SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 44, 17 March 1909, Page 3

SPORTING.

TARANAKI JOCKEY CLUB. METROPOLITAN MEETIXO. A meeting of the Metropolitan Committee was liehl last night in the .secretary s oilier. Tlu- following were present: Messrs. C. Lepper (chairman), \V. I A. 11. Standish. Uluailell, ami Col. Ellis. The programme submitted for the winti l- me. ung „|- t | l( . l-;y|,„i UL ]>.u.j n „. was approved.

Hi'; I'ii ten Racing Cluli was granted permission to hold its meetin- on the 11a »era course, subject to a formal upplication from the Kgmont iiaciii" club. .Several slight alterations in tliiTlW H.C. programme were sanctioned Uentlemen riders' certilieates were issued to W. F. Tai/cersail, Chas, J, lii'oiiKh, and .John Sheahan; and iockevs' certificates to F. J. Flyim, o. 11. .Moss, and U. A. Copcstake.

COMMITTEE MEETING. The Taranaki Jockey Club committee met immediately afterwards, the same members being present. A new member- was balloted for anil elected. Mr. c. M. Lepper, cliairiiian of tile committee, was appointed delegate to the next Racing Conference meeting, to be held about July next. A vote of thanks was tendered to the New Plymouth ilorough Council for their generous oiler of the services of a water-cart. Several accounts were passed for payment and correspondence dealt with." l'inal details were arranged in connection with the autumn meeting. It was reported that the recent rains lmd put the tracks in splendid working order.

TURF TOPICS. (By ''Moturoa.") Races at Napier Park to-d«y. Stayboy has beeu scratched for all engagements at the Taranaki autumn meeting. Penates has been scratched for the Doneaster Handicap, states a. Sydney cable. has been running consistently of late and the Birkenhead marc lias 7.0 in the Napier Cup this afternoon. On Diumevirke running Woodhe.v appears to be rather harshly treated. iranc (late Thaler) won the Thorndon Handicap in unregistered ranks at Miramar on Saturday, R. Hatch has been engaged to ride Sandstream in the Cup and Alaori King m the Sapling Stakes at Napier Park. R>. W. King, who was seriously injured when Bulletin fell with him in the District Handicap at Akaroa, is now out of danger and hopes to be piloting winners very shortly Much interest will he centred on the running of Maori King and Bobrikoff today. The former came out of his shell wheii he put down a good field in the Manawatu Stakes, and "Robbie's" rattling performances at Riccarton, and later on at Ellerslie, are fresh in the minds of all racing followers. Dancing Paul will not be a starter at Opunake.

Golden Glow is now trained by J. Fryer at Ilawera.

Kirstv is said to have almost recovered from I'er recent breakdown, and will shortly be put to work. Tiptoe has come on a lot since Wanganui, and should he in tip-top form next week at the, local meeting. Kilmarnock is generally reckoned to have caught it hot in the'Taranaki Cup, but I quite expect to sec the AVanganui Cup winner " facing the music " on the 24th inst.

Owners should bear in mind tiiat acceptances for all first day's handicaps at the Taranaki autumn meeting close with the secretary, Mr. E. P. Webster, on Friday, March 19th, at 0 p.m. At the same time entries close for the Had; Scurry and Final Hack Flutter.

Owners are reminded that nominations for events to be decideil at the Mauaia Hack Racing Club's meeting on March 31st close with the secretary, Mr. O. R. Lusher, to-morrow, Thursday evening at 8 p.m. Stakes all round are worth competing for, and this gathering has always been a popular one with owners. The full programme is advertised in today's issue.

Great interest is being manifested in the forthcoming meeting of the Taranaki J.C.. which promises to be the most successful held here for several years. On account of the additional number of visiting horses, it is expected tlmt all available stabling will lie taken up, and patrons would do well to make an early move in securing accommodation for next week.

The Opunake annua] meeting takes place to-day. A large number of local horses wont down yesterday, nnd the gathering promises to l>c a most successful one.

Paul and Hydraulic have been shaping well during the last few weeks and are certain starters at Opunake.

Old Toddy is giving away weight to a trio of moderates in the Hurdle Race.

The Handicap Trot has tilled splendidly and should prove a good betting race. This scribe has already heard of three "morals" for it ! What's yours ?

lien Deelcv was riding at the Thames meeting but his luck was out and he failed to ride a single winner.

The much-boomed Tauhara is flying , at smaller game and figures amongst the entries for the Electric and Final Stake's at Opunake. With the publication of weights for , the Taranaki Autumn Meeting, fresli fields for speculation have been opened up and punters are busy sorting winners. WaTiganui and Damievirke form is all we have to go on and it will not help us very much. Another racing conundrum ! Silken Rein with oulv £64 against her nitm? o;» the tole was jipvt sighted on the first <Lw at Woouville, but with £174 on her the second day she romped home. It was the last race of the day and probably the stewards were in a hurry to get home to tea or something, so nothing was said. A. Olliver {'■>), F. D. Jones (2) and R. Hatch (2) were the only principal winning jockeys at Dannevirke. 1 The champion Poseidon whose retirement from the turf is announced leaves i behind him a splendid record. As a 2yr-old lie only won once, hut the next year he was nothing short of a wonder, and his eleven wins out of fourteen starts included the A.J.C. Derby and St. Leger. Y.R.U, Derby and St.. Leger, and the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup*. At four years he triumphed seven times out. of h dozen, starts,'the priinciipal event being the Caulliehl (,'np with up. He only started once this season, finishiiig out of a place in) the R'aws'nn 'Stakes, won by Perkeo with Mooltan second, the nine furlongs being left behind in 'Stralasian record time. With a tine breeding to his credit and the record of 1!) wins out of 33 races, Poseidon should be an even better paying proposition at the at ml than on the Tmf. The New Zealand 'chaser Pilot e'iiang- j ed Stands in Melbourne last week, the price being 350 guineas. T. Cabill, who rode pilot in the March Steeplechase at Flemingtou. was fined, for disobedience at the post and reprimanded for not riding the Maorihuider out. Considering that 3 > ilot had 13.5 up it is just probable that he was out , fur the good of his health and the subsequent lightening of superfluous avoir-

dnpois. | Okailiau and Waiotahi were double j winners at the Thames meeting. Okai-1 hail won both his races vor.v comfortably j tint. Waiotahi had a ding-dong battle | with Xoteorini in tile Welter and only | won a line race in the last bit bv less than h.'ilf-a-leiigt,li. I'arata, who is engaged at the 'Parana!;! meeting, had the services of Deelcy in tile Railway Handicap but could make no impression on •lena.'who won comfortably by a couple of lengths. The iirowii horse Powerful (XcUon--Moonga). full brother to Seahorse, was one of the greatest disappointments of a few seasons back, and on Saturday was ridden right out to win a linrilk' race (of Ssovs) at Mauku.