TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 299, 16 December 1911, Page 16

TURF NOTES.

Sicmorinetta, by Chaleurcux —SlgnorInn. the winner of the Derby and Oaks in 11)08, was to have been offered for sale on December 5. It is stated that Chevalier Ginlstrelli, her owner, then intends to letiro from the Turf.

The camera nuisance on racecourses has again asserted itself in England, and pi rhaps the expulsion from the paddock at Newmarket recently of one of the irrepressibles may leaJ to the better observance of a courteously worded request of the stewards of the Jockey Club. The snap-shotting which has been gcing on at Newmarket has occasioned con siderable annoyance to persons highly placed. In the caloniea they get in front of the camera!

Fourteen of M. Edmond Blanc's brood mares, from the Jardy (France) Stud, were sold at auction recently for a total of 4670 sovs, the top price of 1230 sovs being paid try Lady James Douglas for the famous mare, La Camargo. That she should be sold for so small a sum may be regarded as proof that her stud career has not been on a par with her career on the racecourse, for the daughter" of Childwick out of Belle te Bonne jb now only 13 years old.

According to an exchange, the trainer, Planner, who was disqualified in Austria and Hungary for alleged "doping," has .(instructed his lawyer to take such proceedings as he may deem necessary for a complete and exhaustive enquiry to be made in a court of law, where the evidence of analysts for and against may be taken on oath. His advocate, Dr. Kramer, will challenge the jurisdiction of the race stewards and their authority to exclude a man from their midst without, the offence which may have incurred their displeasure being proved against him. When the proofs alleged to exist against G. Planner are sufficiently foundred to convince both Turf legislative ■bodies, they need not be kept secret. He adds that the public, so generous a sup.porter of sport in Austria and Hungary, has a right to express an opinion which can not be given iinless aH the facte are published and the circumstances .gated which have led to the ostracism of a popular trainer on the faith of more or less reliable reports from analysts •who. have tried their prentice hand it the discovery of some substance whrch enables the person applying or administering it to alter the form of a horse " and;, procure, .hum. an an advantage ovpr his competitors. Touching on ,£he "doping" that is alleged to have taken place ln'Austria and Hungary, iifls stated th.it the drug used is"Hefoih," a dracrtute of morphia easily Boltrble in alcohol, and administered in conjunction with saccharine.

Under the heading of "Breeding Theory," a writer in the Tjondon "Sports man" draws .attention to the fart that many sires whSch, during thoir early years at the stud; made a name through their daughters, -were later kept in evidence 'by their sons. He farther*'promts out that a great sire is likely to be notable for his successful daughters, and a pre-it brood mare for her sons. "Then,'' he adds', "as-asje- comes on and the great slrp. still in the height of faahinn, has pood young mares on bis Fst, he w : H h.iye. aons not taking much after himself. and for whose merits their dams are mainly responsible. We certainly saw something of this Gort happen in the cikae of.St. Simon, who was phenomenally Biwqessful with his daughters during the earlier part of has stud career, and practirally all those daughters were of his own type. It was in the later-stages that he sired, his moat distinguished sons, Persimmon, Diamond, Jubilee, Florizel IT., etc.. and there was not much of the St. Simon character about any of tfiem, nor were they "pure dominants" for colour, as was St. Simon himself. We may note here that St. Simon'? earlier sons, su.ch as St. Serf, Bill of Portland, and Perigprd, did, in -fact, inherit the colour dominancy of their sire. It-may be that Gallinule is another c*se in point, and. that the. great distinction which he has hitherto gained as a sire of fillies,ml] be balanced at the finish by iis successful colts. This idea receives some support from the fact that Gallipule's yearling sons of this season are in many cases of an entirely different type from that which we have always associated with their sire'B. stock. These coincidences may be insufficient to sap' port a definite theory, but it does seem quite certain that the ohamcter of n horse's stock changes with his advancing years, and that when he has made an early success the continuance of it in the late period of his life is largely due to his then being' favoured with mares of high class."

Under ""Racing Doomed," the New York" correspondent of the ''Sportsman" wrote on October 17:—"It looks now as if racing in the East were doomed, and as if the owners of the tracks were giving up the fight. At all events, I have ifteard on good authority that negotiations are in progress leading to the sale of the race tracks at Gravesend and Brighton Beach, and that both may in a short time be cut np for building lots. Brighton Beach wag certain to be claimed by the real estate man and builder, butjmrprise was expressed when it was heard that Mr. Phil Dwyer's fine racecourse would go the route, although it is also .on the confines of Brooklyn. The' passing, of Gravesend wil> he received with regret, as it was .here that the famous Brooklyn Handicap was run, and the track was. also tho scene of some of the best racing witnessed in the country. Sheepshead Bay track has long been the .envy of those anxious to invest in building property, .and. I have no doubt that, in the hear future this will also be cut up. It is conveniently situated to New York and 'Brooklyn, and will command a price which will compensate Mr. Vanderbilt and his colleagues for any loss they may sustain in not holding a race meeting there. Belmont Park Will, however, "stand for some, time, and so will Aqueduct, hut rumours from Albany now. would indicate that there is very little hope of relief from .the pi-psmt. Legislature. We...were . almost that the Gittms Bill, having r--'ed the Senate, would have an'easy through the Assembly, hut the op-. i it ion was too" strong, .and the oppor "its "of racing received herp,'from. the ■S/itff unexpected .quarter-?,. For instance, ;: is well known now that the baseball imprests put, up large sums of mqney to'defeat racing, arid thereby attract the i-rowds which would ordinarily go to the tpicic. Fropi a sporting point of. view tbis seems, incredible, but .the. charge is openly .made, and is not denied try the Vpoif r sports' whc| control a great, game, but. fdn H • m * .most unsportsmanlike -

