TURF NEWS & NOTES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 January 1939, Page 13

TURF NEWS & NOTES

CURRENT TOPICS FROM STABLE & COURSE Views on Racing Facts and Fancies STUDLEY ROYAL AND DUNEDIN CUP

(B;

"The Cynic.”)

Studley Royal, winner of £1420 last season, has been working well since F. D. Jones started him off on the serious stages of a preparation following his return from Australia.

The Dunedin Cup, a race Studley Royal won in a fighting finish with Galleon last year will again be one of his missions next month.

Studley Royal is one of a few horses sired by Paper Money that stay on well, but he was more season when he won last year. On the other hand, Jones has a

knack of fitting his horses for racing on the track and with the benefit of a race at Riccarton early next month Studley Royal should strip in great order.

Studley Royal has sandwiched good efforts between bad ones and he is not an easy horse to ride, being a longstrider, needing plenty of room in which to work, but on his day it takes a good'drorse to beat him.

One of his best efforts was when Arctic King, The winner of the New Zealand Cup this season, beat him by a head in the Great Autumn Handicap at Riccarton. Telegraph Winner. A chestnut daughter of the King John horse Gascony, Rakahanga is out of the Tea Tray—Hula Girl mare Mori, the dam also of Cockpit, who eventually found his way to Malaya, where he was a gold cup winner, and of Airing, who proved useful among the hacks. Mori is a full-sister to Tea Bell, a good winner in the north, and afterward in Australia, and also to Refresher, who was probably the most solid of all Tea Tray’s stock. Gay Sonnet, Elocution, Night Recital, Gay Parade, and Kamehameha are other successful members of this family not so far back. Rakahanga is being raced by her breeder, Mr J. D. Todd, Waipukurau, for whom she is trained by J. H. Jefferd, and for whom she has already won £1315 in stakes for six firsts, pix seconds and two thirds in 20 starts —a record of promising consistency.

Remarkable Treble. Lady Ina has a real penchant foi Trentbam. Last year she ran second ir the Telegraph Handicap to Top Row she won the Metropolitan Handicap and then ran'third to Ben Braggie anc Brunhild in the City Handicap. Thi< year Rakahanga beat her the first day she won her second Metropolitan Handicap; and she was third on Monday tc Counterblast and Florence Mills. A Good Record. Boswell, winner of the Wairio Cup on Saturday, has started seven times this season for four wins, two seconds, and a third.. From the imported mare Celerity 11, Boswell has been kept entire, and when his racing career is finished will take his place at his owner's stud at Otautau. By Balboa he has inherited that sire’s colour, but is a better built horse, and would take a lot of faulting in a show ring. He has now completed his probationary career in hack races, and looks quite capable of holding his own in open company.

Enjoying a Spell. Hard tracks will be against Lady Leigh for some time, and this speedy Paper Money mare, a winner at Dunedin during the holidays, is enjoying a well-earned spell. So far this season Lady Leigh has won four sprints.

Great Swoop in Work. Great Swoop, one of the leading two-year-olds In H. and A. Cutis’s stable this season, is back in work again looking bright and well following a spell. This chestnut Magnus—Swoopalong colt has been placed in his three starts to date, numbering one win at Riccarton among his performances, while / on another occasion Baran, then at the peak of his form, beat him on the post in the Pioneer Handicap, also at Riccarton.

Success of French Horses.

One of the features of the English flat racing season was the success of French horses in important races. Bois Roussel won the Derby and the two most coveted handicaps in the autumn —the Cambridgshire and the Cesarewitch —also went to French horses, Helleniqua winning. the Cambridgeshire and Contrevent the Cesarewitch, and the last important handicap of the season went to Pappageno 11, also French bred.

