THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 260, 31 October 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

DOINGS !N BRITAIN.

•THE EFFECTS OF WAR. i ' (From Our Special Correspondent.) LOXDOX, September IS. THE TURF.

Not the least surprised person at the

Itktory of Black Jester in the St. Legcr (our racing correspondent "Centaur" writes) was the owner, Mr. J. B. Joel.

"l_ney Black Jester winning the St. ' _e h er!°" he says in a letter to mc. "1 never had a shilling on him. I lost too much on him lor the DerUy. aud how ought he to hive won thai race! I suppose Stern nude too much use of him in the early stages.—but such is racing!" It is just as.well to have at first hand the .ideas of the individual most intimately concerned, for many people doubtless entertain the idea that Mr. Jack Joel must have won a vast sum, as the horse's, starting price was 10 to 1. The fact that the price was 10 to 1 ought to show clearly enough that Mr. Joel was not on- the warpath. As a matter of fact.he bets nothing like he used to do. Ho made up his mind two seasons or so ago never to bet on the old colossal scale, and with two exceptions this season he has kept the vow. lie lost both times he let himself go this year. The first time was when he made up his mind that Black Jester would win the Derby. The odds wore long, and he did unquestionably stand to win a big sum. I should say now that the horse's . collapse at Epsom must positively- have been' due to the fact that the French jockey-never gave him a breather. The result was that the horse galloped him-, __lf to a standstill. ' The second time Mr. Joel had a big bet this season was on Happy- "Warrior for the St. James' Palace Stakes. He had been tried against a 71b or loib better animal than Black Jester, who . had won a race at .Ascot. If we say that the wager was more than the total of the SL Leger Stakes ( £8,000) we shall not be exaggerating. Often it is the presumed greatest certainties in lacing that are shattered. After those experiences how could Mr. Joel antici- " pate the success at Doncaster of Black Jester, after the horse had failed in the Derby and in the Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot from apparent lack of stamina, last week's race being only two furlongs short of two miles? Furthermore, Kennymore had beaten him for the Two Thousand Guineas, and Hapsburg and Peter the Hermit had beaten him more than once. Tet, as was written a week ago,' the son of Polymelus and Absurdity won easily from Kennymore and Cressingham, with Orangeman, in the Duke of Portland's colours, third. Orangeman was unlucky not to get a place, r» ._ad-ttt'tt_i__r yf Eermymor«-isays his ' ~ horse lost the race because the jockey made too much use of him. Black Jester is not a big colt, but he is very truly made, and is quite a sparkling mover. His dam foaled the bay filly Jest in 1910, and she won the One 'Thousand Guineas and the Oaks last Jear, so that her progeny ha.? credited her with three classic races. Her two-year-old is an own-sister to Jest, but so far she is not of much account. Her yearling is by Sunder. To commemorate the St. Lcger victory, Mr. Joel has given £350 to the Doncaster Relief Fund, £250 to the St. Alban's Relief Fund (the ChUdwick Bury Stud is close to that -town in Hertfordshire), £250 to the Jewish Relief fund, and £250 to the Belgian Relief Fund—£l,ooo in all. There was far more confidence that Golden Sun would win the Portland Plate on the third day of tlie Doncaster meeting tor Mr. Joel than there had been confidence in Black Jester. It was Golden Sun's fate, frowever, to be beaten rather easily, and, indeed, nothing in tbe furious rush had a chance with Mr. George Edwardes' Flying Orb, who made the whole of the running and simply paralysed the opposition. Harmonicon was beaten a head for.second place by Neville Holt, but the honours rested with the Amcricanbred horse. He was trying to concede 221b to Flying Orb. Mr. Edwardes is a prisoner of war in Germany at Bad Mauheim, where he was taking a "cure." It way be a long time before he learns that his colours have been successful in the Portland Plate. On the closing day of a , Meeting, which was wonderfully suceess™i,Sco_sidering the amazing circumstances in which it was held, the race for the Doncaster Cup, a genuinely timetoonred event, attracted a lot o"f atten™P- It enabled the three-year-old SriUbroob to register a most popular Jictory for Dr. Russell Ryan. This is we colt that was beaten by Aleppo by three parts of a length for the Ascot Gold vup." He ought to have won it. . In the weights and acceptances issued ™j week for the Cesarewitch anil Cambridgeshire Willbrook was given 7.12, and • penalty of 51b for winning at Doncaster Wings the impost to 8.3. That is very *>n_idable for a three-year-old, but it ™>.to be remembered that Willbrook is J'g'and powerful, and he can stay the distance beyond any doubt. But if he comes "to the argument, so also does Dairy- £%, who meets him on 51b better terms »r a length and a-half beating in the raster Cup. One of whom much is |?8 to be heard in connection with the 5 twitch is Dorrie, whose impost is •* This winner of the Oaks is now to Pt 81b from Willbrook, and I don't think Mc latter would be equal to the task. Fiz •r* m »-has won a mile race at Warwick «M week, but the point is that he gave "h » a speedy horse like Khedive 111. m beat him a short head. ,We know Fiz ft n " a great sta y er > because he won 3™ last year and the Alexan•J™ Plate at Ascot this year. Those are r° ver y severe tests of stamina, and we "we no doubt that Fiz Yama, who be*flfL Mr- Curset J ee Wadia, of Bombay, >\ J* a prominent favourite for the race. _ John Amendall won a long-distance race "Doncaster, and this is one that must *■ reckoned with, for his trainer, E. de f estre, says he is the best stayer he has own. He wishes the race were five ones! G raTO Greek broke a blood vessel g the race won by John Amendall at tK*!_ ' and when horses begin doing *P»* they can never absolutely be trusted "a 8 1"; Vinilla is not a big one, but she ran stay on, and southing may he heard w '"o 1 Common, who was not quite X " P at Don castor. Stenrtv Trade is JJ lie same stable as John Amendall, and the best would appear

