NEWS AND NOTES.

NZ Truth, Issue 78, 15 December 1906, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

Racing at Christohurch to-day. Immolation should soon be a winner. . •Saga was not started at Woodville.' The judge is still waiting for Contender. Punters have again fallen m over Boomerang. Showman could do no better than second at Waitara. Apologue is favorite for the Auckland Cup at 6 to 1. Bar Vons put a stopper on Waitati, and so did Marseillaise. Ellerton will represent Mr E. J. Watt m the Auckland Cup. As generally anticipated the Waitara Cup proved a good, thing for Volume. Inaha ran second to Volume at Waitara and paid weli over the limit. The well-known bookmaker, Jas. Beckett left 'for Sydney yesterday week. The Flernington trainer, R. H. Frew, is at present on a holiday trip to this colony. Nominations for the Wellington Racing <Club Summer meeting, close on Monday night. The defection of Uenuku from the Auckland Cup ca'ffSed great surprise m some quarters. The Merriwee filly. Operetta, was unlucky enough to register another second at Woodville. Sammy was heavily supported for the Hurdles at Waitara, but the son of Sou'wester— Puss failed. Waitati was hot. stuff at Woodville, but unfortunately for punters it turned cold on them and froze 'em , underAssayer again caught the judge's eve on the seoond day at Woodville, and beat a first day's winner m Rook-by. . . ..■■- Bob Rama'Ke, -who. used to pilot Carbine m his Australian victories, is now located as a trainer m Western Australia. . Bo.omerang broke down while galloping at Hastings one morning last week* hence his withdrawal from the Auckland Cup. The Railway Hamidicap at Woodville contained a good field of winners, and Pink Uns victory, -with &.13 was full of merit. The New Zealand bred gelding, Highland Fling, by Multiform—Marion, now occupies a box in ' C, ' pen-, nys stable at Flemin-gton. As the owners of Ellis were not satisfied with the weights alloted to him, his West Australian engagements were allowed to lapse. The scratching of Ghoorka for his Pafonerston engagements probably means that the Lochiel horse is a sure starter for the Auckland Cup. The New Zealand bred King Paul has made a favorable impression on the other side, and by air accounts he will shortly be on the winning list. Lord Soult easily settled the opposition m the Electric Handicap at Woodville. Considering his Feilding form, the son of Soult paid a decent price! Canticle,, by Seaton Delaval— Can•tetrjee mare, wfcb is. ndw_ located at -OSn-Jtiete; "is rtsffttfri#rt ■ sit-^lie-suiH urban meetings, Mt.,so s |ar.has.ift,Ued. '#.notbti a' wint *'■■ ' . ''- "\ Menschikofi once more electrified the touts at Caulfiold by getting aver a mile m lmin 44-secs. The best form of the Stepniak horse is shown m track work lately. Apparently negotiations between J. C. Brewer and L. H. Hewitt have fallen through for it is now stated that the ex-New Zealaader will refuse a retainer when he arrives m •England. • Mataari was well backed for the Stewards' Handicap at Woodville, but oould prily- carry his 9 stone in-, to second place. The winner turned up m Te Uira ? one. of the lightweight division. . ■ The Great Northern Derby has at present five candidates. The meeting of Cambrian and the Southern horses should prove interesting. There are AuekLanders who fa/ncy the chance of Uenuku. Paritutu has further swelled his list of seconds and thirds and will probably gallop himself into form as the season . advances. The big Castor gelding always seems to improve with racing. The ringmen got a good turn up' when Marseillaise won the Railway Handicap at Woodville. Sid Reid, the Wairarapa lj/ght-weight, who has a habit of doing the books a good turn, rode the winner. The Torpedo horse, Submarine, has been sold for 500 guineas to a buyer whose name has not transpired. Mr O'Neill seems to have sold the half-brother to Cuneiform at a very satisfactory price. Ooxstv-ain repeated his Carterton form by winning; the Borough Handicap at Woodville.' He is a long way from being, even at the game, but if his form continues he should annex one or .two events yet. Submarine again proved his usefulness, by winning the Woodvdlle Handicap. When. . placed . judiciously the Torpedo Horse, is well able -to pay his way,- though he does not always appear , m the mood to do his best. • When a backer holds a "no reply" .wire and owes more for bets than he can- pay he sometimes gets out of the debt by backing a Winner already past the post. Then there is an argument which always ends one •wa^. The "heads" put m their sugar expecting to get the limit on Kai Errin at Woodville. But with a deal of scratchings the horse paid a moderate £2 15s, to the astonishment of the "heads" and the amusement of the Tommies. Rookby, by Brookby— Exchange, scored on the opening day at the Woodville meeting, but on the second day, with a rise m the weights, the Feilding horse had to be content to finish behind Assayer. The halfbrother to Swop is evidently no champion. The sporting public will be well catered for at Christ/mas and New Year time. There will be races at Palmerston North, Ashhurst, Bulls, Hastings, Tauhernikau, New Plymouth and Auckland- Taking everything into account it will most likely bo found that the backers have had a week out and the Tommies jaws will have dropped lower than ever.

