All the Best Are In The Hack Classic

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 524, 29 November 1928, Page 10

All the Best Are In The Hack Classic

THE TAKAPUNA PLATE FIELD

OXE of the most interesting to-morrow is the Takapu hacks, which has attracted a subject of an interesting revi< There are hack cups to be won at several meetings in the North Island, but there is only one “hack classic.” and that is the Takapuna Plate. From the time the Takapuna Jockey Club inaugurated this race there has never been any doubt as to '•s success, for the race has caught the fancy of owners and- trainers. It has furnished stirring contests, too, and one has vivid recollections of the wonderful finish provided by Macroom and Ti Tree, who dead-heated, the former paying a remarkable dividend. A splendid field is down to line up to-morrow for this event, and the race should be every bit as thrilling as last year’s, even if it does not end in a dead-heat. The material is there. On acceptance day last Friday no less than 34 were in the race, but now 10 have withdrawn, one. Liaison, perforce on account of having placed herself right out of the hack class at Te Kuiti last Saturday. She wanted £2OO to get out of hack company, and she got it —right to the penny. A point that must not be overlooked, however, is that the stable still has The Begum to represent it, and she was a promising two-year-old "last season. The Best Hacks The 24 horses engaged to-morrow represent the best hacks in commission, even if they are, with one exception ithin the province. And this is the place and now is the time to review as briefly as possible the prospects of the candidates. Saucy Lass last season was a good one. but not much was seen of her. and she may be in need of a race. So too

may British King,; and with a couple of races into, him he should be able pull out some speed. Air King has run well in liis few starts this season, and so too has The Lover, a genuine stayer who might be better served over a longer journey. Miss Mercia is speedy, ah hough not too consistent, and that sort could not be Vecommended. Kerry Dance has so far failed to strike form this season and finished last in a sixhorse field at Te Kuiti on Monday. Built for Speed INI ore than a good word is due to Leitrim, for lie should be almost as speedy as anything in the field. He comes from a family of speed merchants, among liis elder relatives being Ihapotoa, Dobbin and Star of the East, the first two good winners on the flat. Leitrim contested the Hack Cup at Te Kuiti on Monday, and led for nearly a

events on tlie Taka puna card Liia Plate, a “classic'’ race for splendid field, and fornls the cxv. j uuie. when he faded out. The seven wanting. Subdivision has not dune much racing ol late, for lie seems t u j oo a difficult horse to get right. Of his I bace thei cis not a shadow of doubt Mosque has the pace if not the size and will want everything in his favour *ll the lug Held. Respirator, too i S rather an awkward customer, mt if handy over the List couple of furlongs is just the sort to spring a surprise Arikitoa has shown splendid form this, season, and is able to go fast all the way. Orchus got on the winning list at I’aeroa a fortnight ago (.when "there was very little at stake! >. and Avonoourt is a filly yet to strike her best form One to Recommend At Ellerslie on Tuesday morning last Gold Money was given her head, and well out from the rails she carved out half a mile on a soft track in under That but confirmed her fitness, for time was never any doubt about her pace. t>he raced brilliantly for the greater part of the G.N. Guineas, and three days later she should have won the open sprint but for th© most wretched luck. JShe was just one of those exceedingly “good things” that do get beaten In that race the filiv d.d everything but fall down—and her nose almost touched the ground at the bottom of the straight, but even after getting left she ought to have won. Gold Money is well tuned up for the fray, so what more does one want to know? With ordinary luck in running what beats the filly should win. Millais is the only horse from outside the province, and the fact that it has been considered worth "While to come all this way from Hawke’s Bay speaks for itself. Millais comes from the Toxeuma stable, so they should know just what is tequired. Becalmed, the relative to Stormy, has shown pace) but is still a maiden, and is also engaged in that class, where she possesses an undoubted chance. All Maidens Claiming the full allowance for maiden performers/ are the lot further down, and it will be found a particularly difficult race for a non-winner to capture. The track will probably beat Sports King, but Lunette gathers up speed quickly, which is what is required. Arihana, too, will be well served in this connection, and pleased b€;tter than Saucy Lass in a work-out yesterday. And what of The Begum, a three-year-old that was distinctly promising last season, when she ran second on four occasions, at Tc Rapa, Takapuna, and twice at Ellerslie, and it is recalled that at Ellerslie on New Year’s Bay she might have beaten Episode but for the jockey having a “sliding seat” under him! Only once has The Begum been seen in action this season, and that was in the sprint at Avondale four weeks ago. The filly was noticed running up with the leaders, and on the extreme outer, therefore it was not surprising to find her petering out at the finish. But it showed that she still lias the speed, and with the additional w ork she has executed since that outing she should nearly be at her best. Ji is significant, perhaps, that the stable allowed Liaison to win last Saturday and thereby automatically put her out of this “hack classic.” Was it considered that The Begum was good enough to turn the trick? We shall see. The final summing-up of the race is not to be done here, but the quartet that makes most appeal may be said tc consist of Gold Money, Leitrim, Millais and The Begum.