Racing World.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 217, 10 September 1904, Page 11

Racing World.

racing' fixtures. September 10, 1% 14, and 17— Australiau Jockey Clnb's Spring A September 15 a*d 16—Ashburton County R.C. Sptiug.. September 17, 21, and 24—Arondale J.C. Spring September 21 aud 22 — Rangitikol K.C. Spring September t2 —Waimate B.C. Hack Meeting September '29 and 30 — Wanganui J.C. Spring September 20 aud 30 — Oeraldine B.C. Spring October s.'and ti— Bay J.C. Spring

Just "before the last mail left England the stewards of the Societe rEnoouragenicnt, or FVench Jockey Club, decided that tv« proh'Jiitioii issued on October 13, ISK)- , . agaJ.&st J. Reiff. the American jocfeoy, prevertting Hun from riding, should cease on A'igutu 1, on which date he will be given n IVfcnse. The decision of the stewards has faased a great deal of satisfaction iv racing circles. At latest Keiff was getting I himself into form by riding work at Chautilly-

According to an English paper, a starter's life is not altogethei a happy one, and particularly is tuis the case when amateurs are in the saddle. At a meeting where gentlemen riders are very much in evidence, but where the starring machine has not yet been adopted, the man with the fiag recently had a lot of trouble with a horseman who boasted a handle to his name. It was in vain tbe starter remonstrated with him. Apparently he wanted a ten lengths' lead at least, and after sundry requests to him to .ioin the field, the starter, whose patience had become thoroughly exhausted, made nse of som« rather strong remarks. '"Confound you. sir," retorted the offending horseman; "'don't talk to mc like that. I'm one of the stewards." Which, as a reason for pinching :i bit, is probably the record.

Au owner, breeder, and trainer of my acquaintance—a worthy son of a very worthy father—has been experiencing a somewhat, "tropical" time of it for some months past, his neddies constantly finishing in a place but only on rare occasions Hit- right place. He is a remarkably stoical kind of an individual, however; and simply says that "it's all in the game"—which he acknowledges he plays purely on commercial piinciplcs. Last season he gave 300gs. for a sire, and put 2- of his best mares to him, with the result that not one of them proved in foal! And still he pursues the even tenor of his way, as if the thing were a mere matter of course. ,lle certainly is one of those persons whom Hamlet's encomium of Horatio —"A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards hast tn'cu with equal favour"—fits like a glove. What's that you say? You would like to hear his name" Certainly, dear boys; I don't think James Wilson, juu., will make any objection.

I do not tiiink that the sizo of a horse's ears, says a contiibutor to the English

"Live Stock Journal." is any indication of his qualities. Lop cars are generally the property of stout htfrses. Those possessed of endurance. The carriage of the ears really is in most easoa something to go by. I do not like very small cars, bnt prefer thorn to be a certain length, aud pointed. The Arabs say that the oar should be like a thorn. Ilorses which go with their ears pricked forward are generally free and light-hearted ones. 1 don't like those which habitually carry them back. I havo had two of three which carried their ears pointing straight up. Two of them were given, to plunging at short notice, and for no apparent reason: the third had a bit of a temper. Neither was eitra generous, though two were decidedly good, if'not perfect, hunters. A survival of wild life may ofteu be noticed in a team. The leaders will prick ther ears forward as an advanced guard, and the wheelers listeu to what is happening in the rear.

We have a few veteran trainers with us in the colonies, but none iv active work that could givi- a y«ar or so away to the Englisman, John Kent. By late papers, the famous old trainer's death is announced.' His ase w.is 87. Ho had for :i long period been trainer to the fifth Duke of Richmond aufl. to Lord George Bentinck. The story of his long and successful career as a trainer Ins been told at length in th<> ■-iKacing Life of Lord George Bentinck." the point work of Mr Kent and the Hon. Francis Lawley. HLs father had been head lad in the stable over which Boyee presided as trainer, and this brought about the connection of the Kents with the Duke "f Richmond, wliose horses were then in Koyee's table, and the Duke of Richmond's yellow jacket and red cap. still the. family colours, were carried to the front in. the Oaks by Gulnare iv 1827, and Refraction in lS4r>. -while in the same year Picnic won the One Thousand Guineas. It was in the same year that the famous Lord George Bentinck moved his horses from Danebury to Goodwood, and joined forces -with the Duke of Richmond. John Kent remaining in their service until Lord "George sold all his horses to Lord Olifden, for whom John Kent traia<Hl Surplice, the Derby winner of IS4B. He was'a very capable trainer, and a man of sterliug worth, ami this was so much appreciated by the present Duke of Portland that he, has for many years past taken care that so good a servant of his family lacked nothing in the way of material comfort.

