IN A NUTSHELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 55

IN A NUTSHELL

— Tauira has been turned out for a spell at Porirua. — Sweet Angelus has joined Mr M. Hobbs's stable. —Ml Red is reported to be galloping in pleasing style at Porirua. | — All Bed has been scratched for the I Melbourne and Caulfield Cups. — The Melbourne Cup trophy won by Glenlothin 1892 was for sale in Melbourne recently. — All Bed is to% weight in the N.Z. Cup, and his sister, Ukraine, one of the 6.7 division. — The Hon. J. D. Ormond is shipping a, consignment cf blood stock to Sydney for public sale there. , — Master Soult is a regular attendant on i the Ellerslie tracks, and he looks in the very best of health- — Warsong, a. half-brother by Boyal Fusilier to Downfall, is reported to be showing promise in his work. — The Stepniak gelding Stepchild broke a blood vessel during the race for the Adelaide Grand National Hurdles. — Bcon, "Seraphic .and Bullworth have been strapped to Sydney, and will become stable companions to Wiipu- and Kiatere. —No fewer" than 35 horses -figure in the Trial Hurdle Race, tc be run at tie Marion . Jockey Club's spring xoekiing next month. _ — A northern paper reports that California never appeared to' better advantage in the preparing arena -than he does ai. the present time. , —At the departure of the last English mail Carbine was fourth on the list of winning sire* with a total of eight races, value JE8915 15s. % — Signor, who was the hero of the last New Zoaland Cup meeting, is reported to be training- on well in his preparation for next season's business — A good deal of money has been secured abotrt All Bed for the N.Z. Cup, and the son of Madder is now one of the ruling favourites for the Tace." — The well-known crack pacer Dan Patch, with L. Robertson holding the lines, recently stepped a mile in 2min 10 4-ssec at the Eagle Farm Racecourse. —No fewer than 192 horses still remain in Hie forthcoming A.J.C. Derby, and it seems possible that an unsually large field will contest the 3000sovs classic. — The New Zealand Cup candidate Sir Prize (late Kilmarnock) has been given a little fast work at Hawera recently, and appears "to be.moving^quite soundly. — Applications for bookmakers' licenses to bet at (he Ashburfcm meeting have to be sent in not later than September 10. The fee is £15 15s per day, including clerk. — Master Soull was one of the first horses backed for the New Zealand Cup. An Auckland sportsman secured a good wager-, about him before the weights were declared. — Polymorphous, a three-year-old colt, engaged 'in the N.Z. Cup, is bred on similar lines to Nocrtuif orm, as both were got "• by Multiform out ot daughters of Erid-spord- , — The Gore Racing Club' has been so prosperous of late that they contemplate locking up sCfosov.s-<jn fixed deposit, providing, as it were, for tb - Tainy day that may never come. —Shrapnel, who has been on the retired list for several months, is again, in easy, work at Ellerslie- The Workman's ~son is said to look like standing another preparation. — The well-known gelding Sam Weller was badly injured whilst competing at the Waimate Hunt Club's meeting, which took place last week, and it was expecetd tnat he would have to be destaxyed. — The one-time crack hurdler Cavaliero figures amongst the entrants for the Hunt Club Steeplechaee and Tally-ho Steeplechase, to be run at the Waikato Hunt Club's meeting next month. — Tihe death occurred in Christchurch last week of Mr G. Payling, who was for two years president of the N.Z. Trotting Conference .and one of the oldest members of the N.Z.M. Trotting Club. — Nominations are due on Friday, September for the Dunedin stakes of 1910, and the D..0. Champagne Stakes of 1911. Both events carry 250sovs in stakes, and no money is required 1 at time of entry. —Mr H- M'Manaway who won the Winter Cup with North-Bast, laid the ""Vider, A. Oliver, £200 to nothing, the trainer, H. King, JEIOO to nothing, and the boy who looks after the horse £50 to nothing. — 'The fiothsohild horse Almont is reported to be stepping single furlongs at &' 2min gait on the Epping Racecourse. — Kilbride who cost i3oogs and Orcus, who oost 3050gns as yearlings, have yet to win . a, race. The former is a halfbrother to Lord Cardigan and Dividend, and the latter is a full brother to Poseidon. — Aur»tus, it appears, broke down in the Grand Nation*! hurdle race. He walked away sound after the- race, Ibufc next morning his leg had filled, and