SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf

RACING FIXTURES. Jan. 18, 22, and 25.— Wellington R.C. Summer. -Jan. 22 and 23.— Foxton R.C. Annual. Jan 25, 29, and f eb. I.— Takapuna J.C. Summer Jan. 29 and 30.— Pahiatua R.C. Annual. Feb 6 and 7. — Gisborne RC. Summer. Feb. 6 and 8. — Canterbury J.C. Summer Feb. 12 and 13. — Egifiont R.C. Summer. Feb. 13 and 14— Poverty Bay T.CJ. An- .. „ ftv^U • Feb. 19 and 20.— VVoodv\lle J.C Autumnr-Feb-,^.19, 20, and 32,— Dunedin J.C. Autumn. Marcb 5 and 7, — Wanganui J.C. Autumn. If all goes well in the meantime, New Zealand will be represented by that brilliant colt Elevation at the Australian Jockey Club's Easter meeting at Randwick. The colt has been entered for the two big handicaps — the Donca-ster, one mile, and tho Sydney Cup, two miles. -The meeting , extends over four- days, from the 18th\to the 25th -April, and the weights foV the big handicaps are issued some time in March- . There is good mciney also in the weight-for-age races. On the third day the All-aged Stakes will provide an opportunity for New Zealand's champion to throw down the gauge to Mountain Kin£ and Poseidon, but Mr. Bidwill might prefer to start his colt in Ihe Cumberland Stakes, run over two miles.' On the concluding day of the meeting the A. J C Plate is run. It is one of (he Ivro three-mile races . which remain to recall the days when | long distance tests were more popvdar j than at present. i s j - Mr- M'Donald, owner of Mountain King, is also the possessoiK of Elevation's sire, San Francisco. i! It is interesting to note that San Francisco is. a full-brother to the famous English sire, St. Frusquin, who occupies second place is? the Usi. of winning stallions for the season just concluded, and whose daughter . Lesbia is regarded as the crack English two-year-old. Mr. 'M"Donald,. s 'ik& \\lr. Bidwill, races for pure- love of the sport, and enthusiasts who may be able to make the trip across the Tasman Sea will be able to witness a contest where al' the conditions make for a fight for supremacy ■ .between two colts worthy of tho be«t traditions of tho turf, and which may remind old race-goers of the historic struggles between Carbine and Marvel. It is to be hoped that the exigencies of training will not interfere either with Elevation or Mountain King, and thus prevent the settlement of the question as to whether New Zealand or ,the Commonwealth possesses the champion colt. Elevation's fame has been, trumpeted pjetty ' loudly by the .Australian press, and Mr. Daly, the A. J.C. handicapper, will be certain to weight the little chestnut up to his fullest deserts. It will be no surprise if he awards Elevation ihe same weight as ho gave Mountain King's sire AVallace, who, with Bst. :121b, Beat a great field in 1896. In H904 another three-year-old in Lord Cardigan carried Bst 71b to gallant victory ; bo with these two examples before him of what sterling three-year-olds are capable of in the autumn, 'Mr. Daly's assessment of Elevation is almost certain. ,to be somewhere about 8.7 or 8.12. --" *' -Referring to Zimmerman's Auckland Cup victory-, where the four-year-old 'iiirried 8.4, and also to his success, with the substantial burden, of * 9.3 in tho ; Ilacing Club Handicap at the same meeting, it has been pointed out that the Ellerslie course, by reason of its conformation, helps horses which are carrying heavy weights, because of the f fact^ that the last five or six furlongs ate" ' Slightly 'down hill. This feature may^ account for the larger number of Worses 'tKat "nave "won with heavy .^eigKt-s 'in the Auckland Cup, as compared with the fewer successes attending the top-weights in the New Zealand Cup, the Riccarton course being perfectly flat. Since 1886 Lady Zetland's 8.9 is the heaviest weight carried to the ■front in the 'atter event, and the only horses who succeeded with more than 8.0 in the saddle were Waiuku 8.6, ' 'Orand Rapids 8.5, and Tortulla 8.1. ■'On ' the other hand Nelson, with 9.8 3in4.' 9.12, Lochiel 8.10, Wairiki 9.8, iMahutonga -8.12, St. Hippo 8.9, and Siege Gun. 8.6, are some of the victors that may be cited as having won, the big Ellerslie two-miler. Horses are now beginning to arrive at Trentham for the Wellington Club's summer meeting. So many horses will be- competing that the Racing Club has found it necessary to Engage a number of outside boxes for their accommodation. ' One of the most important ar- • -rivals is Arml ft t. Guidwife has been. 3pr.a,fcched _ f0r. ..a1l engagements,, and "'A'colus will not -start at the meeting. TlS&md&y next ''s acceptance day, and Mf. Pollock's work may result in own•era freely paying up for their horses. English racing season is just "over, and the following particulars will ." be!, interesting :— > H-.M- the King ,M, M ¥ .