SUTTON ON STEAD.

NZ Truth, Issue 141, 29 February 1908, Page 2

SUTTON ON STEAD.

He's not forgotten yet m the colonies, nor, by tho present outlook does he mean to be as long as there's any "lime-light" left for him to push his frame under. Versatility ever his strong point, luck the founder of his fortunes and ' the origin of his meteoric career, !. writes- "Spreader," ,his claims to distinction started with the cash betting system m the colonies, followed by his re-appearancq m the , land of his birth as Robert. Sicvier, owner of Sceptre, the horse, or, rather., the mare, of the yea' 1 m England, and his marriage into the English aristocracy ; but Bob w«nt out. clean

out, and the Jockey Club wanted him not ; but only for a time. He came to light again last year m a new role entirely, as editor of a 2<l. weekly called the "Winning Post," "the largest circulation of any all-round sporting paper on earth," as the cover tells us. The Jockey Club, whether owing to his "knowledge" of some of its members or as an act of clemency* reinstated him, and Bob's paper is now one long snivelling crawl to 'that very conservative body. So much for Bob. We don't 1 mind him using what tactics . he likes to push the sale of his "greatest on earth" rag so long as he confines himself to his own sphere, but when he launches out with a string of damnably unfair criticisms arid miserable lies, that will lead a country of 34,000,000 people to form a false opinion of our quiet little, colony we hick. In a leading article dated December 7th, under the heading, "Gratuitous Criticism," Bob ventures :— "For one who has milked England as Well as Mr Stead has, by selling such mediocre beasts as Noctuifarm, Seringapatan * and others, for such fabulous sums as would touch record prices m Australasia, it shows a lack of grace on the New | Zealanders part when he 'deprecates racing and the racecourses of the Mother Country, , and m doing so does not confine himself strictly to facts . ' ' These are $he words m which our Old "Tommy" Bob SutfooH, uri-_ der the nom.de plume of "Robert le' Disable, " attacks our leading racing : man. An analysis of foregoing, statement would only waste time, ■ when we read of Noctuiform as a "mediocre beast" and judge the rest j of our horses of 1905 and 1906 and thereabouts with Mr Stead's colt as' a criterion, we 'only come to one ■of i two Conclusions : Either we possessed a lot Of trash m those years, or Mr Robert Sievier .is father drastic m criticising our ; champion three- ; year-old' as "mediocre." He goes on : "If the- public were catered* for to witness racing only up' to the class, of horse Mr* G. G."* SteM.. sent to Emglaritd," etc;, etc. He harps; on the question 'Of "class"; sfr ifiuch that no other inference, can Ke drawn I from his leader than -that ' 'Noctuifornt himself was' never; "any class." Mr Stead's interview, the, Melbourne "Argus" on his ; iairriyal/ back i home last year is the text from which the article m the v " Winning Post": has been deduced. In t)i'e said! article' Mr Stead is reported, as,. hay-! ing compardd colonial 'and,;' English j courses to the detriment of •the. ~\%t-\\ tar, and on this point ', Bob says •:;' "We -know more of both English and! Australian courses r thari does' .Mr; Stead . ' ' My colonial oath, lie does ! ■ We believe Bob m this matter down to the ground, and we' quite, believe! that •if Bob had the running of' G-G-'s horses for the last 'few years, they would have paid- better" prices on the machine and benefitted ' 'the! public more (When they got on" to them). ■ ' ■ ■".-.'■■: It's no use to us ; a tale "- of the' instability of one of the 3 men irilSlew Zealand, whom' we have the^tem'erity to say is above criticism m his Jnariner of racing his horses. .- : : We COuld a tale- or two unfold ; but Bob's hot worth it. The; only umbrage taken at all from this end of the earth is that a creature -61 such calibre SfhouM have tlie power to circulate fiction Of such a lieing order among so many fair-minded people. Several copies of the'"Greatest on Earth"' paper have come New Zealaridwards; but anyone who has read one and enjoyed it need only get the same paper out again and' read it over, when he wants sonic enjoyment— it'll save buying new ones. • The "Winning Post" is conservative, Tory, blanky near; "Royal" m its sentiments ; a putrid rag m color and te^t ; its, very- lack of pith renders it unentertaining. A whole sheet of dirty smoodge- to the Duke of Edinburgh, as >f it were a recent inspiration, plasters up the tottering old Royal j family's skeletons by entirely ignoring them. The Jockey. Club which has just recently "taken the acid" oft Bob comes m tor some soft soap m every issue. Protests upheld by the- club were right ; dismissed by the. club—frivolous and unsportsmanlike. , Nfews of practical interest to. racing ■ men is sparse and watery when it 1 is to be found. Well sprinkled with "ftamey" jokes, and "stumer" advertisements and after reading several copies one can only come to the conclusion that Pmrlnnd would be a 1 good place m which to statt a. smart, clean, up-to-date sporting paper.. ' •