SPORTING NEWS. By Hippona in the " Auckland Star."]

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 398, 31 August 1889, Page 6

SPORTING NEWS. By Hippona in the " Auckland Star. "]

FLEMINGTON - TRAINED , DERBY . CANDIDATES. , I gather from late papera that the Victorian,/ Derby candidates , located at Ftemington are now in steady, regular work. Prince Consort is bowling along with Mentor and Carbine, and is a greatly improved colt. Richelieu has been doing nice half - pace work which apparently agrees with^ him, as he' looks bright and mellow. Pippo hoe grown into a nicely shaped animal, and Whitty has Tinlander and Carrington doing nice work, the former having been bowling along at a 'Strong pace. Montalto is the picture of j?ut her 'doings have not yet been of anything like an arduous nature.

RANDWICK TRAINING NOTES. Recording the training operations at Rq,ndwick, " Martiodale " writes :— About the best gallop I saw was' done on Saturday morning by Arsenal, in company with' 1 Wyconibe. 'I don't know when I saw Arsenal go so free. Pay ten has been treating his lot fco.a dose of physic, so that we shall see them busy this coming week, Lamond is doing very sound work, and looks well, as does also Antaius. » Keith is also looking well, 'and the came may be said of Aristocrat. I saw this horse do six furlongs the other day with Bustler and Sophy, and' they 1 could not keep him moving. —

ODDFELLOW AND CO.' Writes the Wanganui scribe. "Gipsy King:?'— T had a look at Dick Wjieeler's charges the other ' day, and they reflect credit on him, all ' qf t ,fch,spi looking in, the pink of winter condition. Oddfellow (who has not yet left us) looks better than I have ever seen him looking, and his big frame now. carries the'quantity of flesh' it ought to. Leander has filled out into a handsome horse, and with his black satinhko coat ,looks a picture. Victress, the half-sister to Son-of-a-Gun, has also grown up and is now doing a bit of work. She is not a bad-looking filly, and a month or so will tell if she is worth her oats, but I fancy the Ingomars want time.

THE HON. JAMES WHILE'S COLTS AT NEWMARKET. A London cablegram says the Hon. J. White's two Australian colts by Chester — Kirkhum and Narellan have commenced work on the training tracks, and have evoked general admiration among the English trainers, and the best English judges of racehorses. In particular is great eurpri&e expressed at their unusual size and the general excellence of their development and "furnishings." Mr Dawson has publicly expressed his satisfaction with their splendid tempers and the style of their going.

MR STEAD'S HORSES. " Spectator " and the sporting scribe of the "Canterbury Times" in company the other day paid a visit to Mr Stead's private training establishment at Yaldhurst, and to " Spectator" the proprietor gave carle blanche to see all there was to be seen, and to say of them what he might feel disposed to say. Anent the visit, the "Times " says : Maxim was stripped for our edification, and wonderfully well the great horse looks. He is said to be doing good sound work, and certainly appears a bib lighter than when we saw him at exercise three or four weeks ago ; but he has not yet reached the critical part of his I preparations, and whatever his destination, wise backers will leave the horse alone until Mason has delivered him at the post. Then they may be sure they are supporting one o( the belt horses the colouy has ever produced, and that they will have a rare good run for their money. Mr Stead has not yet made up his mind about the Australian trip ; but, without pretending to anticipate the determination of an owner who makes no ridiculous mysteries, we fancy, if this horse does all that will be asked of him during the next couple of months,, he 'will go to Melbourne. Gipsy King, who is a giant in more senses than one, stands in an adjoining box, and if his legs are all right, looks just as we like a horse to look at this season of the year. He has filled out a lot since his great achievement at lTorbury, and if not the tallest, is unquestionably the biggest thoroughbred in the qolony. It would be useless to write more of a horse that has only just resumed work. Sextant has recovered all the bloom he exhibited as 'a two-year-old, and seems t.o, have been kept busy since our last visit, but will probably confine his attention to courses particularly suited to )iis great pace, and may shortly find his way into some breeding establishment, where he would be a very great acquisition. Perhaps no horse in the establishment is attracting more attention for' the moment than Scot's Grey, who we found much lighter than when he ran in the autumn, but apparently fresh and well. Those people who expect us to say in an authoritative fashion that the colt will stand a Cup preparation will be disappointed. As a matter of opinion we think he will, and that a fair price about his chance, when fit and well at the post, will be just about what a few infatuated individuals are aocepting three months before the race. It is no good arguing this point, as thei'e is nothing to argue upon ; but we can say that the colt fills the eye better when much above himself than when approaching condition. Rose Argent spends part of each day in the paddock, but her Oaks engagement is kept in view, and she is as well worth backing as anything else for the ladies' race. The Locket colt, Medallion, still carries that ugly-looking though perhaps harmless splint. Palliser has a plain head set on t.o a neck "which is more massive than beautiful, but as you go further back you will find something to admire, and he, may come earlier than most ,of the Nordenfeldts, Moraine has furnished into 'a'i'e'afly handsome colt, and should do good service for the stable in the Champagne, while Liquidation is the most improved of the whole lot. Radiation goes on growing apace, and Carrdnade has thickened out in a manner that gives promise of carrying any amount of weight. I Milord, who was added to the list last November, is a' shapely little one, and Crozier has altered very little since he came' down frbm Auckland rather more than eighteen months ago.

