THE TURF.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 7

THE TURF.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. J.L.L.—June 3. NOTES AND COMMENTS. The Manawatu weights are duo to-day. /Weights for-tho Auckland Racing Club's Easter Handicap will appear 011 Monday. Acceptances for the. first day's events at tho Nelson Jockey Club's annual meeting close with tho -secretary, Mr.: John Glen, on Wednesday evening next. v Owners -and trainers aro reminded that nominations for all events at the autumn meeting of tho Wellington Racing Club close with the secretary, Mr. A. E. Whyto, on Monday evening at 9 o'clock. Tho Wairarapa Racing Club's. autumn meeting is a two days' fixture, held on Easter Saturday' and Eastor Monday. Nominations for all events close with tho secretary, Mr. E. A. Laery, FeathevDton, on Monday evoning at S o'clook. The . full programme appears in the "Refereo." ' Tho coming .week is a busy one for racing people.' There aro meetiucs at Auckland, New Plymouth, Waipawa, Timaru, and Masterton. ' The latter takes placo on Thursday and Friday, and- is easy , of access to; tho Wellington section of the. sporting public. - . Two bookmakers paid a liccnso fee to bet at the Opunake meeting,'on Tuesday last, but in spito of tho. opposition the totalisator showed a substantial increase on the previous year's figures. The programme for.the third meeting^of the .Wellington Pony and Galloway Racing ! Club; appears. in this issuo.. It is to be a i,two;' days', fixture, held during the Easter -holiclays; and. very liberal) prize-money.' -is -offered M-the different ■ Two of'the handicaps- aro ..to bo divided into separate divisions for first and second 'class perI,formers, so that better' racing may result; and one event on the programme is'set aside for .ponies 14.1 and_ 'unaer. Nominations will bo received up till April 8. ,

' The Grafton—lCorowai filly,.. Alfalfa, recently'; purchased by Mr. C. ,E. Major, has joined 11. Brough's team at-Hawera,; '

The -.Victorian- Racing Club always make a loss;'over the .autumn fixture, and this year, tho deficit.' was a .good -deal' than .it was! oxpe'etod to lie. It-is considered ;by some'of the' authorities that -if tlio; meeting' was" confined : to' three days', it . could be; worked, without a loss. ■ ■ ;' • ; .. It' is to Bo hoped that, the people who drivo their fashionable trotters to tho pony , races at; Miramar -.will, not terrify pedostrians .this .evening .by- raping, homo along the Evans Bay Road. '■ Berongaria has now won'two races, : being followed home by Chaiit-ress. 011, both occasions. ■ 'When. Chajitress ■won.-.at; .Trentham' Berengaria was among the. defeated.; -Winning jockeys at the Opunake meeting, last Tuesday wero W. Prico (two), R. Bar-, 10w,.R. M'Namara, R. :Mjilnp,. C. 'Scott, and Mitchell.(one. each), \ ■ ■ -

/;.Th'o' entries for. tho Feilding Jockey. Club's Easter, meeting tic 11'ot close 'till -Monday, wqek. Owners should not overlook this fix-: Wis,' as the Club isj giving excellent : prizqmoriey, for all-'events on its programme.; ;

,■ ,At tho Hawke's Bay . meeting in 'January-'-Chicano defeated Oxton in • a. • six-furlong, raoe,' The Possible mare,being in receipt of. 161b. On Thursday Oxton bad to givo CWrc»no: 201b over si six-furlong course, but he had: improved enough to. beat;'her by. half, a -length;' ■• ... - ' : WinniiVg ' jockeys'>t the - Napier • Park meeting were E. 1). Jones (six), T. O'Brien, R. Hatch, and H. Prico (two each),. F. Whitehouse, T. Pritchard, L. Vvilson, andA.; Rao (one each). ( ; ' The Seer (Tiirquoiso—Vision), who, lias not the. North' Island for many months, is engaged• at.tlie/Waipawa meeting iioxt Wednesday.' Wlien lie appeared at tho Dunedin njeoting last, month: lie. was in. good form. -j .- ~ , - St.; Claimer' js' still ' enjoying a. spell at Hawera. His stable, mate, St. -Maria, is 'engaged at: Jockey- Club's meefc-: jng.next week;. ;. ' ';r. : '-V .• ;

' Tho Marph meeting, of tlio. Wellington Pony. and . Galloway ■■Racing . |.Club, .takes ..placo at Miramar ; this afiicmoon. Trams will run from Courteiiay Place to the Racecourse, and a ferry boat will' also convey passengers to Miramar in timo for tho -first racc, which starts'.at. 2 o'clock., |~'

The hrown filly Gold Lace (Gold : Reef— Como)' gives'* proiuiso of' being 'very useful. She won her raco in good stylo on the first day at' Napier' Park;' but on'the second day she.:'was badly left. Gold Reef ha 3 all along been getting good stock, and just now there aro half a. dozen, speody horses which claim tho':Beiid Or horso as their, sire.

