TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 225, 20 September 1913, Page 16

TURF NOTES.

(By WHAE.&OONT3J . . A dying jockey (says the "Nation"), - -commending his son to the gods that a cavern■ -racing, added, as a parting monition: "Never talk,' my boy. I talked i once, too often. I was riding a matcli i with. J , and we were neck to neck. I "You needn't ride so hard, r I said, 'I'm; not going to win.' 'Oh, arn't you?' he : Whereupon he fell off hi; horse, and I had to win." American -racehorse training methods are coming in ior high praise in Ger"Siany again this seaeon, owing to the excellent results accomplished by the sta-ble of Baron Oppenheim. the Cologne ■banker and millionaire, under the direction of J. Hyland. formerly of .Sheepehead Bay, Xew York. ARhough the season had just begun, Hyland's mounts up to'.3Tirre~7 had ivon-more than "£IO,OOO i i in i p.rize73nonev. # It may interest readers (says an English writer) to know that Prince Palatine will not run ior the Doncaster Cup; hut he. i= .to 'be prepared for the Jockey Club Stakes, in which he can meet Tra-1 eery. It has now been established that at any rate as far as the sudden stoppage -in the case for the Goodwood Cup the cause was the hitting of.the .near foreleg. I am glad to be able to say that the bruising and soreness are yielding to treatment, and that he will soon be able to resume strong work. - ; ■ - • Some idea of the hold racing has upon bhe people in England was gained by the experience at Sandown Park. A great crowd of this character is not easy to estimate even in thousands, but there must have been at least 40,000 people in the park. There were more than in an Eclipse Stakes day. In the paddock and the most expensive enclosure there were comparatively few, but in the cheap enclosures and on the course the congestion was remarkable, and would only be tolerated by those who come racing very seldom., and then are lavishly endowed with the picnic spirit. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, so that everyone would be satisfied, not excepting the authorities, ivho would have plenty of money to take to the. bank. . . • . - Racing authorities in England when they appoint handicappers dp not give them an absolutely free hand, especially with regard to ,the weighting of two-year-olds. And. in. order that those officiate should not repeat former errors, the steward caused to be inserted in the "Racing Calendar" a notice in the following, terms: —"The stewards of the Jockey Chib having noticed caeee where "hflrsis, . especially, two-year-olds, had ..been, handicapped at-comparatively low weigTits after running on, only one or two occasions, wish to *remind handicappers that when the rule ac to running three times was repealed, it. wa.3 expressly stated by. the then stewards of the Jockey Club-at. meetings of, the; ilub that, in proposing the alteration of the rule, they did so in full, confidence **tnat hrndftappeYS would 'keep horses up in handicaps until euch time as they were ■ satisfied that they were able accurately to gauge the form of such horses. The instances which had especially attracted their attention were 'tfiose "in"wHicß certain horses had run twice, and been left or got badly away on: one or both occasions, and had then been handicapped' as thouph they had taken an active part in their race." T_ know of at least one mare to be mated with Prince Palatine next s'easoti,~eaye the writer "Hotspur." That will' be"3lr Jpei',s. Jest, .who .finished her racing career when ehe was eomewWt flukily and unsatisfactorily beaten for the .Nassau Stakes at Goodwood. She is "well described ac "a grand biff of 'stuff.". Small but . very good, honesty and absolutely genuine, Jest has. . done enough, for.glory in thjs sensational year. She 'began.-.jby. being viell, beaten, in T.wa Thousand Guineas trial, ! which Radiant won so easily from .Sun Vat, and when she came on to a racecourse she gallantly iron the One Thousand Guineas, though she. was unsuccess-. ■JuUj -.objected..to on behalf of. Taslett. ,-Her next outing ivas.the Oaks, which she ; . >i!r.oa,_y.ery easily., from, JDepeehe and Arda, \ .. a-nd incidentally .demonstrated once again -that Sunbridge, -himself- a great-sprinter.. - ?aii.get stayere. «F'Or.Jest wae.a genuine . stayer, and.for her.size—she was not a ..big: one,, .though every inch of her was "use"—she wae the" superior of others '~ of her-sex at shorter distances. 'When ■ Prue and' Sands of Time beat her for the Coronation Stak-es of a mile at Ascot she was conceding each of. them a stone, and Arda, who beat her by less than a length at Goodwood, was receiving 121b. nnsorese- with the'big son of Persimmon and-Lady Light-foot-should euifc her admirably-.' Persimmon got big, ■ coachy, and astally uselers horses when mated with 'big mares. His hest winners .were from .maresL.undet..the average height. Ornament, the dam of Sceptre, and-lle- . .Dora,, the dam. of Zinfandel, were both marcs well'under Iβ'hands. Evidently some English .writers hold . the opinion that Prank Wootton is not getting a square deal in England, with hII .their -boasted traditions of fair play Commenting recently, a writer in the '/Sporting Times" says:— "The Nassau aUkce was marred, 'by the daily objection, but in our humble opinion it was on this occasion fully justified. Maher, who was. riding Arda. seemed to tis to come Tight over-to Frank Wootton on ■Jest, and-close him in from makino- his run. The stewards apparently held°that the manoeuvre was legitimate, but though we hold no brief for Wootton it seemed to be the general opinion that with the jockeys reversed' the decision might have been altered. 'Give a doo- a bad name and- hang him' is a proverb ■- which occurred to the minds of many impartial spectators." • Continuing the writer, in referring to Prince Palatine's dereat-, says:—".What, we wonder, would have-beeri-eaid by those .who are always ready-to- attribute evQ to what they cannof immediately -understand if Prince Palatine had been delivered, to Mr Jack Joel and had *een ridden by his jockey -when it transpired that the price oi the r*V ■? - red^ced - l>7 £5.000 shTHild he be beaten in the meantime Of course, he would be beaten under the cwcujnetftßeeejU-would-. have been saidbut it turns out that the man who lost the £5,000 was the very one in whose possession and control he was. Suppos- .-. ing.it had been Wootton who had been riding? Jt wae Saxby, the jockey of Mr Pilkinffto.n, s and ,it was. a -condition of sale "that he ehbiild ride."