TASMANIAN- RACING STATISTICS. The statistics of the past racing season in Tasmania show Chaldean as the largest winner with £600. Promised Land, another son ofTheAssyrian, comes second, with £36s, and Centobite< the half-brother to Captain Webster, is third, with; £34s. In the whole island there are ofi*ly 'twenty-four winners of ovdr £100. R. Kidd, who only arrived from Auckland at the end of the year, 1 is third in the list of winning jockeys with eleven successful rides.

HIGH-PRICED YEARLINGS. The London " Daily Telegraph " has the follovHngf interesting, observations on high{ priced yearlings in England :—": — " What is the cost of a fashionable thoroughbred yearling ; pr^ in other words, how much has'a yearlirigcoic, such es Colonel North recently gave 3,000 guineas for 1 at Hampton Court/

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cost ;his breeder when offered at public auction to the highest bidder ? Answers/to *, ; this knotty -question hafe'been hazarded by ' many experienced authorities, of whom, perhaps, the weightiest is the late General Peel, who estimated* the expense at 120 ' guineas. That, however,' was long subsequent to the time when the late Mr H. S. Thompson, the founder of the Kawcliffe Stud Farm, near York declared that no yearling ought to cost his breeder, more than £75, or when Voltigeur, at the age of 14 months, was offered ; to MrR. M. Jaques, of Easby Abbey—who 4 died on Sunday last — and declined, at the niodeVate figure* of £100. ' . . . Enough has already been, said to justify the bft-repeated assertion of Sir Joseph Hawley ■'that no yearling, however promising and well-bred, is worth more than 500 guineas. Since Sir Joseph's death - the fees of fashionable sires have become so high that he might now perhaps lie induced to raise his tariff to I,ooo' guineas. Certain _ib is . that hundreds of the best performers have cost, like Gold-seeker, less} than one-tenth ot what Colonel North has just given, for a Hampton colt. % - Yet the rage for .expensive yearlings is on the increase all over the , world, and to preach against it would be the vainest and most unprofitable of foiHes."

