Historic and Paddon In Class Cup Field

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 773, 20 September 1929, Page 12

Historic and Paddon In Class Cup Field

Last year Bisox won the Winter Cup. and six weeks later she was first home in the Avondale Cup in comfortable fashion. Last month Historic captured the Winter Cup: tomorrow night’s SUN may record the fact that Historic was medium of hist'ory repeating itself. | But then again it might not. How- | ever, it is not at all improbable that t the Trentham-trained gelding will be the victor in tomorrow's Cup contest. Star Stranger heads the handicap j with a regular poultice. 9.10. It is not j an impossible impost for such a spleni did performer, for he has the physique i to carry the burden. j At Wanganui last Saturday morning i Star Stranger defeated Plistoric in a j mile gallop, the former being very’ wide i out all the way, although the fact that ! he was receiving weight from the Win--1 ter Cup winner rather counter-balanced ! tliis factor. Then again Star Stranger ; would probably be pretty’ well ridden ; out. whereas his companion, on the I other hand, is well forward and there- { fore he would not require to be hunted ■ along. In any case Star Stranger will : be near concert pitch for the Mitchel- | son Cup at Ellerslie on October 5. Coming Good I Last season Plistoric was regarded ! as one of the most promising handicap ! performers, for he had picked up a l couple of good races. At the back end ! of the season he was rested, and liis j reappearance was made in a sprint at the Wellington winter meeting. His | finishing effort landed him within cooee i of the place-getters, so it was obvious j that he would soon come to hand, j After Trentham came Riccarton with j its Winter Cup. It was feared that in i this race, in all reality’ a jnile sprint, that Historic would be too slow in the early’ part to gain a good position, an essential in that race. But, in a weak field, the chestnut was soon in fourth place and just waiting on the leaders j until B. H. Morris considered it was time to go on and win. And win he did, comfortably. His Miss Ton That effort was responsible for some anxiety’ as to the future plans of the Nassau gelding, and the big bettors and the small speckers were all agog when it was announced that he was to miss both Marton and Wanganui courses and be set for the Avondale and Mitclielson Cups.

There is only one point that will not bo in favour of Plistoric, and this is the fact that there will be such a rush on the part of the light-weights for the turn a furlong ahead that the chestnut will be cut off. thereby' making his task exceedingly* difficult, and this may even be responsible for his defeat. Outside of this vital contingency*, what finishes in front of Historic should win. Prince Plumphrey appears to have his share of weight, but as the winner of the A.J.C. Derby twelve months ago he could not very* well have got off with less. Is the Duke Humphrey gelding forward enough to be regarded as a formidable contender tomorrow? He had a race in the Marton sprint, and in a similar race at Wanganui eight days later he finished like a bulldog in , second place to Laughing Prince. The j Avondale Cup is half a mile further ; than those two sprints, but it can .be j taken for granted that he will not be r lacking condition on the day*, for he j has had a couple of rousing gallops this week. Although Prince Humphrey can- | not be back to his best, his class and I tenacity may* pull him through, so that ; he ranks as a distinct possibility. No Secret I From all accounts the stable makes | no secret of the fact that it expects Prodice to be hard to beat. The Te j Awanrutu representative has not raced ! since Easter, but the last two seasons i she came to hand very early. As a j two-year-old she won the Avondale ' Stakes, and the following year captured the Avondale Guineas. It will be but a continuance of the sequence should Prodice emerge from this process of graduation as the winner of the Avondale Cup. Incidentally* a mile and a quarter can be regarded as Prodice’s best distance. • On the same mark as Prodice is Paddon, a model of consistency. The chestnut is as fit as hands can make him, and in the light of liis winter form he should come well into the reckoning at the final summing-up. Of the top weights he is easily the most seasoned. Barometer has won his last three races, so that under the circumstances he is not badly* treated. He defeated Black Mint twice at Marton, but is that

form good enough to enable him to head off the class field in tomorrow’s race? On a heavy and sodden turf he would be in is element. But if Barometer can handle heavy ground, so can others, notably Paddon and Prodice, and to a lesser extent Historic and High Pitch, remembering their positions in the handicap. High Pitch appears to be more at home over a mile and a quarter than at a shorter distance, and his Parliamentary Handicap form was really* good. In Good Condition Singleton has muscled up splendidly’ as a res ill t of his racing throughout the winter meetings, his Trentham form being good. He looks a picture and if good enough will be prominent at the finish.

Hyde Park is a decided possibility. He was raced at Ellerslie during the winter meeting, and since then he has been galloping in his best style at headquarters. Piuthair fared badly when produced on the second day of the Marton meeting. but that that was not her true form was evident, for she ran Kick Off to a head at Wanganui last Saturday over the Avondale Cup distance. At her best Piuthair could be ticked off as a real danger tomorrow. King Emerald has been doing everything right at headquarters, and many will be surprised and disappointed if he fejls to win or even pay a dividend. Still the company is very select, and King Emerald will need to have improved considerably to account for

such as Historic, Paddon and Prodice. Queen Arch went a good race in the Jellicoe Handicap at Ellerslie last month. She was up with the leaders a furlong from home, and then collapsed. failing to go on with it. She is not a big customer, and in her case the seven stone minimum will be a big factor and make for an improvement in her form. Ellerslie Light-weights The Lover must now be nearing his best, and such being the case he cannot be disregarded, for he is a determined galloper. Taneriri is well seasoned, but at. present he does not seem to be up to this class. Nevertheless he is only a young horse who has not done a deal of racing, and there is plenty’ of time for him to come good, lie is the type that should be good this season for two or three country* cups round the Auckland Province, even if he does not do well in meti'opolitan handicaps. The field is completed with True Blood, who was a good three-year-old and a winner at that age of a mile race at Randwick during the spring carnival. And to quote the words of a prominent trainer, it takes a good horse to win at Randwick. After an absence of several months True Blood was given a run in the Jellicoe Handicap at Ellerslie last month, and to the general surprise the gelding was travelling fast in fourth place at the judge. That was very* illuminating, and if the chestnut has-gone on all right he has a chance with his luxurious weight. He is also in the last race, but he will go for the Cup. To win the Avondale Cup would be just such a coup as True Blood’s sporting owner would love to pull off. The Verdict Leaving Star Stranger out of calculations in the meantime—it being expected that he will be better at Ellerslie—there is left the following half dozen out of the field of fifteen that can be really* designated as possibilities: —Prince Humphrey*. Historic, PYodice, Paddon, High Pitch and Piuthair. The two to be finally sorted out for favouritism on the totalisator may* be Historic and Paddon, with True Blood as the best of the outsiders.