IN A NUTSHELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 55

IN A NUTSHELL

— The Southland Racing Club hold their ■wixuxaai meeting on the 24th inst. —La Kbtte, the dam of Nightfall and Koctuifornj, recently foated a colt to Merriwes. — The Papakura marc Clarabelle recently fell and broke her neck whilst being schooed over hurdles. -*-The' LeDlaatis pony Lao Grand was recently cold in Mebourne for 460gs, and is to go to India. —Mr W. T. Hazlett will hold office for & second year as! president of the Southland Racing Club. — All Red finished last in the Hprowhenua Cup. Perhaps *he son of Madder is only half Te(a)dy at present". —Mr Musker, one of the well-known English sportsmen of th*t name, is a-t present on a viait to Sew Zealand. — Qumfrrte, * half-brother by Multiform to lios Angehu. is amongst those engaged in the Trial Plate at Ashburton. — -Mr Fairie. "owner of the crack English three-year-old Bayaido, spent several of the earlier dmys of his life in Australia. — Aborigine has been solidly supported for the Caulfield Cup, a-nd is now one of the best-fancied candidates for that event. -r- There were 167 " entries and only fo.ur starters for the "ten thousand pounder," the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park (EnsO. — Handicaps for the first day- of the Geraldine meeting are due on Friday of fbis week. *nd acceptarce3 must be handed in on the 23nd - inst. — Tfae entries received far the Jackson Stakes and WAnganui Guin*£S pi 1910 and 1811 respectively make a record for the Wacpanui Jockey Club. — Kairoma** success in Sydney would probably make him a cheap horse at the 200eove, ■which it is understood his present owner laid out in his purchase —It is expected that Mt S. H«rdern (the \ late Mr ' Samuel Hordern'a «ld«i»t son) will carry oa the Wilton Park Stud, and may probably go in for racing. — The net value of the -estate I<ffc by the lat» Mt "J^e" Thompson, for 50 years ' a member of thr ltettiug ring, has been sworn at 'J66,150. The Victorian "estate contributed neicriv £43 000 to the total. — The Wynd^wn Ricing Clnb' have decided to give away 4tiosovs in stakes at their annual mecfeinp. This amount represents an increase of 70bovs over last year. — Tumut made his Australian debut *t a i#cent Moorfield meeting. Carryine 9.5, the New Zealander ran second in the Flying Handicap, of lOOsovs, run over six fiwlongs. One of the first of Boniform'e foals is a filly from Barley Bree. the Australian-bred daughter of The Cardinal and the imported Barealdiue mare BaTley, the dam of Maltster. — Th<» annual T«port of tbe stewards of the Wellington Racing Cub states thai the urofits on the year's working: amounted to £VT2*. Tre stakes distributed totalled ■ £17,170. — A Sydney cablegram stares that DonHannibal has been turned out for a spell. which will last several months. The horse contracted a severe cold, which unset his system. " — Mr F. WLean is making fair progress with the building of 12 loose-boxes on his property at Wingatui. and when completed there will be accommodation for 18 horses at his stables. — Nominations for the Dunedin Jockey Club's spring meeting are due on Friday of thi& week. Every race on the programme as worth winning, a-J they all carry lOOsovs or more in stakes. — — The brood znlare Housewife, dam of Perates, Tecentfv gnve birth to twin colt foals by Murillo (imp.), both of whom eventually died. Housewife missed to Lancaster last year. — Tbe fcTew Zealand pup candidates Field Gun, Heorthen. Cyn-biforn*. Bontade, and Outiander. figure amcr.gst the nominations for the •pTMcipal «ien£s to be decided at the Geraldine meeting. — Street betting at Birmingham (England) has caused the police to resort to all manner of devices to keep it in check. Recently a policeman -disguised as a clergyman was on the Icok-aut for some days. % — The Lord Rosslyn two-year-old Vid is

