TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 64, 15 March 1919, Page 18

TURF NOTES.

„._ At the A.J.C. Committee meeting at ° the end of last week, it was decided to .' frame a new rule of racing, making the . wearing of ekull caps by jockeys compul,f Bor - V - " t, :i According to the "Bulletin," " Abe" 3, Davis, tlie one-time Flemington trainer, is an inmate of the Old People's Home at Cheltenham (Vie.). Amongst other champions he handled Grand Flaneur, the unbeaten son of Yattendon. Bill Long's great horse won the Normanby Stakes under Davie as a two-year-old, and was 8 then, for some reason, transferred to "" Tom Brown. Brown was responsible for '° I the destruction of Long's turf popularity. He backed Flaneur early for the Cup, c which he should have won, spoiled the odds and annoyed Long, who promptly scratched the animal. The punters went mad. It would hare paid the big N.S.W. c sportsman better, perhaps, to have stuck <j to the old man whose race is finishing in n the Victorian Home. s c Shadowlahcl's scratching for the Aus,S tralian Cup, and the fact that he has a not been on the tracks lately suggests a that all is not well with him, says a Sydney writer. Mr. "W. T. Nowlan" gave 3500gns. for Shadowland after he ran » second in the Sydney Cup to Rebus, and c he was then put away for the Melbourne s Cup ,but failed to get through a preparation for that event, and his trainer, James Scobie, has hot been able to produce him for a race iil twelve fndn'ths. 7 It iooks as if "Mr Nbwlan" riiade a r bad bargain frohl a racing point of view, but the chances are that Shadowt land will prove his worth at the stud, & even if his present owner does not get s a race out of him. 3 According to Australian exchanges the !. surprise of the Australian Cup acceptance was the withdrawal of the Melbourne Cup winner Night Watch. lie" 0 appeared to be favourably handicapped , at 7.12, and although apparently he had 1 done well on trie tracks, he dropped out ' 9 of what might have been an easy en--9 gagement for him. Perhaps he is being held in reserve for bigger game, and no' . doubt will be found among the acceptors I for the Sydney Cup later on. Night Watch has not had a run since hie Melbourne Cup win. He -was thought to be j well handicapped for the Williamstown Cup last November, but was withdrawn. Racing people are beginning to think j that Mr McDonald is keeping him to i look at, like a good picture. \ Among those who believe in swim- i - ming exercises for horses is Mr. S. 0. Wood, the well-known Australian veteri- j • nary surgeon. "It is a great form of exercise," declared Mr. Wood, "and in most cases it provides a pleasant relief from the monotony of the tracks. In the first place swimming exercises the j muscles without any jars, and therefore ' it te an excellent thing for hdfsee that ' are lame or in anyway inclined towards 1 lameness. Swimming, of course, does • ndt suit every Hoffie any more than it t does every man. There are men who » become very tired after swimming, and it is the same with some horses. Such : cases, however, are exceptional, and ■- the average horee thrives on the exeri cise." Having secured a good horse in Biplane, Mr T. A. Stirton has taken steps to see that the champion is accommoI dated with a good 'horseman whenever i fie races. i He has engaged L. A. Walker to pilot • the black horse in all his engagements. ■ Probably A. Wood will pilot Cetigne in i his contests, so that T. F. Scully's eta.be will be well placed with regard to good • horsemen as well as good performers in - the corning autumn. , "Walker has been riding Biplane in his ■ work since he resumed training under T. F. Scully at Randwiek" (saye "Iro- i quois" in the Sydney "Stiti"). "The black goes quietly enough in his tasks at present, but it remains to be seen . whether he will observe the same good , demeanour when he reaches an ad- | vanced stage in his preparation. During j his previous visits Biplane showed the ; possession of a nervous, high-strung j ( temperament, and, to borrow from the j slang of the turf, he frequently 'got on his toes' during his training. * . i "W. H. McLachlan often had the mount. Chatting about him, that j jockey said Biplane Sometimes took the j bit in his teeth and assumed absolute ; control of his rider. At such times it i was impossible to humour him, for he I just obeyed the dictates of whatever ' whim came into his Heitd. I "On one occasion ile set off at the gallop along the ridge of grass about i nine inches h-gher than the level of the tan and cinder tracks which it divides. At every stride there was a risk of the horse missing his footing. Finally j he ran straight at a steeplechase fence, I and this brought him to a standstill, luckily without getting into harm." Saye the Sydney writer "Pilot":—lt is probable A. circular will Be se'ht out to members of the N.S.W. Breeders, Owners, and Trainers' Association, asking for an expression of their tie'wS oh' the subject of the Tod Sloan styie of horsemanship, and these will be considered by (the committee of the A.J.C. It eeems to mc rather late to make any fuss about the matter. To have been at all up-to-date action should have been taken nearly ten years ago; when so many youngsters were riding ridiculously short. Nowadays very few jockeys attempt the short leathers of that period, one of the few exceptions in Sydney being I 1C Bracken, and as an exponent of the Tod Sloan style he is a success. A modified forward seat is now the vogue with most of our leading jockeys and apprentices, and, if they do not ride ! those whip and spur finishes that found i, so much favour in the old days, the lea- ', sening of wind pressure throughout a, ! ' race, combined with the fact that tne ' style tends to a lighter seat on a horse than the old method, more than counter- i balances anything they may lose through ! lack of vigour just at the end. There !' is not so much amiss with tlie present : style that anything would be gained > ! by a reversion to the cavalry seat of many of the old-timers, and as I have often written, it would be absurd for ' t any racing club to prescribe a uniform I length of leathers. In several branches I ( of sport there is wide difference in the i ] methods of leading exponents, and the i style which has enabled one man to achieve success would be an impossi- , bility for another. It is the same with *c ruling, and though, of course, some of c the old-timers will naturally ejaculate f "Rubbish!" I think our leading jockeys T of the present day compare more than favourably with those of the past whose t deeds are so greatly extolled. It is 8 harder for either jockeys or horeee to i win races now than ft wae then.