NOTES AND COMMENTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2545, 20 August 1915, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

[Br Glencoe.] Nominations for both the Wnng-anui and Dailnevirke meetings close on-Mon-day night. ' i The Egmont-Wanganui Hunt Club meeting and the_ Amberley meeting are set down, for decision next week. The well-known cross-country horseman B. Percival has joined the Eeinforcements, and is now in camp at Trenthain. C.. MacManemin, a son>.of tho Bilerslie trainer of that'name, is also in camp. ' ■ Though the .traditions .of the race ara nil against the top weights, there is a dis-position in sporting circles to make Warstep a pronounced favourite for the Now Zealand Cup. There are those who argue that she is in a class by herself amongst the lot engaged, and in. the absence of any high-class three-year-olds the Martian mare will have everything in her favour.

The Christchurch sportsman Mr; H. G. Taylor, owner of Bee, was a passenger (or Sydney by the Manuka, which sailed last evening. - The Cutts Bros, have li two-year-olds in work at' Eiccarton, but it is stated that so far none of them have shown great promise. At a meeting, of the committee of the Greymouth • Jockey Club it was, decided to devote the profits froin the spring fixture to the Wounded Soldiers' i'untl. Acceptances for tho Marton. . meeting ■close on. Wednesday next at 8.30 p.m. El Gallo is reported to havo I lost tho unsightly knee liu contracted subsequent to' tbo. A.E-.C. Great Northern, Steeple-, chase. He is now getting through serviceable tasks on the flat in view of the Martou meeting. The North Island horse Toki, who competed unsuccessfully on the flat at the Grand National meeting, was nominated for the hurdle race at Amberley, the intention being to keep him in the south until after 'that fixture. At Kiccarton. on Tuesday he was sent over the two pony hurdles as a' preliminary to a more extended effort. He jumped them both like a seasoned horse, his attendant treating them with such scant respect that lie did not trouble to -remove.,the horse's

nig. He was then walked 1 round- the course and given a look at the big hurdles, after which ho was stripped for a serious schooling task. At the first hurdle, however, he hit hard and came down. '• He appeared to suffer rather serious injuries, and it was with difficulty .that lio walked off.the course.. Emperador pulled up very lame after woking at'Riccarton on Tuesday. He showed, signs of weakness more than once last season, but threw, off the trouble, so that there may be nothing serious amiss now. R. J, Mason is hacking tho three-year-old filly Nenno, by Achilles—Chinwag, preparatory to putting her into active work again. The filly, raced twice last' spring, but has since had a long spell. The light-weight rider, G. Clarke, had a nasty fall at Riccarton. on Tuesday from the two-year-old lilly Thames, by Danube—Armlet. It was some time before he was on his feet again, but beyond some bruises, which _ left him lame, he was not seriously injured. ' Tho big disappointment of the C.J.C. National Meeting was Glenroy, who was sent out favourite in each of his engagements at- the gathering, -but only succeeded in getting into a place on one occasion, when he did not return a profit to his supporters..

Messrs. A. B. and K, S. William's, of Gisborne, have decided to shift their horses at Hastings. The property known ns Ngatarawa. has been purchased from Mr. E. J. Watt, and in future the team will be trained on the ' private track there. It is stated that Mr. J. F. Jeifard, who formerly managed the racing affairs of the Gisborne sportsmen will in future undertake the training: of the team. The Rokeby—Tea Cup filly half-sister to De Gama has been, withdrawn from the Wellesley Stakes. G'. Jones, who until recently was private trainer to the Messrs. Williams, of Gisborne, will probably set up as a public trainer at Greenmeadows. During the last few years Jones has been remarkably successful with, horses, and with Continuance and Paisano he won tho National Hurdles in successive years. He also won races with Player and Cally Bridge for Mr. John Clark, of Gisborne. Last season horses trained by him did remarkably well, and at the end of the season the winnings of Chortle and Multiply totalled ,£4730. FIXTURES, Aug 26—Bgmont-Wanganui Hunt Steeplechase. Aug. 26—Amberley Steeplechase Club's Annual. Sept. I—Marton .T.C. Spring.' Sept. 2.—R-angitikei Hunt Annual. Sept. B—Dannevirke B.C. Steeplechase. Sept. 9.and 10Ashburton County B.C. Spring.