IN A NUTSHELL.

— Acceptances foi the Waimate maetrn^ are due en March 17. —"Both Wakeful and La Carabine ara believed .to he> in foal to Wallace. — The Great Easter and Great Autumn Ixanfiicftps are due on March 23. — Handicaps for the Forbury Park Bacing Club's, meeting aje due on March 17. — Nominations close on March 24, for the Beaumont Jockey Club's annual meeting. — Wallace has 13 outside mares booked fo iim for next season at » fee of lOOgs each. — Nominations close on March 23 for the ffaieri Amateur Turf Club's Easter meeting. — Th& nomittations for the Wellington K>ic-

ing Club's autumn meeting fall due on March 26. — Owners are reminded that on March 27 nominations close for the Eiverton Eacing Club Easter meeting. — A r 'poor relation " to the Eubin, a flying Machine Gun, was recently sold in the North Island for i guineas. — The Messrs Nathan are entitled to 50sovs | as breeders of Gladsome, the winner of the | Caulfield Futurity Stakes. —J Handicaps for tfhe South Canterbury Jockey Club are due on March 14 and acceptances must be declared on March 21. — An Auckland telegram states that Mr Geo. ! Morse, of Wanganui, has been appointed i handicapper for the Auckland autumn meet- ; ing- — The owners of the Carbine -colt Gingal, who is pengaged in the next English Derby, recently refused an offer of 10,G0Ogs for the youngster. — Pallas has joined the rest of Mr J. E. Mackenzie's horses at Oarnaru, and an effort j will be made to get a race or two out of ! him before the season closes. — Great Scot left India for England on January 25, and when his racing career is finished he will be put to the stud in the Old Country. ■" — When the last mail to hand left England his Majesty the King had 17 horses in j training with E. Marsh, in addition to j which he has a 'chaser or two in training else- ' where, | — Danny Maher, the American boy who • began life as a shoeblack, and who has been j riding in England for the past five years with 1 conspicuous success, is reported to be worth i over £50,000. i — The Melbourne Cup winner Clean Sweep ! is evidently a drug in the English stallion market, as the son of Zaiinski is announced j to serve thoroughbred mares free in order to give him a somewha tbelated chance at the ' stud. — Word comes from Melbourne that the { parties behind Machine Gun dropped about I half a century over the son of Eubina's defeat in the Caulfield Futurity Stakes. The horse is said to haye received a bad passage in the race. — The Messrs Keene are reported to have refused 200,000d0l (£40,000) for Sysonby, the i best American four-year-old, which was offered ■ by an English syndicate. Mr James E. Keene i had previously declined a tempting offer by Mr J. W. Gates. ' — Here is an instance of handicappers being , " careful" of stables (says an exchange). An unknown four-year-old filly has been given top i weight in the Lincolnshire Handicap. She ; is in the same stable as Velocity, who won • the last Cambridgeshire. — The Dannevirke Eacing Club at this week's meeting paid cut sixpences on dividends and gave the rest of the fractions to the local hospital. This amounted to £53 2s 6d, providing with the subsidy, £118. The races were tne most successful yet held by the club. — The principal events on the Taieri Amateur Turf Club's Easter programme are the President's Handicap, of 50sovs, one mile ; Easter Handicap, of 40sovs, seven furlongs ; Handicap Trot, of 35sovs, one mile and a-half, and the Flying Handicap, of 35sovs, six furlongs. -~Quarryrcan was shipped from Auckland to Christchurch a few days ago. The Bill o' Portland horse was confined to his bos for over a month, and it is believed his racing days <axe over, as one of his suspensory hgameuts gave way when he broke down m the Auckland Cup. — B Carslake, the Caulfield jockey, has received a cablegram inviting him to go to England to ride during the next flat-racing season for a stable at Newmarket, over which Mr A. Ferguson, formerly of Melbourne, presides. Carslake, at latest advices, has not yet come to a decision in the matter. — Ebullition, the two-year-old son of Simmer and Carbelle, who won the Select Stakes on the last day of the V.E.C. autumn meeting, also scored in the valuable Debutant Stakes of HSOsovs at the V.A.T.C. spring meeting. -Ebullition's dam is a daughter of Carbine and the Bobmaon Crusoe mare Tourbillon. j — The Canterbury Jockey Club have ae- . solved to run the double totalisator on the I Easter and Autumn Handicaps at the autumn < and Steeplechase at the Grand National j meeting the Grand National Hurdle Eace ] meeting, and the New Zealand Cup and Stewards' Handicap at the spring meeting j —In German racing circles the idea is obtaining that it is decidedly unfair that ' owners should be able to remove their i Uorses from a trainer's stable almost at a I moment's notice, and it is probable a regulaI tion will be made providing for a month's j notice from the owner or the equivalent in j money. I — Trenton's stock have been gaining win- , ning brackets over obstacles in England. Ac- ■ cording to latest fiies Hi Hi, a five-year-old pelding by Muslcet's son from Lady Sterling, won a selling handicap steeplechase at 3?lizmptor> - and Ansfccaliai, by "Trenton from [ Dame Heron, won the Maiden Hurdle Race J at the same meeting. — Dan Patch, 1.55J has been awarded a i silver cup by the Kentucky Breeders' Associaj tion for breaking the Lexington track record. ', It is mounted on an ebony base, and stands ■ 23in. The inscnpticn reads, "Kentucky Trot- | ting Horse Breeders' Association to Dan j Patch, world's champion pacer, 1.53 i, Lej.