[ looking fairly forward in condition, and since he was under the ha-mmer a few months ago has developed into a well-grown and attractive-looking youngster. — The St. Ambrose — Crimea colt Odessa, who was one of the srr.axtest looking yearlings sold last November, will probably journey from the Korth Island in order to be given a run at the D.J.C. spring meeting. — Ihe R-egel mare Regulation has joined the active brigade once more, and is to be prepared for liurdJing, at which she has previously proved successful. She has had two seasons at the stud without result. — The imported Cheshire (Tarporley — Maybud), who was among the lots sold at the Yaldhurst dispersal sale, is to do stud duty this season, and this apparently suggests that he has not been able to stand training. —Mr J. R. Mackenzie has placed a Pallas colt in Javis's stable fco be got ready for racing. The colt's dam is an Australian'bred marc named Highland Lass, and she was got by Highlander from L»dy Flowerfield. — The Ashburton Racing Club have received excellent acceptances for their spring meeting, which takes place this week, and if fine weather is on hand it should prove one of the most successful held on the course. — The Auckland' Trotting Club intend offering a 23Osovs purse for any stallion or mara going a mile in- 2.14, and should nothing be capable oi getting to tha* mark, ! a purse ot lOOsovs -will be offered for a horse goinjr 2.1£ or undsF. — Tb« Riverton Racing Glub are going 'in for some ext-ansive imprcvements on 'their course. The amount to be emended is to hs clo=e on SOOsove. and from this it will be '■sen that the comfort of theitr patrons is bain? studied in a geneicus manner. — The Forbury Park Trotting Club have ordered a water-cart sprinkler similar to the one in use at Christchurch, and exoect to «»et d-elivexy of it in a few days. The sprinkler will have a wide throw, -which will water the track in almost one spread. — The St. Ambrose colt St. Felix has wintered remarkably well. He has apparently not grown) up « great deal, "but has thickened and furnished out in a pleasing manner, and apart from beincr a bit heavyj headed, looks a horse of considerable quality. — Idyll, by Multiform— Belliceni. who was purchased by Mr A. Skirving at the sale of the late Mr G. G. Stead's horses last year, won he'" fi>st Taee on August 28 at Williamstown. -Melbourne, -when she was successful in the Williamstown Purse, a six-furlong haadican. —It is- undertstocd that J. Hall, who rode Xadador to victory in the last Grand National Steeolecha.ES. has decided to nermarcntly retire from the saddle. During his time. Hall has ridden <tlie winners of nearly all the important cross-country events in the Dominion. — The Winton Jockey Club have ispued the programme for their annual meeting. ' when the sum of J2oosovs will be distributed m prize raojiex-. The "Wiuioii Caw. of 130soirs. one milft and a-quar'er. and the Birthday^ Stakes Handicap, of UOsovs, one mile, are to b« the orincipal events. — The Auckland Trotting Club mede a profit of £1008 9ii 9d over last season's operations, wliea 3610sovs was given away in stakes. It was decided to introduce a three-mile race at each meeting- of the dub, also to continue the race for harness horses only, and to offer purees for track records. — Horse-owners intending to engage horses at the North Otago Jockey Club's spa-ing meeting should make a special note of the fact that acceptances for the first day close at 1 p.m.. on Monday, October 18. The meeting is yet a month or so* away, but it is just as well to put the sews into circulation. — The Birkenhead mare Iney. who won * double at Horowhenua last week, ran second to Los Angelos on the second day of the National meeting in the August Handicap. She is a daugbt?r of the St. Leger mare Lady Reay, who w-as got by Carbineer (son of Musket) from Winnie, the dam of Record Reign. — Owners of hurdlers or prospective hurdlers should note the fact that four lOOsovs hurdle raoes come for decision at Wingatui and Oamaru naict inonth.