TURF NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 27, 31 January 1920, Page 18

TURF NOTES.

(By WHALEBONE.)

'•The worst of a married man going in for betting," complains the Pale Paeber, "is that his -wife nags him if ihe loses, and pinches the proceeds if he wine!" An English writer holds the opinion that the Jot-key Club ought really to inquire into this nnestion of handicapping. If the official handieappers are being grossly deceived, then the stewards should make it their business to discover how and 'why- Unless something is done to check thi3 scandal, racing in England will become a reductio ed absurdum. Definite action ha 6 been taken by Sydney ringnien in regard to the proposal "to have the Gaming and Betting Act amended. As a consequence of a discussion on the subject, it was decided to approach the Government, and lav 'before the administration the changed position in which bookmakers —and punters, too —are placed as the result of the recognition of their calling on a racecourse by the imposition of license fees and ticket taxes. The ringmen are hopeful that the result of the interview will be the introduction of an Amending Bill, in which the legal status will be clearly defined. The Australian jockey, Frank Bullock, has invariably been referred to as a lucky rider, and he upheld his reputation last month, as while on his way to England he broke hie journey at Perth, and rode a couple of important winners, including a dead-heat in the Perth Cup on the three-year-old Eurythmic. Bullock, it is said, will ride lor -larvis , stable in England. Writing of the return of Bullock to England calls to mind that advices from Melbourne say Brownie Carslake, the well-known Australian rider, is returning for a few months, presumably with the intention of missing the English winter. The chances are Carslake i≤ a wee bit frightened that if he stays in England for th« winter he will put on too much avoirdupois, as 'he is anything but light now, it troubling him to ride under about 5.7. The English classics of 1821 have'secured good entries, the Two Thousand Guineas having closed with 156 entries, the One Thousand Guineas with 159, the Derby with 352, the Oaks with 291, and the St. Leger Stakes with 323. His Majesty has entered horses for all five races. The entry for the Derby is notable for the inclusion of several yearlings that realised sensational prices at the recent Doncaster bloodstock eales. Lord Glanely has made eight nominations, including the Swynford colt for which he paid the record price of 11,500 gns, while Mr. Watkin J. Williams has subscribed with the colt by The Tetrarch—Lisma(now named Syrian Prince) and the filly by The Tetrarch— -Enone (which has been named Nymphida), for whom he paid 8000gns and SlOOgns respectively. According to a Sydney exchange backers of horses associated? with the Melbourne turf had a particularly bad time during the Christmas meetings, and in some cases their losses ran into thousands. Among owners and other patrons of the turf in Victoria are some whose backing operations are extraordinarily wide, the percentage of such bettors being larger * there than in any other Australian State; but whether the big backer benefits the racing business as a -whole may be doubted. There can be no reasonable objection to an owner backing his own horse, no matter how extensively; but there have ibeen plungers who were obliging enough to accommodate other owners, as well as trainers, by "punting" for them, and their presence on the course was not desirable. Such a practice only tends to the worst results. A person who is in the habit of "taking on" horees for various stables could scarcely be expected to do so for more than one in a particular race and if 6ereral are waiting, as may often happen, to he accommodated in the same way. what follows is obvious. Relative to a controversy as to whether galloping exercise should form part of a trotting horse's routine, Mr. Harry \MeOalla writes in the current issue"of and Pacing": ;a lt has always been my opinion that regarding horses bred for trotting purposes galloping is a fault, and not an ability that places additional value upon the animals. Many trustworthy authorities have it that trotting is an artificial gait, seldom or never found in horses in t'he:r wild state, except as a preliminary to a canter or gallop. For track purposes galloping exercise must, therefore, be conducive to 'breaking, , especially when the horse is being driven at wp speed. Racing is an inborn instin™t with horses, and, naturally, the 'quickest way there' is dominant in the animal's mind •when he is contesting supremacy with his rivals. It follows", therefore, that as I galloping is a far more speedy method of locomotion than.trottin = , a horse that is not broken of the habit will invariably have a tendency to gallop immediately he 'finds that his trotting abilities are nob good enough to attain the desired effect. On the other ihand, if he is cognisant of 'the -fact that galloping is a. fault that calls for rebuke, he will stick to the gait ihe has been trained to, and strain-every nerve, mu?cl&>-and sinew to win, or accept the iaev«t*bl« nn! get beaten on 'his merits >.s a trotter." When a horse is prevented from displaying its true form in a race, the act of the jockey (who invariably rides to orders) is called "shunting." An experienced trainer, who claims to have detected several flagrant cases of this nature, contends that it is within the power of the atipendary stewards to put terror into the hearts of jockeys and make them avoid any trainer who may ask them to take the mount on a non-trier. The system recommended for adoption is that whenever thp stewards notice that a horse has not been asked to .do its beet, apart from tne question ot whether it could have won or not, the jockey should be told that he was not riding in sufficiently good form. His license could be withdrawn, and an order made that he ride track work regularly tor three months. If, on being handed back. his license, the lockev committed a further offence, not sufficiently grV« or conclusive to warrant disqualification, he should be aparin told to improve his knowledge by track exercise only. The trainer whoso views are quoted adds:—"ln short time the jocke%s would learn that they must do their utmost Ito win on all occasions, and none would !l>e willing to get up on an unfit horse J with the o'ojoct of deceiving handicappers and the public at large. The system would be more effective than the policy of waiting to sheet home a charge of pulling, followed by disqualification."