On Wednesday of this week the stewards of the Jockey Club made an exceedingly important announcement. At a largely-attended meeting of the members held at Derby House that day it was unanimously agreed that in the interests of the very large number of persons dependent upon racing for their livelihood it was desirable that racing should be continued when practicable at Newmarket and elsewhere. There had been disquieting reports at Doncaster that a section of the Jockey Club was in favour of a stoppage because of the war and the great issues at stake, as well as the need for every eligible man to take up arms. This section was prepared to overlook the fact that a stoppage would bring destitution to many thousands of homes at a time when unemployment and poverty are general, and are indeed fast increasing. Happily different counsels . have prevailed, and, though racing must be under a cloud, it. will nevertheless go on, and thus many will .bey-relieved-af __x_iety .and-want.-. - • THE SOCCER SLUMP. Rugby football is definitely and decidedly - 'off." Our men are playing it in France, "following up" the Uermans. Iv answer to the definite question as to whether Association football should be continued, the War Office has in effect replied "_o on." At the same time the Football Association has been usked to press the need of the country for recruits on spectators, and the military authorities have suggested that some portion of the receipts Bhould be set aside for the relief of the families and dependents of soldiers and sailors. This will be done, and more. Here, for instance, is what the Chelsea Club have already undertaken. They have sent £333 to the National Relief Fund and £100 to local charities, placed their ground and equipment at the disposal of the Queen's Westminster Riilcs—hundreds of recruits are to be seen drilling on the ground every morning—provided a day's'work on each match day for 100 men out of employment, preference being given to married men with families, and allocated a percentage of tho receipts to the National- Fund for as long as the war lasts- Other clubs have not the same resources as Chelsea, but, without exception,. all have . promised their utmost "help. There are about 7,000 professionals engaged in English football, and they are all bound to suffer financially, because, owing to the. big drop in the attendances, the clubs will not be able to pay full wages. Last Saturday was a most unfavourable day, rain falling all the afternoon; but the conditions generally were not bad enough to account for the very meagre "gates." The best was at Chelsea, •where about 15,000 witnessed .the match with Newcastle United. Under ordinary conditions there would have been 50,000 people to see this encounter with: the crack team of'the North. Tlie' big clubs may stand the strain of the situation, 'but the vast majority cannot, and, unless the game regains its old popularity, players' wages are sure to Be reduced. The Football Association have always been alive to the pernicious influence of betting on football, and 'have striven to stamp it out. Last season there were two prosecutions against the agents of bookmakers on charges of attempting to bribe teams to lose, and they were successfully supported. But it has been recognised that the bookmakers could not be fought and resisted without the aid of additional legal help, and a bill has been introduced into Parliament which will give this. It is described as the, "Ready Money Football Betting Bill," and the memorandum sets forth that it "deals solely with one phase and one method betting on football matches, that is, ready m6ney Ibetting on the coupon system, ilt does not aim at interfering with individuals who choose by means of bets or wagers with other individuals to hack their opinion as to the merits of any football team. It does not seek to penalise anyone making a bet on the jTesult of a football match, but it will prevent the practice of what is called "ready money coupon betting."

