TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 251, 19 October 1912, Page 16

TURF NOTES.

<By WHALEBONE.)

"Danny" Maher," the well-known jockey, was at Shoreham fined £6 for driving a motor car at 83 miles an hour through Kingston-by-the-Sea during tho Goodwood meeting. In writing about hard-worked horses. Mr John Corlett refers to Saucebox, winner of an English St. Leger. The writer quoted tsaya Saucpbnx was a little weakling brought up on the bottle, and when he won the St. Leger he had already run that year in 20 races, 10 of which were victories. After winning the St. Leger two days later he was pulled out again, and, notwithstanding what he had done, 4 to 1 was laid against him for the Doncaster Stakes, which he won. Apparently he thrived on galloping, as immediately before the St. Leger he was pulled out at Derby, as Caller On was, and won the Tradesmen's Plate and Chatswprth Stakes. A week before that he mode an attempt to "twice run" at York. He was beaten in the Great Ebor Handicap, but made such a big show in the Great Yorkshire Stakes against the St.,Leger faTOUrite, the great Rifleman, io wit, that Flatman, who rode the latter, threw a pony away on him for the St. Leger, remarking, "That little beggar took a lot of catching." At Airdrie, on August 9, Saucebox won the Airdrie Burgh Cap, and then took the long journey to Northampton, where he wo'u the Cleveland Cup, but it was a walkover. Two other numbers were put up, but they were taken down again, and their owners fined ten pounds each. We thus see that hefcween August 9 and September 14 inclusive, Saucebox ran is eight races.

Mr. John Corbett, in the "Sporting Times," is the latest to take up the cudgel on behalf of the Woottons. He writes: The running of Santair \v. the Great Yorkshire Stakes satisfies us that the views we expressed with regard to his lace with Stedfast at Liverpool were correct, and that he never had a thousand to one chance of beating that horse. He has now been struck out of the St. Leger. The opinions of jockeys we never pay much attention to, and as likely' as not what they gay one moment they will deny the next. This is the difficulty that confronts the stewards. We actually heard it asserted that Santair was 'stopped in the middle of his run,' and this was done purposely. What we saw wsvs that but for leaving off riding, Woottori would have won the race by ten lengths, and consider that he did nothing to interfere with Santair. 'The stewards ought to■have deprived Lord Derby of the stakes, , was at the time noisily contended. They would have robbed his lordship had they done so. There has. been such an outcry against jockeys not keeping their horses straight that it is not for us to say that the stewarfa were not justified in suspending Wootton, and they may furthermore have had something else, in their minds. There is all this to be considered, that the Jockey Club are not always in a position to say what they know. They are no,t empowered to take evidence! on oath, and are liable to action for libel. Talcing the Stedfast incident as it stands, we think that Wootton was harshly used. He interfered with nothing."

On the popular subject of coups that have failed, a Home paper comments: —"I ■wonder how many people now-a-days peruse the entries for the Cesarewiteh ■with anything beyond an apathetic interest. The times when gigantic eoup3 could be engineered and horses backed to win considerable fortunes simultaneously with the publication of the nominations, have long since passed away. The 'bring-off of the old-fashioned "coups," as they are termed, must have engendered a good deal of anxiety and many sleepless nights on the part of those most immediately concerned. Mr. George Hodgman, who in this particular line was perhaps the cleverest man of his day, always .■heaves a big sigh of disappointment and regret when he talks of John Davis, who, representing the biggest and most concrete certainty of all times, was beaten for the Cesarewitch owing to the egregious foolishness of his jockey, Sammy Marden. Had John Davis won, which he most assuredly ought to have done, the ring Would have been poorer by some £120,000, which was thn sum for which Mr. Hodgnian and his friends had backed the horse. However, I don't suppose that owners lay themselves out for these sort of things at the present tune, for the simple reason that they cannot get the money on. There is practically no market until almost the eleventh hour, and, what is more to the point, there are no leviathan bookmakers prepared to lay. The plunging Mairquis of Hastings is said to have won no less than £75,000 over Lecturer's Cesarewitch alone."