Saga is nominated m open events at Ashhurst. Rookbv won his first race for A. Hall a t Woodville. Rendrock has been nominated m the RaTicribikei Jubilee Cup. Mystification, 8.8, is the favorite selection for the Manawatu Cup. Glenullin's name figures m both the Auckland and Wairarapa entries. An offer of £750 was received last week for Pjnk 'Un, but was not entertained, Jos. Prosser has no less than ten horses engaged at the Manawatu meeting. The Alexandra Jockey Club hold a mixed meeting of trots and gallops next Friday. Gold Seal continues to run into places, but seems unable to pass the judge's box first. < Merrie Rose, who is one of R. Knox's team, is entered at Tauhernikau on New Year's Day. The Waikanae Club has received good entries for its meeting to be held on New Year's Day. The racehorse Detonator is nominated m ©very event on the card at Waikanae except the hurdle race. If Petticoat is going to win a race at all she ought to succeed m the Macfarlane Handicap at Martinborpugh. About the wors;b . lot of maidens that ever took part m a race cori^tested ' the Hack- Scurry at Woodville; . -••■•. ■- ■"■ '•-. -'-•■■- : _.;... Mecca should, add further ;. to Ms winning list a.t the close of this year or the beginning of the New Year. . . ' Hanuia, who is trained by his owner at Clarville, will be given an outinV at Tauhernikau on January 1 and 2. \ ' Probable, who has been off the scene for- a long time now, will most likely be under silk at Palmerston on Boxing Day; ■ As there are no hurdle events ; at the Tauhernifcau meeting several of the jumpers- are nominated m the flat events. " . That pernicious system of wagering: commonly- known ■as the "ho reply" will -shortly be discontinued by the local' layers. : Rahui, who is trained at Porirua,. figures among the entries for the Ngarara. Cup to be run at Waikanae on New Year's Day: ' : ' . . The last 'Frisco, boat brought .back to the cblony Jockey F, D. Jones, who went. Home some, twelve months ago to accept a rel>airieri : A Melboiiirne bookmaker quoted Poseidon at 5 to 1 for the, next 1 Australian Cup. He is working on the ;.s|tf«. side, that bookmaker. ' "jS^> Torpedo, who was accepted for ifflfflie last N-Z. Cup but did not go to the post, is now entered m hack events at the Wairarapa meeting. . There were punters m Wellington tumbling all over themselves to back Gold Seal m the Borough Handicap, and .great surprise was expressed when it was found that Me Donnelly's horse luid not started. There was a bundle o-f money put on Loi>d Soult. when that horse was, successful m the Electric Handicap at Woodville ; but, strange to say,* there was very little to support him en the second day. A heavy commission was m town for Waitati; pn the. .second day. at .W.oodvillei ;Jj.tt& the t«©<...clever Tommies .turiuja ;' the comm-issicin a-way w.ithV their nighey-; aiM Wl^^hrTrmri^ bers were hoisted it was found that the Auckland horse was not placed. Mr A. E. Why te., secretary pt the Wellington Racing' Club, forwards the programme for the 1906-7 season; entries for future" events and a , list of previous winners. It is a handy little volume and contains all requisite information for owners and trainers. A hayseed recently had occasion to ask a bookmaker for a card on arace da-"\ informing the latter that it", was for one of his regular customers. He Was considerably abashed when the bookmaker informed him that he had given "both" his customers cards that morning. Advices from WanKanui state that Armistice was shipped to Auckland on Thursday last and that Fred Davis has been* engaged tb ride her m the. Cup. The little mare is very light m condition but has maue a good recovery horn her indisposition and may be expected to run well. A well-known local bookmaker tells a rood story against himself of how he fell into backing Nova fGrV.the Summer Handicap at Woodville : .' He was ridtog along m a tramcar when he., saw ah aidvertisement for a hair restorer called Novo pasted on some hoardings m one , of our principal streets. ,He arg-ued with himself that this was the straight tip to back Nova for. the big race on the second day. As a result he is • now £5 poorer. An ol<i authority, the Bard of Avon, says, "What's m a name" ? etc. The reputed owner of Poseidon is said to be Mr Hugh Robert Dixon, Avon, asks, "What's m- a name"? that he is either a brother or a son of the well-known Sydney tobacco king, Mr Hugh Dixon. The following contradiction appeared