NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8347, 6 February 1913, Page 9

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By “The Judge.”) Undecided’s running on the concluding day of the Trentbam meeting gave indication that he was getting back into the form he showed prior to the New Zealand Cup. With 8.6 ho was nicely treated in the Egmont Cup, this being Just 141 b less than he carried to victory in the Feilding Cup last season, so that a win was quite expected. Mr Smart’s fine galloper is placing quite a number of cups to his credit. He has been given an opportunity to add another to the list at Now Plymouth next week. Ngatiruanui has plenty of pace and, as he has also developed jumping ability, Ids win in the Ohawe Hack Hurdles at Hawera caused no , surprise. The brown son of Maniapoto and Secrecy appears to have a predilection for the course, as he won a race there at the last meeting. If ever a horse looked a certainty for a race it was Bobrikoff in the Hawera Stakes. Masterpiece was the only opponent threatening the least danger, and as tho Finland gelding had given the Clanranald horse 231 b and a bad beating at Trentbam it certainly appeared that he could beat the four-year-old when only conceding 51b. The good thing duly came off, and another weight-for-age event placed to tho credit of Finland’s great son. The stewards of, the Wellington Racing Club at a meeting held on Monday last granted a riding license to 0. Childs, who is a recent arrive! in New Zealand.. Childs served his apprenticeship with Mr S. Miller, the well-known Victorian sportsman, and formerly chairman of the V.R.C. He has ridden a large number of winners in South Africa, where his horsemanship was very highly spoken of. He pan go to scale at 7.5, and with such a handy weight his services .should be in keen demand. Childs will be a visitor to'the Taranaki meeting, where no doubt he will have plenty of opportunities for riding.. The death is reported at Longlands of the well-known .brood mare Brown Alice. She was bred away hack in 1839 by Mr T. Morrin, being by Nordenfeldt from Ouida, by Yattendon. At the. stud she had fourteen foals, of which the best known are Lady Augusta (by St. Legerl, Ropa (by Phoebus Apollo), and Cheddar (by Merriwee). Sandstream is to be treated to a short spell owing to having struck himself tho other day. yMr E. J. Watt has disposed of the disappointing Moutiform (Multiform— Happy Valley) who is now trained by W. Kirk. He will race at the Gisborne .ytaeeting .■ ■' ■ ' ■ Golden Loop and Vi, who have engagements at both the Poverty Bay and Gisborne meetings, have been , going very well in their recent track work at Hastings. According to a Napier writer the Hon. J. D. Ormond has selected the following names for some of his rising two-year-olds; Hymettius, bay colt by .Hymettus—Derelict; Hymen, bf c by HymettUs—Simois; Tuttem, b g by Hymettus—ldeala; Kaminoho, b b g Hymettus—Dryad; Daytime, b g by Hymettus—Selene; Centre, ch g by Hymettus—Target; Shaki, .b g by Hymettus—Balama; Liskeard, br g . by Birkenhead—Enna; Intelligible, by Birkenhead—lntelligent; Hymetties, ch o by Hymettus—Asiatic; Swinton, b g by Birkenhead—Camelot; Aurora, b g by Birkenhead—Eos; Martina,' b f by Birkenhead—Mary; Husheen, b f by Hymettus—Snooze. I should imagine the names of Hymettius and Hymettios will not be approved by the president of the Racing. Conference, as their use would give rise to endless confusion. The yearling colt by Achilles from Lady Helen, for which Mr George Duniiett gave the top price at the Waikanae sale the other day, has gone into F. Stenning’s stable at Ellerslie. The light-weight jockey H. McEeorney, who sustained a compound fracture of one of his legs when riding at tho Kurow meeting last October, is still laid up in bed, as the broken limb is very slow in mending. The, Bpniform colt Bon Ton has been having a spell since the A.R.C. meeting, and is looking all the better for the short holiday. From America comes word of the death of Mr J. R. Keene’s famous stallion Kingston. (Spendthrift Kapanga.) In his nine seasons on the turf he started in 138 races, of which ho won 89, and , was only unplaced four times. In all he won some £28,000 in stakes. At the stud Kingston was a great success, heading the list of winning stallions in 1900. He was nearly twenty-nine years old at the time of his death. . A Christchurch paper states that the summer meeting of the Canterbury Jockey Club is generally regarded as the pleasantest Meeting in New Zealand, _ This seems a rather complacent assertion, which apparently is not endorsed by the Christchurch folk themselves who. stay away with great unanimity. . • 1 , Handicaps for the Dunedin Cup should appear next Monday. - Although Clanranald has a good many detractors, it is a rather significant fact that he has sired no less than five winners of the Middle Park Plate. The Egmont and Tapanni meetings will be concluded to-day, while/ the Poverty Bay T.C. will commence its

summer meeting, and To Kuiti will hold its annual gathering. Nominations for the Nelson J.C.’s annual meeting close to-morrow evening. From all accounts, Prince Palatine is to be kept in training another year. Possibly a different policy would have been pursued with him bad. be finished off last season’s labours in approved fashion and won the Jockey Club Cup or had be been, in other ownership, for it can at least b© said of Mr Pilkington that, although he is quite a newcomer, commercialism is no part of his doctrine. It was a lucky stroke by which he acquired Prince Palatine, in the latter’s very young days, from Colonel Hall Walker, a gentleman whose enthusiasm in respect of breeding knows no bounds, yet who has leased out during the one year, and sold in another, a Derby winner, and the champion hors© of his season, and whose natural ambition to run such a hors© in his own colours has somehow, up to date, always been thwarted. With Steadfast also evidently intended for a further year’s racing—and there is no reason why ho should not thus continue in harness — a renewal of Cup hostilities between him and Prince Palatine should at last settle the question as to which possesses the better all-round merit. Last season’s results went strongly in favour of Priribe Palatine, and this after he had lost the first game in the rubber at Epsom.