NOTES AND COMMENTS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 76, 23 December 1919, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By Glencoe.)

Local sportsmen will mostly bo interested in the Manawatu Cup meeting which opens on Boxing Day, and will be continued on the following Saturday and Monday. A special train ivili,' leave Thorndoit at 7.18 a.m. on Bosing Bay, a.nd runs to tho Awapuni racecourse, reaching there at 11.8 a.m. Tho return journey will commence at 5.45 p.m., and Thnrndon will bo reached at 101 p.m. The Trenthnm trainers, C. Pritchnrd and H. Telford are leaving for Awapuni this morning with their teams. They go on to Marion for the A'ew Year meeting. Supporters of Affectation for the Auckland Cup will be glad to know that the three-vear-old was responsible for a useful trv-out over seven furlongs at Ellerslio yesterday morniug, sind .ho pulled up ouite sound. The secretory of .the Jockeys' Association has written to the Auckland Club protesting against that body charging riders for admission to the course. As such a practice is anomalous and unjust, the northern club will doubtless remove it immediately. While working at Ellorslie on Saturday the Cuu candidate Tied Ribbon collided with a couple of trestles, and' Was verv sore afterward?. Yesterday morning she worked on the tan track, and was reported to be quite sound. The Wellington-owned Battle Song has gone sore and is stated to be nn unlikely slai'tpr in the Auckland Cup. Tn tho nasi Rose Pink has won most of her ra?es over a distance of ground, but her owner is evidently optimistic about her sprinting prowess, as the K'lbrouev .'iinre has been entered for the principal sprint events at the coming Wellington meeting. Included in her enragemonts is the KWh-nrn' Plate, a woiirht-fnr-nge event run over a four-fnr-Icngs course. Mr. C. 0. Sheath, the secretary of the \rJcw Zealand Jockeys' Association, noti- I Ties ioekevs by advertisement i" this is- ! sue that the association intends taking | action in respect to breaches of rulp.s. part 22. relating to 'he giving of I'nfop""linn as to the horses he is rid'n?. Tim fccneinlion also recommends jockeys f'i refuse lo accept mounts where the fields are so large a= to prevent each competitor having at least a space of Ift. a f the barrier, i.ml to attend tho coirnse wli»'i nwav from koine for lb" nurnnsc of riding work when roasonnbje expenses for transit: are allowed. Jockeys are not taught to ride as they were in the old days, says an English writer The apprentices turned out by such masters as Tom Cannon and Tom J(linings were nnt permitted to ride in, , niiblic until they had shown ability at ' home, They went right through tho

hard school of the stable, were instructed thoroughly in tho arts of horsemanship, and made to understand that patience, judgment of pace, coolness, and fino hands en more to make a successful jockey than impetuosity and power to Hog. Then apprentices developed into highly successful jockeys, but nowadays there is little demand for the services of some of the boys after thev lose the right to an allowance.- I call to mind a talk I had with tho late - Danny Maher on this subject. Ho said: "When 1 was in the making as a jockey, boys had to bo with trainers five or six years before they were supposed to be capable of riding in public. Now n. kid is put on a horse within six or eight months. That is absurdly little time for a boy to learn his business in. Don't Maine short leathers for foul riding, and don't blamo the boys so much for swerving and bumping. The first fai.lt comes from the brain, and tho other fault is the result of incompotciico arising from insufficient training and instruction."

Sqmo days ago the secretary of the Jockevi' Association wrote to tho Woodvillo Jockey Club complaining about certain inn Iters at the late meeting. Secretary W. A. Lyon, of the Jockey Club, has now replied in very courteous terms to the association, and stated that he is only too pleased to rectify these matters, and trusts tho association will always bring them immediately under his notice. Similar tact on tho part of other secretaries would quickly remove all grounds for friction between racing clubs untl the association. On his arrival in England, C. Emerson will probably take service in P. Ilartigan's stable, a position secured for-him by Mr. J B. Rcid during his recent visit to the Old' Country. . The steeplechase horse TVaimai, who has been enjoying a spell since last July, is back -main at Ellorslie, working under the supervision of G. Henderson. The 6on of Spalpeen has put on a lot of condition during his period of idleness, but looks in the best of health. L. H. Hewitt will have tho mount on Uncle Ned in tho Auckland Cup. Mr. E. C. Thomas has been appointed hf.ndicapper to tho South Wairarapa TrottiiiL' Club. A. J. M'Fliny nas been engaged to ride Dunedin in the Great Northern Foal Stakes. A partnership has been registered in Lrnerino, as between Messrs. W. C. Morgan and L. B Harris. A record number of southern-owned liases will bp competing at the Auckland Trotting Club's Summer Meeting. Dr. Ring operated on Cardrona during last, week, for a growth below the knee. f.\rdrona fought hard against the anaestletic administered, and it took no less than a round of chloroform to put him off. The oneration was successful, but the son of Lupin caught a slight chill afterwards, and for a time was in a baa wav. though he is now slightly on the improve. , Mrs. M. Duncan, owner of tho Coldstream Lodge Stud, recently sold a five-day-old 'oal at lSOgns.-a price which probably creates a record for a foal bred in this country of trotting stock. The youngster, was got by Nelson Bingen from Marie Marelle, a mare by Ribbonwood f2.il) from languish (2.30), by Vancleve—Victress, by Abbotsford from Asnes. liv John Nelson. The pocket edition of tho "N.Z V Turf Register" has made its appearance. Iho book contains full details of all galloping and trotting meetings from August 1 to December 11, and as all placed perfomwnces are clearly Indicated, the matter of reference is very simple. With the large number of meetings to be held at Christmas and New Year time followers of form will find- this publication, the price of which is half-a-crown, practirnllv indispensable. Fields will bo on the large side at Awapuni on the opening day, a-.d unless the scratching pen is freely use<?. owners will have fToat difficulty )n getting rider's for the Gillies Hack Handicap and the Trial Plate. The position will be easier on the second day, as feveral riders are v*tvrrutng from the Au;kl.\hd meeting. ' ' .