IN A NUTSHELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 52

IN A NUTSHELL

i I — The old-time 'chaser Oannongate «3ie3 recently in Auckland. — Nominations for the Kurow annual meeting are due on the 18th inst. ' — It is reported that Grenadier is to be given a chanoe to distinguish himself over ! hurdles. . — WorS comes from Oaznaru that the Stepniak — Tortnlia mare Miss Gal died a fewdays ago. — The profit of £17,547 made by the Australian Jcckey Club last season •was a record for the club. — Nominations for the Dunedin Jockey Club's spring meeting are due on Friday, the 17th inst. I —MrL. C. Hazlett has decided to bestow I the name cf Soldiers' Chorus on; his Martian — Grand Opera colt. — Sandstre-am has incurred a 51b penalty for the N-ew Zealand Cup by his win at the Harton meeting. — Acceptances for the Ashburton County Racicg Club's spring meeting are due- on Thursday, the 9th inst. • I — The yearling Martian — Gossip filly has ' been aptly named War Scare. This filly is ! a half-sister to Bobrikoff. — Nereid, the dam of Achilles, h«» foaled a coh to Prudexrt King (imp.) *t Mr A. W. 1 Niivison's Tilimby Stud. I — Mr "Wilson, the owner of Lovell, has purchased a. half-sister to the crack hunter of tbe recent National meeting. — Up-to-I>ate is again in work -at Fleming»ton after a 'month's spell, -which feeem* to have done him a lot of good. (• — The Ascot (Melbourne) Racing Club's j heijrht-olass race prize resulted: — Aero--I 6pir« 1, Santiago 2, Leo Grande 3. I — Nominations for all events to be decided at the N<orth Otago Jockey Crab's spring meeting are due on the 23rd inst. — Australian advices state that Idealist, by Birkenhead — Id«il, has been purchased from IX J. Price by Mr J. Brennan,, of Sydney. — Pilot is apparently right out of fona at present. He was amongst the starters at the V.K'.C. August meeting, and pulled ip lame. — The Lake County Jockey Club held their annual meeting recently, when it was decided to give away 475sovs in stakes on December 10 and 11. — The King's colt, Mincru, had an easy victory in the Sussex Stakes at the Goodwood meeting in Ju'y, the opposition being very weali. —An Adelaide message states that the Gtenelg Handicap resulted thus: Waipuna 1, Lancelot 2, Spinaway 3. Won by two lengths. Tim«, Zmin 20£ sec. | — The march of progress. In 1879-80 tho I Auckland Racing Cub gave away 235050vs in stakes, and for t<hs 1909-10 season the prize-list amounts to 29.21550v5. — The stewards ot ths Australian. Jockey Club have decided to refuse the entry of I Welcome Guest until satisfactory evidence is I forthcoming that he has given up his wild habits. — The Taranaki Daily News states that the Stratford Racing Club made a profit of over £600 on last year's races, after writing off a liberal depreciation on plant and buildings. — Th* latest volume of the Australian Stud Book shows that there axe at present 91 mares by Lochiel, either racing cr at the .stud. Graf ton has 85 female representatives, and Gozo 76. —It reported that Provocation will probably make his Australian racing debut in the -Chelmsfora St&Kea, a weighi-for-age event, to ue deeded at the TattersaH'e Club meeting on September 11. — The Australian Jockey Club have such a laxge sum to credit that they have act aside some £20,000, the interest of which they intend to devote to assisting country clubs to give Larger stakes. —T. Burns, the W-lmown boxer, purchased a two-year-old filly by Soult, from Roxana (daughter of Cuirassier), for 200gs whilst in Auckland, and the youngster has since bean shipped to Sydney. Sydney cablegram reports that Don Hannibal h-as' been scratched for the Epsom and Metropolitan Handicaps at the A.J.C. meeting next month; ako that Provocation has been landed in good condition. — Tho New Zea'and Trotting Association have decided to take steps to obtain, the names of suitab'e persons to act as agents of the association in connection with the shipment of horses at the various terminal ports in New Zealand. —A. Oliver left for Sydney by the Ulimaroa last week. He will ride Provocation and Artillerle at the Australian Jockay Club's meeting, and hopes to return to New Zealand in time for the Wellington Racing Club's spring meeting in October. — Among the private sales effected in England last monith was that of the St. Leger winner Wool Winder, to the Austrian Government. In one exchange it is stated that the price at which the son of Martogon and! St. Windeline changed hands was 16,000g5. — His Majesty the King claim* four entries for the English jO*rby of 1911, tbe nominations for which event have just been published. The Australian sportsman (Mr W Clarke) has one entry, a colt by St. Fruaquin from Musa. In all 375 subscriptions were received. — American-owned horses have been racing; with considerable success in England this season. At th' Goodwcod meeting in July the Stewards' Cup fell to the American owner. Mr H. L. Duryea, through the aid of Mediant, a three-year-old filly