CONDENSED ITEMS

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 137, 28 April 1883, Page 94

CONDENSED ITEMS

— A veterinary surgeon, well-known in sporting circles, held Leonora in "Adam Bede's " consultation. — Commotion is to be treated to a slight spell before he is i>ufc into work for next season's campaign. — A welL-known Queen-street clothier struck £150 at the Jate races. Cham, flowed freely on Tuesday. — The Plunger, Guesswork, and Topaz are first favourites for the Adelaide Cup, run on the 9th May. — Mr John Eirkwood lias purchased the thoroughbred stallion, Fevi?, from Mr K H Pe-ms-sou. ' ° — Mistaken, who so nearly landed the rightly supposed "good thing-" in the Sydney Cup, is to be taken to Indin. • — At Christchurch last week £2000 was taken about Sou-wester, for the New Zealand Cup, at hundreds to two. — Santa Claus, who ran second to Darebin for the V.R.C. Derby of ISBI, has gone into the famous Mr F. F. Dakin's stable. — The Peer was 23 years of age when he sired Darebin, three years older than Voltaire was when he got Voltigeur. —The respectable sum of £5,123 passed through the totalisator nt the A.R.C. Autumn Meeting— 2,510 on Saturday, and £2,607 on Monday. —Mr Lyons came out of his Easter Handicap "bunch -book " in great style, having failed to write the names of the three placed horses. — The Melbourne Cup winner, Assyrian, broke down in the Cumberland Stake.s ac the A.J.C. Meeting, and it is feared he will never race again. — Darebin's brother, Motea, is in work at Fleinington. He is said to be almost as grand a horse as his famous brother. —1000 to 20 Sweet William, and 1000 to 20 Kohinoor, for the Melbourne Cup was booked by the metallicians at Christchurch last week. —Mr A. Nemo has a letter affair on the Takapuna Meeting. Members tickets are 10s. All particulars from Host Tomlinson, of the Barrell Hotel, Parnell. — Mr Bate has purchased Mr Horsfall's mare Jenny Lind, with filly foal by Feve. This does not look as if he indends giving up racing. — Mr Gardiner's yearlings, sent to Christchurch for sale, have been taken back to Melbourne, no satisfactory otters having been made for them. —Through the defeat of Chandler in the Steeplechase, the majority of the local peucillers had a clean book over their doubles and trebles. — Mr Thomas Morrin re-purchased Perfume from Mr Montague Smith at an advance shortly after sbe was knocked down to that gentleman on Friday last. — Jimmy Wattie, the popular jockey, intends going to Sydney to spend the winter, returning to New Zealand in the spring, when he will again ride for Mr tr. G. Stead. — The Steeplechase winner, Reform, and Lady Bab were offered at Buekland's on Wednesday, but neither fetched the reserve price. £140 is wanted for Eeform, and £100 for Lady Bab. —Mr Murray has taken from the Christchurch pencillers £2500, at thousands to thirty, about his mare Mischief for the New Zealand Cup. He has also backed Leonato for a cou2>le of thousand for the same event. — The Marton-Rangitikei Jockey Club have arranged for a Steeplechase Meeting on the 17th May £135 will be given in added money, the principal event being the Murton-Eangitikei Handicap of 60 so vs. — Mr J. Enko was heavily struck over the Autumn Meeting. He laid £200 against the winning double, Easter Handicap and Steeplechase, £100 against Leonora straight out, and £175 in the paddock against the Steeplechase winner, Eeform. ■ — Londonuelley, the jockey who came over from Australia at the beginning of the present season under engagement to Messrs Mason and Vallance, has returned to Melbourne. He has been rather unfortunate, only having a record of sis winning mounts. — The highest price paid for a yearling at the recent sales at Eandwick was 500 soys. for the filly by Julian Avenel from Lady Blair. Mr W. Branch was the purchaser, and as she is a good-looking youngster, with a capital pedigree, she is not dear at the price. — With the exception of Siesta, all the horses belonging to the Christchurch gentleman who race 3 under the name of Mr Horsford, have returned to their old quarters. Mr Horsford announces that the whole o£ his team (including Siesta), are again open for lease by tender for the season of 1883-4. — Old Lone Hand has cost his party and backers a mint of money -this season, again slipping them up in the Hurdle Eace onSaturday, notwithstanding he had the services of that able Napier horseman Billy Edwards, Qn entering the straight, it certainly looked any odds in his favour, but runningT down the last hurdle in his usual vexing way, spoilt a good chance jjQ&Myigiriß stable a tidy sum.

