TURF NEWS & NOTES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 August 1938, Page 11

TURF NEWS & NOTES

CURRENT TOPICS FROM STABLE & COURSE Views on Racing Facts and Fancies GREY HONOUR SOUND AGAIN • (By “The Cynic.”)

Owing to the recent bad weather C. Emerson was unable to give Nightcalm enough work to bring the Night Raid gelding to his best form, and for that reason allowed him to forgo his Winter Cup engagement. A race like the Winter Cup is a hard one, and rather than take the chance of the horse being knocked about Emerson scratched him. Nightcalm will start on the other days of the meeting.

Grey Honour, which was suffering from soreness for some time, is quite sound again, and D. Cotton will start him this week. Up to six furlongs Grey Honoui - has shown some useful form under winter conditions, but he may need a race or two before showing form. Pink Coat Filly. Density, which won the Maiden Stakes at the Westport meeting, will only have one race at the National' meeting. This three-year-old. Pink Coat filly will start in the six furlongs Longbeach Handicap on the final day. She has an excellent turn of speed and will only need to keep straight to win good sprint races this season.

Kinnoull is being kept in light work, and Cotton intends to start a spring campaign with him at the Ashburton meeting in September. Kinnoull’s full sister, Lady Kinnoull, is wintering well and may also make a first appearance at the same meeting. \

Recovered. Crack o’ Dawn, which suffered an injury to a hock in the Maiden Stakes at the Westport meeting—her only start —is back in work under F. A. Roberts. A three-year-old chestnut filly, by Night Raid from Rawene, Crack o’ Dawne is owned by Dr C. Nigel Smith, of Sydney, and she may be sent to Australia later on. Likely Jumper. Dividend ran a sound race in the Maiden Stakes at the Hunt Club’s meeting, finishing fourth. It was this Lord Warden gelding’s best effort for some time, and he will be given a chance to show further improvement this week. Later on Dividend will be tried as a hurdler, and in that direction may do well. Divinette, his dam, is a full sister to Punchestown, being by a good sire of jumpers in Thurnham, while she is also a half sister to Charlatan. If breeding counts for anything Dividend should not take long to make a jumper. The Mile Record. The only time record broken in the Dominion last season was that for one mile, Courtcraft at Ellerslie and Oratory at Trentham lowering the figures to Imin 36sec, three-fifths of a second better than the previous best of Thespian and Karapoti, both at Ellerslie. Amigo equalled the record of 58sec for five furlongs at Trentham. There are now four joint holders of the Australian and New Zealand record for one mile. They are Peter Pan, Sarcherie, Ramdin and Ajax, who have all run the distance in Imin 35Jsec on the Randwick track. Brabazon Winners. There is only one horse who has ever gone on from winning the Brabazon Handicap at the Hunt meeting to scoring also in the Winter Cup 10 days later. That horse was Toxeuma in 1930, and at the time he was of a class completely overshadowing his opposition. Alma was this year’s Brabazon winner and she finished third. The rule for Brabazon winners has been more for them to act as runnersup in the Cup. Seconds jn the Cup after Brabazon success have been taken by Boadicea, Broadwood, Sun Up, Polydora, and Dictate. Wild Chase Resumes. Wild Chase has resumed his place in the active team of H. and A. Cutts. He will be prepared for spring engagements, though the New Zealand Cup, in which he was second last year, may not be included. The th'ree-year-old fillies, Good Passage and Scuffle, have also been taken In hand again, after spelling for a few months.’

Rebel Lass, a full-sister to Rebel Song (Ropespierre from Toti dal Monte), and Winning Rival, a filly by

Bulandshar from Rivalry, seem to be the likeliest of the team of two-year-olds trained by H. and A. Cutts, which will come to hand the earliest. These youngsters will be seen out in the parade on Thursday.

Since running a solid race in the chief event at Matamata, Palmint has trained on the right way at Ellerslie. A repetition of his Matamata form would give him a chance in a distance hack race at any time.

Veteran Jonathan. The veteran Jonathan, is in nice order to carry on his preparation. He is a bit above himself at present, but is doing some solid work varied by occasional sprinting and he may be fairly forward when the spring racing commences.

Illimani, who paid a big dividend when he won over hurdles at Whangarei, is again working usefully at Ellerslie. Later on, he will be schooled and he may yet turn out useful.

Armacourt Improves. That there is little amiss with Armacourt she has shown in her recent work. If she continues to improve as she has during recent weeks, she may be hard to beat at Pakuranga as she has in the past shown a liking for soft going.

That Rerepai is standing up to his work, he showed when brought to Ellerslie on Thursday. He sprinted half a mile in smart style and easily accounted for his stablemate Gay Bell. Rerepai ran several good races last season, but he never seemed to be thoroughly wound up and he may do better this season if he survives a serious preparation.

Promising Galloper. Eurotas, who attracted notice by running fourth in his first start in a big maiden field at the Rangitikei Hunt meeting, is by Pantheon from Mimic, a Magpie mare tracing to an old Elderslie stud family.

Eprptas was bought as a yearling by J. T. Jamieson from the Kia Ora Stud draft at the Sydney Easter sales last year. He was growing quickly and also was not too sound, so he was sent over to M. Grogan at The Grange Stud to be allowed to develop. Jamieson has leased him for three years to Mr H. Theodore. His initial effort was a good one as he was badly drawn, and then was interfered with by Regicide a furlong from home. He is a useful type of galloper.

Dark Eagle. Hawera track-watchers are very confident that Dark Eagle will win good races this season. The Bronze Eagle youngster created a good impression in his two races at Feilding at Easter where he staged a phenomenal finishing run in the very bad ground to win a juvenile handicap. Very like his sire in appearance, Dark Eagle has developed a good deal during the winter.

The Hunting Song colt Prediction, who is in G. W. New’s stable, did not 'reach the heights expected of him at the back end of last season, but on two occasions when he was fancied he struck very bad tracks which were even too holding for Ji Hunting Song.

Form of Sparkle. If Sparkle were at her best, she would take a lot of beating in a hack race over a bit of ground, but she has not attracted so much attention in the last week or so, although she may be quite all right. Improvement must have been expected of her, as she was nominated for the open events as well as the hack races later at the meeting, and she still has a decent margin inside hack company.