TURF GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 143, 18 June 1910, Page 13

TURF GOSSIP.

There can be no doubt about it that the English three-year-olds all-round are superior to those in Prance this year (says a Continental scribe). In fact,- England has rarely had such favourable chances of -winning one or other of the bi s races at Longchamps.ana Anteuil. ' An English exchange states that Cyllene is thriving exceedingly in the Argentine and there is no sigm of disinclination on the part of the son of Eona- Vista to cover his mares. Further, that his foals are all good-looking, characteristic, and full- of promise. Lemberg makes the third Derby winner sired by Cyllene, 3iis previous two : being Minora and Cicero. j

Mr, "Fairiei" : owner of Lemberg, Is an ex-Australian, who made a fortune in mining, and is,,now a lavish patron of racing. During the last two seasons he won over: £40,000, principally due to Bayardo. Taken altogether, Mr Fairie his horses, and Alec Taylor proved a powerful combination last year, and there" seems every probability that they' will make a deep ■mark .also on the season of 1910.

A story- is told of the great American trainer John Splan, .who in common with many of the best American trainers -will not sit behind a hoppled horse, that he sat silentiy listening to a party of men giving the most hair-raising experiences of their lives. The yarns went on, but John spoke not -until." asked what his most terrible-ex-perience was. "Well," said. Splan, "in the good old days I've looked down the muzzle of a six-shooter without blanching; I've looked into the demon eyes of a dunatie with a bojrie knife; I'tove had personal experience of all the adventures you state, and I must confess tney are fairly terrifying; -but they count small compared to my terror when the judges at is. countyfair asked mc to take the reins' behind a bogged pacer in a desperate field of 18, all of mem rigged in the same way."

Cyllene, sire of Lemberg, had previously sired two Derby winners in Cicero and BXluoru. He has been a success at the stud from the very beginning. Like other stal-lions,-his first year's, produce created little stir, but in his second season, Cyllene made a , jump of over £15,000. In-1905, when still a young eire, he was fourth on the winning sire's list with £21,555. In 1906 hte: s±oclc won £12,188, 1907 £10,339. 190S £7600, and last year he headed the list with,/£35,5c0 opposite .his name. He is sure'to be-near the top again this year, for in addition to I/emberg,' there is Maid of: Corinth-(Cyllene — Sceptre) to help him. Unfortunately for English breeders, Cyllene was sold some few years ago.to South African owners, who did not hesitate to give £25,000 for him- before his second Derby winner was heard of.

It seems strange tc us.now to .read of Deiby winners at a show competing for prizes (says the "English Live Stock Journal"), but in 1865, at the Islington Horse Show, Caractacus, winner of the Derby of 1862 was. shown, and won the first prize in his class. The previous year (1864) he had been shown, but took only, a third, his poor success being attributed to the fact that he "was so loaded "with fat- that it was hardly possible for observers to do him justice." The second prize, .In the class went to Diophantus, who won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1861, -and ran third for the Derby of that year, being' beaten by . Kettledrum and Dundee; and Scottish Chief, winner of the Ascot Cup in 1864, was given third prize. Though he had not run since that race, .he was showii in- hard condition, -. "not having been allowed to acquire any of the sleekness of the .stallion." .:: . - \

A case of niore than usur' interest to breeders was.heard in England just before the.mail left* Colonel B. B. Saptveil, a wellknown breeder, brought an action against Sir William Bass for breach of contract in connection. with the services 'of the staU lion Cyllene. Colonel Sapwell's case was that he had used Cyllene for several seasons, and duriug those years had made a profit of £474 on his yearlings by Cyllene,.! .whose fee when purchased from Sir CD. Rose was raised to 200g5,; He booked another subscription to' Cyllene for 1900, through Lord Marcus Beiesford; agent for Sir William Bass, but as Cyllene was sold to go to South America he was compelled to accept the service of Cicero, whose feej is only lOOgs. The breach of contract was denied, nor was it admitted that the plaintiff suffered any damage. In deciding the case, Mr Justice Jelf said there was" no evidence of legal damage resulting from the breach of contract, and if there Sad been"'a jury he wpnld have so directed them. He gave jijras?^ for tn e plalntill for one shilling, and ordered .each party to pay their own costs'. .-. - .■ ' ,-■■ . ■ ..- ..

