THE TURF.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1773, 11 June 1913, Page 10

THE TURF.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. mi CiLINCOI.I Owners who hnvo horses engaged at tho Hawkc's liay meeting should nolo lliut acceptances "tor tho first diiy's handicap.-, close un I'riday evening. Sen Queen is to contest; I lie Opon Hurdled at Hastings, and will remain over the Napier Park meeting. Tho local mare is a very clover jumper, and, had it not been for tiiis, she would have been down ul ono of iier fences on llio .second tiny (if lite Utaki meeting. Nightwuleli is not entered'for llio Now Zealand Cup, wliieli means that his owner intends to have him reserved specially for tho Derby. Though lie has had innumerable good three-year-olds, Kir Geo. t.'lill'ord lias only won the Derby twicu. His lirst success was nut gained until Husbandman won iu 11)08. and, liireu years later, Masterpiece scored lor him. I'rivnto ndvico received from Napier elates that the promising steeplechaser Sleacombc lias gone wrong, and is an unlikely starter at Hastiugs next week. Ban liaia, a New Zealand Cup candidate, is by Coniform from Grand Haiti, and will carry tho samo colours as Sanguinary and Lady Lucy. Ante-post, wagering on (he NeZ wealaud Cup is fast becoming n thing of lite past. Years ago the appearance o« tho nominations used to lio a signal lor all and sundry to step iu o;nl back what pleased them best, but times have changed. An owner is now enabled to get -00(1 to 20 from tho club, and this is considered a goad enougli wager by most people, without scouting round to obtain another 10(10 to 50 —for not much moro would bo laid by tho ringmen who still survive. Another instauco which shows how dead ante-post wagering is can ba found in tho fact that tho layers have so far not troubled to issuo price lists.

A visitor who attended tho Auckland meeting last week informed tho writer that he was astounded at tho strides which racing has made in tho Dominion during the last few years. Thoro is, ho thinks, no doubt that it is tho ail-absorb-ing sport of New Zealantlers. This is so. Young and old, men and women, all seem to bo taken with tho sport. The attendances creep up gradually, and while iho -acing continues on in its present clean stale, the attendances will also continue to improve. It must bo added that tho racing authorities are, generally speaking, alivo to their best interests, and aro adopting a progressive policy. Costly improvements are being carriod out for <he convenience of patrons, and prizemoney is also being added to. * h ' 3 .. ,S particularly noticeable in tho case or the larger clubs, but it is to be hoped that their example will bo followed by tho emailer clubs, and so give owners of moderate. horses a chance of occasionally picking up a fair stake.

The Ilawke's Bay Steeplechase held at present contains several of the horses that started at Wanganui last month. These are Dorando and Leolanter (both piacegetters at "Wanganui), and Bravest and The Spaniard (who made good showings: tho last-named finished fourth). Knutsi'ord Tyrannic, aiul Kebel wero also seen nut in tho hack events at Wanganui. Iho others are Continuance and LI JJorndo (both of whom aro probably in want ot a race or two), Sunray (a winner at ircnthani ill April), Donzel (who is reported to l>o particularly well in his track work at Hastings), and Needlework, and Mount Cook (a pair of old stagers). Iho course is not by any means an easy one, and it requires a well-seasoned horso to pet tho three miles. # This being so, it will occasion 110 surprise to find the winnor coming from tho division that has already dono some racing.

Owners of jumping horses aro being particularly well catered lor in Meluoiuno this year. In addition to tho Cauliield ami Flcniington "Nationals," which aro worth ,£ISOO each, tho Mooneo \ alley and Williamstown clubs are also putting on plenty of jumping races. I hero is a meeting at tho latter place on Saturday next. The principal steeplechaso is worth c£soo. Aboveur, winner of the , Derby, was last year leased by Captain Purefroy , to tlie Druids' Lodge trainer, 1. Lewis, and carried the lattcr's colours in his winniiiK effort last season. Word from New lork stales that nineteen mares and foals belonging to tho estates of tlie late Mr. .Tames R, Keeno have been burnt to death, besides other stock. The whole of the animals on tho estate wero recently insured "at Lloyds. Among tho animals destroyed wnre Cud and Bells (winner of the Oaks) and tho stallion Delhi. Having reached the good age of 23 years tho well-known stallion, Wolfs Crag, died suddenly in England in April. He showed some good form as a juvenile, and was one of tlie few three : year-olds to win the Lincolnshire Handicap. Alter that race, however, in 1893, he failed to stand training and wo-s retired to the stud. He proved a prolific sire, and though ho never got anything quite in the first, class, many of his progeny proved highly successful. In all they won 2/0 races, of tho total value of ,£70,927 lus. On tho death of tho lato Mr. Wingrove Smith Wolf's Crag was sold at the Newmarket Second July Meeting last year for 55gns., and at the sales in December ho was knocked down to R. Sherwood for lOOgns., s.i that he has not long had the beneht of his services. Speaking of Drinmore's victory in tho Citv and Suburban Handicap, o London writer recalled that tho horse's sire, General Symons, was, in a sense, a ' freak, i because he was a cripple when ho went to Ireland, but lio was no cripplo when foaled, and was, indeed, an exceptionally grand colt. There was no malformation about liim at all, and his trouble was that ho simply knocked up his joints so badly galloping about on hard ground when lie was a foal that he knuckled over, and never got right again. The joints then wero fixed like eiothes-props, and, of course, tho colt could only walk as if on stilts. It is remark-able that although, in the circumstances, ho could not havo much exercise, he became a. most successful stallion, <ind this should prevent any of us from dogmatising even on the subject of. exercise, but the owner of General Symflcis was certainly most unlucky when, having insured the horso for a number of years, his claim on tho death was successfulv disputed—on the ground that General Symons was a- cripple. A cripplo ho had been from his early yearling days, but his health was excellent, and no siro had a better foal record.