Turf Topics

Free Lance, Volume IV, Issue 194, 19 March 1904, Page 16

Turf Topics

By St. Simon.

GLADSOME has ai rived safely, after a smooth passage, in Australia, and about the 2nd of next month will sport silk in various important w e.ght-f or-age races. It was on the recommendation, of Mr. Mason, trainer for Mr. G. G. Stead, that the mare's owner decided upon sending her over. May his eiterpnse be rewarded. ' Dad" Peters, of the Hutt, has found lacing an unprofitable game, and. has notified his intention of retiring from the racing arena. The owner of Convoy's protest against the Wellington Cup stakes being paid over to Mr. Reid, owing to the mare having been ridden by an unlicensed jockey, is not viewed as a sportsmanlike action by many racing men. But, as the rule distinctly deals with the question, I cannot see that Mr. Young ip to blame far entering a protest. As Mr. Reid was unable to secure the services of Jones for Gladsome's Australian tour, he cabled to Australia endeavouring to get Barden, a crack Australian jockey. Failing to secure him, it has been arranged that H. Donovan shall go over. He is a splendid horseman, and should do his mount justice. It is reported from Hawke's Bay that Menura, whose accident I last week referred to, is progressing favourably, and ere long will be seen in work again. Windwhistle has been relegated to the stud. She should prove an acquisition i? properly mated. The sale of the Hon. J. D. Ormond's yearlings, which include a very fine lot by the Australian sire The Officer, takes place at Palmerston North next month. The hollow-backed 1 Australian-bred Ranana found 12st 71b too much for him in the Hack Hurdles at Wanganui. It certainly was a stiff impost, but his previous performances warranted the load. Ghoorka carried the lightest weight of any winner of the Wanganui Cup since Crown Jewel won in 1902, and he carved out the distance in exactly the same time as his one-time stable companion, Advance, when he won in 1900. On the 25th instant, the Liverpool Giand National will be run. The fact would perhaps be uninteresting were it not that an ex-New Zealander in Moifa is engaged in the race He is weighted at lOst 71b. The two-year-old Kilmarnook, that showed early form in Auckland, is now an inmate of a Melbourne training establishment. Owing to Novgorod having the services of Jenkins in the Juvenile Handicap, at Wanganui, he was picked as the pea of the Porirua stable by backers on the course, but a big commission was away for his stable companion, Valois, and the latter triumphed, much to the loss of the s.p. bettors. The Great Easter and Great Autumn Handicaps are always the medium of a lot of double wagering, and, judging by the list of doubles laid, a® appear in sporting journals, this year is no exception to the rule. The Blenheim-owned White Ribbon, who has been performing consistently of late, had no trouble in securing the Westport Cup, in a weak field. The acceptances for the meeting were very small, only fifteen flat runners taking part in six events. The Surrey took away with her to South Africa the racehorses Tradewind and Veldt, and some ponies. Ike James, whose stable commissions on Waikakao more than once shook the bookies up, also left to try his luck in South Africa. The mushroom growth financially of a jockey is at times marvellous. I notice from an American paper that a midget, named Fuller, who, a year ago, was only a stable lad, has now an income of £10,000 a year. The price asked, £400, for the Auckland pony, Annoyed, prevented business bemgr done. She was wanted for India.

Mr. Geo. A. Allen, late of Halcombe and Patea, has taken over the proprietorship of the Albert Hotel. Mr. Allens long experience in first-class hotel-keeping will doubtless enable him to still further enhance the alreeady high reputation of this well-known commercial and family house.

We are asked to mention that the furniture for Day's Bay House is being obtained locally, and that it is only the furnishings such as linen, crockery, plate, etc., which are being imported. This fine seaside establishment is now approaching completion, and will be ready for opening about the middle of April. There will be accommodation for about seventy or eighty paying guests, and applications are already coming in thick and fast.