A correspondent, in a. letter to the Londou "Sportsman." deplores the practice ot allowing the best: English stallions to leave rue country, and the feverish desire ot Euglish owners to sell the best performers at princely prices to foreign breeders, lie suggests the urgent need for legislation to prevent further exportation of the best stallions from England. He considers it is a case of selling the goose that lays the goideu eggs, and the time will come' -when other countries will produce their own stock, to the detrimi-nt of English breeders. The writer says: "The prices given for If lying Fox, Gal tee More, and Ard Patrick come to nearly £80,000. There are few who can Ooubt that those animals would have paid a very good rate of interest on £80.000. I mourn the loss of Flying Fox least of all. he being so closely inbred, for I am not a great lover of inbreeding. I have no doubt whatever that a certain amount does no harm, and produces first class horses; but I cannot help thinking that we carry it to too great an extent. I do not think the importation or such animals as Carbine and Trentou of such great importance as the exportation of our finest stallions, and suggest the passing of a law which will actually prohibit any entire horse or any marc valued above a certain price being exported out of this country." The "writer also gives instances of really good but unfa-shionably bred stallions who travel the fanning districts for miserably low fees, while he.ivy money is demanded for the services of horses that are the prevailing fashiou of the hour. "The truth is," hi». says, "'fashion alono determines the breeder's mind in the of sire?, and be must po wtib tlif swim or' sink. Is nor. this a rather painful fact?"

A correspondent. "Blucher." wriles as under to tlic editor of the "'Sydney Mail - *:

"In a recent issue of your journal. 'Alilroy" comments on the relative merits ot the thoroughbred and the half-bred eoaeher us steeplechasers, and goes on to say that a 'thoroughbred will carry a heavy man further in a day. or a week, or a month than a mere coacher.' Hotspur, an erstwhile steeplechaser of note (a thoroughbred), was in his pre-racinjf days used as a stock horse on a cattle inn ia New Sonth Wales, where a horsf's endurance was often put to asevere test. There -were several half-bred coaehers ou this ruu who were considered better as steel; horses than Hotspur. I do not contend for ;i taoinnnt that a half-bred eoaeher can compete with a thorough! >red ns a. racehorse. I merely mention mi instance where a. thoroughbred -was found unequal to a. half-bred ceacher on a sure convincing ground. The Late 'Join Corrigan mentioned Hotspur as one ef the six best steeplechasers be had ever ridflen." I confess T never heard of a crack steeplechaser named Hotspur, but I have heard of a good high jumper bearing that name. Being n thoroughbred his breeding would be interesting to those who desire to avoid bail strains. If a coacher could wear Mm out

"Wkalaboa*.**

he must have been a sorrj- representative of the great thoronghbred family. I have had some experience of half-bred eoacaers when pitted against half-bred bloods worklujr cattle, and if Mr Alex. Hetheringtou, wlw for so many years managed Milton on the Boyne. were handy, be- might support mjstatements. Mr Hethetington, a New KngI.md 'man by the way, was a lover of a good horse, and a beautiful shot. I am constrained to think he conld write a goodly sized volume of denunciation against tho coacher as a saddle horse, and finish up ■with a lenstUy list of them which he shot as positively worthless for working stock.

it yras only recently that a well Unowa racing man. and one who is deemed an export trainer of horses, said:—"There is nothing lite a good -heavy-roller to keep a track in first class order." Rolling does play an important ptirt with the working and' Keeping of our troining tracts. An Kngllsh scribe is not at all favourable to It. in a recent Issue ol the-London "Referee. , " lie writes, under rhe hwulint; "How to Kuin Good Wallops"—"While" l am about it let mc have a word on the present craze for heritage, herbage, more herbage, as the surest means to make and preserve good going. All the engineering, laying out, manuring, and tending in the world cannot make footing equal to what natural down tnrf affords, provided it is not too much uspd. I am quite satisfied that, baring occasional help from artificial manure, but much better by putting sheep on at tho right time, and doing them well with cake, and at intervals bush harrowing the tracks, nothing does down turf so much, good as leaving it alone. This year at Salisbury I noted effects'of liberal treatment with for mark increasing weight of grass "herbage." You don't want herbage stuff on top of the ground so much as felted matted roots to break the force of hoof strokes: and where on other lands — meadows brought into use for racing — the grass is kept long by high fanning quite undesirable results accrue. -For one tiling, faults sneh as holes and bumpy places are not pnt straight through remaining hid«<m and undetected. Again, tbe grass, being permitted to grow too long, weakens about the roots: in the earth surface is rocky, and in wet weather the long: grrass aud mud from the soil make caked, slippery, sadden galloping, on which. horses wrench and lame themselves. Then the roller. Well, you have heard mc on the subject of rollers. Dear, dear, to think managers should exist who will point witU pride to the extra weighty machines they use to level the tracks. Paviors level, or used to. much the same way, 'jumping' in pitching with their rammers. You do nof want such levelling- for racing."

