SPORTING.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17809, 7 July 1923, Page 18

SPORTING.

Handicap, for the principal events at A3 Grand National Meeting ™ll bo Sectored on the Monday following the conclusion of tho Wellington fixture. The winning trainer..' list does not M em likely to be very considerably altered, altbongh there is a chance that F. IX Jonea msy increase hia £4 to A. D. Webster's 25 At preaent B. W. King » third with J, and S. Trilford fourth with 20, tho third, «d fourth position* ana faeteg filled by South Wander". J. HTJefferd has the second best total of the North leland trainer»» being fifth with 1% one point ahead of 1. HUey and D. P- Wilson. , The track and conditions at Tron-«Jmto-day should suit tho proved iMdlarfce, and as most of the recent the holiday meetings Srt Sorih-haß »>«» dif ?° sed , ° f n k a SUr state of affairs, the form displayed at those meetings should be Joed to follow. With the big fields £na substantial dividends should be paid, and lucky investors will be well repaid for facing, what • looks at the time of writing, a most uncomfortable day. The Waimate District Hunt Club has as equally good nominations as the South Canterbury Hunt, and as the two fixtures come practically together, tha success of one should ensure the success of the other. Pamplona and Omaha figure amongst the entries for the Waimate Steeplechase, while the hunters' events and flat events have filled very well. It is reported that S. Walls has been engaged to ride Whipcord in the Wellington Stoeplechaso to-day. Mr W. H. Paterson, who, with his brother, was responsible for the return to form of that good horse Surveyor, says that the son of Nassau gave them i a lot of trouble before he came right, , Mates a Wellington writer. Sneaking ] Of Young Thurnham, he was asked by a bystander why that name had been riven to the horse, and he said that in Thurnham's pedigreo was Young Melbourne, hence the name Young """ Thurnham, Mr Paterson also observed that Mr W. H. Gaisford's promising hurdler, First Born, was so called because he was the first-born foal of ; Thurnham. | In future, on the Trentham course, dead-heats will be indicated by the placing of a board showing the words / "dead-heat" between and outside the numbers of the horses so placed. This should be an improvement on last meeting, where the dead-heat was signalled by * bar placed across the numbers, the bar being practically invisible to the majority of the people, and & poor indication of the result. Black Bod, the two-year-old son of CSarenceui and Native, is being favour. ably commented on at Trentham. He has yet to face the starter, but ho has been doing a good deal of work and doing it well, and should strip a very fit horse. la England the rule which declares all entries void on the death of the nominator is still in force. It is not often that a horse is Btarted for a jrace after the death of its nominator, but such an incident was recorded at tbe jumping meeting at Newton Abbot on May 9th. Moreover, the particular * animal, Ktzpicton, won the event. The trainer of the winner ran him in ignorance of the fact that the owner, Mr James Keys, had died a couple of days previously. In accordance with rule, of coarse, Rtzpicton was automatically disqualified. There was a somewhat similar case last year in the Chester Cup. Mr Foden, who owned Chat Tor, died shortly'before the deeisioß of .the event, but the notification of his death was not received in ' time to stop the horse running. Chat Tor was unplaced, but all bets were naturally v,ofd; Importer, the English colt who failed to gun » place at the Rangitikei Hunt Meeting, has been brought on to Tren- ' , thasn. It is stated that the very-bad State of the going prejudiced hid chance lajst Wednesday, but on present appearances it does not seem likely that he will have any appreciable improvement at Trentham. "Teviotdale"/in the "Australasian" b of the opinion that bad temper in horses, in many cases, is due to bad ' ' handling, but he ascribes not a few of thelaulU to what he describes as '**over4n-breeding." He goes on to ' say of the; Australian horse: We do not find many regular "bad 'uns" in our land here. The climate, the com- ' ' patative freedom, the facilities which we possess of employing common-sense methods in the daily life of our racehorses, is a safeguard against undue Irritability, even where the breeding has been uncommonly close. Ladaa, in the Old Country, was a regular luna-

tic with criminal intent; and Orme was so dangerous that his death warrant was actually signed. A reprieve came in his case, and he thereafter lived, in the open air, inhabiting Touchstone's paddock at Eaton Hall, and he may possibly have even gone into tho old fellow's very box when the cold north winds blew. Oiseau was, perhaps, the most determined villain that ever walked. llg killed his attendant, and he finally fbecarm; so furious one day that lio seized himself over the abdomen with his teeth, and actually pulled out hi 3 own intestines. I a mare not very long ago which descended from Oiseau. She inherited his peculiar disposition, and I saw her buck strongly one morning when mounted, although it was the seventh day of a series of long journeys. She was indeed mad, act! one of her sons nearly succeeded in destroying his rider whilst exercising at Caulfield. His pilot that day was J. Cos, and this gelding gave him a terrible doing. A Sydney message say 3 the famous thoroughbred aire, Malster, is dead, aged twenty-five. Death was due to natural causes. The winnings of his progeny an; in the vicinity of £300,000, the highest of any sire in Australia. A Sydney message says a record entry of 702 has been made for the Australian Jockey Club's Derby for 1924.