probably he -will be out of training for a lengthy period again. — The year which the Australian Jockey* Club has just passed through was the most successful in the lengthy history of that institution. There was an excess'of revenue ! over expenditure, amounting to upwards of £17,000. —It was recently reported that Mr G. P. Donnelly is retiring from racing, but according to a Hawke's Bay paper he has one or two horses still in work, and one of these is a three -year-old brother to El Dorado. — The earnings of Soult's descendants in Australia during last season ran out to £5331; and that sum added to the £16,030 which, the progeny of the Glenora Park j sire captured in Maoriland brings his total up to £21,811. — A msmber of the V E C. at the annual me-atmg the other day. in comparing Randwick with Flemington. gave utterance to the statement that the A.J.C. 's income from the flai and from rent c&me to at Jea't £10,000 a, y?ar. — Provided all goes well with Nada-doi in the meantime, it i& probable that she will { ba taken over to Victoria nexi winter to compete in pome of the big crops-country events there, in which case her owner would go across to see her run. j —It is stated that when Mr E. J. WaLt returns front Australia "the committee of the Wellington Racing Club will interviewhim concerning the running of Wimmera at the recent Trentham meeting. M-r "Walt was aw-ay in Australia, at the time of the meeting. — From Melbourne comes ne»* that M.r H. Farmer ha 3 purchased from Mr G. P. Payne »■ New Zealand-bred filly, two years, by S-oult ot Gluten, from Helen M'Gregor, j by Captivat-or. This was one of a baich j tha.i Mr Payne took to tlao other side last sumroor. — Since the appctranre of the handicap i on the N.Z Cup AH Red. Husbandman. Master Soult. and Sir Prize figure as equal favourites for trie raca. and nsxt on the list comes Bc'urikoff, Downfall, and California, who an also quoted on a par with j ftaeh other. '

— A Hawke's Bay writer states that* the three-year-old colt Merriwa is doing all that is asked of him at present, and one morning had all the best of Downfall in a mile test. As & two-year-old Merriwa was always slow to find his feet, but he invariably finished up strongly. —An echo of the Derbj. It was the morning after the race, and a Master Farmer, talking to his old shepherd up in the Highlands^, remarked, "Eh, Wullie, an' have ye heard that the King has won the Derby?" "Dod ! Maistei, ' was the reply, ""but he maun be a gran' rider!" —Mr J. "Wren has announced his intention to give another £1000 stake this year for a race at his Ascot course. The distance is five furlongs and a-h&lf, and the race, which, is open to all horses and galloways, will be decided on the day after the Melbourne Cup. — The successful sire Clanranald, who 'was reported last week to be* in bad health and unable to take up stud work, if one of the oldest stallions in the Dominion. He was foaled in 1888. Gold Beef is the same age as Clanranald, and Soult, who came out with Gold Beef in 1896, is two years younger. — Ijb Beau's accident in the National Steeples was caused by the gelding getting his feet into the ditch in front of the fences -which brtmgit him to grief, and , striking one of the- posts with his «hest. It is expected tihat- it will be some time before I*a Be*u recovers fron? the 'effects' -of his faJl.- -.-•'- - _ - " .- —J. -Delaney d who rode Compass at the National meeting, is going < to start as a trainer, and commence* operations, .on" ther imported! horse Chesire (Taporley— Maybred, and a filly by Merriwee, from a Lochiel mare. Chesire was imported from England by the late Mr G. G. Stead, and was sold last August at 325gs—At the yearling ealer «t Newmarket (England) last month Sir Robert Jardiner gave 5800 guineas for the yearling half-sister by Gallimile to Playaway, who a few years ago won the Caulfield Futurity Stakes and Newmarket Handicap. The 10,000 guineas paid fox Sceptre still stands at a record price in England for a yearling. — During the past racing season, ending July 31, the Victorian Trotting Association issued 424 riders', drivers', and trainers' licenses. Two hundred and 20 horses were registered, making a total .of 793 registered since the inception of the. association three years ago, "and* 81 clubs ha.ye registered and raced under the controlling body's rules. — Sixty-seven horses were handicapped for the N.Z. Cvp :] and of the number All Eed is the 'only one comprising the