^ We have not unearthed many crack leppers of late, and as clubs are fairly generous in thai line, a useful hurdler woufil pay hir way handsomely. — The Austrian Government has purchased tbe English St. Leger winner Wool-winder, who in his racing days was valued at 30,000g5. Mr John O'Keefe. of Victoria, imported a half-brother to Woolwinder in Windlestrso a couple of year; back, ; but the colt unfortunately died. Woolwinder was sold at 15,000g5. — Ttrenty-feven nominations have been received for the Geraldine R.C. Ohapi Hack Handicaps of 30sovs, and excellent entries have been received for the balance of events on the programme. In fac£, if a lengthy nomination list is *n\ criterion to go by, the club should experience a highly successful meeting. — The M'Kay Bros, have a shaped yearling fiHy in hand that looks promising. She was got by th* Government stallion Singlestick II from Tugela, who was a good campaigner in her racing days. Tugela suggests the Boer war, Singlesticks suggests mimic war. and perhaps Stun* Fight would be a suitable xame- for the filly. — The Gore Racing Club last week held an inquiry into ihe bona fides of Brownhill. who won the Mataura Trotting Handicap at the club's spring meeting. Evidence taken on the matter has been Teferred to the New Zealand Trotting Association. The ! horse ran in the nomination of Mr W. Headeison, and was ridden by the owner. — Aber b-Tothock, who won tbe Horowlienua Cup from end to end last week, was handi- ' capped in the New Zealand Cup at 6.8. but dropped out, cf the race at -the first acceptance. He was got by Paoakur-a (St. Leger — Muskerira) from Miniaiure. by Medallion from Miss Lucy (dam of Barmbv), by St. George (brother to Chester) from Miss Flat, the dam of Welcome Jack — The Taieri Amateur Turf Club, after a lengthy adherenoe to by no means colos&al stakes, have opened their purse wider than usual when tacking on the prize-list to their next spring- rrc-eting In fact, +he programme is prnbablv the be^t ever issued by the club. The three principal events are to be the Taieri Cud, of 90snvs ; the Stewards' Welter, of 50sovs ; and the Flying Handicap, of 6-Osovs —In connection with ftp disqualification of the horse Ellis trainer (Lander), and jockey (Trenoweth). at Boulder (W.A ). recently, the stipendiary steward:, received notification from a firm of solicitors that steps will be taken to quash the disqualification, on the grounds that it is irregular, rfor the reason that neither iramer nor jockey »-a= present when the evidence was taken at, the inquiry — The Futuri'y Stakes, of SOOsovs, decided at Ascot (Vie), wts won by the Sydney horse Denver Huon (late S. W ). by Huon Jun.— Leila : Van Roy was second, and Birclimeirk third. Other starters were Louie,

Ostler Lad, Daisy, Philos, You and I, and Bolderwood. The wir&er p\it up 3.24 for the mile and a-half, and during the race stepped a mile in 2.16.

— Lord Soult, a not too sound, but remarkably speady, horse, up to five furlongs, bobbed up as a wim er at the Horowhenua meeting last week. It will be remembered that this gelding kept Gold Cresf fairly busy over th© first part of the Stewards' Handicap, in which the latter got a%ay with a moving start after the field had been, at the post for close on half an hour. — The Tapanui Racing Club have a balance in hand of £173 19s, and during the past couple of seasons have been floating along on a. tide of prosperity which augurs well" for future meetings. The dub intend erecting a ne-jr totalisator-house, and altogether things are in a marked contrast to the state of affairs which nearly brought a disbandxnent of the club, some four or five years ago. — Corns on horses' feel sometime' cause considerable lameness. Suppuraiive enras ate the most troublesome, and requ : xe immediate attention. Ths foot is inflamed and may. be swollen at tfce coronet. In badlyformed feet it ia impossible to stop the development of corns. The shoeing .should receive the necessary attention. # In bad cases removing the shoes- and turning the horse on pasture is th« best kuid of treatment. — The Pony Club at Wellington* aTe evidently on » good wicket if a correspondent of a Wellington paper has got hold" of Teal facts. The wrrter in question points out that th« stakes given at a recent meeting i amounted to £135, and against this the j amounts resev-'od in nominations and acceptances amount to £102. bookmakers' fees £157, jockey licenses £20, estimated gate | £200. leaving a balance