SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1920, Page 3

SPORTING.

RECORD IN AMERICA. By Teleiraph.—Press Assn.—Copyrleht. New York, July 11. Man*o-\Viir, n three-year-old colt, has set a record for one mile and one furlong, covering the distance In 109 l-ssec —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ' AUSTRALIAN WEIGHTS. By lelejraph.—Press Assn—Copyright. Received July 12, 10.15 p.m. Melbourne, July 12. Weights for the Australian Hurdles include: Sanuule (top) 12,7, Belcane 11.10, Silent Way 10.10, British Arch 10.G, Vaquero 9.8, l'ro Tern 9.ii, Kilowatt 9.0. Australian Steeplechase Sir Prim (top) 12.7, Ttmuua .lack' 11.1J, Vaiiuero 10.9. | WELLINGTON PROSPECTS. (By "Moturoa.") j, If the Transport Federation imagined that by the prolongation of their present unreasonable attitude the Wellington RC. would be compelled to cancel their winter meeting they must have suffered a rude shock when ilie first day's acceptances appeared on Saturday morning, and If they can claim any satisfaction by barring Master Strowan/ Coalition, Kllrush, and one or two lesser lights from attending this week's gathering they must be easily pleased. | On the whole, the acceptances are very good. One might have wished for a bigger field in the Wellington Steeplechase, but all the other events have filled well, and a successful gathering is assured In spite of the Transport Federation. With Loehella, Oladful, Slowcoach, First Line, Foeman, Wirokino, and Harbor Light still holding their ground the big steeplechase bears an open appearance. Loehella has a big weight,' and over easy country Gladful, Slowcoach and First Line will make him carry it all the way. Whether '.ho Great Northern and Grand National winner can give Gladful lillbs, and Slowcoach and First Line 26 and 271bs respectively, remains to he seen. There are no certainties In steeplechaslng, and weight stops the best of them. Loehella and Slowcoach also figure In the Winter Hurdle Race, and it is not at all certain that they will contest the cross-country event. Thrace holds his ground in the Hurdles, and such a fine stayer must be hard to beat over two miles and a Quarter. Loehella, to my mind, reads more dangerous In tho small stick oveut than in the steeplechase. Kauri King had not quite struck form yet, and may be a better horse with a race ic him: Omahu, last year's winner, does not attract much, but Fisher, Paddington Creen and Ladoguer read very dangerous at the weights In fact Ladoguer Is easily the pick of tho handicap. He has proved his ability to lump smartly, and such a wellperformed flat performer is lucky to fcot in with 9.12 Fifteen have heen paid up for In the Parliamentary Handicap, and whatever beats the two top-weights, Gold Kip and Red lt'bbon, will have to go fast Tame Fox is a strong order from Wanganul, but I will not have him beyond a mile. Sir Fanciful looks a likely light-weight, and If the going is heavy Bagdad's chance timist he considered. Dainty Step has befen backed on the strength of Gray's riding, but I don't fancy she is good enough. That there Is no scarcity of hack hurdlers about is proved by an acceptance of twenty-one in the Vittoria Hurdles, and with Kereone, Signyslan, Alteration. Sir Agnes and Chummy engaged It should lie a fine race. On recent form Sir Agnes and Signyslan appear to be as flt as anything, but somo of the new chums—possibly Alteration or Retard—may make things Interesting. The Stewards' Handicap has drawn twentyfour, of which Astinome, Parisian Diamond, and 80-Peep—all early selections—appear as dangerous as anything. Guanaco. having been withdrawn from the open steeplechase, must be "set" for the nack event, and looks almost a racecourse "moral." Ngakanul and Pawerewere are good jumpers with fair speed, and In case of accidents may shew up. Mattock looks well, hut a few ra«es will improve him. It Is hard to pick out any outstanding hcrse in the twenty-six carded for tho Te Aro Handicap, but llosthenes *uns on strongly at the right end, and seven furlong 3 may suit him. RACEHORSE NOMENCLATURE. Further lists of entries for next season's two-year-old events provide fresh food for discussion by students of nomenclature. "Mockery," by Absr.rd—Mimlque is fcirlv good, as is "Meteorite," by Martian—Forked L'ghtning. "Panoply," is the name claimed for a filly by Panmure—Overall. "Red Band," .for a daughter of "Gold Top," is a name which reeks of the brewery. "Loval Irish " for a colt owned by .1. rVllllnmson. should be disallowed, being too close to "Rov.il Irish " owned by the same sport. "Klltartan," is an awkwaTd name for a Kilbronev—Flora McDonald filly, and "Pengwen," by PenuryLady Gwen doesn't raise a cheer. Mr. Alexander had a brain wave when he named "Red Helen," by All RSd—Ronny Helen, but "LivelyFire," by Campflre—Vivandel. does not reach the same standard. Others that have the qualities of brevity and sweet sounding are Warpath. Lugano. Conflict, Panache. Solfa Pluto, Valdaimo, Amorel, and Runny River Ori (he whole they are not la bad lot. NO MORAL.