nine-stone division, 10 are in thr eight-stone division, a dozen in the seven-stone lot, and no less than 44 are in under seven stone- Those requiring good light-weight riders should take warning, and get in early to avoid the orush. — The V.R.C. recently increased the salary of the handacapper, Mx W. A. Men-zi-es to £750, and his expenses to £50 per year. As the position a most important one (says an - Australian exchange) it cannot be - said £609 a year is an excessive amount to pay any man who fills it satisfactorily, and Mir. Menzies ia a-pparently doing fh«.t. * - •vr - — Mt tJeo. Campbell,' formerly of Dunedin, but- now of Sydney^ paid- a • flying visit to his native heath during ""the past week, and his inanv friends were pleased to see ' him looking fit ana well^ Mr Campbell, popularly known as "George," is one of the cheery souls of the sporting world, and just the man to teach us how- "to assume a gaiety though we feel it not." — The Gore Racing Club held its annual meeting recently, when the chairman (Mr T. Green) stated in his address that there wa-s a profit of £897 over last season's operations, as. against £809 for the previous year, and this notwithstanding an increase of 40060VS in stakes. The figures given above' strongly suggest that the best way to increase profits is to increase stakes. — IJhere are many ways of describing the racehorse that should have won and didn't. " Dead " and " stiff " are commonplace terms, but a sport says he heard something new recently^. A man watched the horse that he had baoked with confidence and spirit labouring at the tail end of the field, and, turning away with a sigh, remarked, " I know now what race suicide means." — Nominations for the Ashburton County Racing Club's spring meeting are due on Saturday next- Since last season the club has made further improvements on their course by the erection of 13 additional boxes, a parade ring, planting Jrees, flowers, etc., and also by improving the entrance gate. The programme is an attractive one, and warrants the patronage of horse-owners. . —T. Quinlivan, stud groom for Mr E. •J Watt at Longlands, has railed four of that owner's mares to Waikanae. The bunch consisted. of Bine Water, Bluey, Float, and Brown Alice. The two latteT will go to Benzoni-an, while Blue Water and Bluey visit Achilles. Mr Watt is sending I/a Notte and Barley Bree to JbSirkenhead. The remainder of his brood matrons will consort with King Billy. --Entries for the Stepniak Stakes* of 200sovs, four furlongs, to be run at the N.O.J.C. .meeting, 1910, are due on September 3. No money is required at time of entry,, and in the event of any horse dying before the first forfeit becomes due the entry becomes void, and the owner freed from liability, provided the death is notified prior to the date on which the first forfeit is due. — The marriage took place last month in Sydney of M.r Edward Moss and Miss Mollie T'vquin Mr Moss is well and favourably known in Australian sporting circles, and is one of -the leviathan backers of that part of the world. He is lecognieed as a remarkably good judge of racing, and is credited with being quite a handful of thousands ahead of the punting business. And top of the lot. is a good fellow to {hose who have missed the smiles of Dame For- — Soms of the northern turf scribes state (hat Tauira wag not so fit and well when at Riccarton as he was when, running at Trentham. That may be so, but there is no doubt the geldibg looked bright and fresb when he went out to take part in the fray If Tauira did not show up to expectations it was probably due to being eased up after winning at Trentham. Still, it must be admitted that those 'who know * hoi^s, b«st should know most about him. — The death of Mr R. M. Morten test week removes the oldest continuous meniber of the Canterbury Jockey Club, fie having beeu elected in 1858 or 1859. For many jcarß he -was a steward and a -comanitteeman, and rendered yeoman service on -the Course Committee.- and took a> prominentpart in planting- the • racecourse ,reeerve. ■ In tbe old days Mr Morten- was an, -owner of racing stock, and in 1870 hiß filly Mai3 of the Mist ran third in the Canterbury Derby to Mr Douglas's Malabar, Mt Bisabazon's Waterwilch being second. — The Winton Jockey Club have decided to increase their prize-list from 900sovs to 1200sovs, and the following is a list of the stakes on their annual programme: — First day Hurdle JRaoe, 70sqy*: Trial Staked

