SPORTING NOTES.

American-bred horses won- £13,481 in. England last season. The Spinner, a fast horse in his day, is in work at Wingatiui. Ruby Twist changed hands in ; INorilh Island recently at £70. During the last fourteen years St Simon s fftock has won £482,755 in stakes. S*inco 1881 The Duke of Portland ibas won 266 races, ol the value of £244,153. Pellet, winner of tho Woirio Cup", is a halfsister to the Obago horse Ardnaarff. A totalisator for ladies only was run at the West Australian Turf Club's meeting. , When the .last mail left England- Rock Sand | was favourite for the Derby at»4 to 1. According to : tiho' English trainer, John Porter, doping is . veiry common, in iEnglamd. i .sfr H. "A; "Knight, of Racecourse Hill, intKnd,s't<r.leav« on •& visit to England shortly. . Poweirf.ul, the three-year-old, brother to Seahorse, will in future do stud duty »t WaSuku. The West Australian Turf Club, made a profit of nearlx ili,ooo over" it3_ summer meeting. ■•:. ,;'-■'' ■..■...•"■■ Novitiate, winner of the Perth' Cup, • is owned 'by Mr R. Phillips, '.the owner of Abundance.' ' '■'."" ' ' ■■ ■■' ■ Lady Portland, fujl-sister to the crack two-year-oid -Cherson, iß' almost worthless as a racer. ■ ■' T.M.S., the unlucky Sydney horse, has j changed hands, and will be cent to South Africa. At the Newmarket December, sales the Cambridgeshire winner, Ballantrae, was passed in at 8500gs. ".■■■ Tho Victorian tlhree-year-olds, itaelgwyn aoid Strata Florida, have been operated on for dental troubles. • ; ■■■ Apollo, winner of the first two-year-old race in Tasmania, is by Jacinth, full-brother to Word" enf eld t. The fee of the King's horse- Persimmon, is SOOga, and subscriptions axe Jhard to get even •at that figure. ( . The- American jookey, D. Maher, iha-s signed ta teontract 'to Tide for the King during this next English season. Tlhe Reefton Jockey Club has appointed Mr Mots*, of Wanganui, hamdaoapper for the autumn meeting. ' » A colt foal by St Angelo— Gravity (dam of William 'the Third) was sold in Engiand in December for 860gs. The ex-New Zealander, Kaimate, carried 12st 101 b and won the steeplechase at Flemington on .New Year's Day. The Australian horse Survivor, who has been a gxea^ disappointment in England, has been sold, and will go -to Ireland. . < The English horse Simile, full-brother to St Maclon, has been entered for the Australian Cup and Newmarket Handicap. The Positano colt, Postillion; winner of Sydney Tattersall's Cup, is regarded as likely to develop into a first-class horse. Mr Stead's winnings for this season, already amount to £5250, a sum which should be greatly increased before the end of July. Geordie, who accompanied Nomette and Scobtjr to Rdcoarton for the New. Zealand..C up Meeting, recently changed 'h^nds at £75. The English three-year-old! Bonnio Scotland, which changed hands a little' over a- year ago at SOOOgs; was sold in, December for 210gs. A practical joker has lately taken to telephoning false messages io tlie Melbourne newspapers in reference to the scratching of horses. Tihe- old-time New Zealand' jumper Water--bury, who won • the Grand Niatioaal Steeplechase" in 18)3, died w New South. Wiales recently. The twelve-year-old mare Ornig, by Bend Or — Shwtpver (in foal to St Simon) was pur-_ chased in- December by Sir Tatton Sykes for 2800g>. J. Bafden and W. H. Smith, who were in,Tircible: in Australia, a month .or two ago, did .not ride a winner during, the holiday meetings . in Sydney; • ■ '• "."'' ' . A shipment of sixty horses recently sent. from Melbourne to ' Japan included thirty thoroughbred, maiee, which are meant for the Yokohama Kacing Club. . | • Wakeful, Irweir and Scottish King have been .shifted fromCauifield to Flemington, owing to some of their stable companions having contracted influenza. The Hotdhkiss mare, Rosiphele, has been purchased by Mr J. Pettie, and was brought to Christtfhurch from Auckland along with Mr Pettie'-s string of trotters'. Mr Leslie, the Australian bookmaker who attracted bo much laifctention at Ilhe Wellington Spring Meeting, has decided to settle in New Zealand. He will make Wellington (his headquarters. : ■ The .ex-Australian trainer, F. W. Day,, has been acquitted of all responsibility in connection