by Meddler — Ballantrae. — During the preeent season tbe Auckland Racing Club gives away £9,21550vs in stakes, :ho Canterbury Jockey Club 30,240£0 v», the Kawke'a Bay Jockey 8705?0v5, the Dun«din Fockey Club 937550va, tbe Menawatu Riacinir Zluib 7430e0v5, and the Wanganui Jockey 21ub 790550v5. — The "stable" is credited with landing i0.0025-vs in bets when Dark Ronald won the Soyal Hunt Cup, and if that is true, money •an still be landed when the punters are ir:lined to have a dash. Another account if he amount won states that the owner had '17 000 to nothing after hedging. — Lord Lonsdale ib to judge Horses at th» lejrt York horse siio-wr. H& is one of he best judges of horw in England. The nvitation was extendc? to him informally y Judge William H. Moore, who is exhibitng at the Olympia horse ahow in London. Ie expressed to Lord Lonsdalo the hope that English horse-owners v.ould exhibit at the few York show, and that he would come ver as a judge. — The Western Australian Turf Club 'erth) will hold its first Sires' Produce takes at its Easter meeting of 1911. The rize-money is £650, of which £400 goes to le first horse, i'loo to second, and j£so i tho third; -uhile th:- owner of the sire of ie winning horse and the breeder of tite inner each receive £50. The race i* for /o-year-olds. and sires must be nominated r November 29 of this year. — The Forlury Park Trotting Club intend ving away 1500sovs in prize-money at their iring meeting, to be held on the new urse on November 26 and 27. The chief ents are the Forbury Cup of 20050v3, the

President's Handicap of 17J>sovs, the ' Stewards' Handicap of 120sova, and the St. Clair handicap of 120sovs. Six events on the programme carry lOOsovs or over in prize-money, and me grand total is 500sovs above last year. — The late Sir Daniel Cooper Weft to the Jockey Clttb (England) an oil painting of Tregonweil, Frampton, by Wootton, said to have been formerly the property if John Mytton, of Halston; to the Australian Jockey Chub hia picture, of the racehorse Fisherman, painted by Barraud; £500 to his trainer, George Blackwell ; £500 to his stud groom, Wm. Spire; £500 to his housekeeper, Jenny M'Clymont; and £1000 to his wife for distribution, in her iiscretion, amongst his servants. * j — Thirty-six horses have been paid up for in the New Zealand Cup out of the' 65 handicapped for the race. The most notable absentees are Signor, Frisco, Penates, Gwendolina, and Dabcbick. None of the others who have failed to make the payment were, on form, worthy of being deemed Cup chances. Although it is regrettable to see so many well-bretl three-year-olds such as Bourbon, Boanerges, Polymorphous 1 , Fiddler, Idealism, and one or two others drop out of the race. —The Stead Memorial Gold Cup, which is raced for at the C.J.C. Metropolitan meeting 4a November, is a "handsome and artistic trophy. Zt is of solid 18 carat gold, and, with?- the- plinth, stands.* 12in yhigh.. . The cup, which is of classical design, is goblet ahm^e, h«ving two small handles.. The lid is embossed with acanthus leaves, and the same design is repeated at the base of the cup. The plinth is perfectly plain with, the exception tfiat at- the foot there is a small repsLoa 'of the acanthus design on the lid. — The Ashburton County Racing Club will hold their spring meeting on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, and as some New Zealand Cup c«ndid»tes in' the shape of Prfin, Field Gum. Out'.ander, Rose Noo'e. Tikitere, and Boutade claim engagements, the running will be- followed- with a good Seal of interest. Some smart sprinters are engaged, in the sprint events, and owners are reminded that acceptances are due on Thursday of this week, and ait the same time nominations 5-a.ve to be sent in for the Trial Pi»te and iSaiden Hack Scurry. I — Among the items to hand by the latest English mail ia an announcement of the death of the great American high-jumper, Heather Bloom, who cleared 7ft 10m at the New Norfolk horse show, Virginia, in October, 1905. .Heather Bloom was credited with clearing over Bft in private, but, of course, that would scarcely be accepted! as a arecord A little while back an offer of £4000 was refused fpr Heather Bloom, who had to bs destroyed owing to the injuries he received when attempting to take a fence. — The officers and committees elected by the New Zealand Trotting Association for the year are: — President, Mr P. Selig; vicepresident and hon. treasurer. Mt A. L. Myers; Licensing Committee, Messrs A. L. Myers and W. G. Garrard ; . Colours Committee — Messrs H. F. Nicoll. R. O. Duncan, and W. G. Garrard; Appeal Committee, the president and Mr R. O. Duncan ; Foreign Hearse Committee. Messrs W. G. Garrard and. W. Hay ward: ChristchuTch examiner of foreign horses, Mr W. G. Garrard; auditor, Mr C. J. Marshall. —It is rumoured that there is a rift in the camp of the Gore Racing Club. At the annual meeting of the club it was generally understood that the committee would make