TUFTS OF TURF.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9238, 16 October 1895, Page 6

TUFTS OF TURF.

By the Editorial Scissors.

«« Weekly Press and Referee."

Ia several places (says " Ringer " in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News) the fatal accident to the English jockey George Brown has besn brought forward as a reflection upon the dangerous character of the Brighton racecourse, with In some cases An added condemnation thrown in of all other courses similarly constituted. But it has especially been taken advantage of by a writer in the Daily Teiegrajsh as a peg on which to hang a Jemarkable article on racing, which deals with fatal accidents to jockeys, the alleged plethora of racing at the present time, the decadenceof long-distance races, t he dearth of stayers, and in fact the implied iiuraense superiority of horse racing a* carried on by our grandfathers over horse racing as coudue'ed at the present day. The writer speaks of " the growing impression that more rink is run by jucseys in riding the short 'qulck-oat-of-tlie-.lip.' race* which are now iv fashion than their predecasaora were exposed to when mile races were much less common than tho-e run over a long dl.tauce." That ia very likely. The very long races of our ancestors' day were, judging by all accounts, slow, muddling affairs. S.ill, the contention which " the growing impression, " that more accidents occur in short races than in those ran over long courses is said to support, is not strengthened by detailing a list of twelve fatal accidents to horsemen, amateurs aud professionals alike, all but oue of which took place in races run over loug distances, and two ol which by the writer* own showing did not occur in r_ca_ at all. An article dealing with the subject of racing, if the expressed words and opinions are to carry weight, should at lease be accurate. It is an exaggeration to say tbat" two-year-old races, with five-or six-furlong handicaps thrown in, make up nine-tenths of the day's sport formulated upon tbe ' krect cards of the races' thrust day after day into the hands o( sportsmen"—for this is a state of things which the Rule, of Racing at the present time render impossible. Even to say two-thirds wo_ld have been to give full measure in this respect; and two-thirds i. a good deal less than nine-tenth". Moreover, although it Is the fashion to decry the excans of sprintracing in these days as if that form of racing was on the increase a. compared with the past, a reference to the calendars of twenty t > flve-andtweuty years back will disprove tbe assertion.

So much has been said about the diminutive proportions of Bob Ray (nays a Sydney paper) that it may be interesting to many people who have not seen the A.J.C. Derby winner to know that Mr O'Brien measured him a few days ago. His height is 15h lin, And the measurements taken were as follows :—Fore-arm 19Jin, below the knee 7_i>i, girth 83in, lower thigh 17iin, below hock 82iu. Vivian Is about l(Jh lin, but lightly framed, with lean quarters. Barcaldiue's girth measurement was S6lo, and Ormonde 72in, bat a comparison with a horse like tbe New Zealand giant, Stormy Petrel, makes Bob Riy look small. This horse was 18h 2;n, fore-arm 26_in, lower thigh 2a_in, girth 82iiu. Form is a big colt. His sire, C;anbrook, was over 17h high as a three-year-old, ho that siz. runs in the family. Like Paris, Bob Riy is a small horse, but what there is of him is good. The accident to tho Derby winner's knee oppears to be more serious than at first supposed. It is swollen, and the correct solution of the injury is difficult to ascertain. The mere fact of the gelding beiug compelled to rest at this critic .1 period is enough to prejudice his chance fur the V.R.C. Darby. He may be all right in a few days, or perhaps will have to be thrown out of work, but nothing definite can be said at- present. [Bob Rty has been scratched for tha Melbourne Cup and Derby.—Ed.]

Referring to the death of Mr Barrow, who for nearly fifty years enjoyed almost a monopoly of the veterinary work at Newmarket, Man of the World says :—He was as good a vet. as he was a bad man of business. On ono occasion he made the serious mistake of preremlog a Ally, that was afterwards proved to be the right'age, starting for the O-k*. and on another he gave a.certificate of a gelding to go abroad that he was sound and qualifi.d to get good stock. The horse was actually on ship board, and it was a sailor who, like mo»t sailors, was curious in these matters who di-icorered the mistake. These were, however, Braall biota on a career of sixty years, and I have always thought from the way that Captain Machell trained Harvester for the Derby thpt ha had in his rccollcc ion what Mr Barrow did with Phosphoius. Ho gave that horse six hours' walking exercise a day, and occasionally a gentle canter up a hill. He was never allowed to extend himself, and on that preparation be won the Derby. He was a great advocate for taking horses oui twice a day or oftener. "If you were training a man for a prize fight," he would say, " would you after he bad done his morning's work lock him up in a room for the remainder ot tbe twenty-four hours t" . • • • • ■ •

"We would commend the following, from an English exchange, with reference to the recent Home elections to the faddists amongst our legislators :—We wiil keep the hoad of King Charles as much as possible out of thi-t column, and make no reference to politics beyond noticing tbe emphatic manner in which the people have declared that they will not tolerate the fussy meddling of the fanatical school with their aff-ira, and'will not allow them to dictate to English sportsmen, they not being sportsmen, and having no understanding of sport, what they shall do in sport, and what they Bhall not do, and what they shall drink, and what they shall not drink. "Hands offl" l_ what the polls have said to these busybodies, and we trust that they will now be kept at a proper distance. We may further note, and we do so with much satisfaction, that the men who have suffered most at the polls are those who have shown themselves hostile to racing, and without doubt the Sporting League can claim to have contributed materially to this result. All that racing men ask is that they ahall be left alone, and, above all, they do not wish to oe legislated for by men of the Perks stamp, whose idea of qualification to speak on a subject is that they shall know absolutely nothing about it.

Referring to the efforts in Sydney to suppress foul riding amongst the ponies 'Ranger," the English writer, say*:— "Strict supervision i. the cure for foul riding, and if persevered in there will be fewer accidents, better riding, and more satisfactory racing on the Sydney courses."

A noticeable feature of the first day's racing at S nekton (says a London writer on Angus. 2lth) was the fine form of O. Madden, who rode four capital races, ana won them all. In fact he won on every occasion on which he bad a mount in the course of the day. It is some time since a like feat haa been achieved by any jockey ; in fact, speaking from memory, I do not think that there has been one precisely similar for years. To win four races in a day is extremely unusual; but only to have four mount* and to win ou all cf them is very exceptional.

Rerri will not run for the A. J.C. Derby. News has been received in Melbourne that Fortunatus has arrived in Calcutta in splendid health. Floater carried 13st _lb to victory in the Sieeolrchase at the Saturday Meeting ot the V.P..C. ou September 2S.li.