SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 299, 10 May 1913, Page 7

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. .\May 8, 9*-Ashburton County Racing ■ ciub;, May i 4, 15—Egmont Racing Club. jMay.22^24—Wanganui Jockey Club. May 31, June 3j p.—Auckland Racing , , Club, May 22,..23.—N0rth ;Otago Jockey Club. . June. 3, .4 Otaki JJlaori Racing Club. HATES OF COMING EVENTS. -4May 22.—Wanganui' Steeplechase. May 22—Century Hurdle Race. .May. Northern Hurdle Race. June 3.—Great Northern Steeplechase. June 18.—Hawke's Bay Steeplechase.

TURF TOPICS. (By "Moturoa.") Taranaki sportsmen now turn their , attention to the Egmont Racing Club's ,' winter meeting which takes place on Wednesday!, and Thursday next. Excellent acceptances were : received on Thursiay evening, and the fields for the opening day promise to be fairly large. Given fine- weather' the gathering .should be ■ well .attended.;' ■" <■'.. '<■ renrainin the Manaia Handi-. cap and include several good 'milers," notably Patriotic, Mulga Bill, and Kina. j At the weights punters may prefer the chances of Kina, Ladjr Menschikoff and j Lady Volga.' Mulga Bill is a "mud- , lark," and at this time of the year, backers want to give the fine-weather I horses a. wide; lerth; .. ! The open sprint hindicap has only attracted seven horses, but a few speedy j customers remain in,; If stripped in j good nick, Ineuru may be well backed, but Katua, Grattan and Boronia have all shown good form (iver six furlongs. , An acceptance of flight in the Hack Hurdles must be considered satisfactory. Sampan shapedlwell at Awapuni and is looked upon as; a coming crack. Strong opposition may come from Aviatrix and Serenity, vjho are getting , through good work at ]>Vanganui. Goodwin Park, who was g(ven a big load, j has dropped out. ' (, ' As usual, the hack fla| handicaps have j all filled really well, -jourteen remain f in the' Railway HandiAp, twenty-two ' m the Telegraph Handicap, and twentyone in the Ladies' Purfe. Ten is the main in the Waihi Handicap. Viewed frorn Feildingiand Awapuni form the Wanganui mareßilver Rose appears to be well treated In the Railway and Telegraph and she will command considerable sujport in whichever race she starts. Sti Serf, Kaniki, i and Field Force, read niceW in the Railway Handicap, Rector Qrl, Tree Lucerne, and The Dodger in the Telegraph Handicap, and Moirette, Kurnalpi and , White Crane in the Wani Handicap, j The Ladies' 'Purse should take some { "picking"—no joke intended—but Kurn- ] alpi, Grandee, and Tirohania may have '. many followers. Winners jnay take a ' heap of sorting out. next welt. - Acceptances for-the Great Northern fell due last .evening, and will be eagerly scanned this mornng. The alleged favorites last weelj were The Native, Prophet, Chief Marshal) Lloyds, and,Fashion.Plate for the Hurdles, and< Hoanga, Antarctic, Delegafl, Armagh, Paritutu and Williamson's Okalhau ; : and Hautere, in the Steeple.\\ Antarctic appears to be nondthe worse . lor his recent mishap, andV movin*;'; ■strongly again at Wanganui.-Dorando ' and Rebel, on ifee «ame track j; \re jumping well, and the is not i nearly so backward as some pople imagine. '\ The Native, Prophet, and Chef Marshal are as well fancied as anyiing for ' ttie Century Hurdleg at An- ) tarctie and Hoanga axe at a shot price in the Steeple, and Pl»r.oso, and Multiply are favourites for th Cqnnolly Handicap. In the winter the sportsman'; topic is of "chasers and leppera, and i pre-; sent news'' comes from all parts, c the doings of tried \ jumpers and asirants to "jumping honours. Ellerstie rports State that Hoanga, Armagh, and bkaihau are jumping big country hau is still moving somewhat kort, and Hautere is banging his fences v>rse than ever. Appin is recovering Vom the effects of a hard rap on one otthc fences. The Chef, Lloyds, and Propet: are all going well. Seaman hurt jne of his hind legs when he fell at Ihe water-jump last week, and the lid fellow is still in the paddock. ', . Our Hawke's Bay friends' are nek 1 far behind as regards jumpers. n : fact they jump everything on four las •over there. El Dorado is in work agal but it is doubtful if the veteran' w| stand another preparation. Gloria I .jumping well at. Greenmeadows, arj l ■others shaping nicely over the smai sticks are Theodore, Vi, Thrave, Saj PJuie, Prince Eddie, and Marble Head Stourton and Bravest are pleasing thi touts by their showing over the biji fencee.i. At Palmerston, Feilding, Mar ton, Hawera, and other centres a few'i promising horses are in work, and the poming winter season promises to be as interesting as ever. From Hawera we hear nothing but Ngatiruanui. They think the Grand National is all over down there. Jockey C. Emmerson has ridden fifty winners this season.

