SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 377, 30 April 1910, Page 3

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. .May 11, 12—Egmont Uarinj; Club. May 21, 24—Takapuna Joekey Club. .May 24, 2(i—W'ang.wiiii Jockey Club.' June 3, 4 —Dr.ni'ilin Jockey Club. June 3, 4, B—Auckland Racing Club. June 15, l(i—llawkc's Bay J.C. June 22. 23—Napier Park R.C. Julv 7, B—Gisi...rne R.C. July 10, 20, 23 Wellington R.C. DATES OF COMING- EVENTS. May 24—Century Hurdle Race. May 24—Wanganui Steeplechase. June 3—Great" Northern Hurdle Race. June 4—Great Northern Steeplechase. —Australia July 2—V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race. July 9—V.R.C. Grand National Steeplechase. J TURF TOPICS. I (By "Moturoa"). Formby has lost all form. Full Rate is enjoying a spell. ' Sandstrcani linished ••absolutely' m the H.B. Cup. Reported from 'Stralia that Aborigine goes to India .shortly. Downfall, who was sold cheaply the other day, has been put into training at Brisbane. Humming Bird is .well named. The daughter of Birkenhead is a fair ••hummer." \ An indifferent start spoilt Ngatiruanui in the Nursery Handicap, but the little fellow van very gamely into third place. "Weights for ,t'he Egmont meeting appear to-dav. Record nominations were received, and the weight-adjuster must have been working overtime all the week. Mr. I. G. Duncan has purchased Sweet" Angelus, and the Canterbury horse will take up duty at the "Waifcanae stud.

Racing pays some .people well enough! The Christchureh sportsman, G. D. Greenwood, lias already won over £SOOO in stakes alone this season. Armlet is his most consistent stake-earner. After a short season sit the stud Foremost is in training again at ILawera, ( and the ex-Aueklander will shortly be*, chasing the elusive golden which go to winners of sprint races. He ( has only | to run up to ids name, anyhow! Took the final twist at liawera last week, tae good old horse Irish Twist (ingomar—fororil. The old-timer was equally at home 'cross country and on i the flat,, and won many good races for j his owner, Mr. ••Billy" Tuck, sculler Webb's chief backer. Some callous person down Palmerston way has applied for the name of Powelk'u for a racehorse. Go into any .pub. on the coast and ask for "a Powelka," and they will unhesitatingly serve you with .stout and biscuits. Now, what's the matter with "Stout and Biscuits' for a name ? Red Rain and Cymbiform, which were taken over to the Sydney Easter sales, in the hopes that prospective bu-ovs mislit be found who did not know what sort of 'horses they were in their own land, failed to reach their respective reserves,' and were returned to Canterbury last week. The ex-New Zealander Don Hannibal has so far proved untrainable in Australia, and Bill Lyons has leased the son of Explosion to Mr. E. E. Oatley, of Warwick Farm, where the horse will take up stud duties. Should his lees regain their former soundness, there is a probability that he will be .put into training again after a few months. Paul and Timothy figure amongst the entries for hurdle events at the forthcoming Takapuna meeting, and Cyrene ami Maika are engaged in flat races; Paul is just the cut of a jumper, and should earn distinction at the illegitimate game, but it is doubtful whether Timothy will ever stay well enough to be able to run the second mile as fast as the first.

Wimmera took rank as a hurdle winner on Thursday, and the way in which the Merriwec gelding cantered home in front of Pikopo and a fair crowd in the good time of 2min 49sec stamps him as a horse likelv to win a good race over hurdles. Mr.* E. J. Watt's gelding raced very consistently on the flat last season, and caught the'judge's eye on three occasions out of fourteen starts.

Sir Geo. Clifford must have parted with the value of a respectable -prize in "Tatt's"—the one this scribe is patiently waiting for—'when he secured that 'handsome -sire San Francheo i> 'Stralia the other day. The horse stood in Auckland .seven or eight years ego, and in spite of few opportunities managed to grace the Turf with such highclass performers as Elevation, Downfall and Crucinella.

It is rarely that a horse sticks so closely to his pet distance as does Sir Tristram, winner of the Burke Memorial Stakes at Hastings on Thursday. A fair horse over a mile, the son of Sir Launcelot is .practically invincible over a mile and a-quarter. Last year he ran second in the Burke Memorial Stakes. being beaten by Master Soult in 2min Ssee, but his only two victories that year were notched'in the Ruakawa Cup and Wellington Autumn Handicap, each race heing run over ten furlongs. Amongst the entries for hurdle races at the Wanganui meeting is the Cuirassier gelding John, and after his forward running'on the flat questions are being asked as to his jumping ability. It therefore comes as interesting news to hear that John was hunted for two seasons in the Waikato by the wellknown trainer Dick Hannon, and the horse never once put a foot wrong. Hannon has trained many fine hurdlers, and it goes without saying that John has learnt the jumping business in a iioin! school.

A sportsman who claims to bo at least a theoretical prohibitionist tolls the following of a little social gathering held the'othor day in Elthani. Dinner was late., ami the guest asked the hostess to play something. Seating herself at the keyboard the lady S-uote a Chopin nocturne —or was it a Tschakowhisky?—l forgot. Anyway, dinner was still behind time, so she turned in a.)pious-lookl;ig old lady on her right, and inquired in dulcet tones: "Would you like a sonata before dinner?" The 'old party »av* a start of surprise and pleasure.' "''M<M. certainly, my dear niadaine," he said. "I had three or four on my war hero, but T think 1 could stand 'another!" j

A very popular victory on Wednesday, and a' severe Idow to stay-at-home Ikevs. was 'hat of .Bridge in the Hawke's Bay tup. The Possible gelding was ably nilotod by IF. Gray, and was never far from, the leaders, assuming command at the distance and winnin" by a length from Kopu. The winner started favorite, but Sandstream and Merrivonia were so solidly supported that he paid a very nice price. Bridge opened his winning account at this meeting last year, when hj» heat King's Prize

by >a neck in the Maiden ll'.ek ?>-.i ■■. In Wednesday's race he won liie Ji;.'.:-[-some cup which, .■•irangely i '.uugii. :■; \< ■presented to the llawke's l'.;r Ciub ,v his owner, Mr. E. .). Watt. At the late Bombay meeting tae ■•>:- New Zealamlers Souitline and Ma.-ic-r Delaval shone in a particularly bri-'ir. light. The hitler made (he Em.'!'-!' horse Fizzy and the remainder o:' his opponents look extremely cheap in the City Plate, and Souitline simply van away with the Malabar Hill Plate, in which he carried 9st 71b, and left six furlongs behind him in lmin 13 4-i)-=oc. The English mare Elimination acted :i.s runner-up, but nothing could live with Souitline, who made every yard of the. running, and won with his -head in his chest. Souitline is to be '.aken to England in charge of the English trainer Mumford, hut the Australasian six furlongs record-holder may go into R. Wootton's hands on his arrival.