TURF NOTES.

(By "WHALEBONE."! £

Mr. E. Moss' Kenilworth gelding :| Stony, which with 7.5 rail second to, Scarlet in last year's Sydney Cup, has been scratched for this year's event. He was weighted at 8.2, and was generally considered to have a chance, but after his I run in the High-weight Handicap at Rosehill, his trainer, G. Price, reckoned that he would not lie ready to do himself justice in the Cup. Mr. Moss, therefore decided to scratch him, an action which backers of doubles will appreciate. a A four-year-old, who has been sup- ( ported for the Doncaster, is the black horse Royal Dighton, by Sir Dighton . from Premysl, who was by Royal Artil- r lery from the Graiton mare Lady E3nie, breeding which should spell stamina, says g an Australian writer. At the close of last season, Royal Dighton was regarded merely as a fair colt under welter weights, but he has made such rapid r improvement that he ran into the money at each of his last four runs at the midsummer meetings. After finishing third in a welter he was beaten only a | neck by Balbus in the Villiers in 1.38 for the mile; finished second to Cliffdale at a mile and a quarter;" and then won Tattersall's Cup of a mile and a-hali. c The black carried only light weights — 1 7.3 in the Villiers—but he has no more j j than 7.10 in the Doncaster, and 7.8 in j. the Cup. Recently, in the Highweight i Handicap, he was mixing it with Bardo- t leur for more than half a mile, after t which his condition gave out. l F. J. Hill has cause to remember the i last two pony meetings at Kensington i at which he has started his mare Even i (says an Australian writer). Three i weeks ago, aa he was legging the rider i on her, Kerman Ayr laahed out, struck 1 him on the right leg, and inflicted a. gash. | A fortnight ago practically the same' thing happened. Kugleman was the j offender, and Hill's left leg suffered. ( Luckily on each occasion the hoofs landed just above his knee. To make I ( matters worse, Even was last to leave ! the harrier, and thus spoilt whatever chance she had of winning. Hill con- r tends that it is time the A.R.C did j something to prevent unruly horses, , which are noted for kicking, doing any further damage. At practically every j 1 race meeting a trainer is kicked by i. another competitor when legging up the ( rider in the weighing-out enclosure. , The death took place in a London , nursing home on February 13th, of i Major F. J. Scott-Murray, who early in ; life was an officer in the 11th Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He was a well-known figure on the English Turf, and his colours had from time to time been carried by some useful animals. The best horse to represent him was Gerald L. This i well-known steeplechaser won many races j ] during the seven years he had been in the [.ownership of the Major, one of his most notable early successes being in the National Hunt Steeplechase at Cheltenham in 1920. On the strength of that victory Gerald L. was backed for the Grand National of that year, but he came to grief, the winner proving to be the ill-fated Troytown. Three years later Gerald L. scored a triumph in the Hurst Park Trial Handicap Steeplechase, run over a distance of four miles. As a result of that performance he developed into a strong favourite for the Grand National, but unfortunately he broke down in training, and had to be scratched. He ran in last year's "National," carrying ■12st 61b, but failed to complete the course. Major Scott-Murray, however, still cherished hopes of winning the race with his old favourite, and had again entered him, but owing to the owner's death the nomination became void. Such an expert in 'betting as Mr. E. A. Connolly, who left Melbourne a few days ago for a holiday trip to England, has said that no man has a chance with the bookmakers, who does not back more than one horse in a race, and having done that, is prepared to bet in running. Mr. Connolly had a great reputation as a judge of running, but his cleverness probably amounted to no more than 'betting to his book when a horse that he had not backed was showing prominently at the turn. For instance, one day at Werribee, the well-known Adelaide punter, Mr. J. T. Flannagan, was standing on a be:; looking over the heads of the people on the small lawn, when a horse that he had hacked well made a dash at the top of the short straight. "I'll bet fifty Anonda," he called, and it was instantly snapped by Mr. Connolly, who had his back turned to the horses. ! "Another fifty ?" exclaimed the Victorian, and the South Australian, with glasses trained on the small field, seeing that Anonda was) being beaten, snapped. "Right, a hundred if you like." The need to be on the side of Anonda had already cost Mr. Connolly the second £50, which he would have saved if he had continued to watch the race, but he was quickwitted enough to cave the third £50. Eric Connolly's departure for England has deprived the Australian Ring of a daring punter For over twentj years Connolly hai been a conspicuoui figure on Sydnej and Melbourne race courses, and hii judgment in sorting out winners is ncr to uncanny. Twenty one years ago hi won the Granc National Steeple chase with Thi General, and hai seldom looked bad since. Other good horses he raced with success were Rostrum, Sunburst, Celerity and All Sunshine, all of whom won valuable stakes. Connolly is undecided as to the length of his stay in England, but should luck follow him he will probably be away a couple of years. Mr. H. E. Connolly did the bookmakers a good turn by capturing the St. Kilda Cup with Jackstaff, winner of' the hist V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race. The Sea Prince gelding raced on several occasions without success at the Melbourne autumn carnival, and backers allowed him to go out at long odds in the St. Kilda Cup. G. Price, trainer of the three-year-old Windbag, has prepared the winner of fifteen races since Ist August, and is at ! the head of the list in Sydney as regards the number of races won. His successful horses have been Windbag (2), High Chief (2), Kenmare (2), Collaroi, The Cypher, Glentruin, Ballymena, Coleufl,, Buckra, Tingle, Bejeaee and Quest, '"

