TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 31, 5 February 1916, Page 16

TURF NOTES.

(By WHALEBONE.) The VJLC. recently sent £ 1100 to the Minister for Defence for the purchase of two motor ambulances. Captain Greer, Senior Steward of the English Jockey Club, has been appointed Director of the National Tully Stud in Ireland, which was recently presented to tho aatkm by Colonel Hall Walker. The record fluke m connection with an English Derby win was when Merry Monarch scored in 1545. The two favourites, Alarm and The Libel, savaged each other at the post, the former unseating his jockey, breaking away, and falling over the chains, the other being also injured. Then Frank Butler ou Pam came down in tlie race, and threw out two of John Day's, one of which, however, Old England, managed to scramble home third, the chapter of accidents ending in the victory of the despised outsider, Merry Monarch. Tims an English writer: The announcement that there- will be no Grand National nei-S 1 year will hearten up the Huns. much in Parliament aJxrat doing nothing and saying nothing that may be of advantage to the enemy, but the abandonment of the Epsom Derby was all to their advantage, for it gave them fresh hopes of -victory. It w.i the first indication to them that our Thiers were in a state of funk. Even our own troops were depressed by the news. Letters from the ■front and conversations with released prisoners of war and others returned from Germany provide abundant proof of that. "When the English give up their racing it is an admission that they are beaten," said the Kaiser's press.

It is -understood (6ays an English writer) that the names ot all jockeys desirous of renewing their licences under National Hunt Bules have been submitted to Lord Derby, and that this course is a proper one will be generally admitted- Presumably, however, he continues, the great majority of eligible steeplechase jockeys bave already attested under Lord Derby's scheme—at any rate, professional riders within my own knowledge have been quite as keen to •present themselves as the young men in other spheres of life. It is only right that thiry should bear their fair share of the country's burden at this time, and I should be surprised to hear that Lord Derby has fotmd many names in the list to which the designation '"shirker" can be justly applied.

• The o-t-dLrn-axy flat race rider is, as a -Tule,too diminutive-in stature to stand any chance of being accepted for military service, however willing he may be to undertake it, but the case of the 6teeplechase jockey is certainly different. The majority of the latter are precluded from consideration of weight from obtaining sufficient patronage to •provide them with a living under Jockey Club rules, but by virtue of their bodily fitness, to say nothing of their dash ana courage, are thoroughly well qualified for all military requirements, even ii the present form of warfare has not lent itself to ntach utility on the part of the cavalryman. Towards the close of the <*ampaign, however, it is -upright! n probahle that the cavalry regiments will have their turn again, and so play the same important duties that fell to their lot in the early days of hostilities.

the racing of two-year-olds 34r. B. M. Danford, an American firstlieutenant of artillery, has strong convictions. He has been writing in the ""Thoroughbred Becord " pn the subject, and we give extracts frem his letter: —

'"** My conviction that two-year-old racing is unfortunate, unnecessary, and brings actual harm to the breed has been formed through study and observation quite independent of financial interest, either for or against. If there be strong indication that two-year-old racing is injuring the breed, and such indication unquestionably is strong, then thoroughbred interests through the Jockey Club should investigate the matter with completeness to prove or disprove it, :f such a thing be possible. .... Light bone, little substance, and high-strung nervous temperament are essential attributes of the sprinter. With sprinting races the feature—and they seem to be in mo3t of our associations—breeders are practically forced to select and breed to the blood lines of sprinters; in other words, to select and breed to inferiority.

In an article on past Derby winners an English writer says Bend Or's name and fame had long rung througn the land, but rt rang with ten times mightier clang when he won the Derby in ISSO, and added fresh laurels to the wreath of hia sire, Doncaster, who had been purchased by the Duke of Westminster •for the then unprecedented sum of £14,000. Bend Or bad gone through his first season unbeaten, as also had Robert the. Devil, which was to become his greatest rival, but which had only com•peted in two races as a juvenile.

The finish for the Derby this year was one of the' most exciting ever known. A quarter of a mile from home "Robert" held a two-lengths' advantage, and was going great guns; while Bend Or appeared to be struggling to overhaul Teviotdale and Mask. Settling to his task in earnest, the Duke of Westminster's colt came up hand over hand, and though the head was the wrong way four strides from home F. Archer made one last effort, and Bend Or got up to "win a desperate race by a head;

A sensation was caused when an objection was lodged about a month afterwards by th© owner of the second ori, the grounds that Bend Or was not the horse be w-as represented to be, but was in reality a horse called Tadcaster, by. DoncasteV—Clemence, but on investigation the stewards were unanimous in overruling the objection. Robert the Devil suibeequently won the Grand Prix de Paris, and in the St. Leger took ample revenge on his Epsom conqueror, which was made a warm favourite. On three other occasions did these two great rivals meet, and only once did the Derby winner finish in front. This was in the Epsom Gold Gup, run for over the Derby course the following season., and although odds of 6 to 4 were laid on "Eobert" ho failed by a neck after a great race. At the stud Bend Or proved a great success, and amongst other good horses he begat tho mighty Orap-ade».

The V.R.C. Committee has decided that after February' 1 apprentices will not be permitted to claim on allowance when riding races for two-year-olds, as it is deemed inadvisable to entrust tho riding of green two-year-olds to inexperienced riders.

No two-year-old thoroughbred will be allowed to race in 1917 or thereafter on the tracks under the control of the American Jockey Club before April 1 of each year. The new rule will do away with the early racing of two-year-olds, many of which have started their turf careers on January 1 of each year at the winter tracks. When the new amendment was offered a committee of three was appointed to confer with the directors of various tracks in Kentucky, Juarez, Maryland, Louisiana, New York and Canada. The Tesult of these conferences was the adoption of the following amendment to the racing rules:

"No horse foaled in 1915 or thereafter shall run in any race before April 1 of •his two-year-old year, under penalty of thereby disqualifying himself for all races under these rules until December 31 of his two-year-old year."

