TURF GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 2 March 1907, Page 11

TURF GOSSIP.

(By WHALEBONE.)

The birth of the first foal in Ireland for ! the present season was reported from the Ballykisteen Stud, where Lillian Witt, by FitzJames out of Fanny Day; dropped a chestnut colt to TJnele .Mac. At the same stud Mr. L. E. B. Homan's Fish Wife, <lam of St. Ives, has arrived to Wavelet's Pride, and Armenia to Uncle Mac. About 300 persons attended at the meeting in Sydnp.v last week called by the ' League of Sportsmen. The secretary stated, that though the league liad only been started two weeks, 10,000 members had toeeu secured, and it was hoped to obtain 100,000 before the State elections are held. The English Ginicrack Stakes has closed with a satisfactory entry, this year reaching 136, or only four short of the number secured last year. The King has nominated Simpatica, a daughter of St. Simon and Laodamia, and a Royal victory on the historic. Knavesmlre -would t>e hailed with delight. Mr. H. Byron Moore, the secretary or the V.E.C., has issued a notice that must not be overlooked by clubs in Victoria, that country racing clubs holding meetings after ; March 31 must apply to the Government : for a license before holding such meetings, i Clubs holding meetings in contravention of | the law. will be liable to a fine not exceeding £500. There is a strong- probability that, on the grounds of economy, there will be a considerable reduction in the value of the mammoth prizes in England. It is estimated I that during the current eeason there will | be a loss of £2021 on the Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket, £2634 on the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, and £1155 on the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. Such a demand is there In England for St. Simon sires that Desmond's list for this season is full at a fee of £145. Other bires that stand at a fee of £98 nre Bill of Portland, Bachelor's Button, Robert le Diable. and John o' Gaunt, the letter's services for 1907 and 1908 having already bean booked. Parthian is standing at Nwniarket for lSgs a mare, and The Victory is advertised to receive mares in Kildare- at The New Zealand mare Lady Avon, who was such a success in India a year ago, is not as good now as then. At Calcutta on the 12th of last month she was sent out at 2 to 1 on in a field of twelve j for the New Plate, five furlongs, in which I she had 8.9. She did not even get a place, ! the English gelding Silphoe (8.1) and ; Wakeful (S.1O) running a dead-heat, the former winning the run-off. In England a subscription has been raised for the prominent cross-country jockey, A. Birch, who was so badly injured by a fall some time back that he will never i be able to ride again. Up to January 6 i the amount of £1024 had been collected. It | was Birch who rode Mbifaa. when that horse won the Liverpool Grand National of 1001 for Mr Spencer Gollan. Admirers of Musket (says "Milroy") will find plenty to interest them in a colt by; Lancaster from Pride, by Manton who has a double cross of that famous father i through Lancaster (grandson of Musket) i and Manton (son of Musket). This is a! low-set and very powerful brown colt, without white, with a splendid set of timber under him. a stout body above, and a ! hard, game head. He is just the sort Jhat i would try to go through a stone wall if asked, and is an ideal cut to beget sadd'e horses when he reaches maturity,- for his . shoulders are much, better than those of the average yearling. A writer in the Melbourne "Leader" has been discoursing about old-time fielders, I and mentions that Joe Thompson paid the . stable £40.000 when Chester won the Ctip' : and Derby. The owner of Savanaka stood to win £37,000 over the Cup in which that, horse was defeated by Chester, Waxy was backed to win £67,000. First Water was j backed to win £100,000 when Martini-1 Henry beat him; and two of the latest big i things in the way of betting was the £20.000 which Mr D. S. Wallace won over; Mentor and the £33,000 which Nada should have taken out of the rind had she won the Cup for the late Mr W. R. Wilson. By comparison, the £10,000 which was landed over the last New Zealand Cup is very small fish. "As each year comes to its close I endeavour to force upon my readers the absolute certain success of betting on a system, provided one has sufficient strength of mind to keep determinedly to the rules and turn a deaf ear to all outside inflnences. A few I kuow follow our system and win, but the majority, I fear" (says the "Special Commissioner" of the "London Sportsman"!, "get a certain distance, and then, to speak vulgarly, 'funk,' and throw up the sponge just when success is v at their door. The system, however, is simple, and really requires such a. small bank that it is a wonder it is not more widely followed. It is this: