RACING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 101, 6 August 1910, Page 3

RACING.

RAGING FIXTURES. August 9, 11 and 13.—C.J.C. Grand National. September 7 and B.—Marton J.C. Hack. September 14 and 15.—Rangitikei R.C. Spring. COMING EVENTS. August 9.—Grand National Steeplechase. Winter Cup. August 11.—Grand Nfctional Hurdle Race, Beaufort Steeplechase. Australian Hurdle Race to-day. TURF TOPICS.

(By "Moturoa.") The Grand National steeplechase will be run at Riccarton on Tuesday. That Hash-in-the-pan sprinter Conquest ina is spelling, at. Pawelkaston. Winners will be hard to pick at the National meeting. Punters are up against it early in the new season. breezy Wellington the wind only blows the one way at present. North •East, and nothing else, they say it is. Capitol, who is described as being a trifle light at present, has gone right out of favour for the National Steeple. That prince of disappointments, Nautiform, only managed to gather in a modest fifty sovs. in stakes las® season. Old Lord Glasgow used to shoot mat sort. Patchedntp again, the hurdler Windage has been put into work once more, .aid all going well will be with them at Marton. ! The Grand National candidate, Eurus and Northern 'Star, are reported to have been suffering from colds and probably Stone Ginger and White Cockade will prove the fittest of the Canterbury con-j tingenit. _ J The irrepressible jock again! Hurdlerider C. Cress broke his collar-bone on two occasions last season, but in spite 1 of the adverse circumstances, gaily piloted 14 winners first past the judge's box. Projected departures. Wild West to India and Lovell to 'Stralia alter the! Canterbury meeting. Master Soult crosses the Tasman on Monday next. Los Angelos has been galloping the] head off Winter Cup candidates at Riccarton during the week. Tawhaki, North East and the prad mentioned aoove share favouritism for the race. The Torpedo gelding, Spaniard who gathered in a double at the Hawkes jjay Hunt Club meeting, has gon« to: Riccarton under the wing of trainer S. Waddell. Perhaps he will turn out a second Audax. i

The lame and the halt!. Nerd, whose fore-legs Jiave been somewhat doubtful since the Napier Park meeting, was token South during the week and Mr. T. Carson has hopes that the ganieylegged lepper will stand up until after tlfe Grand National Steeple. Hydroscope's trip is off, as the horse has broken down badly. ! Trust the cable-crammer for sensational news. A few weeks ago the world was startled with news of a uon-trymg jockey being shot in Austria. How did the kill-sports howl. Now that, the re-■ port has been proven to be a malicious! lie, they will lie low and say 'nuffin.| These are a few of the slanders the Turf has to put up with but the wowsers mii'lit have, the common decency to acknowledge when they are played out to a standstill. It is a sure sign of a bad cause when their case has to be bolstered up with reports whose breeding is, in sporting parlance, "by killsport —Lyrebird." Read what the Rev. 'Father Vaugnani says of sport:—"l am in favour of all sport, not excluding racing. Everything that makes for national character ought to be supported and encouraged by JSng-j lishmen. Every true Englishman has a 1 trend of the sportsman in his character, and when it was developed on legitimate, lines it helped him to realise himself and' gave him that indescribable something in his deportment and character which makes for (English manliness." j At last the New Zealand Press is awakening to the serious position of the Turf in this Dominion. As has been; often pointed out in these columns the kill-sport party is united against us and we in our false security have let things go their own way. Horse racing in this colony is seriously threatened. Just let that fact sink into your brain-boxes. If sportsmen do not very quickly right i this wrong there won't be any racing at all! These are plain facts. Parliament 1 has practically thrown the bookmakers off the courses.. Hundreds of the smaller clubs, (and some of them run on strictly! sportsmanlike lines), not enjoying totalizator licenses, have been ruined. \ v 'th-j out tote or bookmaker revenue must de-; crease. Stakes will follow suit. The | quality of horses running must deterio-| rate, the best horses being forced out of | the country. Poor racing means poor st- i tendance, waning interest. Can you see | the finish? Abolition of horse racing: ! Hut this scribe does- not for one mo-| | ment think that New Zealand snortsi/ieni i are of that type of cur who wjll take aj I beating offering no resistance. In the I South sportsmen are uniting. Tha Na-|