TROTTER DISQUALIFIED. OWNER SUES LESSEE. Arising out of the disqualification of the trotter Wild Hebe for inconsistent running in the Victoria Park Handicap at tho summer meeting of the Greymouth Trotting Club tha owner, Frank Bull, labourer, of Ashburion, proceeded against J*moa McTaggart, hotel-keeper, ci Methven, at the A*hburtoa Magistrate's Court yesterday, beforo Mr Q. D. Mosley, S.M. '.The claim was for £lB3 Is 6d damages alleged to have been sustained aa a result of Wild Hebe's disqualification. Defendant counter-claimed for A'oli, Bt<tting ; that in or about October 192 i, he sold to plaintiff a trotting sulky for the sum oi £3O. .fjainuif immediately took possession, but had neglected ox refused to pay the £3l). Deienaant claimed for £3O, the price of the Bulky or, in the alternative, judgment for £SO, being defendant's share of tho probable future earnings of "Wild Hebe up to the date- of the termination of the lease. Mr G. H. Buchanan appeared for plaintiff and Mr "W. J. Hunter for defendant. Evidence talien in Groymouth was submitted. The case was adjourned from last Etidsy until yesterday. Mr W. J. Hunter submitted that there was nothing in the agreement to give rise to an action, because the horse waa not raced after it waa disqualified. The defence admitted £2? 7s 6d, 30 per cent, of the sum paid by the Weatiport aend Greymouth Trotting Clubs. Mr Buchanan placed several cases before the Court in support of his contention that the agreement wae a lease and not a partnership. Ho considered the agreement provided that McTaggart ehould not have been guilty of corrupt practises, which would deprive Bull of any stakes won. To ahut the horse up as had been done was not a reasonable action. Counsel drew attention to the Lad;? Clair caae, in which Tasker secured £350 damages from Clinton in respect uf a horse in which the two parties were partners, Clinton having scratched tho horse for a number of races. According to the agreement in the present case,_ the horse should havo been run as a trier, which actually was not done, according to tha horsea's previous time. The value of a horso was ilo probable stake earning ifcyMr Mosley eaid he was satisfied that the plaintiff could not recover on claims two and three, under the Gamins' Act. BEe instructed Mr Hunter to .proceed with his defence in respect of claims one, four and five. Mr Hunter held that there waa no act of fraud en tha part of the defendant. The decision of the Trotting Association had no effect so far as the present case was concerned, and it rested with the plaintiff to provo an set of fraud. Bull had. said he sold a sulky to Owens in -\ovember, while it was actually so)d in June. The defendant claimed for the removal of the horse from himself (McTaggart) in whose possession it was. He v as liable to a fine of £IOO under tho Stock Act. Lengthy evidence regarding the agreement and the running of the horse at Greymouth waa given by defendant. The horse was lame on lie first day, and more eo on the second. He bad always run his horsea honestly and neve&hadi run a "Bloomer." F. Owen, trainer for McTaggart, said that on the first day at Greymouth Wild Hebo won the mile and a-half in 8m 435. In the second race the horse received slight injury. It waa started on the second day without. success. Witness had not been influenced by McTaggart to lose the race. There hod been a shower, and the track was slippery. The horse was sore and could not handle the going. Keferring to tho injury, Owen said the officials would not take his evidex.ee without that of McTaggart. The horse was then taken from the Coast. Mr Kyle had said at Bolleston that the horse was in a bad state, and he wondered how it could have won at all. Witness did his bent to win the Victoria Park Handicap. There had been no fraud and he had been disqualified ever since. Concerning the sulky, witness said that McTaggart and Ball cams to witness's house, where tho sulky was kept. McTaggart in the presence

of Bull eaid that Bull had bought the sulky, which Bull took possession of. Albert Legget, horse trainer, Methven, related a conversation which ho heard in McTaggart's hotol. Bull offered McTaggart £3O for a sulky. Bull said he had not tho money then, but that McTaggart could deduct it out of hia eharo of the stakea.

