Strephon's Opponents in Ascot Gold Cup

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 892, 8 February 1930, Page 12

Strephon 's Opponents in Ascot Gold Cup

Fairway a Formidable Contender

The name of Strephon, the best ! three-year-old of the 1928-29 racing season in Australia, appears for the first time among entries for English events this week, writes the London correspondent of the Sydney “Morning Herald,” under date December 19. It will be six months before these races are run, but the” nomination of horses that period ahead of an event’s decision is quite an ordinary feature of the business of owning and running horses in this country. The races for which Strephon has been entered are the Coronation Cup, a weight-for-age race of one mile and a-half, run at Epsom on June 5, the first day of the Derby meeting, and the Ascot Gold Cup, of two and a-half miles, and weight-for-age, run at Ascot on June 19 (the third day of the famous annual meeting so popular with Royalty and society). A Good Omen? It is an omen, good or otherwise, that for the latter race Strephon is printed as Stephen in the “Racing Calendar,” the publication which the Jockey Club uses to make its official announcements. Whether this is merely a typographical error or a misreading of the nominator's writing is not clear, but the mistake, no doubt, will be rectified before the list appears again.. It will be of interest to Australians that Mr. Sol. Green’s colt will race in England as Strephon 11. there havingbeen a previous registration of the name itself. He will race as a five-year-old, although when the Coronation and Ascot Gold Cups are run he will not have attained that age. Just as the official age of an English importation to Australia or New Zealand becomes more than his real age, so an Australian racing in this country is handicapped a few months in comparison with horses officially rated as the same age. The explanation, of course, is that English racehorses’ common birthday is January 1, compared with August 1 for Australia. Thus, Strephon, not five years of age until August 1, 1930, becomes that age, for English racing purposes, on New Year’s Day. England's Best Strephon is one of 41 entries for the Coronation Cup, and one of 44 for the Ascot Gold Cup. His name is not the only duplication in the two lists. Fourteen horses, in addition to the Australian, are entered for both races. They are:—Fairway, Bosworth, Athford. Valois, Hotweed, Haste Away, Cuttle-Fish, Walter Gay, Baytown, Kopi, Ortello, Artist’s Proof, Star Eagle, and Horus. The first named pair belong to Lord Derby. Fairway, adjudged the best horse in England during the last two seasons, will be Strephon’s most formidable opponent. His form before and after his extraordinary Derby failure of 1928 has entitled him to be named as such, and as he has not been over-raced he will be as good next year as ever. Bosworth is- a year younger. He was

slow in coming to hand this year, but he showed sufficiently good form, without reaching the top line, to give promise of doughtier deeds in 1930. Aihford's Class

Athford, the five-year-old brother of this year’s Derby winner, Trigo, proved in 1929 how good and game a horse he is, and Strephon will find him difficult to beat, especially in the shorter race. Haste Away, Kopi, Artist’s Proof, Star Eagle, Horus, and "Walter Gay were three-year-olds of class this year, and Walter Gay and Kopi might reasonably be expected to prove the best of them next year, but if Strephon regains his Australian form he should beat them all unless they make more than the usual progress. Hotweed, the French colt and winner of the 1929 Grand Prix, is rated better than any of those of his own age just named, but good judges do not regard him as exceptional, and Strephon should hold him safe, too. Valois, the oldest horse engaged, is a well-tried Frenchman, who will be no better next year because he has been so often to the barrier. Baytown was a good three-year-old, but scarcely lived up to his promise this year, but might make amends in 1930. Pie is trained by the Australian, Norman Scobie. An Italian Champion The name of Ortello will be strange to even those Australians who keep closely in touch with English racing. He is Italy’s champion, and his presence in the field of the two races would thus increase their international aspect and enhance the winner’s prestige. Besides a long list of wins in his own country, Ortello has won one or two important events in Paris, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October. He was opposed to the best horses of France and Germany in that race, and he fairly beat a large field, among whom were Kantar, the 1928 Grand Prix winner, and Oleander, Germany’s best. It was a big achievement, and stamped Ortello as a high-class racehorse. A four-year-old next year, Ortello was bred in Italy, but his sire, Teddy, and his dam, Hollebeck, are both French-bred. Hollebeck is by Gorgos, out of Hilda, who was a daughter of the most famous of French stallions, Rabelais. Ortello is a chestnut of exceptional size, power, and range. There is not a horse outstanding among those entered for the Coronation Cup, but not for the Ascot Gold Cup. An interesting one, however, is Press Gang, one of this season’s three best two-year-olds. This colt gave signs of “roaring” as a yearling, and it was not thought worth the expense of entering him for next year’s Derby. He threw oft the complaint, and his owner and his trainer, now regretful, are seeking to gain compensation from the Coronation Cup and similar races. A probably dangerous opponent for Strephon in the Ascot Gold Cup, whom he will not meet in the Coronation Cup, is The Bastard, who showed good enough staying form this year to win respect for his chances over the gruelling two and a-half miles at Ascot.