THE Racing World.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 11

THE Racing World.

By "Whalebone."

Although 31. Edmond Blanc's f=take win- I nings in France last season were over | £6."i,0C0. not one of his .horses won a handicap. It must bo added, though, that ho did. not pay much attcntiou to that class o? race. Four times during the last seven seasons Otto Madden has topped the list of "wiulitug jockeys on the fiat in England." He was in such demand that he had I.TO mounts more than any other horseman last season. Madden, under the circumstances (says an exchange), should sny. "My success Otto > Madden other jockeys," hut doesn't; If he did someone might hit him with a piece of road metal. A London paper says that in England the gram! test in steeplcchasing is, without jo-übt. the Grand National: bet it Is an extraordinary fact that horses which distinguish thvuisvlvps t>rer the Aintreo course as v rule fall at such places as Iveinpion. SanUown, and Manchester. We can attribute this only to the country, the jumps at } Liverpool being different to those at the I park?. Anyone looking at the fences at ' Sundown, however, would consider them : ugly enough in all conscience. The King's [ horse. Ambnsli 11.. who twice gave such a I rare account of himst;!f at Liverpool, at I other places did not appear to be within 2Ub of Grautl National form. The greatest steeplechasers known to us are probably Manifesto. Cloister.The Lamb, The Coloucl, Disturbance Emblem, Boartoo, Salamander, and L'African (says the London "Pink "Tin"). With possibly the exception of Manifesto, all these were bet- '. ter as steeplechasers than hurdleracers. If : Mark Time combines the two as Manifesto j did, he might become one of the best steeplechasers that ever was known. His maiden effort was certainly a splendid one, giv- | ing the greatest promise. Whether he will j attempt the Grand National or not next j year we have not heard. He is over young for the job, but still Ansterlitz was equal to it with a very second-class horseman in the saddle. The value and the popularity of steeplectaslng in Fiance i« showu "by tho fact rfa:it up to November ISth last, in round figures. £ISO.fMX) ban been paid out in stakes and purses by the various steeple■'■hasc' organisations to winning owners, and that nearly .Gll.OfiO had been distributed as bouuses to the breeders of succpssfnl horses. Kuciene Loigh leads all the steeplechase trainers, having sent out l:ir> winners in .>">3 attempts—a wonderful showing for :juy trainer, and an amazluj; '".r.e for a man whn. wheu ho left Anler'n-a i>: said to have known absolutely nothing .ihout steeplechasiup. Tlorsi'S owned by i himsoii won, np to the date mentioned. £■1111, but it was iv the training of horses owned l>y other persous tbat the largest measure of his success lay. Siiru»» of the E-njrli*li opponents -of the starting machine are amusing in thetr anxiety to show that "tho flag's the thing." Writing to a London paper last .iiontli, a correspondent went into ecstacrps over the. fact that at 'Nottingham Mr Coventry, usinj the flag, got away large hurdle race fields on excellent terras, whereas at Derby a few weeks previous the same gentleman, when ''hampered by thp j;atß." made a barl start for a flar race. If is hard to understand aoy man rustling into print to make such a. campaiison, as it rarely happens that riders bother about attempting to gain any advantage at the start of a hurdle race, whereas in a Bat race, where a length at the start often means so mneh. each Jockey generally docs his best to boat the starter, if possible. Near'y all the leading crocs country professionals in England have raised object ttor.s to the proposal that hurdles shouM b<? Icopecl together instead of being allowed to remain an at present. It is contended by thesf rifler> that if the hurdles were bound together, they would become too (lnuirerous. If they had to race over the ••hurdles" in uiv at Rfccartou instead of th' , English batt"tis. which staud singly, ami f.-ill if a horse ram them, they would consider rher had sufficient cause to abantUm their profession. The '"hurdles" at Riccarton art , us strong as a wall, aud woe betitie the sniriral that chances them, ant! the writer has ahvays been in doubt as to whether they were raised to their present strength in order to improve the fencing abilities of our horses, or simply for economical reasons, as tho obstacles are practically indestructible.