CAP AND JACKET

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 78, 11 March 1882, Page 414

CAP AND JACKET

MY NOTE BOOK,

Br"" Ariel."

" Tot homines, qu6t:sententice"

— Weightsrfor the Taranaki J. C. Races will be declared on the 13th instant, acceptances and general entries on the 22nd. — B&kau, winner of the Maiden Plate at Dargaville, has been purchased by Joe Grallagher, the well-known bookmaker.

— The Waverley-Waitotara meeting takes place on the 17th March. Nominations (including the Guineas, 1884) closed on the 6th and acceptances are due on the 13th March.

— Nominations for the Easter and Autumn Handicaps and Steeplechase, to be run at Ellerslie on the 10th and 11th April, close on March lVth. 2sovs each.

— " Hermit," in the Taranaki Neios, says that the local horses are doing heavy "work in preparation for the races to be held on the 30th and 31st. inst. Izaak Walton (sire of Billingsgate) is amongst those in training.

— The Panmure Annual Races will be held on Saturday, the 25th inst. -J*There are six events in the programme for very fair stakes and should the weather prove favourable a good day's sport is anticipated.

— Mr J. K. Poole, of Auckland and Sydney TattersalTs, has a book open on the treble event, Australian Cup, Newmarket Handicap and Sydney G-old Cup. He is laying the respectable odds of 1000 to 1, and is, of coarse, at the price, doing a good business.

— It seems that the Australian turf prophets are being handled even worse than our N. Z. tipsters. The Sportsman says that for the Caulfield races not a single contributor succeeded in naming a winner, and it has been the same at all meetings for some time past. — It is an evidence of the progress of our times that the Wanganui Jockey Club's Autumn Races are to be held on the 11th and \Wi instant, at least so several of the Southern papers sporting writers put it. A glance at the almanac will show that the 12th is a Sunday. -— " Tout Cela" asks, in " what year Flying :Buck won the Melbourne Cup, and who was his rider ?" The Melbourne Cup was not run till '61 and My ing Buck won the first Champion Race as a 3 -year-old in 1859, carrying 6st. 51b. in smins. 57isec. There is no record of his ever having started for the Cup. Certainly he never won it. — " A Correspondent," Onehunga, writes : — " To decide a bet would you answer the following questions : — l. Did ever a horse gallop o. mile in a minute, and if so, what was his same ? 2. What is the quickest mile, two mile, and three miles run in England? 1. No. It is recorded of Mying Childers that in more than one race he was calculated to have moved at the rate of 82^ft. per second, or 1650 yds. (110 yds. short of a mile) a minute. Of course, some allowance must be made for the watches of those days (about 1718) which were not so sure as is the case now. lmin. 43sec. for 1 mile by Diophantes, 3min.'42secs. Adventurer, Bst. 101 b. is the only record I can find, but I believe it is the best reliable 2 miles. Rataplan, 3yrs., 4st. 71b., did 3 miles in 5 mins. 21secs. also the best reliable record.

— The postponement of the Dargaville Races seems to have been a great streak of luck for the owners of Randwick, as he came on again grandly during the three or four day's respite from travelling. His trainers seem to have adopted the tactics of Pincus, the trainer of Iroquois, that is, in giving the horse a thorough sweater on the day -when the race should have been run, and the idea seems to have been thoroughly successful, as he ran a really good horse, giving the speedy little Dewdrop 261bs and a beating, without difficulty, while on the second day he gave the mare 2st. (carrying 9st.) and won, hands down, by a length. The fact is Randwick is a fretful horse and requires . a little time to recover his spirits and temper after a journey, however short. His double win from Dewdrop shews that the handicap in both Waikato and Dargaville was a just one, and those who make a rule of growling at all and every work, of a -handicapper have again had a proof that.their censures were premature. In the Publican's Purse Maid of Honour failed in her attempt to give 231bs to the other representative of Lennard's stable, Kenilworth, who was landed a winner by a length. Mr Shakespeare, with the game chestnut, Harkaway, pulled off the hurdles from N or M and Harry Mount and also the Bushman's Purse. His wins were very popular. Mr Smith paid "ex's" by the win of Maid of Honour in the Steward's Handicap of 50sovs.

— Througlibred stock intended for racing may be termed a " speciality " in the breeding of horses generally, and the diatribes that we sometimes Hear and read about the " forcing system " are useless, because the exigencies of the sport, and the laws which govern racing, require that they fitibuld be brought to maturity as regards size and substance as early as possible. A full development of good hard muscle cannot be obtained while the animal is in a growing state without a sufficent quantity of the besb food and plenty of exercise from almost the very birth of a foal intended for the turf ; for if he cannot keep pace with others that are ; sure to be born about the same time, and entered' as yearlings for the indentical races to be run at two or three years old, he will smother himself in forfeits. How few, indeed, of the vast number of horses entered for the Derby, St. Leger Two Thousand Grumes, and Oaks turns out to be worth the forfeits they incur in these : races alone, it is fearful and huniuliating for their breeders to contemplate. In fact, the sort of judgment which prompts so many of our breeders and owners .to incur forfeits .of .£SO by entering such' troops of mere weeds for the Derby is to be pitied rather than blamen. For the truth of this remark the reader need only glance over the list of entries for this year's Derby and compare the doings of at least two hundred of the now thr&e-year-olds on the turf through the medium of " Ruff's Guide " or the

"Calendar." Very few, indeed, of the horses entered for the Derby, or any other race, come out conspicuous for truth of symmetry and develop into successful racehores, even to the extent of winning a single prize, and this does not prove much for either the judgment or system of management pursued by our breeders generally. — The Wanganui Cup Handicap will be run today (Friday). The Handicap was attacked all round when it appeared, and its bad adjustment is proved by the wretchedly small acceptance, only nine being left in, and of those Piscatorius will be a certain absentee. Sir Modred, the top weight, with 9st. 41b. up will have, on his late "Wellington form, a great deal too much to carry, but then no one expected Lady Emma to look tip in the way she did, and this might prove to be another Lady Emma case. Still, I expect to see the stable depend on Somnus, who, at Bst. if in anything like form, should have very little trouble in winning, unless the 2\ miles should prove to be rather far for him. Virginia Water, Bst. 41b. reads pretty well, and if fit, will be very near the right end when the final tussle comes. Libeller, the honest hard goer, will, as he always does, die hard, and I can't help fancying, his chance, in spite of the habit he has of running second. Dauphin (Bst.) proved a disappointment at Dunedin, out now-a-days that is very little guide, as it seems the horse that is last to-day is first to-morrow and vice versa, in a very unaccountable manner. Blue Gown, 7st. 81bs., has quite enough to carry, a good deal more than he has ever earned, and he will find the company too superior for him. Wilberforce, the " feather" of the troop, has 6st. 21b. to carry, and if worth anything ought to get forward, when the nearest of any account is 261bs away, unless we look upon Hailstorm as in any way dangerous and that I do not, though he is not badly treated at 7st. 81b. yet I think his day is past. I shall expect the winner to be picked from Virginia Water, Libeller, Somnus and Wilberforce, and of these, unless Somnus has greatly improved since Wellington races, I shall look for Libeller to show first past the judge's box.