< £2,944 •Mr. W. Hall Walker ... >„• 17,910* ■Mr JB. Joel „, ¥ .< „.- 13,803 flMfr W Bass " 13.473 Tuf>xi Derby . . .., „., 13;209 Mr. W. B. Purefoy fc ., >.< 11,822 C6J. E. W. Baird « „.. 10,556 'Mr Sol. Joel „., %i . 8,761 Captain Greer „, ... i(1 8*567 'Mr.; ft. Croker „, »., 8,349 •Sk-D. Cooper <... s.j *.. 8,0664 Mr. h. -de Rothschild „., ... 7,775-J Major Loder- „ '„< 7,647 Duke of Westminster.. * ... 7,201-J Duke of Devonshire „* ... 6,742* Mr W. M- G. Singor ... „.< 6,217* .Mr._ J Buchanan ..« ..< 5,911 Col Kirkvood ..< ».« ... 5,695 •Mr. Wm. Clark.., ... „, 5,652 Mr. A. Bailey , „.„ 5,609 Mr. J A. de Rothschild ..4 5,594 Capfc. J. G. R. Homfray ... 5,138| 'Mr. L. Robinson 5,046 Lord Harewood ... .., 5,004 Mr. D- R. Browning ..< „.., 4,937 •Mr. WR. Wyndham... „. 4,821 •Mr. Fairie - « 4,798 Mr A. F Basset , 4,712* Lorr* Rosebery ... w 4,1764 It will be universally regretted that the most popular patron of the turf, the King, has had another poor racing season ; still he has some compensation in the good figures shown by his home-bred stallions— Florizel 11., Persimmon, and the now expatriated Diamond Jubilee — the three brilliant sons of St. Simon and Perdita 11. Mr. W. H. Walker has had a third good year 'in succession, his two-year-old cplt White Eagle being his best winner, with £7571. Mr. J. B Joel has about doubled the amounts he won in each of the three preceding years Glass Doll won the Oaks for him, bnt most of his other victories were achieved in handicaps 1 Mr Bass owes ais high position mainly to Sancy's victory ir the £10,000 Jockey Club Stakes. Lord Derby last year headed the list with the fine sum of £22,929, so he has had a big drop, still Bridge o{ Canny z Altitude, and other

good performers havo won him some good stakes. Of the amount opposite Sir. Purefoy's name, £11,555 has to be credited to Lally, who atoned for last year's disappointment, and won the J £10,000 Eclipse Stakes, in addition to minor events ; similarly, all but £100 of Colonel Baird's was secured by that good colt Woolwinder, who was beaten by Orby in the Derby, but won the St. Leger and seven other races. Other instances of a similar nature aro seen in looking down the list of winners, such as Captain 'Greer's £8567, of which £7905 was won by Slieve Gallion, victor in the Two Thousand Guineas and other rac«s, but space will not admit of detailing them. When Bruce Lowe's "Figure System" was first published it met with a mixed reception. It had many opponents, . because- a lot of breeders held that it was absurd to lay down any hard-and-fast rulos for breeding horses. Bruce Lowe never claimed that it was a new principle on which to breed blood stock. He claimed that the figures merely served to at one© identify the families brought into a pedigree. He did nothing more than separate the good strains from the bad, and classified them according to their racing worth. Because a horso claims a No. 1 it does not necessarily follow that the horse is going to bo a Kiicctss on tho racecourse (says <in exchange), but coming as he does from the family which has produced the greatest number of winners, he has, the dunces being equal, a better prospect of being a success than one tracing to a family whose winners dur- ( ing the past hundred years could be counted on the fingers of the hands. Naturally, Mr. Allison, as editor of , Bruce Lowe's work, recognised its virtues ; but one of the first men to realise the value of the figures was Count Lehndorff, the director of the Royal German Stud, Granditz. Colonel Hall Walker, who heads the list of winning owners in England this season, is a keen adherent to the Bruce Lowe system, and has published several works on the subject. To win a particular race, the .Perth Cup, four years in succession, as Mr. P. A. Connolly has won it, is a remarkable achievement — an achievement of which any racing man might be proud. But Mr. Connolly was not content with this ; io won several other races besides, including the W.A. Derby. It has long been si custom to describe Mr. Connolly as a lucky man, but wholesale successes, such as he enjoys, mean a good deal more than luck. They imply judicious management, efficient training," competent jockeyship, a close attention to detail, and the acquirement of good material, not necessarily expensive, but the right sort. The turfman who depends upon