Turf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 252, 14 January 1928, Page 8

Turf Notes

Conducted by + ——

“EARLY BIRD”

Up For Auction It is understood that J. Thorpe intends to sell Right and Left at the conclusion of the Dargaville fixture. Off to Australia Again It is reported that Mr. W. J. Craig may send Perle de Leon over to Australia again during the coming season. If he goes Gaze will most likely accompany him. Promoted Sudden Storm, who is a three yearold sister to Childsplay, will race in open sprint company at Trentham. She proved herself smart when racing as a hack, and it will be interesting to see how she fares among the betterclass opponents she will have to meet in future. Royal Mint Gone to Hawera Owing to the hard tracks prevailing at Ellerslie it was thought advisable to send Royal Mint to fresh pastures. On Thursday he was shipped to New Plymouth, and will go from there to Hawera, where the Catmint gelding will enter R. Brough’s stable. Prob-

ably Royal Mint will be got ready fo: the Egmont, Taranaki and Wanganu Cups next month, three events in i fortnight that > Piuthair won last year Coming Quickly to Hand

The five-year-old mare Princess Ronnie sprinted very smartly over a few furlongs at Ellerslie on Thursday, and is evidently training on in the right manner. She has been nominated for events at Takapuna, and all going well in the meantime will be a competitor. The Polydamon mare was very consistent last year, and it appears as if she will do even better in the future.

Paleta Back Again W. H. Dwyer has brought Paleta, winner of the Great Northern Guineas, in again. The son of Leighton was given a spell after returning from Riccarton and he looks much improved as a result. Dwyer took Kiosk, Vexillum, Limosa and War Wings to Awa-

puni and Marton, but did not win a race, two seconds by Kiosk being the best the team could do. Limosa is capable of doing much better than her performances during the holidays showed, and she will probably prove this later on. Plenty of Room! Opponents of the establishment of the totalisator in England claim as one of their arguments against the mechanical odds-maker that there is no room for it on many of the English racecourses. Such a statement seems to be devoid of commonsense. Where is the place in the world where they cannot find room to take easy money? Might Be Sold Gala Day did not race as well as could have been/ expected at Ellerslie recently, and was obviously not at his best. If present intentions are adhered to, he will go to Wellington, and it is quite likely that during the meeting lie will be put up for sale. The Quin Abbey gelding does not appear a good proposition for Trenthani, and it. is quite likely that he will be given a respite on his return. A Swallow Catcher Mr. H. M.* Campbell’s three-year-old filly Tiger Lass (Kilboy—Tigritiya), who before Woodville was reputed to be very fast, but who both at that meeting and at Hastings failed to get into the money, is not too sound and in consequence trainer T. Clark has not been able to do what he should. In the autumn and winter months, with softer tracks, she may then produce her best. New Zealanders Prominent The New Zealand jockey, O. Cullum, rode Master Get, the winner of the hurdle race at Tattersall’s meeting at Sydney on December 31. The winner was favourite. On the same day M. McCarten rode Ulali, the winner of the Chelmsford Handicap. TJlah also was favourite. On the second day, January 2, Jazz Baby, who was not greatly fancied, ran third in the Flying Handicap, and Runnymede also started in Tattersail’s Club .Cup, the race being run in 2.301, which equals the Australasian record.

Epistle For Foxton A great ■ constitution does Epistle possess. Raced at Gisborne, Feilding, Woodville, Manawatu (three days) and Hastings, she is m>w as fresh as paint to go on and tackle Foxton, where, with 8.13, she will take some heading off. At none of the above meetings did she fail to gain place money, while she won three and a-half races. At Hastings on Tuesday morning, without any trouble, she ran half a mile in 50J.

The Hawk Sprints Fast The Hawk held a decided advantage, although not marginally, over Goshawk in a three-furlong sprint on the plough at Hastings on Tuesday last, in the very fast time of 35 4-5. This does not look like a has-been. The Old Story Again “All’s well that ends well” on the racecourse as well as in other places. An incident, however, which occurred before the running of the Invercargill Cup ended well enough up to a point—but up to a point only. A punter had been given £SO by another punter to put on Countersign in this race, and duly obtained the tickets from the totalisator. Conversing about his investment shortly after with a friend, he made the startling discovery that he had put his money on Nincompoop. A hurried visit was paid to the totalisator people, and they agreed to do their best to dispose of the tickets on Nincompoop, taking other tickets on Countersign, before the machine closed. The exchange was made to the full amount in the time at the dis-

posal of the totalisator people, and everything so far had ended well. It only remains to be added that Countersign ran nowhere, and that Nincompoop finished second to Set Sail, and paid a handsome dividend.

