Will Pink Coat Check Eaglet's Winning Career ?

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 785, 4 October 1929, Page 13

Will Pink Coat Check Eaglet's Winning Career ?

There is only one lady in the r L for the Great Northern rhneas That is Eaglet. Like G “ t of her sex. will she have the [Tit say. the last say that counts Lnd ge‘s * h « money and her followers their dividend . That of course remains to be seen, . this much can be said in favour j th e Chief Ruler filly: She never “a when she is beaten. Vhat a galaxy of talent is engaged in the Great Northern Guineas toraorrow: Look at the bis five: eaglet hunting cry PINK coat false scent imperial prince They can be dealt with in this order, -iff has won all her races this Eaglet e star ted off by capturing ff mien"sprint at Marten just over ,h weeks ago. Her triumph in the Guineas followed. Admiral scent and My Own beri,'e others behind her. ,n Vxt came Avondale, and the filly a v erv hard struggle, asserted herself to account for I-ady Clues and stiver mine, both of whom were meetw her at better than weight-for-age 'erml Silvermine carried just weight-'Va'-e but Lady Quex was handiapped at 71b better whereas Eaglet .. r-ried lib over the scale. Therein i*/s the merit of her sprint victory at Avondale. An Easy One Having completed the hat trick, v/elet followed up her three sueceste wins bv ao ounting for theAvon;Vaie Guineas. That classic was run ’at Monday week, find in that conw,t the filly demonstrated in no unrertain manner her superiority over those opposed to her. In some ways the luck of the race was all in her favour, and this in itself discounts to an extent her actual winning effort. For instance, he drew the ace at the atrocious mile harrier and in a few strides she was ,tear of the others, only to be steadied and drop in behind a little later. I: oliowing this, the pacemakers were anything but keen on tlieir job and they were inclined to loaf a bit. The combination was all in favour of Eaglet. Giving this all in, however, there were few who would say that Eaglet should not have won. On the contrary, her success in the Avondale Guineas was quite the easiest tchieved this season by this brilliant performer, and when False Scent got to within three parts of a length of her it was only on sufferance. Jockey Goldfinch made the filly’s task as easy as he could, like the good horseman he is, but win easily she undoubtedly did. A New Star The rise of Hunting Cry as a new aiar has been rather phenomenal. He won one race late in his two-year-old career. that being a handicap at Hastings, yet it was a performance full „f merit. His next win did not come until the Trial Handicap at Wanganui the second day, and then he practically spreadeagled his field up the short straight at the end of the seven end a-quarter furlongs. This was only a minor race, and yet it can bo said that it was attended by a major result, for it served to introduce a future classic winner. Hunting Cry went on to Hastings, his home track, and last Saturday he had little difficulty in defeating Admiral Drake (second to Eaglet and laughing Prince on the two days at Wanganui), My Own and others. Just how good is Hunting Cry? Obviously he is more than a commoner. He will be thoroughly tried out tomorrow. In passing it may be mentioned that two years ago Paleta was defeated in the Hawke's Bay Guineas, finishing a close second, and then a week later he led all the way to win the Great Xorthern Guineas. So Hunting Cry on the face of it seems to have a better prospect of scoring tomorrow than did Paleta two years ago. A Southern Habit There is an unkind habit prevalent emong South Island owners of sending their horses here to capture the rich classic plums. For instance, they have collared the last two £3,000 prize ■ utached to the Great Northern Derby, Martarma and Red Heckle being the culprits. Now the owner of Pink Coat, impatient to wait for the Derby on next New Tear’s Day, seeks the Guineas i'morrow. Perhaps he will add the herby, too, later on. And let it be said that in Pink Coat he has a colt that could easily undertake with more than modest pretensions to success this valuable double. The Southerner has attracted a lot