• 50sovs; Winton Cup. ISOsovs; Hokonui Tim* Trot, SOsovs; County Handicap. 65sovs ; Flying Handicap. 75sovs : Handicap Trot, 75sovs; Tradesmen's Handicap, 65aovs. Second day: Hurdle Hace. 70sovs; Stewards' Purse, 70sovs; Awarua "Handicap, 65sovs; r Oreti Trot, SOsovs ; Birthday Stakes. HOsovs ;, County Handicap, oOsovs ; Dash Trot, 70sovs j; Farewell Handicap, 65sovs. — The English Jockey Clnh a few weeka ago -went into the question of what are known as guaranteed stakes, and after muchdiscussion altered rule 159 to read: "In all' cases, should there be any surplus front entrance or subscription over the advertised' value, one-half of the whole surplus shall go to the Bentinck Benevolent Fund, or Rous Memorial Fund, and of the other half! two-thirds shall be paid to the second and' ! one-third to the third. A race may b« declared void provided the number of entries required by advertisement bs not ob- ; tamed, but the value of a prize once advertised shall not be reduced." -r-At the annual meeting 1 of the Gore Racing Club Mr Geo. Stephenson-, well known! in theatrical circles, drew attention to two items — "Lunch. 25sovs" — on the balance sheet. This Mr Stephenson objected to on principle, and the President, in reply, saidr "each committeeman had the privilege of 'having a- glass of a- ale with: his lunch. Th« committee carried out the lunch on very) careful lines, and was not lavish in expenditure under this head." The oanrnvttfe. of tte O.E.C". according: to the offiei»| <=«r<Jl number, incluaing- the secretary, total 15 all 1 told, so that the _ official glass must be of .inonumehttl proportions. And . herein dies Mr Stephehson's joke. — Word from England announces th* death at Ep3om of Mrs Richard Wooiton, wife of the successful horse-owner of that name), and mother' of the light-weight jockeys Frank and Stanlej Wootton. Tjnia year has been a very disastrous one fotithe noted Sydney sportsman Several months ago h» was seriously ill with pneumonia, and now (says a. Sydney paper) hard on top of the recovery of his accomplished/ son from a "severe accident on the racecourse comes the death of his wife, which! the otßer occurrences mentioned probably, contributed to. "Mrs' Wootton, during her. lengthy residence at Randwick. was noted 1 for her extreme liberality in all vases calling for assistance. — "Inquirer."— Lady of the .Lake's pedigree ia given in the Stud Book as being) .by Sledmere from Meg Merrilies, by St. George— Gipsy, and that is all the information furnished in the volumes issued' by the N.Z. Bacing Conference. The writer, however, is fortunate enough to possess older records, and in them Lady of the Lake can be traced further. Her dam Meg Merrileea was got by St. George (son of an imported horse of the same name imported to Newt South Wales at * cost of lOOOge in 1841),, who was brought to Nelson in 1851. Gipsy, the dam of Meg Merrilies. was supposed to. be got by Bous Emigrant. The Gipsy alluded to here is the taproot mare of Remembrance, Manton, Gipsy King, Johnny" 2?aa, add* other good horses. — The" man who does the tnrf work 1 for London Truth has not yet got out of his mind the start for the Oaks, ..through which the favourite was ro Wbtd - of, -all. chance. In 1 the," latest issue of .that journal he*Temarks: — "An owner has written to me expressing his extreme dissatisfaction that no official notice was taken \ol the wretched start for the Oaks. He indulges in some vivacious criticisms of the idiotic drivelling 1 of a sporting writer who discourses upon 'that most capable and painstaking official,' 1 the starter at Epsom, of whom we are told that 'nobody was more grieved at the mishap than the genjal starter himself.' Maudlin trash of this kind affords no consolation to the owner and trainer of Electro* or -to her legion of backers, who had such goodl cause to be not only 'grieved,' but profoundly disgusted also." . — In Hungary and Austria thoroughbreds imported as foals with their dams acquire all the rights oi native horses; therefore theys are qualified to take part in all races, biitf when imported without dam or later during their yearling days they cannot qualify foe all races — only for a- small proportion ot them. Last year Mr de Szemere brought in a motion to enable owners vto buy yearlings in foreign countries, and to grant to these the qualification of native horses, supposing the owners are willing to pay an import tax .of 250sovs per head. At a recentf v meeting of the Hungarian Jockey Club the Szemere proposal (as it was called) was carried, but, with a view to future broocß mares, granted only for fillies, opening- to. them nearly all the greater events that ar* "for Continenta!