TROTTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 368, 31 May 1928, Page 7

TROTTING

• . • By

“Abaydos”

SPLENDID RECORD Waitaki Girl's Mission Will Again be King George Stakes WILL SHE DO THE HA T TRICK ? OS SATURDAY AT ADDINGTON THE WELL PERFORMED PACING MARE WAITAKI GIRL WILL MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO WIN THE KING GEORGE HANDICAP FOR THE THIRD TIME IX SUCCESSION, AND WHILE SHE WILL BE FAVOURED WITH THE SMALL FIELD HER TASK IS NEVERTHELESS A DIFFICULT ONE. ALTHOUGH, IN VIEW OF HER REMARKABLY BRILLIANT RECORD. HER CLAIM MUST BE RESPECTED

Rut the daughter of Harold Dillon and Stanley’s Child is such a game pacer, endowed with speed and stamina, ihat no task appears too huge for her. True, this season she has not displayed the brilliance of former years, but at the New Zealand Metropolitan Easter fixture Waitaki Girl put up a great performance in finishing third to Taurekareka and Machine Gun, an effort that augurs well for her attempt to :’?nin lead the field home in the Canterbury Park principal event. Fourth Attempt for the Honour This will make *the fourth occasion on which the dashing daughter of Harold Dillon tackled the King George Handicap. In 1925, as a five-year-old. she put up a big struggle for the thick

end of the purse, but was beaten at the finish by Viin, a fine pacer, who had previously captured the eve*\t in 1923. The following year, after several attractive performances. Waitaki Girl, handicapped on 4.24 and conceding starts up to 96 yards, triumphed over a good field, registering 4.25 for the 16 furlongs. Last year, after failing in her several outings to earn a winning bracket, the pacing queen, from 84yds behind her opponents, decisively scored a popular victory. On Saturday the Harold Dillon mare will make another attempt to have her name inscribed on the /oil of honour for the King George Handicap, and should she suceed in her mission it will be a very fine record indeed. She is handicapped on 4.24, and while there are some highclass two-milers in front of her the

will display a bold front, and if defeated will be by no means disgraced. Early Career Waitaki Girl commenced her racing career as a three-year-old in 1923, and

the first time she sported silk was in a mile and a-half heat, which figured on the Waimate racing programme. Handicapped on 3.50, the young pacer was a good second to Logan Lou (who also turned out trumps later) and ran the distance in 3.39 2-5. After missing a berth in the Trial at Timaru, the three-year-old was next stepped out in the Maturity Stakes at the Canterbury Park winter session, which she won in attractive style in 3.33. The following season the Harold Dillon mare registered two wins for her party, the big event at Timaru. where she recorded 4.44 for two miles, and the Campbell Handicap, the principal item at the Auckland fixture, held at that time in the autumn. On a heavy track the mare went 4.54. Two successes were her portion when racing as a five-year-old, the Halswell Handicap, run at the Addington Easter carnival, which she pulled out in 4.30 3-5, and the mile Hying handicap at Forburv Park, which she traversed in 2.13 3-5. Wonderful Season The season 1925-26 proved a profitable one for the connections and admirers of this fine mare, and no fewer than seven good handicaps fell to her lot. Four of these were scored successively. The sequence was broken when she ran third in her next start, but in getting this position the mare set the seal on her fame by tramping two miles in 4.22, while next time up she won the King George Handicap, which again came her way last June, and perhaps may be in her keeping for the third time on Saturday. Waitaki Girl, who was in her sixth year when she achieved this remarkable record, won the Beach Handicap of 10 furlongs at the New Brighton summer meeting, cutting out the journey in 2.47 2-5. After a couple of failures the mare attracted attention by winning the Timaru Cup in 4.27, which was followed by a victory in the Wainoni Handicap on the first day of the New Brighton autumn fixture, where she recorded 2.45 for a mile and a-quarter. On the second day the New Brighton Handicap was her mission, and again home she came in the good time of 4.26 4-5. Th.e Harold Dillon mare next appeared at the Metropolitan Easter function at Addington, when she secured her fourth successive victory by landing the 10-furlong Flying Handicap in 2.41 3-5. Then

followed her wonderful effort of 4.22 for two miles on the concluding day of this fixture, when she was beaten by Minton Derby and Jack Potts in one of the finest speed tests ever witnessed. while she finished up a wonderful season shortly afterwards with her Canterbury Park victory. Waitaki Girl, who is now approaching the end of her eighth year, has had a remarkable and successful turf career, during which time she has won stake money to the approximate value of .£5,000. Her most successful seasons were: 1923-24. .£1.245; and 1925-26, £1.835. Should this brilliant performer succeed in adding the King George Handicap to her splendid record on Saturday it would be a fitting climax to a wonderful career.