THE..... Racing World.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 38, 13 February 1904, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE..... Racing World.

Bγ "Whalebone."

KACLNG FIXTURES,

February 17 and 18—Te Aroha J.C. February 17 and 18—Egmont R.C. February 18 and 19—Poverty Bay T.C. February 20, 24, and 27—Otahuhu T.C February 24—Botorua J.C. February 24 and 23 —Woodville D.J.C. February 24. 26, and 27—Dnnedln J.C March 3 and 4 —Wanganui J.C. March s—South Auckland R.C. March 7—Thames .T.C. March 11 and 12—Waihi J.C. March 13—Coromandel R.C. March 16 and 17—Stratford R.C. March 17 and IS—Obinemuri J.C. A Methodist minister was once before his conference on a charge of being too fond of the trotting horse. In his statenient be acnowiedged being fond of a good horse. Among cfner things, he said: "1 am uot hen; to exhort my brethren to get a good U&rsp as,~n means of grace. You, perhaps could be more pious at the rear of a mustang cr mule, and, if you don't know how to care for anything better, that is what you should have." According to the "Albury Banner," no clue has yet been obtained as to the whereabouts of the racehorse Valiant, who was stolen from Mr John Connor's stable at Terrawingee on the night of Monday, 4th, or early on the morning of January sth. Valiant is an upstanding brown gelding, by Valala (son of Malua) from a mare by Dawn of Day. He has a hogged mane, his near hind foot is white, and he is branded JJ on the near shoulder. Aβ a rule, the squaring of bandieappers by owners, if it is done at all, is arranged quietly and indirectly, 'but a Victorian owner had the temerity to writ-e to Mr A. 11. Bradshaw offering him a "good cut" if he woirtd handicap a horse so tu.it he could win a race at the Kilmore Turf Club's meeting. Mr Bradshaw forwarded a copy of the letter to the committee, and, pointing out the gravity of the offence, asked that rhe matter be referred to the V.R.C. It was •decided to inform Mr Brad&hsw that the ehib had .every confidence in him, and that 'he was above suspicion in such a matter The "tan gallop" is said to bare been the invention of Mr John Whyte, the founder a α-d ■proprietor of the unfortunate Hippodrome racecourse, which in 1837 occupied the ground which Ladhroke Grove and adjacent streets now cover. Mr Whyte's friends urged him not to put down tan, declaring it would destroy the turf; t>ut tic. pprsiswd in his experiment, laying down a short track, with the result that he was able to report that not only did the tan save the horses" legs from the jar of hard ground, but stimulated the growth of tho gTass. The Wellington correspondent of the "Canterbury Times"' toas the following re Gladsome's latest performances:—Generally speaking, visitors at the recent Wellington meeting expressed favourable opinions regarding Mr Chadwick's handicaps for the two principal races. It is true that the favourite. Gladsome, won on eax:h day, but. to secure the honours, the filly had to smash the Australasian record in the Cup event, and nearly equal the record time on the succeeding day. When the Cup handicaps came out, amateur critics pronounced it a certainty for Achilles, who was burdened with lOst, and subsequently criticised his owner for not taking the task on. In this connection, the views of a visiting sportsman, and probably one of the best judges of horse racing in New Zealand, are interesting. He freely expressed the opinion that no horse had ever raced south, of the line that could, concede Gladsome what the top-weight was asked to do. A correspondent of the London "Sportsman"' sends the following , interesting letter to that paper on the subject of dead heats, wihich should be read with interest by followers of racing in Auckland, as the torse mentioned is now one of the sires owned by the Wellington Park Stud Company:—"Harking back to your article on dead iheats a few weeks ago, I should like to call your attention to a new side of this subject. Phoebus Apollo, by St. Simon out of Polynesia, was, if I remember rightly, highly tried as a two-year-old before Ascot, but never quite fulfilled expectations, although he was a winner seven times. But the remarkable feature about his career was -that out of these seven wins no fewer than three were dead heats, all in different seasons. In 1596 'he ran a dead heat ■with Bach for thi> Durdans Plate at EDSom. In IS9B he dead-heated with Quack for the Norfolk and Suffolk Handicap at Y-armouth. and in the next season once more ran a dead heat with Merry Methodist for the Middlesex Handicap, Alexandra Park. I should like to know if you caji recall any similar instances, for at the moment I cannot remember a horse having ran even two dend heats in separate ra>ees."' "We often read of races being declared void /from various onuses, but in all my experience I have never .heard of one being so dealt with on the grounds that the starter was unable to get his field away. Such, however, is on record. It occurred iv 1859. and anyone in the possession of a "Racing Calendar" of that date will find the following: "October 21. —Northalle-rton and North Riding Meeting.