THE... Racing World.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 35, 10 February 1904, Page 6

THE... Racing World.

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Itbruary ];:—Papakr.ra 1..C. February 11 aud 13— Canterbury J.C. February 17 and li. ■ Te Aroha J.C. February IT and IS—F.gmout K.C. February is a.ad .'J— Poverty Ray T.C. February 2'J. _M. and 27 ■ DtahuUu T.C. February 24—Rotorua J.C. February 24 ana _.•.>— Woodville D.J.r. February 21, 2U. and 27—Umicdin J.C. March 8 and -I—Wauganui J.C. March G--Soutli A'.ic.'tiand X.C, Man h 7—Thames J ('. Starch lt and rt—Walt)! J.C. March 13—Coromandel R.C. March lit Rnj IT—Stratford R.C. March 17 aul 18— (Jhliiemurl J.C. Gee. Absclom has a good sort of a mate by Favona in work at headquarters. Golden Sands has I.e. a scratched for lhe. (Maid.-.! and Hack races at Papakura. The trotting pony Bliss Irvington has Joined T. Cotton's team at Green Lane. No less than eleven local horses are taking part in the Tararaki Jockey Oltih's summer meetintr. mo pony itt changed Hands during tn? __'ai_apuu>i meeting, and is now an iutruuc oi vv. Gail's stable. Bother, the- mare brought from Fiji by Colonel Brown, is wickiejzTit IMersHe.. >Vhe appears to be very sore. Gt?".'uStone, who has been haviug an easy tinie or it since the A.rt.c summer meeting, nas resumed work ut b-Uerslle. Frank Burns:, the well known cross country horseman, left for Gisborne ou Tuesday to steer Hippowai in his engagcueius. Pretty Polly, the crack English two-yejr-old. Is always accompanied in her travels by a cat, to which the tilly is greatly attached. a norse called Pokanoa started an .rout races and won two at the i\.avmi__'wa races. Coma started three times at ad won «iue event. V. Cotton, the successful Auckland ligh.t tweight left for Christchurch last Friday, under engagement to ride for Sir George Clifford and Mr J. B. Reid. Thorpe has broken in the yearling colt half brother to Gladsome, by Phoebus Apollo—Miss Gladys, purchased by Mr M Friedlawier at the last Sylvia Park sale. Au A mericau recipe to prevent hots' .lay 4ng their eggs ou horses is to dress, (the legs a.'jd wherever lt may be deemed nteoes sary with a preparation of creolln or pyr.o--ligneans acid, both of which are offensive tv all flies. "Maoris go the whole hog on sport," nays a Gisborne journal. "At an up-eoimtrj uieetlug the other day. when all the er. tape titors wert mounted, there were only ttiree persons left as spectators." Mr A. Moss, the well known l>ur_edli: bookmaker, has a half brother, know a a_ Billet Dous. to Khama (.the winner of thf two hurdle races at Takapuna) doing dipt} as a harness and saddle horse. Souica, the ex-Auckland pony was uoi handicapped for the Newmarket: Handicap, her scratching being posted before th. ■weights appeared. It would have been in teresting to see what weight Mr Menzlei would have awarded her amongst thi cracks. By the Tarnwera. last Saturday, Hine turn and Gold Seal returned, to Naple. after their Auckland campaign. Woods als< took back the brood mures Miss Stead Oanttnlere. aud with tfoa.l ai foot by Explosion, purchased by lUin at thi recent sales. The Australian jumper Kiora. who wai shipwrecked, alonig with Chesnety. ou hi: way to England ivas a starter foir the Hoy voi-k Park Steeplechase in litiglaud 01 December 18 Uut in a lield of tw<aly> could get no neurt-r than fifth. He ran ii the nomination -of Captsia Scotl'. When Mr R. S. Sievier. late owner o Sceptre, was up before the English jockcu Club stewards to complain of the maline, 5n which his horse Snowdrop was hand: capped, he _uM he would name him Met.hu eelal:. so tliaa that he might Uve lonj enough to at some time or other get we) Into a race. He says he has not won ; (handicap for two years. King Enlward intends paying a visit t< Ireland in the spring, and in order that hi odours should be carried on a rat.'ecoursi there during his trip, recently gave 2IH> guineas for a three-year-old gelding unnioi Hackbutt (Ha<kler —Circe), wlio is engage' lv a Maiden Flute at the t'uncluestow: •meeting. His Majcsiy certainly ihv-erve to wiu that race, even if he does ucrt sue ceed. mus ■■.Mariia.uaie": Although i_. es i\ew Zealand pen;.