How They Raced Over Holidays

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 867, 10 January 1930, Page 13

How They Raced Over Holidays

trentham contingent horses worth watching Special to TIIE SUN WELLINGTON, Today. ju»t »t present the course and tracks at Trentham are in a very soft condition and it is generally recognised in the ’district that this year’s Wellington Cup meeting has a good chance of being held in unusual circumstances . far the going is concerned. AI•nOSt invariably Trentham is hard and f at Cup time, but the prospects for normal summer conditions this year al e not bright. More rain is hanging about and with the meeting so near ‘ . Hand there seems to be little prosj,e< tof a hard course. In all probability th.it will make for good racing and big fields. Hookings at the Trentham accommodation houses are so heavy that a big acceptance seems assured. Some allowance of course must be made for the fact that there W’ill be a number of bookings because of tlio sales, but after making the allowance those in touch with such matters say the visiting horses will be numerous. \V. Stone is the first of the visiting contingent, having brought Tray Bond ,nd the Shambles —Leading Lady tilly. Ho will aliso have Silver Paper and \splring. both of whom raced at Marion at New Year. Silver Paper and \spiring. by the way, are exceptionally \vell and it should not be long before thev make their presence felt. Aspiring is very solid for a sprinter, but big weights are always liable to find her (Ut a s she is rather small. Silver Paper ran a good race on the second day of the' Marlon meeting, but had all the worst of the luck of the runh'aThurdler that has improved quite a lot in tho last few months is Fine \ c n\ and if he races either day at Fox ton ho should get some of the stake money. When he made his debut as a hurdler early in the season he showed himself to be a natural jumper. For a while he was very unimpressive, but seasoning has made a wonderful difference in him and ho is now quite a solid performer among the minor jumpers. The opposition round the district is not strong just now, and he should pay his way at meetings near at hard. Another hurdler worth keeping an eye on is Vinella. Perhaps not as soiid as Fine Acre just at present, as she has not been in work as long, she is .smart nevertheless at a mile and ahalf over the battens, and moreover is always placed where she has a reasonable chance of winning. For a considerable time Patearoa was a great disappointment to his connections, but on his recent running they have hopes of winning a race with him this summer. He ran two really good races at Marton. and did his work like a tradesman all the way. He might never develop into a firstrate hack, but with the assistance of an experienced rider he should not be long in returning a dividend. He is better now than ever he was, and his turn might come during the Foxton meeting, or one of the other country fixtures to be held in the Wellington district this month. Juggle is looking big and bright, and is growing into a nice mare, but she has not been racing as well of late as she did in the spring. She is speedy and will come again. The first time she gets a really soft course, look out! A good deal of surprise has been expressed at tho retirement from race riding of L. G. Morris, but as far as can be gathered it is not a permanent retirement. Morris has gone

to Fordell to get his hand in in respect to F. Tilley’s team, which he takes control of toward the end of this month. lie will be fully occupied with training far some time to rome, and when lie is well settled in his new line he hopes to take up riding again. Hoi de Val ran one decent race during the holidays, and after that ran v ery poorly. lie is one of the Trentham brigade who did not cover himself with glory, and it seems more than likely that all is not right with ! >im. At Marton he ran the worst races of his career, finishing last, and nearly last in his two attempts. This is a big drop from his Carterton form, which saw him a brilliant winner over seven furlongs. Mr. Kemball has a couple of smart two-year-olds in Lady Pam and Sir Limond. Lady‘Pam has not done a sreat deal of racing, but she beat Princess Betty handily at the Mana"atu meeting, and afterward won at the Wairarapa. She is a smart track sallopei*, and some who see her at work: regularly give her a chance of improving sufficiently to take a place among tho very best of the juveniles before the season ends. The stablemate, Sir Limond. is a really nice galloper, with a fine stride, but he is not tho best-mannered young horse in commission. Fortunately for his supporters, he left the mark fairly well ; lt Awupuni. and after giving the loaders a start to the straight, lie buried them in the run home, despite tho fact that the distance from the turn to the winning post is not very great. At Tauherenikau he remained at the barrier, a thing which track"atehers expected him to do at Avvahuni. When Sir Limond learns to do what is required of him, however, ue will be quite a useful performer. Probably better as a three-year-old over seven and eight-furlong courses. t larendon looks p;u*ticularly fit now’, ■ uc. will be one of the most useful hacks round these parts between now and the end of the season. On his lowing at Awapuni and Taulicremkau, lie has improved very markedly ln the last couple of months. George Price, who arrived in Wellin Stou on Tuesday, is on a very liur!l*d trip. Ho has relatives here, and uuiny friends, and. in addition to lookju? them up, wishes *to see some of lho yearlings which are to be offered at th ® national sales at Trentham this hionth. a© leaves for Sydney next