—North York Nursery Handicap Plate of £100, given by the Fund, for 2-year-olds. Thirteen starters. After more than an hour uad been fruitlessly spent in endeavouring to start •them, the acting steward declared the race void." The further laconic judgment explains the matter thoroughly: "Snowden •and Bullock were suspended, and Withington and Grimmer were fined £10 each," Apparently jockeys gave more trouble at tire period referred to. for a tolerably long list of penal-ties inflicted during previous years could be compiled. The above "failure," 'however, is probably unique in the anus Is of horse-racing. I remember a case at Randwick some scure years ago w.hen honses were at the post quite as long as reported above. What is more, it is said that the starter would have never got them away had not another official assisted him to do so. It is really wonderful how some people win money on the turf. Tie following amusing incident is reported from Paris as haying occurred at a race meeting at AuteU'il. An Englishman, whose French must have been that of the English schools, went to the pari-muteul booth, and asked for 000 francs' worth of tickets on PopiMon Quatre. His pronunciation, however, was not sufficiently understood by the clerk in charge to enable him to carry out the wishes of his client. He understood that the individual wanted to hack the horse whose name _was number four on th« list, ■as he could not make out a resemblance between the word Quatre. meaning four, as the Englishman pronounced it, and the sound he, in common with, other Parisians, gave it. Acting, therefore, in accordance with the idea he supposed had been conveyed to him, the clerk gave the Englishman 90 10-franc tickets on Gftanne :1a Folic, smiling as he did so. for Geanne, although fourth on the list, was perhaps the rankest outsider that had been entered. But with the blind luck that often causes a man to stumble on something which he would never see were his eyes not blinded at the time, •it happened that the error was the cause of great good fortune to the badly-pronouncing Englishman. La Folle, to the horror of the clerk of the pari-mutuel booth, actually won and the Englishman discovered his mistake afterwards when looking at his tickets The French clerk had made an error which cost him 61,400 francs. A similar incident to the above occurred at EHerslie some years ago, when a Chinaman went up to the totalisator and asked for a ticket, but as the clerk was unable to understand hii i he gave him the Srst ticket tfrat came ' •"> his hand, which happened to be on NecV iace. who won tie race, paying a dividend of over forty pounds. A curious misunderstanding on the part of an auctioneer was revealed by the case of Croal and Sons v. Anderson, decided by the Court of Session at Edinburgh, which sat just before the last mail left England, and, although the situation was a novel one, yet. in view of its possible recurrence it is useful to have a judicial decision upon, the point raised thereby. The facts were that a mare called Ethel May was entered for a selling race at Musselburgh, and ran

third. At the conclusion of the race the winner was sold in the usual way, and also one or two of the other starters whose owners had instructed the auctioneer to put them up for sale. While the sale was going on. one of the auctioneers saw Ethel May standing just outside the sale ring. In charge of a stable boy. and. being under the impression that she was to be sold, told the boy to bring her into the ring, then put her up for sale, and knocked her down to the respondent. Anderson. As a matter of fact, says the London "Field." the owner had given no instructions for the sale of the mare in the event of hoinot winning, and, consequently, the sale was repudiated, and delivery of the mare refused. Thereupon, the purchaser brought an action against the auctioneers, and recovered the amount of his purchase money and 25 guineas damages for the loss of his bargain. The auctioneers then appealed to the Court of Session, on the ground that their functions as auctioneers were purely ministerial, involving no liability on their part, and that the whole affair was En innocent mistake, for which they could not be held responsible. The Court of Session, however, upheld the judgment of the Court below, and, notwithstanding the fact that one of their number disagreed with the majority, it 'S difficult to see how any other result could have boon arrived at "When an auctioneer puts a thing np for sale he thereby represents to intending purchasers that he is acting under instructions from the owner and. therefore, it is obviously his duty not to make such a representation without taking the necessary steps to ascertain whether any such instructions have actually been given. In other words, the auctioneer was guilty of negligence, however morally innocent his conduct may have been. ,^ The following criticism of the speech delivered by the Duke of Portland on betting is cupped from a London paper ("The bun"): In the Jast issue of the ''Sun -, appeared the photograph of the Duke of Portland The production was actuated through his Grace having a few days previously addressed a meeting of the Tonng Men's Christian Association, at Mansueld. when he exhorted the "brotherhood , ? never- to bet on horse-racing, and turn a cold shoulder to bookmakers. Toe Duke went on to say that he had enjoyed much pleasure during his 20 years' ■mtim.Tte connection with the turf but if he hsd been a betting man he would have lost half the enjoyment, besides large sums of money, for even -with ilie best horses ;and the hesr of information, it was impossible to win at betting." One scarcely knows how vo take the Dukes