- ISel> (.'ole won J" Fourtten-two Ilandi.ap ai ICecsiru ton Inst weak. ilia hi'iuiui's » the race were certainly wlih P.n Metal s half sister. L'.-ian. tuat ucu witn li.v in the saddle in au ordinary nawi cap, got away badly: iju: rustling to ft iront snowed tue way iatn tne si:ra:gie anu wa? only beaten in the la-t few stiiai. the 4* furlongs bein_.' cut out in vie ra ; time of o-sas. ine ra?e brougbl >\v mc Tor tn Prevention of Cruelty t<> Animals again! ise.-irey. ti__. i-_, = ,-i- ...j crespin, tor liltisnii ins mount at the re ."it inkapuna meenn w:'-: dismissed |,\ Mr [Jra'.innt. the iirestdri magistrate. The:-!- is nn doubt fhni th spur marks were roth-T severe, but th" ir specror (•! Rfc .■ strict. 'uttld not have watei eu tne racr. vt ry elnsely. or ne wu> i nay seen that >~earey was having anything by a «omrorta*. Ie rnfp. in met. at more tna ona fence, his mount struel. so heavll Tftat it wig a wonder he kept n;m on n ieet at all. Mr "Tom"' Walker, who has been a regt lar contriblutor to sporting journalist since i*77 in Yew Zealand, and who. Delievp, eim claim to have been longe writing on sporting topics i this colony than any other scribe save m: self, has been on n short visit tn relativ. nr.a. friends hf»r,\ nnd returned by fhe Eai Coast boar on Saturday. Mr Walker i conjunction with Mr Wlicttam ('-Beacon' brought out the Turf R-.gister for sonyears nt a loss, and hi? racing statist!) were for years continued in the I.unedi "Star." at a great sacrifice of time ai laboui : and coursing owes : i good deal i my confrere, who was an ardent lover < the pastime. "Mazeppa ' was contempt mry with "Hermit," "The Druid." "Rei con." "Seuex." and oiher well remember* writers of the pve-totalisator days.

s. Lindsay left for Gisborne yesterday, <? uiidfr engage-mem t<j ride Manawaru. o \ Sir la. Clatcs. the well-known Southern '• spurt, and own>.r of Lady Lillian, returned £ home yesterday. after a visit to Rotorua. c r 1 Mr M Deeble. who had his leg broken wli.u riding Princess of Ttiule at the A.R.O. J I Summer Meeting, has recovered sufficiently . I to la- alii'- to get about on crutches, and , I wits iv town yesterday. j. ! ' £ At the Viceroy's Cup meeting at Calcutta r ! held recently the eac-Aueklander Regalia f I 11. accounted for the McPherson Cup of j ."iiiOO rupees. He was ridden by the Sydney j Lionseuian. 1". Richardson. - i Tbe Thames Jockey i.'lub have deemed it [ advisable to postpone their Autumn Meet- ( tug till Thursday, March 24. The time for t receiving nominations lifts been extended j to Friday. March 4, and acceptances till , tiuturday, March 19. ' T'jp following "weights have been declared . by Mr .1. ChaUwsck for the Gisborne Racing 1 Ciub's meeting:—First Hack.: lloratia 8.13, . Kiwa 8.11, Mauawarn 5.6, Sareila 7.10. Rehua 7.9. Baigneus* 7.7, WoodSeld 7.6. Nuku- t ran 7.t>. Local Option 7.3. Ladylike 7.1. t Yashmak 7.2. Liuklock 7.0, The Pearler 0.12, t Flag 0.12. Romany Girl 0.10, Whaanga 0.7. Welter Handicap: Tutung-arehu ».13. Lady . Reay 9.2, Manawaru 9.2. Racs 9.0. Woodfield 5.4, L'X-al Option 5.2, Borax 5.2, Modesty S.O. Yashmak 8.0, Faro 8.0. It may be news to racing peoplp gene-1 rally, and particularly so to those who are lovers of steeplechase racing, to learn that the sport only came iuro existence v hundred years ago. lt is that length of time | s since steeplecha.ing was established in the I . Cnitpd Kingdom, uud the sport, derives its j earliest distinction from Ireland, where the , i lirst regular steep'.echa.se was organised and ! ; took place iv County Galway. The Irish I . steeplechase of 1*403 was planned after a j liunt dinner. Concurrently with the event | I in Ireland, it is averred that several ofli- i eers belonging to a '.aralry regiment qua:- , tered at Ipswich rode a steeplechase iv moonlight. : At the annual dinner of the Ginicrack _ Club at York last month Lord Stanley, in responding to the toast of "The Jockey , Club," remarked that he was not one of • those people who always looked at the black side of