THE AWAKENING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 816, 9 November 1929, Page 12

THE AWAKENING

TWO-YEAR-OLD PROBLEMS PENALTIES FOR RANDWICK The following comment by a Sydney writer could just as aptly be applied to New Zealand racing, substituting Ellerslie for Rand wick: There were only nine runners in the A.J.C. Breeders’ Plate. There were only seventeen in the Gimcrack, and the Canonbury Stakes, usually attracting many yourlgsters who do not run in either big event was contested by only 15. Yet at Rosehill recently there were 20 starters in the Nursery Stakes, and acceptors for the Canterbury Park race for two-year-olds numbered 16. Such a position, when owners and trainers are content to pass over the bigger prizes for the suburban races, introduces the possibility of their awakening to the great risk attached to the running of fair youngsters in the early two-year-old races at Randwick. The small fields were caused partly through the fact of many promising two-year-olds failing to stand up properly to the work prior to the A.J.C. Spring Meeting, but, in a large measure, the reason for such a position is contained in the fear of the connections of two-year-olds of gaining a minor place in the early races at Randwiek. The Big Penalty Such performances are not forgotten by the liandicappers. A minor placing at Randwiek assures a horse’s being top weight for any race in which he starts for many months—often for years. And the possibility of such a happening is realised by most owners this year, and horses have been kept for suburban races, where a win usually means little in the handicappers’ opinions. Laneham, a runner at Rosehill, provides an example of how a horse can pay the penalty for a placing in the Breeders’ Plate. That horse was third to Beckwith in 1926. He has never won a race. He has been tried as a hurdler. And yet he is still close to the top of the lists in any maiden or novice race in which he runs. This awakening by owners has meant smaller fields at Randwiek. But it is not altogether bad for racing generally, for it has meant improved fields in suburban nurseries, with the possibilities of those races introducing real champions to racegoers. AUSTRALIAN TURF I WILLIAMSTOWN CUP United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright MELBOURNE, Friday. Niglitmarch was scratched at 3.30 p.m. for tomorrow’s Fisher Plate. The horses still left in include Phar Lap, High Syce, Carradale and Amouiiis. There are 16 final acceptors for the Willmmstown Cup. They include Shadow King, Some Quality, Black Duchess, Taisho, Lineage, Cimbrian and Kidaides. Kalloni has been sold and will race in Western Australia.