In tbe Divisional Court in recently, judgment was given in the matter in which arguments had been heard on a rule nisi to prohibit the Income Tax Commissioners from proceeding with an assessment for income tax on £2,000 in tie case of W. Huxley, the 'well-known ex-Australian jockey. The case raised the question whether a young man under twenty-one who has no guardian or trustee is liable for income tax. Their lordships held that Huxley, being an infant in the eyes of the law at the time in question, and having no guardian or trustee, could not be held liable to income tax. The rule was made absolute Mr. Justice Ridley observed that however much the Court might regret that a person in the position of this jockey should escape paying income tax on his profits, they could not stretch the provisions of the Act. Mr. Justice Lush also regretted that they were obliged to make the rule absolute.

One of the chief attractions to the public at Auckland Park (South Africa) is to watch the long line of jockeys weighing-in. The scale is set in an open court, part of the granolithic hall railed off next to the four divisions where the placed horses are passed in. Puyment proceeds as each jockey is weighed out, and the spectators on the rail opposite can witness proceedings without obstruction. One of the great facilities at the park is a board showing the complete scratchings-, so soon as any are notified the number board is altered. The Auckland Park Sporting Club have decided to extend the scope of their offer oi £100 to the men they are sending to the front. Originally it was intended to honour only the V.C heroes with tho cheque for the hundred, but now it has been decided that, in the event of any member of the, party sacrificing, his life in the eanse of Empire, his widow, mother, or next-pf-kin will receive that amount.

Promoters of race meetings in this part of the world should thank their stars tliat their operations are so far away from the seat of war. After many interviews and no end of correspondence the Secretary of the Board of Trade in England yielded to a request by the Racecourse Association to permit a number of race meetings to be held tinder the rules of the NJL Committee. The main object of the Owners, Breeders and Trainers' Association was to keep racing going in the interests of the largo body of owners, trainers and others de- ' pendent on its continuance for their livelihood, but, though the request was granted, it was made clear that the railways were not to be used for race traffic to Gatwick, Windsor, or Lingficld, where the meetings are to be held this month. The railways were too strained for that But owing to a revision of the racecourse tariff, visitors from a distance will not pay more for their travelling and ring fees, if they go by vehicle, than they did in normal times, and by this means it was expected that tho meetings would be made to pay. This arrangement, however, does not apply to the cheap enclosure, the patrons of which do not appear to have been studied. Racing was to commence about noon, so as to allow as much daylight as possible for the return journey. Controllers of racing in England are up against a very stiff proposition, but they hope to keep the game going in a modified form, though the difficulties in the way do not promise to add to its popularity.

Tho "Breslauer Zeitung" of November 28 contains some interesting — and, in more than one aspect, significant—speculations on the likelihood of racing taking place in the Oerman Empire next year. A translation of the article is appended:—

''While in times of peace a delegates' meeting of the German Racing Societies is held in connection with the last racing day of the season to arrange a programme for the following year's racing, nothing has hitherto transpired—in contrast to the state of affairs in AustriaHungary ■ —• with regard to German racing in 1916. The Technical Commission of the Union Club has desisted from calling a meeting of the delegates, because no wish for such has been expressed, and further because many of the societies are no longer in a position to send substitutes for their representatives, who are at present in the field. Nevertheless, there is good ground for hope that German racing next year will in any case be carried on on more extensive lines than the war races of the present year. On this account the Union Club is temporarily refraining from publishing its fixtures, since it is not at present settled which societies in the Empire will be in a posiiton to hold meetings in 1916.

' ."In this respect the position with us is very different from that in AustriaHungary, where only four big racing societies have to be taken into account, whereas we bave over a hundred. The Dnibii, Club itself contemplates arranging n6t only racing at the Hoppegarten, but probably also, as requests for entries to the Silver Shield and German St. Leger are already out, meetings at the G*-"unenwaldbahhV through the Berlin Baring Society. "A similar state of-affairs prevails in regard to hurdle racing. The Society for hurdle racing has iri view the resumption of the sport at Karlahorst, to which would be added the hurdle races at Grunenwaldbahn. Most probably an earlier start wiU be made than this year, when the resumption was made at the. -nd, of May."

CRICKET. C. V. Crimmett, the ex-Wellingtonian who is now playing in first grade cricket in Sydney, took six wickets for 55 runs the other day for Sydney against Balnmin, making his "hag" "for the match 14 for 115. That is the best bowling performance in Sydney firrt grad? cricket this season. A Canterbury cricketer of the very early days related to a Christchurch writer two curious experiences that I befell him in the heyday of his cricket career, as follows:— i On the first occasion I drove a ball! hard hack to the bowler who held it. Being uncertain as to whether or not; it was a bump ball, I called out, 1 "How's that?" and the umpire, apparently somewhat to the surprise of the i fieldsmen, none ot whom had appealed, replied, "Out," and out I went, This incident I was a good deal "chaffed about. - On tho second occasion the match was played iv one of the suburbs. w<* had no umpire -with us, and asked a local enthusiast to act, ■which he did. When running between the wickets my wicket was thrown down by a fieldsman! My bat was grounded at the time, but directly the wicket was down the umpire, who had not Veen appealed to, called, "Out," then executed a mild war dance down the -wicket. I retired without a -word, but when the innings was over remarked to the umpire that my bat was grounded when the wicket was knocked down.' The reply was unexpected, "I think it was, but I was bo delighted to see your -wicket fall that I called 'Out,' without thinking." To be given out once on my own appeal, and the second time without any appeal at all, will take some Dentin-*".