Pick out any number of 'the best horses in training and follow them until they win. doubling your stake, say, 1, 2, 4, 16, and it' they do not -win in 'live attempts it will be because bad luck has occasioned it, or bad judgment was exercised in-selecting them. I have worked it out for may years, and find it invariably comes out right. The best plan is, I think, to choose the two or three best out of each stable, because each stable contrives to -win a race or two with its best horse or horses." If the London "Sporting Times" is correct, another blow is to be dealt at Turf speculation in England. It states that this year a new measure will be introduced under the name of tue "Gambling Advertisements Bill, 1907." with the sub-title '"An Act .for the suppression of gambling advertisements fti newspapers and circulars, and the public incitements to bet- ! ting and gambling." It is aimed at persons who advertise any betting business or agency, or any tipster's business, or any lottery, or any "stookbroking" business not under Stock Exchange rules, and it will prohibit any newspaper proprietor, editor or publisher from publishing any such advertisement or any list of betting odds. In the event of such a measure beiug passed it will put England in line with New South Wales, as the insertion of tipster's advertisements or the publication of betting quotations are, in that State, illegal acts. Advertising tipsters flourish in England, and though some of them do their best to soundly advise their clients, it is safe to say the majority are impostors, whose forced retirement would benefit the public. The trouble is, though, that the Bill, if passee, will put the good as well as the bad out of business. The announcement that Aurum has bepn purchased in England by the gentleman who races as Mr. J. B. Stanley, and that the sou of Trenton and Aura is to be brought out to Victoria to do stud duty, will be in deed (says the "Leader") good news to well-wishers of the turf in this State. Aurum, who was bred by the late W. R. Wilson at the famous St. Albaus stud, was foaled in 1894. He is by I'rentou (at present at the stud in England) from Aura, by Richmond, from that celebrated niare Instep (imp.), by Lord Clifden, and is, it will be seen, bred en the .very stoutest lines. As a two-year-old in the season of 1896-1897, Aurum won seven races of the nine he took part in, including his last six engagements, which numbered V.R.C. Sires' Produce Stakes, Ascot Vale Stakes, and All-aged Stakes (beating the three-year-olds The Officer and Coil:), and the Champague Stakes and Easter Stakes at Randwick. Aβ a three-year-old the. performance which he is best remembered by is his third in the Melbourne Cup, with 8.6, to the late Mr. William Forrester's pair, Gaulus and The Grafter, though his victories at that age included the Caulfleld Guineas, V.X.c Spring Stakes. C. B. Fisher Plate,'and St. Leger. He only ran one other race in Australia at that age—in the Australian Cup, in which he carried the thumpins: weight of 9.3 into third place. Shortly after this Aurum was purchased by Airs. Lillie Langtry to race in England, where he met with a fair amount of success. Now, like Newhaven, he is to return to the land of his birth, and sucb a stoutly-bred horse must make hie mark at t&e, stud, proYJd.ed. Se gets suitable mares.

mar S»vc n found mother ivitt, the remotest chance <**"«"«,£ His best colt appears to % HJlft. but those who -have seen tUe son of Pei Simmon ran declare that he dote _ no stay On the other hand, however. Sagamore and Mv Pet II have not to ne recKonea wren with our classic races and as Polar Star was not entered, the Derby will not take so much winning, as on first thoughts would appear likely. Can Slieve Galllon stay the distance, and wiU Qatvani be at his best on the day? Some still cling to the idea that Traquair will win, and it mar be that his wind iHfirmlty, such as it is, will not stop him any more than it wonld have stopped his maternal grand- : sire, Goldfinch. Not a few winners of : even the St. Leger have been unsound in I the wind.. Custance tells us that Lord ; Lyon made a slight noise, and John Porter told mc the same of Throstle, shortly after she had won. Donovan was under suspicion for the same reason before his Leger day, arid Ormonde was also 'touched before his Donmaster victory. There are ! cases, however, when a colt has won one or more of the classics, and has then failed owing to his wind goin* wfoag. . Bothwell was one of these. He i>e:it Sterling for the Two Thousand Guineas, bi I afterwards became a roarer, and almost ii:;e.