Just when sporting men generally were speculating ac to whom the V.R.C. committee would appoint as stipendiary stewards to control racing if the metropolitan district of Melbourne, word comes of a alight 'hitch in the proceedings, owing to the VA.T.C. stewards —-or Home of them —being disinclined (as anticipated) to give up altogether the privilege of adjudicating on racing on their own course. A meeting of the VJLT.C. committee (all committeemen are stewards) was held recently to discuss the situation. The V.A.T.C. stewards are, says the "Argus," in favour qf the stipendiary steward system, but not on the lines laid down by the V.R.C. committee, and the members of the Williamstown committee are, it is understood, with them in regard to this matter. Some informal discussions have taken place between the chairman of the VjUjC. and VJLC, but nothing official has yet been before the. V.R.C. committee. The V.A.T.C. stewards discussed the question at great length yesterday, and the result of their deliberations will be communicated to the V.E..C. committee, who will meet shortly to go into the matter. The YAT.G. stewards would like to have a "say" in the appointment of the stipendiary etewnrds, and they object to handing over the full control of racing to the stipendumee. They are agreeable to appoint I f* *£"*. atipendiary stew«riU o? + j******* -on. matters inT'lv Gaulfleld. .Fa.il- ' ViT rf r h >° ; * approval, the \ .A.I G stewards would be agreeable to sit «t a sort of intermediary r t to confirm, vary, or quaeU by -the 3t>pend l ary. s tewardvsucfa. action .. on the.part of the V.A.T.C. stewards to be subject to appeal to the VAC*-com-mittee.- • - - -. ..- „...

The well-known Parkes (NiJ.W.) horseman, J. has a unique experience recently. Mr A. G. F. Bolinger. purchased a coll by St. "Elmo, and handed him over to Venables, who invested him (saye the "Western Champion") with the hopples, and allowed him to run about the yard for a while preparatory to mounting him. Aβ soon as he got into the saddle, however, the horse made a wild charge at the gate, which he cleared like a bird, and at such a pace that he bumped into the fence on the opposite side of the lane before his rider could pull him round. Recovering from the collision, he bolted in the direction of Parkes for a considerable distance before the rider could get him under control. When he did so, and dis■mounted, he found that not a solitary strap had been broken. Subsequent mesisurement of the gate showed that it was sft 7in at the highest part, and sft 3in at the lowest, and how the colt, hoppled as he was, cleared it without mishap is inexplicable.

A writer in the "Field" (Calcutta) hag it that there was really no necessity for legislation in connection with betting in India, as the heaviest speculation at any fixture there is small by comparison with even one of the smaller meetings in England. The paper then quoted adds: "There is no heavy gambling on racecourses in India for the best of all possible reasons that the average racegoer is a small better and cannot afford to be otherwise. The men who do bet in big sums can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and can well afford to induuge themselves in this or in any other hobby. There are few cases, comparatively speaking, of men who have been ruined on the turf in India, and the Defaulters' List and the small amounts for which default has been made are the best answer to the stupid agitation which has been started on the other side of India. It is the exception rather than the rule to find a backer who has the equivalent of a tenpound note on a race in India, the majority of the backers being content with a ten-rupee note, representing the large sum of 13/4, and any bookmaker with any experience at all of India and the average run of the speculations at the various meetings will bear out this statement."