everything, and racing iv par- J ticular. "You know the people 1 mean." said the speaker; '"men who think every owner, possibly, every trainer probably, i and every jockey certainly, is a scoundrel t —who thluk that If a horse to-day does not t run as he did yesterday that the trainer i got at him, aud if the jockey does not ride a magnificent race to-day, although he rode . a magnificent race yesterday, there must ; . be some ulterior motive for such action on ( his part. 1 do not believe it. People talk of past times. Our knows something from what one hits read, and what has been i handed d\>wn of what happened iv pus. < limes, that our turf has never been purer I than at tlie present moment-" j it was stated iv this column some days ' 1 ago. says tbe "Town and Country."' that June way jockeys had of riding a "dead ] j 'tin" was lo rush a hoi'si to the front, aud j v break him up in the first furlong or two, instead of taking the risk of pulling. This , method, however, is uot always safe iv the \-nse of wall-condiUoiieu and light-weighted animals, as was demonstrated recently at KiVusington. in cue race the connections of v candidate who had twice failed recently did not feel inclined to invest, aud thinking that the potty would knock up the jockey to rush it to the front. The Instructions were obeyed i to the letter, aud the boy had the held lv hopeless difficulties before the home,turn was reminded. Instead of his mount dying away it tiuished better than anything iv lhe race and won easily. It would seem, therefore, that there is nothing like the good old stiong arm or getting left at the post after all to ensure losing a race. Jockeys as a rule are never lost for an excuse when the handliug of their uiouuts is brought Into question, but the following explanation, we thiuk, ranks us one of tbe must original that has ever come uuder our notice: 'the famous jockey Kobiusou was severely criticised for the way iv which it . was thought he allowed Twit-hell ou Lucifer to boat Rockingham iv the King's Plate nt Goodwood in liJ33. After passing the distance post Robinson thought he hud Lucifer quite safe, and eased his mount Ko< kiogham to v canter. Lucifer, however, Cftew steadily up. and opposite the stand passed Rockingham, aud won by a couple of lengths. Robinson was understood to -;uy in the weighing house immediately after the race that when Bacifer passed him he took it for the shadow of his own hor-e He could not hear the shouts of warning i" fhe tcrriiic uproar of lhe crowd. RMkluK&iu started at 4 to J on >v the j race. ' From a private letter received in Auck la u l we have gaihered particulars o the . recent match which took place at Fiji bei tweeu the eX-Aueklaudei Bacchus and the i Sydney mare Bother, who is now in Auck- I ■ I'ii'U 'Vrom the account to baud it appears that' three races hud lo eventuate lief on; the mutch could be decided, lv the tirst .'attempt, after a great finish, Bother won j . I i, v , Irak, but Immediately on returning j I i. icale .Sid Hodge, the rider of Bacchus, i ', I liMlued a loaiplniut against Bother's rider ' 1 tar a:-,..sin-;, and after hearing the evidence " the stewards decided tbat the race would ' have lo be re-run on the following Mon- 1 .lay. At the next attempt another close | - liuish took place, lliis lime Bacchus having j v head the l.e-st of it. but on the Starter • ,("Uirning to the paddock b" declared it no | '• start, as he had not given the word to go. It was agreed to run the race oh' the same 1 afternoon, and after a spell the horses were - brought out again, but evidently the two [ preceding gallops had taken all the "go" . oui of Bother, as Bacchus had uo difficulty iv winning by 2u lengths, thus wiuning the match, which must have been of a very j s unsatisfactory nature, and savoured greatly ' ™ of the win. tie, or wrurgle order. The j " weights carried were: Bother, lOst: Bacchus, 9st: and the betting 'was, on the two ! " first races, evens Bother. C to 4 Bacchus; t , and in the last attempt 5 to 1 ou Bacchus, | i so evidently backers were of the opinion j ,- tfhat Bother was knocked out