(By WHALEBONE.)

In Belgium, where stayers are even more rare than in Prance, a crusade has been, commenced in favour of long-distance, races. The "Sport Elevage'' has .taken up the i cause, and notes that things have changed; since 1565, when out of "70 eyeh'ts on. the : flat the distance of a mile and seven furlongs was adopted for no less' than 40. The case of the famous mare Astrolabe, ■who in ISB6 won the Grand Steeplechase oi'\ Brussels, over three miles and a furlong, I carrying 10.1, and enabled her owner to I win the then sensational sum of £»42, may be compared with the £24,800 credited to M.. A. ■ Veil-Picard last year as 1 the largest winner between the flags. Seven ' years after the same mare won again with 13.7 on her back. Auricula was another of the champions who showed speed with stamina. The "Sport Elevage" regrets that. such performers are not to be found in : the present day, and concludes in favour! of a better" choice of sires and dams for! the future, while admitting that the cli- ! mate and soil of Belgium, as exemplified by -their own particular breed of horses tends to load the shoulder and give aj coarseness to the thoroughbred. There have occasionally- been noisy demonstrations against starters at leading' courses in the Dominion, but racegoers out! here are not as whole-hearted "as those' an France in attempting to deal with such an official when offends them At Marseilles last month a : favourite remained at tne post, and the patrons of "the fiat beuig of opinion mat he was . left..proceeded* to make: things JlveljV They tore -down the ropes : from the posts: S^vf 1 !? + map P m S out the track* and stretched them across the course while another detachment made dili-ent sear"h for the starter intent on tailng his sSp He considered prudence the better part ofT ffl ' r2? d dc?cliiied to continue his office. The police were reinforced and managed after some trouble to clear the course and' allay the storm which broke out agaan- at the end of the meetiii™ when in -a trotting race the favourite broke into, a gallop and pursued one of those manoeuvres which, have brought the spor? the course was soon emptied. • i* C « n *7nF' - h0 was mucll more successful %,Jt , stalUon W Fiance than in England lofdon aSt "« year t (wrltes in the Sportsman"), and was replaced by Cupbearer, who, curiously euough was che first yearling to cut Childwick's sale record, of (JOOOgs. Most people are probably nnder the impression, that Sceptre was £%>■! ?\- H?* J ? Point -of fact Cupbearer came into the ring one lot before Sceptre, and _was bought-for 9100gs by the Duke of . Westminster's representative. It was in consequence of having had to give this abnormal price for Cupbearer that the gentleman in .question decided,; after consultation with Captain Maehell, to exercise discretion in,regard- to other lots,, and cot implicitly carry out the instructions of. the Duke, who was in South Africa, and could not possibly have aiiy idea of the huge prices that were' being made. It was an unfortunate decision, though in the circumstances a very proper one, and;.it'resulted in a failure to secure Sceptre the . succeeding lot, who. as everyone knows, was sold for IO.COOgs. Of course,' had the cabled instructions been to buy such of the yearlings as John Porter selected, regardless of the ptice, it would hav£ been a very different matter, but I believe I am correct in stating that the question of price wa3 not mentioned in the instructions. j

rw!?,. , ? 111 ? 3 In the West London ti™ <L - a vicious pracEnglish journal)., Inquiries snow taat it is not unnsual for a l*idv to •hS£ e J?&'ft "■ ml Uinery shop to make" her tt t e PWrietreae, or with the book'SrivnS k whom she sees in "Madame's" X?. »«■»... ."Madame". : frequently 4hlr%^th? c ,t0 corcr loss »s and th .? m +1 ? s to dedelve the !JJS J ' ij f t he , lady ' te married,. ,or Her nnrSl ' she la-not, hats are actually addS of the loai P r 'ce. : When, transactions are ? ry— ! t , hat 1S ' ™ hen the 150 Wins— Maftin ffite i th S mpney is P aid in notes «f tIS '^wV 11 ehe «l nc s. Even the girls or the estoblishment are drawn into the vortex and also make bets. The . "tout" r^? okma^. er has Uis regular days and iis hrS^. eusto ?, ers - He drives, up in a closed hrouffham with boxes of trimmings; etc.. but they., are.all empty; Madame -always ladies go in one at a time. The names on in^J 3 ? 0 ? 3 HNj'ude many, ladies Tvell'known J? n 4?" ety - ..Many telegrams arrive at these •hPt? E -w' ,lln? i? snops, with orders for f?i (,<*»'■ Colirse .' a re - instructions for bets. Recently a Peeress had to leave her tiara with a milliner to raise somethtag on it to pay her losses. In one shop the same day 'a - young " girl, ■ who lives in' a fashionable square,, waited for a telegram Thank Goa.'".she cried as the name of the winner was read out, and she nearly fainted. She had iwou £S0: * ■ . . ■

