The World of Sport

MANNA'S SEDAN.

Manna has not (writes Centaur, our racin" 1 correspondent) won the Triple Crown, after all, and the critics, who hav&all along maintained that he is not a true stayer, have come out best in the end.. /The same tactics that were adopted so successfully in the Derby with him, setting the pace from the beginning, did not have the same result in the &>t. Legex. He was beaten just after enteriuf the straight, and Solario and oiners were ~;able to pass him easily. Solario, as I have written often in these notes, is quite , a different horse to-day from what he was on Derby day, though even on that fateful afternoon he was declared by his jockey, Beary, to have been the nnluckiest horse in the race, insomuc 1 as he was mixed up with the tapes at the atart and lost a lot of ground. Beary was, unfortunately, unable to obtain revenge himself at Doncaster, as in the meantime he fell under the temporary ban of the Jockey Club, and, win e he was in such enforced idleness it was deemed advisable to offer the mount on Solario to Joe Childs, the King's jockey, who would not be required to carry the Ro'sral colours in the last of the classics. Childs has the deserved reputation of bein» our best long-distance rider, and, -though, no subtle tactics were called for in the present Leger, he rode in h-s best style .and piloted Solario past the post the easiest of winners, the Aga Khans Zarnbo being second and Lord Lonsdale s Warden of the Marches, a stable companion of Manna, third. Childs rode the 50-1 winner, Polemarch, a few years "back, but Donoghue has yet to win a St. Leger. Solario started joint favourite with Manna at 7 to 2 against 3 while Zambo was easily the most popular each-vracy bet. It was a disastrous result for the layers, but vastly welcome to the large body of professional backers, most of whom were "on" first and second. PICAROON'S RUNNING.

Picaroon, after all, was sent to the post, and, such was the confidence expressed in him by the famous Manton stable, ifchat he was backed from 10 to 1 down to 7 to 1. He ran extremely well, considering the setback in training he has had, but just failed to get a place. He certainly proved that the York running with Spelthorne mentioned in my last artiefle —was all wrong, for he showed »p much more prominently than the last-named colt, which, no doubt, will find some .compensation in the Irish Leger, which:a stable companion of his, Zodiac, won ilast year. It was an atrocious day —just another Derby day so far as the conditions prevailing were concerned—sand .the ground was all against Picaroon's . chance. Still, whatever may have been thought of him before the heel*bug laid him low— and he was (undoubtedly regarded as a certainty for fthe Derby, at that time there is no denying .that the best horse of the year now is Solario. He was almost as good ;aa 'Picaroon as a two-year-old, and the proved superior of Manna, and, though it ihas tfc&kan some time, he has come into his kingdom at last, Reggie Day, of 'Tiahy .fame, trained the St. Leger winner for the . wealthy brewer, Sir John Rutherford, and deserves every credit for the way he has brought the colt on. There m Hifctle niieed to say much about the jresfc .of ithe runners. Warminster made She -rujwing into the straight with Maima, ,hut,.like the Derby winner, he was ihetcken <at that point. He has been purchased :by -Senor Unzue, of the Argentine, itihe buyfcr of Town 1 Guard, and I have it© cfloiibt 1 he will be . shipped to France to iace in future. ] Bucellas, Pons Asinoaraim, .anil -St. Becan , were all conspicuous SaSlures. Zambo, • presumably, will now Tae jpxepared for the ODesarewitch, in whieh he teas been Allotted B.3—the top weight being Hurstwood —provided Zaiiiibo does not > gain a penalty through winning -tbe Dongaster Cup in the meantime, vwitli'>9.2. JIDEAL CESAREWITOK iHOBSE ■ Xt will be recalled that .the Aga Khan's 'Teftesina, after being' placed in the St. 1 Leger, was subsequently trained if<>r i.the ibig ; long-distance handicap at Newmarket two years ago, aad she was, only beaten on the post by the French ho-rse, Rose Zambo is a stout stayer—he was beaten for finishing spaed in the 'Leger iiby a horse of superior class—and should ibe ideally suited to the Gesarewitch requirements. Spelthojme is another of the Leger horses in the 1 Cesarew ; iich, and he is rated 31b inferior '/fro Zamb®. I should say he is quite that.

