1938-03-18 — Page 18

THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 18, 1938.

1ST EXTRA RACE MEET A SUCCESS

CORONATION DAY'S FAILURE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND

Mr. "Benny" Proulx Rides Very Cleverly

SPOILS WELL DISTRIBUTED AMONG OWNERS

(By "RAPIER")

Mr. Benny Proulx, above, rode very cleverly at last Saturday's First Extra Race Meeting and headed the list of most successful jockeys with four wins.

W. Raymond) and won

The finish of this surprise as Rex M came through from be fairly easily. Those who backed it had the satisfaction of collecting $63.20. Macquarie River and. Colorado Star- fought out a great finish for second position, and only -head separated them at the end.

PLANCHET JUSTIFIES

REPUTATION

Those who read my notes last Friday will recall that I expressed the opinion that Planchet was shortly due for 2 win I have always`. maintained that Planchet was among the best of this year's subscription griffins, and it at last gave Mr. F. C. Hall, the owner, the satisfaction of scoring his first win.

On Saturday Mr. Needa. had little difficulty in getting Planchet to run with the rest, although it was again in the rear until reaching the Rock, when it gradually moved up. Louis XIV (Mr. Tang) had to be whipped immediately coming into the straight, with Smiling Thra (Mr. B. L. Tao) practically in line.

It was then that Mr. Needs found a ready response from Planchet, and with another 100 yards to go, it was really a toss up as to which pony would win Jockeyship told in the OAK BAY IN BEST FORM end, however, and with a great effort In the third race, the **A Out" Mr. Needa pushed Planchet ahead just on the winning post, with Louis lency the Governor was an interested XTV exactly the same space ahead of Smiling Thra. It must be stated Gladiator, having a very good chance that Louis XIV conceded no less than

20 lbs. to Planchet. the fact that Oak Bay, handled very

TH

THE First Extra Race Meeting of the Hong Kong Jockey Club last Saturday attracted a very satisfactory attendance of racing fans, and, des- pite the fact that it was featured by several upsets, racing on the whole was of a high standard. Con- ditions for racing were far from ideal; it was un-Stakes over six furlongs, His Excel- comfortably cold at times, but those who turned up were rewarded with an afternoon of keen racing, and the finish in some of the events was certainly most thrilling.

Mr. Donaid Black had two third, followed by Rose Jane

The same position was Wins, and those who backed him rear.

tained until after passing the on sea Dragon had every reason when Humdrum Eve moved up, the to feel gratined, especialу Handicap Eve was still leading 100 noider of the sontary ticket which yards from the end. annexed the daly double with the payment or nearly $6,000

spectator, Lady Northcote's candidate, of winning. It might have won but for well indeed by Mr. Prouis, was in its

racing element.

NO OPPOSITION Both Desert Chief and King's War- As generally expected, Mr. Proulx den failed to appear in the Hong the lead, with Kong Handicap, "A" Division, and shot Oak Bay into

ANOTHER UPSET

Riding honours among the jockeys went deservedly to Mr. Benny Proulx, who scored four wins, including his effortless suc-Gladiator a length or so behind. From in their absence there was really no cess on Silkylight. I have never seen Mr. Proulx riding with such the very start it was apparent that the opposition for Silkylight, carrying 168 rare judgment, and his handling of Lancashire Chips, in the last nish was going to be fought out be-lbs. and ridden by Mr. Proulx The

tween these two ponies.

race, nevertheless, was quite interest- race, was superb, enabling a new lady owner, Mrs. J. H. Taggart, to Coming into the straight, Oak Bay ing up to a certain stage. With Honey- was still in front with Gladiator com-moon Eve (Mr. Y. T. Fung) setting lead in a winner on the second appearance of her candidate.

ing up strongly. Mr. Y. T. Fing did a hot pace, Mr. Proulx had to move all he could to get the best out of up long before reaching the Rock. in the Gladiator, but Oak Bay maintained its Even then, Soldier of Honour (MI main- lead and won by a short head, with K S. Shu) was still in the picture, Rock, Harvest View (Mr. H. C. Pin) third, but to the surprise of all, it account

but several lengths behind.

