SPORTING ITEMS.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9162, 20 July 1895, Page 9

SPORTING ITEMS.

(Weekly Fress and Referee.) It is one of Gray's starting machines tbac is to be tried ia England. Port Admiral woo. a double at the South Australian J.C. Meeting on Jane 24th. Onne is said co hava grown into one of the finest stallions ever seen. Mr R. Barr Smith, the popular South Australian turfite-, is & sou of * distin* guished Pre-;by.erian minister. Throscle, the Si. Legar winner, was expected to run well this season, but so far she ha« not been returned a winner. Fred. Wi>e, the Victorian cross country rider, was so hurt by the fall he received at Adelaide recently, that it is feared he will never be able to ride again. I Should Che totsliaa'or be legalised the V.R.C. will return all fees receded from bookmakers who may be liceused for 1395-6. Though John Porter is inclined to think that Ormonde was the best borae he ever had to do with, he is by no means sure that Rosicruciau was not as good as any. The Turf, Field and Farm says:—The two year old bay colt by imp. Sir Modred, dam Gladeyee, full brother to Shelly Tuttle, and property of J. A. Bennett, has developed a bad case of " big head " and was given avray. We hear (says a London paper of May 22nd) that the prospect of Ladas winning the Eclipse Stakes is very remote, and he may not be seen ou & racecourse again. In the handicapfor the FreeSweepstakee for three-year-olds at the Newmarket Houghton Meeting, issued on May 23rd, Whiitier was estimated the best of his year, 9a: being bis weight as against Sst 121b to each Kirkconncl and The Owl and Bst 71b to Sir Visto. Curzon, runner up to Sir Visto, was allotted Sat 21b. A writer on the London Spoilsman says :—Sir J. Blundell Mapla was perfectly confident about Kirkconnel being able to win - the Newmarket Stakes, though equally sure that The Owl would bother all the others. " You will be first and second " said Joe Thompson to him, and the soft impeachment was not denied; indeed, Sir Blundell himself anticipated the same phenomenon, though The Owl's mission was to make the ruaning for the supposed non-stayer. It will doubtless interest tho general community to hear that the totalizator ia France last year returned £205,000 for the charities, and £101,000 available for the encouragement of the breeding ef thoroughbreds. A new machine has been introduced, by nhie'a horses may be backed for either a win or a place, with automatic registers supplying one capy for the club, and one for the Government auditors. The sensational horse Ktienalf has recently been the subject of a lawsuit in the Sydney courts, Mrs Ivy Jane Brady being plaintifi in an action against Ed ward Keys, horseowuer and trainer, to have her declared a partner ia the horse and for Keys to accounc for all prize money, &c, won by the hor3e. It would appear Mr Brady originally purchased a half share in Ruenalf with the money of Mrs Brady, but some time before the hcae won a stake any sum invested by th«* Bradys was swamped by expenses. 3he case went against the plaintiff. For thirteen years, beginning with 1870, the Australian Jockey Club Stakes increased between £3260 and £7550, rather a slow rate, but between the latter year (18S2) and IS9I they rose to £25,100. Mosc big institutions have duriag the last few years been compelled to bow to the inevitable, but the figures RireflJ show thab the A.J.O. has not suffered noarly so much as any other, the V.B.C. for instance, and that it has not had to knuckle under to the same extent the cartful nursing it received when the general condition of things was such as might have appeared to justify a less balanced body launching out on much bigger lines is alone responsible. A rumour reached Newmarket on May 15th that the Duke of Hamilton was dead at the time hie representative, The Nipper, woa the race for which tee American horse, Stonewall, was such a great favourite, and there was * good deal of discussion as to how this would affect the result (says a London paper). It will be recollected that when Pretender won the Derby, Sir Joseph Hawley stopped the settling on the strength of a rumour that the nominator had died in America before the race. It would, perhaps, be well if the Jockey Club were fco take this matter into consideration. In our opinion, if it is not known at tho time the race ia run that the owner or nominator is dead, the race ought to stand. The battle between the Flemington and Kensington Councils and the Victoria Racing Club in respect to allowing the public to have free access to Flemington Rtcecourse is still going on. At a meeting of the council held on June 25th a letter was received from the Chief Secretary. The department now pointed out that the Crown Solicitor, having been furnished with the statement of facts, advised that the public had no right to go on the land, and there could be no public right to indefinitely stray over it acquired by mere use. The position of the racing club negatived the possibility of an express dedication, as they were merely trustees, and it would be a breach of trust for them to create rights such as claimed, which were consistent with the trust under which they held the land. The right of the club in regard to excluding persons from the grounds did not depend on any bye-law which could be revoked by the Governor-in-Council, and therefore the Chief Secretary has no power in the matter. Councillor Proufc said it was quite evident the Victoria Racing Club intended to take a determined staad in the liiatter, and wished to prevent the public worn having access to the racecourse. It Was rumoured that a charge was soon to be made for admission to the fiat on rase days. People who had been born ak Fltmand had always been accustomed tjtg-pse the grounds without question, ware now to be ordered off. He proposed that a conference be called of all the surrounding municipalities in order to ascertain their exact position in regard to the matter, and afterwards wait on the Premier with a -eiew of having the racecourae gates reopened to the public. Be suggested that if the V.R.C. succeeded in keeping the grounds dosed, they should, if possible, be made to pay rates. The Epsom Grand Prize, which on May 30th had an existence of fifteen yeare, disappears, I understand (say* an English writer) from the programme after this jear. It has not proved the attraction for the off day that it was originally expected by the management to do, while there is very little donbt that the great falling off in the numbers of the Derby field since the Grand Prize was instituted is directly traceable to its establishment. As a cole there has been very little interest displayed in the race, the Derby running of the day previous having in most cases f orshadowed the winner with certainty. In fact, I only remember two instances, or at the moit three, where it wu not co. Cherry's was a good race, and ao was that won by Candlemas in Ormonde's year. "No Derby winner has ever ran for it, though a hone that could hardly have lost the Derby had he ran for that race went for the Grand Prize in preference. I allude to St. Serf, whose owner thus missed the chance of achieving the hitherto unaccomplished feat of winning three Derbies in succession.