POST AND PADDOCK.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 8990, 1 January 1895, Page 2

POST AND PADDOCK.

" Weekf" Press and R B f ere ..» lb seems bnl fitting that the most v . lh . able stake for "o-yaarolds should boru n at the chief br edlng centro in th _ And as Auck md i 8 exatlt birthplace of I >orou 3 hbred stock in N«I «*» Zealand, the Auckland Racing CInST H specially to be j | endow its Gr« it Northern Foal S-aV.. I as to.makeltlho most desirable nriaS 1 the calendar 1 rperformeri l n their Ira. i year. While hb ia so, does it_£'£J 1 itself on the coi melsof tbe north ern Met * » 1 politao body tat it might doso meth t__ - 1 further to mal i Its chief reunion a much '\ more represent tiye gathering than it {,} \ By increasing he prizes for somoo! the / handicaps this ould be done. When its! / figured out It vll be fotind that it coats » / South Island o< her the best part ot a £lQn //' to run for an Auckland Cup, and if he 11l misses that thelmly other race to be won I / that can repay *pcnaes is the Racing dub ' / Handicap, whi* costs 9*ovs to start for _ > and ia worth febout £300 to the winner. It is pot, therefore, to be -~. wondered at tlat owners at a dl-dane* I are a little charjof entering thelists with -f to commence tdth, what, on the oullat I ; necessary, musl be regarded as asto 1 I - chance. This c; ibe accepted as the true 't reason that so few '•foreign" horses' I compete at Aut :land. Were there three «f or four decent h n.icapstobe run for it i is beyond doubi the number of vialtinc $! owners and h rse. would be greatlj multiplied, and he interest and presfciM of the Auckland Cup and the Summer Meeting at Eterslie increased very I largely. The eliiiiout'on of the weight. | for-for-age Aucklni Flate cannot but br considered to haw been a mistake. It it unseemly that thl chief gathering in tha North should b J devoid of ao event in '■' which performer J of all ages meet as pet I / scale. There wdbld, of course, be niort jf{ chances of such a -ace filling if there tfere ' i additional good b ndlcaps, but apart from M that, first-class orsea should lie given chances other tha on handicap conditions 4 to earn their oats. It ia to suoh clubs as . * tbe A.R.C. that < wnera have a riant to look for the provilou of these stakes. I( tho Auckland Pla a still held a place on the programme i would probably. have brought about t c meeting of Prime ;<_| Warden and Blue Fire, and a match like ug that would have engrossed genuine excite* ig ment. Going thrdhgh the Auckland pro. '# gramme, it will 1* found that, although I the stakes to tje distributed ia the I three days amount to the respectable I total of £3640, thfe are no less than nine . I stakes under £10|> each. Now, while at I the secondary gatherings there is no reason I to cavil at 8 mall stakes, it is desirable that I at the principal r&nion, thepri_3B should ,1 all run into three! figures, I IE there is abpt in the C...C. Metro* 1 politan programme it is the inclusion of 1 the lnsigni_.autraces which conclude tha I first and secondl day's card, but these, 1 there aro good grounds for supposing, will 1 soon be endowed to come up to the 1 requisite standard indicated. Most people ] will agree that tlfe Auckland Racing Club / made a retrograde movement when it gave / pony races a pl|ce, at all eventß nt itsVf principal flxturejand if it is to the tians that several of the small stakes-are; |It devoted, it were better if that class ol l\ sport was relegated to the miuor meetings, f |j The Auckland Sfuminer Meeting is fault \ m princeps the gathering of the festive >~>m season, and the frathorities should strive -,g to keep it in thafciposition. Theclubcould 'iJk very well afford tk» dispense with one of its ; jm spring meetings—it has five gatherings to 'fM the four of the Canterbury Jockey Club'- -vm and if the sum given away at the first Oi, dB these was added to the .distributions. Vf at the Christinas season, and, as '■- I before said, pony racing abolished, the j desirable consummation of unilormlj T< good stakes could be , effected. 