TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 111, 10 May 1919, Page 18

TURF NOTES.

i3y WHALEBONE.)

The ride on Afterglow, in tjfe St. Leger Stakes, at Wellington, provided B. Deeley with' his third win in that race, he having previously scored on Balboa and Kilboy. Mr. G. D. Greenwood, owner of Afterglow, has had one previous win in the race, with Danube. Yankee Jack, winner of both hurdle races at Wellington on Friday, competed a couple of times unsuccessfully at Rangitikei and Feilding, and this was his first win. He was bred by his owner, and sired by the New Zealand Cup winner 'Frisco, from Willow Bank, by Worry—Cordelia, by Torpedo—Cornelia (dam of Ahua). Mr. James Bull was not present to see his horse win. Commenting on performances at th« New Brighton trots, a Canterbury critic writes: "The outstanding feature of the Autumn Handicap, for unhoppled trotters, was Nelson Bingen'B remarkable performance. He was backed down to an absurdly short price, and during his preliminary showed a perfect trotting action. 100 yards the imported stallion dropped into a pace which necessitated Cockerill pulling him up almost to a walk. In the meantime Bluewood had opened up a useful lead from idol, Theseus, and Wonderland, all of whom were trotting solidly. Once Nelson Bingen settled to business he cut down those in front of him in masterly style, and when a mile had been left behind, was within striking distance of the leaders. Heading them off one by one, only Bluewood remained to be dealt with when the home straight was entered. At the distance the favourite looked to have the issue in safe keeping, but he again mixed, and suffered defeat by a little over a length. The winner trotted a very solid race, but his achievement was quite eclipsed in interest by that of Nelson Bingen, whose Bectional times wore: Half-mile 1.28J, mile 2.37, mile and a-half 3.48 1-5, two miles 4.59 2-5. Though the Trentham Gold Cup, won on Saturday by Sasanof, was only established as recently as 1914, it already holds a high place in the season's classics. The initial race was won by Merry Roc, who, as a three-year-old, carried Mr P. Hall's colours to the fore in heavy going. Her win was well anticipated, for on the opening day of the meeting she had shown stamina and brilliancy by putting down a strong field *in the St. Leger Stakes. When Warstep succeeded in the year following, Merry Roe was again amongst the competitorp,. but she failed to get a place. There were only fir* owners game enough to ta.ckle the Riccarton filly, and, though th'py were not a high-class lot, one of their number, in Balboa, gave her such a race that shu established an Australasian record for two miles in 3.24. By many that is regarded as one of Warstep'3 finest efforts. Only a trio of moderates —: Kligible, Balboa, and Indigo—disputed possession of next year's race, the. trio finishing in that order. Eligible did .still further good service for Mr \V. G. Stflad, but did not last long. The race of 19M" will always be remembered through th\e unexpected defeat of Desert Gold, who could only finish third to Kilboy, then' not at the height of his fame, and Iha Toff. The rather heavy going was blamed for Desert Gold's poor showing, but in Kilboy she met an exceptionally good three-year-old. Last year there was no race, as the autumn meeting at Trentham had to be abandoned. GLOAMING'S BIG SEASON. This year's leading three-year-old, Gloaming, had his last outing for the present racing season in the North Island Challenge Stakes at Trentham on Thursday week, in which he unfortunately met with an accident at the start, and took no part in the race. A Southern writer, in summing up the colt's record, says: The gelded son of The Welkin started sixteen times this season, with the following result: — Stakes. won. £ Won Roscuill Chelmsford Stakes... 570 'Won A.J.C. Derby i,474 •Yon W.R.C. Champion Plate •Sofl Won N.Z. Derby 1050 Second Stead Memorial Stakes 150 Won Isllnston Hate 300 Won G N. Derby 1,100 Won Wellington Stakes 600 Won Kelburn Plate 825 Second Taranakl Stakes 100 Won Egmont Stakes 400 Won Hawera Stakes 400 Won Jackson Stakes 400 Won Wancnnni Guineas 390 Won C.J.C. Challenge Stakes 700 Unplaced N.I. Challenge Stakes — Grand total £11.709 •And Cup valued £100. Deducting the 504450vs won during his i stay in Australia, Gloaming won in New Zealand as a three-year-old the sum of OOGosovs. Taking the stake earnings of three-year-olds in New Zealand, as scpari ate from any winnings in Australia, Gloaming's record has only been beaten onee —that in "the 1915-16 season, by Desert Gold, who won the large amount of S3sosovs, and all the fourteen races she started in. From the above table it will be seen that Gloaming was started sixteen times for thirteen wins, two seconds, and was once unplaced. He had first to lower his colours to Sasanof at Riccarton, when the latter won the Stead Memorial Stakes, and though it may be said that the three-year-old was unlucky. j the older horse's performance was a great ! one. seeing he gave Gloaming 191b and a l two and a-half lengths' beating in a race | thnt took 2.5 (the New Zealand record! Ito run. Desert Gold, in the Taranaki Stakes, at New Plymouth, was next rej sponsible for lowering Gloaming's i colours, hut the race was not a fair test I (as was afterwards proved at Hnvvew. : when he beat the mare by a length in tlie j Egmont Stakes). As nieutioned before. I the champion was for the first time out jof a. place on Thursday last. Another i remarkable feature about j running during the year is that he broke ; two records (for eight and nine fur- ! longs 1. and in both events won with eo.se- , The following table gives the winnings of the leading three-year-olds for the past six seasons: — 101.114— Merry fine (hy Poult) "VO 1014-15- Reputation Ihv Martian) " '. 4>.90 1 -- P,,sort f! " M * ~v A U niacl;).. (WW 10 0-1, The TolT (by llonlfo-m) 42.V! flni,-is_Kstland (by Finland) 381 X ! IMB-10—Gloaming (Ty The Welkin).. OGW j Gloaming has now gone into winter j quarters, and it is to be hoped that he I will recover from the result of his fall, 'and be able lo take his part in the weight-for-age events to be decided in Australia and in this Dominion next season- It is interesting to note that Mr. Greenwood also owns the secondhighest stake-winner in the three-year-old class this season, his filly Afterglow having won 2840sovs. the third on the list being the Australian-bred filly , Punka, with 2500sovs, ' 4