—"TVeekly Press.' , Chatting about horses that took part in the Liveipool Grand National of 18S9, a London paper says that two of tbe field. Volnptnary aud Roquefort, winners of the National in "S4 and 'So respectively, subsequently tigriircrl on the "boards" in the sensational drama of "The Prodigal Daughter." Voluptuary was the original "star" at the T.H. Druiy Lane, and subsequently for some yea is in the provinces, antl Looranl Boyne specially purchased "old Koqnpy" for a tour with the same play in tne United States, where he lamed himself through n nail in the foot, being subsequp.ntty so'tl tr.r five and forty dollars, it might have been expected that a botve of such "atttic ilLsj'esifioTv' as Roquefort would have caused some trouble in a stage crowd: but beyond scaring the orrHestia out of their box orre ni.Tlit. tbe old horse beh.ivtvl like a perfect artist, and took his "calls" regularly. In England last year 57." yearlings were Fold at an average of 2201g5. which was a falllng-off as compared with the four previous yenrs. In 1900 an average of 252gs wis made for 706 lots, but, unluckily for breeders, such satisfactory results did not continue. Consequent on Pretty Polly's good deeds, Gallinnle's youngsters sold particularly well last season. VI maiing the excellent average of llSOgs. St. Simou. however, was not far behind, his four averaging U72lgs, while Persimmon did well with 93:-igs for each of sis. Carbine averas?ed 525.2-S for eight, Ayrshire TSOgs for a simiiar nombor. Diamond Jubiiep S37*gs for fonr. Florizei 11. 7Ssgs for four, Ladas SSlgs for nine. Cyllene 467igs for four. Isinglass 2Oi>gs for six. Blairtieid e<)7ligs for four Orine S7Ggs for throe. Queen's Birthday 54f>ss for six. Royal Hampton :;7E)gs for 10 sad St. Frusqnin BS3gs for three. Melton" who was ,mch a boom a few seasons back has pece out of favour, and though 13 yeari!-!>^ by h ' m W<?ro 1?oW ' thor only ay "aged The ••Asian." in dealing with the race for the \iceroys Cup. lwd tbe following to say Grear Scot's victory:— -p.-r!? a marvellous and stagger , u-* per.armasice, and the net result of it all is mat there can be no possible interest in any fntcie Viceroy's Cup so ions as this i horse can be brongbt to the post even a ! quarter Or. T-here is nothing in India, in 0r...- opinion, within 2=t of him when he is r v ; \. W J" ' an,l this bp i«S's«! 't means' tnat np has got a laortsage for some years : to cojne upon' the one big race in Indin. It hss been said of Grent Scot by those who know him best thnt in order to get bim right to rnn he must be g;iHoped to death, and that unless he Is stinn? np like a greyhound h<» can nev«>r be relied upon to win raws. This assertion ]is most conclusively disproved, for the j herse has not. with the exception of two gallops in-public, out of a canter for close upon a month. It is «is<l that there are many people anxious to buy Great Scot ' for England, and that it is in contetnpla- ,' t ! on to make Mr A pear an offer of a sub- t stantial figure." ! I ! Alfhnuir!; everyone takes up the cudgpl? for "Tod" Sloan, no one seems to srire him : .my ailTlee wo.rth considering (-says a Now York paptr). Possil)iy. if it were placed before the Enirlish authorities that tlieir l.ick of recosrnition was working a Uardshsp on the ridm-. a hardship w'.-ich I ca:i apparently <>n!y be iciuoved by rp'-og-i niiion fr-im tiiet body, it might lif it wpro . made e'ear to the Enslisli in Kualaml), : n>solt in the granting of an English ; liceusp. which mipht h<- fn!iowt>d by a license h?re. Fp to dale usany have aednloiisly (Usconntrd the idea of any fraud stigma attaching to Sioan In Ensl.inrl. but i? the Euslish Jockey Club insists on its present attitude—ln the face of certain ha-ppeninps in France—the emoke that Js ?ald to presage hidden fire will, become apparent. As to Sloan taking up training, people seudiug their horses inito his charge trill need a guarantee that jhe will attend strictly to business, and not \ make night bAftewis to tlie somnolent inhabitants of Sheepshead village by noc- / trirnal imrnrzifms, and exonrmnos is was I tie case In 1304.