11. t' the Auckland Club could be induced, , somewhat after the manner iodic ited, to ,' * bting its chief meeting up to the standard i of the N.Z. Cuj gathering, and, in like I manner, the Duiedln J.C. see its way to j forego one of its? minor fixtures, say the I Anniversary Meeting—which fails to J attract much in|eresfr—with the vievr of J strengthening itf Autumn Meeting, thus . making a thoroughly representative | gathering at ea&'end as well a).lit the ( l 1 centre of the coftny, the bulk off-ports*. *-. 1 men would hail.such proceedings'.with 1 satisfaction. ■ The bane of., tho Dnnedla ,1 Cup Meeting is |he setting races; 'there | are no fewer than five, while, in alljstakes | of less value thin £100, number fen. It 1 might be taken ■ _or granted if tbe'stake. J money releasedlby the abandonment o/ {' J one of the rainot meetings was added tc I that distributabfe in February, th 6 aaceesa" I " of the principal feathering at the Forbury R would be much inhancad and the club p : 1 gainer. Something, indeed, is required j I to revive the glcfries of the Dunedin Cap, ', land the way toldo it is to concentrate / J__. energies oa the gathering at which It is ' (^^*^J7 the leading featt re. - /' B A perusal of ti ;e ontry lists for tho Can- g , terbury Jockey 31ab's classic ewnts that g recently closed frill show that, curiously . g enough, just on mc half of the youngsters M lo each of the s_t_es claim deieeodants of ( | -duaket as airesj To be exact, the propor- j| tionate numberrroad : Welcome Stakes , m 44 out of 87, Champagne 42-81, 0*1" | 18—39, Derby 43+84. These, with tha large * per centageof tie dams that are of the great Tox|phlllte horse, vHU sew* t'a t_eep his memory green. - '' 5 " _ There Is one [thing that can hardly fs» %+ to Btri_e peoplefwho examine the lists, and: |; that is the few|youngßters that ctaimSt< |' ? Legerassire. With the remarkable saece*». fc of—with but jew exceptions—the whols »_- jj of his' progefly that have been race. 4 J It might hive been supposed tb* *f| son'of Doncfister would be extensive!, a patronised, at least by breeders wi:bi . Jj easy reach of bis services. This it *« rou '«| SM& appear has hot been the case. At Jhjj"» Wellington Stud.Farm It is Castor thatf M has been given tha best chance, and Mr J_\ M D. Nathan has behn tho best patron of St.l Jt Leger. Thafcsportsman has good cause to VB think well of'the sire of S„ Hippo, who.lnAj the opinion of competent authorities, w_s| B ; the best colt:produced in the colonies-ot./B some years.) As an individual, St. Legel. H is not such a striking horse «.'Bottt. I ol hia cohtemporaries. Bat <;rb^j: '' S rare bred one he Is ITo descant onDj ■ caster, his sire, would be superfiuo i.- M Atlantis, his dam, Is jdst as royaUy br[ - M coming from a lino of classic herd <m Thormanby, her sire, himself' WOE LJ MDerby, and her dam, Hurricane (by WV,, ySL Dayrell, winner of Derby) was m In the One Thousand. Atlantic, sister P* m Atlantis, won both the Two Thousand aij "fj St. Leger, and the mare herself as a t«"_ m year-old secured a couple of the richesti m prizes on the calendar, viz., the ClearwelU m and Prendergast Stakes, ia the latterj | event giving weight to * afterwards winner of the St. Leger. I m Not much has lately been heard of tw » treble winner, Manton. He is at the stu/ ® in New South Wales, and, if neglecM ■ during the flrat season or two by breedej. j| such is not tbe case now. QuiteanumJ m of fashionably-bred mares nave foslec . « him thisseason,and his coverlog.list g been along one. I surprising If he H not beard of as ■ ? B ning sire in the near by-and bye. »M B had atl the attributes t or making a « | cessful -ire, and the ?*»* f **l*?*l 1 on the r-cecourse will he a fottwe « interest to those who followed his carl «, on the turf. 1 __l