'■ •A. little.while back -the "Special Commissioner' of the London "Sportsmai" specially bought.an old mare named Royal Blue »° r <~?- .P u iP° 3 e of- mating with the exAustraftaii iorse Great Scot. Kovil Blue ia , •by Chaubert from Blue Ldght, by Kataplaa from Borealis, liyNemntaster from Blink Bonny, and. her purchaser reckoned he could not well have got anything likely to nick better with the chestnut ; as regards breeding. She is a half-sister to Lady Muncaster, great-great-dam of Bayardo and Lemberg, and is hearer to Bltukßonny thau •any ptiier mare now alive. The "Specia? Commissioner ,, -is-now rejoicing ■ over the fact of .Royal Blue having thrown., a big ; 'ba4d-facedfllly to Great Scot,' and in referring to the fact cays:"This is a filly I have laid. myself put to breed, aid I will not sell it to anybody.: About a. month ago a Russian breeder came over, and after seeing many mares, wanted^-to buy Boyal Blue. I told him she was not; for-sale;-but he persisted., I told him: she was 20 years old, and not worth 50gs to take abroad, but he would mot be denied, so I -put a prohibitive price on her and stopped /him; but he -was oh tie right track al. the same, though, anyone who looks up Royal Blue's' record will see what was the odds against heir producing a strong, healthy foal. She is fresh, and well, and may produce yet others" to •Great Beot,-'but this foal, if it lives and thrives, is sufficient in itself to repeat the very hesf. .of Queen ilary trumphs. ;H is seldom indeed .thatoiyou get what you 1 want -when breeding iblood stock, but I bought the presumably worn-out . Royal* Blue/for 10gs to breed a > filly by-Great Scot if possible, and it. ihas come off at the first attempt. There , is a lot of other luck needed, however, before .the .initial : . 6ero-blan-ce of luck materialises, only there thi3 big, fine; and manifestly Blair AthpV filly, foal is, for the time heing. It is exactly what I hoped to see. The future is-on the knees- of the sods. , '.

It was purely by accident that, Mr. John .Porter, ;the celebrated (English ■trainer, became'a'trainer , of racehorses. He "was intended lor -the law; :but; -chancing to .'go for t week's holiday ivi fch a school friend .Tvhose people controlled stables of thoroughbreds, •he fostered ah: inborn love of horses, and the inteiraeo. . stay ■at'a. week developed into one of a year.; : . ■■ "V 7. Presently there came a great desire "to be a He rode exercises, "and.jwhen Mr. J. B. Day, (the celebrated Fin Son. trainer, advertised for a light-weight jockey, Mr Porter obtained the berth, and >was given a three-years' engagement. : ". ;-;• • ; . '.'My: first win," said Mr (Porter-to an "Answers" representative, who visited him at his beautiful home at Newbnry, • -where he ■ lives in' retirement, "was Overreach, at the .Brighton Meeting in 1853 or 1854.- I am Jiowever,, I .was pot a conspicuous success-as -a jockey. Wells, -the-stable jockey, could..ride as light'as 1 could-myself, so thatfmy chances of mounts were-few and far between. My last mount in. gnblic was on Carmel, -in the-Derby-oJ!ISSS.-. . "In 1863—when I "was 25, years old—l be- ' came -private trainer ,'to Sir Joseph; Hawley, and I managed to train seven 'Derby winners before X-gave up -the business to devote myself to my. fiow.ers,- music,- ftae—writing of my -reminiscences, and : the managing directorship of the Newbury'' Racecourse Company: r -planned -the■ courser and..l can. modestly claim, that it,is as-.UE-to-date as i any in England. Newbury is well described