- | ington, Ky., Oct 7, 1905." • —Mr A. E. Whyte, secretary of the WelI Ungior. Racing Club, returned north last week after a holiday nt the Southern Lakes. It is understood that the WS.C. pjeaented Mi Wbyts with a bonus and a substantial m- ' crease of salary as a recognition of his ser- ; vices in connection with the formation and < opening of the new course at Trentham. j --The death is reported of Harvester, the j English Derby dead-heater. The son of Sterl- ! ing, out of Wheatear, was foaled as far back | as 1881, and divided the Epsom Derby of ! 1884 with St. Gatien. Nine years later h» ■ was imported to Hungary, and stood at the ' Stud Egyed of Mi Arthur" de Esryedi. He was well patronised, but produced nothing like his own quality. — With the victories of Lady Wallace and I Tartan m the mind's eye it appears to have been a case of "Scotland forever" at the V.E.C. | autumn meeting. Tartan was bred to Eng- | lish time by Mr F. Foy, of New South Wales, j with the object of an assault on the English . classics, and had he developed his form earlier I it is quite possible that he may have been sent to race on the English turf. — The Lochiel mare Cavatina has been sent to Wellington, and will join her old stable companion Axlsa- in the Porirua string. Cavatina has shown fairish gallops in private, bu+ has never reproduced them in public, and on her form it may prove difficult to place her profitably in the North Island. She runs like a jade, and her flag is always signalling trouble to her backers, as it is generally mndrhilling from start to finish. — The /bratuers and sisters -which have followed Achilles into the sale ring could by no means be favourably compared with the Porirua crack, and they have also been failures on the turf. There is said, however, to be a good deal to say in praise of a brown yearling brother to Achilles, who is credited with , being tha biggest and best-shape^ of the

' Medallion — Nereid combination that has been seen, since Mr J. -Monk's horse entered the ring. —An exchange states that several of the "Victorian country clubs seem to be under the impression that they can hold ra.ce meetings by merely giving trophies, thus avoiding the ] somewhat stringent conditions which the Y.R.C. has recently adopted with the object of satisfactorily managing country racing. The Y.R.C. Committee has, however, decided that application must in all cases be made to the committee before meetings are held at which it is intended to take advantage of the favourable conditions mentioned. — Frank Martin, a bookmaker, residing at Bendigo, was charged before Messrs P. J. O'Bryan. and Foyster,. J.P.s, at the Echuca Police Court on February 22, with the larceny of 2s at the Echuca races. Accused was arrested at the instance of the president of the club (Mr A. J. O'Dwyer). The evidence went to show that accused, started betting in the saddling paddock without the necessary permit from the club, and failed to pay wagers lost over one race. Though warned, he persisted in bettmg. A fine of £3, with 5s costs, was imposed. — In the spring Seal Rock, the half-brother to Gladsome, was not voted very high class by some of the critics who noticed the colt at Riccarton* and with Huascars's form also in view it was stated that Mr G. G. Stead had no two-year-old in his stable which was likely to repeat the yeilow-and-black successes which occurred at the iast A.J.C. spring meeting. Both colts were backward, and Seal Eock, who is a stoutly-built youngster, may have a kinder word said for him now that his halfsister Gladsome, by her recent form, has j added a few new leaves to the laurels already i won by the daughter of Miss Gladys.. — The V.R.C Committee recently decided to appoint two stipendiary stewards instead of one. It is stated that Mr A. Towle3, the well-known handicapper Xson of the late Mr Geo. Yowles), and Mr Norman Wilson, formerly a prominent owner and now judge at Caulfield, are likely to be appointed from the 52 applicants. Mr A. H. Cox and. Mr J. H. Davis are said to be the only others in the j lunning. The duties of the new positions have ; not yet been definitely settled, but it is understood that the men appointed will be given power to institute inquiries on suburban proprietary courses, but not