SPORTING NEWS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 484, 28 June 1890, Page 4

SPORTING NEWS.

By HTPPONA. j At the last Moonee Valley (Melbourne) races, the ex-Aucklander, Messenger, ran third in the Steeplechase, won by Satan, a son of Barbarian, at one time owned in the Southern part of this colony. With a fine afternoon, the Auckland Trotting Association’s inaugural meeting on Saturday noxb promises to attract a good number of spectators. The acceptances for the meeting are most satisfactory. The first event will be started at one o’clock. Both the Canterbury and Dunedin Jockey Clubs are increasing the added money for next season, bub from what I can gather there is not much probability of change in the Auckland Racing Club programmes, so far as added money is concerned. Our Club cannot afford ib. I have been permitted to see a letter from T. Taylor, the well-known jockey, sent to an Auckland friend, in which some interesting information is given anent Hilda’s running in the Sydney Birthday Cup. Taylor, who rode Hilda, writes under date Bth June, and says:—“We have had bad luck with Hilda and Antelope. Horses want to be over here some time before they can be gob well. If Hilda had been well she would have won the Birthday Cup. I was one of the first to leave the mark, and got into a beautiful position, and I thought the prize was mine, as the field were all • going ’ at three-quarters of a mile, and Hilda was racing splendidly. I said at this point ‘Here’s a dead bird,’ knowing what a finisher the mare is, but as soon as I gob five yards further she was done with. The mare was short of work, having only been stretched out once before the race.’’ Taylor adds that all the boys from Auckland have gob good places in Sydney, and that there is a great number of bad horses and bad horsemen over there. Ho thinks Recruit would have won the Steeplechase at Randvvick on the 7th June had he not fallen.

The whole of George Wright’s team of horses are now located at Kohimarama. Harry Howe is in charge, and he has lately broken in a couple of two-year-olds, viz., Brigand,by Brigadier-Gannet; andTulloch, by Sword Dance —Dundee's Katie. The filly Souvenir, belonging to Mr MeyseyThompson, has been transferred to the veteran J. Millison’s hands. Mr R. J. Mason, the well-known Christchurch trainer, has been in Auckland during the last few days, having arrived by the Mararoa from Sydney. He leaves for Christchurch to-morrow. Mr Mason has greatly improved in health by his trip. The Auckland racing world loses a good supporter by the death of Mr S. Jagger. Deceased was one of the Kohimarama syndicate, and from time to time he personally spent considerable money in fostering racing. Two others overtaken by King Death this week that took part in turf matters were Mr S. Turtle and Mr H. M. Jackson. Mr Turtle was one of the committee men of Tattersall’s Club, and Mr Jackson at one time wielded the flag for the Takapuna Jockey Club. Necklace and Balista, two of the Wellington Park Stud matrons, have this season missed to St. Leger. Mr Thomas Merry, the American blood stock authority, is a great “ enthuser ” on Sir Modred, and he sings his praises in true American style. In a short chat I had with Mr Merry, he says the New Zealandbred stallion is the finest-looking specimen of the thoroughbred he has seen in une world, and he stated that the progeny Sir Modred has sired in America are almost equally good-looking. Mr Merry says the quality Australian-bred horses show is wonderful. He prefers the lookß of Cuirassier to his full brother Trenton.

An addition is being made to the list of Auckland stallions, Mr C. Lake, of Waikato, having purchased Natator. He is a beauti-fully-bred horse, being gob by Traducer from Waterwitch, the latter being got by Camden from Mermaid, by King Tom from Waterwitch, by Flying Dutchman. During the time Natacor was on the turf he won such valuable races as the Canterbury De-;by and Champagne Stakes, Wellington Cup and Dunedin Jockey Club Handicap. The followine nominations were received last night for the Wellington Steeplechase : —The Donkey, Newmarket, Roll Call, Gladius, Taurekatai, Doctor, Mangaohane, Darnley, Chester, Gasparini, Waipipi, Sir Garnet, Orient, Jenny, Auckland, Sir Maurice.