to the club of £854 for the day. -, — A good-looking and perfectly Found filly by Ard Patrick was soW; in England last month for 85gs. Mr Allison, of tt« London Sportsman, remarks that this seems an almost Gilbertian price, when we ie:a-ll Ard Patrick's race with Sceptre for the Echpse Stakes, and his sate for 20,000gP. The filly w»3 bought by Mr Arthur Collins {whose brother was private secretary to Mr GeorgeMusgrovo in Victoria), and is intended for career on the stage, instead of the racecourse. — All Red, one of the ruling fancies for the New Zealand Cup, was prominent in the early stages of the Horowhenua- Cup, but faded out in the run home. It i» understood thai the son of Madder will race at Wanganui and Tier th am prior to being stripped at Riccarton. All Rsd is a bigtopped horse, and a couple of races should help to sharpen him up a lot. Full advantage of this can be taken, as. in the event of winning, his pei.aliy for the Cup would only amount to lib. _ — European admirers of the trotting horse ar« interested just now in Ihe fensational track performances of a French-bred trotting eiallion called Jockey, that recently covered a mil© in 2.9? ov«r a half-mile track, and has covered tfa« Half-mile in 1.2 1-5. itn one' exception thi* is the fastest trotter co far produced in Europe. His performance has been beaten by a Russian trotter, that went the -mile in 2.8>. Jockey has one cross of American blocd. but other th~n this comes of families that have never been noted for spep3, tha speediest cf his ancestors having a mark of 2.34. — The victory of Bayardo in the St. L-^geT confirms the opinion of the English critics, who even in the light of the colt's failures in the early part of the season still claimed him ts be the best of the year. He was clearly the be*t two-year-old sesn out last season. He missed fire iv the Two Thousand Guineas awd Derby, "but has sines struck form, and proved himself the higfac'oss colt which bis admirers, with good grounds, claim him tb be. Bayatdo is a son of Bay Ronald (son of Hampton and the Galliard mare Black Duchess) and Galacia. by Galopin from the Isononry mare Isolefta. — A writei in the Field in referring to Spearmint cays: — "The pedigree of Spearmint contains no Gaktpin blood, and none of Hampton or Bend Or, but Stockvoell and ifswmfh.'Ster (the grandsl:* and sire ,of thehorses just nan&d) are to ba found, atfdv in fact, Spearmint had three strains of Stock 1 well, one of Stockw-elTs half-brother King Tom, five of Tcuchston«, »nd of Mel-' iKurce, wbil-e he baa some Blacklock blood if the pedigree is taken righ* back. To have a new strain or lins of Ec'ipse in a j Derby winner, even if it comes Trom Touchstone, is most -satisfactory. \ — Ihe Sylvia Park filly Dolce, -who won i a double at the Marton meeting, followed up that success by scoring again at HoTowhenua. Dolce was not a wien-er last .year when, as ' a thxee-year-old, she made- her first appear- i ance on- the turf,, but she is evidently in ] fairly good shape at preeenr. Her sire is , a biother to the one-time well-known performer Hippjmenes, and also to St. Regal, a sire of winners. Gavotte, the dam of : Dolce, was got by Vanguard from Symphony by. Perkin Warbsck from I>ady of the Lake, ■ the dam of Lady Lorraine, who is be»t known 'in the south as the producer of Warsaw. —As showing the difficulty attached to winning an Epsom Handicap, an Australian writer points o.iit that only two horses carrying w-eight-for-age or ovef have ever proved successful in th-e -evest. They were Marvel (10.2) a-nd Sequence (9.4), who w«ro both five years old at the time of their respective victories. In view cf ti« fad that the four-year-oldg — Parsee, Hyman. Irishman, and Aborigine — are al! fancied for this year's race, the same writer points cut that they all have mar* than weigbt-for-age, -while a reference to th© history of tre race shows that only five four-year-olds have won with 8.0 or over. — The thoroughbred horse Pallas one of the speediest, racers the Dominion has ever known, is to stand at the Popotunot Stud. Clinton. Pallas ony served a couple of mares in Ins first