SPORTING MOTES

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3100, 28 May 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

SPORTING MOTES

[By Le Nord]. ■\t the Rosehill pony races held ou Tiinrs.lny, April 28th, Mr .1. C. Booth's pony Blundm-bus* (7st 01b) won tlie Selling Race of 40sovs. He was bought in by the owner for £42. The Viiiti'i , an jumper, Chester, has been purchased by a Mauritius spoilsmen, and will shortly leave for his new home. The colt by Trenton—Sopistina will in future be known by the name of Alameda. In afield of only three for thoLicccster March Maiden Hurdle Race a hoisnamed Reliance started at 33 to 1 and won. '• Ribbledon," in the Australasian, thus early plumps for Meli for the V.R.C Derby. It is understood that Mr S. Horderu does not intend to dispose of Nordeufeldt'a stock, it being that gentleman's intention to race them himself. Great opinions are held in America of a colt by Darebin from Carrie C, by Monday. The youngster is the property of Colonel Thornton of California. A very amusing story is related by a writer in an English sporting paper in which he tells of an intelligent Japaneee accompanying some English friends to the races. The system of betting was expounded to him and everything lucidly explained. The Jap seemed much interested in ■watching proceedings and then asked, motioning , to the bookmakers, what do you call those you shout ! He was told they were the layers of the odds. When do the others begin to shout ? he went on to enquire, and his informant told him that tho others seldom shouted. Ho paused a moment and looking toward the betting enclosure remarked with a bland smile, " I join those who shout ! If they come every day and do so all the time they must gei money for it, or they would not do it " A breeder of Shetland and Welsh ponies near Jamaica, Long Island, N.Y., has a pony mare which has beaten all records. Although but one year, eleven months, and four days old at the time, she foaled a filly and both are doing well. The mother is but thirty-seven inches in height, and her foal, which weighs eighteen pounds, is fourteen inches in height. I (" RibbledoD " in the Australasian) hear on undoubted authority that many of the yearlings which were knocked down at high prices at Rand wick did not change hands. The sales were of the bogus kind. Such a proceeding is not likely to do good to breeders who advertise their yearlings " to be sold." St. Simon of the Rock has been a very disappointing horse. He broke down iu last year's Cesarewiteh, and he was then place') in slings. Getting up in the box on March 25, he broke his shoulder, and it was found necessary to destroy him. The ouly race he ever won was the Ascot Derby. It is said tba* Captain Owen, who rode a good race on Father O'Flynn. the winner of the Liverpool Grand National, now retires from the saddle to go abroad with his regiment on service. English papers announce the death, at the srood old age of 83 yearn, of an English jockey named George Wood. Wood for many years was the leading jockey on the Austro-Hungarian turf, hut squandering his means in a reckless manner he died utterly destitute. " Vagrant, ,, in the Maitland Mercury, writes :—What caused all the falls at the late Randwick race meeting ? Was it the fault of the track ? Was it the fault of the horses? Was it through foul riding on the part of the boys ? If the reply to any or all these queries bt in the affirmative, it is high time the committee of the Australian Jockey Club took steps to work an alteration, for if only half the tumbles recorded at Randwick took place on a provincial or bush track, the good people of the metropolis would simply scream with indignation, and there would be considerable difficulty in getting th« course again registered. People do not wonder greatly when horses turn turtle over fences, for there will always be an inseparable spice of danger in hurdle racing, and when a nag goes up he must come down, but' surely falls should be very infrequent in races on the flat. Iu conversation with some of the jockeys who ride at Randwick, I have been told over and over again that many of the boys ride in a most foul and treacherous manner, and would not hesitate two seconds about crossing or jostling an opponent, or even bringing him down or off if the attempt could be made with safety to themselves. This practice undoubtedly explains why many horses fall iu flat races, in which, too, much danger is caused by weak lads ! who lose their heads and hands—every thing, in truth, but their whips—and are often the cause of disastrous scrimmages at the various turns. THE KING. John L. Sullivan says : " All sparring movements which are worth knowing are natural ones. I was never taught to box." Tommy Williams (Australian Light Weight Champion), defeated Bill Hatcher, of England, in less than 3min. Under '• Amusement Notes " the following item appears iu a New York paper: " John L. Sullivan forgot, on Monday night, that he joined the blue ribbon brigade, and drank so heavily after the performance that he had to be carried to bed." Before leaving Amerioa, Slavin met a man named Felix Vacquelen at New Orleans, but it was a one-horse affai , .'. The Australian played with his opponent, and outpointed him at all moves. He frequently asked Slavin not to hurt him, and complained that he had swallowed two teeth, " They must have been ialse.'' Slavin's display elicited much applause, and his fine method made him thousands of friends. Sullivan ami Corbett have signed articles to box for the Heavyweight Championship, a stake of £4000 and a purse of £5000. The u:ateh is fixed for September 7th, and is to take place before the Olympic Club at New Orleans. On the 30th of this month Peter Jackson and Frank P. Slavin are to meet in London to decide the much-vexed question as to which is the better man. Both men are now in England training- hard for the contest, and both art- confident of victory. Some English sports are back - son Jackson because they thiulc Slavin's constitution is not what it was. Jackson, who has been, taking the best possible care of himself for months past, had the best paying ealoon—a veritable gold mine —in San Francisco, but sold it out to fight Slavin.