SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 133, 14 September 1910, Page 8

SPORTING.

TURF TOPICS. | (By "Moturoa.") The Avondale Cup will be run on Sat- j urday. The Rangitikei and Ashburton Racing Gluts will hold their spring meetings to-, day and to-morrow. I r Golden 'Eagle, Uhlando and Paritutu have paid up for their Avondale engage- s merits. Glemora will probably sport silk in j the Flying at Bulls, but will be up against more forward horses in Elec- . trakoff, Te Roti and Co. ' California has 'been taken to Auckland, and will foe ridden by H. Gray in the Avondale Cup. The Hawke's Bay»j champion is reported to be gallopingl well, and may be depended upon to make a respectable showing in his engage- ij nients! TawhaM and Kilindini fought out the J finish of the Maiden at last year's Ran- ( kitikei meeting, but it is doubtful whe-|j tlier to-day's field will bring to light/ anything so brilliant as the above-men-' tioned pair. Taranaki sports will be i interested in the running of St. Toney, ( who is reputed to be one of the smart- ( eat horses over a short distance trained on the Hawera course. | Australian papers report that Equita9 ; has been scratched for the Melbourne' Cup. The brilliant daughter of Advance ' had little chance of seeing out a solidlyrun two miles, as sprinting is her forte. Following on the alleged backing of the Palmerston colt, Polymorphous, comes the news Jockey W. Young will ride the Highden candidate in the New' Zealand Cup. All of this may be the usual plain, unvarnished tale," but the statement that Young will ride "Polly" is sufficient to cause a run on the four-year-old. St. Bill has shown promise of turning out a rare good hurdle horse, and much interest will be taken in his initial display at the Rangitikei meeting. It is stated that he will 'be ridden by a staible lad who usually steers him in his schooling work. Quite an array of X.Z. Cup horses will be under the colors at Ashburton to-day. In the County Handicap Los Angelos carries top weight, and on his running at the National Meeting he is just about in | his place. Rose Noble won the event under 8.3 last year, and has been going . well in 'his training work since winning ' lit Riccarton.

While schooling, at Ellerslie on Thurs- ' day morning the aged gelding, Cudweed, ' by .Waiuku—Lobelia, had the misfortune to break a leg, and was subsequently destroyed. Cudweed ran on five occasions last year, but failed to win a;< race. He will never lose another onet i A pair of smart performers, Lady Medallist and Merrie Zealand, will measure strides at the Rangitikei meeting, : and with both fit and well a good contest may 'be provided. The Porirual mare shaped promisingly at Marton last < week, and should be greatly benefited by the gallop. Sir 'Frisco scored there last year, and was followed home by Wee Trinket. A few weeks ago it wa9 reported that Provocation was standing up to his work in gjreat style, and hopes were expressed that the champion two-year-old of the season 1908-09 would regain his former dash. Later news is to the effect that the son of Birkenhead is in a very bad way, and has got the worst of it fighting a severe attack of tblood poisoning. Visitors to the Marton gathering were impressed by the bold showing of Master Sylvia, and considering that the horse has only been up a short time his performances point to the probability of him turning out a fairly smart horse up to a mile. Mr. J. Smith has both Master Sylvia and Golden Loop in at Bulls, and at the weights most people prefer Master Sylvia of the pair. % They will be meeting some warm customers in the Rangitoto Handicap to-day, asi the field includes Kilosteri, Mediterranean, Waipunui, St. Lumsden and other j good horses. Tarpoint has been scratched for all engagements. Twenty pounders are familiar hutdlers for pencillers nowadays. Every tinpot racing club demands the maximum j fee, and a long-suffering betting public ; has to put up with cramped odds in conI sequence. A 'big string of bookmakers faced a Magistrate in Auckland last i week, and were found guilty of street- ! betting. Probably through force of | habit the magistrate said £2O. to most iof them. It will be hard to get a bet | on in the Northern City after this, j If Lovell starts in the Rangitikei 'Steeplechase this afternoon he will lend ' quite a high-class tone to the race. The I Porirua 'chaser has so far performed unluckily, this season, but his running at| the principal winter meetings stamped i him a fine horse over big oi'ntry. He always claims a big army of backers, I and no doubt will be \vsll supported, I again this afternoon. | | A heap of good money was lost over I Maku the first day at Marton, aiu many ; blamed Jockey J. O'Conholl fu- letting ; the field get too far away horn the Dig black gelding. Maku made up a great deal of the ground in the kit l a,f mile, and with a little luck might have done much better than ran into third place. He will be meeting Don Carlos and Whatashot—who finished in front of j him at Marton —011 14 lb. and 21b. better i terms respectively at Rangitikei.

A RACEHORSE'S HEALTH. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Received September 14, 12.30 a.m. Sydney Last Night. The racehorse Lady Lucy appeared on the training track to-day. She has fallen away a lot during her illness, and was not galloped.