"Tie best 'horse r ever trained was Or* ■moride, belonging "to the Duke:~of Westminster; -but I have a deep ■ affection for ;such mighty thoroughbreds ,is Blue, Gown-— Imy first. Derby winner—lsonomy, Rosicrui clan and others." ' ""■'" ■•■■......•-... "Three times:l won the Oaks,-five-times I the Two.; Thousand Guineas,, tw,iee t jh§ One 1 Thousand Guineas and' six times mc Sfc iteger. In.all, my "horses won the sum of j £794,017 in "stakes —a record unequalled by, any other 'trainer.- : - .■-■; "Going 'back to my very early days for a;, moment, 'I should mention that. .Wdlliam i Palmer, the Rugeley poisoner, once asked 'mc "to lunch: When I regretfully "declined. Palmer asked -mc if 1/ would mmd •telling some- people on,my way home, that "a man named Cook was dead. Palmer, as a. mat- . ter'of fact, had poisoned '■Cook; and'not long iafterwards he was "hanged-for it. ■— •«- !. "Why I "mention Palmer ,ds I bellieve my father was ; the first man. 'to sus-; ■peet him of malpractices. The doctor-- owned some good .horses,'. .which weie.Vbeing trained toy Saunders, my host at Hednesford •durlngthe time I was contemplating becoming a jockey. -His best were. G-oldflnder, •who won the Chester Cup, The Chicken, who "was renamed Vengeance after his— ; aiwT , w3io" wou'the~Cesare- :- iwitch In -jr-he following-autumn. ■ !' ' "I remember'suggesting .that the Duke of ■"Westminster" should ride Ormonde, the greatest horse of the century, in-the-Jubilee procession of ISS7., ,1 .knew.Ormonde"jwould be as quiet as a sheep; but the duke preferred to give a garden-party in" Mhyfair 'to meet Ormonde,' and so 1 Urought the famous steed -to London. ; "Then, who .will" forget the poisoning of Orme? ' During mj temporary -absence the ■horse was doctored. vied with each other in stating new theories -to account for the unfortunate occurrence. I . strove hard night and day to save-thehorse's life. Orme was never left.unattended, and one comically-inclined paper wrote, 'Wβ Jearn that Orme 'Is" off solid 'food; "and - kept alive only by PorterA.-'At last my.,, efforts ' were -successful. Orme returned to -the course, and justified the expectations he had aroused. : "It is quite easy...So separate, gamblins. from sport, .and ray own betting transactions have always been on-a most modest >scale. In fact, only on two oceasionsMu" 45. years have I-had .as much as £100 on a race. Oa one of these occasions I had f 100 on 'llateh- : box for the St Leger. -1 w.is in an awful !funk"«bout thl3 £100, and at tbe-htst minute ■tried, to save it by laying £110. to £100 on, IJadas and 'Matchbox coupled. And when Throstle, starting at 40' to , 1, and' trained tor myself, won easily,-1 nearly fell off the stand. .Then and -there, -I- gave up plunging. ■". -. .. ■ ' •'■ ... '■ ~...>..-„. ">But, naturally, I have seen some heavy wagers in my time. Sir Joseph Hawley, vaj first employer, for instance, was a- heavy better in a plunging period, and I remember him having an even £30,000 with Mr Chaplin on. The Palmer against Hermit for the Derby, -which, needless to say, he did not win. And then the stakes and bets netted by the owner of my -did friend Isonomy, Jlr F. Gretton, amounted to £110,000. •■■-.. "In my time, I have made some remarkable bargains in horses. Paradox T. bought for about' £500, and he Tvon the Two Thousand Guineas, was second In the Derbybeaten by a head—Won the Grand Prix de Paris and other great races. Sainfoin cost mc about the same price, and -won the Derby; whilst Isonomy, one of the best •horses I trained, only cost-Die £4.j0. "Two brood mares I bousht will ever live in my memory. One was Pideta, a horse I bought for the King, for whom I trained sometime.. She was the dam of Persimmon, Diamond Jubilee and Florizel 11. The other was Vampire, purchased for the Duke of Westminster. She became famous as the j dam of Flying Fax." .