TIGHTENED UP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 356, 17 May 1928, Page 7

TIGHTENED UP

ELIGIBLE N.Z. CUP HORSES RESTRICTED TROTTERS’ RACE (Special to THE SUN) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. For the next New Zealand Trotting Cup (4.25 class), the eligible horses are:—Ahuriri, Prince Pointer, Great Bingen, Jack Potts, Peter Bingen, Jewel Pointer, Terence Billon, Balnahine, Man-o’-War, Acron, Queen’s Own, Kohara, Black Admiral, Logan Chief, Imprint, Talaro and Padlock. The following are eligible for the Bominion Handicap (unhoppled trotters), reduced from 4.38 to 4.34: Elzear, Young Blake, Native Star, Peterwah, Peter Swift, Waikaha, Money Spider, Transport, Sister Beatrice, Judge Hancock, John Mauritius and Escapade. REEFTON ENTHUSIAST PAYS VISIT TO AUCKLAND SPORT PROGRESSING ON COAST “Abaydos” was pleased this week to receive a visit from one of the keenest light-harness enthusiasts on the Golden Coast. This was Mr. George Osborne, of Reefton, who has been interested in the pastime since his schoolboy days, when as a lad he would hie himself to the Reefton track and ride or drive any of the quadrupeds in work. When in his teens, Mr. Osborne became the owner of a handsome little roan pacer named Katie Billon, a daughter of Harold Billon and Proud Brenda. The filly had a torrent of speed, and was the idol of Reeftonites, and many a morning she almost set fire to the track in the quartzopolis. But Katie Billon had a will of her own, and when the band played she was a jazz artist. After several failures the roan was handed over to Vic. Alborn, but the successful Coast trainer did not fare any better, and the mare was given up as a bad job, after a heap of good Reefton gold had gone west. Another Speedy Trotter Another offshoot of Proud Brenda, by Petereta, was taken in hand later by Mr. Osborne, and this one, Taipoiti, as it was called, favoured the square-gaited business. After a season or two at the game the Petereta mare showed remarkable speed, but for some time followed in the footsteps of her pacing half-sister. Her owner persevered, however, and eventually Taipoiti won a race at Reefton, paying a great price, while the thunderous applause that greeted the performance shook the foundations of the grandstand. The mare won another stake or two for her sporting owner, and was then sent to Christchurch, where earlier this season she was an inmate of C. Bonald’s stable. Over the Ranges The Reefton mare soon made the sparks fly on the Canterbury training tracks, but when the time came to put in hot and heavy at Methven, second was her portion. The same day Taipoiti was solidly supported again in the two-mile trot, but she let her connections down badly. Bonald took her back to the Coast, where she ran two seconds out of three starts, but on again crossing the ranges several failures were recorded in quick succession. This disheartened her connections, and the daughter of Petej*eta is now relegated to the brood mare paddock. Promising Novice At present Mr. Osborne is keenly interested in a novice at Reefton that certainly has excellent breeding to recommend it. It is a four-year-old by Author Billon from Apres Moi, a mq,re that won a heap of money in the West for V. Alborn. Inangahua is the name by which he will be known, and in private he has already shown ability. He is a highly-strung one, and it may be some time before the best of him is seen in public. According to the Reefton sportsman, the sport has made great headway on the Coast during the last year, and the class of visiting contestants has been of an exceptionally high standard. “Coast owners require now to have something pretty good to get a slice of the stake money,” concluded Mr. Osborne.