DIVOTS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 52, 17 March 1937, Page 8

DIVOTS

"The Delver")

(Dng by

The Birchwood Hunt Ciub's meeting, which was to have been held on Saturday, was postponed indefinitely because of the bad state of the track. * * 7 » Two veteran racehorses were competing in the jumping events at the Morrinsville Show last Wednesday — Thespis and Trishna. Thespis won the maiden hunter coxnpetition. Andther fornxer racehorse, ltcmford, was the champion hack. # * * The fiat season in England opens this week, the first important handicaij heing the Lincolnshire -to-mbrrow. The jumping season practically comes5 to a close with the Liverpool Grand Natiqnal Steeplechase on Eriday. * « » ' The former Western Australian jockey W. Sibbritt, who paid a short visit to New Zealand some time back, was veiy successfuf at Bombay this year, and rode two good winners on Eclipse Stakes day, and S. Donoghue won "a race for the Maharajah of Rajpipla. * * * The victory of Mutable in the Australian Cup is another reminder to avoid prejudice in summing up racing problems on the score of breeding. Mutable is by Drake, a son of • Sir Eiager, whos© sire, Eager, an^ grandsire, Enthusiast, were best khown as mile performers. • • • A couple of yearlings, both of them by Lord Warden, are the latest additions to P. 3>. Jones's Riccarton stable. A gelding from ' Wjndshield is a halfbrother to Shatter. Th,e other is a hlly, her dam, Tea Rrill, being by Tea Tray from the imported mare Quadrilateral, dam of Homer and Rob Roy, two good performers in AustraTia • • * Some recent winners of the NewZealand St. -Leger have not been highclass stayers. Still there are the names of some really good distance hprses in the list of winners, among them being Cruciform, Treadmill, Nightfall, Balboa, Kilboy, Amythas, Rapine, Ballymena, Star Stranger and Concentrate, as well as some brilliant ones of the Uommendation type„ * * * An Auckland report states that Flood Tide has been off the scene at Takanini for a few days, having undergone a course of physic. The Tidal gelding is nominated for the President's and Nolan Handicaps at the Ellerslie meeting, when he will again spoxt silk. providing he progresses satisfactorily. Beaten out of a place jn his last four starts, the handicapper has still taken no liberties "withi him, putting him at the head of the list with Argeutic at 9st 41bs. # •. • Girl Pat, who has done her racing to date from A. Cook's Te Awamutu stable in the colours of Mr C. E. Robertson, of Wellington, ran in new interests • at the Ohinemuri meeting on Saturday. Negotiations for her .purchase were completed during last week by the Trentham trainer E. Simpson, who will race her in future in partnership with Mr S. Bassion, of Wellington, a uewcomer to tlie ranks of ©wners w • • Chief Ranger, who ran second in the Thompson Handioap at Trentham on Thursday and won the Hutt Handicap on Saturday, is engaged in the Great Easter and Autunn Handicaps at Riccarton this rnonth. This horse has run consistently recently, for at Wellington summer meeting, after being sec ond to Haut Monde in the Anniversary Handicap, one miie, he won the January Handicap, of similar distance, and subsequently annexed the Paul Memorial, one mile and a 'qulirter, at Taranaki. If not. over-penalised for his latest success, .taken soutli Chief Ranger will have to be considered. # • # According to statistics for last year's fiat season in England (including Scotland and Ireland), 4980 horses ran in races from the opening day at Lincoln in March to the closing event at Manchester in November, and . there wero a considerable number in training that. never appeared on a course. Between them they won nearly £800,000, telltale figures that show that racing cannot be made to pay by the vast rnajority of owners without betting. Moreover, a substantial proportion of the £800,000 was contributed by the cwnerB themselves fn entry fees and forfeits. • • • It is eoinputed that last season English owners spent £2,500,000 between them in direct avenues of racing expenditure. This sum represents only jthe cost of the keep of their horses, the entries, and running expenses, and it does not take into account the maintenanee of studs or the money paid for thoroughbred stock. What the lastmentioned item amounted to cannot be estimated, but some idea may be gained from the fact that £1,000,000 changed hands at tlie public auction saies last season. # « » A cable message informed us that JVlr Ken Austin, manager of the Elderslie Stud, liad arrived in Sydney with 18 horses, whicli were landed in good eondibion. The yearlings from Elderslie, destined for the Sydney saies at Easter time, included: Brown colt by Iliad — Dancing Doll ; bay colt by Iliad — Graciosa; cliestnut colt by IJiad — Quadrilateral; chest-nut colt by Iliad — Sweet Charity; chestnut colt by Iliad — Ebba; I'hestnut colt by Night Raid — Lytup ;• l»ay filly by Iliad — Refinement ; chestnut filly by Iliad — Lady Violet; chestnut filly by Iliad — Gobble; brown filly by Iliad — Par Money. The shipment also included a bay filly by Jolm Buch•m from Valieare, owued by Mr P. H. Osborne, a brown filly by Iliad— Coo- • hie Mudlow, and a chestnut filly by Iliad — Barrimon. The two lastnamed nre owned by Mr J. C. Clark, a member of the Queensland Turf Clnb's comiiu ttee.

Though Australian bred, the pedigree of Friesland, the latest Thompson Handicap winner, is of interest to Hawke's Bay, for his dam, Fluency, was' foaled at the late Mr W. G. Stead's "Flaxmeme" Stud. She is by Demosthenes from Los Veges, the dam also of Passion Fruit and Passion Flower. Fluency was raced as a two-year-old by her breeder and was sold at tho end of that season to Mr Otway R. Faulkner. Fluency proved herself a very fine galloper, wirming the Sydney Tattersall's Stakes as a three-year-old, and in the following season her successes included the Villiers Stakes, Tattersall's Club Cup, worth £1568 to tho winner, and the A.J.C, Anniversary Handicap. She did not win at five years; and Was then retired to the stud. Lqs Yeges, the dam of Fluency, is by Boniform from La Yaliere, by Seaton Delaval, fi'om Charente, by Nordenfeldt. . .