SPORTING NEWS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 344, 20 February 1889, Page 3

SPORTING NEWS.

This year's contest for the Geelong Gold Cup produced the smallest Held yet recorded for a similar race, viz., five, and Malua, 9st 41b, who started at 2 to 1, won in a canber fiom Leroy, Bst , Menotti, Bst 81b, Ilex, 6st 101b, and Cerise, 6st 71b. Hales was in the saddle, and this is the first occasion the great horseman had ridden Malua. After his victory Mr J. 0. Inglis stated that Malua had probably run 'his lasc race. The fact", therefore, that he was scratched for the Newmarket Handicap created no surprise, bub the name of the famous son of St. Albans is in the general entry list, so that Mr Inglis's remarks must be tal on with a grain of salt. The general entries for the Victoria Racing; Club Autumn Meeting show a slight falling off in number this year, but this is fully compensated for by quality. In the lists are the New Zealanders Carbine, Rose Argent, Russley, Enfilade, Whakawai, Lochiel. Cinderella, Niagara, Paddy and Pearlshell, and among the Australian horses engaged are Malua, Cyclops, Recall, Dividend. Menotti, The Yeoman, Oaldeigh, Bravo, Ben Bolt, Boz, Mara, Abercorn, Carlyon, Cran brook, Plutarch, Rudolph, Sinecure, Spice, Dreadnought, Volley, The Australian Peer, Theorist, Steel Arrow, and Melos. A race-meeting comes off at Caulfield this afternoon. Several of the Newmarket Handicap candidates are engaged in the Oakleigh Handicap, which has previously foretold thewinner of the great i'lemington sprint race. I notice that M. Carmody scored a win in the Produce Stakes on the first day of the Hobarb Meeting. This was with Claude, the two-year-old son of Proto Martyr and Claudine, that was so highly talked ot. R. Kidd was in the saddle. Of the horses in work at Flemington, Carbine, Cranbrook, Carlyon, Abercorn, Volley, Chetwynd, Whakawai and Pakeha are all looking and going well. Anent Mr Stead's team, the "Sportsman" records a recent morning's work thus : — Russley strode along steadily on the sand track, and his stable companion, Lochiel, put in a couple of strong rounds on the tan, moving in good style. Rose Argent worked on the same track, showing herself to be a rare mover when extended. Tourbillon passed out of the Newmarket Handicap at the first payment, and Maxim and Gipsy King were withdrawn from the Australian Cup at the same time. Ai'ent the scratching of the Hon. W. Robinson's horses for their Dunedin engagements, " Rata " writes : — The scratching of Chain Shot and Engagement for the Dunedin Cup is doubtless a result of condition ; Chain Shot has looked sore at exercise for some time back, and I fancy Engagement's foot must have become affected She was palpably lame two or three days ago, and that is the great evil of bad Feet and legs ; bad - legged horses stand all right till they engender a certain amount of confidence, as a rule, and then they go off and cannot be prepared for a time. Engagement seems to be a mare of that kind : a week ago she was going uncommonly well, and now she can hardly go at all. and undoubtedly Ray has had bad luck with his team this. season. The Hon. J. White's , brilliant gelding, Rudolph, has added further to his record by appropriating the Geelong Racing Club Sires' Produce Stakes. In connection with the race, apeculiar question arose concerning Rudolph's weight. Mr White's gelding was originally entered as an entix*e, and although the rule of- the V.R.C. is explicit enough regarding the 51b allowance, the trainer, in order to avoid any trouble, decided to put up Bst 101b. Rudolph simply romped. home under it in front of his two ' opponents, Carringbon and Montalto. Mr VVhite's cheque totted up to £350. The Kirk ham brood mare La Princess, dam of Cranbrook, who dropped a colt foal to Chester, was so ill recently that Mr F. W. Days services were sought and both "mother and son" are doing well. The latter is described as a remarkably promising youngster. Mr T. Watson, the Sydney starter, was responsible for an inexcusable blunder ac Rosehill races recently, and for which he was much condemned. Twenty-three two-year-olds pub in an appearance for the Nursery Handicap, and tho flag was lowered with some of them in front of the post. Neta, Tea Tray, Little Dick 11., ■ Greylingj Marvel, Mitre, Bluette, Sea Gull, > Marohesa and Emulous ran the entire course before discovering the mistake, while others were only pulled up in the straight. The usual clamouring by interested people for bhe race to stand was indulged in, bub after a -brief consultation by the stewards bhe i candidates were ordered back bo bhe post.