How different is the sceac ou our leading racecourses, compared with fifty years ago, writes "Vigilant" hi a recent Issue of the London "Sportsman." Take the Knaveslnire on Tuesday, May 13, 1851. Then the thoughts of ail interested in-the turf were intent on the great match between The Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur. Never, . perhaps, dirt "the result of a race create greater surprise, consternation, and delight tlian the victory in the previous season of "Vulti." ovor ''The Dutchman" for the Doncaster Cup. The first named was trained hard by Kiehinond, in Yorkshire, and I ' well remember on the evening of that memorable contest seeing a man who had obtained early intelligence of the triumph of the Aske champion hurrying alone one of the streets of the little town, ibudly piodaiining the downfall of the "flier." who did his work at rival Middleham. Folk* abandoned business forthwith and turned out to listen to the stirring announcement, remaining for long afterwards in croups, discussing/1 he result of the race fait led to the "great match." From tie tiaie ot the terms of the match being arranged until it was over folks never tired of talking of the battle of the giante Admtoers of the rival horses became fierct in their .partisanship. Not yet forgotten B(f one, then young, Riehmondian is the f<*Sng of chagrin, grief, and. it is to be feared, rage with which was received the news that Yoltij?eur had been beaten. A modest programme was that built up round "The Match" at the York Spring Meeting of 1831. No more than £00 added money was given each to the Champion Handicap. The Zetland and Eirlinton Stakes, then, as now. for two-year-olds. . aud the Spring St. Leger. To the Revival Stakes £30 was added, and to the Optional Selliug Stakes £25. The Flying Dutchman's Handicap) fared better, the bouas being £100. John Qsborna was on the winner, the five-year-old Alp, who got home first by a head. Fortune^was adverse to Lord Zetland throughput rjie meeting. Voltigeur lost the great Hatch, and on the following afternoon was defeated .for the York and Ainsty Hunt Cup by Nancy. Castanette. destined to be the dam of Fan-" dango. victorious for an Ascot and Doucaster Cup, ran unplaced for the Champion Stakes. Lady Bird failed to win a two-year-olil rate in which she took part, and old Radulphus. whoso running career was sinKularly long, also suffered defeat. It warn a sorry week for followers of 'white with red spots." Twelve months later The Flying Dutchman's Handicap assumed the position afterwards occupied by the Great Northern Handicap. The subscribers were sixty-four, ami Voltigeur <8.13) won by a head from the five-year-old Haricot (6.8). "Volti." was probably a great horse, illunderstood by a trainer not the equal of the masters of his calling, and harassed, moreover, by the prooq>tinss of many advisers.

The importatiou of thoroughbreds Is always an acceptable item to a large majority of Australians, as the thoroughbred being the principal factor towards improving all grades of light horse, it goes without saying a horse-loving; race is naturally interested in anything that tends towards improving this very useful animal. Newblood fresh from the fountain-head, the home of the thoroughbred (England), is calculated to improve, or at least prevent, the degeneration of the Australian horse, and importers of such, as we (says the "Sydney Mail") have always steadfastly maintained, are public benefactors. no matter whether we .look at the subject through commercial or sporting glasses. The Wetter the horse the better the racing, also the healthier our trade with oversea buyers in search of remounts or pleasure horses. As in blood horses, so it is with cart breeds, as well as cattle of milking and beef strains, the best is always the cheapest in the long run. This is a wellproved maxim which small horse-breeders should ever in their collective minds. A well-bred,decently-forined horse is worth mere in the open market than half a do*pn ewe-necked. crooked-legged hybrids; therefore it pays a small niau far better to use a stallion of good class from which to breed a couple of fair horses than raise a dozen, mongrels by some rubbishy brute, whose only recommendation in the eyes of tlie little breeder is the sxnallness of its service fee. There is no saving in paying •"J<V per mare for the use of one of these ill-shapen. wretched apologies for the thoroughbred that parade the country seeding the patronage of farmers and small holders, many of whom, strange to say, look upon "no horse as good as another. A badlyshaped, ill-bred, delieatelr-eonstitutinned horse will eat as much grass as a Fitzgrafton or a 60-guinea cavalry horse: therpfore, the man who keeps one or two good, mares, and pays -from £5 to £15 for the use of a first or second class stallion, will, with ordinary Inck, breed .an animal that' at four years old will fetch.him iv from £20 to £40, and cost no more to raise than will the offspring of a 30/ stallion that will not fetch more than from £3 to £6 in the open market. Wβ know a small breeder, a west country butcher, who owns three or four very good half-bred utility niare.s which he has sent to such horses as Projectile, Graftbn. Lochlel, and Impetus to breed saddle hacks from, and he p.nys stud fees that would cause year average penuy-wise-and-pounO-fooiisn breeder to take n violent tit, yet he mates a very good thing out of bis/little stud. far he splls their progeny, broken- iB, at fnnr and fire years old. at from £20 un. to £50 a head to dealers and gentlemen in search of well-bred saddle horses. We are sorry to notice also thnt mijny squatters practise false economy by using chenp brutes that ought to be cut or shot rather than pay 400gs or 500gs for a stallion Of the best class. They say horsebreeding does not pay. No: nor is it likely to if they use stallions that should, in the ' interests of the community, be cinascu- jA lated. • •