Turf Topics.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 87, 1 March 1902, Page 21

Turf Topics.

By Silverspur.

Mv Wangamu fancier toi next wit-k Stewards" Stake - Wmdwhivtle, Liable Queen <- Guaid First Huidles — Waiwern Aquinaldo Hack Huidles — (lanon Ompiah. Bone*. Wanganui Cup — Skoholoft \onetto Sinus Pet re Handicap.— Comfoit Taplou Roseplot. Hack Race —Shrapnel Shell sheldrake. Laureate. Firing —lndian Queen. Zealous Sunfish. Jackson Stakes dun on second daM. — Royal Aitillerv 01 Orloff Pomua » * * Handicaps roi the Masterton meeting are due to-day Dunedm J.C . autumn meeting will be continued to-day (Fnclav) and concluded to-morrow. Soult's piogenv liave been pro\ ing themselves very sultry customer', at recent race meetings. Propnetarv racing clubs ovei Sydney side are said to be just now taking money ith both hands. Battleaixe, Impati, Waaweia, Bowman, and Tawara won laces at both the Taranaki and Egmont meetings The next New Zealand St. Leger. lun at the Hutt, has a golden look about it for the Yaldhurst all-gold jacket Hector, entered for Auckland Easter Handicap, used to draw a plough. His pedigree ib shrouded in mystery. Meoiura is m capital fettle just now, and will be worth following at the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club's meeting. Waiwel-a, who has won three hurdle races right off the reel, has got himself up in the weight list for the big wintei fixtures. May 10th (Saturday) and 14th (Wednesday) are the dates fixed upon for the Wellington Trotting Club's next meeting a,t Petone. There is talk of securing one starter for tihe whole of the Wairarapa, and the various clubs interested are being asked to consider the proposal. An ancient soothsayer lemarked that it is better to be born lucky than rich, but a Maori named Rich, who backed Waihora m the Maiden at Gisborne, and gathered m a £23 dividend, reckons he is both. Mylae, who mns in the' Newmarket Handicap to-morrow, at Flemington, is half-sister to Dreadnought, who died at Mr Oimond's Karamu stud Hawke's Bay, some tame ago, and whose piogenv are racing all ovei the island. A facetious 18st steward was approached immediately after an event recently, and asked if he knew the name of the horse that was him* third at the back 'I realh couldn't say sir ' replied the builv one, I wasn't riding in the race." AustraJian Cup run on March 4th is as opea as a sack with the bottom cut out, but Revenue, who is giving away as much as three stone, raaj prove quite equal to the task Patronage and the lightly- weigh ted, Auckland-bred Lord Cureton will hkelj have something to say in the tussle for place money. The stars in their eouises point *o Aurum's three-quarter sister Aurou gettmg away with the 1 Newmarket flutter to-morrow . Canntha and the imported horse, Sir Foote are expected to make a big bid for the stake. Some inquisitive people are asking what has become of the Wellington Anti-Gambling League', w hich was revived midst much newspaper splash a while back P Most of these organisations in this over-toted colony appear to be very active for about five minutes After that, there is no more fire and enthusiasm in them than there is in a, post office directory The defunct Somnus (Traducer — Hammocks) sired any number of good horses during his stud career, but that sterling mare Dudu was undoubtedly far and away the best. Her galloping record was an excellent one S. M. Baker, who owned Somnus for a number of years, thought a good deal of him, and was once offered a high price for the horse, but refused to sell