The Melbourne Clip winner Patron died some time ago in France, but he continues-to be represented by winners. Just before the last mail left England The Baronet won a race at Nottingham, and Philippe 11., by Patron from Penelope 11., won the Prix Salverti, a race for three-year-olds, run over two and a-half miles. Penelope 11. is an Eng-lish-bred mare, who was sent to France in 1901. She is by Esterling (son of Sterling) from Lady Plotwell, by Tbonnanby from Penelope Plotwell, by StockwclL

The residents of Wiluna, the farthest inland town in Western Australia, have resolved to protest against the action of the Postmaster-General in intercepting letters to Tattersall's consultations. They have also decided that this power must be taken away from the Minister, and that at the nest Federal elections a referendum be submitted on the question of nationalising turf consultations, and devoting the profits to the old-age pension fund. The meeting then decided to form a sweep consultation association, with a subscription of 2/6 per annum,-and to request the co-operation of other centres.

According' to "The Thoroughbred Record" a report which was current that Bock Sand's owner, Mr. A. Belmont, intended shipping his famous stallion to France was without foundation. When at his Nursery Stud, near Lexington, recently, Mr. Belmont stated that Rook Sand should stay there for at least another year. In Belray, by Hastings out of Beldame, the chairman of the New York Jockey Club owns a yearling colt of considerable promise. Hastings and Rock (Sand have each five winning two-year-olds to their credit in the States this season, apart from their older winners.

The zeal of one of Oldham's (England), newest constables took a remarkable form the other day. He was on duty in the Market Pla«e. So was a street-sweeper. They were each minding his own business, and, it being Robert'* .•business to mind everybody else's business,, his, eagle eye at once detected a case of street-betting when a man came along High-str,ee<, and, with little or n» attempt at concealment, thrust a small folded paper into the hand of the streetsweeper. The latter pursued his humble but necessary calling for a moment or two tonger. until lie came opposite to the "ginnell" which leads to the back of a well-known hostelry. He then forsook the street and turned into the entry, but had scarcely got out of sight before the zealous man in blue pounced on him. "Come with me to the Town Hall," was the peremptory order, and no explanation was given of this mysterious conduct. To the police office he had to go, and there his pockets were turned out, and amongst the contents was found the' "slip," which, on being opened and read, proved to be the ganger's list of the streets which the man had to sweep! The clever bobbv returned to his beat somewhat crestfallen, baulked just when he thought he had bis foot on the Brst rung of the Chronicle."

While the recent racing carnivals were ill progress more was heard of a grievance that certain trainers of horses seem to have against the Press, "ft is an old \ sore, saTB a Sydney writer, and arises from the fact that newspapers report •what take? place pn the itrainfng grounds on galloping moruings during the busy seasons. Further, it is stated, that here and there an owner also objects to the preparation of his horses being referred to in the training notes, on the silly grounds that when that Occurs the sporting public knows as much as the owner. This, of coarse, is not strictly correct. But why should not the racing public be placed" in possession of as much information as can be legitimately given in the Press, without prying too closely into stable secrets? It is from the racing public that all the money comes to provide stakes, shareholders' dividends, and for the general upkeep of the sport. This is an item in connection with racing that Some trainers— : -only a few certainly—conveniently' forget. If there ■were no public there would be no racing, and much of the interest in the business would certainly 'be knocked out of it if for the few weeks prior to tb.9 bi# race' meetings the doings of horses in training .were not fnllv reported. Race clubs recognise that reporting the morning gallops really has a beneficial and cleansing effect on racing. The reports enable many thousands of people who are interested to know to an extent how the preparation of most of the horses in traiDinjr is proceeding, and ; what horses are missing. That gives them an interest in the sport they could not otherwise have, prevents them from betting altogether in the dark, and is not in any way mischievous. It is the stable "hanger-on" who really requires to be suppressed. He is able to command as much knowledge as is possessed by the trainer of the particular stable with which he is in touch, and to what good account that information can be turned is too obviously apparent to need pointing out. Owners often wonder why certain people are so well informed. The racing public are not permitted to attend, racecourses ,in the mornings and take a purely, sporting and .pleasurable interest in watching the gallops, because they might overrun the place, and thus become a nuisance to trainers. Bat if they did attend, they could not know. to what extent owners have mapped out their season's programme. Nor do the papers give this information awav. Thev do not hanker after ac j quiring Stable secrets, but merely aim at giving the racing ptrblio a fair idea of the work horses are doing, chiefly those who are likely to play one of the many parts it is intended they shall in the various big events. No owner who engages in the Affairs of the turf with a sportsman's ideas is likely to object to the gallops of his horses being reported. It would be easv to mention the names of pntrons of the turf who are never so delicrhted as when in a position to advise that their horses are doing Well, and likely to win the next important engagement. Unfortunately, there are others who object .to the movements of their horses being known, though, a ■moment's reflection ought to convince them that unless the racing pnßfic has siifTicient interest in the sport In .Back. Us faticy thefc would lie no market in which the others could operate. It is onlv because of the contnaratively small investments ni the -ifniljitive publjp that the riUsrmen ate ship to accommodate stables who reduire Inrffe parcels, and every iintrmrin will. admit, that. if he. is to be "struck" it is better, for the same generally thnt_,the wingers shnjold be .the public • father than •,!» bir; bWng stable.