Everybody takes any interest IS acing (says "Sporting Life") ie pleased o note that Lord Derby is gradually, ncreasing his stable in France, and ifl etting together quite a useful string, lis colours are extremely popular there, nd a victory for the black jacket and rhite cap is always received with cheers. iord Derby secured the services of tichard Carver last year as his private rainer, and, with only a small string , , he stable netted nearly half a million rancs, most of the money being ron towards the end of the season. A rather amusing incident occurred atj , recent trotting meeting at Vincennes France). The stewards selected a horse' or a saliva test, and ( lered the lad a charge to take the animal to the box eserved for the operation. The owner, .•ho had not been notified, came on thel cene suddenly, and, on hearing the acts, he ordered the lad to take the .orse away and no test was made. The wner considered that the stewards night" have approached him prior to rdering the lad to lead the horse into he special box, and sportsmen are now; raiting to see what the stewards will o, a3 apparently the rules do not pro-< ide for a case of this kind. Mr. Campbell Wood's fine gelding Cliff* tale provided the corned those who iad not backek him—in the Hawkesbury; Autumn Handicap (Sydney) recently* Ifter he had got rid of his rider at the larrier, Cliffdale took a few momenta o realise the situation, then went after, he field, making up his ground steadily* iut not too quickly, as though the test ■ider in the land was on him. At about iix furlongs he forged to the front td ;he most approved style, and, having ;aking the lead, held the others to the inish. A tragedy for bis numeron* >ackers. , Since the close of the flat-rajing campaign in England late last Nbvem>er, cross-conntry sport has suffered :i little interruption, from I.a weather, but unfortunately the secmd half of the Derby programme had! ;o be cancelled on February 10, owing ;o the recreation ground being flooded. Fhere has been a lot of rain in the dis:riet, and it was feared overnight that, ivith a further downpour, racing would Dβ impossible, and the stewards decided, x> abandon the fixture. The canal which, uljoins the race track commenced to overflow its banks early in the morning, md when the clerk of the course arrived, x large portion of the track was covered with water to a depth of six inches, [t was at once seen that racing was quite out of the question. The Becond day of the fixture suffered a similar fate two years ago. The race for the Eclipse Stakes at Bombay in February proved a great triumph for an Irish-bred horse in. Melesigenes, who defeated Harry Tatef and Boscombe in a field of seventeen! both the second and third horses being' English-bred and exported to India in. j 1923. Melesigenes, which is a son of . MeVnger and Lady Black, and therefore [ a I r'l brother to Bachelor's Fort, was: bred by Mr. A. Lowry, who races in Ireland and also in England, and it was at The Curragh two years ago, on the occasion of his only success before leaving for India, that Melesigenes. created a great surprise, as in a field of seven for the Grand Prize he., started at 100 to 1 against and defeated**Zozimus by five lengths. It must be something in the nature of a record for a breeder to win six races with five different horses in three days, and for each to carry . the breeder's colours. Such a record, was put up by Mr. E. L. Eamsay at the Queensland Turf Club's St. Patrick's meeting and Tattersall's Meeting in addition, Paladin went very close to taking Tattersall's Handicap, and Barnstead and . Leveret ran Becond in their races, and Part Up and Lenglen were third in races. Mr. Ramsay is a member of the Q.T.C. committee, and for many years has been a very strong supporter of racing at Ascot. The Toowoomba Turf Club has for years been very thankful to Mr. Ramsay for his solid support in the way of nominations. Mr. Ramsay; is practically a non-bettor. Comments made by Judge Cann at Brighton County Court, in an action by, a firm of London turf accountants against a woman who was sued for £80, and pleaded the Gaming Act, deserve more than local publicity, says "Sport* ing Life." According to the " Sussex Daily News," Judge Cann said the Gaming Acts were passed to remedy a glaring social evil, but they were not intended to enable persons to evade payment of what was a debt of honour, although they had that effect. Though the action must fail, he hoped if defendant was an honourable woman she would discharge the clainj. The pedigrees of horses engaged iri the classic races are always most interesting, and it is good to note that the Derby favourite, Mr. A. R. Cox's Picaroon, traces in the male line, via Beppo, Marco, and Barcaldine, to the Godolphin Barb (says an English, writer). Then we find in Picaroon the same sort of breeding as resulted in the production of that good filly, My Dear, which was by Beppo out of Silesia. Now Silesia was by Spearmint out of Galicia (dam of such great horses as Bayardo and Lemberg, not to mention ELwang Su). It follows, therefore, that the mating of Beppo with Silesia's daughter Ciceronetta should in the ordinary course be equally successful. With such ancestors as Barcaldine, St.* Frusquin, Cyllene, Spearmint, Galopin (twice), and Isonomy (twice), and Hampton in Picaroon's pedigree, he should certainly not fail to get the mile and a-half at Epsom. As an easy winner of all three races in which he took part last year, the Rous Memorial Stakes (six furlongs), at Goodwood, the Imperial Produce Stakes, at Kempton (in which ha beat Manna and others), and the famous Middle Park Stakes (six furlongs), in which he beat Solario, Manna, Oojah, and others, he is clearly entitled to be the favourite for the chief classic race of the coming season. I notice that Mr. W. Allison rather fancies the Spearmint colt, Zionist, as a second string to Picaroon for the classics, and if we wipe out his running when unplaced to Diomedes at Hurst Park last November, Zionist certainly has claims, although it is doubtful if he beat very much in his earlier races, excepting Oojah, which was trying to concede 141b when he lost by four lengths on the occasion of Zionist's debut over six furlongs at Xcwburv. However, there are possibilities in Zionist, and he might even follow in the footsteps of Speamrnt's other son, . Spion Kop, and win the Derby. [ preference, though is for. Picaroon, JaH