Turf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 487, 17 October 1928, Page 14

Turf Notes

By

Saturday’s Racing On Saturday the Waikato Racing Club’s spring meeting opens at Te Rapa, and will be concluded on the following Wednesday. .The Wellington fixture also opens on Saturday. Wasting No Time H. Wiggins will not be riding at Te Rapa over the week-end, for he intends to be present at the Wellington Racing Club’s meeting on Saturday and Monday; and at the time of writing he had made the following engagements: —Shining Armour, Arrow Boy, Moa Bird, Kaha, Vigilance, and also one from S. Reid’s stable. The second day of the Waikato Racing Club’s meeting i« not held until Wednesday, and this will enable Wiggins to accept mounts for that day. Jockey's Mounts Several riding engagements made for the Waikato meeting on Saturday are as follows: —R. McTavish: Te Kara, Eh Timi, Fraser, Pegaway, and one from A. Cook’s stable; E. Manson: Catkin; J. Cammick: Corinax, Respirator, Master Lu, Whaka King and Red Lion; L. Husband: Taumai and Master Boon; A. McDonald: TJralla, Home Made; J. Burgess: Soami; G. Holland: Waltzer; O. Mclnally: Golden Krist; S. Tremain; Transformer; J. Day: Papatu; C. Goulsbro: Mint Leaf, Oration. Lineroo’s Welfare The Australian-bred three-year-old, Lineroo, has not made the progress anticipated and his gallops on the track of late have by no means been encouraging. He lightened up considerably a short time back, and although his condition is showing an improvement he is yet none too robust. The son of Garlin has yet to make his appearance before a racing public. A Splendid Jumper Very seldom does a schooling bout excite such admiration as did the exhibition of Handy at Ellerslie yesterday morning. He was ridden by J. Burgess, and was accompanied by Potoanui (E. Rae) and Glenotus (J. Sharkey), the trio being asked to participate in a lesson over the steeplechase fences on the flat twice. Handy out jumped his companions at the initial jump, the sod wall, gaining several lengths, and at the remaining jumps he fenced beautifully. Potoanui and Glenotus also gave a pleasing display, but the honours undoubtedly went to Handy. New To Hurdles The Te Awamutu owner-trainer, G. Paul, recently placed Lord Abbey in the hands of P. Conway at Ellerslie, and that trainer will put the son of Lord Multifid through a course of schooling. Lord Abbey (E. Garrett) was asked to negotiate several pony hurdles at headquarters yesterday morning and but for hitting the last fence with plenty of force, he gave a nice exhibition. Left One Behind When S. G. Ware went to Sydney last month with Gold Tinge he took the. well-known' Southern hacks, Narrative and Puff, as well as his crack two-year-old. Gold Tinge and Narrative are coming back, but it is reported that Puff was sold to a Sydney owner. She is a four-year-old mare by Tractor from Thistledown, and she is a useful galloper. Smart Sprinter Crown Area will be making his first appearance this season in the Shorts at Trentham on Saturday, and the Awapuni representative should do well this season. Last year he ran second to Eulalie in the Stewards’ Handicap at the New Zealand Cup meeting and was one of the best stake-earners of the Acre tribe. Returning To Form Footfall and Paperchase showed good form in their engagements at Wingatui on Thursday. They will return home without any more racing, but probably they will be seen at Rangiora or Motukarara later in the month, and both of them should be at their best for important events at Riccarton next month. Sande’s Retirement Earle Sande. America’s roremost. jockey, rode his last race in the Futurity last Saturday. In ten years Sande has ridden 942 winners, including tho Kentucky Derby twice. He had won all the classics except tho Futurity, but was not placed. Henceforth he will be owner and trainer. Sande and Steve Donoghue, England’s premier jockey, met some four or five years ago in a classic encounter between the American ’horse Zev and the English horse Papyrus, for the unofficial championship of the world. Sande piloted Zev to the winning post first. By a curious coincidence, the papers announced, on the day of Sande’s last race, the bankruptcy of his English rival. Sande’s retirement as a jockey Is due to the fact that he finds it difficult to “make” his weight. He is only in his 30th year, and is retiring 17 years younger than the Australian Bob Lewis was when he won the last Melbourne Cup. Sande and Lewis have much the same style in the pigskin—both are adepts at the fashion of riding set by the immortal Tod Sloan. Amounis’s Fine Effort A study of the intermediate times for the Epsom Handicap, writes “Poseidon” drives home the realisation of the greatness of Amounis’s feat, if possible, more so than the actual watching of his wonderful run. Seeing that the first two furlongs were run in 242, and that the Magpie gelding, which got off the mark slowly, wa3 then about three from last, nothing but a mignificently sustained effort enabled him to win. From the time Sir Christopher passed the six furlong pole in the lead till Amounis flashed past the judge was 1.12*. At the first mark Amounis was all 10 lengths behind the leader and as that represents 1.2-3 s. he travelled over the last six in 1.102, which is phenomenal time. (Randwick record for a six furlong race is 1.10&) as Amounis in the middle of his run had to be pulled out from the rails to come around several horses. As the first six of the Epsom took only 1.11 it is scarcely surprising that the last two accounted for 264 seconds, a fact which spelt opportunity to a horse which could run his last six in 1.102 and his last five of a mile in 59. To the foregoing the same writer adds: “For all his great heart Amounis has shown that he has a limit. He cannot quite sustain his tremendous speed to th© end of a mile and a-half race. He died on his run in the King’s Cup, just failed at the end of the Williamstown Cup, and Silvius beat him at the same d 1 stance last spring. Was not MolliH'in in x»rerlHely the same position at the end of tho Derby? At nine furlongs at Rosehill he was able to brilliantly answer his rider’s call for “more,” but on Saturday he was unable toi make Dip, same meteoric dash when Prince) Humphrey c hallenged him at 11 fur- i longs.”

