WAIKATO RACING NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 646, 24 April 1929, Page 13

WAIKATO RACING NOTES

PROSPECTS FOR TE RAPA CANDIDATES’ CHANCES , (Special to THIS SUN J With the near approach of the Waikato Racing Club’s autumn meeting the Te Rapa tracks will bear a busy appearance this week (writes The Sun's travelling turf correspondent), although as yet there has been nothing done of any note. With excellent Helds engaged, and given good weather, tli© club seems assured of a splendid meeting and all true sportsmen, realising the heavy liabilities under which the local organisation is labouring, will wish it. the best of luck in this regard. Pouri, whose form over country last season was first class, is expected to make his next appearance in the hurdles at Te Rapa on Saturday. He finished a good distance back in his last start of this season—in one of the batten events at Avondale—and will probably require a little more racing* yet before being seen at his best. He is not being unduly hurried along, the principal intention, of course, being to have him in solid order for important jumping events during the winter. Wiltshire, the hero of last year’s Grand National Steeplechase, has made a great deal of advancement during the last few weeks, and, under his trainer-rider, R. C. Syme, is going along nicely in his work at the local headquarters. Although the distance of Saturday’s hurdle event. 1A miles. Is probably a little too short lor him. he will be going on when a lot of the others are stopping, and the race will, in any case, sharpen him up considerably. He should be right at the top of his form again by the end of next month. As expected, the local jumper, Ned Kelly, was a prominent competitor in the hurdle events at Whangarei. but his failure with the increased poundage the second day indicated that he is not improving. ITe should get the distil nee nicely at Te Rapa on Saturday but, writing, of course, before the acceptances close, he may find.’ the opposition here a little too solid for him. Is Favoured For a young hurdler, Komak has been prominently in the limelight of late and it looks as if he will be a good proposition to follow during the next two or three months. His previous displays show that he is a horse that likes a fair amount of distance and it is just a question as to whether the mile and a-half event on Saturday will be too short for him. He is. however, entitled to be among the favoured division. A new addition to the ranks of the jumpers is Glena Bay, the Romeo gelding in M. J. Carrol’s stables. He has displayed promise in the few schooling tasks that he has been put through, but may require the experience of a race or two over the sticks before ready to give of his best in the new department. A big, strong type of geld-

ing he appeals as a novice jumper, while he is endowed with a fair amount of pace. There was a good deal of speculation as to how Mr. Russell would deal with Aussie in the big mile and aquarter handicap at Te Rapa on Saturday and, in awarding the brilliant son of Fortafix 9.9, he has not been unduly hard on a good horse. Certainly. Aussie has never gone beyond a mile but many people will be surprised if a journey slightly beyond that distance finds him wanting. Given a firm surface—he is not likely to start if the going is soft—the Te Awamutu champion will, with all his weight, give most of those opposed to him a headache. In the Boom King Lu is in the boom again, but at the same time he is well up in the weights. He is a proved weigh tcarrier, however, and his known preference for a soft track will be taken full cognisance of by followers of the game from now on. With 9.0 in the principal event at the end of the week he has been made to pay for his dual success at Avondale, and it is quite on the cards that the stable may prefer to rely upon Queen Arch who, with the minimum, is always a distinct possibility over this distance on an easy track. Flying J uliet is down in the weights once more, and with only 8.2 in the Storey Memorial at the week-end, must be given a first-class chance on her best form. The Romeo mare does not like it really soft, but w'ith the sting out of the ground, conditions that she is likely to meet with next Saturday, is likely to be dangerous. Mervette’s excellent second to Bright Glow in the Easter Handicap has met with its full reward in the poundage that she is now receiving and, in fact, she has been taken such good care. of by the handicappcrs that she lias not been started since. Still, there are her winning displays at the Ellerslie Christmas meeting to be considered, and on that form she could scarcely have received less than 7.11 for next Saturday. Her gallops during tlio next few days will be followed with keen Interest. Kingfield, prior to the recent Ellerslie meeting, had been regarded more or less as purely a sprinter, but his good display over a mile in the Easter Handicap indicated that he was not averse to a journey over a middle distance. With the luxurious impost of 7.5 it would occasion no surprise to find him running a good race in the Storey Memorial on Saturday, especially if the track is at all soft. The sprint event may, however, be his mission, and his appearance in the shorter distance race will undoubtedly find him the medium for heavier betting than he is likely to be entrusted with over the longer journey. A candidate that is being kept steadily in mind for the Great Northern Steeplechase is the Gordonton trained jumper, Mangani, whose great display of fencing when he led the field home in the Autumn Steeples at Ellerslie on Easter Monday stamps him as one of the most promising young chasers in commission. He is in steady work and will be in splendid order for the big June meeting. Wenday ran two useful races at Whangarei, and it is probable that the Bay Comet mare is susceptible to still further improvement. Where the company is not of the “dress circle” variety she is worth keeping in mind.