Durf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 196, 8 November 1927, Page 10

Durf Notes

By

“EARLY BIRD.

Whangarei’s Meeting The spring fixture of the AVhangarei j Racing Club is to be held on Thursday and Saturday next. The first race is timed to start each day at 12.45 p.m. Takapuna Meeting The spring fixture of the Takapuna Jockey Club is to be held on Saturday and Monday, November 26 and 28. Handicaps are due to make tlicir appearance next Tuesday. At Riccarton The C.J.C. meeting is to be continued to-morrow at Riccarton, and will be concluded on Saturday. To-morrow the Canterbury Cup, two and a quarter miles, is to be run, and on the final day there is the Stead Cup, one and a quarter miles. Great Northern Derby With the New Zealand Derby now decided, attention will next be riveted on the even more valuable Great Northern Derby, to be run at Ellerslie on January 2. By that time Agrion should be in great fettle, and with Laughing Prince also in this classic the Wanganui colt will be given a chance of reversing yesterday’s placings. Laughing Prince was unlucky in the straight yesterday, but it is doubtful whether he could have beaten Agrion in any case. One of the Best When Duke Abbey won his last race at Trentham a fortnight ago it was obvious that he was a hack otit of the ordinary, for he won that race just as easily as Limerick won his an hour and a-half previously, with all those behind him being ridden out, his grace the Duke just bowling along in front of them for all the world in the true style of a Gloaming. True, his opponents were but moderate hacks. At Riccarton on Saturday Duke Abbey was up against much better horses, including some smart tliree-year-olds, and he beat them pointless. Teri; the second horse, had three weeks before won the Wairarapa County Cup, while Satrap, who finished fifth, was second in yesterday’s Derby. This makes Duke Abbey out to be a real good one; perhaps he may be tried against the cracks before returning from Riccarton, and he may even be bro Light to Ellerslie next month. Two Finishing Posts The two winning posts at Riccarton are considered likely to lead to serious trouble despite lectures to jockeys prior to the start of the races affected. There are several points about the scheme which should cause a a'apid reversion to the old order of things. The scheme is to bring the starts of the five and six furlong races some 80 yards closer to the stands, and it has been necessary to make a new winning post for races of those distances further down the straight. This means that in these races horses will have to go past the old winning post and finish at the new one. If horses do not stop at the old post and gome of the boys make mistakes, it will be surprising indeed. In addition a new judge’s box has been made in the public stand, and that official will not be at all comfortable. Further, occupants of the grandstand in tho paddock enclosure are going to be 300 to 400 yards away from the actual finish, with the horses going away from them. All experienced people know that, a finish cannot be viewed satisfactorily this way. The Oaks To-morrow The fillies left in the New Zealand Oaks at Riccarton to-morrow are Bourse, Doree, Eulalie, Glad Light, Luminant, Sky Quest, Scrambler, Shalimar, Slanther, Vigilance and Wild Pigeon. Eulalie is the most brilliant of

the lot, but she Is a daughter of Absurd, and with any pace on at-, all throughout she should not be able to see out the mile and a half. The Mason stable has a second string in Shalimar. Vigilance and Wild Pigeon are still eligible for hack company. Doree does not stay well, but she will have the services of Roy Reedi and that will be something in her favour. T. Green will ride Eulalie. It is a weak field, without a doubt, and it would occasion no surprise should two non-stayers in Doree and Eulalie be made the favourites. The Master Mind There was the genuine Mason touch about A.grion’s brilliant Derby victory at Riccarton yesterday, and this colt’s success when he could not have been thoroughly tuned up shows that the astute veteran trainer had every reason to be confident when preparing him for the Australian Jockey Club’s Derby. He had to be given a spell a few weeks before that rich classic, but up to this time he was going great guns in his work. It is highly probable that he would have beaten Trivalve had he been all right, and Agrion was regarded by many shrewd Sydney judges as a good thing. Unfortunately he was a hopeless case and was brought back to the Dominion. He was given a letup, and even up till quite recently the track watchers at Riccarton did not enthuse over the colt’s prospects for yesterday’s classic. Y”et he made all the running and won .well. Agrion cannot be at his best yet, so there is every prospect of developing into a really great horse under Mason’s care. The colt’s success makes the outlook in the Stead Cup next Saturday not such a good thing for Limerick as it looked prior to yesterday, and it. is to be hoped that Agrion, Laughing Prince (who was a bit unlucky yesterday), and Paleta at least will represent the three-year-old division against Limerick on Saturday.