a substantial increase to the prize-money attached to the spring programme, but only SOsovs was added to last year's total, and thin sum, spread over 16 events, represents so meagre a lift that several of the members have rebelled. It is understood that a special meeting will in all probability be held in order to further consider the programme before it is finally submitted to the metropolitan club for approval. —As far as two-year-old form is concerned, there does not appear to be a particularly strong field engaged in the next Canterbury Derby, although there are some well-bred youngsters claiming engagements that may be cracks of a future date. Provocation looms out on his own. p-ad the next best appear to be Nautiform, Cymbiform, Cxonstadt, Theodore, Elysian, Taskmaster, MerTiwa, and other possibilities. Spring form, however, may demonstrate that the secondclass two-year-old is often a first-class three-yeiw-old, and consequently kill the foregone conclusive idea that some may attach to the race. — According to the " Obituary of Stallions,"' published in the ninth volume of th-3 " Australian Stud Book," 42 sires have expired since the issue of the last publication in 1905. The list is as follows — Arsenal, Archie Broken Hill, Carlyon. The Chevalier, Duke of Portland, Gaulus. Hindoo (imp.), Hcva, Light Artillery, Louis XIII (imp.), Magnet (imp ) Manton, Marvel, Mentor. Metal (imp.). Ouston (imp.), Port Admiral. Portland Bill. Redcourt, Richelieu, Simmer (imp.), Sir Foote (imp.). Spinning Minnow (imp.). Sunrise, Tamenund (imp.). Warpaint, Windleatrae (imp.), and Xeny (imp.). — - The newry-ianned • Southland Trotting Club have decided to give away 250tovs in stakes at the inaugural meeting, which 'is to be held on "No-, erol'er 17. It is regrettable that the- selected da-> clashes with the Tuapek* meeting- dated for the 17th and 18th, when trotting events are decided. The Tuapeka Club has been struggling along for years, and anything calculated to cause a lo=s ot patronage means a serious matter to them. An adherence to the present dates means 'that Dunedin-owned horses which, under ordinary circumstances, would probably find their way to Tuapeka will be sent to Southland. — The N.Z. Metropolitan Club are going in for extensive improvements on their course at Addington. A new stand costing between 6000sovs and 6000fovs, is to be erected in the lawn enclosure, and the one at present in use is to be shifted to the outside enclosure. A new totahsator house will be erected to replace the present one in the paddock, and the old one transferred to the outside enclosure. Carriage stand, motor garage, and other important beautifying and useful improvements will also be mrde. The track, as previously reported, will lie enlarged to 5J furlongs, and the turns improved as much as possible. —As showing the different standards of prices which obtain as between an excited and a purely business-like market, a London ■writer instances the two sales of the mare. Film, who was put up at the Cobham stud three- year* ago with * foal at foot, and was purchased by Mr William Cooper on behalf of the late Sir Daniel Cooper for 400gs. Since then two of her progeny have run without winning, but, nevertheless, when again sent into the sale-ring, with the late Sir Daniel Coopea-'s other .mares, at Newmarket last month, when competition was at fever heat, she realised 2300g5, or, in other ■words, nearly six time« the money which had sufficed to transfer her from Cobham to the Warren stud. — 1 do not remember a time (says a writer in the World) when we were so badly off for competent riders in England. Maher has ridden bad races before the present .yeax. one of them being in the Derby of 1908. On

various occasions this season he has cer- ' tainly not shone. The same may be said of Higgs, -who strikes me as not nearly as good as he was a couple of years ago. I do not like him on a two-year-old. Trigg has come in for what one cannot call unmerited criticism more than once this year ; not all his employers profess high admiration for him. In fact, the owner of a well-tried horse who makes out that he can hardly be beaten must nowadays consider himself extaremely fortunate if he wins, for jockeys throw many races away —In a review of the stallions <&t the notable Cobham. stud, England, " Hotspur, ' of the London Daily Telegraph, is apparently much impressed with Great Scot, the Australian horse, who after a, very successful career in handicaps and weight-for-age evests has been withdrawn for stud work. He says Great Scot is a magnificent chestnut horse, standing 16.2, with abnormal power and bone, and he represents the Stockwell line through his best son, Blair Athol. As his great-grandsire was Prince Charlie, he should be particularly valuable far toning down the fretful, excitable Galopin blood. Amongst other well-known owners who have taken subscriptions to him are Lord Derby, Mr Leopold de Kothschiid, Lord ! Lonsdale, and Mr