' Aborigine looked to have a good chaneb in the two-year-old race on the second day of . the Napior- meeting. Ho ; was going very well at the home bond, when lie tried to run off tho course, and completely spoiled his ehanco. . ' ■ "

Tho news of tho daring theft on tljo Napier -Park 1 Racecourse,- coming -as it docs on top of numerous thefts' of a 1 similar nature, scarcely makes pleasant ' reading for ■ - the .sporting public,' for . it .indicates that there is a gang of spielers .touring tho meetings. At Gisbonis last month .a'.-Wellington' boot maker lost about £100 in notes, taken' out of his pocket.' :At tho Mira'inar poiiy. meeting 'a conplc) of woeks later another "\YeJjitigton b&okniaker, .whilo watching' 'a race, had a bundle of notes abstracted from his bag, 'and althpugli; lie was alarmed at the time, h'o only managed to' gain a: fleeting vision of the.: thief. as he dashed 'into the crowd. !At . tho Shannon. meeting qh February 2G' two ruffians'.(probably members of tho same gang) ;turned tho enclosure into'a regular pandemonium "after the second race by trying to mob a bookmaker-.and;his client during "paying over." Tho client proved 'a regular, Tartar, and . in ' tho. free fight .which onsued the wouldrbe thiefs received a drubbing, tho fight eventually being stopped, by a policeman. , ' ■ V '

V/anganui was peopled with a number of uiidesirablo characters during the raco meeting, but no i;eripuSj happenings -were recorded. ' But .this series of thofts, combined with a small amount of welshing that has tpjieii place, inaltes it appear that tho new' gamirig ,• legislation has attracted some -pther rough cjtizejis to the Dominion, i The racing , clubs have oinploywl detectives to watch 1 tho bookmakers . and protect tho totalisator, but their system does notappearto"'afford sufficient protection to; tho public and tho bookmakers themselves. Tho racecourse thicyes havo had a fairly'gopd innings now, and-it is just about time they were bowled out.

The following remarks! from tho pen , of aWriter in the London "Sportsman 1 ' may prove of interest to breeders, especially to thoso who remember something of tho early career of that: great, porformor' Advance "I am vqry anxious to see if the palatial breeding studs that aro now to be found on all sides of'the Ciirmgli will send forth tho same hijjh-class racers that tho smaller Irish breeders used to send to this country in former years, , for-1, hold-a very strong belief that the successes of Irish-bred horses in the past'were duo not so much to the limestone substratum'as to tho rough-aiid-/-cady : liiannej- ill which tluiy were reared. I recollect .'seeing Hasty Girl six years after r sjie gave birth to Bendigo, heavy in foal, on a February afternoon standing in puddles a foot deep in a field in which 'there was no' shelter of any kind, and though the idea of such a, tiling went against all my -preconceived opinions, I must admit that the old m'udrheplastcred mare was in the best of health and condition. YOll could not adviso this sort-of treatmont as a rule, but between it end bringing in -mares whenever thero is a rain shower there is a big margin. That barren mares aro best lying out during tho summer wo all knpw, for-there is nothing like pure air for promoting health and wellbeing, and I fancy this same principle-might with advantage, he continued through the cold audi, wet seasons by an! arrangement of hovels- in; the paddock, where 'such mares can ■find-dry ground and .shelter without having to bo shut up in separate' boxes. All tho same it is impossible in practice, for owners ■ V- V ! s

of big public studs to act 011. any such' theory, as, of course, they have 1,0 study tho wishes of those .who send mares, to tlioir stallions, and those are mostly gentlemen ivlio would strongly object to-their ".favourites being subjected to any avoidable , risk. Then, in the good old days, tho young stock worn not so, .highly fed as they aro now. That used to lead to a "slower but liiorb healthy-development, aiid hence it used, to be no uncommon tiling to find young Irish horses, like Barcaldino, Philomel,, Bondigo', AVinldiold's Pride, and many others I could name, coming on with giant strides when they wero brought over to this country and reuijy \vell done."

Cassina and Pukototiira, who won pony races at Orou.'t .Bridge last iuesday, .are bot-(i racing at Miramar to-day. ■ Supplement has gono'.home to New Plymouth for a spell. 1 ;

Goo. Price and- A. Oliver left Napier ,by motor 011 Wednesday night to, catch .the morning train at Palracrstoii .North on route for Warrcngatc. Owing to stress of weather they failed to reach Palmers ton until tho train had gone, so they made tho whole journey in tho car. '

Winning jockeys at Warrengato races were W. Price and W. llaynor (two each), C. AVhalo and W. Young. (0110 each). Mr. J. Signal vode tho winner of the Ladies 13racelofc.' 1 '' ,-

' H. Hickey will probiibly try. -Eaipctipeti over big country during the winter', months.. Tho.Monaco gelding is a beautiful, juinpei, and should prove a success at this branch of tho business. Whakawehi, who..shows aptitude as a hurdler, will be tried over tho small sticks.

Tho acceptances received .by the Masterton Racing Club are satisfactory, very'few candidates having dropped cut. Tho Waipipi Cup on .Thursday promises to be an interesting raco.': . "

Several buyers have been; inquiring the prices of Maui and At-aahua, among tho number being thc' Wangamii sportsman who races as "Mr. AV. Spiers," aiul:Mr. A. F. Douglas. Tho latter gentleman is - anxious .to get a, couple of good jumpers to tako to Australia. I understand .that . Merriwai, Needlework and. Co. are not fit for active service at (the present timo. . '

Thoso who knew the promising lightweight jockey Walter E. Pine would .-bo-.-greatly, shocked .at.- tho . news of ..lijs 'death, which occurred at tlio Waimate races on Thursday. Tho deceased was apprenticed to his brother, Win. Pino,: and \\"as tho youngest of-six-brothers, who have all distinguished themselves in tho : saddle at ditferent times. During the Christmas lioli-: days-;W. E. Pino was riding at;the Manawatu and 'Ashhurst meetings, and later 011 at tho Wellington Cup.nieoting. On Manawatu Cup. day ho rodo l)o Witto in the Eit-zhed'bert Handicap, when that horse dead 7 hcated...with Lord Soult, ; aiid iii the Grillies Hack, the next raco 011 tho programmo,: ho rode Greenleaf .to victory., Ho could go. to tho scales at -Csb.; 71bs., and on account of his quiet demeanour, and appearance was; a gencralsfavourite. '■