sheer haphazard luck to pull him through will sooner or later find himself unlucky. Mr. Connolly's original outlay in horseflesh was comparatively small. Post Town, who carried off the chief honours of the meeting, cost but 210 guineas as a yearling. At tho Wyndham meeting, Meld on Ist January, the chestnut sprinter Lupulite won the Flying Handicap, but an appeal was lodged against his owner receiving the stakes on the ground that M'Kay, who rode him, is the owner and trainer, and therefore -not entitled to hold a jockey's license. The Wyndham Club were somewhat chary about dealing with the matter, and dismissed the protest in order that the case should be settled by the Dunedin Jockey Club. Under the New Zealand Rules of Racing a trainer can hold a jockey's license, but the privilege of riding is (restricted as follows: — "No trainer, who is also a jockey, shall ride in any race in which more than onb horse trained (either wholly or partially) by himself runs, and if he rode in a race in which a horse trained by him runs, he shall ride that horse. If any trainer shall fail to comply with this rule, the horse in respect of which such failure to comply shall have occurred shal l be disqualified for the race." The rule on which the protest was based reads that "no jockey's license shall be granted to any person who is the owner, part owner, lessee, or part lessee of any horse in training, or has any interest in any such horse." "Terlinga" writes interestingly anent the greatest event of the Indian turf. "Tho Viceroy's Cup, established in 1856, is noted for the number of times horses have on more than one occasion. Mr. R. K. Maitland, the V.A.T.C. handicapper, bought a little "walcr" called Kingcraft about thirty-five years ago, and won the Viceroy's Cun with him in 1873, 1877, and 1878. " Myall King won three times for the late Lord William Beresford, and Highborn, Sprightly, Great Scot, Fitz Grafton, and others have won the raco twice. Last week's win was^Mr. A. A. Apcar's sixth in the race, and in Fitz Grafton he has probably the best horse ' Grafton has sired, is neater and not so much on the leg as the generality of that horse's stock. I , have always held the view that the best of Fitz Grafton was never seen at Randwick. Whether it was that his owner asked too much of him, or whether his going off was pure bad luck, I do not • know. However, his race in the Craven Plate of 1904 stamped him very good. He was beaten a neck by Emir, with Gladsome a length and a half off third, and the starters included Lord Cardingan, Cruciform, and Abundance. Take away Mountain King, and any of these horses would be sure of winning in present-day weight-for-age company." Melodeon, who formerly belonged to Mr. E. J. Watt, won the chief event on the last day of A.J.C. Christmas Meeting. The Medallion horse carried topweight 9.1, and he was heavily backed. Melodeon was sold by Mr. Watt (owner of King Billy, -etc.), to D. J. Price, by whom he was taken to Australia, and at one time ruled as favourite for the Melbourne Cup won by Poseidon in 1906. One oi the interesting events of Trentham race week will be the sale of the Waikanae yearlings. These youngsters are the progeny of St. Ambrose, Conqueror, and Kilcheran, and as they combine good breeding and looks should command the attention of those seeking young racing stock. The list of winning jockeys in England for the past season was headed by W. Higgs, who had 146 wins out of 732 mounts, an average of just one in five. The accomplished Irish-American rider, Danny Maher, has an extraordinary fine average, for out of 424 rides, his number was hoisted 114 times. His numerous followers must have had a remarkably profitable season, for every fourth mount was a win. L. H. Hewitt had 165 mounts, out of which 15 were wins. The New Zealand rider started off in great style, but latterly his average has been spoilt. The little 14-year-old F. Wootton is well up in the list with 39 wins, out of 282 mounts, a slightly better average than Hewitt's, but the latter may havo his revenge next season, when he has the pick of Mr. Hall Walker's stable, at present the most powerful in England. The following is a table of tho winning sires in the Old Country : — Gallinule, by Isonomy '. £23,383 St. Frusquin, by St. Simon ... £23,341 Desmond, by St. Simon ... £19,7381 Amphion, by Rosebery ... £17,655 Orme, by Ormonde £17,379 Martagon, by Bend Or ... £14,387 Diamond Jubilee, by St. Simon £13,647 Persimmon, by St. Simon ... £12,301 Isinglass, by Isonomy . . £11,910 CyUene, by Bonavista .... £10,539 ]