Bright Piume was considered" such a certainty for the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race that Australian sporting papers without exception picked him to win, and the public went mad over him. One paper even came out with a string of vorse headed: "The Moral," and the last stanza Is worth repeating

Till worms my flesh consume, Whilst I've a shilling In my purtft ■ And still the wit to write a verse, I've GOT to back Bright riume. However, Bright Plume did not win, though he went mighty near it, beating all but the outsider Sandule, who won m record time Sandule is trained by X. (!. Godby, possibly a brother of the C. T. Godby who races Bright ODD ITEMS. Some jokers have no manners I The other night the writer was quietly reading pars from Sporting Life for the delectation of some brother sports when he struck a statement that .Hector Gray was the greatest jockey that New Zealand had ever seen Then the storm broke I '"What about 'WallV Clifford?" snorted one old sport. "And 'Blilv' White?" roared another. "Charlie" Jenkins, "Tod" Hewitt (in his prime), and others had their admirers. Needless to any my audience were not Taranaki-ites!

Sportsmen are proverbially generous, and two deserving objects, St. Dunstan's in England and the Dro?beda Memorial Fund In the Ould Sod, split £3OOO between them as the result of an international football matclr played in London on May 10 between English and Irish jockeys. There was an attendance of nearly 40,000, and the Irish lads came out on top by two goals to one. After the match the Donkey Derby was run, and the leading jockeys had the mounts. A hee-haw named Viaduct showed most pace, and besides providing a heap of amusement the event offered a fair field for spirited speculation At Ascot (Sydney) they take' their racin» like some men take their lhiuor—from daylight to dark. At a recent meeting, racing comnienced at 10.30 a.ra , and with divisions seventeen races were got off before punters rushed for home. If fields are not limited some Sydney clubs will have to instal trie electric light shortly.

ILLICIT BETTINC. ■ (Notes by "Moturoa.") The Stipendiary Stewards' Committee have two notices of motion before, the Racing Conference which show thai, they are out to conHue betting by stewards and horse-owners to the so-called proper channel, viz, the totalisntor. Amendment 4 states: "No steward shall directly or indirectly make an- waser with a bookmaker in connection with any race," and motion 21 reads: ''Each entry shall contain or If it does not contain, shall be conclusively'assumed to contain such an undertaking—namely, an owner not betting direct !v or indirectly with a bookmaker—breach whereof shall lie deemed a corrupt practice." 11 The laws of the land prohibit illicit bettln» and the fact that the stipes think it necessary to put forward the above motion and amendment clearly sh.nvs that they recognise that on unpopular law is being almost' openly defied. As a medium of bettln? the totallsator Is all very well for the "tin sports," but for the man who bets rti earnest, it is practically useless The "big punter," who knows something, wants to "get set" often weeks before the small men rush In in their thousands and cripple his "price," and it Is a moral certainty that as long as there are men that arj bursting to bet, there will be bookmakers who are willing to bet them. Stewards bet with bookmakers; so do owners, trainers, jockeys, policemen, and in odd cases magistrates themselves. There is no doubt whatever about li. and If a majority of the conference which Is sitting in Wellintrton next week signed affidavits that they'didn't Indulge In illicit betting the writer is only one of thousands that wouldn't believe them I Massey and Co. know that they have as much chance of preventing illicit betting by pouncing on known bookmakers as Hhey have of doing away with rain by doing away with gutters.

