RACING FIXTURES.

October 3—Hawkes Bay J.C. October 8, 10-Dunedin J.C. October 8, 10—Whangarei U.C. October 9, 10—Masterton E.C. October 14—Birchwood Hunt Club. October l(i, 17—Oamaru J.C. October 17—Carterton K.C. October 21, 22—Riyerton U.C. October 24—Eginorit-Wauganui Hunt Club, October 21, 26—Wellington K.C. October 26—Walkato Hunt Club. October 26—North Canterbury R.C. October 26—Waipawa Couufcy E.C. October 20—Wuverley E.C. October 26, 28—Gore R.C. October 29, 31—Poverty Bay Turf C.

There ara three racing fixtures in the Dominion next week. The Wha-ngaa-ei and Dunedin Meetings will be held on Thursday and Saturday. For local racegoers there is the Masterton Meeting, which will be held on Friday and Saturday. In Australia, the A.J.C. Meeting will go on on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. On Saturday the Caulfield Meeting will be opened.

The principal race at Randwick on Monday will bo the. Metropolitan, but it will be run very close in interest by the Breeders' Plate, the first important two-year-old race of the season. The field for the Metropolitan has fined down to reasonable proportions, and, no donbt, some fresh' light will bo thrown on the prospects of some of the runners by their efforts at Randwick to-day.

From all accounts too much notice need not be taken of the failures recently of Tarleton and Sun Up. It is understood that they will be seen to greater advantage later on. According to the official calendar, F. E. Jones has given A. M'Aulay second call on his services this season. Jones is first horseman for Sir George Clifford. It is said that Euphonium was suffering from a slight cold at the Otaki fix' ture. He looked well enough, and ran two'good races, biit if capable of better should do good service for Mr. J. B. Gaisford.

The Waipapakaui'i Club's application to have its inaugural totalisator meeting at- Whangarei has been approved. These 'cuckoo" clubs might yet prove an embarrassment for their sponsor, the Minister of Internal Affairs. In passing, it might be mentioned that if the signs can be read correctly, the Minister is again in conflict with the conference, his promises of last July having proved of the stability of the average politician; Heathersprig was reported lame last week, the hard going- on the Gisborne tracks having found a weak spot in his shoulder.

Receipt, an aptly-named two-year-old filly by Paper Money from Satisfaction, luis niado a good impression,-on critics in the Far South. She is sa^d to resemble her dam a good deal in appearance. She lias done very little work and can hardly be ready for some time.

Several reasons have been broadcasted in explanation of The Banker's absence from Avondale, and he apparently is suffering from clivers complaints. It is-interesting to learn, therefore, from a Taranaki writer that The Banker should be in good form for the Now Zealand Cup of two miles .now only five weeks away.

Archeen is having a comparatively easy time at Te Awamutu, and is not s to race again for some time. At Wanganui he looked in need of a let-up. A promising sort in tho shape of a th'ree-ycar-old ', chestnut filly • named Cultivation showed improving form at Geraldine, writes "Sentinel." Shn has plenty of speed, and with a fair dispatch on the second day would have been hard to beat.' Cultivation is a wellgrown filly of good size and length, and was got by Tractor from an unnamed mare by Solferino—or Kilbroney from Temba. Cultivation should pick up a race before the season has advanced very far.

A Sydney tipster advertises himself in the Referee" as the "bookmakers' enemy," says an exchange. Bookmakers have made pots of money, out of their enemy, the punter, and it' is odd-on that the fielders are not angry with "bookmakers' enemy." The Geraldino course is laid out on shingly ground, and the fact caused a painful injury to C. Emerson when riding Clareina in the Geraldine Uup. When following the leaders near the home turn, a stone thrown up by one of them struck Emerson in one of his eyes, with the result that he was forced to steer a blind course for the rest of the . rase. Emerson received medical attention, and rode again during the rest/ of the day. Clareina won on tho second day, and apparently the mishap to her pilot in the Geraldine Cup kept her out of a share of the money. Walking about at Mcntono (Victoria) a fortnight ago were two intereslin" two-year-olds, tho property' oE Mr. A. T. Crcswick. One of the twain was Thracia.n,.a brother to Heroic, and the other Miss Yarricn, a sister to Bkckadder. At tho Arrow-field dispersal sale in April, 1924, Chersonese, dam of Heroic, was purchased by Mr. Cresvrick for 5100 guineas. She had a colt foal at foot by Valais, and that youngster to-day • is Thracian. Subsequently Mr. Jack Cortuen purchased the colt for 3000 guineas and contingencies, and christened him Liberty Bond. Towards the end of that year, the agreement of 'sale was cancelled by mutual consent. Except for having only one white hind foot, Thracian is. said to be almost the counterpart, of Heroic, but ho is described as an exceptionally quiet and sober youngster. The brothers now have a sister," who, like Thracian, belongs to Mr. Creswick. ''I. am unable to report any improvement in/the account keeping and general conduct of tho totalisators outside the metropolitan area and Newcastle," soys tho Auditor-fieneral of New South Wales in his annual report. '"Disregard by the chfbs of the provisions of the Act and regulations, as well as the totalizator rules, is of common occurrence. In certain eases the olfenon may bo ascribed to ignorance oi' the requirements of tho Jaw on the part of those managing the machines, but in at least two instances it, was shown that breaches had been deliberately engineered to make good previous lapses:" A uniformed system of account keeping i:-, recommended. Since; his sojourn in England .Air. E. A. Connelly. Ihc Australian, has bought quite a unrulier of horses, says the j "Sporting Life.' 1 He, added In his purI chases when going to IOOOgs for Herilda after the sou of Llangibby had cantered iiway with the Felt ham Soiling VUito at Kempton l'.'trk. Mr. Siegii'ond Cohen, tin) owner "f this useful I Inve-year-old, would probably havn carried on the bidding had not his trainer notified him of iho fact thai, in a recent gallop ITorildii had brokrn a blood vessel.

