SPORTING ITEMS.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9176, 6 August 1895, Page 2

SPORTING ITEMS.

* -' Weekl y Press .aud Referee." From August Ist racehorses take their j age, and though the first month of the season is not a remarkable ooc for the number of baby hor.se», the fjalir.-; season really commences to-day, and owners of horses in making entries for cominc events should bear in mind the fact. If there is any great fault to be found wi«h owners in connecion with making their nominations, it is that they, or a large section of them, quite ignore the ruU-s requiring them to state the ages and colours of their horses, the duty then of filling in the blanks devolving upon the secretaries of the clubs, some of whom, by the way, are, to say the least of it, very careless in this respect. They either trust to their memories or to those of other people, and it is really surprisin,*how men who have been among-: t hsrses all their live 3 will disagree upon this important point. Bays become browns, and brawns black', in the eyes of some people, and the colours, like the babies in " PiHalore," get mixed, so that by tbe time all the returns come in to the statisticians they form very difficult puzzles. In order to assist in preventing the repetition of this sort of thing, the greatest care has been taken by the compilers of the "Turf Register" to complete the index to running horses, winners and losers alike, so that the ages, colours, and breeding can be seen at a glance. We are sure that the efforts of the staff in this respect will be fully appreciated. It will be welcome news, we have no doubt, to the followers ot form and all who "go a racing" to learn that the "N.Z. Turf Register" for the season just closed will be issued in the course of a few days.