JOTTINGS FROM TRENTHAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 69, 13 June 1927, Page 6

JOTTINGS FROM TRENTHAM

LEAN PERIOD FOR WELLINGTONIANS AT ELLERSLIE (.Special to THE SUN.) WELLINGTON, Saturday. All lovers of a good hurdler will hope that the retirement of Nukumai is only a temporary affair. Nukumai had a leg, and his trainer, Alf Wright, of Foxton, good man as he is with jumpers, might find difficulty in keeping him as well as he has been in the past, even if he does not have to shorten his racing career. Nukumai ran at Wanganui as though he was not the good hurdler he used to be, and perhaps he had been left short of schooling. It might not be unreasonable to suspect that that had been a matter of design, rather than one of chance. On the flat and over hurdles the Manchineel gelding has proved himself a very useful performer, and he has even won over steeplechase country. His steeplechase victory was scored on the occasion of his first attempt in that class of event. That was at the Hgmont Winter Meeting a little over a year ago. Fortunately the tracks are soft now, and there will be a better chance of getting him right again than there would be at any other time of the year. He is expected to run at Wellington next month. The Leading Riders Information from the Manawatu is that T. Green, who heads the list of successful riders so far as this season has gone, will not be back in the saddle, till about the end of this month. As R. McTavish, B. H. Morris and R. Reed are now close up to Green he might have difficulty in holding his position. The score at present is: Green 46, McTavish 43J, Reed B. H. Morris 41. None of the trio mentioned -won a race at the Auckland meeting. Dick Quite irrespective of his running at the recent meeting of the Auckland Racing Club, Hick is one of the most remarkable steeplechasers New Zealand has produced. First of all, it would be thought that his size would be against him, but he makes up for this in some unaccountable manner. I-Ie possesses a bigger heart than a draught horse and stays on well, and is not much troubled by winter conditions. He does no schooling and won last year’s Great Northern Steeplechase without having had any jumping other than what he received in a race or two. He has strong likes and dislikes, and his dislikes are sc pronounced that it is useless trying to induce him to jump a fence which he has decided to baulk. That is one of the reasons why schooling him was dropped. Ellerslie is his favourite course, but at the recent fixture he ran badly. As the going was fairly good he was not run on the first day, but he contested a steeplechase on each of the other two days and failed badly. After the rain which fell before the third day he was expected to go well, but he was at the back of the field for most of the journey. As mentioned above, Ellerslie is Hick’s favourite course. In the Great Northern Steeplechase of 1923 he ran second to Mary Bruce, in 1924 he was third to Sir Rosebery and Omahu, in 1925 he was second to Sir Rosebery, and in 1926 he won.

Off to Australia. Roy Reed left Wellington for Sydney by this week’s steamer, and it is not to be expected that he will return here in time to do any more riding this season. In fact, the general opinion is that Reed will make his home in one of the chief cities of Australia, probably Sydney. He is a first-class horseman and has experience of riding in the Commonwealth, among his successes there being his victories on Rapine and his win in the Metropolitan on Star Stranger. Reed recently married a Sydney girl, and possibly she will strongly favour remaining in her native land. One other thing which might influence him is the success of the New Zealanders who have made the change over, among the number being his brother Ashley, who has done well since setting up in Melbourne. Might Go Well Kilmezzo showed a return to form when he won at Otaki, and on the form there Merle is likely to run well during the coming racing on the East Coast, as she was not beaten by much in the race which went to the credit of Kilmezzo. She won well at Hastings at the end of the autumn season, but races somewhat inconsistently, and for that reason is a hard mare to follow. Eyes on “Aussie” It is reported that one well-known Wellington owner, who is very fond of a good jumper, is anxious to move to Australia and do his business and his racing there. He likes the convenience and the general conditions of Australian racing, and argues that though he might not win more in the Commonwealth, it is almost certain that he would lose less as the expenses there are not as heavy as they are in this country. Lean for Wellingtonians Both Sid Reid’s charges, Indian Sage and Nadarino, were backed with confidence by Wellington investors at the

Auckland gathering, and it is certain that punters from this end of the Island had a very bad time. The Auckland horses got away with all the plums, and there was not much left for outsiders. What little was left did not come this way. Wellington has not been over-strong in horses for some years, though the owners of the few which went North for the recent meeting lied high hopes of returning with some of the big prizes. In addition to the failure of Nadarino and Indian Sage, there was the downfall of Begage in the Cornwall Handicap and the total eclipse of Hick in the steeplechases.

Fell Heavily During one of the preliminaries at Ellerslie last Wednesday the horse ridden by the clerk of the course, Mr. A. Selby, turned sharply and went with the field, after depositing his rider on the turf. At the time it was not considered that Mr. Selby had suffered as a result of the incident, but for the past two days he has been confined to his bed with injuries to his rilas. All sportsmen will wish Mr. Selby a speedy and complete recovery. A Rough Trip Rosenor was sent South last week for stud duty. He had a tempestuous trip down, and his owner, Mr. A. Cambridge, stated at Ellerslie that the last he heard was that the horse spent two days being tossed about on a ship outside the Hunedin Harbour. Rosenor did not recover from the kick he received at Trentham. Memsahib Sold The Quin Abbey mare Memsahib has been sold by Mr. Mervyn Wells to Mr. A. Brown, president of the Bay of Plenty Jockey Club. More English Blood Five horses arrived by the Remuera from England on Saturday. They were: Cockpit, 7yrs, by China Cock—Sanford, by Santry. Blue Star, 3yrs, by Sunstar—Palm Branch, by Henry the First. Grand Joy, 6yrs, by Grand Parade— Amoureuse, by St. Amant. Mid Kent, 3yrs, by Gay Crusader— Herodicca, by Roi Herode. Mr. Clever, 4yrs, by Sunstar—Wife of Bath, by St. Simon. Cockpit was bought in England on account of Mrs. M. A. Perry, of Hawke’s Bay. The other horses, which have been imported by Mr. A. Parker, will probably be taken on to Wellington by the Remuera. GOLF