NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1499, 23 July 1912, Page 9

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

i • , , - [Br Glencor.l Owing to the closing of the Hutt track" Mr. H. Whitney is shortly shifting his Jteam to Waikanae and at tho conclusion of the National meeting .at Eiccarton, C. Pritchard ■ will hand over the horses to J. Scott. The last-named was for many years associated with tho Karamn stables. ' J. Hennah is taking Captain Jinglo and Amaru homo to Hastings this morning, end will not leave for Eiccarton until the eve of tho meeting. Ini conreijuence. of. his dual success here. Captain Jingle is ..in great demand for tho National Steeplechase. •.- : ' Several horses which were taken to iTrentham were not started at the meeting. Amongst tho number were Continuance, Pnisano, Prosper, Paritutu, Serenity, Ladrone, Hawick, and Royal Arms. The last-named is' in great heart, and galloped very well on the sand track. In somo circles he is a quiet rip for tho Winter Cup anil it is stated that A. Oliver, who has ridden tho winner threo times in succession, will have the mount 3n tho New Plymouth-owned gelding., /' : Thura was no better instance of tho glorious uncertainty of tho turf at Trentham last week than that furnished by the running of Dai'by'iPaul. When heaviily supported on' tho first day, the littlo Jiawora horce failed very badly, and not f',t any stage L of .£he race did his. i ogion of backers..';'ln;''fliU'l'SnalvHuralra .'■jbn Saturday he [ was neglected by'. all, Wand to'.'tho ■ dismay of everyone, he won Jiifter b&hg, well up .tho Vhole way. It' r|i<is never beeh"suggested,'tlfti.t the, horso '[■was' not. honbs't. and the". genuineness of rooth performers from the stablo point K)f view; is_ beyond 'question. So the matnt«T will jtist have to be put aside : aa hnexplicable. .. i A horso whose prospects for the Winter pup are being taken into consideration its the Woikato-owned Salute. In tho Parliamentary Handicap, on ground [which did not suit her, the black mare showed, all her old pace, and finished .'third oiftef being in the lead for • tho 'greater part of the journey. At 'Eiccarif'on the going is generally good at this yperiod of the year, and this will bo tall in favour of Jlt. F. Ross's mare. I The Maori, which sailed for Lyttelton last .evening, was a full ship, ond amongst fhe trainers and horses on. the way to piccarion were: H. Cutis with Gountertaine, B. langloy with White' Cockade Wl Master Paul, £.• Scpullar ivith Sea (King, B. Gillctt with Curator, J". .Toroier wn with. Prosper, o.ud A. Ene with La •fßeina. This evening. R. Hannon, with {Mute,' TTranium, Zante, and Tsikcturau; JP. Coffey with Darby Paul and Compass; lend P.i Johnson with Sandy Faul will ■make tho trip south.

I It is the opinion of many that had(Ftautere been better handled in. the July Kteeples on Saturday ho might have defeated Captain Jingle,' and in furtherance bf-this view.some critics point out that the chestnut hors-s made up a great deal nf ground from the fivo to the four.furlong post—altogether too much in too tehort a space. This is so, .but Captain {Tingle was always. going very comfortbbly, and would probably beat Ikntero' lit the weights over any course and at feny time. Tho Auckland horse performed jmuch better on Saturday than ho did. Son Wednesday when he was pulled up seven furlongs from homo on obviously .beaten horse. On his form at Trentham it is hur to imagine the opposition which to. had at Ellerslio as being other than ■{mediocre. 1 Bully is among the acceptors for the •Grand National Hurdles and in view of tho excellent reports of his track work, . lio promises, to be well supported at Eicfcarum next month. I Fa.unus has not been accepted for the [Grand National Hurdles and all tha 'Karamn candidates have been allowed /to drop, out of the Winter Cup, but the Jiamo of Bollin still figures among the hors3s remaining-in the Grand National Hurdles. I Okaihau and Lugcon aro perhaps tho [most notable defections from ■ tho Grand (National Steeplechase field. '. Although Undecided has been withdrawn from the Winter. Cup, F. HigKotfs stable still has two representatives jjn the race, Ladrone and Serenity. | Aft*T the race for vn* Epsom Derby in txhkh Tagalie flashed first in the hands Sof the Ameficav.VhorWman J. Reiff, D. CVaugli, the - trartifr, was plied with the ue3tion: "Why was Leslie Hewitt taken y>ff Tagalie for the Derby ?" to which. Waugh replied: "Mr. Raphael engages his own jockeys. It was.Mr. Raphael himself who engaged Reiff, Mr. Raphael nor myself havens ything but praise to give to Hewitt.-y I personally I am very sorry that Bli . ,itt did iiot ride Tagalie to-day." ' As the Wellington Racing Club's an. m&oting follows so close upon tho G-ister racing thero has always been noted a short/ago of horses and the form it the time is. so thoroughly exposed that tho fixture is the most uninteresting of the year. On the other hand thero aro always plonty of horses, in commission o.t the time of the spring and winter zneatings are being held and for these reasons it. is probable that members of the Wellington Racing Club may, at the annual meeting, discuss the advisability of. abolishing the autumn meeting and adding a day to tho spring and iwintor fixtures. In some .fiuorters it is .considered very likely.that the paw committee will be recommended to make this alteration. In the event of the spring meeting being extended to three days it is almost, certain that the, programme for 191.1 would include a Derby. More information is to hand. respectSll3 the proposed programme of the Auckland Recing Club for the coming season, and from what can be gathered tho sraonnta have, bran allotted to all the events, with the oxoeption of the E-ail-*ay Handicap, Summer Cup, and Grond'sfcsnd Handicap, run at the summer meeting. The suggestion is to enjoy each of these, events :with 1000 sovs. •.. (says the Auckland ''Star"), and there' is every probability' pf this being carried by' the full committee, in which case the programme will.

bo the best in the Dominion. The Auckland Cup remains at 2000 sovs., but a number of minor races have been increased, and, outside tho hack events, no race during the season is under 200 sovs., and the most of thorn 250 sovs. and 275 sovs. There is also a proposition to iucreaso tho Derby to 1400 sovs., which, however, will not be run till 10U-15. One matter the committee would do well to consider is to increase the distance of tho St. George's Handicap at the autumn meeting from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. Formerly, there used to bo an event, the Autumn Handicap, run over a mile and a half, but when the day's racing was lopped off this event was knocked out and the St. George's Handicap retained. There are too few distance races in Auckland, and it is to bo hoped tho committee will again make the journey a mile and a half.