Axthui James. I — When Frank Wootton met with his | recent accident in England his father was one of the first to reach him, and, picking him up in his arms, carried his unconscious form . until he himself fainted, having pre- , viously been laid up. It is said thai for four .days and nights Mr Wootton never alept, but soon arfter his son's partial recovery his ] father was confined to his house for tfcrecl weeks. Hundreds of people who had been attending the races on the day of the crack light-weight's accident left the course, and followed him to the hospital prior to the programme being completed. It was the intention of Mr Wootton and family to come out to Australia at the end of the year for a trip, but the unexpected death of Mrs Wootten will, perhaps, alter the arrangements. — A copy of the book programmes of the principal New Zealand racing clubs has earn© to hand, and comprises a volume that will be muoh appreciated by those who have an irrtimate connection with racing The book is comprised of the programmes issued by the Auckland, Canterbury, Dunedm. Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, and Wanganui Clubs. The .book contains the entries for future events. and other information calculated to keep one. in touch with the principal events decided during the season. One discordant note in the book is that soroa of the clubs still i adhere to the word " hack " in the title ! of their races. The leading clubs of the j Dominion should lead the way in deleting ! the cheapening word from their programmes, and it is to be hoped that future issues will find -a much-to-be-desired improvement in the matteT. —In France the Revolution abolished racing as an "immoral divertissement." Under the Directory, chariot races were introduced, and it was not until Napoleon became Emperor thai this great man's eyes were- opened to the benefit racing nd the methodical breeding 3f horss would confer on his cavalry. In a decree, dated 1805. he ordained that horse-races should be regii- , larly held in Paris and in the provinces, and even founded f jnand Prix for Paris, in which all the provincial winners were to take part' But the breding of blcodsioek in reality only dates from the foundation of the S:ciete d'Eincouragement in 1834. In the fo'lowng yeai the Prix dv Jockey Club was contested for the first time at Chantilly. Twenty years la<ter. France was able to hold her own with England. In 1857 LongcJiamp race 3 weT© inaugurated, and in 1863 the I Grand Prix de Paris was founded. This race I has now become by far the most valuable | one in the world. I —The annual meeting of the English I Anti-gambling League was held in Birming1 ham just before the last mail left, but. as only between 30 and 40 people were present, I chiefly clergymen and ladies, it would appear a-s if anti-gamblers were, at last, growing weary of making themselves unpleasantly ridiculous. Some of the speeches at the | meeting must have opened their eyes not a little, for the Lord Mayor (Mr G. H. Kenrick), who presided, openly warned them that they ought to exercise great care in taking any s-tepe to deal with gambling, which, he pointed out. pervaded both civilised and uncivilised people; while the Bishop of Birmingam. in a blunt, straightforward speech, full of common sense, declared that for hi<* own part, from early youth he had always been alive to the fascination of gambling « O r the excitement's ■-ake. " and. added the Bishop. " without a doubt, gambling is one of the shortest ways to relieve the monotony of the life that is dull and depressed." I — During the past few years there has ' been a marked revival of interest in tho Ashburton County Racing Club, and very considerable improvements have been made Ito the club's racecourse. This year a large parading ring for horses and a number of loose-boxes have been erected, and alterations have been made bo the grand stand The new ring is similar to that at Ricear- , ton measuring 145 ft &cro<=« and 456 ft in ' circumference. It provide? ample space for two walking rings, each 16ft in width. Thirteen loose-boxes have been erected at right > I angles to those already on the ground, giv- ' ' ing the club 30 boxe? In the grand stand I the small panes of glass in the end facing the entrance to th» straight have been removed, and plate-glass windows have been ■ , substituted Flower beds have been made | and planted tkirtin^ the lawn, and the | plants are now in bloom, adding much to , the picturesqucness of the grounds Plans for a new tea kiosk and a judee's box have , been authorised and the erection of the=e buildmsrs will soon be undertaken. It is intended to provido new offices for the ' offioio's and to open tho=e now in use for I the public. Altogether over £150 has been ; I spent in imprcnements thi= year | I —There is not much satisfaction to be [ srained from lod^ms; complaints ag-ainst ' I handicappers in England , at least that is ' the opinion expressed by Mr ~R Sievier