The first steps to form a Steeplechase Club for Waipawa and Waipukurau districts, Hawke’s Bay, have been taken. The club is to be called the Kaikora Steeplechase Club, and it is proposed to hold the first meeting on Ist July, when the sum of £2lO will be given in prizes. Mr Evetb has been selected as handicapper to the new club.

The brood mare Athole, by Blair Athol from Florence McCarthy, the dam of Dunkeld and half-sister to Tirailleur, who was knocked down for 310gns. to the bid of Messrs Brown Brothers at the sale of Mr Horsford’s mares in Sydney, was purchased for the stud of Messrs Lee, of West Maitland.

The dates selected for next season’s meetings of the Canterbury Jockey Club are— Metropolitan, November 4,5, and 6 ; Summer, Saturday, January 24; Autumn, March 30 and 31.

At a sale of racing stock, held in Melbourne the other day, Dishcloth, by St. Albans—Maid of All Work, therefore halfsister to Major George’s mare, The Maid, realised 205 gs. Springfield, sire of Sainfoin, winner of the Derby, at a mile was considered the best at his age in all England. A license to train at Randwick has been granted by the A.J.C. to the New Zealand trainer, F. Bell, who has under his care Rossiter, Waiter, and Escutcheon. J. Gallagher, the light-weight jockey, is returning from Sydney next week with George Wright. Our*old friend J. Chaafe is experiencing some unpleasantness in Queensland. It appears that owing to some dispute between the partners, the racehorses known as the Carrington team, which have been trained by Chaafe for the last year or so, under the management of the ex-Auck-lander, Mr “ Joe ” Bennett, have been im pounded by order of the Supreme Court, pending a settlement of a dispute between the parties. The horses comprise the two-year-old colt King William, by Nordenfeldt—Pulchra (imp.); Kingfish, by Piscatorious —Matchlock’s and Leorina’s dam ; Yowi, by Melbourne—Yellena (Yabba’s dam), 3yre ; Achilles, ch c, by Agamemnon —My Ideal, by Wilberforce, 2yrs ; Hecuba, 2yrs, and Trojan, 2yrs, both by 1 Agamemnon. Meantime the horses in training, Kins William, Kingfish, Yowi, _ and Archilles, have been placed by the bailiff in W. Blackloek’s stables, where they will remain until matters are settled.

Carlyon, by Chester—Moonstone, who won the Caulfield Guineas, V.R.C. Royal Park Stakes, V.R.C. Handicap, Essendon Stakes, Australian Cup, Loch Plate and A.J.C. Autumn Stakes as a three-year-old, and the Sydney Turf Club’s Anniversary as a four-year-old, has been sold by the Hon. J. White to Mr J. Aldridge, of Adelaide, for stud purposes. Mr Aldridge re-

cenbly purchased the Richmond estate, and intends going in for the breeding of the thoroughbred. Mr Aldridge gave 1,000 guineas for Cai-lyon, and the horse has already been taken to his new home in Adelaide.

A much-talked-of match between the two Victorian racing ponies Dargin and Ivy was recently run at Keilor. The stakes were 250sovs a-side, the weights Ivy (9st) and Dargin (Bsb 71b), and the distance six furlongs. Backers laid 7to 4on Dargin, which was never in danger, for the reason that the jockey of Ivy lost a stirrup. _ The owner of the latter, not being satisfied, demanded another match, which was accepted. The second time the long odds of 4 to 1 were laid on the top weight, who won easily. The stakes for the three meetings of the Canterbury Jockey Club to be given next season amount to £7,635, or £6lO more than given in 1889-90, and £llO more than the additions of 18S8-89. £SO has been taken from the Oaks, and the names of many of the events of the programme appear in new titles. There is the Middleton and Peerswick Hurdle races, Islington and Addington Plates, a Sockburn Handicap, The Jockey Club Stakes, Tattersall’s Plate, and Electric Stakes.

