NOTES FROM WELLINGTON

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 116, 6 August 1927, Page 6

NOTES FROM WELLINGTON

HORSES IN WORK FOR COMING SPRING FIXTURES (Special to THE SUN.) WELLINGTON, Friday. After a considerable period of rain the weather lifted here early in the week, and trainers jumped at the opportunity of sending their horses along in work, particularly those trainers who have horses engaged at the Grand National meeting, which opens at Riccarton next week. The Trentham caretaker made the trial grass track and the course proper available to trainers, and they provided very fair going for the time of the year. Most of the Trentham horses due fxAr Riccarton are well forward, and some of them ought to be able to pay their way as the company in the South is not very strong. TEAMS FOR MARTON Arrangements are well forward for the Marton spring meeting, which is to be the first held on the new course at Marton Junction. Some of the Trentham trainers are taking teams there, and altogether this end of the island will supply a big proportion of the horses. H. Telford has planned to take a team to Marton, and it is his intention at present to go to Wanganui a while before the Marton meeting and take his horses down by train on the morning of the races. One of those who is galloping well at Trentham is Cerf. He was not seen at his best during the Wellington winter meeting, though he was backed by the stable on at least one occasion. Probably he had not been in work long enough then, and he will be better when he races at Riccarton. In addition, the firmer going there should suit him better than the very heavy going in which lie had to race at Trentha.m. The class he will meet in the South Island if A. Goodman takes him down ought to enable him to pay his way. R. REED’S PROGRAMME Definite word has been received that Roy Reed proposes to be back in New Zealand at the end of this month, and that he will continue to ride for the stable presided over by J. 11. Jefferd. Jefferd should have a fair team this season. Rapine is getting old now, but he has another useful sort coming along in Joy King, a member of the Comedy King family. Apparently, it is considered the team is not up to top strength, as no spring campaign in Australia is being undertaken, though Star Stranger, the Metropolitan Handicap winner, should be a better horse this season than last season. VEXATIOUS FOR RICCARTON Vexatious has continued to do good work at Trentham, and when she goes South she will carry away the hopes of her stable. She disappointed at Trentham. It will not surprise the track watchers at Trentham if she wins a race at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting, but her admirers are not as enthusiastic about her chances as they were last month. However, she has done well in her work this week and that is something in her favour, as it means that she will strip fit and well in Grand National week. Her party is anxious to secure for her the services of that experienced rider of jumpers, H. McSweeney, but up to the time of writing it was not known if he would be able to accept the ride. McSweeney, by the way, met with a nasty and painful accident while riding at the Christchurch Hunt meeting, but it is expected that he will be well enough to fulfil the whole of his engagements for the coming Week. A BIT UNLUCKY The connections of Royal Game were quietly confident that the Trentham horse would win the Brabazon Handicap at the Christchurch Hunt Club’s meeting last Saturday, and that they were not correct in their judgment no one can say. BREEDING FOR SPEED Those speedy mares Merit and Anthem, which were imported from England some time back and did a little racing in New Zealand, are being bred to Leighton this season, and another of Mr. Vivian Rid diford’s imported mares to go to the same sire is Glimpse. Of the trio, Merit will be remembered by those who saw them race, as the fastest, but Anthem also had a lot of speed and might have paid her way in sprint races but for meeting with a mishap, which necessitated her retirement. The mating of these mares with Leighton, whose stock nearly all have a lot of pace, ought to produce something out of the ordinary. ONE OF THE VETERANS One of the old brigade of trainers, J. Ayres, has been off the track at Trentham for a while suffering from a bad arm, but lie reappeared this week, not fully recovered, but quite able to see to the working of the members of his team. Trentham without Jo© Ayres is like a bank without money—there is something missing. He is a very regular attendant and still may be seen at times riding work on some member of his team which he wants to get a particular line on. JOY BIRD GOES SOUTH Joy Bird was shipped from Wellington on Monday night and reached Riccarton on Tuesday. She looked a very fit mare when sHie was being put aboard, and if she has improved at all she will go close to picking up a stake on the South Island trip. Joy Bird, who is an English importation, running in the colours of Mr. W. Higgins, lias a very handy turn of speed, and she. has shown in some of her races that she can run out seven furlongs pretty well. There appears to be no reason, therefore, why she should not be hard to beat in some of the races for which she is entered during Grand National week. Probably, she will be ridden in her engagements by R. J. Mackie. GRAND KNIGHT BOOKED FOR MARTON Grand Knight is to make his first appearance for the season at the Marton meeting on the occasion of the opening of the club’s new course. After that he is almost certain to be raced at the Wanganui spring fixture. His trainer, Captain Gage Williams, has been putting a lot of work into him in recent weeks, and evidently is in a hurry to have him ready for racing before the soft tracks disappear. Grand Knight is a good horse and a great galloper at any time, but he is better able to hit out freely when the sting is out of the ground than when the courses are hard. He has been worked in sweaters this week and has done a lot of steady pacing as well. With a race or two into him at Marton he should be able to give a fairly good account of himself at Wanganui. Those accustomed to see him race would be inclined to think that the small track at Wanganui would be all against him, but the fact remains that at the Wanganui meeting in the winter he ran great races in the sprint company there and was very unlucky not to win a race. Consequently, he must be looked to to run well again in the spring if raced on the same course and produced in anything like his best form. A GREAT JUMPER There is no better jumper over country at Trentham than Hokioi, and in all probability there are few better in New Zealand. Hokioi is to be taken to Riccarton to contest the minor steeplechase events at the Grand National meeting, and one thing is certain, that until he tires badly no horse is likely to manage the big Riccarton

