THE TURF.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 545, 28 June 1909, Page 7

THE TURF.

l RACING FIXTURES. July 8 and 9—Gisborno'R.C. Stpepjeehase. July 17, 21, and 24—Wellington B.C. Winter. July-22.—Wellington Pony and aallowav R.C. Aug. 10, 12. and 14.-C.J:C. Grand National. NOTES AND,COMMENTS. fBl GtENCOI.I In tho nominations for tho Canterbury Jockey Club's events'on Saturday Te TJira was : telegraphed in error for Tauira. The Oamarii sportsman, Mr. J. O'Brien, intends 'shipping Applegarth and. Molbeck to Melbourne, whoro tho pair will bo put under tho hammer. Üblando is being given an'easy timo at Now Plymouth, and may not race again till I tho spring. Highdon and Wee Trinket are tho only members of Eva's team that are I doing solid work. Candidates from tho Karamu stable figure' at tho top of the handicap in throe of tho | Bis handicap ovents on the first day of tho Trontham .meeting. Trnganijii is again in work at Trentham, and! should be ready for sorao of jtho early spring meetings. If Lull is as good over country as Wanganui sportsmen claim that he is, he appears to 00/ well onough treated in tho Wol-> fington Steeplcclvvso, but tho handicap, from tho.second norso downwards,, is on a very light scale. A Napier writer says that Sunbcnnct is to bo spelled through the winter, as sho is no good in the soft going. It is generally held in thoso parts that tho soft going suits tho Soaton Dclaval maro, but sunbonnets oio not fashionaßle in winter. At a committees mooting of the Ashburton County Racing Club, hold last week, it was ajinbnncod that Mr. Hugo Friedlander would give a cup at the next autumn meeting, tho trophy to go with tho stake for tho Ashburton Handicap. A roreiit'addition to the pony ranks is a ?Dny by Bt. Clements from a Fonlshot mar©, ho new. arrival is trained on tho beach at Maranui. Mr. Upton has been elected chairman of tho Ashburton County Racing Club for tho twelfth year,m succession. Though the racing season in California, U.8.A,, is not very old, fines collected at the Oaklands Racecourse from trainers and jockeys alroady amount to over £600. Kukri's nam© does not figure among the entries for;'tho Canterbury Jockey Club ovcrrk—a fust that wonld suggest that tho son of Gold' Reef has gono wrong ohoe again. Soaman and Xavier are now,regular attendants on tho tracks at Trentham, and probably both will bo starters at tho winter meeting of tho Wellington Racing Club next month, ' In conversation with Mr. J, R. M'Donald on Saturday, the .writer learned that Taitoko is now quite sound again. ,Tho Stcpniak > colt is at present doing duty as a hack on his owner's station, and he will bo placed in work again till tho now season is well advanced. Aroh'a, it" appears, was suffering with an injured coronet, and ho went seriously amiss on - the' second ' day of the Hastings meeting, so that it was deemed useless to try and get him right again during tho present jumping season. J. Lowe did not go on to Gisbornc. Ho brought Iranui homo after the Napier Park meeting, and also a now addition to His team in tho shape of the Birkenhead filly Incy, who is to go into the box vacated by Aroha,^ Trotting appears to bo making rapid progress in the south. At tho annual meeting of- the Ashburton Racing Club, a motion was passed rccommbnding tho committee to include ft trotting event on each day's card, and tho recommendation is almost certain to bo given effect to. Thd now club, now being formed 'in Invcrcargill, is said to bo viewed with enthusiasm, and will probably be set afoot with ,a- very largo membership. There is a hurdlo horso in tho Dominion at'the present timo'whoso admirers claim that ho can win 'tho Grand National, no matter what weight may *bo allotted. Looking through tho Tecords of tho Grand National Hurdlo Race, however, it will bo seen that not sinco Record Roign won h«,s a - horso' snefceeded in tho race with anything approaching 12st. in ,tho saddle, and Liberator' was the only horso othejr than Record Reign that !iaß won tho event with over 12st. in the saddle.

Horsos of their calibre arc few and far hetsfcen, and the 7 stable -that sheltered Cavaliero and Record Reign in tho one Beason was indeed fortunate. Cavalicro carried some big weights successfully, yet his trainer always held his stablcmato to be his Buperior. On the old Hutt course, in* tho winter of 1900, Cavalicro. carrying 12st.,'ran a great race, and dead-neatcd with Haunri, carrying' 9st. It was considered a ranty for any horse to succeed with over ' 10st. on the courw, but Cavalicro did it pjter hitting himself and twisted a shoo during ~tho race. A well-known Wellington sportsman,' cognisant of tho merit of the performance, went o\or to admiro tho big hoi so in his box, and then hastened to tell his trainer that ho was tho best, horse in New Zealand. "He's a good horsp," remarked tho trainer, " but I've got a better one at home—ono that mil win tho Grand National Hurdles, and afterwards tho New Zealand Cup. j*jid it doesn't matter what weight ho gota in either rwo." It was Record Reign which ho referred to, and, sUro enough, tho Castor horso won tho National vuth 12Bt. 121b., but ho did not start in the Cup. Cavalioro kept winning, and, during tho following wintor, he won tho Remuora Hurdles with 13st. 131b. on his back, and nearly distanced the field.

Tbo V.R.C. rules pormit ponies which compote in pony races only on courses not registered by too V.R.C. Committee to run at meetings under V.R.O. rules, and the New Zealand pony Leo Grand, who ran in tho Galloway Handicap at Richmond on June 14, took part in the Montane- Welter Plato a couplo of days later. Leo Grand, who is a good-looking chestnut colt, by LeoiantJß, was out in front with The Trawler all tho way, but Tho Tr3wler beat him at tho finish by a length.