EARLY BIRD.

Dargaville Entries on Friday Nominations for all events to be run at the Dargaville Racing Club’s meeting, to be held at Avondale on Thursday and Saturday, November 1 and 3, close next Friday at 5 p.m. with the race meeting secretary, Mr. A. J. Farquhar, at Avondale Jockey Club’s office, Victoria Street West. Wellington Scratchings Starboard Light, Kilmezzo, and Lord Quex have been scratched for all engagements at the W r elllington meeting, and Cele.rity 11. for the Harcourt Cup. Three Masterton winners, Courageous, Arrow Boy, and Tcheka, earned 51b penalties for their Wellington engagements. Veteran Trainer Doing Well The many friends of S. Waddell will be glad to learn that he is making good progress toward recovery from the severe bout of illness that has recently laid him aside. It is now only a question of time when he will again be about and doing. Lady Fuller and Melbourne Cup Lady Ben Fuller, unlike her husband, is an ardent racegoer. She got a good one from New Zealand in Beau Geste, but sold it before a start, believing that she was going abroad earlier than It so happened. When she is in England, Lady Fuller intends to buy a good one with the idea of winning a Melbourne Cup.

Backed For £12,000 Oratrix was beaten half a length by Jocelyn in the Metropolitan. That halflength cost the connections of the Kilbroney mare a sum in the neighbourhood of £12,000. At the final discussions on the race the owner, Mr. R. J. Murphy, was active in his support of Oratrix at big odds, and several times wagers of £I,OOO to £2O were booked to him. Thus a big win, involving only a small risk, would have been effected if Oratrix had beaten Jocelyn. It has been said that but for losing her position at a critical stage of the race Oratrix might have reversed positions with Jocelyn. What a turn-up for the bookmakers would this have been! The form displayed by Oratrix was certainly a vast improvement on that recorded by her at Hawkesbury nine days previously. There she never looked like overhauling Sharp Son, and she was’ eventually beaten into second place, half a dozen lengths behind the winner. In the “Met.”, however, Oratrix finished ahead of Sharp Son. By the way, if Oratrix had prevailed what a meeting it would have proved for the visiting New Zealanders! They would have embarked for home with the Derby, Breeders’ Plate, Metropolitan, and half the Spring Stakes to their credit.