SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1917, Page 8

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. J Sept. 24 —Otaki R.C. Spring. Oct. IT, 12—Masterton R.O. Spring. * Oct. 12, 13—Dunedin ,1.0. Spring. * Oct. 20, '22—Wellington R.C. Spring. Oct. 22—Waverlcy R.C. Annual, OPUiNAKE RACING CLDB. j ANNUAL MEETING. £ ( The annual meeting of the Opunako ' Racing Club was held in the Club ,Hotel j on Thursday evening, the president.. Mr. j A. Good, being in the chair. Other members present were: Messrs A. Clarke, E. ' J. Andrews, P. Tito, ,T. Martin. S. Campbell Jr., J. M. Hickey, E. Thorpe, G. 1 Hammond, W. Blyth, j. P. Burton, J. 1 Simpson, W. Slattery, T. Dill, W. C. Dudley, E. S. Forsyth, E. Marshall, T. ] Eaves, R. P. Malcolm, J. Young, G. ' Newsham, G. Barr-Brown, F. Julian, R. Macfle, R. Malcolm, S. Richards and the 1 secretary (P. S. Riley). ' The report stated that £IOO had been 1 spent in improvements, and that the 1 club was in a 'position to consider the advisability of paying off the existing : mortgage; meanwhile £7OO had been do- i posited at the P;0. savins bank. The : club's license had not been interfered : with by the Government. The curtail- < ment of racing might influence entries. ■ Further additions and extensions were • needed to the racecourse, and some of the most necessary would be taken in ' hand. Regret was expressed at the death i of Mr. Geo. Morse, who had filled the •; position of handicapper so satisfactorily, i The balance-sheet, showed receipts (in- 1 eluding balance from previous year oi £318) totalling £3785, of which the totaliaator commission represented £2334. Expenditure amounted to U2OGO ( £llOO for stakes), leaving a credit balance of £Bl9. The report and •balance-sheet were adopted. The election of officers resulted as follows: President. Mr. A. Good; vicepresidents, Messrs M. .T. Brennan and YV. C. Dudley; judge, Mr. \V. Young; timekeepers, Messrs G. Gibson and \V. Blyth; treasurer, Mr. A. Clarke; auditor, Mr. D. Markham; lion, surgeon. Dr, Buist. Eleven members were proposed for nine positions on the committee. On a ballot being taken the following were I ejected: Messrs E. S. Forsyth, J. Young, E. Thorpe, G. Barr Brown, F. Julian, A. cJwke. D. Campbell, W. C. Dudley, J. Hickey. Secretary, Mr. P. S. Riley. Resolutions were formally passed, endorsing section 33 of the Gaming Act 1908. Messrs Dill, Eaves and Slattery spokb on the importance of having two open event" included in the racing programme It was agreed that this be a suggestion to the incoming committee, also that the secretary's salary be increased. Votes of thanks were passed to the chairman and outgoing committee. At a meeting of the committee. Mr. W. C. Dudley was re-elected chairman. TURF TOPICS. ■ (By "Moturoa.") Otaki races on Monday. Masterton weights are due on Friday. Have you picked the New Zealand Cup yet? N.Z. Cup weights should appear about the end of next week. Recently reinstated jockeys include 11. Gray, H. Goldfinch, anil "Rangi" Thompson. A lot of people are wondering whether Lady Beaufort will join the Flying Corp3 on Monday. ' At the Danncvirke Hunt meeting Gin Sling dislocated a fetlock and had to be destroyed. Idyllic, a comfortable winner at Dannevirke, is a smart four-year-old gelding by Hymettus—ldee. John Barleycorn is reported to be well forward in his New Zealand Cup preparation, and if ho sees the post W. Bell will probably have the mount. At Marton and at Dannevirke the concluding events were run in semidarkness. Soon they will be racing by gaslight. It was the apprentice, G. Young, and not his brother, W. Young, who scored on Detroit last week. George is a promising member of the famous young family, but unfortunately threatens to put on weight. The luck of the new chum is exemplified in the case of Mr. G. Seifert, whose horses, (Polynesian and King's Armor, returned, the major part of their purchase money when they scored last week. What 'with the steadily growing bad habit of running the last race an hour or so late, and the early closing of the bars, a fellow very soon won't be able to "drink success" after he has collected on the final flutter at a race meeting. Menelaus and Chakwana are galloping well at present, and the stablemates should show up prominently at Otaki PerVolo, who also hails from Trentham, is expected to run well at the meeting. Rather an interesting feature of the chief flat handicap at Otaki is the fact that the present season's Grand National winners, Sleiglit-of-Hand and Master Strdwan, will be amongst the field. Such an event is probably without parallel, and it goes to prove that tlie big jumping events of the present day are no place for the horses of a decade ago, when jumping alone, and not pace and jumping combined, was the only essential. The point will probably be contested by the old school, but the fences at Ricearton to-day are practically as formidable as ever tlicy were, and" judging by the time records, races nowadays are won and the dividends paid out while the old-timers Would still be struggling towards the judge's box. Thursday's Turf intelligence from 'Wellington would be incomplete without the I following. Publicans' Handicap Hurdles: ' Wowser 1, Killjoy *2, The Nark 3. Also started: Bung, Pint Pot, The Brewer, I Catto, Barman, and Fair Flossie. Bung showed a bold front for a mile, closely attended by The 'Brewer and Catto. Going along the back stretch the last time t Bung had to be hard ridden to keep clear of The Nark, and as they turned for home Wowser and Killjoy also chalf lenged. A close finish seemed probable, '■ but Bung carnp-a bad cropper at the t last fence, leaving Wowser to romp home I an easy winner from his stablemates, Killjoy and The Nark. Only the placed horses finished. Bung was badly shaken and The Brewer went sore. Flying 'Start, who won many good races as a two-year-old, and who afterwards went wrong in the throat, has arrived in Gisbomo to take up stud duties. The Malstcr filly Agncstes is likely to return to the country of licr birth short- ' ly, the object being to contest pony races. Last season she won a couple of - races at Takapuna, beating big fields in o good time, and she should prove more t than useful amongst the lilliputians on •• the other side. t Johnny Walker is reported to be galloping well at Treatham, bub it

doubtful whether lie will ever prove !"« champion alleged some months ago. iiy the way, if the horse is named after the flell-known brand pf "gargle" why don't they spell his name correctly, namely, "Johnnie Walker"? The number of alleged "sports" who float round for a "screw" at the Turf Register always surprises this scribe. How they manage to struggle along without such a very necessary sports- I man's vado mecum is hard to imagine. These same persons thihk nothing of 1 paving thirty bob for a car ride to a meeting, but still they buck at half a guinea for a book that is a present day necessity and a valuable book of reference in years to come. Still, you see <!haps manoeuvring about for a free lawn ticket, and once they get on to the blessed green sward they think nothing of putting a fiver or a tenner on a prad that they never' heard of before, and whose only pretentions to galloping are probably based on the evidence of the washer lady whose daughter keeps company with a chronic bankrupt jockster. iSucii is the sporting life! Talking of betting in fivers and tenners reminds everybody that the reason of the rapidly swelling totalisator turnovers should be painfully evident to all of ns. Who cannot remember the days when a fiver, or even less, was sufficient for our day's racing needs? And then, as the months flew apace, the Aver rushed up to a tenner, and from a tenner to a "score," and those who were content to invest a modest 'arf-aov. at the beginning are now calmly putting •on one, two, three, or more weeks' wages at a single pop. Some survive, but the majority come to grief, only to scratch along for a while and rise again. 'lt's a fool's game, perhaps, but so is everything that appears worth while in this swift world. ,