Deefati Iter’s Feat. Defaulter has done what no three-year-old has ever previously done; that is. won both Derbies and the Wellington Cup. Ho is the seventh horse of his age to score in the Wellington Cup, but the only other to have won since the race was first decided at Trentham was Rapine, who carried 7.12 to victory in 1923. It was because of Rapine that some sound judges considered that Defaulter could not win with the weight ho was awarded this year, but there are others who have always held that the colt was not being weighted in handicaps quite up to his full deserts. — ! Best of Her Sex. Konneta is undoubtedly the best two-year-old filly seen out this season so far, and she was not disgraced in being beaten by Bcaulivre in the Wellington Stakes. The Bulandshar filly did not begin with her usual alacrity in that race and had to be hard ridden in the first furlong to get near the leaders. Even then she battled on gallantly to hold off To Hero, and she showed more stamina than in her earlier races. Konneta was bought as a yearling by the Auckland sportsman, Mr Max Steinberg for 290gns, and this half-sis-

ter to Sergia. Karl and Shining Hours, for whom 3000gns was refused before Christmas, should prove a cheap filly. Coming from the same family as La Modcrne. Gay Son. Nonelte, Client and Friesland, Konneta should run out a good middle-distance later on. while, if she can sidestep Beaulivre, there should be some good two-year-old races for her.

A Hardy Mare. There are few hardier mares racing in New Zealand than Lady Montana, who won the Wellington Racing Club Handicap on Saturday and ran Haughty Winner to half a head in the Summer Handicap on Monday. Unplaced eight times as a two-year-old, she has since then been a model of consistency and, in the past seventeen months, she has had nine wins, eight seconds and eight thirds in 44 starts, winning £2440 in prize money. Despite her heavy racing programme, Lady Montana comes up looking bright and well, and the best has not yet been seen of this Lord Quex mare.

Promising. Following his solid finish into fourth place- at Tauherenikau, there was a quiet tip for Counter Lunch at Trentham in the Fitzherbert Handicap on the opening day, and this filly impressed by finishing fast for third at a remunerative price behind La Bru and Silver Stick after being well back in the early stages. Counter Lunch is by Iliad from Countersign, who belongs to the same family as Aranui, and she looks a really racy type. She was not produced again at - the meeting, but she should be worth watching, especially around the minor meetings, in the course of the next few weeks. The Woodville colt Pen, with fourths in the Wellington Stakes and the Nursery Handicap at Trentham last week, was another who should not be long off the winning list. He is one of the best-looking sons of Acre seen for a long time and leaves the impression that he- is susceptible to still further improvement.

In Again. The horses-for-courses rule may be worth consideration at Pahiatua tomorrow. Master Cyklon, Lucullus Lad and Helen Ford, who filled the places in the Pahiatua Cup are in again. Parry won the Ballance Highweight and will attempt to repeat the performance, while Seyfried, who ran second in the Hamua Hack Handicap is in again. Buster Brown who won the Pongaroa Highweight the second day, is engaged in the Pahiatua Cup this lime.

Looks Useful. Aranui, who chased Beau Vite home on Monday, ran three useful races at Trentham and is obviously one of the likely sorts for the southern circuit of autumn meetings. By the Polymelus horse Colossus, Aranui is bred from the Arrowsmith mare Cupid’s Mark (a half-sister to Palm), who was bred from Sleeping Beauty, by Boniform from Peace, a

very solid family that has produced Kilwinning, The Banker, Blixten, Wheriko, Chakwana and others. Aranui was a good fifth in the Wellington Stakes, and was sixth in the Nursery Handicap, her second placing on Monday coming as the reward for consistency as she ran good races at Wingatui at Christmas.

Bought for 240gns twelve months ago, Aranui leaves the impression that he will go on improving, and he should soon return his purchase money.

Cheap Purchase,

Drachma made himself a very cheap purchase at the 110 guineas Mr P. Curtis, of Christchurch, paid for him at the supplementary sales last Friday by following up his second on Saturday with victory in the Kelburn Handicap, thus earning £270 in his first two starts, in his new owner's colours. This was his first success, but it should not be long before he is winning again now that he has at last came into solid form.

A three-year-old bay gelding, Drachma is by Iliad out of the Paper Money—Kilberry mare Countersign, the dam also of Linguist, Counterflight, and Counter Lunch. Countersign was purchased by Mr R. Stewart at the dispersal sale of the late Mr R. M Greenslade’s horses, with Drachma at foot, and carrying Counter Lunch, but Mr Stewart was disappointed in the form of the offspring, and sold the pair last week, despite the fact that prior to the meeting Drachma had beaten Alunga in a gallop. Drachma's new owner formerly had Gresham in T. R. George’s stable, and it was on George’s advice that he bought the gelding.

Luck at Last. Counterblast's only previous success this season was in an open sprint at Trentham in October, but she has been fairly consistently in the minor money and she was unlucky not to secure at least one winning bracket during the holidays. She heralded her Monday’s win with a close third in her only pre-

vious start at.the meeting, and she was undoubtedly mainly responsible for the bracket’s favouritism.

