How They Fared At Dannevirke

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 605, 6 March 1929, Page 12

How They Fared At Dannevirke

REVIEW OF THE RACING REAPPEARANCE OF JUMPERS (Special to TUB SUN) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. So far as the present autumn lias gone it has not been as reliable for followers of form as some of its predecessors have been. Every now and then we get an autumn which is bad for the general run of regular patrons of the sport, and there is just a chance i hat this will be one of them. Up to the present time the punters are on the wrong side of the ledger, but they have time yet to get out of trouble. My opinion is that it is going to take them ail their time to get even. Part of the reason foi# this may be that up till quite recently tne weather was very unsettled. In recent weeks we have had the best weather it would be possible to enjoy, and the tracks in all parts of the district arc very hard. At Dannevirke the other day the course was as concrete, and some of the horses who like firm going found it difficult to hit out properly, and thus ran below expectations. They were backed as dry weather horses, but galloping on concrete was beyond them. One of the horses that has to be backed when the courses are good, or not backed at all, is Novur. He appeared in the high-weight events at Uunnevirko and on account of his class was backed to odds on on the opening day. Having the services of W. J. Bowden, he lost nothing on the score of horsemanship, but ho could not run into a place, and there is no doubt that that was partly due to the ground being Loo hard. Certainly he did better the next day when lie finished a good secoud, but on that occasion he and the winner, Break o* Day, were the only two of the field that did not go down very short in their preliminaries. Apparently, one day on a hard course under welter weights had been enough for most of them. Won a Double Break o’ Day, the winner of both the high-weight races at Dannevirke, has been racing in new colours of late, and baa done well in them, having run a second at Woodville and two lirsts at Dannevirke. He used to be a good track worker some time back, but did not come to light in his races. He has reformed to some extent, but even so there is as yet nothing really striking about his form. He is now being trained by W. C. Mitchell, who is a newcomer among the trainers. Snowshoe went very close to winning at Dannevirke, finishing only a coupie of heads from the winner. Propaganda, who is a good sort of hack, Snowshoe had every opportunity to win, and no excuse can be made for her except, perhaps, that she is not yet thoroughly seasoned. However, the distance was only five furlongs and she should have been able to run it out better than she did. She is ,x Kilbroney and might improve with time, but some of her friends were disappointed in her last week. On several occasions this season surprises have been sprung on the public by inmates of G. New’s stable. Bast season anything New saddled up was backed to a ridiculously short price. This season some rare dividends have been returned by horses under his care. When Malahat was beaten half a head in the Maiden Plate at Dannevirke lie was paying a good price to win. and as it was, his forward running was a complete surprise to a majority of those present. Malahat is by Gasbag from Bady Louisa, a mare that used to race well round these parts some years ago. Bady Bouisa was by CampFire, and with Demosthenes and, Carbine blood in his veins it is not at all surprising that Malahat was running on better than his opponents at the conclusion of the race. A promising maiden was produced last week by Mr. E. Simpson, the owner of Degage. The maiden is streamer, a four-year-old gelding bv Paper Money from Tortrix. He has is nice turn of speed, and when more experienced will win sprint races. Probably he will not be long in losing his maiden status. Right For The Winter During the Dannevirke meeting the jumper, Locerno, was tried over a

middle distance, but his running showed that he is not yet a cup horse. He had flattered his friends by recording a good gallop at Awapuni before being taken to Dannevirke, and favouritism at a shore price was ensured for him before he arrived on the scene of action. In a muddling race he was beaten into second place in the Cup. but with plenty of pace on he failed again on the second day. Bocarno does not stay well enough yet to be a good proposition on the flat, but there is no reason to recede from the theory that he should be a payable hurdler to follow this winter. Another hurdler who is being got ready for the winter season is Gaze. He had a run in the Dannevirke Cup, and surprised a good many by finishing a reasonable third. There were only 53 tickets invested on him —-1 he would have paid a great price had he run cither first or second. He is forward in condition, and should again play a part in the jumping events to follow. Desert Bad ran poorly at Dannevirke, and on that showing it will be a while before he can be looked to to win stake money. He seemed backward and unless he comes to hand quickly can be passed over for a little while at least. Archeria is not making the progress that was expected of him, but lie was one of those who did not relish the hard track at Dannevirke. He managed it better on the second day, when he was unlucky to lose the last race. Those who see the Archery gelding working at Awapuni say that he has not yet on one single occasion reproduced in a race what he lias shown on the tracks. Need of a race accounted for the defeat of Repay at Dannevirke. She was backed as though the contest were over, but was never in a winning position, and did not unwind the finishing elfort which she is capable of when at her best. She will be all right a little later on. The Class Was Poor Among a poor lot of two-year-olds at Dannevirke last week Te Awa stood out, and she may not be of any great account. She is a free galloper, but is a bit small and flighty. Bord Quex is her sire and her dame is Makere, a moderate mare who used to race for Mr. Taranaki Te Ua, the owner of Te Awha. Warfille was such a good thing beaten at Fox ton—beaten by Athol - spear, who afterwards did well at Trentham—that, she was backed witli the greatest confidence at Dannevirke, only to have tc fill second place. She showed speed, but her ability in a hard finish was below requirements. All that can be said for her is that she ran just well enough to keep herself up in the weights. A promising hack is Sylvan Dell, a half-sister to that good performer. Wassail. Sylvan Dell is by Bord Quex out of Merry Dale. She would have been a good thing beaten had she failed in the Oringi Hack Handicap at Dannevirke, as she was chopped out of her course and had to pull round two horses very late in the race. That she then got up and won says something for her.

Though Vast Acre won the two open sprint races at the Dannevirke meeting, the stakes were small and the dividends trifling. A result is that she now has to be penalised for her Bulls engagement, while having rather /tie to show' for the place she is getting to in the weights. This, of course, is a phase of what mig/t be called the luck of the game. Her Dannevirke successes were not very impressive, and with her increased poundage she might not be in favour at Bulls on the opening day, as the class engaged is much better than that at Dannevirke. On what was seen of him on the first day at Dannevirke Topere shou not be long in winning a hack six Lui - long race.

There was very heavy backing for Goodwill in the concluding event of the Dannevirke fixture, and though he pulled his backers through it was only by vigorous riding and a shade of good luck that he did so. He held a prominent position all through the race, but Barry was hard at work on him all the way up the straight to make him keep it and in a desperate bout over the last furlong he squeezed him home by a head. Goodwill is a Gay Bad gelding, out of Cheekie. and is trained by T. Quinlivan, who is hard to beat when he fancies one of his charges. However, followers of the stable had a very close call, and they will need an assurance that the gelding has improved before they “weigh in” again w’ith anything more than a modest amount.