There is a move to introduce the totalisator in Victoria; The Hon. G. Davis is prepared to introduce a Bill in tho Legislative Council to legalise the instrument on tho following conditions :—“Firstly, that a resolution in favour of the legalisation of the instrument be passed at a general meeting of the members of the V.R.C. Secondly, that the machine throughout the colony shall be under the general control of the V.R.C. Committee, who shall say which clubs may use it. Thirdly, that no totalisator shall be permitted on proprietary courses or in connection with proprietary clubs. Fourthly, that all machines shall bo closed at least a quarter of an hour before the time fixed for the starting of ach race.”

The sensation in the Melbourne sporting world of late has been the Moorbank slander case. Whatever may have been the general opinion about Moorbank’s ignominious display in the last Caulfield Cup, after being favourite up to within a day of the race, the evidence given in Court favoured tho idea that the horse was a rogue rather than that he had been “stuffed.” After hearing Judge Williams summing up to the jury strongly in favour of the plaintiff, Mr P. Kelly (the trainer of Moorbank), ib was considered almost a moral that Mr James Gill, the defendant, would have to pay pretty dearly for publicly expressing what he thought about the crowd connected with the horse. Like the Irishman’s magpie, one can “ think ” a lot in these matters, but it is dangerous to express one’s thoughts except to a select circle of friends. However, the jury brought in a three-fourths verdict in Kelly’s favour lor £5 damages only. As £5,000 damages were claimed the result of the jury’3 four hours’ deliberation must have been somewhat of a shock to Kelly and his friends. The costs in the case amount to between £7OO and £BOO, which the judge has ordered the defendant to pay. Mr Gill, however, objects to this, and there is a probability of a new trial being applied for. A well-known figure in the sporting world in Tasmania, Mr Herbert Bramich, died recently at Deloraine. The deceased was one of tho first flight men across country some dozen years or so ago. The flying Victorian mare Fishwife is to be relegated to stud duties. She will be mated with Mentor, the Melbourne Cup winner.

“ Vigilant,” of the Melbourne “ Sports man,” says, “If ever Australian horses are to make a red letter mark in Wetherby’s calendars, this trio (Wentworth, Nepean, and Mons Meg) will undoubtedly be those to do so.”

There is hardly a man in the world who can claim to have been so successful in breeding racehorses as the late Lord Falmouth. His leading principles were : —l. To breed only from mares which had won first-class stakes. 2. To breed only from such mares as had not raced after their four-year-old form. 3. To breed each mare to a different stallion each year, or each alternate year. He changed the stallions to which he bred his mares nearly every season. He kept several stallions himself, but to get a change he never hesitated to send his mares to stallions owned elsewhere. He bred three winners of the Derby, five of the Oaks, three of the Two Thousand, five of the One Thousand, and three of the St. Leger, besides running one-two in 1878 for the St. Leger. A large gathering ot gentlemen interested in turf pursuits assembled at Mr Clibborn’s sale in Sydney on the 9th June. Business was with the Hobartville contingent, of which there were eight thoroughbred geldings, an equal number of fillies, one colt, and two trotting fillies by the imported horse Honesty. Several of the youngsters had met with slight injuries, which discounted their value considerably, and the highest figure {95 guineas) -was given for the bay filly Thread, a two - year - old daughter of Sardonyx and Cobweb, who fell to the nod of Mr J. Dobson. MrC. Baldwin, of Durham Court, Manilla, secured a couple of well-bred fillies at reasonable prices, and the pair of trotting fillies were purchased on behalf of Mr J. Hay, Coolangatta. In the miscellaneous lots a handsome bay colt by Cheviot (imp.) from Genesta, brought about some spirited competition, and was knocked down to Mr T. Daly for 180 guineas ; and Mr W. A. B. Greeves, of Newbold, Clarence River district, got a bargain in Mataura, a wellgrown two-year-old colt by Sardonyx from imported Fair Alice. Soldier’s Wind found a new owner in Mr Wyatt, who gave 130 guineas for the son of Hamlet and Zephyr ; and Manxman, a good-looking colt by Sir Mcdred, was knocked down to MrC. Brown for IDO guineas. Teksum, a son of the defunct Musket, brought 205 guineas, the bid of Mr E. Keys; while Hugo and Ganymede failed to realise reserve prices and were passed in. The matrons, who formed the Russley stud, New Zealand, were next offered for sale, and brought satisfactory prices. The top figure (310 guineas) was paid for the imported mare Athole (dam of Dunkeld) by Blair Athol from Florence McCarthy, and the fashion-ably-bred matron, who is in foal to Lochiel, goes to Messrs Lee, of West Maitland. Mr A. Bowman gave 250 guineas for Nonsense, by Albany (imp.) from No Name, and mated with Lochiel; Mr H. C. White secured La Mode, by Albany (imp.) from Mermaid (imp.), and in foal to Lochiel, for 210 guineas ; and Mr R. Mason purchased Siesta (in foal to Cadogan), by Traducer (imp.) from Hammock (imp.) for 200 fuineas, with the intention of taking her ack to New Zealand. Mr F. Darley, of Queensland, gave 100 guineas for Helena (mated with imported Albany), by Traducer from Strenua (imp.); and he also secured the thoroughbred* sire Cadogan, by the Derby winner Cremorne from Chance, for 130 guineas. Tbe Hobartville youngsters realised 778 guineas, the Russley Studl,3Bo guineas, and the miscellaneous lots 833 guineas, making a total of 2,991 guineas. Mr Alfred Joseph, the Victorian penciller, is not enamoured of the English racecourses ho had visited up to the first week of May. He says they are in no way to be compared with Flemington, Randwiefe, or Caulfield, although be admired