At any rate, I know which of the pair I should back. Son of Spring, at G. 13, from the same stable as Solario, is already being spoken of as one of the "very probables," and it should be remembered that, even if Reggie Day had something of a fiasco with Tishy and later with Ceylonese, he had trained the winner of the race twice previously in Son-in-Law and Bracket. Son of Spring is a brown son of Son-in-Law and has shown evidence of inherited stamina on several occasions. Next week, perhaps, it. will be worth our while delving into the possibilities of other Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire candidates. CRICKET MEN FOR THE TESTS. The cricket season is nearly over. The last of the festival matches are now in progress at Scarborough and other holiday resorts,, and the curtain will be rung down next week, when Yorkshire, as the worthy champions of a most successful season, will be opposed at Lords by a side representative of the best of England's talent. Hobbs has scored still another, century: to make his total 128, and his performances have ,of course, overshadowed every other feature, but it will be best to wait until the records are completed before reviewing the season. But already it is possible to weigh the : possibilities •of success against the Australians, next summer. Hobbs' forecast, that we ought to win on a wet wicket, hut that under favourable hatting conditions we shall experience great difficulty in getting the Australians out twice in a game confined to three days, is generally accepted as sound. , OTJR' GREAT NEED. The' great need is a fast bowler. We have not got anything like one. A. E. R. Gilligan is probably our fastest, but he has done nothing since his return from and, unless he regains his best form, he can hardly secure a place in the eleven. Already .it is taken for granted that A. W. Garr, the Notts captain, who has had t a great season, will lead England. .'But badly as we want a fast bowler,:-it is a very significant fact that the slow left-hander has usually occasioned Australian batsmen most trouble. This is rather curious, hut, if one glances through ' the records, the bowlers who have done best have been Peate, Peel, Rhodes, Woolley and Colin Blythe. Unfortunately, now that Woolley has lost a deal of u fris ■ deadliness, we have not a finger spinner to compare with any of these bowlers.' 'Perhaps the best is Parke, of Gloucestershire, and he is not a good field and cannot be depended on for many runs. Fori,bowlers we shall have to rely chiefly on Tate and Macaulay. For batsmen we are probably as well off as, and may be >.a little better in the first six places/than ■ the Australians, but I cannot see how we are going to avoid a "tail," arid in this respect the tourists will no dotibt, -as is usual with them, hold an advantage. If the England team had to be chosen to-day, I think the following would be certain of places: A. W. Carr (captain), Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Holmes, Heridren, Tate, Macaulay and Strudwick.

BOXING AND BOXERS The autumn boxing season (writes Eugene Corri), like the autumn weather, is now upon us" in full blast. Last week, at any ra'te, was particularly eventful, and from am told by promoters and boxers dlike, few weeks will pass by, from now on to Christmas, without something tff interest happening.

The outstanding event of last week was, of course, the 'defeat of Phil Scott in Spain at the hands—or should it be head? —of Paolino, the Basque. As I think I indicated in these notes, I rather feared that something of the sort might happen, though I must admit that I rather thought 'the 'British representative would punish Tiis opponent more severely than he did with his left. Apparently he made the fata!l mistake of taking the bull by the horns instead of bailing him into impotence first of all. The idea of beating the Basque at his own game did credit to Scott's 'fighting spirit, but, although he is no weakling about the body, he was no mtrtdh for. such a powerful and furiously determined man at close quarters.

So, at least, the stories of the fight ! seem to indicate, and Whether or no fiSeott was butted, or "hit 'below the belt, J or whether he merely -weakened under j'body punching, there tan 'be 'little doubt ■ tifat his tactics were all wrong. I for

i one, do not propose to rub in the defeat j by adding that it destroys all of Scott's [ pretensions to a championship in the | future—after all, even Dempsey allowed i himself to be knocked out of the ring j by Firpo, a big edition of Paolino—but I I must say the defeat filled me with regret that Scott ever should have been ! so ill-advised as to undertake the venj ture. As it appeared to me, Sccott had i everything to lose and nothing to gain, j except, perhaps financially, by the , match.

One can only hope now that Scott will be given the chance to win fresh laurels and experience in his own country, before venturing so far afield again. Certainly he deserves the chance, for he is clearly a good sportsman, and quite probably our best available heavy-weight. ROLAND TODD'S RETURN. Next in importance was the effective return to serious fighting of Roland Todd. The Doncaster middle-weight always has been master of defence, and more than once, as in his second fight with Kid Lewis, he wroved that he can hit quite hard enough for practical purposes. But Ido not think his best friend would like to state on oath that he thought Todd lias always done himself justice, or that his passive style was likely to prove attractive to the general public—let alone the Americans, who expect boxers to fight as well as box. However, we are dealing with modern, not ancient history, aM it may be granted that Todd's recent victory over Charles Ring was fairly convincing proof that he is once more a force in the land. In the earlier rounds, to be sure, Todd was his old aggravating self? and, but for the referee's intervention, the contest might have had to be written down a failure. Todd always was clever enough, but it was left to Ring to make a real fight of it, ironically enough, to his own downfall.

