TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 54

TALK OF THE DAY.

By Sextisel. THE PAST SEASON. Turf statistics forms-d an interesting part of the Press racing columns last week. Counting the result of the equine battles on the turf gives one a. pleasure, even if at times it creates a melancholy feeling in the pocket. Soult, who has been remarkably successful at the- stud since nis arrival "in New Zealand, holds the list of winning stallions with 53 winners of £16,000. Stepniak beats the imported horse in point of winning by having 66 of his stock to get their numbers on top, and in doing co they garnered £12,970. lne son of Nordenfeldt and Steppe has always been well represented on the tuif by his stock, and now he departs from the scena of hie former triumphs to go to the stud in the district where- he first caw the light of day. Stepniak will probably get a better chance in Auckland with public mares, ami even though he is getting en in years, he possesses euch lemarkable vitality that he 6hould do good work for some time to come. Merrjwee had 29 winners of £12,204 10s and then corno Birkenhcad with £10,591, Monschikoff £5526, San Fran £5265 San Francisco £4949, and ClanranaJd £4855' 10s. All Red tops the list, £3230, amongst the winning hordes, and Provocation does lomarkaMv well forat«o->ear-okl in "ettinc second with £2560. Arrrnct garnered" £2145, and has proved a bargain at the 500gs paid for him 12 months ago. The brilliant Bob.-ikoff caughi 211o«oyH, and Husbandman, the roach-backorl Derby winner collected £2100 for the blue ami scold chequers. Ma«r«r Soult. who was kept rathsr bus 5 last season, garnered "Ol 5 ; Aborigine won £1915, and rho IvZ. Cup winner, Downfall, is next on the list with £1885 Sir Geo. Clifford head? the list ot winning owner* with £6757 10s, but with th« exception of Mr St. John Buckley, who won £3303. none of the Otago owners won very broad smiles from Dame Fortune. THE WEIGHT-FORAGE SCALE. It has baen evident for many yoaie that a good thiee-year-old has a decided advantage over older horses when racing over a distance oi giound under the weight-for-age- scale. The w.f.a. scale was compiled when the early development of the thoroughbred was not considered a matter of such paramount importance by stud-niaste-rs a.nd trainers as what has^ become the- case in recent years. The NZ. Cup penalty clause, which reads that "no penalty or penakies shall increase a horse's weight above weight-for-age," was strongly Condemned by the writer when it was first attached to the conditions of the race- in 1905, for the reason that the scale is 6trongly in favour of the three-year-old. Noctuiiorm subsequently gave weight to the contention by making an exhibition of the field he met in that year Many other instances could be quoted where a good

three-year-old has always proved the master ' of horses a season or two older, and on th© point a valuable opinion comes from England. Writing after the recent Ascot meeting the Special Commissioner of tne London Sportsman earn: — Never have w© had a more interesting or successful Ascot meeting, and it has thrown useful light on ' many points — for example, th© weight-for-age seal© over a distance of ground. The present seal© was all very well before three- ] year-olds were precociously developed as they are now, with the result that they may be worse rather than better at four years; but surely the ksion of this week will teach the authorities something, for we have seen the Ascot Cup won by a three- ' year-old, who was himself beaten by two other three-year-olds for th© Gold Vase. Why owners hay© not more frequently tumbled to this soft thing has always been a mystery to me, but the fact remains that a staying three-year-old can hardly fail to beat the old ones at the present seal© , of weights. It was different in the old i days, before young stock were so prematurely forced and developed. Them th© rate of progression was much what we ! find among 'chasers, but now for flat-rac-ing many a two-year-old sees its be6t day I at that age, and, more frequently still, horses do not improve a pound after the autumn of their tnree-year-oid season ; yet we see Wuffy asked to give i three-year-olds 281b over two miles, which is a reductio ad absuvdum of the present arrangement. It is now evident that had A-madis been entered for the Ascot Cup h© would have won it, and easily, tco, as did his sire, Love Wisely, before him, and it is Jucky foi Lord Falmouth, who was half inclined to sell the colt, who is not well engaged, that he changed his mind at the right time. I cannot, however, call to mind a single occasion 'in which the "Vase form has been distinotly superior to that j>i , the Cup, but so it is this time, beyond all possible mistake. PREPARING GRAND NATIONAL CANDIDATES. Now that Grand Nationals are in the air, perhaps a few extracts from an inter- , view by a representative of the Melbourne j Sporting aoid Dramatic Review with Mr R. H. Frew, a recognised authority on jumping horses, may prove of interest. Mr I Frew has trained five V.R.C. Grand Naj tianad Steeplechase winners (including Daimio, the only horse which won that contest twice), and three of the eross-coun-l try events a* Onfcaparinga. He selects j Redleap, Daimio, Domino, and Whernside ! as the best quartet of 'chasers he has seen, j and claims the unique record of- having | won £25,000 in stakes with jumpers from i his stable, consequently he can speak -with mur.h knowledge of this interesting topic. '• The class of horse likely t< make the bsst jumper," remarked R. H. F., "is, of course, the thoroughbred. They run in all shapes, but I prefer for hurdle-racing a long, low horse, and for steeplechasing a strong animal built on similar lines. In horses of to-day I notice a tendency to be too leggy." On the question of schooling a prospective National winner, Mr Frew ' says : "I believe in plenty of schooling for both hurdle racers and steeplechasers, but rot too much at a time. Horses judiciously schooled become fond of jumping, and do it generously. If over-schooled, i they become jaded and jump carelessly." Concerning Grand National gallops, Mr Frew observes: — " For - distance races, long gallops, at half to three-quarter pace, seldom allowing a horse to go at his top, but occasionally letting him sprint home tbe last few furlongs smartly, are best." Regarding riding methods, he notes : "I do not favour the Sloan style of riding over iho jump?. In many cases a horse's mouth ia Gpoiled by the adoption of this style, and it doas not give a horse the chance to jump a.s freely as the straight seat."' '" Horses which graduate in the hunting field," opined R. H. F., "make the cleverest i steeplechasers, as witness such animals as Daimio, Chelsea, Tartuffe. and Domino, In schooling 'chasers, medium-sized fences ; a,re most preferable." Regarding crosscountry racing, Mr Frew is decidedly of opinion that the fences on all courses should be of a uniform size, and there should be a uniform number of jumps for even distances. In a two-mil© steeplechase, he thinks there ought to be not less than fourteen jumps. " Where he fences are plentiful." he says, "horees do not get a chance for pace, and it is the pace that causes falls." Brushing the bottom of fences, both for schooling and racing, has Mr Frew's approval. On this he remarks: " The most frequent falls, and the worst falls, are caused through horses getting too eloee to the jump. By brushing well, fall* would be minimised. Th© brush should be as far out from the bottom of the fence as th© fence i 6 high. I believe in yielding jumps, but brush or furze fences should not be ioo thin or tco low." Comparing steeplechases, old and new, he says: — " Races to-ch»y are run Caster, but the feneps are no "different in height from 30 yoa.ru aso. On th© old-time suburban courses, like Kensington and Croxton, low iumns prevailed, and no "fences reached 3ft 9in." ,