country better than he is. He was schooled over the steeplechase fences at Trentham prior to being: shipped for the South Island, and he gave a really delightful display. It is a thousand pities that he is unable to stay, as. if he had that qualification there would be few in the Dominion to beat him. It will be remembered that he gave good exhibitions of jumping at Hawera, Napier Park, Hastings and Trentham, but that on every occasion he found great difficulty in seeing out the last part of the race. He lias won a couple of races this season, however, and always has a chance of picking up a stake when the lields are weak, as he rarely fails to complete the course. When he races at Riccarton next week he will be ridden by his usual pilot, P. Mcßrearty, who has been schooling him at Trentham. TO RACE AT MARTON Among the Trentham horses booked for Marton are the members of Captain Gage Williams’s team —Zarizee, Mount Marta, Grand Knight, Wild Pigeon and a couple of two-year-olds. Both the two-year-olds are by Leighton, one being from Mascot and the other from Biended, who was by All Black from Lilywhite. Mascot, of course, was a Martian mare, who ran fourth in the New Zealand Cup and won the Auckland Cup. BLACK MINT IS FIT Black Mint is a tit horse, as far as one can tell, though he has not been galloped a great deal of late. He has been a regular attendant at the tracks at Trentham, blit, even with his Riccarton engagements close at hand his trainer does not seem to have deemed it necessary to extend him with galloping exercise. As far as is known, Black Mint is to take his place in the field for the Winter Cup, but there is time for him to be sharpened up after his arrival at Riccarton. In Wellington the big chap has quite a number of admirers for Tuesday’s big mile race, and l'or anything else he is asked to contest at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting. It is argued here that in addition to having the sting out of th ground (which seems to suit him), he will be racing on the big Riccarton course, and that to a horse of liis size a big course is essential. MANY DISAPPOINTED A wail of disappointment has gone up from the East Coast owing to the defection of Hathor from the Winter Cup. Hathor has a trick of pulling up rather lame after working, but it was generally understood that it did not affect her much. However, she must have been lame when she cooled off after racing on Saturday in the Br’abazon Handicap, as it has since been reported from Christchurch that she is being sent home without waiting for the meeting. A lot of early bettors here have been left lamenting, and doubtless the case is the same in other parts of the country. Hathor was beaten in the race she contested last Saturday, but she had not gone out of favour on that account. WATCH THIS ONE! One of the newer brigade at Trentham who has made considerable improvement in the last few weeks is Quantam, and his running will be watched with a great deal of interest at the Grand National gathering. He has worked pleasingly and might be able to hold his own with the opposition he will encounter. TRESHAM AND THE WINTER CUP Tresham has completed his preparation for the Winter Cup, and whether he wins or loses it can be said with safety that he is as fit as he can be got. The racing he had at Otaki and at Trentham did him good, and though he was somewhat disappointing at the latter place, he still has to be given a chance in anything he contests at Riccarton, as a return to form would make him exceedingly difficult to beat over a middle distance. After next week, is a smart galloper, but has not finitely whether he has lost his form altogether or is capable of adding to his winning record. It has been pointed out previously that the Winter Cup is a race which the stbale has won already, that success being obtained with Kuhio a couple of years back. PRINCE PALADIN IS SPEEDY Prince Paladin, who will be one of the Trentham representatives at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting next week, is as mart galloper, but has not been seen in public very much, so it is impossible to say how he will fare alongside some of those lie will meet in the other island. However, he looked well when he left here, had done a nice