Boxing Day Trots

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 545, 24 December 1928, Page 15

Boxing Day Trots

FOUR ACTIVE ZONES Candidates With Good Prospects

Racing and trottinq will be in ! full swing throughout New Zealand during the festive season and Boxing Day will provide a rare feast for followers of both sections. Trotting enthusiasts will have plenty of scope on Wednesday as four fixtures will be in progress, namely. South Wairarapa (.at Carterton), Ashburton, Gore and Westport. On Thursday the second day at Carterton will be in progress, while Auckland’s opening day will claim attention. All the clubs racing on Boxing Day j are old-established organisations, j which have kept the light-harness flag j floating in the breeze for a consider- j able number of years. In their respective districts these clubs cater for j a large number of “sports,” and the presentation of the cards in each district provides fans with enjoyable and at times thrilling entertainment. AT SOUTH WAIRARAPA Being a North Island fixture, the meeting at Carterton will probably appeal more to enthusiasts in this locality than to those in the South, although several performers taking part in the other Island are well and favourably known to Auckland speculators, and their doings will no doubt be followed with a certain degree of interest. The 'Wairarapa Club is one of the oldest established associations among the country organisations in the North, and while the distance precludes many from this district attending the carnival, Aucklanders have at times visited the meeting with fair success. On this occasion, the Mangere-trained Realty and Black Ballin are the only representatives from this centre. The chief event is the Wairarapa Cup, and had D. Withers been present to drive Danny Boy, the Christchurch pacer would have been a warm favourite, but he is a difficult horse to handle, and in fresh hands may not do his best. Others that will claim attention are Native Hero and Baron Bingen, although the latter may be better suited to the lesser distance, the Clareville Handicap. Other pacers who should be in the limelight are Security. Hardy Jack, Zella, Realty, Great Delight, Gold Cast and Our Nancy. Very few trotters are engaged at the meeting and Nelson’s Request, Tamahine and Ben Bingen look like dividing the spoils. ASHBURTON ANNUAL Among Southerners the Ashburton fixture is one of the most important, and this club enjoys a large measure of public popularity. It is the only racing proposition in the Canterbury Province for the Christmas season, and proves a great draw card for all those who are interested in the sport provided by horses. The Ashburton meeting differs in one respect from its country associates, in that the track on which the trotting is held is usually very fast, and particularly at this period of the year competitors are apt to knock large slices off their handicaps. This, however, does not act as a deterrent to sportive owners, with the result the acceptance list is again on the satisfactory side The Auckland owner, Mr. Geo. McMillan, has a good string engaged at Ashburton, and this accounts for Roy Berry not being present at the Auckland carnival to drive Machine Gun and Jean McElwyn. The red-and-black livery will be carried by Harold Logan, Koro Peter, Sunfish, Dundas Boy and Great Triumph, and with such strong representation some of the prize money should come North. There is a classy field in the Cup and with Shadowland, Wrackler, KotLiku Jack. Roi L’Or and Dundas Boy engaged, there is material for a rattling good contest. D. Withers has driven Roi L’Or in his successes, but another reinsman will be required on Wednesday. However, such a high class pacer as Roi L’Or will be on hand if a starter, while recent form points to Kotuku Jack being a tough opponent. Others that will make their presence felt during the progress of the racing are Nan Brent, Becky Mine, June de Oro, Travis Axworthy, Mac Dillon, Wrackler, Great Triumph and Dick Logan. There -will be good fields in the trotters’ items, • in which Brent

Boy. First Wrack. Koro Peter and Molly Molloy should make a. good showing. POPULAR SOUTHLAND FIXTURE The Gore Trotting Club has for the past quarter of a century catered remarkably well for patrons of the light harness sport in the Far South, and this organisation can lay claim to a good deal of credit for the manner in which the game has gone ahead in Southland. The province has also been fortunate in possessing men with sufficient interest and foresight to prosecute breeding operations on sound lines, and as a result the district has produced some high class perlormers. From Gore and Cattle Flat stock has been produced which, when properly educated and trained, has been capable of taking a place with the best on metropolitan courses. The principal event on an attractive card is the Trotting Club Handicap, an event that has been won in the past by many good performers, including the present Auckland Cup favourite, Prince Pointer, who in 1923 landed the big race, and later in the day completed a double by getting home in the sprint. There is a fine field engaged in Wednesday’s race, but the public will hardly fail to make Nelson de Oro, the promising young pacer by Key de Oro from Effie Bingen, favourite. Off the front and with Jack McLennan in the sulky, his chances are certainly rosy. Sunsliower is a likely sort, while Denver’s Doll will be another to carry the confidence of a large section. Sheik is a possibility, and Nelson McElwyn may be one to upset the favourite calculations. In the other heats large fields will be the order of the day, and the presence of a big number of novices will make the work of the backers difficult. They may, however, elect to go for Dawson Bingen, Liberal, Limosa, Wild Nita, Winnie Chrysler, Needles, Return Voyage. Honest Ned. Pattie Bingen, Major Domo, Patty Todd and Peter Lin in their various various engagements. ON THE WEST COAST There is no part of .the Dominion where the light harness sport has made greater progress under adverse conditions than the West Coast of the South Island. More especially is this the case with the Westport Club, which operates in the Duller district, where for close on thirty years the game has been carried on under many difficulties, but nevertheless with a splendid measure of success. By reason of its isolation in point of transit facilities, the Westport organisation has been hard up against it, but the stalwarts behind the trotting gun in the coalopolis • fought bravely and won through. Unfortunately, after a long period of hard struggling, the club has received a set-back from the New Zealand Trotting Association through the action of the governing body in granting permission to the Greymouth Racing Club to include light harness events on its programme. As there is only one day between the final of the Westport fixture and the opening of the Greymouth carnival, and travelling from the former to the latter place entails a 30-mile road trip and 66 railway journey, the Westport Club has suffered severely with its fields for the function which opens on Wednesday, and it certainly does not seem right that a club which has pioneered the movement through thick and thin should be made to suffer because a racing club, formerly opposed to the combining of the two sports on one card, has found it necessary, in its decline, to grasp at the trotting straw to save itself from drowning. Despite this drawback and its evil influence, the Westport Club will hold an interesting fixture during Christmas, the chief heat on the opening day being the Williams Memorial Handicap. Only six acceptors colour the card, and the Canterbury candidate Ariki Toa will be a tall order, but may have his sails clipped by the Westport mare Beesie Dillon. In the trotters’ department. Nelson Parish, Tot Logan, Billy Ashley and Comfort should do best, while the former may not be content to stop at one success. A varied lot of pacers are engaged, and among the novices Jessie Bells, Musical, Alpine Melody, • and Royal Comrade will be prominent, while in the other items favourite selections wi l probablv be Bonny Wrack, Reta Nelson, Diilon Chimes and Thorpie.