It was ascertained just before the last mail felt Sydney that Malt King was a little better than he was for some hours after going amiss. The pain had gone out of the injured fetlock, but it could not be stated definitely, said Mr. J. M. Stewart, V.S., until the swelling disappears whether' Malt King is a hopeless case or not, and that' will not happen for about a week. Malt King's troubles developed when, it is stated, the horsr galloped on the tan for the first time, but it is probable that the ailment was started by the hard race Malt King had in the Spring Stakes. Supposing Malt King to have run his last race, he will retire with such stakes to his credit as:—Two years old— A.J.C. Champagne Stakes; 3yrs, Rosehill Spring Stakes, Caulfleld Guineas, V.R.C. All-aged Stakes; 4yrs, Tattersall's Tramway Handicap, Rosehill Rawson Stakes, A.J.C. All-aged Stakes--syrs, A.J.C. Metropolitan Caulfield Stakes, Rosehill Rawson Stakes, A.J.C. AU-aged Stakes; 6yrs,.. Rosehill Spring Stakes. Malt King has won ovn all distances up to a mile-and-a-half, and he was frequently either second or third, his form having been so consistent that he was more often in a place than out Of it. At times Malt King has beaten most of the best horses in the State, and in turn has gone down before Prince Foote Bobrikoff, Flavinius, Aurofodina, Lady Medal] ist, Trafalgar, and Duke Foote Should Malt King be done with so far as the racecourse is concerned, ho will take with him a record of twelve wia a for a total of about £13,000 in prize money. _If Jolly Beggar had won the Epsom .Handicap, his owner would have collected among his winninga one of the choicest wagers Mr. P. Connolly, or any other backer, has ever had the pleasure to book. It was 3,000 to 30 about Jolly Beggar, who in due course firmed until less than sto 1 was taken. But that would only have repreeented a small portion -of Mr. P. Connolly's winnings. The Gigandra "staWe" had some very lono--pnee bets about their horse, and Tt might be a very long time before Mr. .7. Tillett is able to persuade his brother metallicians to accommodate him again to the same large amount and at °the same long rate of odds as they did about Dajiaus for the big mile race on Saturday la?t. The winner, Hartfell, won his owner only a comparatively small stake in bets—Mr. F. Merton never lets the rin" go unscathed wfhen he wins a racewhile if Blairgour had succeeded in hanging out long enough to stall off Hartfell and Gigandra he might have placed his account in credit with his spirited owner, Mr. "W. T. Nowlan," instead of making it bigger on the wrong Side. Sandbath's owner went for a big win on his horse, much of which was got at 100's to 1 and 2, and among others who were on at very elastic prices in one of the best betting Epsom Handicaps ever run were the owners of Malthusian, Shuja, Barley Water, and Dr. Hart. Mr. J. A. Beales had Bkkeney "running to win him a small fortune at a rate of odds that would almost cause the totalisator to blush, but the ex-New Zealander had his chance of success spoiled by a mix up in attempting to jump off. The owner and trainer of Beverage were also among those with the ring dealt very liberally at a late stage of the proceedings, while a lot of money was wagered early at an average of 100 to 1 v. Cisco, though it is doubtful if "the stable" participated in it. Popinjay was always a very strong fancy generally, and if "the chairman's" horse had succeeded to the honours the betting public would have been big winners instead of large losers, as they were by the success of Hartfell. who was at no time really a strong public fancy. ~ As for the Metropolitan, it was not nearly so good a betting race as the Epsom Handicap. Since Duke Foote exposed his hand by winning at Warwick Farm a few weeks ago, the betting on the Metropolitan ■was to a great extent spoiled. Those invariably gopd judges, the pifblic, hardly wanted anything else save Mr. John Brown's champion, and in consequence there was not anything like the same amount of wagering on that race as there would have been under other circumstances. It is, doubtful if Mr. Brown won much money on the race apart from the stakes, but there would have been a different tale had Sunlike landed home first in the Epsom Handicap. The owner had the double of Sunlike and Duke Foote running to win him what would amount to a big fortune for the average man, but, fortunately for those from whoni the double was taken, Sunlike failed in the first leg of the combination. As Duke Foote was at "evens,"- prices that were ridiculously long were on offer against some of tho starters in the Metropolitan, but even they failed to tempt the speculative public to do so much as nibble.