—Messrs Little Bros., of Mount Stewart have purchassd the Australian racehorse, Theuge, for £300, and he arrived i,i inmedin last week Theiure is a four-ye.Lr-old, and is by English Tim Whiffler out of the Maribyrnoag mare, Lapwing: — Tlie absurdly short price of 4tol is beins tnken in Sydney about Warwick for tbe V R C Derby which will not be run till seven months have elapse! The wnge-r of 400 to 100 has been taken in one handlie Cbie> ln the Sllme stable, has been backed nt ouu to Juu. — H. Taylor, who rode Woodpecker to victory in t.be HnrdJe Race on Saturday, has been very successful tlm season Up to the present lime, O utof nine Lordle mounts, he has won eight, six of them beino- in b Accession His losing mount, at the Egmont Meetmw.3 caused through, his horse, Lady Grey, stumbling at the ]ast fence. — The death is announced in the northern districts of New South Wales of old Volunteer at the ripe age of twenty-three years. Volunteer is perhaps best remembered for his memorable race in tl c Champion Stakes at Flemingtou in 1860, when carrying the popular " yellow and black " of Mr John Tait he ran a dead hpp.o with the veteran Tarragon, who was then at tbe^ery height of his fame. — At the A.J.C. Autumn Meeting Mr E. E Jones, of the well-known triumvirate firm of Messrs' Miller, Jones, and O'Brien, laid the owner of Warwick the big bet of 20,000 to 1000 against the ' two War wicks " for A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies of next season. The same firm have also laid £100,000 to £2%0 against Warwick Deri jjac 101 ' ( brotller to ChesterJ, in tkc Melbourrxj —Says "Argus:"— "A turf commission agent named Pierrpont is anxiously inquired for by a number o£ confiding people who entrusted him with sums of money with which he was to back Commotion for the Champion Stakes. lam afraid this Pierrpont, whose real name is Van Prey, baa preyed upon an unsaspecting public, and departed for fresh fields and pastures new it is said he has gone to New Zealand or S.n Frauscisco." It will be remembered tu?s gentleman was in Auckland a couple of months ago, and treated the local pencillers to a champagne supper. At the time there was a deal of mystery attac) ed lO his visit, it being in the middle of the Australian racing season, but the cnuse is now explained. Pierrpont went to San Francisco. — During the A.J.C. Meeting week, "Au»ur" paid a visit to the Hon. J. White's stud farm, when he saw Musket's son, Martini-Henry, who, as is well-known is out of the N.Z. Stud Co.'s mare Sylvia. The writer says in appearance he is a worthy son of a worthy mother, possessing all the power and quality of bis famous half-brother, Goldsborougb, and it is quite upon the cards that Warwick, Archie, and Off Colour may find in him a foeinan worthy of their steel. "Augur" nlso states he saw what should be a worthy successor to Lone Hand, who, in his opinion, was the greatest steeplechaser he ever saw, though he thinks Sussex was undoubtedly his master at the all-round game. — " Asmodeous " says it would appear as it Warwick is destined to become the winter favourite for the A.J.C. and V.R.C. "b'ue ribbons," though for all this a majority of people refuse to be persuaded that Warwrick is superior to Archie, who beat his stable companion in the Normanby Stakes, and has since retained his form iv a manner to indicate that he is possessed of all the qualifications of a Derby winner Mr Smart possesses a couple of formidable trump cards for the three-year-old events of next year, and judging by the superiority of both Archie and Warwick he promises to be safe in declaring a " lone hand " with either. For my own part, however, I think Archie is decidedly the better colt of the two, and I think this opinion is shared in by a large number of good judges. — The Australasian devotes a leading article to Bounding the praises of Darebin. From it I extract the following:— " When Mr Samuel Gardiner rescued from oblivion the grand old son of Melbourne, the Peer, hu did the State incalculable service. Buried somewhere in the vicinity of Kilmore, this fine specimen of the thoroughbred was seldom visited by a purely-bred mare, one of the few that entered his harem, beiii" Blusidora, and this union resulted iv the production of Sea Spray, who fairly ran away from two such colts as Lnpidist and Goldsbrough in the V.R.C. St. Leger. When the Bundoora stud-master purchased the fatuous brood mare Lurline he, at the instigation of those euthuinstic breeding students, the Messrs Dakin, secured Tbe Peer to mate with her. The Melbourne and Touchstone strains in the pedigree of the horse were bound to n'ck with, the stout old Harkaway, Pocahontas, and Touchstone lines in tbe pedigree of the mare, and (be happiest result followed. The Peer unfortunately died shortly after he came into Mr Gardiner's possession, but be bus left behind him a son whose deeds will keep green the memory of the Melbourne horse. Than Darebin no grander specimen of the thorough-bred has ever trod an Australian racecourse, and it is to be deplored that not one of our studmasters had the courage to outbid the Hou. B. K. Cox when the horse was submitted to auction. New South Wales is already rich in the possession of great sires, while Victoria, on the other hand, is lamentably deficient in this respect. True, we still have Angler, the sire of Robinson Crusoe, who is the sire of Navigator, but he is in the sere and yellow leaf, and his owner cares not to let him serve any mares but bis own. Maribyrnong, Goldsbrough, Piscator, and Kobinsen Crusoe were all purchased by the enterprising studmasters of the sister Colony, who satisfied themselves of the great excellence of the descendants of Fisherman, and never rested until they had secured a majority of the best of them. Darebiu's greatest and crowning victory was that which he achieved in the Sydney Cup. He leaves the post for the paddock with his blushing honors thick upon him, as sound as be was^on the day ho was foaled, and we regret that he was not allowed to have another season on the turf, for we feel satisfied that with time he would have still further improved, and accomplished a feat which would have thrown this last last great performance entirely into the shade."