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Race News
BACK TO THE CREEK.
B.A.T.C. Returns to Six
Races,
"For Which Relief, Much
Thanks."
By "The Office Bard."
ONE thing the B.A.T.C. can take credit
for—unless it was involuntary—and
that is the fact that the club last Satur-<*>
day went back to the old "limited" pro-
pramme of "six races and be done with
it! Whatever the reason that impelled
our bigger clubs to add superfluous
'events" to their programmes—we have
had as many as nine races in an after
noon, while eight had become almost tho
rule—it has been patent for many months
now that they were overdoing it. Small
fields and many races are like small fish
and many of them—nuisances, compared
with a few real! big ones.. And, anyway,
there seemed mighty little financial result
fgx all the extra time and trouble that
programme entails. That an
yTOs to all hands—the public, the clubs,
and the bookmakers.
OHOWERY weather greeted the punt«
*^ ers' return to the sand. In fact, so
heavy had been the morning's shower
that it would have made grass racing very
risky; but on the sand the conditions
are different. The feature of a quiet
afternoon's racing was the third conse
cutive win of the weight-carrying geld*
ing. Porterbah, which took the Plate in
strikingly easy fashion, carrying 7.7, and
revelling in it. As a weight-carrier there
are few geldings to touch Porterbah, up
to a mile, or nine furlongs; perhap3 even
up to ten. It is a most consistent
galloper, and reliable withal; hence it is
not expected to crash for some time, as
the margin it can "go" with is a lot
above 7.7 over the 1&17 yards of the
Plate.
TN tho six fields there ran respectively
17, 5, 11, 10, 6. and 8 horses, and,
taking them, by-and-large, they were a
pretty poor lot. The sport was on the
subdued^ side—no doubt, thoughts of
Apple Crown overshadowed many of tho
Clever Brigade—while the weather was
threatening. Only one hot favourite suc
ceeded in playing "Tig" with the judge,
which shows that even when conditions
are moHt favourable —Le.,. few races, small
fields, mid everybody on their best be*
haviour—the punters are sadly astray.
The reversals of form at Ascot, and also
on the Creek course, on the Saturday
before were continued, only less so, at
the Creek; one or two "firsts," like Hey
Dell, for instance, coming in absolute
"lasts" at the 8.A.T.0. wayzegooso. But,
Lord! as Mr. Pepys says; to think that
any one would fuss about it. Hay Dell
wiped the course with the opposition at
the previous B.A.T.C. Fourth Division
scramble (third section); but this time it
went up a division, and "came down" a
field! Laughter, which had won the
Second Novice at the Q.T.C. meeting,
ran last but one in the Purse, on Satur
day. And so on. These "gaps" in form
are reaUy too noticeable.
ORAZY MOLLY, which had run
rather promisingly at the previous
mooting, came out with D. O'Connor up,
and won with great ease, carrying 7.7,
in the Fourth Division Handicap. High
Chord (Davis,- 8.2), got away as badly
ad usual; but the public "backed its
start," as if it were a reformed character!
It isn't—not yet, anyway. Crazy Molly,
however, on the day, y. ras easily lha
best horse in the race; it came at the
bend, and then galloped away without
any farewells, leaving High Chord, and
that nice-looking marc, Allorube (O'Brien,
8.6), to fight for the second place, which
Higli Chord obtained by a very short
bead.
fFHE First Division was a gift for a
home that lias been "knocking at the
door" for some time past. Lcineale
(Wiley, 7.0, less 31b.) had only four to
meet and beat, but the Chantemerlc gold
ing certainly inude no bones about it, aud
would probably have won (with youug
Wiley riding as he did), with ten others
in the field. The form Lcmeale displayed
on Saturday, after having ruu into the
third and second places recently, would
seem to show that, with anything under
8.10, Lemcalc will bother the bookmakers
for a bit.
PLEVEN saddled up for the Second
Division, in which there was a terrible
crash when Glory Mat (D. O'Connor. 0.1),
just failed to get level with Eland's
River (Goddard, 7.12), which, after a bad
start, made a great finish of it, winning
by a head from the favourite, with Nico
geues (Hill, 7.11, inc. 21b. over), a poor
third. Hut this gelding is apparently on
the way to get back to something more
like "form/'. It is more than a year ago
since Xicogenes "came out of its shell."
on the Eagle F;arm course, and won threo
races almost off the reel. Like a lot of
geldings, the Sandgatc horse seems to have
'gone back" between 3 and 4 years; it
may train on now into a sound "five-aud
bettcr." Alf. Garget has been persever
ing 'with it, and they say persevering
pays. Let* hope so, for A If.'a sake.
rjOLDEN SPEC—one of those brutes
you usually back "the week before"—
redeemed itself by winning the Third
Division, carrying plenty of "punting"
money, and Hill (8.0). Wolo (Wiley, 7.8,
less 31b. all.), a stable companion, was
the only tiling to get near the winner at
any time; and even then Golden Spec ran
away when once iv the straight. It was a
"vastly-improvdd" horse (that's the
euphemism, I believe), as compared with
itself on its last public appearance. Bache
lor Bill (O'Sullivan, 7.11), sauntered in
third,
"PORTERBABTS Plate" might as well
"*• have been stuck up over the sema
phore before the race as in the papers
shortly afterwards. True, it was the
smallest Plate field Been for a long time
—six starters—and the punters would havo
it that Dignifying (Davis, 7.-2), was "the
pea." The redoubtable "Stumpy" himself
thought so, and possibly even said so.
But they all reckoned without their host
—I mean horse. Porterbau (Ruane, 7.7),
was much too good; it simply cantered in
from the rest of the field, leaving the
Confident One flogging vainly at the
flanks of Dignifying—which was not ex
actly so, anyhow! Six lengths from Por
terbah came Tangram (Goddard, 6.10),
which actually headed Jedmond, the
winner of a desperate Welter at The
Farm a week before. But Jedmond must
have been brooding over the stewards'
strike, or something, on this occasion, as
it could not raise a gallop.
V^ITH only eight in the Purse, the
rather patchy colt Partcnza (Murphy,
7.10), was expected to make hay while the
sun shone, and money was piled on it by
the Recoverists and Dedcerts. But then
camo a rush for Trojan (J. J. Conquest,
8.5). a black gelding by Astrologer out
of Suzanne, which Bhapcd very well in
deed, winning by a couple of lengths from
the favourite, and with Yolad (O'Brien,
8.2), that much farther back.
So the Recoverists will have to wait
for another opportunity to recover.
$