preparation, and might run good races at the meeting. Bronstell and Kilperon were shipped South on Monday night. IT. Telford has both of them well forward. PASSIONATE GALLOPS WELL Since becoming a permanent resident of Trentham, Passionate has done good work on the tracks and there seems to be no reason why the old chestnut should not be capable of winning a little more stake money before being retired from the racing game. One of the most interesting pieces of work he has done since going into his new quarters was his gallop with Tresham on Tuesday morning. The distance over which the pair was extended was six furlongs, and Passionate went practically as well as Tresham. They kept together all the way to the post and ran the last four furlongs in 55sec, the; full journey taking lmin 24 2-ssec. This, considering the soft state of the trial grass track upon which they went, was a very fair gallop, particularly for Passionate, even allowing that he is a good horse in soft going. LOOKING REALLY FIT Indian Sage and Nadarino have been wound up for their Riccarton tasks and have both shown fair trials on the track at Trentham. They look the picture of fitness, and if they run up to their best they are almost certain to be in the limelight. However, after their disappointing form at Auckland, when they were expected to run prominently, and also the failure at Trentham, they are not likely to be among the machine favourites next week. SHIPPED TO GEORGE PRICE As Endorse has shown good promise on the tracks in the last few weeks it was decided that sshe should be shipped to Australia and there do her early racing, so we will not see her out at the Wanganui meeting in September, as was expected in some quarters. At Randwick she will go into the stable of George Price, and he will have the undertaking of initiating her in actual racing, though her early education has been supplied by H. Telford. Endorse, being by Paper Money from Epitaph, would be expected to be fast, and she has given unmistakable signs of being particularly speedy. As she is very well forward she is just the sort who might pick up a stake or two on the other side, and if she is capable of doing so it is a good scheme to send here there, as Sydney is the place to get some winnings with a galloper. Endorse belongs to Captain B. H. Edklns, who appears to be among those sportsmen who are prepared to pay big money for anything he thinks is worth buying. IS HE REFORMED? Now that Inferno has been removed from the schooling list it is intended to get him ready for flat racing again. R. Hatch has effected a complete reformation of the once-wayward son of Absurd, but it remains to be seen, nent. As Inferno has been in work LIGHT. Don't buy your Light carelessly. Ask for “Mazda’* Lamps and ensure good light. NATIONAL ELECTRICAL AND ENGINEERING CO., LTD.

of course, if the reformation is permafor some time past, it is probable he spring meetings. will be entered for some of the early SHIFTED HIS QUARTERS These days trainers are in search of tracks that are good to train on in the winter time, and A. Browne has made the experiment of moving his team from Awapuni to Foxton, where the sandy nature of the soil makes for a comparatively dry track in the wet season. Time will tell how the change will work out, but the idea seems to have a lot to recommend it. UNABLE TO GO TO RICCARTON Kirkwood knocked himself while running in a paddock recently, and it is probable he will not race at the Canterbury winter meeting. He has been jumping well, though slowly, and was improving with racing, so it was hoped that over the stiff Riccarton country he would have been able to give a reasonably good account of himself. Home Made, a stablemat'e of Commendation, has been sent home from Greenmeadows and turned out on his owner’s property at Dannevirke. KAITFS PROSPECTS Some of those who were present at the Gisborne meeting at the end of last week passed through Wellington a few days ago, and they state that Ivaiti won his race so well on the last day of the meeting that he can be expected to make a fair showing in anything he takes on at Riccarton. In fact, one enthusiast reckons the Eucullus gelding will go well in the Winter Cup, in which, he points out, he lias only 9st 31b to carry.