SPORTING

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1919, Page 11

SPORTING

RACING FIXTURES. I SEASON 1019. » June 7—Dunedin J.C. Winter. I June 12 and 14—Gisborne KG. Steeplechase. June 14 —Otago Hunt Steeplechase. June 20 and 21—Napier Park R.O. Winter Aug. 12, 14 and 10—C.J.C. Grand National. NOMINATIONS June 13—Canterbury J.C. (Classic events). June 27—C.J.C. Grand National (principal events). June 25—C.J.C. Grand National (general entries). HANDICAPS. June 9—Napier Park R.C. Winter. July 18—C.J.C. Grand National Steeplechase, Hurdle Race, and Winter Cup. Aug. I—C.J.C. Grand National (minor events). ACCEPTANCES June 7—Gisborne R.C. Steeplechase. June 13—Napier Park R.C. Winter. July 25—C.J.C. Grand National Steeplechase, Hurdle Race, and Winter Cup. Aug. B—C.J.C. Grand National (minor events). FINAL PAYMENTS. Aug. B—C.J.C. Grand National Steeplechase, Hurdle Race, and Winter Cup.

CYNIC'S GREAT NORTHERN

Sir James Carroll is generally regarded a-s a judge of horse flesh, bat when, on a visit to the Ould Sod, he selected the Henry the First—Cynane colt Cynic for Mr! H. de Latour 'it seemed as if the astute Maori sportsman had (for once) fallen to the "blar ne y" 0 f tiie Irith salesmen, or the seductive charms of the oglying Irish "colleens"; or was it the famous stout of one Guinness? In plain language, he appeared to nave bought "a gold brick." Cynic was an Irish-bred colt of some pedigree, being by Henry the First, by Melton (son of Master Kildare), from Simena, by St. Simon (son of Galopin), from F*lying Fots.tep, by Doncaster (son of Stock"well); and his dam, Cynane, by Cyliene (son of Bona Vista), 'from Suntain, by Donovan (son of Galopin), from Distant, Shore, by Hermit (son of Newminister). Melton, Galopin, Doncaster, Donovan and Hermit were Derby winners, while Stock-well anil Nowminster ranked as winners of the St. Leger. St. Simon and Cyliene require no introduction, their phenomenal stud careers being well known.

However, Cynic, in spite of his boasted lineage and attractive conformation, proved a rank failure in his many essays in this country, and even on the few occasions that he showed a glimpse of "form" some sort of curse seemed to follow him up, and take the spoils.' of victory from him at the death, Cynic reminded one of a man who got up late. He was always left, and, making hard work of his races, was always flying at the finish. Tried over all distance*:; from si.v furlongs to eighteen, the result was always; the same. As a'last resource he was tried over fences, and encouraged by his showing at Avondale he was entered for the Great Northern Hurdl" Race. Bred and trained in the bogs of Ould Ireland, Cynic naturally showed a preference for soft tracks," and by a queer combination of circumstances namely, a heavy track, a hurdle race in which the hurdles were hardlv worthy of the name of hurdles, and lost but not least, a. field of more or less crippled horses that wore unsuited by the above conditions, and there you have the reason of the hitherto luckless Cynic's success. To win a. hurdle race of the value of 1.100 sovs. £IOSO of which go to the winner, is no small achievement, but it is no guarantee that the lightlv-weighted Trish-bred horse will win another' good hurdle race. From all accounts his jumping was far from perfect, and big fences would be sure to trouble him. Details of the race ' show that after Thrace, Te Onga and Euripos had set a merry pace, and the slippery going had caused Sleight of Hand, Art, Paraoa and. Kmkora to make mistakes, Cynic had enough steam left in him to struck home in front in time that was very creditable, considering the state of the track. Had such stayers as Sleight of Hand, Art and Paraoa stood up there might have been a different ending to the story, but'such is; the luck of racing. As far as can be judged from the various contradictory accounts of the Great Northern Hurdles the race was run like this.—After Sir Fisher, Ditto and Gunwale had declined their cn«a."cments, nine horses went to the post", the public meanwhile keeping Sleight of Hand in his; position of'first favorite, as existed since the bay son of Mystification won at Awapuni. Thrace and Lyme, on the strength of recent gallops, and a reputation of partiality to wet tracks, "shortened" to second and third favoritism respectively, while Master Lupin held his place in the betting, and 1 araoa, Art, Eiiripos, and Kauri King receded badly. Te Ongo, Colonel Soult and Kmkora were rightly sized up as forlorn chances. When the field moved off Te Onga, Thrace and Colonel Soult came at the first hurdle on terms. Thrace -fenced best, and at the next obstacle was leading Te Onga. and Master Lupin. Along the back the same trio led, with Sleight of Hand and Euripos handy, and Cynic (fencing erratically) all'over the field Te Onga was the first to crack up, but Cynic, Euripos, Kauri King and Sleight of Hand kept within measurable distance of the leaders. At the cud of a mile Cynic ran up to Thrace, but went back at the next fence, and passing the stand Euripos had headed Thrace and Master Lupin, Cynic being next. Sleight of Hand sold out six furlongs from homo, and the next hurdle beat Art. Cynic then went through fast, and joined Waster Lupin and Thrace at five furious*. Euripos was: done, but Kauri King made a short dash. Cynic came into the straight clear of Master Lupin and Thrace, Paraoa having fallen, and the first-named went on to win nicely from Thrace, who outstayed Master Lupin in the run home. Kauri King was close up fourth, followed by Te Onga and Euripos at short intervals. Kmkora, very tired, turned over at the last fence. and the ignoble Colonel Soult, very lame after a s.evere tussle with the unrelenting timber, was a sorry last. As the betting suggested, Cynic's victory was not altogether unexpected. His .track form during the previous week showed marked improvement, and that he was fit was freely acknowledged, but whether he would 'get round without mishap was; strongly doubted. Nobody will begrudge his" owner an overdue win, nor success to jockster A. J. McFlynn, whose first ride over feinces It was since he got smashed up last feat,

