HIPPONA'S NOTE BOOK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 22, 26 January 1901, Page 3

HIPPONA'S NOTE BOOK.

The Century Stakes of the A.R.C. shows an acceptance of 22 horses for this wellendowed event. Advance is one the horses engaged, and at present his 121b penalty would by no means prove a bar to him winning. Renown has incurred twice this penalty, and has been scratched. Seahorse remains in, and should the son of Nelson return to form he may prove a hard nut for the champion black to defeat. Explosion and St. Paul curiously enough remain in, but it is extremely improbable that the two veterans will be likely to go on with the race. Should Seahorse and Advance strip tit and well, the race between these two will undoubtedly prove well worth looking at.

The impending lawsuit between the Avondale Jockey Club and Mr Moss Davis ha.s been amicably settled, the club making certain concessions to Mr Davis. The executive, however, has decided to proceed with the erection of the stand at the new site, but will leave an entrance gate on the old site. It is good uews to find that the two parties concerned have managed to avoid legal proceedings, so once more "all's well that ends well."

A great deal of extra interest will certainly be attached to the Australian Cup should both Advance and Seahorse be sent across to compete for the big autumn handicap, for, quite apart from the other competitors, it will be .the first time that the two crack New Zealand four-year-olds have met. Judged by the handicap, Mr Dakiu considers that Advance is 9!bs ahead of Seahorse, and it may be that he is justified in coming to this conclusion, for that the black horse is a snasher is beyond question. At the same t me, Seahorse has never been really himself when competing in Australia, anil it is within the verge of possibility that he might show a complete return to his early thrvee-year-o!d form, in which ease he would prove a tough nut for the Vanguard hoxse to crack.

Dreadnought undoubtedly got a good one when he sired Renown, for the crack three-year-old is easily the best of his year, and indeed is a horse of exceptional ability. His victories at Ellerslie were proved to have been no flukes, for his win in the Wellington Cup was scored in the hollowest possible fashion. His record to date shows that he has faced the starter on ten occasions, and caught the judge's eye no less than seven times: while the prize-money won by Mr Ormond's horse amounts to the very considerable sum of £3581.

Messrs h. I>. ond N. A. Nathan's purchases at the Ibreakiug-up sa!e of the famous Tocal stud should terfd to Improve the stock at Sylvia Park very greatly, as some of the mares bought are very blue-blooded equines. Orchestra, by Goldsbrough from Melody, and Cantatrice, by the same sire from Songstress, should prove invaluable, more especially as they have been stinted to the St. Simon sire Simmer. Orchestra Is a brown mare, and was bred by the late F. S. Reynolds in 1893: her clam, Melody, was also the mother of that famous racehorse, Melos, the great rival of Abercorn, Carbine, and The Australian Peer. She is by The Barb from Mermaid, by Fisherman (imp.) from Sweetheart (imp.) Cantatrice is a five-year-old, her dam, Songstress, being by The Drummer from Canary, by Lapidlst from Rosalie, by Peter Wilkins from Rosemary, by Stoekwell. She was a good winner at various meetings in the northern district of N.S.W. Another purchase was the chestnut mare Chlorine, which was bred by the late Mr Andrew Town, and is by Grand Flaneur from Banksla (imp.), by Wild Oats from Steppe (imp.) The others who come to Auckland are Toi Toi by Splendor or Sweet William from Taurl, and a brown filly by Sweet William from Storm.

There is a possibility of the chaser Nor'-west going to the Old Country, for I' notice his name figuring in the sale list in England, and it is extremely probable that such a sound jumper will be wicked up by a patron of the winter game The success of colonial jumpers has so far not been remarkable, as witness the repeated failures of Daimio and Levanter, but perhaps the Sou-wester gelding would do better than either of these.

The attempt of the Western Australian Turf Club to freeze out the bookmakers from the enclosure has evidently had little effect, for the b% fee of CO guineas was charged for an enclosure license, and 30 guineas for betting on the flat, and this did not deter a arge number of bookmakers from entering Into competition against the totalisator. Still the machine did excellent business over £24,000 passing through at their recent meeting. •

Mr Dan O'Brien's team, consisting of Malatua, Military, and Calibre, have resumed work at Riccarton. The former is stated to be very sore.

At a special meeting of the committee of the Takapuna Jockey Club, held yesterday afternoon, the following resolution was unanimously carried: "That, in consequence of the death of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, the Summer Meeting of the Club, fixed for 29th and 30th inst. and 2nd prox., be postponed until after the funeral, the dates on which the races will be held to be fixed at a subsequent meeting of the committee."The Club were in receipt of a telegram from Mr J. G. Ward, the Colonial Secretary, which read as follows: "I fully approve of the postponement of the races on account of the death of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria." With reference to th"c privileges,, which were sold last week, it was de~; cided that any purchaser has the option to withdraw from his contract with the Club, but must give notice of same on or before January 2Sth, at noon. It is probable that the meeting will take place on the date fixed by the Mayor for the Anniversary holiday.

If Cannongate crosses the Tasman Sea —as seems likely to be the case — he should render an exceedingly good account of himself when matched against the extremely moderate horses engaged in the jumping game on the other side, and I am of opinion that he should win some good races without the handicapper crushes him with too much weig-ITL The son of Cannon is without question a fencer of exceptional ability, and if only he can strip (it and well I should look forward with confidence to an early win for him at Randwick or Rosehill.