BITS OF TURF, , Mr 1). B. Tbnks has had a commission from Brisbane to buy Mu&kefc mares for a new Stud Company being formed, and this week he closed with Mr Allan McLean, the Napier stud-master, for the matron Lady Walmsley, who claims being a full sister to the mighty Carbine. She is in foal to Vasco di Oama. The price paid was 400 guineas. Mr Tonks has several other mares, under offer. lam told that Ma Petite TTille is likely to be shipped to Sydney shortly. Her ersti companion, Squire, now occupies a box at the stables where Peter Osbeck is located. I learn from Napier that Jet d'Eau has filled out a lot since the autumn meetings,' and has grown into a great horse, but he is very big, and has lots of beef on his ribs. Munn has Hukatere, the big' son of Ingomar — Bessemer, in work again. Strephon, ' the New Zealand Cup candidate, is as far forward in condition as anything in work' at Hastings, and is going well. , The first foals of the season in Canterbury ' have made their appearance, Mr H. Horsford's La Mode having foaled a colt to Cadogan, while the Middle Park Stud Company's Martyr (half sister to Mata) has produced a filly to Apremonb. It is rumoured that Messrs J. and D. Munn, the well-known Napier trainers, have come into a considerable sum of money by the decease of a relative in Australia. Bay King, by Cadogan-Corcyra.whom Mr P. Butler purchased from Major Mair last January, is said to be one of the'best two-year-olds at Riccarton. It was reported that George Laing, the' jockey, had crone to Australia. Such is not the case. He is now in Wanganui with Dick Wheeler's string. Says the Christchurch "Referee":— One of the most commendable features in the Auckland Racing Club's various programmes is the large amount of added, money they always devote to "classic" racing, in which respect they set an 1 example to more than one Metropolitan Club we could name. According to one of the Christchurch weeklies, Albany can be of little further service to the stud. Cadogan is sbated to jbe remarkably vigorous 1 and well, and Lochiel is rapidly assuming the appearance consistent with his new duties. Last week I mentioned that a horse named Stonewall Jackson had been purchased at' Wanganui by an Aucklander. Referring to the purchase, the "Canterbury Times " describes him as> a very ordinary looking hunter that went up from Canterbury some weeks ago, at £65, and adds :— Whatever may be the fate of a prophet, a horse seems to.be jreldjn much greater , esteem away from Ms. ; own country. , The V.iotorian/ Racing Club has endorsed the A.J.C.'s disqualification of the horse Friction, the owner (T. Brown), and the jockey (Lees), which means that Centaur, who is owned by the same person as Friction, cannot start for the Melbourne Cup. At the annual sale of yearlingLS at the stud farm of Her Majesty the Queen, Mr W. Cooper and Mr D. .Cooper, of Sydney, were both buyers, the former giving 410 guineas for a chestnut filly by Springfield — Eglentyne, and the latter 200 guineas for a colb by the New Zealand Stud Company's defunct sire Sword Dance —Simplex. The committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club have declined to take action over the Sultan — Dudu case. The members thought the affair did not come within their jurisdiction. At Papakura, Mr W. Waltors' brood matron Hipporina has produced a filly foal to St. Leger. The other day, a Napier backer accepted from an Auckland penciller 200 to 10 about Maxim for the Melbourne Cup. s Excepting Cuirassier, J. Kean had his team of horses down at Ellerslie on -Monday morning. They performed useful work. Foalings have commenced at the Hobartville (N.S.W.) paddocks, and among the additions Mr Andrew Town has received to his stud is " the first of the Trentons," Rosedale having given a pledge of affection for that stallion in the shape of a goodlooking filly. . Some few days ago the committee of the Victoria Racing Club were petitioned by a number of leading steeplechase riders, • both amateurs and professional, to put " brush " in front of the steeplechase fences at Flemington, but the request was refused.* Old Rewi won another race near Melbourne a few days back. This was the Wyndham Handicap of 100 soys one mile. ■He started at 7 te 1, and beat a field of • elev.en. <- ■ >' T. Loates'and the Barrett brothers, a^e • running each other very closely^' for- tlie pride of place in the list of successful English jockeys for- the season. According to latest advices F. Barrett and Loates had each scored 46 winning mounts, while Cr. Barrett was only one behind. Up to the present, the .Melbourne Cup is exciting very little attention cfn'th'e other side. Silvercon is a nominal favourite ajb 100 to 7, having been backed for some money at 100 to 5 and 100 to 6. The latter * prices are now wanted. 1000 to 60 is on ' offer against Carbine, Tradition, and Sing- 1 ' apore. Dou bles . on the Y. R. C. Derby, and Cup continue to be booked, but they are, entirely of a speculative character, and do not indicate the genuine favourite. ' '" ' Tranter, who, was recently purchased by , Mr W. R. Virgoe, of Mathoura, near Demi-,,-iquin (N.S.W. ), will. be put toistud duty [in "• that district, and the son; of Musket and Pungawerewere should greatly improvethe breed of blood stock in Riverina.

The authorship, of the famous American novel "Democracy," for many years a well- t kept secret, "has just been divulged. It proves to" be neither Mr Howells, Mr James' nor Mr Bishop, but Colonel John Hay, the author of"« Little Breeches," "Jim Bludso," and other Pike County ballads! Col oner, Hay is at" present in London, and quite one ~ of the lions of the season. ' ' '

lmve lived for seven years, but, as those who have c<itne here recently canned know me so well, I feel in duty to myself bound to protect my name, by publicly denying having ever done Mr Gallagher the least harm in any shape whatever. I was in his employment for seven years, until a few weoks a#o, and worked hard and honest, late and early, for him. I could enumerate hundreds *6f jobs which I did for him at night, when my day's work whs over, and which saved him many a pouud, such as making him buss poles, swindle-trees, house furniture, elv\,ec; and on one occasion built him ft coach, and for all this I never received a penny extra, and never naked it. I hold no spite against Mr Gallaghw, I have no desire to hurt his feelings, but I cer-tainly-will not submit to his unmanly and unwarranted accusations. — I am, etc., • Michaki. Cuonin. WaioronsjomHi, Aug. 28t> 18di).