First of Big English Classics

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 648, 27 April 1929, Page 13

First of Big English Classics

DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY The first of the big English classics* the Two Thousand Guineas, z is to be run at Newmarket on j Wednesday next. The One Thousand Guineas is decided two days 1 later* and on June 5 there is the J famous Derby contest. , TN a recent issue of London “Sport- * ing Life,” “Augur” writes inter- ! estingly of some of the fancied can- 1 didates: 1 The approaching flat-race season (he says) will not have long run its course ' before the very interesting prospect ; with regard to the three-year-olds comes closely into view, and the little that I can make of it is that we are likely to have a Two Thousand which will not be very enlightening so far 1 as the Derby situation is concerned. Or it might be better to say that there appears to be much probability of the first of the colts’ classics laying a false scent, as it were, in connection with the more important race. Such has been of frequent occurrence. The Two Thousand is due for decision in little more than six weeks, and all that is known of the probable competitors whose two-year-old running seems to give them each, a turn in the argument is that they are goipg well “in the stable.” Valuable To Trainers In the circumstances, such preparatory tests in public as the Linglield Park Stakes and the Nonsuch Stakes at Epsom will be of exceptional value to trainers, who, but for the lengthy lock-out, would have been reporting steady work some time ago. The juvenile form was noteworthy on occasions for its contrariness. It was unravelled satisfactorily, however, at least, so far as Costaki Paslia and Mr. Jinks, of the colts, were concerned. These amply atoned for disappointments which, were, after all, of a minor character, and which brought no discredit upon them, while the last performance of each prior to going into winter quarters was fully in accord with the best of its predecessors. Nothing so heartens a colt or filly at the end of a first season as a race where everything goes in its favour and without entailing severe 4 effort. Such came the way of both Costaki Pasha and Mr. Jinks, so that as they approach midsummer maturity as three-year-olds their clashes over courses where something more than speed will be the deciding factor will be exceptionally interesting. Call Boy and Sickle Some thoroughbreds, even from their very early days, revel in harder work than the two named have been so far asked to get through. Call Boy and Sickle were two such. They were so consistent, and good with it, that it was most unfortunate the fates decreed that each should be placed on the retired list so early. Pluckier fighters have not been known in the classic arena. Better animals .have entered it, but none able to give them points in respect of gritty endeavour. Doncaster, the Middle Park Stakes, and the Two Thousand found these running each other to ounces, the margin being on the side of Call Boy, who was endowed with rather the more scope, and it was a pity that, in the one trial where staniina was the deciding factor, Sickle should have had to take the field when below his best, and to meet with accident in addition. It was made clear last season that Costaki Pasha and Mr. Jinks were very speedy, and on their final appearance their speed enabled them to win, unchallenged, over six furlongs, which I consider to be an ideal distance for two-year-olds, especially at Newmarket. In Different Moulds Costaki Pasha and Mr. Jinks are cast in different moulds, the one being of the lean and wiry type, and the other round and massive in conformation. The former could be given the palm for getting over the ground with the most elastic stride. Mr. Jinks, while a most resolute galloper, seems to make more of a “fuss” over his racing. Moreover, both in build and. from his breeding, there is suggestion of him having speed in excess of stamina. He gives one the idea of being likely to repeat the exploits of his sire, Tetratema, by winning the Two Thousand and losing the Derby. Yet, in the Two Thousand, he may meet with stronger opposition than faced Tetratema, whose closest rival was the non-stayer Allenby. In the Derby Tetratema beat Allenby in easier fashion up to the former’s limit —a mile —than had been the case at Newmarket, and that year’s gallop at Epsom was a hot one, thanks large.ly to Abbotts Trace, who had jumped himself out when he collided with another horse and fell half-.way along the straight. The Two Thousand In the forthcoming Two Thousand it seems fair to assume that Costaki Pasha will furnish stouter opposition than Tetratema had to deal with. J doubt not that it runs in the minds of many people that Arabella and Reed,smouth showed much below their true form when he treated them so summarily in the Middlepark Stakes; and here has to be entertained the strong probability that Arabella’s race at Kempton, only the previous week-end, took much more out of her than appeared on the surface, while Reedsmouth’s one hard race, of the three he had previously run, may have cut either into his constitution or his temperament. Then Grand Terrace, who would have won the Middle Park Stakes with liis stable-companion, Costaki Pasha, out of the way, ran in feeble fashion against Mr. Jinks the following month at Hurst Park. He had looked anything but a likely winner in the paddock on Thames-side, and is apparently one of the Grand Parades which, like their sire, do best when on the “big” side. Doubt Created Yet, while the “Pasha” found so much of liis Newmarket task smoothed out for him by the ineptitude of those which had been generally expected to beat him, I think he was just showing himself in his true colours as the smart colt he had looked to be when he was put out at Newbury and lost through inexperience. That narrowly-gained success over Inchmarlo in early October had inspired some doubt, but then he had not appeared to relish the firm ground when cantering, and here may mean some difference between his best and any other form he shows in the future. It was a much easier surface on which he won the Middle Park Stakes, and, whether or not this was more to his liking than had been the experience a fortnight earlier, he had opened out with much more freedom on the way to the post. Somehow I fancy that Costaki Pasha, with his delightfully easy reach, is likely to outpoint Mr. Jinks, even before they get to the end of a galloping mile like that of the Two Thousand, granted, of course, that they start on level terms in point of condition. Action and breeding combined appear to me to present him with the better stamina certificate of the two. MOSQUITOES AND BLOODPOISONING If neglected, Insect bites often develop Into serious sores, and sometimes blood poisoning. * Q-Tol, well rubbed into the skin In the early stages, is a perfect antidote. Its antiseptic, penetrative properties are widely recognised. Never go on a holiday to the country or beaches without Q-Tol. —3.

