SPORTING GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 122, 22 May 1920, Page 18

SPORTING GOSSIP.

i ■ ] (By ACTAEON.) -— _ i:

\ FOOTBALL. 1 !

RUGBY. j \ The Marist team in Christchurch is at , present leading in the championship } competition. On one wing of the three- , quarter line was L. Cornaga, a promis- j ing lad from Auckland. He is a younger , brother of V. Cornaga, who played in the , Marist Brothers' Old Boys' first fifteen i in Auckland some years ago, and who j was well-known in cash athletics as "V. '. Branson," winning the cash sprint chain- i pionship of New Zealand. J; It is early in the season to think of i Ranfurly Shield matches, says a Wei- ' lington scribe, but as Wellington hold the shield they must expect the challenges to roll in soon. Already one has come to hand. This arrived during the week from the Bay of Plenty. The Bay enthusiasts have seven or eight teams going well, and as they feel strong they have thrown down the glove to Wellington. It seems out of the question that Wellington can play a shield match so early in the year, but no doubt the Bay; will be considerately dealt with. j

CRICKET. '

N. E, Phillips, who as a colt of dis-1 tinct promise played." with Waverley in j Sydney first-grade cricket a couple of , years ago, now threatens to rival Banner Edwards of Attunga as prolific country performer. For the Ibis Club, winners of the Yanco District Coinpeti- ■ tion, Phillips has a wonderful season. His scores were: 101 n.0., 48, 29 n.0., 10 n.0., 6 n.0., 73 n.0., 51, 205 n.0., 131 n.0., 86 n.0., 86 n.0., 4, 100 no., and 38. A batting average of 220.5 should almost constitute a record.—"Gum Leaf." It is apparent that England as well as Australia is at present suffering a dearth ' of capable leaders and the selection of a jcaptain for the team that will tour Aus-1 tralia next season is still under con-:[ si deration. Commenting upon this »' exchange states—Johnny Douglas, who" was deputy to Warner during the last tour, looks the likely leader. His only rivals are Reggie Spooner, the Lancas- j trian, C. B. Fry, and "Plum" Warner. Spooner has refused three previous invitations to visit Australia, and is in poor health owing to being gassed at i Passchendaele. C. B. Fry's position of j Commander at the College, Hampshire,: may prevent him making the trip. ' "Plum" Warner is too old for an ardu-1 ous tour. In previous tours the English j captains have had the assistance of excellent professionals, and it looks at pre-! sent as though Douglas will lead the j visitors, with Jack Hobbs as unofficial j adviser. Douglas won four of the last I five tests in Australia. Commenting on the A.I.F. cricket [ team's record in Britain, "Wisden" for, 1920 says: — " Twenty-eight first-class ' matches were played, and in addition some minor games. Of the 28 matches, the Australians won 12, lost only four, and left 12 unfinished. . . . Of all their wins, the one over Yorkshire was perhaps the most creditable, a last-wicket partnership snatching a victory when the county seemed certain of success. The Australians, however, showed no finer cricket than when beaten at Scarborough in their last match. On that occasion they made a great fight in face of heavy odds. They met with no check till late in June, when they were beaten by- the Gentlemen of England in a single innings. It was the most important match of the tour, and the result damaged their prestige. -- | The Australian papers are discussing the probability of Clem Hill coming out again next season with a view of-leading the Australian eleven and subsequent.lv to take charge of a team that Will tour England the following year. "The mat-' ter has already been mentioned in an unofficial way to the Board of Control. Clem Hill is the only man in Australia who is capable at the present time of captaining this eleven, and should he re-1 turn to his old form, would be a valuable acquisition. He is only 43 years of age, so not too old to play cricket, aud | with the exception of Harry Trot and Noble, is v the best captain .Australia has known. 'Warwick Armstrong is the'best all-rounder at present in Australia, but he, would have to stand down in favour of Hill.

ATHLETICS.