Coupon betting on football has been carried on on a most extensive scale in this way. Each week- printed lists ot fixtures are issued by. the bookmakers, and tempting odds are offered against a combination of certain results. For example, if you namo three winning home teams and five away, odds of 50 to 1 are paid. The bookmakers have agents, who are paid 10 per cent, of money collected, and usually they are employers in the big workshops and

factories. Last year, at Newcastle, the police made a raid on the premises of one of the big football betting firms, and as many as 51,000 filled-up coupons were discovered. A large proportion were for small bets of Od. and 5/. When the case was heard, it was proved that the bet 3 taken in four months amounted to £19,478, on which there was a profit to the firm of £7,229; and it was further stated that during the eight months of the season a profit of nearly .-£20,000 was made. The explanation of the success of this get-rich-quickly business was that the odds offered were ridiculously small. Under the bill before Parliament the penalty for a first offence is a fine not exceeding £25, or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for three months, arid for a second or. subsequent offence £50, or imprisonment for six months. The League teams are beginning to fi?4._hejr # leyel > bjitjyjlh. tho records are", misleading. It is being asked, "What is .the matter with Aston Villa?" The fact that this famous Birmingham side lost five goals to Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday is a sure indication that there is something wrong. Moreover, in their two previous games they had lost four goals, and they havo only one victory to their credit. This soTt of thing will not go on for long. The Villa are too good a team'for that. It is perhaps a little remarkable that no club in the First League has managed to win ail their games. Sheffield Wednesday to date have the best record, with three wins and a draw. This is a great improvement for the Yorkshire club as compared with last season, when they were dangerously near the bottom of the list all the time, and actually finished eighteenth. They have now regained the help of McLean, the Scott"sh centre forward, and his great scoring ability has made a marked difference to the effectiveness of the team. Everything points to Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland being as good as ever. They have . practically the same sides as a year ago. London First League Clubs do not appear to be able to get out of the mediocre class, no matter how much they spend on securing players. Chelsea arc particularly unfortunate in this respect.- -A - player goes Stamford Bridge with a big reputation, and straight away he seems to make a point of spoiling it, if not actually losing it altogether. During the close season Chelsea paid nearly £2,000 for the transfer of Croal, one of Scotland's best forwards. Now, for Chelsea his.forni has been very ordinary. The defeat of the side at home by Newcastle United was very disappointing. They lost three goals, and they played badly enough to lose-twice as many. And this was against opponents who had failed three times on their own ground and were without a win. Tottenham Hotspur have yet to score their first victory, but their draw against. Bradford City was a fine performance, and most encouraging. , The Arsenal last year missed promotion by a fractional point on goal average, but they should make certain' of "going up" •this season. The team has been very materially strengthened, and they are at present at the head of the Second League table with six out of a possible eight points to their credit.. Fulham, too, have done excellently, starting with three wins, but their victories were checked by the Arsenal last Saturday, and, on the play in this match, it was clear that the latter were the better balanced and more workmanlike side.Bury are the only club in the second division who have secured every possible point—six. A year ago they went on to October 18th without defeat, hut they finished so low as tenth in the table. Swindon are the surprise in the Southern League. They set up a record by winning ten matches off the reel at the start of last season, and they hung on to their lead to gain the championship. So far this season they have not once been the winning side, their hest performances being to draw with Croydon Common away, and Northampton at home. Swindon, however, have been badly hit by the war, for three of their professionals have rejoined the army, and seven amateurs have volunteered. In this way the playing strength of the team has been considerably reduced. Curiously enough, Crystal Palace, last season's runners-up to the champions, have one even worse than Swindon. They have scored only one point out of six. MilKvall and Watford are at the head of the table, and are the only sides in the competition to win every time.