In the eighth round, 1 think it was, Ring's adroit mixing of his blows enabled him to open a cut high up on Todd's left cheek. Then the crowd were given a few glimpses of the Todd who beat Lewis by punching as well as by defence. Todd, in fact, began to use most of the weapons in the firstclass boxer's armoury with real force, as well as skill. Some of his jabs and hooks were magnificently timed, and his heavy countering to the body gradually wore down even such a gallant fighter as Ring. . The Australian was in a bad way when the referee stopped the fight in the 16th round. It may be that Ring had reduced his weight unduly, but he also was outfought, once Todd was roused into doing himself full justice. I rather fancy that even Tommy Milligan will have to be at his very best to beat Todd on last week's form. The prospects of another meeting between Todd and the coloured boxer, Len Johnson, open up particularly intriguing possibilities. Here two exceptionally clever fighters would be in opposition, and almost anything might happen. WELTERS UP AND DOING. There also is a considerable stirring among the welters, who appear to have been joined by no less a personage than the present holder of the light-weight belt. Certainly Harry Mason has undertaken to provide the chief event at the next Albert Hall tournament by meeting Johnny Brown, of Hamilton. Brown may not be a great boxer, but he is a rare worker, and Mason may find the difference in the weight of punches more than he fancies —at first. If, of course, Mason develops into a true welter, he is quite clever and wellbuilt enough to fight in the class with some credit. By the way, I hear that Kid Lewis, whose ability to meet welters or middleweights with equal facility has always attracted my admiration, has expressed himself ready to take on Mason at approximately the welter-weight. Lewis will appear at the Albert Hall on the same night as Harry Mason, and, should he beat the Dutchman, Van't Hof, he will be entitled to feel he has at least half "come-back." Lewis, I may add, is quite as ready to tackle Todd once more as he is to show Harry Mason that he—the Kid, I mean—is still one of the most unpleasant people to meet in the ring under eleven stone. The smaller men. or most of them, continue to keep themselves fit by work in the ring, though one regrets to note that 'Mick Hill has yet to engage in some preliminary contests to the one which is almost sure to come off against Johnny Brown, of St. Georges. Last week,' another bantam of great repute in Bugler Lake lost ground, as it were, by being defeated by one of the Harveys. of 'Plymoiith. " This was Private Frank Harvey, who punished the former champion so severely that the referee had to stop the fight at the end of the tenth round. Unfortunately, some of tlie credit due to the winner was thrown away by his persistent habit of boxing into his opponent with lowered head. Unless Harvev is careful. this bad fault will cost him valuable fights. Len Harvey, the light-weight, nlso lins florid \v ell b v heating Bill ITawlley so deeisivelv. Harvey, indeed, almost outclasses his opponent at the longer ranee fighting, and. although the infirrfifinet was contested, it was "HamlW who "broke" and retired in the eighth round. Leu Tlarvey is still in his teens, and clearly is one of our hopes. THE NEW FOOTBALL Though one is new becoming accustomed to the changes in the Soccer game brought, about by the alteration of the offside law. the result generally has not, been very pleasing. Those who were resyionsible for the granting of greater freedom to forwards point out that the number of stoppages have been very materially reduced, and that far more coals are now scored. All this is true, but it is equally true that fhe standard of plav has not improved, dust as was feared would be th" ca«e. the tendency is to adopt kiek-a nd-rusb tactics. There is lit ( 1 < > or no eo-opera (ion between halfbacks and forwards, owing to the fact tliat the former players are afraid to follow no an attack, in ease the ball should come back quickly. In that

quently that they will lose their value as a spectacle. For instance, last week end in the game between Newcastle United and Notts County, as mauv as nine were obtained, six by Newcastle United and three by Notts County. Such scoring would have, been almost impossible under the old conditions. Six goals in a match were quite common on Saturday last, and only in one case were there no goals. The players are al! against the new conditions. They say the plav is now so severe and exhausting that they cannot last out a game at full speed. Indeed, we are told that the men will'rebel on the ground that the game as at present played, is taking several years off their football lives.

