BRIGADIER BILL IS COMING NORTH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 358, 19 May 1928, Page 7

BRIGADIER BILL IS COMING NORTH

CHASERS AT WANGANUI {Special to THE SUN) One of the features of the Wanganui i racing on Thursday was the success in j che steeplechase of Brigadier Bill, and | his owner stated after the race that i the Ail Red gelding will now be sent on to Ellerslie to contest the Great Northj ern Steeplechase next month. He will j be ridden by Alan McDonald, who was i him when he won the Egmont i Steeplechase and the Wanganui Steeplechase. j Brigadier Bill lias jumped the coun- , try well in the only two steeplechases he has contested, but there is a doubt . as to how lie will fare over the stiffer course at Ellerslie, which includes the j water jump and the hill. However, he I is a very fit horse and if the pace is ! not too solid is a possibility. For the first time in his history as a steeplechaser Comical completed the course. It was very pleasing to see mm do so, and there is a possibilitv that lie will yet win a race over the fences. He was ridden by Mr. R. Russell, son of a well-known Hawke’s Bav family. Mr. Russell handled him well and it was partly due to his skill and determination that he got him round. NEARLY QUIT j The jumping of Comical was fairly good, but half way through the race it looked as if he were going to quit, as he was showing a strong dislike for the task. His rider put the stick on him and drove him into his fences, with the result that he settled down to his task and got round safely. Mr. Russell was congratulated for his performance. Not much was seen of Maunga in the Wongamn Steeplechase as he had to be pulled up fairly early in tlie race owing to something going wrong with his saddle While he remained in the race he gave a. good exhibition of jumping and as lie looked a fit horse the chances are that he would have been in the Jiunt at the finish had he remained in tho held. TUKI STAYS ON Old Tuki is very well and was plugsmig on at the end of the race better than anything else in the field. He is still a fine jumper and should have a say in the settlement of some of the big events at Ellerslie. He lay a long way back in the early part of the race, but his ability as a stayer was asserting itself at the finish. The showing that Peter Maxwell gave was good enough to say that he is still h possibility for a steeplechase, though he will have to improve a lot to win another Grand National. However, it will bo remembered that he improved toward the end of last season and might repeat the performance this year. Not a great deal more might be heard of Frisco Jack in big company for a while, as he gave a very bad display m the Wanganui Steeplechase, and his owner must have been thoroughly puzzled. He was a success among the hunters and did well at Hawera till he fell, so his Wanganui form must be regarded as all wrong. NOT THROUGH YET Passin’ Through is not through with the game yet. The old fellow was making a bold, showing toward the end of the Wanganui Steeplechase, but an attempt to go with Brigadier Bill proved futile, and in the end lie weakened and was beaten also by Tuki. Nevertheless, tliere are easier steeplechases than the Wanganui to win and he might catch one of them or at least go very close to doing so. Mixed Fleather is a promising hack steeplechaser, even allowing that he had to have luck on his side to win at Wanganui. Had Radiate stood up, Mixed Heather would have been second, but Mixed Pleather comes from a stable which turns out good steeplechasers—that of V. FI. Colello—and lie has been taught his business very thoroughly. A POOR JUMPER Risk is a shocking jumper and unless he improves out of all knowledge there is not much reason to consider him for hack events in the future. Ruby Ring is doing fair work in his races, but he still has to be made as a steeplechaser. Vanninia, a brother to Te Kawa, so fai- is a failure as a steeplechaser. There is not a great deal of hope for him. One of the Taranaki horses who might do some good as a hack steeplechaser is Radiate, who looked like winning the Hack Steeples at Wanganui from end to end when he made his one mistake at the final fence and fell over. The mistake he made was to jump too big and in a green horse that is a fault that time can be expected to rectify.