} n °tice since Tie arrived here a week ■ >°. and the touts were anxious to see ‘ m ln action. They were satisfied after ® ln S him go on Tuesday morning, i he a PP eare d to be going at noth- ■> better than three-quarter pace to » ter - in company with Silvermine, “ lce forking gallop. It whs good to hig striding Hunting Song colt into his stride without effort. "' as not at all disgraced when Sillrmne heat him on Thursday. *t it not always safe to forecast vnert racehorses are concerned, p- , l^-Wou ld not be surprising if mk Coat proved a brilliant threeworthy to rank with some _ -the Dominion’s most notable Performers on the turf. Danv *?v, 80ing: to give Eaglet and comli Ve J „ th 6 race of their sweet young •; 0 ~o® o * row t and unless something ■win amiSs - then what beats him should p r ac r tab 1 y from the others. At SontK 1 Beem s to be hats off to the cuu therner. An Improver ? is to rely u P° n what the watch i n? rh a a * Avondale on Tuesday morn--1 hAat? False Scent will have a chance ne them all. His six furlongs ♦ j en Was a grand one, and indiv yj n ? uncertain manner that he the 41''^ irnproved. He ran green in ondale Guineas, but with another

I fortnight’s work into him lie is liable i lo strip a different horse. He is the i most likely improver of all the Guineas candidates. Imperial Prince looked big when he raced in the suburban classic last week, and he was forced into the unwilling j 1 ?*’-*. °f Pacemaker, a role that was obviously unsuited to such a big striding horse. He appears to be just the sort for later on in the season, but at present he does not appeal as likelv to reverse positions with either Eaglet or raise Scent. What Of Supremacy? It is understood that not a great deal of hard work has been extracted from the speedy Supremacy, one of our most unfortunate two-year-olds of last season. It is announced that he will be missing from tomorrow’s field, but the stable has a pretty fair sort of deputy in Motere. The best of this fellow has not been seen yet. Leader came with good credentials, but he is under suspicion, his respiratory organs being a bit more tuneful than should be necessary. He has a lot of speed, but as a Guineas winner he does not greatly appeal. The Jamieson stable has a second string to its bow to Eaglet in

j Refresher, although he does not seem to be in the top class yet. Carl I stays on pretty well, and so doe* •Motere, who may stand down in favour |oi Supremacy. Air Laddie was well ! beaten at Hastings, while conceding j weight Hunting Cry beat him pointless !at Wanganui. Crimestor has a lot of j pace, if not up to this country, and I Catoma will also be found wanting when the class begins to tell.

That completes the field, which is ikely to dwindle down considerably by starting time tomorrow. Even allowing for late scratchings there will be nine or ten runners, so that it must be allowed that there are plenty jf optimists in the racing game still. The final summing-up is given in the usual place in this issue, but suffice it to say here that the quartet most likely to be seen in the fighting line over the ast furlong are Eaglet, Pink Coat Hunting Cry and False Scent.

galloped on Tuesday with Silvermine, but it must be remembered that he was only going three-quarter pace then. Yesterday h© appeared to be climbing when under pressure in his second sprint with Silvermine, and his .Guineas stock slumped a bit. The following is Pink Coat’s racing record to date:— At Two Years Won the Shorts, five furlongs, at Oamaru. with 7.11 (£94 10s). Won Champagne Stakes, six furlongs, Dunedin, with 8.10 (£390). Won C.J.C. Middle Park Plate, six furlongs, with 8.2 (£280). Won C.J.C. Champagne Stakes, six furlongs, with 8.10 (£320). Second (to Silver Paper, 9.4) in C.J.C. Challenge Stakes, seven furlongs, with 7.12 (£120). At Three Years Won Ashburton Farewell Handicap, six furlongs, with 9.6 (£105). He has won but £1,309 10s in stakes, which is an illustration of the poor money to bo won in the South Island by a near champion. With the exception of his one race this season, all the ©vents he contested were at set weights. _

The reasons why you should not overlook this horse at Ellerslie th i s week-e nd : He is due for another win; he won his last just Hwelve months ago: it's his birthday tomorrow. He. won the A. J. C. Derby, defeating the up-till-thcn unbeaten Mollis on. He is a better classic performer than anything else contesting the Mitchelson Cup. He. is now approaching his best form , and will win before the tracks get too hard. He will be ridden by probably the best horseman of the day. He comes from a stable ’that is very much in form. He is most favourably handicapped , taking a line through the weights of others and the weight-for-age scale. He is receiving big weight from the best of the other proved performers. He will not need to scramble for a position going out of the straight, as at Avondale. He is the bearer of a royal name. Gentlemen, meet PRINCE HUMPHREY