Sandown Park very much. Newmarket he styles a “ huge robbery,” and it is rough to have to pay 19s lid railway fare from London, 10s cab fare, the same admission for ditto, 30s paddock ticket, and 20s saddling paddock ticket. Newmarket, with its many racecourses s and winning posts all over the shop, our friend did not like, while the crush and difficulty to see a race make matters worse. “No wonder,” he remarks, “that so many Australians I met did not like racing in England.” Mr Joseph thoroughly enjoyed the racing he witnessed, although he missed the comforts and convenience of Australian racecourses. Speaking of Kirkham and Narellan, Mr S. Stephens, who has the management of Mr White’s horses in England, told Mr Joseph that he thought the two colts were at least 211 b below Mr White’s average cattle, and he compared them with Monte Christo. As to the jockeys at Newmarket, Mr Joseph observes that the riding is wonderful, and some of the finishes fairly amazed him, with such artists as Tom Cannon, the Barretts, Watts, and Tommy Loatcs. Over the sticks, however, excepting W. Nightingall, the English cross-country riders are not in it with Scobie, Corrigan, or Ferguson. ; At the Sandown Park Club’s second Spring Meeting, Sainfoin, the winner of the Derby, made his first appearance as a three-year-old, winning the Esher Stakes, one mile, from 12 other horses of all ages with the greatest ease. The next day the special commissioner of the “ Sporting Life” wrote:—“Turning to the three-year-olds once more, the good reports circulated about Sainfoin were not Without foundation, as in making his debut to-day he simply cantered away from some of the speediest horses of the day, and here we may have a Derby champion, as it must be remembered that last year in the only race Sainfoin appeared in—namely, the Astley Stakes at Lewes—ho beat Garter with the greatest ease ; but as the latter was giving him 101 b no great stress was laid upon the victory. However, on a public line there is no knowing how good Sainfoin may be, and John Porter, who has trained Derby winners for three different owners, may be training one now for himself. I recollect his buying the colt at the Queen’s sale for 550 guineas, and it was by reason of the colt’s good looks, as the previous produce of Sanda had sold for 35 guineas, and that also was by Springfield. The American-bred horse Iroquois, now at the stud, and who won the English Derby and St. Leger in 1881, previously running second to Peregrine for the Two Thousand Guineas, has changed handß. At auction, the sum of 34,QG0dols was paid for the son of Leamington. During Hermit’s 20 years at the stud his sons and daughters in England and France won no less than £343,311 in stakes. The sensational Derby winner of 1867 must therefore have been a gold mine to his owner, the Right Hon. Henry Chaplin, Minister of Agriculture.