The two-mile relay race between the ' English team and Illinois University, reference to which was made in a cable message received recently, proved a great event. The English team consisted of : four representatives of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and it had done a lot of training for the contest, Alfred Shrubby the- erstwhile wonderful long-distance runner having the men in . hand. The distance was covered in I 7.52 1-5. It is to be assumed that each of the men ran half a mile and, that being the case, the average time wa3 1.58 and a fraction, a decidedly brilliant per- | formance. They beat the Illinois Univer- ! sity who specialises like all American institutions that go in for athletics, and |. in the past their successes have been due to this fact. In England a man may be. found competing at various distances, but in the States when an athlete is discov-1 ered he is kept exclusively at the distance i that best suits him, and he. shows to much , better advantage than if the same care were not exercised. Shrubb knows this, and no doubt put bis men through systo- 1 matic training, with the result stated. I Hoi way, the huge American, was in ■; Xew Zealan_ some years ago. Holway at [ the time was one of the best sprintere in i the world over the,lso yards, having gone to London and done well against Donald- ; son and Postle, the Australians. He made j a point of the practice in the States of i specialising in athletics, and said if he ! had to run 440 yards lie would be puzzled ' as to how to use his speed. He ran no- | thing but 150 yards in training, the favourite distance at the time, and, speaking of the quarter-mile, said he thought he would put on full speed from : the start and struggle home in the last stages as best he could. This is not the ' way a runner familiar with the 440 yards distance would go about the business. H= keeps his opponents well in hand, but never thinks of going at top from pistol shot, and if Holway had met McLachlan, for instance, when the latter was at his best he would have made a discovery that I would have been a benefit te him in j future similar contests. Holway did not I compete in a quarter-mile in New Zea- J land. His remarks were a lesson to those j who aim at championship form to confine ! their attention to the distance in which ' they can produce the best results. This is the only way in which an athlete can hope to compete an the same terms with , an American runner. I English enthusiasts in sporting mat- ' ters have been discussing the question of the Motherland's position in the world of athletics, and it has been stated that I she does not cut such a prominent figure | as in the years gone by. This latest | achievement will, therefore, be hailed I

with much satfarfaction, as not only did | her quartet of representatives beat Illinois University, but established a record. Rudd, mentioned in the cable, is a South African Rhodes scholar. He has run 440 .yards on the road in 49 l-ss, and will probably represent England at the Olympic Games, either in the quarter or half. • These Games this year will attract more ! than the usual attention, as they have , not been held for some time, and there is j much doubt and speculation as to which country will be able to gather the most honours. Old England is determined to do her best as shown by the way the Government has assisted, and from' all accounts in the pedestrian events she will hold her own. The Australians and New Zealanders are strong as sprinters, but the long distance they have to travel is a handicap. . G. D. Rudd is the president of the Oxford University Athletic Club. He is from St. Andrew's College, South Africa, and is a remark-! able all-round performer from the 100 yards to the half-mile, while his best | long jump is over 22 feet. At.the Oxford University sports he ran the 440 yards in 49 J-ss, which stood out as the star performance, and constitutes a record i for/the meeting. G. M. Butler, who won the English I . championship last July over 400 yards, will have to look to his laurels this year. I when he meets Rudd. The latter'g record , of 49 l-5s is slightly better than But- j ler's, but the last-named was green when he won the championship: last year, and only 19 years of age. Some of the critics at Home expect him to get j inside 49s this year. He has already been credited -with doing inside 50s in a . relay race, 60 that he must be very fit.

HOCKEY.

The New Zealand Challenge Shield hag been responsible for 41 matches, aud Auckland has figured in nearly hsrlf of , them. Out of nineteen games in which the local representatives have partici--1 pated, only live were lost. One match in a draw, while in the other j jl3 Auckland proved victorious. ; [■•' Areta had a splendid team on paper' week, no less than half a dozen players having gained representative honours at some time or other, in C. > Halloran, R. England, L. Ellison, L. j Baildon, A. K. Robertshaw, and C. H. • Layer, but the forward line did not work I very well together. Rev. C. J. Tocker turned out for St. Luke's, arid played {in goal, but he was not severely tested. j After playing in the junior grade on th« : • previous Saturday, Clapshaw, a WellingI ton player, was given a trial in the ', I Areta senior eleven. j | Mfc Eden changed their team around considerably. Jarman was shifted from | fullback to left-half. M. Alexander ; changed places with Macken and Mal- • colm was back on his old position on I the right wing. Malcolm played in' two I matches last Saturday, assisting the I juniors at two o'clock and the seniors an hour later. i The New Zealand Ho<?key Association has just furnished a fresh interpretation of a section of the off-side rule on account of a very slight alteration —to the extent of a comma—in' the paragraph dealing with the subject. It principally refers to the case of a player waiting for a back to make a mistake and then seize the opportunity of being on-side whether he is in front or behind the back in question. The new reading clearly states that the attacking player must be between the back and his own goal before he can take advantage of the blunder. . Now that the members of the execu-tive-have power to report incidents they intend keehing hockey as free from I blemish as possible, and any player, or even spectators who attempt anything that is to the contrary are likely to furnish a case for the executive. At the request of the Franklin Hockey Association a team from town will play ' a match at Pukekohe this afternoon as an attraction in connection with the Winter Show. Much enthusiasm has been shown on the Lower Waikato, and at present four teams are competing for I the championship.