In New Plymouth we have recently sampled the sort of punishment likely to bo dealt out to bookmakers, a first offender being mulcted in a record fine for the Dominion I But while one person paid the penalty dozens of others saved tholr skins by assisting the atlthori<le> in sheeting home to that one person a

series of charges of which they themselves were the prime instil tors. Jf rumor does not lie, many of the informants breathed sighs of relief when a plea of guilty saved their unworthy skins, and if a defence had bee# filed there would have been unearthed such a racing scandal ihat would hare stirred the province from end to end. It is a thousand pities that such an exposure was not made, for then the atlpetidiary stewards would have been abrupt!' brought to a realisation of the futility of aUempting to squash booknaklng when practically everyone connected with horse-racing is "donkey deep" in the wholesale practice of what the conference plenses to call "illicit betting." A TURF BARGAIN. Considering the thousands paid for ycarl'ngs in England, Comrade, whotrr the cables tell us won the Grand Prix de Pa<ris for Mr. J\ Gilpin, stnnds nil'; as the greatest, bargain in horseflesh of any year. Comrade, by B.vhi>lor's Button.— Souraluyn, was sn little thought of as a yem-lmg that Mr. Gilpin semred him for a pahry 25 guineas. He won each of tho three two-year-old races ho contested. and £1250 in stakes, and when again offered at auction at the close of last season was passed in at 11,7100 guineas. That Mr. Gilpin acted wisely in turning down such a good offer is proved by the fact that Comrade, with the 'Straiten jockey F, Bullock, in tho saddle, was equal to winning one of, if not actually the richest stakes in the world, and the field of fifteen runners included the English Derby winner, Spion Kop, a stablemate of Comrade's by the way, and the great French horse Sourbier.' Comrade's dam is by Spearmint, a son of Carbine. EXIT THE JOCKEY'S ASSOCIATION. The result of the recent secret ballot of jockeys must have convinced Messrs. Sheath and Co. that their little "revolution" has flwled out, as all ill-considered, Irrational movements do, and the sooner they accept defeat the better for all concerned. Of 133 jockeys who voted, 56 appear to have had their votes marked infonmal, possibly because they have resigned from tho Association. Of the 77 valid votes 69 were caste against striking, an overwhelming majority that should ahow the agitators that their cause is irretrievably lost.

But what this scribe is trying to get at is che absurd position persisted in by the Transport Federation. The majority of the Association which they t are supporting have thrown in the towel, and according to trades ! unionists' statements the trouble should be at an end. One secretary of a trades union states: "It is quite obvious that if the | jockeys decided not to strike, it is an Ini timatlon that they are satisfied with existing conditions. A strike would be a test, and if they do not wish to resort to that test—well, the only practical conclusion to be arrived at is that the men consider that existing conditions do not justify a strike.' s - Why therefore should the Transpprt Union refuse to load horses? Their brother unionists in Sydney load horses for New Zealand. so where is the sense of refusing to load at this end. The matter is a serious one for the Wellington flaring Club, whose meeting takes place on Wednesday and Saturday, but even morn serious for the Grand National meeting, which is of Dominion importance, the chief events of which—the New Zealand Grand Notional Steeplechase and the New Zealand Grand National Hurdle Race —nre events which are richly endowed with stakes to attract and test thoroujhly the best jumping horses in the whole Dominion, not, those in the South Island, or a few North! Island horses that are stranded In the South. The conference Is extending everv courtesv j and consideration to the jockeys, but all the courtesy and consideration should not be on I one side. I