at Flennngton, Caulj field, or Williamstown. | —In the good old racing days of Mudgee, says "Ambente," when the "Spoit of Kings" was at its zenith, the club arranged an event for Chinese riders, which was a source of pleasure for the horsey men in particular, because the attire and the horsemanship displayed by the almond-eyed sons of Confucius, which, to say the least of it, was mirth-provok-ing and brimful of interest, was quite a novelty There were six starters in one event, and at the turn for home three Johns fell off I then pi ads, but escaped unhurt, and the j race was won by a horse named Eaven At another meeting. Flour Bag won the race. A very picturesque combination — black, white, and yellow. It might be aptly termed, "A Bile-inspirmg Blow Out." — When interviewed m London Sir Rupert Clarke was asked: "Are not the Australians keen on racing?" "Yes," he replied, "it is a national sport — the sport of the people — and it is wonderful what pride is taken in it. I will give you a simple illustration of what I mean. Our racecourse lawns are beautiful —they are lovely gardens, with choice flowers blooming in every direction. And yet on such a day as the Melbourne Cup not a rose is picked, although there is not a fence to keep the people off. Those who attend bur race meetings regard oui gardens, our lawns, our courses as their own property, and protect them accordingly. The conditions are vastly different here, and I recognise that you cannot expect such a state of affairs to obtain in this country," — A great many gentlemen nder3 are indeed amateurs. It is only those who have tried that can recognise the difficulty of riding well over country, and some of the aspirants to fame in the saddle would probably do better if there were no jumps. So, at least, thought one enterprising individual who wished to safely negotiate more or less dangerous obstacles. He had made money. Desirous of blossoming into a gentleman rider, he was ready to pay for the necessary instruction, believing that m time his ambition to ride his own animals would be gratified. Those entrusted with his welfare desired him not to hold on to his horse's head when going over the small fence put np for his benefit. "Let go 'is 'cad?" excitedly exclaimed the embryo Kightingall, forgetting in his surprise the many lessons he had received respecting his aspirates. "Then what am I going to 'old on by?" — Though undoubtedly one of the best iudges of racing of his day, the late Admiral Eous was difficult to convince, and very frequently hard things were said about the old salt by people who had been discussing some point with him. " It's no use arguirt^ -nrx-tii Rons," an ixa-te nobleman declared one day, after an unsuccessful tussle with the handicapper; "his prejudices are like nails — the more you knock them about the more firmly they get fixed." "Well, I don't know about the nails." remarked the eruniblei's companion, who had also taken part in the dispute, aad. corning off second best, felt rather spiteful towards the Admiral , "but he's very much like a hammer — makes an infernal row, but wou'd be helpless without Fcmeone behind him and a handle — to his rame." When this heated lemark reached the gentleman relerred to, as it was bound to do :n time, he was greatly amused , for, though he frequently became extremely excited himse'f, nothing plea&sd him more" than to find he had succeeded n> getting someone else out of temper. — Apropos of Mr Frank Gardner's offer of £30.000 for seven years' control of Mischa Elman's musical services, it may be recalled that the foundation of Mr Gaidner's own great fortune was laid in a very odd way. It was about 15 years ago, M.A P. pay<=, and he was out in Australia acting as manager to Miss Carrie Swain, a singer and actress lately arrived there from America. Excitement was high over the great annual racing carnival, and everyone was "talking horse ' While reading over a. new sensational play to his leading lady, Mr Gardner came on the line. " 'Vengeance is mine,' said the admiral, and he rushed for his carbine." In an instant Miss Swain jumped to her feet, and said ■ " It's a tip for the treble. Take it." Mr Gardner took her advice, put all the money he had on Vengeance, Admiral, and Carbine respectively, for the Caulfield Cup, the Victorian Derby, and the Melbourne Cup, and when the great Carbine clinched the triple event by winning the Melbourne Cup in record time and with a record weight, Mr Gardner was a wealthy man. The lucky investment of this win in New Zealand and Australian stocks soon made him a millionaire. — The V.E.C. Committee have done a good deal of backing and filling on the stipendiary stewards question. In August it was understood we (says the Australasian) were to have two men. Later on the committee advertiser! for only one stipendiary, but at their meeting on February 23 they veered round again, and decided to select two men from among the 62 applicants for the office. All's well