m the Sydney dailies : "Mr. Hugh Dixson,' Summer Hill, finds it . necessary , as he is beinpr pestered with impertinent anonymous letters, to inform the pu-bHc that neither he nor any of\his sons are associated m any w;ay \7ith Poseido-n or any other race horse." Probably the sons, if riot' the old' bloke himself, feel damsorry they are not associated with Poseidon. Eh. what? '. O'Neill's buckjumpingf show , continues to draw large audiences and since the ladies . have been taking part m the performances there has been renewed interest. Before a nacked and enthusiastic house last week' Miss Buttons succeeded m mastering one of the horses and her success has stimulated- other members of the fair sex to try theix skill, Last Saturday night twelve Canterbury riders competed for a handsome silver cup presented by Mr O'Neill. In their first attempts each of the dozen was unseated m a flash, but at the second attempt Mr Wright succeeded .m retaining his seat for 19 seconds and won the trophy. Interest m the show never flags, for the brothers O'Neill have a large variety of trick ridintr which pannot fail to please. During 'the Christmas holidays the circus is to .be made s'peciall-fr attractive and there will be ! numerous competitions. ' Visitors to 1 I the Cathedral 'Citv should, not fail ' tq visit what is undoubtedly -the -best buckiumpinp show the colony,' has , iseen.. , • ■ ;1 . '. . I

Frank Lincl has a couple of horses m work at Wanganui. ; Alec. Hall has engaged his team freely at -the Manawatu meeting. During the week Arthur McConnon was schooling horses for Jos. Prosser. The chestnut gelding Champion is now trained by F. Lind at Wanganui. Katlev looks to have good chances at Martinborough, if he is m anything like form. Mr W. E. -Bidwell, the President of the Wairarapa. Racing Club, was m town last week. Romany King will take., part m flat events at the New Plymouth meeting at Christmas time. The Wairarapa owned Lucretino is reckoned to have an excellent chance m the Ashhurst Guineas. Twenty-two horses remain m the Middle Park Plate after the declaration of the second forfeits. Lord Soult, 8 stone, and Martello, with 3ibs less, read well m the Awapuni Handicap at Palmerston. After the Feilding meeting the hurdler Matariki was sent to Attwbod's stable where he vwill m future be trained. v ■Prevail is m work at Otaki and soinrr along satisfactorily. She will be priven a run at the Manawatu and Ashhurst meetinVs. W. 'Price "did not go to the Woodville; meeting ; , but it is expected that he will be -in- the saddle' at Palmer^ ston on;Boxing-Day. ■ ; .:- . Apiti- has been-noroinated m hurdle events in.Sydney. Should the Handsome. Jack gelding be sent to the other side he will go into the stable of F. McGratlu ■ . .Happy Maid is going on alright m her work at Porirua, The Soult filly should be very hard to ; beat; m .the Nursery Handicap at Palmerston on Boxing Day. The hurdler Defoe, who has. not been racing of late, is coming on nice-ly-in his work and should win a race later on. Just at present he- is very big in' condition. - ' •• i If we- are 'to believe all we hear! about Full Rate, the Officer— Kirn-; mer geldinjj; should pay a dividend in' the .Gillies Hack , -it Awammi, where he has only 7 stone Slbs to "carry. Trainer- Trask has shifted from' Otaki m favor of new quarters at Levin. He has under his care, at the latter place, the Morses Truce, Chattel and Pat. Truce has recently been sold to a syndicate at Levin,; but the price paid is not known. • Charley Pritchard will split his team up into two divisions to work the Christmas meetings. Pytchley Will journey to Martinborough. to compete at the Lower Valley J.C. meeting, .while Defoe, Levant and Saixlonyx will appear at Palmerston, Ashhurst and Bulls. The Otaki Racing Club have now concluded negotiations with Mr Ling for the purchase of some sixty acres on the right side of the Otaki Railway Station. Surveyors are at present busy p-en-sin-g out the new course, but it. will be a matter of a, year or more before the Maori Club hold a meetiinc: there. That well-known horseman "Johnny/ Armstrong" had a lot of mounts at the Woodville meet-ing. The writer often marvels why owners will" not' let their horses win when they can ; surely they do not -think, tliaV; the handicappers are blind. In most cases the latter gentlemen have ' .forgotten; more ; than the' Torrherifcver TSffieW lin^TJa^a^eet nr •"sieger " with the best of them. ' .