TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 148, 22 June 1918, Page 14

TURF NOTES.

«By WHALEBONE.)

Over 800 bookmakers' clerks have been licensed by the V.R.C.

It transpires that the retirement of the imported horse Magpie was due to a cold. He is reported to be rapidly throwing off the effects of his ailment, but he will not race again till tlie spring.

St. Simon, the great English sire of racehorses, left 432 foals 'as the result of nearly twenty years in the stud. Of these 314 started in races, and 191 of them were winners. They accounted for seventeen classic races, including two Derbys and four St. Legers. St. Simon led the list of -winning sires six times in nine years, prior to 1902.

A peculiar transaction was associated with one of the races at Randwick recently. A big better laid the owner of a horse odds to £25 to be permitted to instruct the boy how to ride in the race. He told the jockey to keep his mount behind until the turn, and then make his run. The rider carried out instructions to the letter;. he kept the animal behind every other horse in the field with the exception of one which had been left at the barrier, and of course was beaten. He finished in such a manner as to leave no doubt about his ability to win if other orders had been given.

The Maryland House of Delegates has made American sportsmen happy by re-, jecting a bill that was designed to abolish betting at all the racecourses in Maryland. The question has been _ much debated one in Maryland for some, time, and the defeat of the bill means that the matter is settled for at least two years, as under the General Assembly rules the same subject cannot be considered again at the same session.! As the New York "World" aptly states: 'Those interested in the breeding industry and in racing as a sport heard the news with keen satisfaction."

Melbourne exchanges state that general satisfaction is expressed out Flemington way at the decision of the V.R.C. authorities to pad the top bar of the racing hurdles. It will save many a horse a nasty knock. Onlookers often hear the loud sound of raps as the field cross a hurdle. In some cases these contacts with the naked timber cause injuries that the padding will prevent. Trainers are now wondering if it is the intention to similarly treat the schooling hurdles at Flemington. It would not involve much time or cost to do so, considering the advantage that would be derived, from it.

Opponents of war-time racing will find food for thought in the following message from Washington to a Chicago contemporary: —Horse racing as an amusement at army ' camps is being strongly advocated in official circles here. The movement is meeting with universal approval on the part of army officers, not only as a Tecreation for the enlisted men, but as something, whioh will go a long way to improve the efficiency of the cavalry branch of the service. While most thought has been given to the possibility of running and steeplechase racing, there are also those who are advocating trotting affairs.

As far as can be ascertained (says a Melbourne writer) the treble success achieved in the V.R.C. Hopetoun Steeplechase by Artillery Bill is unique in Australia for a cross-country performer. On several occasions horses have won steeplechases at Flemington and Caulfield for two years in succession. There are also few instances of treble successes ■ by one horse in steeplechases in the Bri- 1 tish Isles. The Irish jumper Covert Hack won the Conynghom Cup, a four mile steeplechase, for three years in suc- 1 cession, at the beginning of this century. He carried 13.5 on the last two occasions, and then came to light a couple of years • later and won the same race with 12.8. >

Many horsemen are of the opinion that the Kentucky Derby is too severe a test for a valuable three-year-old, because the big race comes so early in the season, says an American writer. However, the records made later in their careers by horses that have won the Churchill Downs classic do not indicate that they were injured in any way. Last year Omar Khayyam, after winning the big event, lost his first start. That was in the Brooklyn Handicap, whioh was won by Borrow in world's record time. Omar Khayyam finished in the ruck that day, but that was because he was practically left at the post, and never had a chance to show his real form. The remarkable way this great son of Marco stood up all the season, remaining in training without a rest until late in the fall, shows that winning the Derby did not hurt him in the least.

An Adelaide correspondent of the "Australasian" writes: —"In your issue of May 18 I read with much interest the reference to the two-year-old performance of Triton, and, being under the impression that Device had excelled it in .1878, I looked it up, to find, however, j that the latter's performance which I had in mind, viz., five miles in one afternoon, was done as a three-year-old. I |am sending you the extract just the same, as I think the performance is unique." The extract shows that on June 20, IS7S, at the S.A..T.C. Accession Day meeting in Adelaide. Mr. W. Pile's three-year-old filly Device (by Treg- ! eagle) won the Winter Handicap (of 4 soys. each, with 100 soys. added, two miles), and the Queen's Guineas (of 4 soys. each, with 100 guineas added, three miles). The late Tom Hales rode Device in each race. She started favourite at 3 to 1 against in the first event, but in the Guineas was at 5 to 1 against, Glenormiston being favourite at 3 to 1 on. Device won the Winter Handicap hard held by four lengths from Mr. T. Jordan's Contest, with Messrs. Isaac's and Coleman's George Frederick third. Therewere nine other starters, and the time was 3min. 48J.ec. She also won the three miles race by four lengths from Mr. W. H. Filgate's Glenormiston, -with Mr. J. H. Hill's Fishhook third; the only other starter was Mr. S. Ferry's St. Bal-. dred. The time was 6min. lsec. Seeing that she was only three years old Device's performance was quite a remarkable one. but in the bad old days, when heat racing was the thing, horses had to do more in one afternoon, and in the Australian Cup of 1572, when Saladin and Flying Dutchman had finished running off their dual dead-heat, each had covered six and three-quarter miles.