that ends well. "We shall now see the system ■ of paid experts, with no interest in horses and no bets to warp their judgment and keep their attention off the horses they are not interested in, taking a hand, in racecourse management. The duties of the stipendiaries have not yet been defined, but it is probable they will at least have the same power as the paid men under th© A.J.C. possess. That is, they will control racing on suburban courses and make suggestions at Flemington and Caulfield. We believe it is possible they may be given authority to hold inquiries on their own responsibility at Flemington and report to the committee. If the V.E.C. give the stipendiaries this power at Flemington, the V.A.T.C. may follow as regards Caulfield. In any case, the system will now get a trial, and if the men appointed do well, it should not be long before we have paid stewards as well as paid handicappers, starters, and judges on all the principal courses. — Commenting on the victory of Gladsome in the Futurity Stakes, a Melbourne writer observes : — " There is no comparison between Gladsome's latest performance and that registered by her in last year's race. Then she had a comparatively weak field opposed to her (Emir was really the ono horse of class she had to beat), and only carried 9.7; on Saturday heT 15lb penalty brought her weight up to 9.13, and she had a much stronger field to dispose of. She did it in her own finished style — and that aftei being blocked &i the home turn, and there can be no doubt that when thoroughly well she is a great mare. When S. Green bought her for 1400gs at the end of the A.J.C. Autumn meeting nearly two years ago he made one ot the best bargains xn horseflesh ever registered in Australia. She has since carrying his colours won 13 races, including the Caulfield Futurity Stakes (twice), A.J.C. Spring Stakes, Caulfield Stakes, V E.C. Melbourne Stakes, V.E.C. Fl}-ing Stakes (twice), and V.E.C. All-aged Stakes ; the stakes won by her for Green being £6000 odd. Gladsome's weak spot is heT failures in handicaps. She has been heavily backed in turn for the Caulfield Cup, Newmarket Handicap, and Melbourne Cup, and has run disappointingly each time. She has not always, for that matter, run consistently in weight-for-age races, but neither did Wakeful." —It is a little strange to find the Duke of Westminster with only nine flat racehorses in training at Kingsclere, but that is the total. It includes two brothers of Flying Fox, the sorely disappointing Pipistrello, and a two-year-old Flying Leap, as also the own sister to Sceptre, Crown Gem, who never ran last season, but is now doing some work. Of her John Porter never entertained a very exalted opinion, his favourite of the two-year-old fillies having been Culzean (Ayrshire — Miss Gunning II). who also failed to appear in public. Last season the Duke of Westminster won seven races, worth £2703, a small total compared to the late Duke's average, of course, but nearly thrice ths. amount of the Duke of Portland's modest figures : three races worth £912. The owner of the white and black sleeves starts the season with a string of 21, just a dozen of them being two-year-olds — seven St. Simons, three Carbines, an Ayrshire, a Donayan, and a Cyilene, present value, something big! According to an English writer there are five other jwners at Kingsolere: Lords Coventry and Falmouth; Mr Waldorf Astor, jun.. Mr G. D. Smith with a couple of fillies, Nydian and Vallombrosa, and Mr Lindem&re, whose Ariadne is heTe. W. Waugh starts his career at Kingsclere with 47 horses, quite as many as a trainer can look aftei satisfactorily. Everyone will wish him good luck and plenty of it. — Some months ago, it will be remembered ''says a Sydney exchange), the question of having an Australian Derby and St. Legei was raised in Victoria. One idea put forward was that the V.E.C. should take the St. Leger, and in place of its Derby run in September an equivalent to the English Twc Thousand Guineas over a mile. It was urged that with only one Derby and St. Leger for the two States the winner would take much higher rank in the eyes of breeders and buyers than a Derby or St Leger winner does now. The fact, however, that Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia also run such classic races as those mentioned was overlooked, and nothing about consulting them on the matter was said. Another idea, put forward by Mi Miller, the chairman of the V E.C, was that the Derby should be run one year at Eandwick, and a"t Flemington the next. Some reference was made to the subject at the last annual general meeting of the Australian Jockey Club, but the opinions then expressed were against tbe change. But the V.E C. recently revived the question, and a communication dealing with it was considered at the A.J.C. Committee meeting on Thursday last. The N.S.W. governing body, however, in the absence