-oss. Similarly, Pretender was a roarer when ne made such a poor show for the St. Leger. As for the coming two-year-olds, I need only say here that there are rumours of carlv discovered excellence in several, and especially in one or two by Persimmon, which have done something quite extraordinary." The death of the Marchioness of Hastings naturally revives interest in the turt transactions of that great plunger, the Marquis of Hastings, and Hermit's sensational Derby. It is said that wheu the youus aristocrat eloped with the fair jLady- B loience the latter's fiance, Mr. Harry Chaplin, swore that he would ruin the Marquie. How well he carried out his threat is a matter of racing history. In 1867 the jilted lover ! had Hermit engaged in the Derby, and his ! commissioners backed him with Hastings ' (who also had a smart colt in Unca3 engaged) to win a tremendous amount. In a. trial gallop some time before the race, however (says an exchange), Hermit was completely pulling over a track companioa when he suddenly broke a blood vessel. Mr. Chaplin was inclined to scratch the horse at once, but other counsels prevailed, i though he thought so little of his chance i that he gave up Custance (the horseman ;of the day) to ride The Rake. The extrai ordinary part of the story is that on the Friday before the Derby The Rake alsobroke a blood vessel, so in changing his mount Custance had fairly got out of the frying pan into ths fire: As a matter or ! fact, the misfortune to The Rake was the ' far more serious of the two, as Hermit had ; simply ruptured one of the vessels in his j nostrils. StUl, with the exception of Cap- ! tain Machdi. the trainer, everyone conj nected witlu him had quite abandoned any idea of his -winning the Derby. The cap--1 tain, however, never lost hope, and tools I every precaution to avoid a repetition of the disaster of that unfortunate Monday. Her-, mit was docfed off moat of his hay, and only allowed one light rug in order to £eep his blood .as cool, as possible. Then all bis work—and he <lid far' more 'than was geuerally known—was done down hill, so as to- impose the least possible strain upon the Wood ressels. He never did any really fast work, but on the Saturday before the i Derby he had no fewer than six canters ■of a mile each, traversing the reverse way of the Rowley Mile on each occasion. On ! the day Mr. Chaplin's colt, who started at . 100 to 1, scored by the narrowest of narrow i margins. The Marquis of Hastings, al;though he lost £103,000 on the race, was the first to pat the winner when the horses ; returned to scale. He then dashed into Epsom in a barouche, and appeared as gay as could be. When he admitted to'a friend a few days before his death that the "Hermit hit" had fairly broken his heart, h<? added: "I didn't show it, did I?" Although, the Marquis* debts to the ring had led to a great family eeandal, Mr. Chaplin and. his friends were paid every penny owed to them. The writer of "Our Van," in "Bailv'3 Magazine," says 'that, "in regard to racing the public cannot be ignored. "Without us," say the owners, "there could be no racing," which is true enough, but lonu, long ago a fable was written In which the different members and organs of the human body set tip superior claims one against the other. It cannot be denied that before we can race we must have horses, but their owners would feel themselves to be very much- in the cold if things went no further. Besides horses we must have courses: and I do not suppose that even owners suggest that they should be provided for nothing. Then, when we have our horses and our. courses, the stakes to be raced for have still to be provided, and the plaint that lias been advanced is that the cost of racing is out of all proportion too great compared with what an owner may reasonably expect to win. When people argue in this way about an affair of sport, we practically arrive at an impasse. By inference ani implication people own racehorses for th" enjoyment of the sport to be afforded. No one has hitherto pretended that horse-rac-ing is a cheap pastime* and the contention that it should be made so is'entirely novel except, of course, with the purely professional element, which does not come ijato the discussion, the professional being satisfied to fly at humble game, and to take things as they come. Perhaps he can afford to do this by reason of his ability to look after himself. There is no compulsion to own racehorses, and if a man embarks upon this phase of sport it is not clear that lie therewith acquires the right to dictate to others the terms upon which he will do so. But, whatever the aspirations of an owner may be, we cannot over-ride the indisputable fact that, with some exceptions, racecourses do little more than pay their war and if further inroads were made upon their incomings they would have to close their gates, because they would have to be ruu at a loss One of the known quantises Jf is the maximum number ot the payur|e S a iar?e e T a€IH J n | Seedig 16 " 1 be raCe i C n° USe a ™| with the owners jibbing on S and the public staying away on the other. But it attract people, and by way Sf pntttS? tol.