! I PIGEON FLYING. i , i .

(By AVALOX.) One of the greatest pairs of stock birds in the English fancy was J. J.. Baker's old pair "7" and "8." "7" was a> red' cock, bred in 1896, and combined the strains of Jurion Delmotte and Stanhope. He was never raced, and was not trained beyond 106 miles, but his ancestors for many generations back were winners of innumerable long distance races. "8" was a blue chequer hen, also bred in 1896 and not trained beyond 106 miles. She was a daughter of Thirionet's famous Julienne, that famous Belgian Grand National winner, which at the , end of her racing, career was sold for £40. j This pair, "7" and "8," were parents 'of such great performers as Bakers Ironsides and Little Wonder, whose performances in the English Grand National j races from Bordeaux are almost without ' parallel. Baker's present wonderful loft |of birds is descended from and founded jon "7"' and "8," and descendants of this ! pair have been the foundation of lofts 'of great performers all over the world. | An instance of how the descendants of "7" and "8" continue to ivreed great | performers, just as did their ancestors, is provided by Goldmine, a black hen i owiied by Messrs. Watson Bros., of I Auckland. Goldmine is the hen which lis known to every member of the local fancy afe "Watson's old black hen." The I dam of Goldmine was imported from [Australia, and was bred from a son of ■ "7" and "8." Goldmine, which since 1 1916 has always been mated to Chal- . lenger (a red pied cock bred by the late j Dr. Savage, and containing chiefly i Grooter's blood), is dam of the follow. ; ing notable performers, of which, with ; the exception of Hesitate and Ironsides I H., Challenger is the sire:— B c IronI sides 11., b c Hesitate, r c Governor, b h ' Ladj- Eileen, b h Auckland Girl, p c Secret Service, b h Fleetwing, b h Mighty : Atom. ~b p h Perfection, b c Conqueror, b c llaoriland, r c Machine Guns, b h , Fidelity, r h New York, b h News of the World, r h Star Queen, b c Home- j ward Bound. Homeward Bound the only bird in Auckland whi-h-faas won the two cham- j pionships. •From the above list it will be seen' I that sons and daughters of Goldmine j have won some 63 first, second, or third I prizes, while her grandchildren and great- ! grandchildren have won probably as , many. Neither Goldmine nor Challenger ;is over 8 years old, and it is at least 1 doubtful if Mr. Baker's old pair, "7" and "8" were responsible for so many prize-winners before they reached that , age. When it is stated that ' a son lof Goldmine and Challenger is to be 1 dispatched shortly to England, which is tho home of pigeon racing, now that Belgium is destroyed, it will be realised j that New Zealand, and particularly I Auckland, birds lose nothing by compariI son with what are regarded as the best. I in the world. '

| TURF NOTES.