MASTER LUPIN—AN ALL ROUND PERFORMER. The Wanganui Steeplechase saw the defeat of an old favorite, Master Strowan, and the Great Northern Steeplechase was responsible for the downfall of an equally popular 'chaser, Wainiai. In both instances the champion of two seasons only gave way after sterling battles with more lightly weighted rivals, and, while defeat isi distasteful, it attaches no disgrace to these exceptional eqnines. Every dog has its day, and weight stops the best of them, it cannot be said that age had much to do with the results of the two races menI tioned, for neither Coalition nor Master 'Lupin belong, to the youthful brigade. In fact, both are well on in the aged division. That they had 221bs and 251bs respectively in their favor stood to them, and in each case very fast time was run.

Master Lupin has been a fair all-round performer, having won over several distances on the flat, his most notable victory .being the Wanganui Cup of 1913, as well as over hurdles, but this is his first success over big fences. He has been a good hor;;e for Mr. Jas. Buli, and in recent years this well known owner of jumping horses has not unduly taxed the bay son o| Lupin and St. Lyra. By running third in the Great Northern Hurdle Race on Saturday he showed that he was in good nick, and such a good jumper being endowed with pace equal to the average hurdler, and rather more than the majority of 'chaser?.', was hound to be on Tuesday. There appear*: to have been no semblance of a fluke about his victory, and it is not surprising to hear that his party threw in for a good win. Tenacious is a long way below top-notch form, but he appears to have run his usual honest race. The hill and the distance accounted for the others.

The following description of the race lis taken from an exchange:—After the field had got well into their stride, Waimai began to show up in front, with Master Lupin and Tenacious in close company. Waimai was the first over the water jump, followed by Master Lupin, Tenacious, and Te Onga. After-two miles had been traversed it looked as if the race would resolve iteelf into a great battle between Waimai and Master Lupin, This proved to he the case. They sorted themselves out from the rest, and Master Lupin made the pace very fast. With three-quarters of a mile still to go he had established a good lead. Coming down the hill for home Waimai came again with a game tpurt and got within striking distance, but Master Lupin was first over the last hurdle, and was able to win with something to spare. Tenacious was the only other horse to finish, the others coming to grief at variolic stages of the race. A PROMISING SIRE.