Sister to Delightment Tiny Mint was having her first run in public when she finished .out of a place in the Settlers’ Hack at Dargaville. This mare has a reputation and therefore her appearance was awaited with some interest. However, she had been suffering from a cold and had apparently not got over its weakening effects, for she finished well back in a poor field. Tiny Mint is a full sister to that good horse Delightment, who by the way is at long last enjoying the spell he should have been rewarded svith some time previously. Delightment is a great goer in bad ground, and two materials or a reversible cloth is again he will no doubt be found playing his part as effectively as he did last year.

On the Retired List Tenterfield’s performance when In* won the hurdle race at Reefton or* Saturday was made more creditable by the fact that his rider, being disappointed at missing a berth inside the leaders a hundred yards off the post, had to pull the gelding to the outside, and his chance then seemed hopeless, but he got there in the last stride. This was Tenterfield’s last race, as his owner-trainer, R. Adamson, intends to allow him to live a retired life at Hokitika. His place will be taken by the aged Gasolene gelding Cashbox, who ran a fair third in the HighWeight Handicap at Reefton recently. Still Going Strong A genuine surprise was the win of old Sir Roseberry in the Hargaville Cup this week. This was his first success since he scored in the Great Northern jumping double over two and a-half years ago, and, of course, was unexpected. Sir Roseberry showed that he can still go with the best of them over the sticks by running into a place at Ellerslie last month, although he was sore after this outing. If put aside now until the tracks become easier, it is quite on the cards that the Sir Knox gelding will once more be prominent in forthcoming big jumping events this winter. He is now 11 years old, and it is only a question of his standing up to it to prove that there are not many better than he is over the battens and brush fences. Rough but Homely

At the Vincent meeting last Saturday, Royal Asset was backed down to an odds-on chance in the Lochella Cup Handicap, with Dark Spot and Quickform net fancied. Pacific Star and Royal Asset led to three furlongs from home. Then Quickform came up to him, and led into the straight from Kilbirnie, and the latter beat Quickform home by a head. The winner was disqualified for weighing i:i a pound and a-quarter light. This was caused by the extreme heat and the long delay at the start, as all of the other riders weighed in lighter than when they went out. After inspecting the scales, which were found to be very dirty, the judicial committee met again and rescinded the disqualification of Kilbirnie.

About Handicappers Some of the Otago and Southern clubs provide a minimum of encouragement to handicappers operating at this end of the world, and a strong case in point is supplied by the fact that the Beaumont Racing Club has invited Mr. J. E. Henrys to handicap for its meeting, comments “Sentinel.” Mr. Henrys has been absent from New Zealand for months, and if he elected to stay away somebody else would have to be found. It must be obvious that Mr. Henrys, during his absence, lost touch with form at small, meetings, where horses have been racing which he has never seen. Another farcical idea is that a North Island liandicapper should issue the rehandicapping penalties for the meeting. Mr. Henrys will no doubt accept the invitation, but the offer and its possible acceptance suggests a lack if confidence in others in a better position to do the work. Perhaps sufficient consideration was not bestowed on the matter.

Wellington Cup Field As stated in THE SUN yesterday, Rapier will not be a starter in the Wellington Cup next Saturday, the son of Greyspear failing to survive * the acceptance last night. Two surprise defections were Lady Desmond and Hynanna. both of whom were being given chances. Others that dropped out last night were Oratrix, Ring Boy and Royal Mint. Nevertheless there are still no less than 19 left in the big event. Big Sprint Field Despite the fact that there were 11 horses that failed to pay up for the Wellington Telegraph Handicap last night, there are still 22 left in. The most notable withdrawals were Reremoana, Gascony and Paganelli. Others to drop out were Set Sail (who is in the Cup), Solrose, Licinius, Singlespear, Receipt, Kilperon, Kilmoyler and Arpent. Racing at Kawakawa One of the most popular fixtures outside the city of Auckland is that held at Kawakawa. There will be two

days’ racing there next week and there will no doubt be a large number of Auckland racegoers making the trip North. On Thursday the Waipapakauri Club will set the ball rolling and on Saturday the Bay of Islands Club will hold its fixture. It only needs fine weather and a sufficient number of horses to make up good fields—and this seems assured —to make the combined meetings a great success He Didn’t Care

