SPORTING NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10694, 15 August 1912, Page 3

SPORTING NOTES

(By "Also Started.")

FIXTURE

August 15 and 17. —('.. J.C. Grand Nation! a]. August 29 Amberley Steeplechase Club. Sept. 4 and 5. —Ma.rto.Ti J.C. Sept. 11. —Dannevirko R.C. Sept. 12 and 13.—Ashburton County Racing Clug. Sept. 23 and 2-I.—Otaki Maori R.C. Sept. 21, 25 and 28.—A von dale J.C. Sept. 26 and 27.—Geraldinc R.C. Sept. 2(3 and 28.—Wanganui R.C. The interest of Dominion sportsmen is at present fully, cent red in the ' Grand- National meeting which was ; opened on Tuesday, and will be conI tinned to-day and to-morrow, i As is usually the case when large i fields are competing several outsid- ! ers won events at Iliccarton on Tuesi day. Two favourites in The Rover ! 'and Taketumu prevailed during the day. Hakari. winner of the. Hunters' Hurdles, was fourth favourite, Beacon was a rank outsider, as also was St. Kevin, who ran second to him. Magdala, who won the Winter Cup, was eleventh favourite. The latter case is rather surprising as the Dunedin horse was resonsible for some excellent work prior to the meeting. The victory of Captain Jingle m the Grand National Steeplechase was expected in many quarters, after the splendid displays of the Captain Webb gelding at Wellington. Ihe going too was to his liking. The sportsman who refused to give £27.) for Captain Jingle at the Hawko's Bay meeting will no doubt be feeling rather sad. Old raritutu added another second to his already long list. This is the third occasion on which the Castor gelding has run second in Nationals, having twice ran second in the National Hurdles. One of the best gallops at Riccarton on Tuesday, if the telegraphed time is correct, was that of Taketumu in the Avohhead Handicap. .In running the six furlongs in lniiu 17 4-ssec with 10 stone on his back, and in heavy going, Tnketumu put up a good performance. Query, the run-ner-iip, must also be regarded as a good sort, as he was reported to have had all the worst of the running. Query should be heard of before the meeting is over. Sir Lethe fell early in the race for the National. The Lethe gelding lias only fallen a few times during his career and is regarded as one of the f most proficient fencers in the coun- , try. The failure of Continuance must have cost his army of backers a big sum of money. Pie is unlikely to race again at the meeting having cut himself badly in the National Steeples. The Rover had no difficulty in annexing the Jumpers' Flat, and in consequence is now at a very short price for the .National Hurdles. ■The locally owned Nedra ran well in 'the 1 Hurdles, bint nothing had a chance with the winner.

Leapuki, who was fancied by his connections for the Winter Cup, started at an outside price on the totalisator, and ran accordingly. The big event on to-day's card is the National Hurdles run over two miles. The field is large, and is considered to be one of the best that has yet contested the big event. Probably in no other part of Now Zealand are horses boomed so much as those from Hawko's Bay, and the latest to have the limelight thrown on it is a full brother to Sonite. by Field Battery—Wish, which is trained at Hastings by J. Maher. This equine/ is stated to be one of the finest horses in training, and can gallop fast. "If racing continues to flourish," says the Australasian, "and the Melbourne Cup holdiS its place as the popular race of the year, there will come a time when 200,000 people will have to be provided for, and there is no sign of the thousands who patronise the flat being called upon to pay anything towards running the show." Ellerslie trainers are having a lot of trouble in getting suitable lads to look after horses and it is many years since there was such a dearth of boys. The Dannevirke Racing Club showed a profit of nearly £6OO over the 1911-12 season.

/The Wanganui Jockey Club made a profit of £1879 on last season's working. Mr H. MePhee, who for many years has been a trainer in the Wairarapa, has decided to relinquish horse train- j ing. Mr MePhee left Masterton for i ~U)d yesterday, where he will j roiiowuig a different calling. Acting oil the advice of his medical adviser Mr S. Messena, tllfi Wellknown Foxton trainer-owner, has decided to tako up his residence in Hamilton. Mr Messena will not give up racing altogether, and will take the three-year-old Waitomo with him. niicl will race him later OH, There is very lifcthi dc'/ug at present nt Opalci, but with spring racing , coming on, no doubt trainers 'will soon begin to send their t'harges along. The tracks are now in good order, thanks to the good work of Caretaker McConkey, who has been kept very busy since the rough weather broke up. Breeders in the Wairarapa will have at their disposal this season the Stepnink horse Peter Pan, who was bred by Mr J. F. Beid. As a yearling Peter Pan, who is out of Armilla, the dam of Armlet and many other useful performers, brought 575 guineas, and topped the sale. Peter Pan | should lie a very decided acquisition j to -breeding in the Wairarapa. being a. beautifully bred horse of commanding' size, and showing great quality. He is only four years old and should have a successful career as a sire. The totalisator turnover for the first- day of the Grand National meeting amounted to £35.0/3 10s, as compared with £29,571 for the corresponding meeting last year.