SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 300, 13 May 1911, Page 7

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. May 13—Hawke's Bay J.C. May 17, 18—Egmont R.C. Winter. May 20, 24—Takapuna ,I.C. May 24, 25—Wanganui J.C. Winter. June 3, 5, 7—Auckland R.C. COMING EVENTS. May 13—Hawke's Bay Stakes. May 24.—Wanganui Steeplechase. May 24—Century Hurdle Race. June 3—Great Northern Hurdle Race, June s—Great Northern Steeplechase

TURF TOPICS. (By "Moturoa.") Races at Hastings to-day. Sol-Delegate is a much fancied double in Auckland for the Great Northerns. Bunkum was sold recently to Mr. A. F. Douglas for 150 guineas. Master Soult is standing up to solid work again, and Denis Monaghan hopes to get another race out of the brown horse. Mr. Patsy Butler, reported dead a few weeks ago, writes from Waiheke that it is "only a rumor." j Paritutu has been jumping slovenly i of late, but on Saturday, in company with King Hippo and Dinkum, lie showed improved form. He will have a short and sudden run if he evdr takes on a steeplechase. ' i Hector Gray is now close on Whit- j taker's heels in the list of winning ' jockeys, and with ordinary luck at Hastings the Taranaki horseman should wrest the lead from his northern rival. I From Waverley good reports come of Auratus' work, the Gold Reef gelding i jumping and galloping well. The last time this scribe saw Auratus his legs looked like giving up the game at any moment, and I do not fancy that he will ever do much good. Mr. Charlie Gordon now has Lull in hand, and the old gelding has been jumping the big fences in good style recently. Gordon also has D'Nil in work. There is a strong feeling in somequarters that Ribston Pippin will carry all the money in the Great Northern Hurdle Race next month. Acceptances for the Great Northern Steeplechase should appear this morning, and. pickers will then have some guide to the likely ones in the big 1 Ellerslie race. As the result of n good spell, Golden Loop is looking fresh and well, and hopes are expressed that the chestnut will do Mr. J. Smith good service next' season. I The ex-New Zealander, War Song, won at the first time of asking in Tasmania. J Billy Young is mentioned as the likely I pilot of Te Arai in the Wanganui Steeple. Young will have plenty of good riding during the next few months, what' with Attwood's team, Mr. Jas. Bull's, and the Gisborne horses Paisano and i Continuance. ; i The bookmakers at Scarsdale (s<ltoria) went on strike the other day be;) cause they disagreed with the iiidge'f> decision in placing New Moon, a hot! ; ,favorite, first. Anyway, no more business was done that day, the public, sav-l ing thereby no doubt. Anent the above, I a Sydney paper recalls the pathetic out- j burst of a Melbourne bookie: "The bleeding horse won, after all! Tell you! what, there'll be no blank certainty inj racing till the blank ring rides the! blanky horses itself!" {

Trainer A. Hall has a promising fullbrother to St. Bill named St. Gate, and the new-eomcr will be slipped at the Wanganui meeting. After winning at the Christchurch meeting Coroniform was turned out, and will not be asked to gallop until after the winter. Rumored that Trainer Tilley has I Shuja better than ever, and the Soult ■ horse will spoil some of the hanidcaps at Hawcra. The crack Southern trotter, Revenue, has been sold to go to Revenue has a record of 2min 11 4-ssec., and is improving every day. '' St. Rill and North-East have he'eV worked "the wrong way" since ing from Ellerslie, and it is quite possible that they will tempt fortune itf the northern city next month when tW winter meeting rolls round. ' i The Hawke's Bay Cup is said to be a remarkably decent kind of utensil, and is shaped something like a huntsman's j horn, with horses and a laurel wreath' engraved thereon. I A Marton sport tells mo that ¥., Lloyd has the hurdler Marton in finei racing trim, and several of the plums' of the winter season are sure to go' that way. The Malachi gelding jumps smartly, and besides having a good turn' of speed, is staying better than here-to-1 fore. I

The 'Stralian jockey, W. H. McLachlan, who left for Home recently, was. given a had run just before leaving Sydney. Riding a warm favorite, the brute failed to hop out at the start,' and McLaehlan did not consider pursuit worth while. The stewards thought otherwise, and fined him £SO "for not following the race!" I Consider the weights for the Pony] Handicap at Takapuna. Mighty Atom,| a double-winner in open company at] Avondale, is given 9st ftlh, and above' him are Jack Delaval 10st, and Red' Lupin lOst lOlhs. Mighty Atom ran, four furlongs on a sodden track in Slsec., so that the weight-adjuster must have a high opinion of the abilities of Red Lupin and Jack Delaval. |

The question whether John can jump or not is settled several times a week on the Wanganui tracks. In company with Clcmato, John flies the schooling hurdles in good style, and his first appearance with tile colors up (at Hawcra) will be watched with interest. At a recent auction sale in Sydney, a curiously weighted saddle weighing 2st 81hs was put under the hammer. In appearance it was no different to hundreds of others weighing only a few pounds. This is the kind of saddle used by trainers to beat the touts who watch training operations narrowly on the look-out for likely winners, and the unsuspecting lout records unfavorably against a horse which is carrying 2st. more than he imagines. With the colors up the slow prad chops half a second (or more) off every furlong, and as he flies in the tout is left mutterin" "Whaffor?" Madam Madcap was galloping in great style recently, and if the going is anyway good is sure to run a good race in the Hawke's Bay Stakes. At Adelaide the other day, a horse named Rteelbit. carrying flst 51bs, was timed to win a two-mile steeplechase in 3min Msec., over stiff country, too. The previous best was Findowie's 3min , r >2'/,'sce at Caulfield. Horse-racing is now knocked on the head in New York. The new Gaming Act makes the club responsible for all bets made, secretly or otherwise, within the enclosure. In the face of that law the Jockey Club threw in the towel, and that sort of thing is just a foretaste of what New Zealand is threatened with! Stead Rros., like their late father, do not stick to a bad horse very long. After the Wellington meeting they disposed of Aphaea and Khamsin. Their boxes have been filled by a promising pair of Achilles Yearling fillies. The Calcutta Turf Club imagines the suji.fluiis ier it alpr.?; ui, ib& &■

treme hauteur surrounding this august body is a thing to marvel at. An i Indian owner, whoso horses were ap- . parcntly harshly handicapped throughout, entered one of his carriage horses for the Eden Plate. The animal caused great hilarity when he went to'the post, j and later took Imin 53scc to cover the distance. The club officials were "deeply I annoyed" over the occurrence, and the [ joker made no secret of the affair either.

The career of the jumper Skylark was dramatically closed at the recent Sydney Royal Show. Skylark, who held the record for water jumps in N.S.W., cleared these in magnificent style in the hunting contest. When it was over the judges awarded the blue ribbon to the horse, which was then in the new enclosure near the ring. There were calls for Skylark to appear in the ring to be decorated. His jockey came out of the enclosure and informed the officials that the horse was dying. Taking the blue ribbon an official tied it round the horse's neck. "Hats off, lads, to the Sydney Show champion!" shouted one of the jockeys, and all heads were bared as the gallant jumper died.