Hornet's Beauty, by Tredennie from Hornet, put up a good performance in the King Georges stakes, w.f.a., (if., on the second day ni the. (ioodwood July meeliiiu. Sjuni.'li l'rini-e, oil v.horn Frank Woo-uou lia.l the iiiuaat, was. sent out ;it ouiU-uii favourite, while in a field of four, 4 l> 1 could be got : about Mr V, . took*? -fljirg. who, howjever. did uot love tne issue in doubt I from iho jump to the judge's box, covcrliiT the distance -in Iniin 11 3-osec. J " Perhaps tlie raoft interesting evpnt of the concluding day of tlie Uoodwood lleotinir was tin" U onion Stakes, in whuh Abnvtur giivr a .-imilarly eurrieh display to" that which he had put up at. Liverpool (says an English , writer). It is pretty obvious now who the real offender in* the Derby was, and it must be gall and wormwood to the Epsom stewards to have lhp : r mistake nibbed in liv naoh succeeding performance of the horse to wham they made a present of the greatest race in the world. Latest English exchanges give the information that the Duke of Devonshire is to return from the Turf. There were good reasons why he dceired to sell ofl hie thoroughbred* stock, but he hae just taken subscriptions for three j-eare to Prince Palatine, following on subscriptions already taken to that grand boTse Sunstar. This is most satisfactory news, for it means that the Duke intends to breed from the beet blood in the land, and as he is not a breeder for the market, he will, it is presumed, race what he breeds. The '-Thoroughbred Record" gives some very instructive figures as showing the wonderful progress of racing and the thoroughbred horse-raising industries in the Argentine for the last twenty years. In 1893 ninety yearlings realised a total of 11,385 soys..' or an average of 126 soys. per head. In 1904 170 yearlings fetched a total of 66,790 soys., an average per head of 393 soys. In 1905 272 youngsters fetched 118,560 soys. (average 436 soys.), and year by year since then, subject to slight fluctuations, there has been a substantial increase until in 1910 the record number of 483 yearlings was sold for 308,720 soys., the average price being 659 soys. According to one authority, the highest price fetched by an individual yearling in the Argentine is 5765 soys., given for one by Yal d"Or, while two youngsters by Diamond Jubilee realised respectively 4716 soys. and 4192 soys. When the last mail left England Mr. J. B. Joel was at the head of winning owners, just as Jest was in the list of actual performers. As illustrating how much money is to be won in stakes on the English turf, it needs only telling that from March 21 to August 2 fourteen owners had won upwards of £5000 each, and fifteen others, including his Majesty with £4480, from £4984 to £2577. The chief winners at the date stated were: — ~ ..,.-,„. „.,„