Then I thought that Cragadour, in the one race he ran at Ascot, was steadily closing up with Mr. Jinks at the finish. They were running without previous experience, and Cragadour was cut down by his bigger-framed rival throughout. Unlucky Loser That may be expected to occur agait at the same distance, five furlongs. Add another three thereto, however, and there is likely to be closer reckoning than the couple of lengths then recorded, and although Cragadour is lacking in stature that generally means early coming to hand. On that account, therefore, he is likely to carry stable hopefulness in connection with the Two Thousand, while he is the son of a horse which was a rather unlucky loser of the Derby, on which course I could picture him putting in a lot of useful work after reaching the top of the hill. He should, by his build, be handy at turns and gradients which fall away from him. There is Gay Day, too, likely to be a sharper thorn in the sides of those which are weighted above him in the Free Handicap than when he took part in. the Champagne Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. A good fourth in the former race after having been much slower than the winner, Arabella, to settle down, still revealed Gay Day beaten on merit by Reedsmouth, who would have also accounted for Arabella in a few more strides, but there was good reason, in the stable, for fancying the firstnamed for the Middle Park Stakes, for he was meeting these and Costaki Pasha with a nice pull in the weights. This, however, he had frittered away before taking a forward stride, and so far was he in the rear when Marshall righted him from side-stepping that the jockey showed much tact when simply allowing the colt to lob along. One was, nevertheless, able to note Gay Day’s fine action, as becoming probably the most truly-shaped colt of his age, so that while it was once more demonstrated how severe was the handicap imposed by loss of distance, there was quite a deal to like in the effort which took him into fourth place, steadily gaining, although with his jockey’s hands on the withers all the time. It had been intended to give Gay Day another race before the end of the remainder of the season, which he might win easily, and so retire for the winter on good terms with himself, but the project was dropped. Yet Gay Day had no race to speak of in the Middle Park Stakes,' and the only disturbing note occasioned by that experience concerned his temper, for he is, or was, at that time, one of the flashing eyed, and critics searching for character in his head and face might be disappointed.