SPORTING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 137, 8 July 1909, Page 3

SPORTING

V.R.C. GBAND NATIONAL. lt Received July 7, 11.30 p.m. Melbourne, Last Night. ,j. At tlie Victorian Racing Club's urand ._ National meeting the following were tae J_ results:— Kensington Steeple—The Barber ■», Fi'ed 2, No Trouble 3. Won easily. Time taiin. ai'/jsec. ', Braybrook Handicap.—Sergeant Blue ' 1, Thistlebrook 2, Posture 3. Won easily. Time, 2uiin. 3!>%sec 5 TURF TOPICS. I (By "Moturoa.") That very slight disturbance, the Gia- ; | borne R.C. Steeplechase Meeting, opens' 1 1 to-day, the first race icing timed to ; start at 11.30 a.m. Reported that the evergreen Stepuiak mare Petrovna has said good-bye to the excitement and the strenuous exercise of the racecourse, and will be mated with Birkenhead next season. Te Arai Ims gone on the right way j since winning at Ellerslie, ana should I be in the position to show his best form I at Osborne. That Waihufoi can jump smartly and I cleanly is plainly evident to those who i hare been following track doings during the past fortnight. Waihuka, ia coinpan) with the veteran il'aritutu, was responsible for an attractive round of the hurdles on .Monday morning, with the pace on, and it only remains to be seen whether the new aspirant for hurdle race honors can stay or not. The idea that his nomination for the (irand National Hurdles was mere flattery has been effectively dispelled. Old Paritutu, apparently none the worse for his spill at Ellerslie, has taken a new lease of life, and is galloping and fencing just as well now as he has over t done. A National might come his way i y e i! . . .

I The Squatter was very unlucky in the Necklace at Napier Park, being left badly at the start and getting a rou»h passage throughout. With a decent start it is quite probable that he would have won. The Squatter will probably contest hack races at the Gis'oorne meeting.

A good word is spoken for the imported three-year-old filly Good Shot by Pistol—Alveary, „-hich was bought for 255 guineas by Mr. G. F. Moore when in Australia. Good Shot is said to resemble her grandsirc, the famous Carbine, possessing the same color, blaze and markings that distinguished the horse that was always in the van—"Old Jack."

The groggy-limbed D'Nil has again gone wrong, and will not sport silk for many months.

Lapland, a Grand National Hurdle Race entrant, is improving in his jumping, and performed very creditably over the Sticks 'in a recent gallop. Stormont, who unexpectedly gathered in last year's National Hurdles, is jumping as well as of yore, but catarrhal troubles have affected his wind, and his chances over a distance of country appear just' as rosy as a sunrise 'on a "Davenport" morning. The racecourse trophy-hunter, says a Sydney paper, is a savage who requires to be refined by liberal use of an axe. When the South Australian Birthday Cup .winner Doughty had to he destroyed recently, these opprobrious persons swarmed on to him almost before he was dead, and hacked off limbs, mane, tail, ears, hoofs, and great pieces of the akin. This scribe has witnessed the some disgraceful occurrence several times on New Zealand courses. In most places the downfall of an old favorite (!) is the signal' for the prompt appearance of penknives, pocket-scissors, etc., and in a very few minutes the once equine hero is butchered and hacked beyond recognition. When the tail and mane are gone, the hoofs go next, and the writer once saw a man knocking the dead-'un's teeth out with a lar«e rock. And these ruffians call themselves sports and cherish their mementoes, however indecently or cruelly they have been acquired. The performances of Timothy and Hydraulic at Napier Park were distinctly disappointing, and in consequence Mr. Sid. Pitt did not pay up for the pair at Treatham. Paritutu and Waihuka have accepted for their hurdle race engagements. Glowing reports come from Wangnnui of the jumping powers of the Birkenhead gelding WirrnJ. On Friday he flew the schooling hurdles in splendid style, and quite outpaced Moscow. W Young will-pilot Wirral at Trent ham next week.

It is a strange thing to see a Century Hurdles winner receiving weight from Kremlin, Scotty, and Stavboy, and in the Winter Hurdle Race "lielniio, with Ost 01,b, appears to be leniently treat'-d in comparison with the above-mentioned trio.

Golden Slipper is again in work at Randlwick.

The Hawke's Bay winter meeting resulted in a profit of ,£205. The North Taranaki Hunt Club meeting will he held on the Tnranaki jr course on September 9th. The Hunt Uub has an increased membership this season and with a larger number of horses likely to ,be seen under silk, a nrs't-rate meeting is promised. 4 " N^ J, ' East ' with tllc probability of A. 0 liver in the saddle, is Hading favor for the Winter Cup. Commander has changed hands at th" ow price of 150gns., and will in future be trained by Capitol's mentor, Mr M. Deeiblc.

Hawke's Bay trained H. Hickey recently bought llundic for £sou-u tall price for a hack!

Gravitation, who has gone wronir dropped out of the New Zealand Cup on Saturday, precisely at 10 a.m. Mieriii dropped dead in a paddock at Masterton last week. The North Head boom has burst iust as badly as he head of "the morning after!" North Head's recent junroindisplays) at Ellersdie have been of the poorest possible description, and the Bnkenhead gelding has everything to cam. about the jumping business before he mil be dangerous in good company ,_aho deceased Melwood's place on T , Duncan's Otairi station will be filled by" the San Francisco stallion Golden Gate, who ,s well enough bred to get cham pious nvery time. Honoris fro,,, Hnwera say that Coroneted Lingerer VVaione and Stayboy '! '» tllcl,es t of condition to tickle Z , ! en S a gM"«its next week the following nominations have'bc-i received for the Trial (Plate at Tnn thani:-F, rs i Consul, Latehet, Chauvein, Dreadless, Notorious, Uri., Maori. -H.istciful, Succession, Undecided, Ma^ engo Memletta, Rose Herald, Pukcwai Captain Bill, and liawera U ' lukenai ' lvuku, having gone wrong, has been Trent " ™" «"?priM Te Kahnrangi, ? v ', Tauira, Exmoor and Waitarere-a formidable lot.