As for the actual performers, they ran: Jest, £11,350; Tracery, £9170; Louvois, £9075; The Tetrarch, £8526; Aboyeur. £6450; and Prince Palatine, £5320. Wihen the committee of 'the A.J.G., in deference to popular opinion, decided to replace the unyielding obstacles on the steeplechase course at Randwick with thick -brush jumps, it was anticipated that even the few persons, who were op posed tp the change would accept the alteration without a murmur until it had been thoroughly tried (says a Sydney writer). The change wae only decided upon after a sub-committee had interviewed a large number of persona who were interested, and drawn up a .report in favour of the thick brush. The committee did not suggest the departure from what had so long been the custom, but there was a clamour for it outside, and as any -change was likely'to be , for the better, co far ac steepleehasing is concerned, it was wisely decided toi try it. The alterations involved very heavy expenditure, but if it tends, as it should do, -to make- jumping races more popular, the money will be well spent. But while giving effect to the opinion of the majority that brush jumps are less likely than unyielding obstacles to injuTe horses and riders, and in that way induce larger fields and create better competition, the committee very properly determined to substitute something that will still require jumping. It would only be wasting money to give such valuable stakes -as are included in the Spring programme if the steeplechase course was made so easy that only half-schooled flat racers could win over it. Ability to jump ought to be the first qualification of a steeplechaser, unless steepleehasing is to be Teduced to a farce, and for that reason at was supposed tihat the stiff brush " fences" would be welcomed by every owner of a" genuine jumper. But though the change will be appreciated by the spectator, at least one owner of horses alleged to be steeplechasere has pronounced against the new jumps, on the ground that they might "rip a horse to pieces." He does not appreciate the change, and, hard though it may be to credit it, he votes in favour of stiff fences, composed of rails, logs or stone walls, on the grounds that they are les3 likely to injure Oioree and rider. This coming from a trainer of jumpers shows clearly impossible it is to .please everybody, and how hard it ds to get the support of those most concerned to an innovation which appears so sensible to otheTS. However, the new obstacles are to be given a thorough trial, and if they fail to make Bteeplechasing worth tile money set aside for it, the next innovation might be 'to wipe fchem off the programme. That the new obstacles will require some jumping may be gathered from their make up. There are eleven of them in each round of the course, practically one in every cfuTlong. No. 1, which takes the place of the logs opposite the judges-box, is 4ft. high and 2ft. 6in. in widtih; and in their order the proportions of the others are:—-Xo. 2, 4ft. by lft. 9in.; No. 3, 4ft. 6in. by 2ft.'ein.; 2Jo. 4, 4ft. 3in. >by 2ft.; No.'o, 4ft by 2ft. 3in.; No. 6, 4ft. by lft. 6in. ; No 7 4ft. 3m. by 2ft.; No. §~ 4ft. 6in by *ft 6in.;. Xo. 9, 4ft. by 2ft. 3in. : No 10 4ft 3in. by 2ft. Gin.; No. 11, 4ft. by 2ft! Gin The height measurements are in front of the jump, tapering to 3in. higher at the | landing side, and the jumps are given a elope of from 12in. to XPJr. °

Winning Rnces. Horses Won. Mr. J. B. Joel 10 Iβ Hγ. E. Hulton .... 10 19 Mr. W Raphael ... 3 4 Mr. A. Belmont ... 2 3 Lord Derby 7 13 ' Mr. D- M-Calmont 2 6 Mr. Sol Joel 9 16 Mr. A. P. Cunliffe . 2 2 Sir W. Cooke 9 22 Sir E. Cassell .... 3 » Lord Rosebery 3 4 £20.744 13,711 9,863 9,615 8,886 8,603 6,973 6,640 6,599 6,345 0,213