An American exchange reckons that the trotting enthusiast. Mr C. K. G. Billings, h.-is more than £60,000 invested in tine horseflesh. The cost of maintaining those horses is placed at £20,000 a .rear. He owns, among others, Lou Dillon. 2tn Is, '2m IJ-s, world's champion gelding; The Monk and Equity, world's trotting record to pole. 2m TJs: Chnrlio M.ic, 2m 14!,'s. world-: record to saddle: Prince Direct and Tlcntas Crook, lni o}s. world's pacing record half raile to pole; Mornins Star and : Vrlnco Oiiect, 2m 6s. world's amateur [ pacing record to pole: Prince of Orange. l2tn 6As: Louise Jefferson, "Jm V>}s: Fred. S. Wpdjrewood, 2m r>s; Mazette. 2m 4is; -and Angus Pointer, 2m 4js. Mr Billings is the sole owner of the mile trarU at Memphis, where he also owns the entire street railway system. His great fortune, left hy his fathej. was made in the Chicago gas companies consolidation. At the Albion Park (Queensland) reeeutly i three, horses started for the Novice HandlI cap — Zona, Asthore, Gamester. The two tirst-named are well known to Urishane I racegoers, the other is a visitor, whose form i riafl to be taken on trnst. Neither, perhaps, is more than moderate, and interest in their meeting hinged rather on the eccentric phases of .the post betting than on the contest itself. Zona opened at even, inonpy, in a few minutes was at odds on. and then declined again to even money, owing to the spirited" punting on Asthoro. wbo was ouiclUy run up from an otitsiflc price to 5 to 4—once, indeed, touching even money. Daring these fluctuations, Game- . ster remained forlorn aud hopeless, at 10 jto 1, until A. Barrington. a leading penj ciller, anxious to do business on a sure basis, offered 20 to 1. T. Brown at onco j capped it with offers of 30 to 1, a price I which led to some business: but Barringi ton. not to be ontdone In liberality, went j one bPttfr. and" calling out in his rich baritone 50 to 1, was snapped np twice before he quite knew where he was. He closed his book hastily, but not before £30 to .£1 had been written in twice abont the outsider, who, to the delighted surprise of his backers and the chagrin of the two rival pencillers, won almost, as he liked, in spite of a bad start. Statistics show (wrttes the Paris correspendent of the London "Sportsman") that the German yearling market has not improved. Without taking into account the yearlings breeders give away for something under a "tenner." out of the 102 youngsters sent np for pnblic auction only 5S found purchasers. The highest price given was olOsovs by Dr. Loinoke for Wette.rwolke, and .the lowest £10. making for the fiS an average £105 10/. This is the lowest figure ever reached in Germany, and should demonstrate the necessity for weeding out some of the old mures in the studs and discarding the services of more than one sire. Things are very much better in Austria and Hungary, for the K-57 yearlings brought up for sale fetched £2T..a», or nil average of nearly £180 each. More, however, than half this sum went to the Napagell stud, the birthplace of Con Amore, the winner of the Hamburg Derby, and the average obtained for the 41 yearlings there was close on £328. ,The best purchasers were Mr X. yon Szemere and Count B. Degenfeld, the. former of whom gave nearly £iWV) for half a dozen yearlings. I am told that the visitlDg list opened for 34 mares to> Kona Vista is quite full. He is standing at Kisber, -where, with Dnnure, he is among the "fashionable sires." Royal Lancer Is also coming nnder notice, and seems to have the call of his companions. Ganache, Gaga, Adieu, Kilcoek, and Galifard. Iv its notes on the Calcutta meeting, the "Asian" of January 7th says:—"The settling at Calcutta is generally characterised by racing men of experience as one of. the most satisfactory known auywhere, and compares favourably with similar functions both in England and Australia and though occasionally a backer gets, out of his depth and has to ask for time, the number of defaulters has hitherto