was estimated on those figures that he took 1 3-5 to cover two lengths, and as twelve yards are allowed to the second he must have been travelling very slow. Then Anseline, to have tied with Charming Pronto, would have had to go three seconds faster; as he was giving that pacer 36 yards. As it was he was credited with going one-fifth of a second slower, being allowed 3 1-5 to cover 15 yards. The press representatives estimated that Anseline was only half a length away, and this makes the discrepancy more apparent. In all probability Anseline’s time was 3.39 1-5. Starting Barriers A starter’s job is not so easy as it looks from the stand. Still, there are cases where unfortunately very poor dispatches are made, and one took place at the Thames last Saturday. Mr. R. T. Reid, officiating as starter, gave the signal to go in the Thames Cup when Nelson Tasker and Glandore were practically turned the wrong way, and their chances of success were ruined. Naturally supporters of those performers felt that they had every reason to criticise, but some leniency could have been extended to the starter, for he did not have by any means a very quiet field to get away. Respect gave a good exhibition of unruliness, while several of the others also played up. As no barrier is in use on the Thames course the starter’s work is made much more difficult, and under the circumstances the fields are not sent away as evenly as might be the case if one was used. Probably when the officials of the Thames Club witnessed the start for the cup they might have arrived at the conclusion that a barrier would perhaps have made the job easier, and if such was the case they would naturally, after such a financial meeting, give consideration to erecting one. With such big fields becoming in evidence at country meetings, it behoves the committee of the clubs who have no barriers erected on their courses to give, serious consideration to installing one for future meetings if fair starts are to be expected.

A New Trainer Owner P. Chadwick has taken out a trainer’s license, and has a team of trotters and pacers in work at Wanganui. The old track at Eastown is still available for trainers of the light harness brigade. “Chad's” head lad is the horseman Billy Higgins, and he seems quite at home amongst the trotters. Trainer to Retire Quite a number of changes have taken place around the Hawera stables since the New Plymouth meeting, and Trainer P. H. Green has lightened oft his team in readiness for his retirement from the game after the Hawera meetAn Expensive Trip An Australian importation that has proved a failure is Tiger Salve. Since being brought to Mangere in company with Longford, the trotter has been a costly proposition to his connections. Tiger Salve shows up in races for a little over a mile, but has bellows to mend when asked to go further than that. Longford, the other importation, has also proved a failure, and I. Richards’ venture in journeying to Sydney and procuring the pair must have been very expensive. Superfluous Gear Some months ago the stipendiary steward at a meeting held at Alexandra Park cautioned drivers for having reins and towels flapping at the rear of their sulkies while competing in races, and stated that if he noticed them again he would have to find some means of stopping the practice, even if it meant getting a knife and cutting them off. For a couple of months drivers were careful to see that they did not offend in such a manner, but lately it has been noticeable that the instructions issued by the stipendiary have been forgotten, and the old slovenly habit is once again in vogue. At the Waikato meeting an owner supported his pacer very heavily and was somewhat annoyed when, just as it was making a forward move, to have it stand on reins trailing from behind a sulky in front and go to a break, losing all chance of victory. The practice of allowing the* reins to dangle on the ground is a dangerous one, and the authorities should in future issue a warning to drivers and make an example of those who fail to take heed. Shortage of Grass Tracks Correspondence received by the Canterbury Owners, Breeders and Trainers’ Association from the Auckland Trotting Club was in reference to the use of the grass track at Alexandra Park, the Auckland Club giving notification that it could not agree to the use of the grass track for training operations. The Alexandra track is beyond doubt one of the finest in New Zealand, but trainers, both local and visitors, are not given much encouragement to prepare their competitors for a meeting by not being provided with a suitable grass track on which to train. The training accommodation at Alexandra Park consists of a clay track and a sand track, while in the centre of the grounds there is a dirt jogging track. In wet weather it is impossible to accomplish any fast work, and should rain be experienced —a frequent occurrence on the eve of a meeting—no work-outs of a strong nature could be performed. Horses continually trained on a dirt track cannot be expected to run well on the grass if they get only a few races a year on it. Australian horses used to dirt and cinder tracks when they arrive in Auckland are trained on the dirt track at Epsom, and then are expected to come out and put up a good showing on the grass. Horses in some respects are like human beings, and were a man taken off the city streets and placed on a grass thoroughfare he would immediately feel a big difference in the going. The Auckland Club would be giving more assistance to trainers in general if they allowed final work-outs to be performed on the course proper, say two hurdles out, a system adopted by the Auckland Racing Club on the Ellerslie course. Only competitors at the meeting need be allowed the privilege, and a charge per horse could be effected. It is hardly likely that any harm would be done to the course, and much better results in the racing would be sure to eventuate. THE ROYAL MEETING £IOO GIFT BY CLUB (.Special to THE SUN.) CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday. The New Brighton Trotting Club, which made a profit of £1,200 on the Royal meeting, has by a unanimous vote, to draw on the profits of the meeting to the extent of £IOO in a freewill gift to the city. The amount is to be divided into three shares, going to the Summit Road Trust, to the fund for river bank improvement, and to the New Brighton Borough Council for beach improvement.