-bre horses, except Frenchbred ones." Colts are debarred! this favour. The amount of the paid imporb taxes will be used for breeding purposes., chiefly for importing mares and first-class stallions. — When a. man wins a race with a horse, snd all the owners' friend's and acquaintances, and the friend*' friends and acquaintances, and the. acquaintances' acquaintances and friend?, the trainers' friends and acquaintances etc., the jockey** friends and acquaintances, etc., the stable boys' friends «nd acquaintances', etc., and then sisters, cousins and aunts are not in the joke then somebody's popularity is sure to drop a yard! or two below zero Some years ago a hardheaded racing .man said to the writer that; if three persons knew of » horee with a good 1 winning chance in a race, experience of the game taught bin? -to put the three units together and make it 111, md each addition*! unit hes to ba marked down in the same way. That's why the wise men in the racing world main-, tain sphinx-like silence, and keep their extra special information to themselves. They only tell, with a little air of goodnatured generosity, what is common property, and at times pass on the gossip of the racecourse as if it were a, profound/ secret. — According to a Wellington paper -V. Collelo, trainer of Nadador, thinks thato the chestnut mare ran the beet race of her career in the Lincoln Steeples when she ran' second to EM' Dorado. He is of opinion' that had the distance been the same as in the Grand National Nadador would have worn El Dorado down long before the post was reached. That may be so, but if Nadador ran the course in the Steeples instead of making it * point to point which her trustworthiness enabled! her to do in her races, it is quite possiblo she -may not have won *h* big Steeples., In the big race she stayed well but saved' a lot of ground, and El Dorado- beat her handsomely enough in the Lincoln. In fact, had the' big Steeple* been run 1 on the r las* day of the meeting, El Dorado, with the ex« perience of previous racing over the eotm* try., would probably -. have beaten the mare.. And, furthermore, m pointed out last week, the pair met in the Lincoln on the same! terms as in the National, albeit on a higher scale of weights. — Writing of the greatest race meeting of the year in the Old Country, "Royal Ascot," a London journalist says of the four days' fixture'.— r"Very few things in this wprld can be accomplished without moniy,

and the- need of money is an ever-present 1 consideration with the Ascot authorities. ! They take with one hand and give freely Jto owners) with the other. The Ascot races •are the richest of the season, a-nd yet foj: their upkeep not a. penny piece is taken out of owners' pockets, all subscriptions in ■that direction going to the owners of the winners, the seconds, or the thirds. Nor is there any race on the card to which , money is not added, the total charge^ on the fund amounting to £23,800. In addition to this sum of £23,800 — which is given to owners without a farthing towards it being extracted elsewhere than from the funds — his Majesty the King presents the gold vase, •worth £200. Thus, apart from any sweepfitakes for which they may be liable, owners at Ascol have £24,000 in plaie and specie to strive for. Truly Ascot is 'royal 1 in •very sense of that word." The well-known New Zealand handi-ca-pper, Mr J. H. Pollock, was -recently in Sydney with the New Zealand „ amateur athletic team.' Mr Pollock reports racing in the Dominion as flourishing, and is at a loss to understand why racing clubs in this State do not make a strong bid for the iotalisator in conjunction with the bookmakers. That stipendiary stewards will be installed in New Zealand he has no doubt, and by his remarks I should say (remarks • Sydney scribe) Mr Pollock is of opinion they aTe much more necessary now than prior to the - licensing of bookmakers. He points out that when the totalisator was the sole medium of speculation there was no particular inducement for a jockey to indulge in crooked business but the position has altered. Not that ' Mr Pollock infers the practice of jockeys playing "into the "hands cf bookmakers is common, but at least one j case has been proved, and there is reason j for supposing that a couple