ably bored out on rounding the bend, with the result that by the time it The fourth race, the Randwick Plate was under control again, Silkylight It was at this stage that the three over one mile, for Australian ponies of was too far ahead to be seriously ponies were practically together, and this season that had not won, produced challenged, and won easily, hard-held a great struggle ensued. "Amidst tense] another upset. In the absence of by the jockey. excitement, the three of them passed Lucky Lad, which was reported as Mrs. Dunbar's Red Feather (Mr. As far as owners were concerned, the winning post as if in line, but Han-having not fully recovered from lame S. W. Tang) did quite well to secure honours were evenly divided, with dicap Eve was given the verdict by a ness, the public's fancy fell on Mac-second position, with Cossack's Beauty no owner enjoying more than one short head, the same distance separat.quarie River (Mr. S. W. Tang), with (Mr. H. C. Pin) third. But for its ing Lancashire Lass from Humdrum Colorado Star (Mr. Proulx) also well sudden lapse in boring out, Soldier win.

of Honour could have taken second A GOOD START

position, with the possibility of fore- The day's programme opened with

ing Silkylight to fight a little harder. an event for suoscription geizes any season that naɑ not won a race

ONE LUCKY FUNTER since the commencemeur of the Annual Race Meeting. The raumre of Corona- tion Day, riaden by Mr. S. W. Tang, was hard to understano, and it can only be put down to a lapse of torm

in dividend.

01

Noted for his ability in getting off to a good start in sprint events, Mr. Benny Proulx made no mistake about it when he sent Araxy out in front on the rise of the barrier.

It was followed Close benind Mac's Adventure (mr. L. B. (b20), while Lucky Eleven (Mr. K. S. Shay also secured; a good position.

Coming into the straight Araxy was still in the lead, but its position was strongly challenged by both Mac's A¤- venture and Lucky Eleven. The finish was very close, the verdict going to Arary by a neck, with only 2 beac separating

Mac's Adventure from Lucky Eleven for second place.

Hau Lucky Eleven come na a tie earlier, it could possibly have won. As it was, by coming in third, it paid the hand- some retum of $54.20 for an invest- ment of $5.00. With only 19 tickets. on it to wing it would have paid a sen- sational dividend! :-

WHALSEY'S EFFORT REPEATED

On the fourth day of the Ammal Race Meeting, Whalsey dislodged its rider and galloped round the course and yet won the race. Last Saturday, Handicay Eve had practically the same experience, the only difference being that the jockey was unable to stop the pony until it had cantered round. Han dicap Eve evidently benefitted from this initial gallop, but one would have thought that it would have been tized out. Yet Handicap Eve won, although by a short head, and I, for one, feel that it would be useless to attempt to give any explanation for its amazing performanc

On the rise of the barrier, Handicap Bye went to the front, followed by (Mr. C. L. Gregory), With Hamdrum Eve (Mr. EL Ip)

Eve.

supported.

Successful Seamen

STICK TO SHERRY Amontillado Fino

As I stated previously, those who succeeded in selecting the winner of the first leg in the Daily Double were presented with a fascinating problem of making the right connection the second leg.

in

Although 164 tickets were held on Planchet, only Mr. Aubrey Edgar, the well known share broker, had the fortune to place a ticket on Sea Drágon.

He was indeed fortunate, but luck certainly favoured him, as Cape Comorin was shut out at a vital stage of the race, and it had to be pulled ap, with the result that it lost valu- able ground -- With so many ponies running, it was difficult to pick out the leaders until well past the Rock, when it was noticed that Mr. Black had sent Sea Dragon out in front.

The heavily backed Charybdis, ridden by Mr. Needa, found itself shut in, and it could not break through until rather late Cape Comorin (Mr. F. F Li), however, had the rails imme- diately behind Sea Dragon. ↑

Within a 100 yards from the finish, Mr. Li tried to take Cape Comorin past Sea Dragon, but it was unable to get through, with the result that he had to pull up Cape. Comorin and tuan out to the left. Charybdis was coming up strongly, and these three ponies indulged in a most - exciting struggle, but Sea Dragon had suff- cient energy to finish the race with a neck to spare. Cape Comorin just managed to nose out Charybdis by head. It was a grand-finish 11?

MR. BLACK'S STRATEGY: Despite the fact that New Star (Mr. Y. T. Fung), was carrying 168 lbs. and the distance was 134 miles, it was made frm favourite, but could do no better than occupy third place. Quite a number of people re ad: that

Continued on Page 192