season, and in that ye«.r he g-ot All Guns, a brilliant .performer and a winrer up to a mile and a-quarter. Pallas has a pedigree which combines such highly<=nrcessful lines as those represented by the names of Musket (imp ), Apremont (imp.), Albury (imp.). Rupee (imp.). Sledmere (imp ), and i ther valuable atrairs which go -to make up a mo3t attractivo pedigree. In addition to the proved valu° cf Pallaa on the turf tiis attractive conformation and peli=rree undoubtedly menfd the paironage of Heeders —In order to give horse-owners every facility for .getting their horses into shape for early engagements, tbc Forbury Park Trotting Club will open tneir new track for training purposes it the end of the w-eek, or as near that date as circumstances will permit To bring this about the club have arranged with tbeir contractor to expedite the completion of about half the widtli of the i;-«ick, and then to throw that portion open for training. The balance will then be gciie on with, and probably finished towards the end of next week. By thia means the track will be submitted to a test before final completion, and will th-en be a chance to retrieve any eiror dis-

covered in the completed portion of the formation. . ' —On ihe eve of last week's publication i M* H. L. James, secretary of the Forbury Park Trotting Club, courteously allowed the : writer to have a- glanc« 4 at the programme for the inaugural meeting to be held on the new track. The programme had not been finally passed before being submitted to the authorities, and since then the committee have slightlj altered the -class conditions attached tc some of the events on the programme. The President's Handicap will bft a smin class handicap instead of 4.55, and the Forbury Cup will be extended from 4.50 to 4.55. The number of nchly«ndowed evants on the programme has create a, good deal of favourable comment amongst sportsmen. and m due «oot"« tfcj magnetic power of their values should attract a liberal list of nominations. — The" following suggestions have teen made by the N.S.W. Breeders, Owners,^ Trainers' Association to 3h* A.J.C com mtttof-tt) To reserve the jockeys and s^bte lads' "*«<* in the saddling paddock sLs* s .ia-^-Sff w? object- of betting information, and ■ Oj*"™: ing them in the <wt of «fu»] •; WJ»* » fining the. conditions for the Epsom Handicap^ tfee Metropolitan, Itencaster Handi2£%id Sytosy Cup. in future, winning Wes or -ap to-JE2OO prize-money m one race should not incur » penalty; (4> that ttoe prise-money for any rac^m tb* metropolitan area should not b» less than £100. The, VRC after consultation and sgreeas the V.R.C. approve a badge, P*™?* 11 *** on all race days to all racecourses inside th* 20-mile radius n&r V.R.C. ru es, for; which they will require to pay « Ss, in addition U> the fee of 10s (which all *•»«■ £"?£,£* for * license to train under V.XC. "guhv tions). To those already **g"*«« d *» badg* will cost the difference between to* present Ma foi regfstrahon and «■• fee for the badge. Any racecourse authority «« refuse the" right of entry given by the t^ge to any holder who in their opinion misconducts himself, but- any sucb c«e must be promptly repcrted to the V.B.C. The fees Sd for badges will be p*i<> to he credit of the Distressed and Disabxed °— -Prince Focte, the winner of the Chelmsford Stakes, run at the Sydney Tattetsall s Club meeting at Kandwick on Sattirday, has bean th.c xuling favourite for the A.J.c. Derby, and will form part of the strongest opposition which Provocation will h »X« to contend against. As a two-year-ola J^e* Foote won the A.J.C. Sires' Produce Stakes. of-1112sovs, and ran the seven furlongs in the record time of 1.26. Prince Foote was got by the imported horse Sir Foote from Petrix^cWtft, "in imported mare got by Isinglass from Pet of tns Chas*, by F-»t«r w Diana, by Galopin from Fair - Rosamond, oy. King John from Seclusion. Consequently the crack rivals *or honours in th® va.uablo Randwdck classic run back to the same traproot. The New 'Zsaland mare Artillerie is evidently getting back to form, as ran second ta Prince Fcote. while Malt King (who finished