utterances, whether seriously or otherwise. It may be. however, that he is one -of those- gentlemen possessed of the 'happy knack of suiting himself to his company, and capable of saying "yes" to everything. But. candidly speaking, the Duke of Portland does not shine to advantage in the opinion of the world at large, as he stands in the position of advocate against bettinwhii e by his actions , n carrjrjnj, on business of breeder he is assisting in a very large measure, year in and year out in producing the very article which, above ail others, is the prime far-tor that induces the speculation which he—in good company —pretends to decry. No right-thinking person will do other tlian pay respect to the feelings of Christians, for Christianity has done,"and always will do. noble work tor the welfare of. ■nnmanity. But leaving that aspect out of the quests , +■£ , se ? m « strange that a man like the Dnke of Portland should assume the role of "Satan reprov.ing sin." while he is according to himself, one of th-e greatest r .h n - I 'v- idei \ of pressing th° -Young Men's ««S + Associatlon is difficult to understand, as the members of that l>odv should if conscientious, be anti-bettors in the exi^T^'w* 1 re Orare no advice on the'subject whatever. Had lie held forth to the ,"ii ? f nd convlnced them that the tnif and all its ways were bad. then he may .have succeeded in doing some good to some people. That task, however would ™£ ???■ a V€ry dJfficult OQe - and the probabilities are that some very nasty •interjections and questions would have been male and asked which tie Duke would not have cared to hear, and which he mos* whlr^ aS $S£FL bee " acknowledged that wherever Britishers go racing will follow; but -without netting racing cannot exist and were betting abolished to-morrow the horses located at Welbeck Abbey would slders their value. Providing horse racin~ was done away with, it is not reasonable to think that the DuKe would be magnanimous enough to keep up his costly stwj ror the sole purpose of improving the breed of horses: for were he actuated by -such motives he would long ore this have reduced the exorbitant fees he charts for the services of St. Simon. Carbine, Donovan. St. Serf. Ayrshire, William the Third, and other stallions in his stud. All Australia rang with his praises when he purchased Carbine for 13,000 guineas, but the son of Musket has long since returned the outlay, and as the horse was bought on a speculative basis, with the object of making money out of him. the Duke of Portland is not to be thanked for much, as he had an eye on the main, chance for himself, and nobody else. "I have enjoyed much pleasure, during my 20 years intimate connection with the turf," said His Grace. No doubt he did, for during that period his winnings ia stakes alone amounted to upwards of £20e.-----000. while in stud fees he has probably netted a similar amount. St. Simon's figure alone being 500 guineas per mare. Llmitiug St. Simon to 25 mares per season, which is a very moderate number, a turnover of 12.500 guineas accrues (a princely Income), while the other sires he owns would probably turn in considerably over that sum again. How easy it is to enjoy one's self under such circumstances can only be imagined by a person in the Duke's position, for he has been a lucky man right along the line, and his lines have always been cast in pleasant places, except perhaps with the exception of when Mrs, Druce stepped in and laid claim for her son to his title and estates. However, that is beside the question. The Duke in his younger days is credited with having been an unsuccessful backer of horses, which no doubt soured h ! s nature in this respect. But let there be no betting at all. as he now desires, a.id what would become of racing? Imagine for an instant a meeting at Epsom. RandFlemington. or anywhere else, without the public being allowed to speculate on their fancy. How long would the pastime continue? The various clubs would speedily, have to put their shutters up. It is the glorious uncertainty which invests the turf with all its allurements, and it is the same turf wui?!i enables breeders tc realise costly prices for the animals they yearly »e-ii to market. The ■ turf, abounds with thuusards of. urguircuts ill its favour. It assists the producer of fodder, gives employment to trainers, jockeys, saddlers, blacksmiths, owners of training properties, etc., etc., aud sends money into every, conceivable avenue, which otherwise might be hoarded up to fatten earls and dukes, while' less fortunate fellow-beings only through aecideut of birtu, have to eke out a 'ivelihood of arudgery. The cant and the hypocrisy of the Duke of Portland are only worthy of such a man. If he be serious let him rid himself of his stud, and show the world time he really means what be saytj. if on rne other hand he was merely idling away mi bour, aud has ao sympathy with U.s utterances, then more shame . On him. •The position he has plaoed himself in Jβ similar to the brewer denouncing the drink habit, the butcher advocating tie abolition of meat, or the baker riuiculin* the consumption of bread. It is such a. ludicrous position that it scarcely calls for serious comment. Let the Duke of Portland commit to memory the text Ide -mac t is not with us is against us," enduing i done so choose honestly and fairly for or t against the turf, and remain true to uW i choice, whatever it may,.be. i