One of the most famous of English trainers passed away recently in " .the pel-son of Mr Thomas Jennings 'sen., better known throughout the sporting world as "Old Tom." Although in his old age Mr Jennings had not been so prominently before the public as earlier in the century, yet in the sixties his name was a household word, owing- to the marvellous success of that great French horse! Gladiateur, who fairly swept the English board of all Its richest prizes. It is said that the Frenchman won his three-year-old event so easily that carping critics denounced him as a four-year-old, but an official examination of his mouth completely exploded the charge. When Gladiateur won the Derby the Jennings' stable made an immense haul from Messrs Steele and Peach, the two great bookmakers of the day, and out of it the trainer purchased a very handsome residence at Newmarket. Among other notable horses trained by "Old Tom" were Stradella, Fille dl' Air. Chamant, Insuliaire and others. Many curious stories are told of the alleged in dnd out running- of the Jennings' stable. It is said when the mighty Gladiateur was scratched for the Goodwood Cup his owner, Count Lagrange had to hide in the grandstand. One of the greatest scenes of all, however, was in connection with Phoenix and Paul's Cry at the Epsom Summer Meeting the (lay after Sir Bedy's Derby. Phoenix, ridden by Goater, was favourite at 2 to 1, while Paul's Cry was backed at 3 to 1. It was thought that Goater, who was second, pulled his mount, and there was a perfect riot after the race. It was magnificent to see Tom Jennings, on the open course, face the crowd, but the state of fury in which the latter were almost brought about a sudden termination of the trainer's career, for a ginger beer bottle that was hurled at Jennings all but did for him. In his latter days the old trainer used to jog out on his cob to the Heath to see his charges going through their tasks, but of late has done but little, the great bulk of the horses being transferred from Lagrange House to Phantom House, which Is presided over by Mr Tom Jennings, jun., where a very big string are prepared for the annual fray., .

The Takapuna Jockey C'fuß certainly did the right thing- in postponing their race meeting', thereby showing- a mark of respect to our late Sovereign, while at the same time avoiding- any clashing with the date fixed for the departure of the Sixth Contingent. Although purchasers of the privileges have the option of withdrawal it is not probable that any of them will take advantage of the concession made by the committee.

Coronet is the only Aucklander figuring amongst the Wanganui Cup nomination list.

It was singular that the late Mr James White, either by good judgment or good fortune, became possessed of Nordenfeldt and Martini-Henry, writes "Asmodeus" in the Melbourne "Leader." The master of Kirkham was not similarly happy when he turned Nordenfeldt adrift and kept Martini-Henry as the most likely to prove a success at the stud. This, and his unsuccessful invasion of the English turf, were the only mistakes of Mr White's phenomenally brilliant career as owner and breeder. Mr Morrln was not the first to discover, or, more properly speaking, suspect the potency of Goldsbrough mares, for Cinnamon saw the light at Kirkham the same year as Frailty was born at Tocal, and she was not slow to follow the Goldsbrough lead, and he had his reward in Wallace, with a prospect of the beautiful Melodious adding to her reputation by her alliance with the imported St. Simon horse Bill of Portland.

A Southern exchange says the owner of Cannongate has taken a wager of 240 to 40 about his horse winning the Takapuna Welter Handicap.

The ex-New Zealand bred Mousquetaire is now doing stud duty in England at the Cobham Stud at the low figure of 9 guineas. Some of his foals are spoken very highly of.

Mr G. G. Stead's crack two-year-old colt Menschikoff made another display of the field opposed to him in the Wellington Stakes yesterday. The son of Stepniak is stated to have won in the easiest manner by half-a-dozen lengtns.

The well-known writer "Terlfnga," In the "Australasian." says Advance must be a genuine racehorse, probably nearly, if not quite, the equal of Muitirorm, and, apart altogether from his form in New Zealand, Seahorse's work at Flemington in October satisfied those who saw it that he is a racehorse of high-class.

It would seem that the amount of work which Renown has been getting through of late is beginning to tell on the crack three-year-old. In the Wellington R.C. Handicap, run yesterday, the son of Dreadnought was made a red-hot favourite but he was unable to get into a place and was subsequently scratched for the Zealandia Plate. It is a pity that this should have occurred, as the battle between Renown ' and Advance at welght-for-age was being looked forward to with the greatest possible interest. The withdrawal of the Hon. J. D. Ormond's colt leaves the race this afternoon at the mercy of the Pororiua stable.

The ponies Heliades and St. Loanda were brought up from the South in the s s Te Anau this week, and are now located at Ellerslie under John Thorpe's care.

The Papakura Racing Club have received a very good list of nominations for their annual meeting, which takes place on February Kith. It is always a nieasant day's outing attending the meeting held up the line, and there is sure to be a good muster of Auckland sportsmen present when the day comes round.

The programme of the Otahuhu Trotting Club appears in our advertising columns. The meeting is fixed for the 23rd and 27th of February and 2nd of March, the principal events being the Otahuhu Trotting Cud of lOOsovs., the Suburban Trot Handicap of 60sovs., the Otahuhu Pony Cup of 50sovs., and the High Class Trot Handicap of 60sovs. Altogether it is a very interesting programme, and as the prizemoney has been fixed on a very liberal srale there should be no lack of entries for the several events. Nominationsi close with the Secretary, Mr. W. L Lockhart, at the Metropolitan Hotel, Auckland, and at Otahuhu ,on Friday, February 8, at ten p.m. The handicaps for the llrst day's racing will make their appearance on the 12th of February, the acceptances closing on the 15tla February at ten p.m.