Lady Desmond’s Form Although she was allowed to take her place in the New Zealand Cup on Saturday, Lady Desmond has not been herself for several days, and until advices to the contrary come to hand it were wise to overlook her. Nevertheless, Lady Desmond ran a good race in the Cup, and considering the circumstances she might have won a race at Riccarton during the fixture. Long Way to Go The Canterbury Cup to-morrow will see Limerick in action once again, and as the opposition does not look like being very strong the crack will be a hot favourite. It is a pity that there is not something to try him out over this journey, for some of his critics consider he is not a genuine stayer. De-

spite this, there will not be many owners desirous of opposing Limerick to-mor-

Limerick appears to have done particularly. well since arriving home. Tie went along with an abundance of dash on the plough this morning, and will be ready to take on all comers next week in the Canterbury Cup and Stead Gold Cup. Leading English Jockey

Gordon Richards continues his remarkable successes in the saddle in England. When the last mail left he had ridden 114 winners with a percentage of 22.71. Next to him were T. Weston, 58 winners at 13.66, and C. Elliott with 57 at 16.06. Elliot was the immediate predecessor at the head of the jockey’s list, and it was he who had successfully challenged Steve Donoghue’s pre-eminence. This season Donoghue had piloted only 39 winners with an average of 12.04. The Pace of Kiosk When Kiosk was beaten in both his races at Ellerslie a month ago the writer recorded the fact that the Tea Tray horse was not seen at his best. His next appearance was in the Steward’s Handicap at Riccarton on Saturday, in which he ran an excellent race in third place. He improved upon this effort yesterday, winning the Criterion Handicap, seven furlongs, a race that has in the past been won by some brilliant performers. Kiosk did not have much to spare, but it went to show that with all his fine burst of speed the Wanganui colt may be seen at his best over purely sprint courses. Up to the- present, however, the operation for respiratory troubles has been a success, for he has won two out of the six races he has contested this season. It is quite probable that Kiosk will be raced at the big Ellerslie meeting next month, the Railway Handicap being his mission.

Breaker of Records When she won at Wingatui and Trentham last month, the flying filly Childsplay smashed the time records for the two-year-old classics, and probably, had she been pushed, she could have beaten Cimabue’s 58 2-5 in the C.J.C. Welcome Stakes on Saturday. As it was the filly won in a common canter in a full second slower time. Cimabue was a flier for a few furlongs, but Childsplay must be called the superflier to do her justice. As already pointed out in these columns, at the present time there is no other two-year-old in training that is within lengths of the Autumnus filly up to five furlongs. Prince Humphrey seems to be the only one that can anywhere near Childsplay, and this colt was allowed by the filly’s jockey to get to within a length at Trentham. Present indications are that Sir George Clifford’s brilliant filly will be seen out at Ellerslie at Christmas, and should this plan be carried out Aucklanders will see a regular flying machine.

Gloaming’s Owner Talks The following is an article recently printed in the San Francisco “Chronicle”: “That San Franciscans appear to be immensely happy, contented with their work and prosperous is the observation of G. D. Greenwood, millionaire rancher, packer, horse fancier and breeder, who has arrived in San Francisco from Christchurch, New Zealand. He is en route to London, and is registered at the Clift Hotel. ‘This is 4ny third trip to San Francisco in fifty years,' said Greenwood. ‘lt is a great joy to come here again, and see so many spectacular changes in this marvellous city and State. From here I am going to Yosemite for a few days, and then to Southern California for a short visit before starting east.’ Greenwood is considered one of the world’s largest owners and leasers of land, having control of more than 1,000,000 acres in New Zealand and Australia. In addition, he owns a worsted mill in England, has heavy cattle and land interests in Argentina and heads a packing plant in New Zealand. Greenwood is the owner of Gloaming, one of a string of 21 racehorses. It is’ said to be one of the most noted animals south of the equator. ‘This horse has won 57 of 67 starts, and has netted more than 215,000d01s in prize money in the last six years,’ he said. ‘This animal won three of the 11 Derbies that have been credited to my string.’ ”