A Hutt sportsman has bought the ti otter Black Child, and Mr. A T Jones ot Nelson is the new owner of Maid ot Doinmett. Conspires, Salute. Ro\al Salute and the tiottei Miss Han] on weie ofteicd ait auctaon, on behalf of Mi W Smart, at Joluisonville last week but failed to find bmers. The\ are toi pm ate saJe. The Wairaiapa RC. is obtaining a legal opinion as to how its course stands in regai d to the ejectment ot thetratermU .' The gieat tote-odds la-s-ing question appeals to be a vei\ piohtable one foi the lawyers Reported that the course ot tuit-^e did not ran smoothh in the case of a, \oung man who took passage to Lnglaivd the othei da\ When he made a clean hi east ot his wi etc lied misdoings hisielations packed him oft at thiec houis notice Patnotic bettois who despite his name had a dash on huidlei Cionje at the PovaiU Ba\ gathenng"- had no soit ot luck, as Misshie's son ran thiee •.ecoiuls C'ronie can jump all light, and will piobablv get home some da-\ when nobody '<- looking. Mr. Stead intends weeding out his stable after Eastei when some a aluable stock will be placed on the maiket Unhkeh that main will change hands, howevei, as leserve prices are too high, and the form of most of the horses has been exposed. Thiee have been on offer for some time past at £ ")()() each. The vast ciowd of subscribers to Tattersall's have, within the last da-\ or two been anxiously expecting a cable from that gentleman announcing their success in drawing a favourite, or seme other horse with an alleged chance in the Newmarket. Australian Cup follows next week. Radical alterations have been made m the- conditions of the AJ C. St. Leger of 1904 Its alue hitherto has been 300 soys , added to a sweepstake of 20 soys., which made it a luxury which only rich men could eniov Now, however, the stake has been mci eased to "300 soys , and the sweep cut dow n t.o half its former amount. The first part of the History of the English Turf," dealing with racing men and women, of the past, has just been issued, and promises to be an. unique work of its class. It deals with the turf from Cromwell down to 'old Q." Cromwell was undoubtedly a gieat hoise lover. In that single point at least, there was a trait in common between him and the jovial good-natured, royal rake, the second Charles They say that troubles ne\ er come singly. Well, fortune rarely comes doubly. An unfortunate farmer up North, who had been on his beam ends, received a £20 cash prize from Tattersall iust after he got burnt out. He was joyous. His hilarity was not altogether owing to having been a successful sweepist in a minor degree but because he had just received his insurance cheque His life now is bright and happy. Motor does not possess that motoi-car swiftness his fond admirers believe, -vet he ran two good races at Egmont He has not won a race since Palmeiston, but his followers may get their money back if they wait long enough Writer once waited four months for a horse to win. and then he did win with a vengeance. Unfoitunatelv, however, no others staited, and he walked over for the stake. As Achilles has pioved himself such a hummer, it is likely that an effoit will be made to secure his younger brother when he is auctioned with the Tillrmby yearlings at Sydney. A number of inquiries have been made regaading him, but Mr A. W Nivison, his breeder, has intimated, through his agent (Mr. Chbborn) that no private offer will be entertained, and the colt must be competed for at auction Some horses aie endowed with legs like bars of iron and first-class constitutions Thirteen-year-old Newman (by New minster) once a promising stake gatherer, for whom Kelso gave 4.10 guineas in 1893, won a race at Ipswich (Queensland) the other day. The quondam New Zealander Whakawatea is still battling aw ay on Sydney side, hut age ha.s affected, his pace, and a sax teen- year-old mare named Baimaid lately won her fifty-second race, and lan a second and thud, at a countiv hoise gathering in the same State Ciaftsmain, who lan two firsts, three seconds, and a third at the Poverty Bay meeting, is a son of Billingsgate. He ran very consistently, and pajd a tonneir in one event Boniface Harding s gre-\ maie Tauhei had hard luck at both gatherings, but she carried heavy lead bags every time Castoi's daughter lan three seconds and a thud Hei stable ma.te, Mation, howevei, whoian out of a place in her previous engagements, got in out of the wet on the final day of the carnival, by picking up a couple of races The disappointing S\ Ivanus also notched a double This horse may prove to be equal to better things later on. He is half-brothei to Fabulist. Mr. J. Clarks Pana and Papatu, with whom he won three races, and scored a second, aie full biothei<-, being by Albert — Flirt.