been very limited, and there has never yet been failure on the part of any member of thu ring, however hard hit he may have been, t.) come np to time on the appointed date. This week there was an unfortunate exception to this rule, and on Tuesday one well known, if not very prominent, "bookmaker was distinguished by his absence. His liabilities are stated at a-fairly large figure, and only about a third of them are said to be covered by his deposit—assuming the Turf Club to deal with that amount, as they certainly ought to ilo, though it will be a difficult matter In the absence of his books to make any attempt t) adjust the missing layer's liabilities even on bankruptcy lines. Two or the largest creditors are said to be brother professionals who were engaged to back the winner of one of the mote Important races for the owner, and their position is a decidedly unpleasant one. It is decidedly hard lines for firms with a record of having kept faith with their clients for years ami years to find that they have been associated with the 'hero' of a vanishing act." Dnriug the whole of his racing career in Australia .1. E. Brewer was popular, anil looked upon as a first-class horseman and trainer. Of his doings last season in England the London "Sportsman" says:—Looking at Brewer's horses for next season as they appear on pajier. it must be said that they are a very formidable lot. Probably no trainer has a more important stringunder hia charge. There are several who performed well in 1»M for Heath Hoosc, and these hare been added to by Mr Lionel Robinson's horses in training and a number of costly youngsters. Perhaps it would be as well to say something of Brewer's efforts during the past season before proceeding to deal with the future , . Mr Henning was undoubtedly fortunate in securing the services of a trainer who understands his profession so well, and, of course, Brewer benefits accordingly. He turned out 24 winners, and earned TTSSsovs, and, like several of his confreres, he had at times to put up with place money only wheu the greater stake seemed well within his grasp. Foundling, for instance, after annexing the London Cup, van into second place for the Livcrj pool Summer Cup. and filled a like position lin the Brighton Handicap. Flower Seller won the September Handicap at Alexandra. Park (his only victory), and he was second in. among other races, the Hnrst Park Lennox Plate and the Liverpool Antnrati Cup ibeaten a head). Airship performed creditably, winning five races, and was placed in a similar number, three times running second, whilst Briar Patch scored six times in 14 outings, besides beinj; second. (in two occasions. Best Light gained three brackets, and was eight times placed. being the runner-np in half a dozen events. Then Carita ran second in the Mersey £takt\s I but nest time out easily landed the Astlevi Stakes at Lewes. Rouge Croix. of course, I was Brewer's most important two-year-old in 1004. The son of Betid Or did not apponii in. public until July, and then finished , seventh in a minor race. Subsequently. : however, the colt won two uot of three engagements, inclnding the Dewhnrst Plate' when the odds laid on Signorino were ruthlessly npset. In the coming season Rouge C rolx holds a long list of engagements including the Two Thousand Guineas.' the Derby. St. Leger, end the Grand Prix de Paris He is highly estimated, and uiav possibly occasion more than one surprise before the season of 1905 closes. AH tho trthvr horses referred to above arc also to who were recently removed from Beeki hamptou to headquarters, ought to be car." able of annexing several races of goort ralue They include Niphetos. Challenger Rose"to Dawn. Glenamoy. aud Cc-stly Lady Thr> last-named is in the One Thousand Guineas,' km:^JKviSS! being placed in three of her races In the ( lir.mpagne Stakes, however v.Uc -,•••■- ■ w a short head behind the dead-beat-.- Gniangal and Verttiaua. As regards tlie" rw-Vi year-olds which Brewer wll? prop !,- r r