tional Sporting League is moving to pro-, ; tect our interests. It is a mere young- j ster in short nickers at present, but it ' will grow. As the Referee puis its:—'"The day of wait-a-bit is over now, and the friends of the national sport and hums ! try have got to be up and doing. Sportsmen know their friends in Parliament, and they know their foes there. In England the National Sporting League grew from an unimportant body to a gigantic organisation controlling score's of larliamentry elections. A N.S.L. with tli on sands of members throughout the Dominion would soon purge Parliament of that brand of narrow-minded pettifogger which seeks to deprive the Britisher of. his inherent birthright—his freedom and Ms independence." To; which all sports will answer "Hear, Hear!" But of that more anon. "Penta'graph's" figures for the justconcluded season 1909-10 are just as interesting as those of former years. As. last year, winning sires are topped by Soult' with 54 winners of £16,044, and' Stepniak (ofi winners of £12,003). Those' were foregone conclusions, but the most' remarkable thing of all, is the inaivellous stride taken by St. Paul. In the past four seasons, the little son of St. Lecer has sired winners of £154. £BSO, £202*2 and £4387 respectively., His stock are running all over this province, and it augurs well for our horses Unit ; his progeny is rapidly improving as time goes on. . Other Taranaki sires in good positions ar«: —Waiuku (13 win*

ners) ±',2378 and Daystar (14) £1872; whilst lower down we notice Uhlan (4; £395 and Maniapoto (1) £SO. 1 Coming to winning owners, Sir Geo. | Clifford £7774 and Hon. J. D. Orinonu j £0493, read best. Next comes Mr. G. D. Greenwood whose courage at the sale ring secured for him the best horses. ! Only two seasons have his horses sported silk, yet his winnings totalled £2777 |and £5195. The Canterbury sportsman's success with a' comparatively small team is in no small measure due to the care and ability of trainer R. J. Mason. Of the Taranaki horse-owners, Mr. T. Hikaka scooped up £llBO and crowtls of others smaller sums. Locallytrained horses won for Messrs. R. Barlow £480; H. Eva £310; S. Pitt £280;! J. O'Driscoll £.190; J. George £.136 and) A. Rhodes £lls—barely working ' ex- j peases! .. The champion 1 year-old fnimby recounted for £2(510 in stakes during the year, and but for threatened unsoundness might have been pushed on a few hundreds more. Elysian £2217, All Red £i2075, Lady Lucy £2OIO, Sedition £1960, Danube £I9OO and Gold Lace £LBOO come next. Winnings of the following Taranaki horses may prove interesting: —Compass £832, Clemora £725, Lethean £495, Emblem £470, Nero £455, Te Roti £357, Maggie Paul £315, Lady Menschikoff £3lO, Dolce £295, Red Wing £270, Golden, Loop £260, Dr. 'Shimose £235, Tiptoe £220, Coronetted £215, Cyrene £215, Waitapu £2OO, Wee Trinket £lB5, Paul £IBO, Mulga Bill £165, St. Lumsden £l4B, Silva £145, Tarn Glen £145, Kareroa £l3O, Golden Eagle £ll6, Valentine £ll2, Maharanui £9B, Bowbells £95, Contralto £95, Timothy £9O, Plantation £BS, Prancer £BS, Shining Star £65, Regulation £6O, Clemency £55, Lady Lupin £55, Billington, Sandy Paul and Royal Youngster £SO each. The Victorian A.T.C. Steeplechase meeting opens to-day, the principal event being the Australian Hurdle Race (three miles and a half). The following are acceptors:—Vernier list 111b, Obi list 71b, Kulcuma lOst 111b, Lord Desmond Ost 91b, Jewel Case lOst 31b, Treat lOst lib, King's Ransom 9st 131b, Ripon 9st 131b, Coir Ost 91b, Tundulya, Brownie, Louise and Minato Ost. i