Turf Topic

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 145, 11 April 1903, Page 24

Turf Topic

By 'Krect-Card.

During this and next week theie will be racing galore thioughout this colony. At Auckland, the A. B.C. commence their autumn carnival, extending over thiee days. Then, on the West Coast, enthusiasts are catered for at Feildmg and Patea, while Wairarapa sports will foregather at Tauheremkau. , Il ?, th ? South Island meetings will be held at Riccarton, Kumara, and Beaumont. * * * Capital acceptances have been received for the first day's races of the A.R.C. autumn meeting, and I anticipate that the following horses will run well in their respective engagements — Tradesmen's Plate.— Queen's Guard or Putty. Eden Handicap.— Formula and Anchorite. Onslow Stakes.— Bonheur. Pony Handicap.— Orange and Blue. Guineas. — Melodeon or Kamo. Easter Handicap.— Heroism or Wairiki. Hurdles. — Tresham and Royal Conqueror. Railway. — Numa and Anchorite. ♦ * * For the Wainukurau annual meeting, held on Easter Monday I like the chances of the following- — Maiden Hack. — Wheellock. Easter Handicap. — Kowhete. Hack Handicap.— Brilliantine. Waipukurau Handicap.— Tradewmd. Two-year-old. — Enna. Bracelet — Andree. Flying — Assayer. Final Hack — Wairenga. « » • For the Feildmg meeting, the acceptances are not in attune of wntiner but, with a start, I think the following horses will be hard to beat m their respective engagements — Flying. — Aherlow or Perfection. Kawakawa Hurdles. — Waiwera or Nea. Hack Hurdles. — Romany Lad. Cup — Ringman or Waiwhera Welter — Muralo. Winter Oats — Hardwork 01 Mu«sell. Hack Flying —Gold Dredge or Gold Purse. • • • A couple of youngsters arrived at Auckland from Melbourne by the Westr ralia last Sunday. One is a colt bv Bobadil and the other a filly by Bill of Portland. The^ are owned bv Mr. Ellisdon who is in partnership with the Victorian bookmaker, Fred. Leslie, who made such a> name for himself over the Well inert on Cup meeting. The vounersters will be placed in Gainsford's hands te train. Moifaa, Ti reuse. Tirade, and Meta Macarthv are booked to leave Wellington bv the lonic for England on April If th It is to be hoped that the firstnamerl will - reduce his best form in the Old Country, and give the land of his bnth something to be proud of. The Clanranald — Galatea horse. Somerled, purchased from Sir George Clifford by Mr C. Burt, of Featherston. should be a we! come^ addition to the racing stock of the Wajrarapa. He is nominated for the big ev;ent of the Wailarapa Racine Club's autumn meeting, and if the weights^suit, he will be a certain starter. Somerled has^ an unenviable reputation as an unreliable starter his obiection to facin^ tfhe barrier being very "renounced. If his new owner can cure the Clanranald horse of this, he should not be lone- in regaining some, if not all, of th& -purchase money. Of the forty-five horses handicapped for the Great Easter, only fourteen remain in the race at the present sta^e, and of the thirty-two handicapped for the Great Autumn thirteen remain in at present There has been a considei?ble weedins-out of a lot of rubbish which few would miss, but one regrets the absence of such champions as Achilles, Advance and Cruciform from these races, even though the handicapper, to give the lesser lights a «how, may have lumped the weight on them It is surely tune that a maximum ,(Oltrlit, (O1 trlit should bo fixed on bv conference A crood horse now-a-days is weighted right out of all the important handicaps, and it is not very erattfvinsr to that horse's owners to find that they must ri-^k the breakine-idovm of their champic i in. o.rder that some rubbish that has no eirthlv chance whatever should not be overbuidened

A Southern wi'itei says that Leu King, the well-known Otago horseman, received an offer from Alf. Sheaisby to ride for him at Auckland, and whilst North Islanders a,re sending down foi Dunedm boys, trainers in Dunedin aie trying to get Northern horsemen to ride for them. J. Gallagher who does the most of the Messrs. Nathan's r'ding m Auckland, was offered the ride on Petrovna in the Great Easter, but refused and Charlie Jenkins will hare the mount on one of the Hon. George McLean's repiesentatives in the same iace Vladimir, one of the Hon. McLeans lepiesentatives in the Gieat Eastei , was pi iced lecently by Mr J. Ellis and the figure wanted was £700, but Mi. Ellis would not go beyond £500 and a w inning contingency. Glenelg has been awarded Bs t 21b in the Onkaparinga Cup. one mile and thiee furlongs. - The ton of the list is occupied by Footbolt, with lOst olb, and next to him comes Flagship, with lOst. Glenelg will not make the journey, and one of his front fetlock lomts, which has caused his trainer some anxiety has been treated to a blister. E\enins Wonder has received list 121b in the Onkaparmga Steeplechase, three miles and a-quarter. Colonel Slullinski is tor>-weight with 13st. 81b, and Arcadia 12st 121b. Freedom 12st 111b. Kiota 12st 71b, Kaimate 12st 31b and Mystery 12st divide the Wonderland gelding from the top-weight. The ruling passion strong in dangei . Two young men of horsey proclivities went out gathering mushrooms recently. Suddenly one of them noticed a bull making for them and, giving the alarm, he ran for the nearest fence Once secure, he turned round and saw the bull fast gaining on his friend. "Hurry up. Bill," he shouted, "the bull's just two yards behind. "Bli-me," came the leply, "d'ye think I'm running stiff 3 " Take the average bookie out of a paddock, and put him on a different sporting "lay," and the odds are he will "fall in" hard enough to hurt himself. Not so long ago a certain penciller, after filling his. bag with "shiners" at a horserace meeting, attended a coursing match and opened a book, although he knew no more about dogs than a bandicoot does about biology. Just as two gieyhounds were in the slips for a course, a pal asked him how he was doing. "Oh, all right, I think," was the ready reply "I've laid £12 to £8 against one dog, and £10 to £8 against the other. The chumps do take short prices here I intend to come again and come often." "Take my advice, and go home before you set ruined," said the other "Can't you see you must lose £2 any wav the result goes, and may lose £4 If one dog wins you pay out £12 and receive £8, and if the other wins you ua^ out £10 and receive £8. You are a full-blown mup\ and no mistake." "No I'm not," replied the smart metallician "ain't the blooming hare got a chance 5 You foreet I've got the pussy going for me too'" The late Frank Kuhn, who was accidentally killed with a pea rifle, was a smart jockey and a smarter tactician His Metropolitan victory on San Fran, was the result of wise forethought in preparing a, clear run for his gee-gee So many of the boys were "a bit to nothing" on San Fran than when Kuhn wanted to get through from thp ruck he had only to give the word "I'm comir"' " It worked like a charm. "He's coming," was the signal for every well-w isher to pull aside, and let the conquering hero pass. The story goes on to say that a few days after the race a boy who hadn't been considered worth fixing, was in conversation with one of the "He's coming" crowd, when Kuhn walked un and put a, couple of tenners into the hands of the latter. "What did Frank give aou that for 0 " asked boy No 1 "For pulhnc out of San Fran's way," was the leplv. "Holy Moses'" said the neglected genius "I'd have pulled my blankv horse up for twenty pounds." Frank Kuhn was third on the li^t of successful New South Wales jocke-\s m 1899 with 18 wins, second in 1900 with 32 wins first in 1901 with 62 wins and first in 1902, with 6o wins. He has ridden amongst otheis the winneis of the V.R.C. St. Legei, Oaks Manbvinonp- Plate Newmaiket Handicap and Challenge Stakes