third) defeated Prince Foote in the A.J.C. Champagne Stakes when in receipt of 101b. —In R-andwiok Notes, appearing in a- raoent issue .of the Sydney Mail, the following reference is made to New Zealand 'horses: — Provocation arrived at Randwick on the 31st ult. without mishap, and has joinei the little colony of New Zealanders domiciled heTe. J. Cameron, who train's far Mr F. Dongas. has five Maorilanders in work, thrco of them, being jumpers. Bullworth, * steeplechaser, is a low. thickset chestnut, and is in full wok; but Waipu and Kiatexe, wbo were • inKMelbnurne for the Nationals, are not doing much except hacking, about and swimming. Ikon, one of Cameron's lot, is said to Ire smart, but a trine infirm, and a chestnut colt named Seraphic, by The Possible, has his admirers. Kairoma. a big, plain-look-ing hurdler, and Mundic, arrived from New Zealand la-st week, and are doing steady work, whiL© Axtill-erie. nSunut, ancL Osiris havd l>ccsm« quite old hands, and -are in excellent condition. ~~ — Baluarte, regarded as the lhampion horse in South Afrk«, is bsing sent to England, and will be located at H. Escott's sfables at L»3w«s. He is South Americanbr«J, but arrived- in South Africa when a yearling. E. 6. do Mestre, who has charge of the horse, is well known «ts a successful trainer in South Africa. An Australian by birth, he bfts all his life bees' associated with racehorses. Hm father, the Jste Mr E. do Mestre, .bad the honour of winning the first Melbourne Cuj. ever run for. That was in 1861, when Archer carried the "all black" to the fore, and repeatei his eucoess in the fol 'owing yew. In 1867 Tim Whifiler wore the- same jacket first pa*t thft -poet, and Calanaai in 1878 mcd» th» fouitt Melbourne Cup winner owned and trained by Mr J9 Mestre. The later also txai&ed Chaster when that good horea won the double, V.R.C.. Derby and Melbourne Cup (1877), the most coveted combination in Australian racing. Merman was -jioth«r of Mr die Mestre's breeding. It is E. G. de Mestre's intention to resume training in England if an opportunity presents itself. —An «ditoriaJ on "Gambling in France," in the Paris Journal, give* come very interesting and instructive figures. In the summer at the seaside resorts and watering places, and in winter, principal!} on the Cote d'Azur and Nice and its environs (not including, of course, Monte Carlo), from November 1, 1907. to October 31, 1908, the enormous amount of 370,423.815 francs was risked on the tapis verts cf its casinos at baccarat and ecarte (279,270,075) and petits chcvaiuc (91,159.740). The Government collects 15 per cent, of the profits, which it disburses for charitable purposes. The clubs of Psris and other cities do not figure in theee tota's. Ths amounts risked there are erormou'S. and also unknown, to the statisticians, who deal only with the public games sanctioned and controlled by law If y&u add to the above 304,000,000 francs received and distributed by the pari-mutuel at the races, y_u get the tidy sum of 674,429,815 francs risked at summer and winter casinos and on racecourses, upon which the Government levies and. disburses a percentage for the sacred ca.use of charity. — English critics are very e-er-ere on jockeys in the Old Country. In some places Maher was harshly cri'icieed. after he ha<i easily won the Eclipse Stakes on Bayardo. "There's a great jockey," remarked one good judge as Bayardo passed the post. "He deserved to be beaten for taking the risk of being shut in," was the counterblast ! of t'-feveral. As a matter of £act there was never the si ghteet danger of Bayardo baing boxed in, though he was certainly behind Royal Realm, on the rails, Santo Strato, and Your Majesty when th«y w«re running almost abreast when a quarter of a mile remained to bo covered. Asked after the race whj h©