A southern scribe remarks of the veteran Lord Soult, 'he will soon be old enough to vote." ' Such are the remarks which greet these used-to-be marvellous horses that lag superfluous on •the course v Hats off to two good sportsmen who crossed the Great Divide recently. One, the late Mr. TV. J. Barleyman," of Kaponga, bred and raced a number of horses, the best of which was Tetikura. The other, Mr. W. Mcßeth, of TVanganui, was one of the straightest goers on the coast, and his colours were carried with distinction by Crucinella, Allure, Handsome Maid, and other good horses. Quite recently this scribe was chatting to Mr. Mcßeth, and he seemed hopeful of Allure's prospects at the winter meetings. He was then apparently quite well, but pneumonia caught him and he succumbed a few days aero. Te Kahurangi has changed "stables. ajid is now under F. Higgott's care at Otaki. Trainer George Price has four rising two-vear-olds in hand at Awapnni. a colt by Boniform. and fillies by Martian. Boniform, and King Rufus. The lastnamed younarster is a half-sister to that good mare Bronze. Bleriot and La Reina, it is reported, will be shipped to 'Stralia after the A.R.C. Meeting. Visitors to the Hawera races will have an opportunity of witnessing some good boxing and wrestling bouts on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Good programmes have been arranged and the fun promises to be fast and furious. x'E.J." (Inslewood). Surprised. What did it die jof? The Grand National winner. Captain Jingle, will be shipped to Sydney in a few weeks. This horse would do better if raced in New Zealand this year. He will be up against a warm crowd across the Tassy. Midnight Sun continues to shane verv badly in Melbourne. The New Zealand Cup winner might be bought cheaph 'now. . I

Horsemanship is not much in evidence at flickerograph shows, and considerable amusement was caused at a local picture theatre on Thursday night by the unorthodox style of riding adopted by a (Trafalgar Square) cowboy. The way he carried Ms pistol made even the girls laugh! Bow Bells has arrived in Sydney and will race at some of the minor gatherings. The erstwhile Taranaki mare was a rank failure up North. The winning double at Ashburton on Wednesday—{xlenfinnan and Oxenhope—was well supported away from the course. The almost defunct pencillers were badly bumped over the success of the Riccarton-tralned pair. THREE FAMOUS JOCKEYS. Mr. John Porter, the famous Kingsclcre ex-trainer, has been making a comparison of three great jockeys—George Fordham,, Fred Archer and Tod Sloan. In an article in Dublin Sport he says: "Since I commenced racing, some 60 years ago, I have seen three geniuses representing three different styles of riding. Fordham, with his medium short stirrup, just short enough to clear the pommel of the saddle, with a little to spare, taking tight hold of his horse's head, leaning, slightly forward, with his hands resting oti the horse's withers, thus throwing the weight on the horse's shoulders, but still in a position to give him power to dr,op*into the saddle and control a horse when in difficulties, drive him straight home at the finish of' a race. ■'' i*H$J "Then came Archer, with his long legs and short body, riding with a long stirrup and a long rein. He had many imitators, but they were not made that way. Archer was not a finished horseman like Tom Cannon and others that I could name. It was his indomitable energy, his wonderful nerve, his power of embracing opportunities during a race that made him so superior to others. He was always ready to ride your trials; he was generally the first to weigh out for. a race, the first at the post—and, in fact, his whole soul was in the business. "The next to appear, and set a very different style, was Sloan. From the long stirrup and long rein he passed to the other extreme —the short stirrup and the short rein. Here, again, we found a genius, who not only set a new fashion iii riding a race, but a new way of running them. Instead of the slow, muddling 'way of waiting on each other, we had races run through as they should be. In this he showed his superiority to others by his knowledge of pace; he did not ride from'pillar to post, as others are apt to do, but at a pace that would give his horse a chance to carry him to the end of a race. "Between Archer and Sloan I think Fordham showed the happy medium, and his is the style of riding that should be taught and encouraged. Ido not think either the extremes of Archer or Sloan can give the power and control over a horse that is so needful." <