A VETERAN RANDWICK TRAINER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 400, 8 January 1909, Page 7

A VETERAN RANDWICK TRAINER.

ON A VISIT TO THE DOMINION. ' There arrived iix Wellington by \ the north express train last night the veteran Australian trainer; Sir. Joe Burton, who, in company with another Australian sportsman, has been on a visit to , Rotorua. Mr. Burton landed in : Auckland: on December. 27, witnessed the-three concluding days' racing at Ellerslie, went on to Rotorua and Wliakarewarowa; and leaves for Sydney;this;aftt.noon, as he is anxious to get home again ~iid superintend • the training -.of. ..his' lengthy string of horses. .The Raudwick trainer commenced tho season witli a tearni of twenty,' and as ..these include. a dozen two-year-olds, he is naturally a busy man.- Questioned as to his trip, Mr. Burton- said that it had been an enjoyablo. one. Ho came over with the intention.of buying a few horses, but re found tho prices out of reason for. anything he fancied, and at tho finish he odly secured three brood mares, including St. Olga, o\ra sister to' St. Paul. After the. Auckland Taces, Rotorua was visited, and with Mr. Wilford, M.P., as fellow-tourist, : a good time was spent,. but Mr.. Burton is not, anxious to renew acquaintance. witli tho Nsw Zealand railways, which, he says,, cannot • compare with ..those, of ■ the*. Commonwealth.. .. • .;

■Concerning the horses whioh.he saw -at:the Auckland Cup meeting, ho considered All Red and. Husbandman by far'the best conditioned. .All Red was well up to. weightcarrying, but. Husbandman he regarded as easily Die best weight-for-age horse competing at. the meeting;; The colt could not have been himself when, he'ran so badly .in the Canterbury Cup. Bobrikoff ho could not rogard as a really, good .weight-for-age: horse, from what he had. seen of the horse himself, ana from what he .would expect of a horse by Finland. Ho would be a useful handicap horse, rio doubt, but ifj as stated,-he was a bad beginner, he would not bo any certainty, for a race -like the Epsom Handicap or the Donoaster Handicap. ; Master . Soult. was . a sterling colt, but looked a : bit ,stalo at Auckr land. Royal Soult was, a; great for his inches, ■« but he could not believe .;tbat he was as fast as Soultline. Diabolo ho regarded ns a moderate, only, and the two-year-olds lit oadsword and Elysian, he , summed up xn tho.same way.

.sportsmen,"said MrBul'ton, 'have a vcryv high opinion of the Dominion's 1 bloodstock. . Such good horses have been sent over, there; that; they imagine nothing but champions can.'be reared:here, but there seems to bo plenty of rubbish here just: the- same." The visitor...became: very enthusiastic, at tlie mention of /■ Soultlino, ;who,:he said, was 1 quite.in a cla6S,by '■.himself as a sprinter.- There had-been-a small ■fortune . in. him ; if well placed,\ for had, he been, set for. the :Oakleigh, Plate and New-: market Handicap he must have,'landed the double, and,; being owned by a New Zealaiider, a good price l ,could, have been secured about him in the betting. A; mile was just about beyond,his tether,.but hp wculd . always win oyer' that distance in a weak field as met with in the Toorak Handicap. When. •he first raced at iHoselrill, -his preparation; had been:-interfered with,'..and.^ho; created a mild sensation;,by,; the ease; .with .which he Von. Any chance ho. bad ;in the- Epsom Handicap was spoiled by poor horsemanship. For sis furlongs, however, ho was a 'champion; ■. and had more. paco -than- over Mountain King showed.; An inquiij; about Mountain King elicited • the fact' that, the brilliant! three-year-old .finished. 'up his; cal'ccr' a clean-legged, horse, .but h'e ; was badlyaffectcd in tho wind. ; , . ,''.' . •' ■"

-Mooltari. according to Mr. Burton", was.the horse of tlic : ago, in. Australia, but it was doubtful if tho son of Positano would ever stand another preparation; Although : Mooltan. had raced, well last .season, it was not, until 'the Rawson Stakes in September that .lie showed .his Teal worth. In that, .event he was carrying full weight-for-age," arid the: majority of the other candidates had allowances: He had not had more than a couple of gallops, but in spite of the record time registered he nras,-always : in'a good , position, anil finished very: . gamely. ; Despite , his' weight in tho Melbourne Cup, lie would .probably have won that event, eisily but for a shocking bad run. His jockey was hugging the rails in tho straight, and the hqrse got shut in by Delaware, and had his chances extinguished. '''■.. •. -. ■

' Provided Peru was not competing at Flemington, .Sigfiof would- not meet,-with 'very strong "opposition, but if pll he had heard of Mr. Moore's horse was "true he ought to beat' the best- of them. ' Artillerio is a good 'filly, thinks the Randwick . trainer, but he did not know she .was regarded as . a stayer. Two horses he would have liked to.see were Penates and Gold Crest, but unfortunately time will not permit of , his staying for . the Wellington Cup fixture.