by her pres igious exertions. \ There has been a deal of soreness in . certain quarters, and some letter writing i from time to time, ou a practice which I has been followed by several handicapr pers. who in computing the weights horses i should carry, have differentiated to the - extent of asking unperformed horses of the b same age and sex to meet at unequal t weights. That the practice is wrong in principal admits of no argument. The ) racecourse has over and over again been c proved to be the place to find out existing s differences. Handicapping ou the kuown ledge that one has a better pedigree than & another, or comes from a better racing i'j family, is dangerous, since it often hapt pens that the best bred ones are found - wanting, nor does it do to apportion " weight on the individuality of horses, for d rhe good looking colt or filly may not be able to puce it with the one that is plain • or ragged looking. They go in all shapes and forms. A few ago, letter writ,t cis were contending that the young horses - in certain slabl's were being handicapped itn carry more weight thau those of similar ages iv other hands, simply because some stables made a specialty of buying and keeping only good youngsters. Could anything be more unfair, anytuing more cal*J I dilated to check enterprise in breeding c and selection, than a course like that .At lj the spring meeting of the Canterbury T Jockey Club there was a marked differ_b ence in weight between the young horses, ly each unperformed, of different owners, aud . a correspondent of the "Australasian" re- "" ferred to the matter in a letter to that to paper. The editor added a footnote that , h the late Mr Dakin, handicapper to the" lt V.E.C.. had informed him that he had a. once adopted the cojrse <f trying to dis--4 . ritninate. but admitted he had made a ■f mistake, and said he would never do so

again. Actual knowledge of form obtained by witnessing gallops on public or private tracks may frequently prove misleading. For instance, morning after morning some youngsters may be l.e:i_in_r .then, badly, m view of racing men and expert judge*:, and be putting up fast times, but it would be unsafe to conclude that others trained elsewhere, whose achievements were not: publicly known, were better or worse than those whose form was fo son" extent exposed. The public form of Silkworm, a colt that cost Mr iTtead 180 guineas et the Sylvia Par!' sale, has been better than that of auy other -iold at the same sale for more money, or indeed any coir that raced this season. Mr E. W. Alison gave 1200 guineas for a colt, full brother to Multiform, from which naturally enough great things are expected. Because he is a full brother to a champion, it would be quite unfair to ask him to give away a lot of weight to an untried one like himself, who might be equally well bred, and yet belong to a family not so conspicuous for success, because of the difference iv tiieir cost. Some high prietd ones have proved racehorses of the first order of merit: others have been complete frosts, and agaiu many cracks have been purchased for comparatively small amounts. Multiform. Cruciform, Achilles. lUenschlltoff, Wairiki. Waiuku. Silkworm, St. Hippo, Hohoro. Halberdier, Gladsome, Goldspur. and one or two more thrown in. did not cost so much as the late Mr W. R. Wilson gave for one yearling at Wellington Park, who did not prove equal to some of the cheaper Hues. We shall no doubt have experiences of this kind to Che end of the chapter. Mr Stead, like other buyers, has given top prices for some that have failed to prove of account. Mr Gollan gave big prices, too. for some that would not stand training, and for others that did, but were proved to be of little use as racehorses. To handicap the last batch of yearlings sold iv Auckland on pedigree, cost, individuality, or relationship to winners and losers, "or with respect to all these considerations, would be a task that no man would care to undertake. It is strange that attempts are ever made to distinguish D ,_ twe< -i] younjj unperformed horses other than as r'.garas their sex and ages.