In these days of-over-raced colts, and over-worked and jaded stallions, it is pleasing to note the stud success of the youthful Beragoon, whose son, Bigaroon, threaten.", to do big things on the Australian Turf. Beragoon ranked as a dual Derby winner, but had a comparatively easy time notwithstanding, and was retitred from racing at four years. As a two-year-old he started six times, winning thrice, and as a three-year-old was saddled up on nine ocasions, landing both the A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies. A second in the A.J.C. St- Legcr, and fifth in the Melbourne Cup completed his three-year-old efforts, so that he was able to take up stud duties with strength and vitality unimpaired. The racers that have done much battling do not make brilliant parents, at least not until they have properly recovered from their severe racing efforts. Bigaroon. who is also owned by Mr. E. J. Watt, is leased to ''Mr. Constable," and in his color's has won each of the three races he has started in. Bigaroon's most notable victory was in the A.J.C. Champagne Stakes, run at Easter, which he. registered in the i easiest possible fashion. A big future is predicted for the handsome son of BeragoonFORTUNE'S FAVORITE. The biography of the late Mr. A. W. Cox (''Mr. Fairie" on the Turf) makes interesting reading. A blacksmith at •Broken Hill, he won part of his share in the Broken Hill Golconda over a. game of euchre. Then things boomed, and everything he touched turned to gold. Not content with the land that raised i him to affluence he migrated to. the. Old Dart, where fortune still pursued him. Far a quarter of a century, says one writer, Mr. Cox was never, unless asleep, with a cigar in his mouth and a drink in his hand, or vice versa, and he certainly did make things hum. He was one of the luckiest men that ever raced, and amongst a host of good horses that carried his colors were the mighty Lemberg. Vkvardo and Ray Crusader. His name was spread all over the records ■of English racing for the .past twenty years. SOME 'CHASERS.

Tasmania seems to be suffering, in common with other 'Stralasian states, with a paucity of passable steeplechasers, and an account of a recent cross country "race" held there last month is worth recording. A Hobart scribe thus describes the debacle: Prompted W the wretched lot of cross-country horses racing in Tassy, Clem. *T. Coyle recently took a half-draught out of one of his bread-delivery waggons and put him in training. Tho neddy had previously been in a woodcart, and subsequently did some jumping at up-country shows. The baker christened the horse with his own initials—C.J.C.—and with him won the steeple at the T.A..T.C. May meeting. The portion of Miss Canon that did not remain on the fences was the only other horse-flesh to finish. Two others—Boscastle and Gangway—made frantic efforts to gain third money by cantering around and jumping the fences. Neither was up to the task, however, although the former shunted up and down the sh-night in a series of attempts to ne'goiiate a fence which he ultimately galloped info and smashed, together with hi" jockey. C..T.C is a heavyweight edilion of Pilot, and a good jumper; | but be could not head a cow. I STRAY ITEMS.

"Millionaire shandy," another name for champagne an 4 stout, U one of the most expensive thirst-quenchers in this country, but '"Bobbie" Lewis, Victoria's veteran jockey, found one more costly at Adelaide the other day. After weighing out to ride Trillion in the Goodwood Handicap he is alleged to have had a drink, though whether it was a bucketful or a hothead is not stated. Anyway, after Trillion won Lewis weighed in 2 s /4ib. overweight. The stewards did not disturb the judge's placing, but they ■fined Lewis a tenner for his indiscretion. Thus the Bulletin: The ML. racinc authorities treat their ex-trainers and [ex-jockeys well F. "McManemin, the one-time trainer, Is hundlsaaser to the

Auckland R.C.. and tlie club starter is C. O'Connor, the ex-jockey. J. Cameron, the former steeplechase rider (he steered Jack's the Lad, Volcanic and others in Sydney and Melbourne), ig a West Coaßt judge." Anyone heard of the V.R.C. or A..T.C. finding billets of the sort for superannuated turfites of good character and standing'? If suec.esful and intelligent trainers and jockoys are not fitted for the jobs, who are? Surely not the "tin sport" crowd that only have a superficial knowledge of racing, and owe their positions on racing club committees to the fact that they are men-abput-town and "jolly rood fellows." Give us the practical and experienced man who has been "through the mill" every time!