In his recently published book, “The Analysis of the Turf,'* Mr. FairfaxBlakeborough deplores the tendency to place successful jockeys on wedestals and worship them. He says it is a little nauseating, and he will find many racing men in agreement with that opinion. The book contains an amusing incident associated with a jockey named Speedy Payne, who was often before the English Jockey Club. He got “full up” of trying to explain away alleged offences, and on one occasion, when called up, let himself go as follows: “Yours Highnesses, my Lords, Dukes, Generals, Colonels and Admirals.—l doesn’t care a damn! When I rides and loses they says I pulls; when I rides and wins they reports me and suspends me. I’ve got a wife at home and some money in the bank, and I doesn’t care a damn WHAT you does with me.” The stewards were so flab* bergasted at this outburst that “Speedy” wasn't even cautioned. Macroom’s Form As sobn as the accommodation for Macroom was cancelled at Trentham, she went on and won the open sprint at Dargaville, but probably this fact will not weigh heavily on trainer Carroll’s shoulders. The chestnut failed badly at Awapuni and Marton during the holidays, and on Thursday she was aided by a bit of luck, for the favourite, Dave, who eventually got up third, was very slow off the mark. It would seem from what has been seen of Macroom that she is not altogether reliable, but when she is in the mood she will win in better company than that she scored against in the Far North.

Wee Marble’s Improvement Not a great deal of notice was taken of the fact that one morning recently the maiden performer Wee Marble beat Gala Day over half a mile at Ellerslie in very lair time, otherwise he would not have been allowed to go out at such a price on the first day at Dargaville. won the hack six furlongs in fine style, and oh the strength of this effort was backed later in the day as if the race was all over, but on this occasion he was delayed at the start and then was only beaten by a head. It was thought that Wee Marble would have taken on the hurdle events, at which game he had shown some aptitude. Tribute to Raasay Raasay has returned from Auckland a hundred per cent, better horse than

when he left here about the middle of December, and it takes no telling how well he did on that trip, says a writer in the “Tribune.” Good judges say that if the Great Northern Foal Stakes had been on the last day this colt would have beaten both Staghunter and Childsplay, and, as it was, would have won the Royal had he started. Raasay did not pay up at Wellington. As he is still growing as well as developing fastly, a short respite from activities is the wise order. He gives every indication of running on, so when the season closes will probably be found among the best, if not the best, of his age.

Little Hope for Rampion Rampion’s latest injury has not shown much sign of improvement, and according to his trainer, F. Williams, there is very little if any chance that he will over race again. It was unfortunate that the trouble should occur in Rampion’s good leg, brought on, no doubt, by his natural inclination to save the bad one as much as possible, as with two doubtful forelegs it is improbable that he would stand another preparation. Had Rampion gone on all right after the Carrington Stakes there seemed every reason to believe that he would return id his three-year-old form, and thereby add tremendous interest to the autumn meetings in Sydney and Melbourne. We saw Limerick take practically all before him at Randwick in the spring and in the autumn, and his great triumphs only emphasised the value of Rampion, a horse that was able to beat the New Zealander in both Derbys. Rampion has won £26,484 10s in stakes —a sum which would no doubt have been considerably increased had he been able to take his place in Jthe fields for the St. Legers. Unfortunately, he went amiss on the eve of the V.R.C. classic, leaving that race to be won by Epilogue, while Limerick had an easy task in the A.J.C. red riband. Rampion’s successes were gained in the A.J.£. Breeders* Plate, Champagne Stakes, Derby, Warwick Farm, Hobartville Stakes, V.R.C. Maribyrnon Plate, Sires ’Produce Stake# and Derby, and the V.A.T.C. Caulfield Guineas and Bend Cup. In all he has started in 13 races for nine wins and a second. The only occasions on which he ran unplaced were in the A.J.C. Sires’ Produce Stakes, in which he was left at the post, the Melbourne Cup, and the Carrington Stakes. If Messrs. J. E. and C. H. Brien make no further attempt to have Rampion trained, it is probable that next season he wilFbegin stud duties at their Kingsfield Stud, where Orby’s Pride and Rampion’s sire, Rossendale, are located.