SPORTING NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3067, 12 March 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

SPORTING NOTES.

(Bv Lu Nord). At the Canterbury Park races hold on February 18th, Mr J. C. Booth's pony Blunderbuss ran third in the Welter Handicap of SOsovs, carrying Sst f>ll>. The Te Aroha Jockey Club hold their annual meeting on Monday next on Mr Wood's farm at Te Aroha West. Good entries and acceptances have been received for the various events, and with fine weather a capital day's racing may be looked forward to. The following are my selections for the four principal events :—Hurdles, Platch or Tupaiu ; Jockey Club Handicap, Never Miss ; Pony Race, Romeo or Ned ; Plate, Tuna or Never Miss. The Ngaruawahia Jockey Club's meeting takes place on Thursday next (S. Patrick's Day) at Ngaruawahia. Judging from the entriea and acceptances received, a very successful gathering should eventuate. The next team of horses that Mr Gollan will take to Australia will comprise jumpers only. The illegitimate game pays well over there if you can school good horses successfully to fly over obstacles. Cutts was doubtful in his own mind as to Cruchfield's ability to stay the Dunedin Cup distance, but all doubts as to the son ot Cadogan being a stayer are now set at rest. Occident's win was a brilliant one, but both horses, considering their age and performances, should have been put on better terms of equaliiy with the rest of the field as regards weight. Merrie England's display savoured of the inglorious. My opinion is that a mile and a half is about the length of his tether. Occident's Dunedin Cup victory ought to be a lesson to trainers, many of whom start their horses for races quite uulit, or only three parts so. It's the pace that kills, and if a horse is strung up to concert pitch, he can afford to make the pace and have his opponents in serious trouble long before the turn for home. Mr Stead was recently asked to put s price on Palliser by the agent of a We3t ] Coa3t sportsman. This he did, stipulating for guineas. The would-be purchaser wanted to pay in pounds, and Mr Stead declined to do business. The stallion Ureechloader, by Musket —Medea, bred by Mr Walters, has been purchased by Mr Young, of New Plymouth. The Northern Territory Times (Q.), itates:—"An Australian proverb, or whatever you like to call it, says 'There's swindling in everything but lorse-racing, and that's a swindle from start to finish." And in some secluded spots the Irish-trained observation well ipplies. At a little town on the northwest coast an incident happened that has not yet found its way into print. They ivere preparing for their annual meeting, ind a squad of horses had come overland [or it. Two of these were in one stable, and they were named respectively Discount and Socialist—(with a hook !) — and wer6 owned by Mr Heavyweight. Discount was the don of the land where he came from, many hundred miles to the eastward : Socialist was a hack, and not a very good one at that. But by a touch of the magician's wand, a transposition was effected, by which Socialist became discount, and vice versa. In other words, Heavyweight 'rung the changes' on the club, and the handicapper put top weight on the worthless hack, believing him to be a wellperformed race horse, whilst the real racer was let in with the minimum as a non-performer. The natural consequence was that the supposed Socialist won without any trouble. But to add to the trick, the hack was withdrawn, on the plea of too much weight, and, still in the guise of a racehorse, was raffled for £100 ! " Referring l to the craok light-weight jockey of New Zealand, R. Derrett, the Otago Witness has the foliowing : — Derrett was evidently in great form at Wellington, and a general impression exists that he is ridino; now even better than ever bo did. This season he has been very fortunate, but Billy White is away, and Wally Clifford has not been seen on particularly good cattle lately. There is a great deal of the success of a rider in the mounts he gets certainly, and only success will merit success in that profession, and a man like Derrett who has been before the public for so many years, and who has always {riven his employers satisfaction, is bound to get the best .nounts obtainable at the weights he can ride. Derrett is certainly popular with the best trainers here, aud a North Island mentor onco remarked to me that he liked Derrett's riding for the reasjn that he was au excellent judge of pace, and always nulled' a horse off he kuew he bad no chance of whining". Pulling off horses may lead to difficulty sometimes, however, when the stewards of a meeting aro unpractised men, but m regard to Derrett there is no doubt his generalship is recognised by many good professional racing people. The premier stallion for New Zealand for the last season was Le Loup(Traducer —Mermaid) who had '21 winners to his credit. Nordenfelt (Mnsket—Onyx), was the next on the list with the total of 20 winners. Natator (Tradueer— withch), was close behind, having 17 winners to his credit.

We often see ft horse have a special liking for a particular race or coarse, but seldom so strongly raarkod as this : : Iu 1880 a mare called Meg Merrilies won tho Geelong Sires' Produce Stakes; iu '86 her dauabtor, the bad-tempered Maddelioa, followed her example, and nu Friday last The Shrew, a sister of Maddelina, repeated the triok. There's uu affinity Imaging around Somewhere in this story. , Pays an exchange If the poor Irish farmer who bred Baroilditio, and lost him for Buch a miserable sun. is still alive, we may wonder what are his feelings when he sees liii horse earning for some one, who stands in no need of money, nearly £10,000 per auuum. liady Stamford gave 7000 guineas for Barcaldine, and it is said tint Colonel Barlow, who made the purchase, had a lively half hour of it with her ladyship when he had told her what be had done oujher behalf. From all this i- would seem that no man ought to embark in racing unless, in the langaagd of the late Captain Jones of Mandarin fame, he is in a positioa to write a " good bold cheque."