WELLINGTON NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 103, 22 July 1927, Page 6

WELLINGTON NOTES

HORSES IN FORM TEAM FOR SYDNEY (Special to THE SUN.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Among the hurdlers at Trentham is Vexatious, a chestnut mare by Thurnham from Tiresome. Vexatious did not win a race at the recent Wellington meeting, but don’t let that stop you from keeping her under observation. She is not a champion yet, but she is good enough to be a possibility in any hack hurdle race. Her connections are said to have considered themselves unlucky not to win a race at the Wellington meeting. There is something in what they say. The mare ran good races without actually getting a decision, and the only placemoney she earned was the 20 sovereigns provided for the third horse in the Vittoria Hurdle Race on the openday of the meeting. Not content with running a good race in hack company on the first day. her party sent her after the big game on the concluding day, and took on all-comers in the open event, the Winter Hurdles, a very difficult race to win. She did not have the best of the luck in this contest, but ran a surprisingly good race for a hack, and was seventh at the finish in a field of 15. As a matter of fact, she was running on well at the end of the Winter Hurdles, just as she was finishing fast at the end of the rack race in which she was placed third on the first day. Vexatious will not be any the worse for the racing she had at the Wellington meeting, and the next time she steps out with the colours uo she should not be allowed to go unbacked unless the company is very rich. Weathering the Storm As far as can be gathered, the Wellington Racing Club is well satisfied with the result of its winter meeting at Trentham. The writing was on , the wall that there would be a fall ; hi the totalisator receipts, but the fall was not as great as might have been expected. For a metropolitan club to drop about £IO,OOO in bad times, with ' the weather heavily against it, is not a disaster, and the fall does not represent so much that the club can be said to have incurred anything in the way of a heavy loss. Clubs like Wellington have excellent gate receipts, and other fine sources of revenue. The Wellington Club, of course, is under big expense just now, having two mag- . nificent but very expensive stands to pay for, and the cost of other improvements to meet, but unless fortune is , dead against it in the next few years • it will win out. Nukumai and Bowden The success of Nukumai at the Wellington winter fixture also spelt success for his rider, W. J. Bowden, who has been his pilot in most of his principal successes. Bowden came in lor much of the applause which was freely and generously given when Nukumai won his now-famous treble at Trentham, and after the races he was feted, his health toasted, and the best of luck in future wished him. Bowden is a good horseman at any branch of the riding game, and his riding played its part in the victories of Nukumai. Especially was that the case on the last day of the Wellington meeting, when the old horse won the Winter Hurdle Race. In that race Bowden never allowed the leaders to get away from him, and as others did so, the victory went to Bowden’s mount. With the riding tactics of some of the others as good as the tactics employed by Bowden, the result of the Winter Hurdles might have been different. Howover, Bowden and Nukumai won, so let theirs be the credit. To Tackle Sydney The Hawk, Merry Mint, and Peneus left Wellington for Sydney by this week’s intercolonial steamer, and are to do their spring racing—or some of it, at least—in the Commonwealth. These horses have gone under the care of Mr. J. M. Cameron, owner of The Hawk, who is now one of the veterans at crossing the Tasman from New Zealand with horses. The Hawk has done some good work at Hastings, and is very fit and quite gay. All hands would like to see the wonderful old Martian gelding come back and win more races. Those who have seen him working on the tracks at Hastings say that far less likely things than that have happened. Merry Mint does not belong to Cameron, but is the property of the Gisborne sportsman, Mr. Lionel Clare, and is trained at Hastings by H. Hickey. Both the owner and the trainer hold a high opinion of this chap, and as he ran well at the recent Wellington meeting, when he finished a good second to Lady Limond, it seems that they have some reason for their confidence in him. It can be taken for granted that the Sydney trip would not be undertaken were the connections of Merry Mint not convinced that he had at least a really good chance of winning a race. Mr. Clare did not go over at the same time as his horse, but will make the trip early in September. In addition to seeing his own gelding race, he has a keen desire to witness the meeting of Commendation and Limerick, and to see the other good horses that will grace Rand wick in the spring. Peneus, also, does not belong to Mr. Cameron, and he is being taken across for Mr. C. F. Vallance to run in some of the hurdle races round about Sydney. Peneus has not done anything special as a hurdler here, but evidently his owner has faith in his ability to give a good account of himself in his new sphere. Below Expectations Black Mint did not race up to expectations during the Wellington meeting, but his owners are not disheartened, and hope to win a good stake with the Catmint gelding during the spring. He will be well forward, and his turn must come. He has only to repeat the form he showed when he defeated that good mare Civility at Awapuni to be held to shake off in anything he contests. Tresham’s Chances In all probability Tresham will be taken South for the coming meeting of the Canterbury. Jockey Club, even if he does not contest the Winter Cup. A couple of seasons back the • black gelding used to go a mile par- ( ticularly well, but he missed in the big mile on the first day of the Wellington meeting, and the excuse was made for him that he has lost his brilliance, and cannot begin well enough. In his race he was firsts to. begin, but he did not hold his place, so the theory might be correct. The Winter Cup - is run over a mile, but there is a race , on the second day of the Canterbury gathering that is run over a mile and a-quarter, and that might suit him better, though it has to be said that ha never looked like winning the Parliamentary Handicap at Trentham, and 1 that, too, is run over a mile and aquarter. Tresham has not earned ' much for some time, but he seems to have improved since returning to his old quarters at Trentham, and his form at the Otaki winter meeting in June was very encouraging. How Sun Up Died