kept B*yardo on the heels of his three opponents while in the fira half of the straight, Maher »pUed: "Why not? Should I have come and won my race tbi*» furlongs Irom home, and then perhaps have lost it again? Danger of being boxed in? -K« b r bish! When the other three donew almosfl into line I was some distance behind chenv-. I gradually drew closer, and. when I got to their heels ever so slight a deviation placed! mo on the outside with a cleas rnn. In; the meantime the others were pacing me *nfi preventing my horse staring up the course. As English writer tells " of «* unique incident- tbat was witnessed At oroodwoon 4 on July 38. It appears that after winnng the Singletor Plate, Eoche Abbey stumbled, and, unseating Evans, her jockey, galloped off across the- hills. W Waugh, the mare a trainer, with assistance, caught the runaway, animal two miles off, and TSvans subsequently passed the scales all right There was some talk of the horse being disqualified, but there was no ground for such, rumours, as the unusual incident is coverea • by rule 153 (2) which reads as follows: — "li * jockey does not present himself t<^ weigh in, or dismount before reaching th# place appointed for that purpose, or toucM (except* accidentally) any person or thin* other than his own equipments, hefdr^ weighing, in, his horse is disqualified unless he -can satisfy, the steward* "tb*t he w»» justified by extraordinary . circumstances."Waugh had an exciting experience, as th« i first, policeman's hack h« mounted- -ft) fco ha 1 pursuit' of.' the ran*way threw him. " He I then borrowed another animal, and this 'he ' left, in .charge of a, stranger' an catching Roche Abbey. The last-named was naturally distressed on returning, and she, having twisted < plate, a blacksmith had to be requisitioned. — " Aborigine is one J have heard (says "Milroy") a great deal about fronr New ZealandeTs, who, however, seem disposed to regard all their geese as swans since thej , successful invasions inaugurated by Mr G. " G. Stead, which were supplemented by the successes of Solution and. Muniapoto. Aborigine can certainly get six furlongs well, but he is built only for springing, being short-bodied and somewhat high on tha leg. fie is not An attractive horse in repose or in h\B slow paoe«, but he looks the part well when extended. A great fuss, £ see, is being i made over his having run six furlongs on th» magpie track «t Randwick in about lmin lGsec. That, of course* is always sxnfkxt time to make with shoes, but Aborigine is not the only watch-smasher that has set his backers thinkn& after a magpie track trial — not by many. Mooltam or Mountain King could be depended upon in their best days to make faster time than ' Aborigine did on the magpie, but they were champions, «nd it is only what they should! have done; but we have seen several horses i that were not up to top-notch form m&ka time equally as good aa that accredited to Aborigine, who has been backed heavily for, and may win, the Epsom Handicap *nd\ Caulfield Cup, but if he winr eithei I will be one of the disappointed- lot." . " Milroy "' is evidently overlooking the excellnt , form, - over a • mile, or more displayed by Aborigine. in this "country. -Aborigine -w<m the Wanganui Guineas ; the Great Northern Guineas, one mile, in lmin 40sec; the A.R.C. Easter Handicap, one mile,' in lmin 40 - 4-ssc ; the Thompson Handicap, and the Burke Memorial Handicap, li, miles, in 2min Bsec when! carrying 8.10. < — A membe. of the Gore Racing Clutj writes a strongly-toned letter, in which' the committee use attacked for making onlyi a «osovs increase of prize-money -ior theia spring meeting. Our corresponden-t states that the G.R.C. have 700sovs in hand after, paying all liabilities, and have- placed 500sov* on fixed deposit for two years. It is unnecessary to publish further extracts from tha letter, as, it would only engender ill-feeling between the members and patrons of tha' club, and this is by no means a state of . affairs to be d«siced. Our correspondent is\, probably a bit wrong in his facts, a$ the Gore Club have something like lOOOsovs in hand, ' but by way of throwing oil on troubled! waters the writer takes tb* liberty of pointing out that it is understood a viery rubstantial increase ot stakes is contemplated? for the Bummer meeting. It ' is a gr««tr pity, the G.R.C. committee did not mention this when they met to finally paas their spring; programme- and thereby a-void a lot of <h<J| ili-feeling which has btaa. in tfo© •.ira-spherft,' 1 It is understood that sonketmng like 300£ ova will bs tacked' on to the summer programme," but the club has been bo reticent about tba matter thai many will be under the impression the committee have been forced tcj widen the mouth j£ their puree-. The writer was 1 -usde- th impression when llh« SOeova increase was announced that the club contemplated brißding » new grand stand, and! if so tb* .locking up of a large sum, of money wa^to a certain extent justified. Tfcei ' conrmiitee. however, made no announcement/ ' of their plans, an? in future it would pro- ' mote harmony amongat the members if the officials judiciously relaxed their Star Chamber methods. — Mi J. Kelleher, president of the Tua- ' pekft County Jockey Club, writes protesting against the newly-formed Southland: Trotting Club selecting a date for then meeting, which clashes witr that- of the gathering) at Lawrence* The New Zealand Trotting Association has informed the Tua-peka Clutl that the trotting authorities do not wane to interfere with any other club, and would give the nmfctei due consideration. There in no doubt that if the present dates are adhered to the Tuapek* Clul will be the sufferer, because the purely trotting programme aft Invercatgill may b» safely calculated to draw most of the available trotters within fairly, easy access to both meetings, and the T.C. Jockey Club cannot afford to lose a nomination. This clashing of the fixtures jwt onJyi means an absence of horses, but also of followers and inter-eet, and tb» jumping ot tha dates savours of unfairness to the club which had a prior right to it. There ia room for a trotting club at Invercarsill, but the writer would not like to see it start ita life by driving a nail into the coffin of an- ' other club. The Southland Trotting ClufV* are under the impression that the date of ' their meeting will not interfere with the Tuapeka meeting, but thia may be tak«n to> mean that the fact of the Tuapeka meeting! j being in prcgress will not jeopardise the sue- ' cess of the southern gathering. There ia probably not a member of the Trotting A ago- ' ciation who is aware of the real position,',' and if the Southland Club i« allowed: to holdi > their selected date it may be on account of unconscious bias of » trotting association to- > wards a purely trotting club. Consequently the Tuapeka Club may make up their minds • to bear any loss of patronage which the un-T fortunate clashing- may bring about. —The Greek, who led the field home in th« ' South Australian Derby kst week, is returned as by Pygmalion, and I presume wo may conclude (says "Phaeton"! *a»t the sue mentioned is identical with the ApremonU —^autllus horae bred in New Zealand. Pygmalion, who, it may be M>m*rked, wa* foaled in the same season as Medallion, was purchased at two years old by the late Mr W. R. Wilson, and he was, I fancy, the only horse that ever carried the colours of

** Victoria's beloved sportsman" in New j 'Zealand. It was in the autumn of 1689 ! that Mr Wilson bought Pygmalion, and the dolt ran in his interests in the C.J.C. , Vhampagne Stakes and Challenge Stake*. : Mede-Uion, who carried the colours of the •lute Mr Gr. G. Stead, was in the way in the Champagne Stakes, and the upshot of an exciting finish between the chestnut Bon of Nordenfeldt and the bay son of Apremoiit was a length victory for the former. On the second day of • the Riccarto4 meeting Medallion and : Pygmalion met to fight their battle «'er _ again, when the lattex, with 2lb the worst of the weights, to general surprise turned the tables on his chestnut opponent. On being transported to Victoria Pygmalion did ! well in his training, and one particular gallop that he executed in the quiet retreat of St. Albans was such as to cause him to be heavily backed for the' Cornfield Cup of 1890. But he ran badly all through hie three-year-old) career, and it was not until the sumurer of 1891 that he made a return of a. portion <.f the large -sum -which he cost Mr Wilson as a two-year-old. Pygmalion was folded in 1887, so that he is 'now 22 years old. ;