of prominent Uew Zealand riders occasionally consider themselves and their bookmaking friends Wore than the owners {or whom th«y are riding. It is 33 years since Mr Pollock previously visited Australia. — A question in evolution put to a scientist was, "Why is it that horses shy and donkeys do not?" The answer was to the following effect: — "The ancestors! of the horse were accustomed to roam over plains v/here every tuft of grass or bush might conceal an enemy waiting in ambush. _ In , thepa circumstances they must have time and again saved their lives by quickly starting back, or else suddenly jumping to one aide, when without warning com* strange object appeared to them. The htbit must have indeed been a strong one, seeing that so many years of domestication have not •radicated it. On the other hand, the donkey is descended from animals that lived among the hills, with the usual precipices and dangerous declivities; and from these con-" ditions it would appear there resulted its slowness and turefootedness. The donkey's ancestors were not then so liable to sudden attacks from wild beasts and snake's. Moreorer, sudden and wild starts would have been positively dangerous to the donkey's forbears. Consequently they learned to avoid the characteristic trick of the horse. The Habit of eatine thistles, peculiar to the donkey\ aeems also to have been inherited'from its ancestors. In tie dry, barren localities they inhabited tbey learned to eat the hard, dry, and even prickly and undergrowth, when nothing else* presented itself." • — Duriuß week "Chasten," of tte Auckland Herald, received a post-card from ChriartchurcJi wiih an excellent photo of that good old battler Irish thereon. The note that accompanied it rar' as follows: — "Seat of War," August 10, 1909. Dear Friend,— You will be sorry to hear that 1 hurt my foot, and my boss won't allow me to work any more for some lime. He trotted me out this morning, and I went as freei and sound almost as ever. I shook my head and gave it a toss, just to show the boys I'm all right, attd I stepped out my best. I heard them talk and say that I was sure to run (and wouldn't I like to) but when in stable the boss ordered more hot water (and it's very nice this cold weather), and it must be good for me, as I'm now free from pain ; and I also heard him say I must go home without running. And I'm so sorry — twice I've failed here before — but never was as well as I am now, except .'or this bruised foot. You have said so many nice things about me that I like to than^ you, and just send a photo, of myself, taken on the third day of the Wellington meeting, after three hard races. I did not like the soft going, and my boss know 3 that, too. It's lovely and glorious weather and it's painful to be shut up in a box. Gocdl>ye for six or eight months, when I har.i> to see you well again.— Faithfully yours, - Paddy." — Mention cf the Canterbury Jockey Club reminds ma (cays "The Blade") of a little matter which I am sure only needs Ventilating in order to be set right. During j the "recent National meeting cross-country jockeys from the North Island who had their wives with them were denied ladies' tickets. In several instances, I am given to understand, these men — without whose service? the meeting would be a frost — had_ to pay before their wives could gain admission. The Canterbury J.C. is not a poor institution — it is under no necessity to rake in a few more shillings by adopting such stringent rules. Cross-country and hurdle jockeys incur considerable risks in the pursuit of their calling, and a club of the pre-emi-nence of the C.J.C. would well afford to be liberal in its treatment cf such men. The impression carried sway by North Island visitors was distinctly unfavourable, and such stinginess should be quite alien to those ■who claim to be lovers of racing. The C.J.C. official responsible for the carrying out of this rule, if such a rule exists, regarding free tickets to jockeys' wives— would have been shocked had he heard the caustic comments which his literal reading of the regulation provoked. Also North Island owners, to whose liberal nomination tht C.J.C. ■winter meeting owes much of its success, ■were highly indignant at the lack of consideration and hospitality shown them, and several have vowed never again to take a horse to Biccartou. The C.J.C. has evidently a lot to learn in the little courtesies •which ' owners so freely receive at meetings in- the North Island.