Hastings Ireland, trainer, corroborated the evidence of Legget. Ho was not an interested party, and did not remember the details. He was certem tho conversation took place in the bar in tho afternoon. He distinctly heard Bull offer £3O for the sulky. The Bench commented upon the unsatisfactory nature of the evidence. He ooula place no reliance upon tho evidence for the defence. He waa not satisfied that the two parties had entered into an agreement regarding the sulky. In regard to the claim for future winnings of the horse, the position wa3 most unsatisfactory, and it wsb impossibip for the Court to determine or estimate the damage on this question. He held that tho agreement between the parties was still binding, and that the plaintiff wm right in taking possession of tho home. The defendant had broken the agreement by not treating tho horse as ho would hia own. There was no evidence to prove that WiH Hebo had received food other than grass. Judgment was given for plaintiff for £33 9s 7d. Judgment was given for the defendant in items two, three and four of the statement of claim. Plaintiff was nonsuited on -the: fifth item, and the defendant was non-suited on the counter-claim. The Court allowed £4 5s in connexion with the evidence taken at Greymouth and Court costs and nolicitora' fees at Ashburton, amounting to £8 3s to tho plaintiff.

NEW BRIGHTON TROTTING CLUB. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of tho New Brighton Trotting Club was held last night. Mr E. H. Jamea (president) was in the chair, and nine membors attended. The ohairman said that the committeo wished to 'Sxpress its regret that Mr A. L Rattray, secretary, who was suffering from influenza, waa unable to attend the meeting. In moving the adoption of tha report and balance-ahest, which huve been pubnahed, the chairman said that tho past yew bad been one of the most successiul yoars in the club's history. The balance-sheet Bhowed a, credit biilance of £s2i, but that did nat represent the actual position, aa £4OO advanced by Mr W. E. Thompson had been repaid out of revenue and improvements to tho ground and furniture had been paid for from tho same scarce, making & total of about £I3OO, that should be considered when tho financial position was taken into account. He was 6ure that members deep y appreciated: Mr Thompson's aotion in advancing & loan at a time when tho olub had little ready cash, and when the banks we>re not offering financial help. The committee appreciated the services of tho custodian and lis assistant in connexion with improvement;! to the grounds, and ho again wished to express the club's gratitude to Mr Rattray and Mr C. Goggin assistant secretary, end to tie starter and clerk of course, for their eervioes. The committee had given him loyal and valuable help during the year. given strong support. The newspapers also, had given much assistance while he waa in the chair. They had offered criticisms ot times, but pood, fair, open-minded criticism was a good thing. Mr W. H. Denton seconded the motion, which was carried.

Tho following officers were elected:—Pre. Btdent, Mr G. Scott, junr.; vice-pireaident, I Mr T. H. Ker; treasurer, Mr G. Pengelly; committee,. Messrs W. H. Denton, A. J. Horper, \T. J. Hopkins, E. H. James, J. Johns, B. J. McKenna, "W. E. Thompson,' i J. Westerman, and Captain A. W. Ovlea; stewards, Messrs W. H. Denton, A. J. Harper, "W. J, Hopkins, J. Johns, E. H, James, B. J. McEleraa. "W. E. Thompson, J. Weaterman, and Captain A. W. Owlea; auditor, Mr G. E. "Way. I Mr Scott, on taking the chair, praised Mr James's admirable work during the past j year. I On tho motion of Mr J<tmea, seconded by Mr W. E. Thompson, Mr "W. H. Denton was elected a life member of the club amidst applause. Replying, Mr Denton eaid that he had been associated with the club for about twenty-five years, and he deeply appreciated the honour members bad conferred on him.

>Mr J. M. McCreanor said that the training traoh was too email. It could be enlarged Btiitably at a cost of about £6OO, and the committee should consider taking tho work in hand.

Mr Thompson ssid that the Grounds Committee hid oonsiderea the txainirig track. Ita enlargement would be an important undertaking. Thtira was ample room but no material handy with which to build it up. The work, therefore, would be oostly. As a, matter 0* fact, the training \track waa not a good proposition financially. The pub'no were the principal factors in trotting, and they should ho considered primarily, owners and trainera receiving secondary consideration. Mr W. H. Denton said that the track waa highly praised. ,Mr James eaid that higher fees should be oharged for the nee of the training track. An enlargement would be advantageous. On Mr James's motion the committee waa requested to confer with New Brighton ownera end trainers oad discuss the training track and other subjects.