| HOW THE CLUBS STAND i Most of the clubs have now played J f our games, and in the senior competij tion only Sunderland and Tottenham I Hotspur have won them all. Sunder- ' land, who, it was feared, would suffer through having transferred Buchan to the Arsenal, have discovered a most effective centre forward in Halliday, who joined them from Dundee. To date he J 'has obtained as many as seven goals, j The side gained a notable win at West } Bromwich by five goals to two. West IBromwich, who were the runners-up to the champions last season, were selected i before the programme started as likely !' to be one of the most successful sides. But they have experienced wretched luck through their men getting injured. Indeed, the team which opposed Sunder- « land included four reserves. Still, their I heavy defeat came as a big surprise. * Tottenham Hotspur have not accomplished anything of note in the way of scoring,' but they have excelled as a team. They have adapted themselves better to the new conditions than probably any other club, with the possible exception of Sunderland, and this has been the secret of tlieir success. In the second division, Middlesborough are the only club who have won all the points at stake, and in the third division Plymouth Argyle have been even more prominent. In three games the Argyll have scored fifteen goals, twice getting six, and only Milhvall have kept pace with them. This western club, in recent years, has had a most unhappy experience. For four years they have made a great elfort to gain promotion, but eacli time they have finished second. They have now made a wonderful start to achieve their ambition. SMITH CHALLENGES BILLIARDS CHAMPION For three or four years Tom Newman and Willie Smith have been the outstanding billiard professionals. Smith won the championship on the only occasion he competed for it, and Newman has held the title during the other years. The latter is now the reigning champion, but the honour is rather an empty one, inasmuch as last season his only opponent was Tom Reece. Smith was still at loggerheads with the ruling authority and refused to play. In the circumstances, it is only natural that Smith, should not be satisfied with the position, and he has challenged his rival to three games. Newman at once accepted, but made one condition. He pointed j out that he was handicapped under the { rules in being allowed to make ' only j twenty-five ball to ball cannons, whereas j there was no restriction, on Smith in j running up a sequence of losing hazards, j In the circumstances, if he was to play Smith, the latter must agree to the number of consecutive losing hazards being limited to twenty-five. Smith's reply was to the effect that he would play under any conditions that might be proposed. So we are promised three of the greatest matches the game has j known. Both Newman and Smith are wonderful players, Judging them on their powers as break-builders, we have never before had their equals. John Roberts was, of course, a master player, and there is the possibility that he was even more accomplished than his performances led one to suppose. He was so much of the showman, however, that he was content to win by a small margin so long as he was able to keep the game even and draw the public. He was always bluffing, and it was seldom that he scored all the points that were possible to him. Not so long ago I was shown a series of diagrams, which he had drawn up, and which clearly indicated his mode of play and general tactics. Suppose, for instance, he had scored a hundred, and the balls were still in perfect position. He would then deliberately make a stroke to squander them. But is was all done by design. He broke the position, it is true, but in such a way as to leave him a spectacular all-round cannon, say, in order to grip the attention of the spectators. NO SHOWMANSHIP.

This he would make, and then smile his acknowledgment of the cheers. As I have said, he had prepared twelve positions, in order that he might bring off this stunt, and it was in this way that he seized the imagination of the public. Neither Smith nor Newman lend themselves to such tactics. Every time they go to the table their effort is to score the maximum points, and the more they win by the better they are pleased. As public entertainers, however, they have much to learn as compared with John Roberts, and it is on this account that they do not earn anything like as much money. I think Smith will be the favourite, and beat the champion. He has a dominating personality, and it is said, with a good deal of truth, that he exercises such a strong moral influence over his opponents that he has won most of his matches before he strikes a ball. As a matter of fact, he was the first man who really stood up to Inman. He played him at his own game, and it was not long before Inman was affected in the same way as he was accustomed to affect other players. Smith's billiards may not be so picturesque as the game played by Newman, because he prefers tp score his points all over the table instead of at the top end, but he is a desperate fellow to beat, and there will be no surprise if, 111 tho three games, he lias the better aggregate, and so wins the stakes. An important change has lx>en made in the conditions governing the amateur championship. Hitherto, tho event has been decided with ivory balls. This season, however, composition balls will be used. It is a revolutionary change, but it is expected that it will make the competition more popular and attract far more entries. Most billiards is played with composition balls, and as a result many tine players have been prevented from competing in an ivory-ball championship. The change has, of course, met with a great deal of opposition, and