Sporting Gossip at Home and Abroad.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 13 March 1915, Page 16

Sporting Gossip at Home and Abroad.

Mr. R. Hulton, the English sportsman for wham R. Wootton trained, will probably have first claim for l!tl5 on the services of o'Xeill, the American joekty.

According to C. who rode her, Traqnette "would not try a yard" in the Newmarket Handicap. Thns is the failure of that mare accounted for. Hash of Steel is said to have shifted a great deal in the final stage of the race. »nd Herringbone never seemed able to go the pace demanded. How much of these happenings was dne to the head •wind. which operated against the starters, cannot be estimated, but it is morn than likely that it had some bearing on the result.

A lot of early donble bets blew out ■when Sir Solo was scratched for the Anstralian <.'up. says a Sydney writer. Sir t>olo"s claim to the confidence of hopeful punters was in the fact that he •won the Auckland Cup a year ago. and lad, since then, run some bad races in Australia -when he was a first favouriteOn paper the horse was a eecond-rater, tat many eyelids winked at any mention of hi 3 name. Therefore the early books quoted the Maorilander at a short price. Tbey made a false favourite of Sir Solo, and the punters swallowed the bait.

Although Xew Zealand papers are not allowed to publish the dividends payable in the Dominion, in a recent issue of the Sydney "Sun" the dividends paid out at the last meeting of the New Zealand Metropolitan Meeting are published in detail. Commenting on them, a writer says: "Comparison of these odds with the one-two bookmakers who operate at our trotting meetings should open the eyes of racegoers, for never more than even money is offered against anything having a million to one chance, whilst anything at all in the letting is odds on."

"Deutsclrer Sport' , has circularised all the chief owners of thoroughbreds in Germany asking for their views on the question originally propounded by the great German playwright. William Shakespeare, of Stratfordheim auf Avon, ""To Race or not to Race,* in 1915. A number of ownens have replied in the affirmative, but of these several, including Count SeidlitzSandreczki, have done -so subject to the resistance of the hostile nations being broken down by the -spring. Herx Gustav Beit is of opinion that the time hae not jfei arrived to come to a decision one way or the other.

In. India there is a deal of discontent otbt the fact that some stables are repeatedly represented by two or three iionses in a race, and that the one least fancied by the public has an unpleasant knack of figuring to most advantage. Tie public point out that ttey find the ibulk of money for racing purposes, and owners reply to the effect that as the public do not pay the feed bills and "training ■expenses they are only entitled to as much consideration as owners are pleased to give them. However, "with racegoers kicking hard against the present state of affairs, it i. suggested that the variocs turf clule in India should restore the old TUle, which makes it obligatory on an owner or trainer to declare ■whick of hie representatives he means to win with.

"According to a letter received by "The •Thoroughbred 'Record*' from Tom Mcfeeery, formerly a well-known trainer Tomid the Xew York tracks, "Lester ißeiff and another are in business with Mayor Mott, of Oakland (California), and are making, a lot of money." From this it would appear that the wellknown American ex-jockey is -unlikely to resume his former profession. Con- , cerning his brother. Withers McCreery, the writer adds, "had a letter from IV id' in Germany. 'He agrees with General Sherman about war. He has thirty-eight- 'head -of horse at Hoppegarten and no chance to race them. He ■was off in ffbiit" and "leading the winning (trainers) list by a block when everybody went out to see* if the map of Europe could not be changed." It is haTd "to imagine a man afflicted with the loss of hearing and of speech attending Tace meetings and indulging "n betting. An instance of this remarkable fact, however, has come under my notice '(writes "Camoola" in the Perth "Western Mail"). The bettor in question makes -einne big wageiE at times. * It is stated on good authority that just prior to the l"""terth Cup he In tine bet took £550 to about La George. Of course, be was unlucky. At the last week at Goodwood, However, the plucky investor made a good recovery. He' had £50 to £10 twice Off Star "in the HC. Plate. Greenleaf was first past the post, but as he failed to draw the weight tbe rade was awarded to the horse mentioned. The however, was unaware of his -good ■ fortune tin til rthat evetting, and in -the mMntime he had destroyed his tickets. However, he had no difficulty in getting ±he ,£l2O from the bookmakers, who bad Teported the matter to tbe club. Thus the "Bulletin":—lt will be interesting to see what profit or loss Victorian punters make by backing Eric Connolly's horses at tbe present V.R.C. meeting. One way and another the confusing Gonnolly—with the gees he trains and-owns himself, and the other gees' he is" intimately concerned with, and his practice of backing several in tbe same event, before they start and whilst -they are running—-has become th& most- exasperating proposition in "Victorian turf commerce. Hia transactions seem to be equally obnoxious to the many (including bookmakers) and fascinating to the few, especially the few who are always in the inner know, more or less. For punters in the outer know there is little enough satisfaction in backing "Connolly's fancy" at starvation odds. His Caulfield representatives panned out as follows:— Omega, 6 to 4. finished 2nd. Meritus. 2 to 1, Ist, and Honorlne, 8 to 1, 2nd, in same race. Jtoyai Alice. 7 to 4. 2nd. and Honorine, 4 to i, Ist, in same race. • Clontaft, 6 to 4, fell at second fence. So Connolly was calamitous as usual to backers of first favourites, seem» that his "good things" were beaten three times oat of four, and the only winner in tbe quartet was a 2 to 1 chance. Even though the "tote" could have no other good purpose than to apeer the pitch of Erie Connolly, the poor punters ought to pray for it. But "P-the big gambling "interests arc Jjggead to the honest democratic !?"**»— i-nai.. tAere is precious little igl* [ -i **J* t **** :be '°g pushed through the The unbolj- alliance ama wowiera is too m\ '