(By WZHAL.EBONE.) Without disclosing the reason the New York Jockey Club has refused a licence ■to Johnny (Loftus, America's promier jockey. It is understood that Loftus is •under contract to Mt. Samuel Riddle foe '15,000 dollars. It is reported, unofficially j (says the "New York Herald"), that the refusal by the club is the outgrowth of a race last Xovembar in which Sir Barton, with Loftus up, was beaten by Hildreth'- Mad Hatter, when sporting followers generally agreed that Sir Barton was the better horse. Aurum died in the Fran_fto_ (Vi_y district recently. In hi. d#y Aurum : was a great horse, and he had the distinction of putting up the best . weight-cawying performance for a threwI year-old in the Melbourne Cup. He ran third to the stable companions, lQ_u.ua (7.8) and The Grafter (7.7) ia the Cup of 1887. Aurum won seven times in nine starts at a two-year-old. He won the Caulaeld Guineas, but was i beaten by Amberite in the Derby. Auram was sold to Mrs. Langtry, . ! England, for £5000, but he broke down and did not race hi that country. He ' was brought back to Australia, and did j stud duty, but was not a success. After j the death cti the late Maurice Quintan, who owned Aurum, the horse was sold for ten guineas. In New Zealand trainers rely greatly on the watch in summing up the chance* of their Charges. Some horses fail to do as well in a race as in private, while others do better, bat, on the whole, the watch gives a fair idea as to a horse's prospects. American trainers are also great believers in time, relative to which a writer in the Lexington '-Thoroughbred Record" says: — "With Americans the ■ watch is well nigh supremo when it comes to forming jujdgment as to the fitness of a horse to fill an important engagement. When A. K. Macomber- ! colt, Star Hawk, showed Trainer Walter I Jennings 10 furlongs in phenomenally fast time, a couple of days prior to the runuing of the Kentucky Derby, some i -seasons back, the stable connections 'figured the big race as good as won. The weight carried by Star Kawk in the woricout was known to an ounce by Jennings, of course, but the fast time was what made him confident of i victory." I _____ i Melbourne "Age" is responsible for the • following, which applies in parts, equally • well to the Dominion:—"Though nothing official was reported to the press, a , visiting owner was 'carpeted' by- the : A.J.C. stipendiary stewards in connection with the running rf his horse in the Plying Handicap at Randwick on Sydney C 1 p day. The owner in question is said to have produced evidence of his having ( invested £000 on his horse, and, of : course, no further action v-as taken in the matter. As Warepite, who won the . race, ran the six furlongs in lmin. ll.sec. j and established an Australian record, ■ tbe AJ.C. officials must have expected ; something sensational from the candidate they picked out as not being wanted on the voyage. In the Highweight Handicap on the opening day, the ' South Australian Pistolarie tuck lmin. \ 14_sec. to cover the six furlongs." When ; the stipendiary steward- take such - action as that referred to, they shouil 1 give it publicity through the press. The i. racing .public have a right to know when' j such things occur. It is they who keep the sport going, and should not' be ignored. • i ' s ■ I John Porter, in his autobiography, 1 speaks very highly of the late Sir I Joseph 'Hawley (who owned the Derby ' winner (Blue Gown), his first employer as a trainer. "The turf in my time," he 1 says, "has had few supporters who can 1 compare with Sir Joseph. He always 1 had the -highest interests of racing it ■ heart. There were occasions when b» ' | aims and methods were misunderstood I but those who' were his critics were: j equally ready to forgive and forget I conscious as they were .that he wa« • actuated by principles he believed to be j right and just. His colours (cherry and j black) the public regarded with some- ] thing like affect-ion. If tlhey did not : always appreciate the motives which led Sir -Joseph to arrange his plans in a way that u,jset their calculations they ' knew the horses he raced were running 'to win if they could. He would never ' suffer any liberties to be taken w'th ' him. At meetings of the Jot J key Club ' or elsewhere he was always the same — | stern, straight, and fearless. As a breeder he was extraordinarily success- ! fid. This /as due, no doubt, to the skill with which he mated his marcs. Though 1 he kept stallions of his own, he refrained 1 from using them when he thought his 1 mares would be better suited elsewhere. ' In short, he brought practical common sense and a shrewd business acumen to ' bend on all his transactions. If he was ' famous as a heavy better at the time heavy betting was rampant, it was not ' the mere greed of gain that inspired his J gambling. He held, with Lord George 'Bentinck, that money was the guerdon of success on the tirrf.'' t! | Thus an English writer:—Everything, ' at all times, needs reforming, for noth- ' ing is ever perfect. There have been so many mistakes made when entering hoTses recently that a reform in the way [ in which this is done must he introduced Tit, once. It will sound strange to m-any ' people who race in our Dominions and | Colonies to know that there is nothing ■ to stop an owner or trainer entering- a horse in a race for which that horse is not qualified, nothing apaprently to stop | him from running in that race, and if :he is sufficiently lucky and the animal sufficiently useful, from winning that 1 race. And unless he is found out Tat--1 tersall's Committee have held that he is entitled to keep' the money he wins. A 1 more ridiculous state of affairs could ■ not be imagined, and it may be argued that such things never, happen on the ■ Turf in real life. But they are happen ; ing with a very monotonous regularity. Horses are continually wAining races, I weighing in, being paid out over, and then a day or two later objected to as I being wrongly designated, not rcgisj tered, or not qualified to run. Then i everything has to be gone through again, a-nd many bookmakers have to pay out twice and others have to alter all" their accounts. There is quite enough "dirty work" going on on the Turf to-day without asking rogues to help themselves in this way. For it is an invitation to roguery when rt is obvious that a man can run a horse wh.ch has been scratched, which has not been registered, or which was not, for other reasons, qualified to run. All these things have happened quite recently, in addition to one winner who was registered a< a horse and won as a mare. But there can be no doubt that all these things were, accidents and due to carelessness. If so many unqualified horses have won, j how many have run vr'oo were als* I F*afly barred from competing?