of any specific proposal, and in view oi 6ther difficulties surrounding the question, decided that it was undesirable to altei present arrangements. — According to late files racing is to be abandoned ou one of America's most fashionable trackF — Washington Park. The grandstand, stables, and other buildings are to be destroyed, and the grounds cut up for house lots. The closing of Washington Park is regarded by American sporting writeis as a severe blow to the thoroughbred industry of the country, and years mu^t elapse Before the damage v. ill have been repaired. The Washington Park Club represented the best in thoroughbred racing It was composed of the leading mer of the sojial and business world of Chicago The track was the fastest m the country, and the sport as conducted there above reproach. The American Derby (say<= an exchange) will live in the memory of horsemen and sportsmen for anothei generation Chicago took an honest and just pride in the club a& a Chicago organisation, and Dei by Day wat the greatest social event in the We3t. For the Derby people from the South, the Pacific Slope, and the East cheerfully took the long journey; not only that, but shipped their horses also. The Derby put hundreds of thousands of dollars in circulation through the merchants, the milliners, the dressmakers, the hotels, and the railroads, to say nothing of the money that changed hands on the respective opinions as to the merits of the various horses entered in the great blue ribbon event of the turf. — No one who attends the meetings during what it is the custom to call the "illegitimate" season can avoid the reflection that the horses which contest the various steeplechases which furm part of a day's programme are, on the wlhole, wonderfully well schooled (says an English writer). As a rule, if a horse comes to grief there is usually some explanation for the contretemps, and a fail is very seldom brought about through bad jumping There is, however, one frequent cause of mishap which might easily be avoided, and this is the practice which obtains with jockeys of steering in each other's wake, or. as it is knovra in the hunting field, "ridmg in the other fellow's pocket." One result of tlus i« that if the hor<=e immediate!* in front lefii-e 1 -, (ho animal following must inevitably come to guef, but in any cas-e it happens that a competitor lying m the rear mu&t have a difficulty in "seeing" his fences, and this

often, of course, leads to a blunder wiiolt m*y have serious .consequences. Jockeys will tell you that the majority of owners wiM not put up & horseman who does not sticls to the inside, or, in the phraseology of th«( s racecourse, "come the nearest way," the fact of the matter being that very few men iua« ning horses at the present day have ansi practical knowledge of the game, and do not see the advantage of striking out a line of one's own. They would probably be very ooa« siderably astonished if shown by a mathe* matician how very little difference ther© ift between a line drawn in the centre of thi| course and one taken from the rails. Oil some courses, naturally, the inside berth ig_ of considerable advantage, but in the majority of cases the benefit gained is infinitesimal. — In dealing with the starting question ill 1 Amerioa W. J. Pond, in the Sports of the Times, relates the following: — "Many quaint happenings surrounded old-tiino starting before the barrier appeared. In 1860 all running races weTe still Btaxted at the tap of a drum. In one long d-d ay the official had; worked himseL nearly into an apoplectic fit when he caught them in line, and banged the drum so hard that he stove in the ends; - with a muffled sound totally distinct from the' usual 'tap- Only one horse moved, an out-* sider at 50 to 1, and the owner, a lank: Texan, standing at the start, said, 'Did yb? tap that drum, sah?' The still irate starte? turned the drumhead to him. and said, '"What" in adjective does it look like?' The Texan was vivified ; he waved l and hollered for his boy to 'go on,' and the boy completed flic course, gaining the purse, precipitating an awful squabble as to second and third money, and necessitating a new purse of equal value for the remainder of the entry. On© of the old-time starters was Colonel Montgomery, of Montgomery Park. In an important raoe the jockeys would rot line up, behaved scandalously, and finally he left them, saying, 'I'm going tc the clubhouse ; when you get ready to start send fo. me. and I'll try you again/ Tihe boys dare not dismount, and after keep-* ing them 20 minutes the colonel came back to the most lamb-like gathering ever seen atf a starting post. In a steeplechase he once'placed Carter Harrison first, -and when the jockey drew his attention to the fact that he had missed a jump, replied, 'Yes, I saw yort did, but you had the best horse; that was the only way you could think of to beat him_and you win anyway, rules or no rules.' "