'The horee/' pleaded the eweet young thing -with the collecting-box, "'k man's best friend. "* "M"yes.' commented the eoured owner, as he parted. %ut if you'd like to come and cast your eyee over my training account you'd begin to Kee that man is a pretty good frigid to the horse." The ex-Victorian jockey .). Hayes, who recently returned to Melbourne. was interviewed by a representative of the "Sporting Jndsre." and. rhatting about the next English Derby, said that though the victory of Friar Marcus would be very popular, he was afraid that colt would be beaten by Mr. Sol. Joel's Pom mem. a son of Polymelus. Indulging in a comparison of English and Victorian racecourses, he said: "It somewhat amused mc at Caulfield to note the circus-like form of the track. Before I left Australia that course appealed to mc as one of the best, but to see them swinging around, particularly when coming into the straight, etruck mc as odd and against the horse, Nearly all the courses in England are roomy, and have fine rcacliy stretches. Chester is an exception. At Kempton Tark they gallop a straight six furlongs, and pull up in the paddock, while at Epsom they pull up in a paddock belonging to Lord Rosebery, after crossing a "road covered with tan." , Hayes had something to say about the Australian jockeys at" present in England, and is of opinion F. Bullock makes at least f 3,000 a year.

Lempriere. which w<yi the Australian Cup. was quite unknown as a racehorse until recently, lie made his first mark in very modest rompanv by winning a junipers' flat race, having previously done just sufficient racing over hurdles to qualify him: Within a week or two he had scored in two more events of that character, and haj earned for himself a reputation as a useful performer, with good prospects of earning distinction in more pretentious company. His galloping powers were evidently well known to his stable connections, ac he was nominated for the Australian Cup before lie commenced his sequence of wing in jumpers' flat races. He made his firet appearance in an open event at the Victoria Amateur Turf Club's meeting last month, when he won the Bond Cup. His performance on . that occasion created a big impression, and the opinion was then expressed that he threatened to spoil the Australian Cup, which up to that period looked very open. The career of Lempriere has been somewhat meteoric, and it would bg difficult to name a horse in recent years that has attained the same prominence in so short a time. He won hie firet jumpers' flat race at Aspendale Park on January 20, being handicapped at the minimum, and the Australian Cup marks his fifth win. His owner-trainer, L. Roberteon, was in the front rank as a trainer and driver of trotters and pacers, and he has proved himself equally capable in handling gallopers, his other successes including the Grand National Hurdle Handicap wijth Wingarara and the" Adelaide Cup with Hamburg Belle. Lempriere 5e not the firet horse to win the Australian Cup after figuring among the jumpers. Ringwood, who was successful in ISBS, won over hurdles earlier in the season, while Marmont in 1904 and Realm in 1907 were champion hurdlers be/ore they were thought of as likely winners of the Australian Cup. Malua, another Australian Cup hero, also distinguished himself over hurdles, but in hie caee the jumping campaign followed a successful career on the flat.

Mr. R. S. Sievier ie very strong on the quis-tion of doping, and in a recent article attacks Australian bitterly. He says:—"Those interested in the thoroughbred and racing were pleased to note the activity of the stewards of the Jockey Club, which was sincerely followed by their provincial subordinates in' a general attempt to discover the dopers. Apart from the -unfair adirantage obtained over the sporting owner, and, incidentally, tine accumulation of bets unfairly won, there is a still greater question in connection with doping, namely, its resulte so far aa breeding is concerned, and ateo the suffering the subject has to go through. There are various kinds of dopes, and it might be argued that in the old days when port wine and whisky were administered they were nrrfhinjr more nor lese than dopes. But America, whose sharpe and thieves invaded England not many years back, introduced chemicals administered in the form of a powder, or injected by a hypodermic eyringe. This became general knowledge," and for our own edification we purchased a horse out of an American stable which we believed Jiad been doped on several occasions, and when we got him to Shrewton minutely examined him. We discovered many punctures, the result of a hypodermic syringe, hidden by tine hairs of the mane, and, therefore, rendered difficult of detection. It wms at this period that the stewards of the Jockey dub were referred to in the Press as 'Three Blind Mice,' and though this was an extremely severe censure, it must be admitted they erred in favour of leniency ior a, considerable period, but this culminated with the warning off of Lester Heiff, which is ample testimony that the stewards were prepared to do their duty, bat not before they -were in possession of sufficient evident. The secret of the dope became known to a few outsidere, as this gang of Americans was -bToken up, and this meant that the nurse was becoming widened instead of lessened. Since then the English Turf has n utlered ' the inJrasion lof lAuatiaSiane, ttiho. if they possess a distinction at all, it-fc that of inferiority to the Americans. That ie to say, they are inferior in intelligence and cuteness, but co far as malpractices and doping are concerned, they are their superior*, doping , having now reached what the criminal would describe as perfection. The Australians brought wiih them a dope, which, so far ac the testing of the horees' saliva goes, is untraeeahle. Its powers are more effective and reliable thin the dope introduced by the Yankees, and ie administered in tablets. These are not infrequently crushed to powder and mixed in the corn or mae>h, as the caee may be, and by experiments at home can be timed to the tick. Their effect on the ■vitality of the borne is common knowledge, and is frequently demonstrated on racecourses, but except that every I professional racing man and a lar<»e number of owners, and those acquainted with th; racehorse, can , ccc there is eomething abnormal in regard to him, doping iba6 been brought to ench a fine science to-day that it ie otherwise undieeoverable. The only way, and there is no other, is to destroy the animal on the spot, and immediately analvsc the intestines," - - -