with the in-and-out, running of -tine two-year-old Sermon at the end of the English racing season. . Mr A. J. EJlingham's jumper lAbergeldie was recently provided with *t silver tube like that recently made for Clytie. Since the operation Abergeldie's respiration 'has been, regular and easy. _ Speaking at the Gimcrack dinner, Mr Joik C6rlett said he believed that nowadays they bred in and. in to such, an extent nowadays they they produced -possibly a more perfect amimal, yet Mt had less .staying power. t An Auckland writer suggests, m view. ctf the Jairga MimbE* of two-yeas-oids in trailing at Ellerslio, tfia* the Auckland Racing Ohib should insert Taoea for unplaced two-y oar-olds on its summeu and autumn meetings. An Australian writer, retetring to the falling off in ithe n>umber of entries for the Newmarket Handicap and Australian Cup, suggests that it is due to the number of races being out of proportion io the horses in training. During the past eleven years exactly 300 yearlings liave been sent iip to auction iat Wellington Park, tho sum 'realised being 58,533ga. The best year that Mr Morrin has experienced in his stud venture waa in 1893, when 18 lots realised 7335g5. ... Mr Joseph Thompson, the well-known bookmaker, has returned from 'England to Australia on a. visit. Speaking of racing in England, he thinks Seahorse will do well, and is bound to, win a big race when he has become acclimatised. M. Cannon hias gone out of favour with Boona of the English critics. They now dectare thiat he cannot ride ait -aull, and should retire. On the other hand, his friends point to baa two fine finishes on St Mateou at the «nd of the seaaom aa instances of his undimimiEh'ed form. ... ' ' Tho secretary of the : Victoria Racing Club •jeoently- caused ■advertisements to be dnserted in tfie Molbcurnb papers oautioning the publio rtoi to bet at Flemington with, person® who do not wear the Victoria 'Racing Club badge of registration. Evidently the "welshing"' division is very -much in evidenoe at Fleinington. The starter at the Charters Towers, Queensland, meeting on Boxing Day had anything ] but a rpleasant time. Ho made a bad start early in the day, and. when in the last race he was unlucky enough to leave the favourite at the -Wrier, 'the ■crowd got very demonstrative. When the starter got into his 'buggy to drive !nome, a hoptirig crowd followed him for some distance, aftd only ifor, the police he would have probably come in for a rough handling.. ......' • ii; a recent sale of thoroughibred^ maies in. France,, a .siister to the famous PlaiE&nterie was sold for only 100. frames (£4).. As a yearliiig Pledsanteria: 'herself was sold for only i£32, aid, "ai'.>sr winning the Ceearewikh asnd 'Camb'ridgeahiro of 1885, was afterwards purchased by 'Sir Tatton Sykes, end foEiled Ohildwick, that Sir J. Blundell Maple purobassd. as .a yearling for GOOOgft, the highest .price for ■^yearling to that time, and Raconteur, a good win-net. , -.-'■■ ■ The well-known Dunedin light-weight, T. Buddio'omb, has gone to Wellington under engagement to Messrs R. and A. Paterson, who have a team of ten horses in .training at the Hutfc; It is to bo hoped that the ]ong\Bpell of iU-lupk : which has followed ■ Buddicomb for close ori -three years has at last been broken, and that ere long he will be found piloting winnerr for his new employers. J. Low, who was H. G-oodrnanfs aide-de-camp for a number of years, has still charge of the Paterson Broe.' team, and W. Buddicomb is another we-1-knowri Dunedinite who « ftttaohed to the «labl«. When Lavalette was offered ; by -auofekra as « yoarlirig at Sylvia Park Mr John Mairehail rnada * boaa fide bid of 790gs for him {writes " Phswrton "), and I bavo oftan though* ea defeat otter def<fet was registered against the eon of Beaton Dolaval 'liuat'lhe lAuckihuid Rports7iMui was a lucky nttra iri that «. xosexve of '1000gfl -was placed "on t!ho colt that day. Mr MsxEh-ail waß amongßt -iihe bidders whea the . ooir, was fifubmitted io auction at Wellington Park recently, and prior to his passing- into the hrrada of iSir. J. Taggart T.t SOOga he miade t<n effer o!f 280ge for him. I wonder who wfes the lucky man -that d^y— Mr Tace»*^'^^ V" Ma*-., y-oil? .-•■•* : . • y >