Senor .1. Uuzuo intended sending Town (luard lo his stud in Iho Argenlinc, but ;il (h" i'i:(|iu.'sl. of several I-Ycuch breeders he has decided to Irl. the hoivc h;ivp a season in L r"r;i n'o. lie

will slaud ;il Iho Vaiicressou si lid a.l. a fee of 26.000 finncs. a li-illo unrl-r SM>W,

,-\ rraromibh- mm for :uic)i a well-lurcl Auuaal, Uic price should. (xni|it liugiitL

breeders to send some mares across the Channel.

Mr. Adair Dighton, F.E.C.S., F.jS.S., has been appointed Special Commissioner of the "Sporting Life and Sportsman" in succession to the late Mr. W. Allison, M.A. (Oxon). Mr. Dighton was. educated at Cheltenham College and. Edinburgh University. Ho is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and of the Zoological Society, and he has done a considerable amount of work for the "Bloodstock Breeders' Review," "Baily's Magazine," "The Veterinary Journal," and other papers in relation to the scientific side of breeding. He is attached to the Animal Breeding Research Department of tho University of Edinburgh, and does a, great deal of experimental work on lv's farm at Herefordshire. In addition he has a thorough knowledge of bloodstock, and edited the last edition of the racing volume of "British Sport and Sportsmen." Very satisfactory acceptances have been received for the opening day of the Masterton Meeting. A very useful field has been left in the Masterton Cup, including last year's New Zealand Cup winner, Sunart. Tho acceptances for both tho Electric Handicap and Maiden Plate are slightly over the pfficial safety number, but very possibly scratchings will obviate the necessity of the division nuisance.

Father O'Flyrm has been paid .up for in the Electric Handicap on the first day of the Dnnedin Meeting, and in the Dunedin Guineas. He is booked definitely for the journey to the South, where he will bo under the care of J. Rutledge. The Guineas does not look an easy race to win, for Southerners are favouring the chances of Money Order and John Bradbury. If Father O'Flynn can show up well in the Electric Handicap he should not want for support in the classic race. The handicapper has not been at all lenient with him in the open. sprint. The Kurow Jockey Club's Meeting was a benefit for the Wingatui trainer, C. Giesler. He took seven horses to the meeting, and, with the exception of the .steeplechase and the two trotting events, in which he was not represented, he cleaned up the whole programme, winning the five flat races, while in the Kurow Handicap he also provided the second horse.

Corn Money, the winner of the Novice vPlate at Kurow, outclassed his opponents, when parading in the birdcage, and he did likewise in the actual race, says an exchange. He was a trifle slow to jump off, but he was going away from the field at the finish. He looks sure to win in better company. Corn Money is a three-year-old by Paper Money from Mezzo, by Finland from Da Mui'ska, by Gipsy Grand from lima, by Stepniak from Bunco Nuna.

The following, clipped from an English oxchangc, makes., one realise more and more how much the racing public in Now Zealand owe to the strict supervision by the racecourse inspectors, and their elimination of the uudesirablo clement from our courses : "We are glad lo note that the Home Secretary, Sir AY. Joynson-Hicks, is lo take strong measures to put an;cud to gangs whicli engage in organised ■ ruffianism. Ho should receive the whole-hearted support of every citizen.. But, at tho same time, we should like those who continually designate these hooligans 'race gangs' to remember that they are assisting in giving a bad name to a sport whicli docs not in the least deserve it. Bookmakers and others who attend race meetings regularly would be only too pleased if the undesirable element who use racecourses as an unpleasant means to an illegitimate end were eliminated to-morrow."

S. Donogßue is having no luck on his Continental trips. Shortly before the last mail left England he went to Deauville, but on his way to the post in one race his horse swerved, and unseated him. A sprained wrist was the result, keeping him out of the saddle for some days.

The claim for £1450 by the relatives of the late J. Ledson, jockey, who was killed in England whilst riding a motorcycle, has been disallowed. The Railway Passengers' Assurance Co., with whom J. Ledson was insured, relied upon a proviso in the policy to the effect that ..the company would not bo liable if. he, J. Ledson, was riding at an excessive speed at the time of accident. The case went to arbitration, and the arbitrators were unable to agree. The umpire, Mr. J. B. Mattltews, X.0., in giving liis decision, held that Ledson was riding at an , excessive speed when the accident occurred. To Sir Abe Bailey falls the honour this year of making the Gimcrack speech, his colt Lex having won the Gimcrack Stakes at York, incidentally giving M. Beary his first winning ride since his reinstatement. It is to bo hoped, adds n.ll English writer, that Sir Abo Bailey will delay his return to South Africa, as he did when winning the same race with Southern six years ago, as his Gimcrack speech should be interesting and instructive. Few winners o£ tho race have had more experience of flat

racing. Picaroon " made his reappearance in the Duke of York Plate at the York Meeting, and although a hot favourite, was beaten into second place by Spelthorno. According to all accounts Picaroon . looked bright enough in his coat, and his genei'al well-being was suggested by the light-hearted way he comported himself in the paddock. He was well on his to:-s, and it required all Bullock's strength to restrain him in the preliminary canter. Although there was no outward sign of an enlarged hock, he did not flex the off one i,n his walking paces too well, but used it well enough when in action.