THE TURF.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1644, 10 January 1913, Page 7

THE TURF.

®. NOTES AND COMMENTS. fßv Glencoe.l . Owing to his having lightened up a ~ lot as the result of his racing at Ellersf, lie, it is improbable that Masterpiece will I- race at Wellington, and a similar remark applies to Brown Owl, who also bore a tucked up appearance; when she arrived , .from • the north on Tuesday, h T. Wilson has engaged two boxes at Trcntham for his horses. This rather ... makes it appear ns if Lady Georgia is to acoompany-Powder Fox to the Wellington meeting. ■ . ' . . Discussing- the; Wellington Cap yesterie dqy,' a backer remarked that he had supported Lo9 Angelos. "What!" said , a i wag h in tha group, "Los Angelos! Why Bobi- rikoff has beon' turned loose in it." The tracks at Trentham now offer per- ~ feet gojng, but .so far not much galloping has been do'no'since the holiday meetings. Next week should see a considerable .influx of visiting horses, and with their ar- >' rival the track work.should be more in- ; teresting. Evidently intent on winning the amount " of hi 9 expenses for' the trip from Engs land, R. Wootton stepped into the ring at •. Tattersall's meeting on December •28 and t put.-£IOOO .on Nuwara Eliya to win the Carnngton Stakes. .The commissioner ; started at 7 to 1; and finished up four y points .shorter. The grey horse, who is ~ .owned by a brother-in-law of Wootton's, .drew No. 3 at tho .post, but for being un* ruly he was sent to the outside-in a field t of twenty odd. runners, and after running t round tnem tho whole way, he only suffered defeat by a heck. The six furlongs 'was run in lmin. 13} sec., which shows ; that . Wootton. was betting on- something rather.good, . _L. Wilson has been engaged to ride Sir Knox m the Wellington Cup, and E. . Lowe will be up on Sir Solo. I : If we except; Xaldhurst, appearances aro. against'any of the big stables playing : a prominent part in the autumn meetings, x As far as can bo gathered, R. J. Mason ) has nothing of much ability in his stables, 1 the cracks at Chokebore are'all. under sus- ,• pioion; nearer- home, at Porirua, there is nothing of the .calibre of Achilles or Advance; F.-Tilley has no Solutions, and S. Waddell does not seem able to find a Zimmerman or Renown amongst his big i team. This is a peculiarity of the sport - of kings and, the king of sports. .One >. yea? you find o stable .with a .lot of , good ' ; i u S| the' next season the ■'same ; stable is quite unheard of. > '. Matters in connection with tho-Welling- •: ton, Cup were very' quiet yesterday, and at may ,be taken, for granted , that the market will remain in its present, dull ~ state until, the acceptances are made known next week. A local .'sportsman •• usually well posted predicts an acceptance i, of.fifteen in the big.race... ■ _ Acceptances for the Wellington' and ' Foxtoni meetings close on Monday next. ' At .the present time, 'first 7 placo in tha • .winning jockeys' list is, held by'the'lightjockey; Roy Berrr, who has "salut- ™ we judge", on twenty-three occasio'ns, i; Berry: has been nding remarkably well >, this season, and as he does not seem disi- ■, posed to run to flesh, he should have a :. good wasoa before him. \ r : ' yThe;Now'Zealand horse Canadian, who was slipped to Melbourne some time back, 56ft into "Lou" Robertson's stables at Caulfield, was heavily backed in a 1 steeplechase at Flemington: recently, but ' he fell and broke his neck. Ho was a most expensive horse' to his connections, and • post them 1 , a. lot of. money. Whilst racing at Flemington recently, the National winner, WingaTara, met with 1 an accident ■ which deprived ' him of' the loss of an eye. A piece of batten flew up and destroyed the eye. It will be Tcmembered that a similar" happening befell Mr. • E. J.'Watfs Kildonan, when racing ht r Napier, two years 'ago. ' • /. . ' ICok'atahi fafies , -j'e®>ViSa^! !I ':(tei^ graphs 'Oilr 'Hokitika correspondent) . tho .trotting gelding, Old Fred;'winner of the , Century Trot, one mile and a half; at the • .Wcstland Racing' Club's meeting bn'Saturday, was sold to 'Mr. P.' Gibbon, of " South Westlaud, .for/sixteen: guineas. What' is probably.' a record for starting- (says' our Hokitika correspondent) has been : piit up by tho locally-owned racchorse. Hillspring. After'.refusing' to start at Roefton and Grevmouth, and also' ou four occasions at the Wcstland Raoing Club's Midsummer meeting, held last week, this horse went to tho, post twice yesterday- at. a small \ meeting held at Kokatahi, and on both occasions refused to start, thus having refused on ten consecutive 'occasions to'leave-the starting post. At tho conclusion of the races Hillspring was put up to auction, but was passed in at nine pounds. The West Coast cacing, clubs*have now agreed not to accept his nomination. _ ; In the Stud Book Mr. J. F. Buchanan is given the oredit of breeding Soldiers' Chorus* (gays "Sentinel" inVtho "Otago Witness"), but, as a matter, 'of fact, the honour belongs to Mr. L. C. Hazlett, who bought tho dam as a yearling, and'after racing her with little or no'success, 6ent: tho daughter of .Gipsy; Grand and lima' on a visit to Martian. Whilst there she •was purchased by Mr. Buchanan.'• Tannhauser was her next contribution to the Stud Book, and then came Cherubim, a two-year-old brother to tho above pair, who is in R. j; Mason'i stable. , Both the principal events'at the Invercargill meeting ■ were • won by cast-offa from Jdr. L. C. Hazlett's stable. Soldiers' Chorus • has been a, good winner since he left Wingatui, and is one of the best horses in training. Sombrero vras sold at a weeding-out, sale, but a story runs that his sale;,was due;to an accident; _ The auctioneers were instructed, 60 it is said, that the horses a-ere not to be put nuder tho hammer until the arrival of. the : owner, but owing to a delay in. the lattcfr's arrival (cause€ -oy an accident to a motor-car) they were Bold. ; Writing of Carbine, ;whose%career must soon be closed, seeing that ho was foaled as far back as 1885, the turf contributor Ito "Truth" says:—"Tho Duke of Portland expended a large. sum in bringing Carbine to England irom Australia, but the horse has not been a brilliant success in tho Welbeck Stud. .Major Loder had done better than anyoii© else with Carbine, who is Hie sire of Spearmint, winner: of the Darby and Grand Prix in 1906. No horsti over foaled has been more iwrtinaoiously 'writon up' than Spearmint, with-the result that mares of : the most fashionable blood, from all the prinoipal studs, have been seat ,to him, 6o if he does not succced as a sire there will bo-no excuse for himr His fee is now 250 guineas, and ho is already full for next season.'■

A FAMOUS HORSEMAN.

(By Tolejfaiih.—Prooa Assoolatlon.l Auckland, January 9. The death took place yesterday of one of the oldest horsemen in -Now James Wat tic. Deceased -was about 55 years, of ago, and in his younger days was ono of the best riders in the country. He had wins to his oredit in nearly all the. big events connected with the Now Zealand . turf, including a . victory in the first Auckland Cup ever run. Deceased, up to the time of his death, had been associated with tho stables of George Absolum, at Elleralie.