Tuesday on account of pressing business in Australia. Price mentioned that Commendation is doing nicely at Rand wick. He is pleased with the progress the Limond gelding is making, and hopes to win races with liim in due course. Balloon has gone from the bottom to the top of the hack handicaps very quickly, owing to his good form at the Manawatu meeting, but he is in form, and it will be found that horses in form will take beating at Foxton other such meetings. ‘While being taken to the course on the first day of the Manawatu meeting. Rational 11. was frightened by the traffic, and fell into a ditch. He had a narrow escape from injury, but raced later in the day, and shaped well. It is thought that the escapade in the morning made the difference between winning and losing the race to him. He showed on a later day that he is vastly improved, and he confirmed the form by going on to the Wairarapa meeting and annexing a double. Rational 11. has changed his training quarters, and is now in E. Mu.rtagh’s stable. At the time of his successes, however, lie was being trained by L, Goodwin, not by Murtagh, as has been stated in some quarters. The Wellington owner, Mr. F. Flipp, who is selling his horses, has disposed of Pari to the Awapuni trainer, George New. Pari has a lot of speed, but has not been at all successful as a racehorse. Glenartney is a fine hack, with ample speed, but it seems doubtful if he will ever be more than a sprinter. He has been carrying big weights, but the way he has t een stopping in some of his recent races points to six furlongs being his limit for the present. However, there is something about him which suggests that he will become more solid as he ages. One of the most decisive wins of the Marton meeting was scored by Otairi. The Paper Money gelding is a mass of condition now, and probably will be kept going till the late autumn at least, as ho has a strong fancy for soft courses. Winter going suits him better than summer conditions. but he has shown this* season that he can gallop on any sort of course. His followers have had a particularly profitable time in the last few months. Blue Paper is coming right again. Early in the season his track work brought him under notice, but he let an army of backers down at Marton in the spring. Now he is doing better than ever he c id, and on <?.ry tracks will win races.

RACING FIXTURES JANUARY 9. H —Thames J.C. 11, 13—Vincent J.C. 15, 16 —Foxton R.C. IS—Bay of Islands R.C. 18, 20, 22—Wellington R.C. -- —Ashhurst-Pohangina R.C. 25—Wairio J.C. 25—Waipapakauri J.C. 28, 30 —Wairoa R.C. 20, 30—Pahiatua R.C. 20, Feb. I—Takapuna J.C. FEBRUARY s —Tapanui R.C. 6, S—Gisborne R.C. 6, B—Taranaki J.C. S —Matam'ata R.C. 13, 15—Dunedin J.C. 13, 15—Poverty Bay Turf C. 13, 15—Wanganui J.C. 15, 17—Rotorua R.C. 10—Clifden R.C. 10. 20—Woodville Dist. J.C. 20—Tologa Bay J.C. 22—Canterbury J.C 22, 24 —Dargaville R.C. 20, 27 —Gore R.C. 26, 27—Dannevirke R.C. 27—Walapu R.C. 28, March I—Marlborough R.C. MARCH I —Banks Peninsula R.C. 1. 3—Te Aruha J.C. 5, 6—Rangitikei R.C. 7, B—Napierß—Napier Park R.C. 7, B—Cromwell J.C. S-—Franklin R.C. 15, 17—Wellington R.C. 15, 17 —Ohinemuri J.C. 17 —Opunake R.C. 20 —Waimate R.C. 22—Bay of Plenty J.C. 22, 24—Oamaru J.C. 20— Opotiki J.C. 26, 27 —Manawatu R.C. APRIL 3, 5 —Whangarei R.C. 3, s—South Canterbury J.C. 4, s—Masterton R.C. o—Hawke’s Bay J.C. 11, 12—Otautau R.C. 12—Hororata R.C. 12, 14—Westport J.C. 12, 14—Waikato R.C. 19—Tuapeka County J.C. 19, 21—Wairarapa R.C. 19, 21—Feilding J.C. ID, 21 —Auckland R.C. 19, 21, 22—Riverton R.C. 21— Beaumont R.C. 21—Waipukurau J.C. 21—Kumar a R.C. 21. 22 —Canterbury J.C. 23, 24—Westland R.C. 26, 2S—Greymouth J.C. 26, 30—Ai’ondale J.C. 30 —Reefton J.C. Phar Lap’s Owner An interested and welcome visitor to the Southland K.C.’s fixture yesterday was the Sydney owner-trainer of the current season’s winner of the A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies, Mr. H. K. Telford, who at the present time is treating his champion juvenilo Phar Lap to a spcll in Victoria (says Fridays Southland ••Times ”). The visiting sportsman was verv interested in the local course and its surroundings and expressed surprise at the improvement that has been effected in the property since the days when ho was one of the first jockej s . , win a race at the opening meeting held on it. Mr. Telford also stated that he was astonished at the changes that have taken place in Invercargill since the davs when he lived here with his parents and family and opened his career as a successful horseman by winning a race on what is now known winning park, and also when horses had to be walked out to the old noises nu Tree point to be trained, the da s s‘ when the 6 Southland Amateur Turf Club ruled on that racin*, reser iC p h rofit n ?f °town ?o congratulate wel; deserved now his courses of what the ncxt few days Mr. Telford will have a look d * country be knew well in his £uth and°pay y a visit to Queenstown prior to returning to Sydney.