It is very curious how accidents happen to horses, and the accident to Sun Up is one of the most curious of all When the Sunny Lake gelding; was finishing along the straight in the race which terminated his career at Trentham. he was going as strongly and as soundly as anyone could wish a horse to travel. He galloped past Oration and passed the winning post full of vigour. A few' chains further on he was a cripple, swinging one of his legs as though signalling the fact that his

end had arrived. No one seemed to be quite able to explain how the accident happened, and the only theory accepted is that he did it pulling up after the race. The ground had been well cut up. as can be imagined, for this was the twenty-third race which had been run on it since the opening of the meeting, to say nothing of preliminaries and gallops by two-year-olds. Sun Up might have struck a patch of ruffled surface, or the accident might have been one of a kind which would have happened had the surface been as smooth as a billiard table. The break in the fetlock was a very bad one, and of course a merciful bullet has ended the career of a useful galloper. But Sun Up is no more, and the thing of interest to racing men is lft>w an accident of the kind occurs. Trainers have interesting theories about these things at times, and it would be interesting if some of those who have an idea were to express it for the general benefit. Not the Ngata of Old Though Ngata looked well when he arrived at Trentham, he was on the big side, and evidently his condition told against him in the race for the Parliamentary Handicap. He made a dab in the straight, and just as he looked like coming away he suddenly sliut up and finished in the ruck. He could not fight on. He might still have a race or two about him, but he is a long way below the Ngata of old — the Ngata who won a Wanganui Cup and other good races. Nothing more can be expected, of course, for he is now among the veterans of the racecourses. Costly to Follow

Royal Mint came to Wellington followed by a small number of very confident supporters, but he went home again without having won any of the good money offered by the Wellington Racing Club. He ran much below the expectations of his own people, and also of those who had seen him running at the early winter meetings. As he has been solidly supported on several recent occasions, he must be an expensive horse now. He had every chance at Trentham and could not win, so perhaps he is not as good as many thought he was. If that is not the case, he must have trained off a little, and so will need freshening up before he is produced and backed again. A Flash of Form

Miss Hupana showed something in the way of a return to form when she dead-heated with Solrose in the open six furlong race on the second day of the Wellington meeting. She has not been galloping at all badly for a while past, and her good showing was not altogether unexpected by a few of the Feilding folk. She was almost the outsider of the field, and had she won her dividend would have been one of the best returned at the course. As it was, the “rake off” was not one that anybody would care to refuse. Gold Box, who is now one of H Hickey’s team, looks well at Trentham, and he ought to be forward enough to win a race at one of the smaller meetings in the spring. Trentham was hardly the place for him, though he looked a possibility even there, as he is capable of galloping well in bad ground, and had only minimum weights to carry.

Lots of Pace Royal Game showed as much speed as anything which raced at the Wellington meeting, but he could not finish on in his races. If he goes to Riccarton next month there will be some who will be prepared to support him to win a race. He is no Gloaming, but he is a much improved horse. Deluge is as well now as ever he was, and might be troubling the judge at early spring fixtures. He has not been a very satisfactory horse to follow in the past, but seems to hi running on better now.

Trainer Must Be Puzzled Both Naradino and Indian Sage must have Sid Reid seriously thinking. Prior to the Wellington meeting they did good work, and at the meeting they raced badly. Indian Sage showed up for a while in one of his races, but he did not run it out like a true racehorse. They will be at long prices, these two, when they do win. Stable Judgment Upset

One of the surprises of the recent racing at Trentham was the success of Royal Land. Not only was it a surprise that he won, but it was a blow to the stable, as the stable fancy was Duke Abbey. Duke Abbey and Royal Land had been working together on the tracks, and Duke Abbey was looked on as a certainty, while Royal Land was not seriously considered. Until nearing home Duke Abbey looked a good thing. Then he began to stop, and over the last half-furlong Royal Land, aided by a useful pull in the weights, finished very fast, and got up to snatch a surprise victory, and pay a big double-figure dividend. Lausanne’s Owner

Lausanne, the Australian-bred horse who was bought at the Trentham sales last weke by Trainer J. McLaughlin, was obtained to carry the colours of the popular Wellington sportsman. Dr. H. Gilmer, who has raced a few horses in his time, but has not unfurled his colours for some little time. Lausanne, one of the Valais breed, will be trained by McLaughlin.