Anptherbad start was made, and Alchemist/, a son of Sardonyx, won easily f < o'm Tea Tray. The blundor robbed the race of much of itinterest and also many of Llie runners of their chances, and JVlr Watson was leniently dealt with in escaping with a tine of a fii'er, imposed by the Club. Advicesfrom Melbourno say that Mr F. F. Dakin is about to commence the profession of a racing handicapper, and judging him through his many criticisms on the productions of present-day handicappers, lie ought to be successful. N Regarding the breaking up of the Queen's stud, "Truth" remarks: — "The tafcc of the Royal stud at Hampton Court is trembling in the balance. A recommendation has been made that the establishment should bo broken up next summer, and all the stock sold off, but the Queen has not yet signified her decision, and the Prince of Wales is very averse to the abolition of the stud. I fancy that there has always . been a profit of late yeai's on the annual «ale, and if it can be shown that there is a balance on the right side on the aggregate transactions of the'last seven seasons, the chances are that the stud will bo continued for the present. " The Melbourne "Argus" has the following :—": — " It will be remembered that at the spring meeting of the Bendigo Jockey Club the trotting race was won by a mare called Brunette, which was entered as a maiden. However, the stakes were not paid to the owner, and are still held by the club. It is believed that the so-called Brunette is identical with a successful performer in New Zealand, and inquiries are still being pursued in that colony concerning the matter." It transpires Mentor's leg has filled ?o badly, that it is doubtful if he will stand another preparation. Whether it occurred from accident or natural causes will for ever remain a mystery, the surroundings of the case favouring the latter view, as the horso was merely put through three-parts pace work on the morning of the day on which the leg tilled. Mr Andrew Town has 'experienced another stroke of ill-luck, the thoroughbred stallion Saidonyx having, from some cause, broken a leg. He is not expected to recover. Mr R. Donovan, who won the Melbourne Cup with Dunlop, and is the present owner ol the two-year-old Montalto and a tip top public house at Newmarket, now runs a Melbournechurch choir, Mr Donovan having been appointed musical conductor of St. Francis's Roman Catholic Church. Myall King 1 , who for a long time carried the colours of Mr John Ealee, M.L.C. , has again won the principalevent of the Indian turf — the Viceroy's Cvp — in which he was alpo successful the previous year. Moorehouse, Charlton (Australian), Metal and Fitzwilliam (English), were the otner starters and Moorehouse was a red-hot favourite. Moorehouse won the Cooch Behar Cup, 6.000 rupees, and on the last day he also appropriated the Durbungah Cup, beating Myall King and some other&. I see that Too Soon was among the htarters for the Granville Stakes at the last Rosehill (Sydney) Meeting, but failed to gain a situation. The winner tu> tied up in Someday, a' son of' Malta, owwed bv Mr W. C Hunter. Clogs figures among., the entries for the Warwick Farm Cup, run near Sydney. Returns to hand show that last yciu 1,029 colts and 1,077 fillies (thoroughbred) were dropped in England. Slipped foals numbered 151, while 876 mares were barren. Those not covered the previous year totalled 248, maros covered by halfbied horses were 102, 170 died before foaling and 152 were sent abroad from foiling, the years' return of brood mares being 3.805. The total value of stakes won during 1888, calculated according to rule 11, exclusive of matches and private sweepstakes ( jphich amounted fco £2,970), was — in England, £404,311 7s lOd; in Scotland, £12,174 10s ; and in Ireland, £12,413 7s. In 1874 the amount won in stakes was — in England, £306,958 19s ; in Scotland, £8,516 ; and in Ireland, €11,876. In 1884 the amounts were— in England, £381,857 17s ; in Scotland, £7,916 4s ; and in Ireland, £10,447 9s 2d. These sums do not include piizes to second and third horses,

The following remarks by an American sportsman of some standing will prove of interest to my readers: — "A handicapcaper's lot is not a happy one. To handicap runnei? on their true merits i,-. an utter impossibility. A man may run well one day, and the next run a yard or so slower. A man's condition should never count in handicapping him. When a man enters a race he is supposed to be in the best possible shape, and if not in good trim it is his own fault, and he should be handicapped the same as if he were in trim. Most runners are inclined to be selfish. They want a sure thing or they complain of unfairness, in handicapping a race, the best runner (the scratch man) deserves the most consideration because he is at a disadvantage in running through his men ; and again, he is considered the best man in the race, and the doubt, if any, should be in his favour. We find new men in our field trials, but mis 3 them at the next meet, because they could not win or were dissatisfied with their running. No man can go out and make a good runner in a day. It takes practice like everything else, and I am sorry to see so many give up after their iirst i-ace. Jumping events should never be handicapped. In a, long jump a man will vary from one to three feet in his jumping, and every jumping event that has taken place on the coast in the last few years has been a surprise and disappointment. In a high jump many men will yary two or three inches on diffei-ent occasions. In a long race the handicapped system should be changed. A close finish in our present style is seldom seen. The runners should be given so many seconds start, according to merit, and the, scratch man could then, figure out how fast he would have to' run to win." The following yarn was told by a contributor to the " Bicycling World " :— Bert Kitchell recently had a very thrilling adventure. While he was riding through Carthage, 0., a mischievous imp threw a stick at his machine. It was carried up into the fork, checking the wheel but not the rider: In an instant Berb was on his feet, and, without waiting to dig the mud out of his ''eyes, started in* pursuit of the wily little villain, who, dashing into a house near by, slammed the door in the face of his pursuer. Bert, whose temperature by this time was about 700deg, in the shade, jerked the door open just in time to see the little fiend dash into the next room and slam thedoor. He jerked thisopen also, only to see his tovmentor disappear through the next, slamming it as he went. Through five rooms he pmsued him, and as he bounced into the sixth he narrowly escaped landing in a tub of boiling water ; and before he could look about him he was accosted by a fiery Amazon, who said : "Ye dhurty, mur : dtherin' blag-gyard ; git out o' here this minnit, or I'll impty this b'iler o' hot suds over yez " On hearing this gentle voice, Bert, who a moment before was ready to kill the' little rascal, cooled down cbnsiderably, and, suddenly recollecting that he had a very urgent appointment at Elmvvood, wheeled about, and beat /the- record in getting to the front door and mounting his ! whele.