Counterblast has now won four races and they have all been at Trentham, so that her record is even a more proounced illustration of the horses-for-courses rule than Haughty Winner’s. Like her former stablemate, she also won a double on the course as a two-year-old, but. owing to knee trouble, she was not raced for nearly two years prior to her resumption fit Trentham last October. This mare, now four years old, is a

brown daughter of the Archery horse Jericho and the Antagonist—Countermine mare Counterscarp, the dam also of Tunneller and a member of the Mermaid family that has done good service for the Stonyhurst Stud. She is being raced by the trustees of the late Sir Charles Clifford, and her record to date comprises her four Trentham wins and seven minor placings for £1475 in stakes, to which this season's contribution to date has been £BBO.

' A Stayer. Beau Vite is the Beau Pore—-Domi-nant colt for whom Mr R. Stewart, of Wellington, paid 900 guineas at the yearlings sales last January. He was put into training early so as to be rea'dy for the first juvenile events of the term, but his progress was interrupted by a cold, and prior to the holidays he had been produced only twice. It is interesting to observe that his dam is a full-sister to Left (the dam of Jackson,-Gaine Carrington, and Wotan) as well as to those good performers Nones, Menelaus and Lovematch; and also that it was this identical race in which Gaine Carrington enjoyed his first success. Beau Vite might turn out the best Stayer yet got by Beau Pere, as he has stamina strains from all lines of his pedigree.

The Bigot. The Bigot improved on his two previous starts at the meeting to win the Thorndon Handicap from the point at which he had weakened in the Wellington Cup and over a mile on the middle day.

The Bigot is a good galloper on his day and a mile or nine furlongs is probably his best distance, though he has been fancied at times by his connections up to a mile and half. This was more like the form he showed when winning the Riccarton Handicap at the New Zealand Cup Meeting in November. In the meantime he had also been successful over nine furlongs at Marton, but his way was made easier that day by horses falling or suffering interference during the contest. Now five years old, The Bigot is a one-eyed bay norse by Baralong (a grandson of Sunstar and a close rela-

tive to Lemberg and Bayardo) from the Boniform —Portland Lass mare Bonnie Lady, who was bred in the Dominion and was sold to go to Australia, where she also left the A.J.C. Metropolitan winner Young Crusader, who was by Caledon. It is the same branch of the Mermaid family as produced Peter Pan, .whose grandam (Formaliter) was a half-sister to Portland Lass. The Bigot was sent over to New Zealand because one-eyed horses cannot be raced in Australia, and as a three-year-old he was acquired by his present owner, Mr F. F. Newman,' of Wanganui, from Mr F. J. Corlett. He has all along been trained by L. G. Morris.

PAHIATUA RACES

TOMORROW & SATURDAY. The annual race meeting of the Pahiatua Racing Club commences tomorrow when excellent acceptances have been received. Some good performers are among the acceptors and the racing should be interesting while the outing itself will attract many patrons. All arrangements have been made by this enterprising club to meet the needs of racegoers. The first race starts at 12.15 p.m. For Saturday, too, everything is in train for another good day’s racing. Large fields should also be the order of that day and a big crowd of spectators is expected.

At the Pahiatua meeting, on both days, the Savage Electric Release Barrier will be in operation, This new and improved starting device is being widely used successfully at race meetings throughout the Dominion. It is a New Zealand invention and all club officials should see it in operation.*

RACING FIXTURES

January 27, 28—Pahiatua R.C. January 28, 30—Auckland R.C. February 2, 4 —Wairoa R.C. February 4—Canterbury J.C. February 4 —Matamata R.e.. February 4 — Tapanui R.C. February 4 —Opunake R.C. .. coruary 9, 11—Dunedin. J.C. February 9. 11 —Egmont R.C. February 9, 11 —Poverty Bay T.C. February 11, 13—Rotorua R.C. February 17. 18—Winton J.C. February 17,18 —Woodxille District J.C. February 18—Tolaga Bay J.C. February 18, 20—Waikato R.C. February 23, 25 —Wanganui J.C. February 24, 25—Gore R.C. February 25—Waiapu R.C. February 25, 27—Westland R.C. February 25, 27—Te Aroha J.C.