in his paper, the Winning Po«t He *ays that when any owner has officially brought to the notice of the authorities that his hor c c, < in his opinion, has not been equitably handicapped, he has received some opposition from the stewards, who invariably hold a I brief for anybody licen=ed under Jockey Club rules. He then add" • "We remember lodging a complaint that two of our horses were unfairly handicapped, and it ' was heard ft Newmarket After the 'a-e was over. Lord Durham personally told us that . he was of opinion that ore of the hordes had been too severely dealt with. We felt , contented until a notice appeared in the Racing Calendar to the effect that the steward* did. not consider th^re va= any reason for the objection we had tak^n. This i i= rather foiciblv clt ng the rnomli of the | owner than enccuraein? him to point out an error, privately admitted, but publicly contradicted " — Baron Maurice do Roth'chiM, the winner of the irten-t Grand Prix do Paris, as not the first .Rothschild to win the race, for '

about 10 years ago it was won by Barons Alphonse and G-ustave, racing in partnership. On. that occasion the brothers gave the whole of the winnings to the municipality of Paris for distribution among the city's poor. Baron Maurice is one of their nephews, being the second son of Baron Edmond, the youngest of the of Baron James, the founder of the French house. Mr James de Rothschild, the owner of Bomba, is his eider brother Most of the Rothschilds domiciled, or principally domiciled, in England prefer to drop the hereditary title of " Baron " (granted by the Austrian Emperor in 1822), and this has been done by Mr James de Rothschild, although the rest of the French branch of the family, including Baron Henri, the well-known philanthropical doctor of medicine, still retain it. Mt Alfred and Mr Leopold de Rothschild, Lord Rothschild's brothers, have never used the title, but Baron Ferdinand, the M.P. far Aylesbury, did. —On the subject of four-yeax-olds as stud horses, "Vigilant," in the London Sportsman, writes : — "Common would probably have trained on into a Cup harse had Sir Blundell M«<ple given him the chance, and certainly Common's career affords no encouragement to those who contemplate using fcur-year-olds as etud horses. Flying Fox, it is trae, sired Ajax and Gouvernant when he was a four-yeaf-old, but he only covered: A very few mazes that season, and it was not really W. ~ Edmond Blanc's wish that he should be taken out of training, if only John Porter .could have seen his way to retain the horse at Kingsclere. G-altee More would h*ve tuh as a four-year-old, but he could not be wound up. There have bean times when White Eagle might have been retired at. the top of his value had Colonel Hall Walker been so disposed, and probably no animal in training has such -a fluctuating reputation as this beautifully-bred son of Gallinule and Merry Gal. In ali such case:?, however, it is well to remember ttuit whether a horse was on the up line or the down when he retired from the turf is all one when he has sired a few really -good winners. On the other hand, if his first stock" are not at once successful, his turf reputation actually handicaps him, for breeders are in suck a case more prone to feel disappointed, measuring these stud results by the standard of the somewhat extravagant expectations to which the stallion's turf career gave rise." — A.t the recent sales in England Ameri-can-brad yearling 3 , as a whole, went very cheaply, and several of the brood mares sent up by Mt J B. Haggin were almost given away. The "Special Commissioner," who has no liking foi these importations, says the result was such as to almost dissuade Americans from sending bloodstock to England for sale, and then added. "I think everyone who knows him likes Mr John Mackey, wro manages for Mr Haggin, tut it is idle to pretend that these invasions on our bloodstock market are popu'ar, nor can they be anything but injurious to the breed at large so long as Messrs Weatherby keep on admitting to the Stud Bcok anything and everything that comas over with an American Stud Book certificate, tuough it contains lines in its pedigree which are outside our "book. They do not honoui Australian Stud Book certificates in this way, we have seen such a hoise as Newhaven sant back to Australia be'iuse Messrs Weatherby would not register him In this case there was no real reason to doubt that he was a pure thoroughbred but this could not be proved in every detail. With American pedigrees you can genera'*y show beyond possib.lities o! -dispute thai there aie certain strains quit© foreign to the English Stud Bcok. » Yet we accept them and reject the colonies. A vast amount of harm was done to our breed by the acceptance of Foxhall alone, and now that the Jockey Cub stewards really control the Stud Book it is not unreasonable to hope that they will respectfully and carefully close it to all but genuine representative* of pure blcod."