THE RACING WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 224, 9 June 1923, Page 19

THE RACING WORLD.

(By

“The Watcher.”)

The disqualification of Mireusonta at Otaki on Saturday last again draws attention to the unsatisfactory way the present rule regarding weights is working. There is already strong opposition to it indicated in the reports of various district committees, and it would seem to he only a matter of waiting for tho annual conference next month to see a reversion to the old order of things. At any rate, the public, who always pay the piper, require to be protected against being mad« the victim* of unforeseen and seemingly unpreventible happenings of this nature. In spite of the strictest inquiry into recent . case* of short weight, nothing ha* transpired to throw any light on the manner in which the jockev lost the umoy’rt during the rac?. It is ridiculous to suggest that jockeys, owners, or trainers are anything but anxious to discover the reason. It is a mystery how such things occur, yet they have happened, and will no doubt .continue to crop up from tiro?" to time. It seems to me that the old rule covered the position exactly, and it is more than likely that its framers were aware of the fact that it is possible for a jockey to lose weight during the running of a race in a manner quite unaccountable. The rule (part XXIII, 9), Which was altered last July, read: If a horse carry more than 21b. overweight in »■ flat race or 41b. in a hurdle race or steeplechase which has not been duly declared it shall be disqualified for the race, unless the x .towards are satisfied mat osuch excess ha* been caused by wet. If the jockev cannot draw the proper, or declared weight, the clerk of tho sca.es *hall allow him IJlb. in a flat race, or 2ilb. in a hurdle race or a st.eep.cchaso Th* new rule, at present m operation, had the last sentence deleted. thus doing away with the short weight allowance, and leading' to the unfortunate incidents that have lately occurred. An unusual incident happened on a racecourse at Sandown Park (Melbourne) recently when a grass ure broke out in the centre of the courseShortly before the start of the fourth race the flames began to take nolo, and swept rapidly towards the side of the course. Although a band of fire-fighters attempted to beat out tho. blaze. they could not succeed .until it had completely burnt a steeplechase fence near the mile and- a quarts post After the brush obstacle had been destroyed, the flames sprea ontowarda the flat racing track, but were overcome before any more damaEe wU caused The outbreak was completely overcome before the star of the fifth event. At the annual meeting of the Canterbury Jockey Cliib, the chairman > ‘ J Gries said that on behalf of the committee and stewards he wishedlto thank the very cqpable chief inspector. Mr. Ward, and his staff for nelping to keep the conduct of racing as it was. After recording above a grumble against one. alteration in the rules,, it is pleasing to be able to compliment the president of the racing conference upon the apparent success of his idea or handing over the work of licensing to a committee of the conference, thus eliminating local influence. The committee of this body has already done some wholesome purging, and license-holders have been made aware that they have to live and behave decently in private life, as well as conduct themselves with decorum on tho racecourse. There is - a great deal! of opposition evinced in certain quarters against this scheme, .. but, allied with tho system of wellestablished racecourse inspectors, it has undoubtedly worked to the advahtage ot racing, and its continuance will appeal to all fair-minded persons who desire to see the sport progress, and conducted on clean lines. The cables recently informed us that jockeys in . Germany had gone on strike for higher pay. News by the latest mails is to the effect that the demands have granted, and the jockeys will now receive 10,000 marks per mount over the flat and 12,000 per mount over the sticks, together with 2 per cent, of the winnings if up on a winner (10,000 marks is roughly 25.). An Englishman with a fiver on. a winner in Germany would need a cabin trunk to hold his dividend. The five-year-old Will Somers has luvn rirosented hv the Kins to the

Canadian Government as a sire (says ' Sporting Life’’). The son of Black .Tester (winner of the St. Leger) and Vervaine was one of the most'consistent handicap horses that have carried His Majesty’s colours. Ho ran only once in public as a two-year-old, gaining his initial success in 1921, when he beat a useful field in the Ormonde Stakes at Neiybury. The Royal horse put up his best performances last season, when he won the Leicestershire Handicap at Leicester, the Harrington Plate at Nottingham, and the Oadby Handicap at Leicester. H. Wragg was associated with all these successes, and as a mark of his appreciation the King presented the young jockey with a riding whip. Will Somers was greatly fancied for tho Liverpool Spring Cup, but did not run up to expectations. After Captain had won the Homebush Handicap at Bendigo recently he showed signs of restiveness, and broke out in a heavy sweat; at the same time becoming almost unmanageable. His owner-trainer, P. Quinlan, had some trouble to remove the horse to his stables, the task takitig fully an hour and a half. Quinlan is cf opinion that Captain was the victim of “dope/’ and he took a sample of the gelding’s saliva, which he intends to have analysed. Captain won,his event in runaway fashion. The “dope,” it is thought by Quinlan, was administered to the gelding whilst standing in his stall, and had the effect of making an otherwise docile animal excited and unmanageable. Captain had not fully recovered on the following day.

Concession being, according to latest reports from Melbourne, is to go by the board in Victoria. What is believed to have operated most upon the minds of members of the governing bodies (says “The Age”) is the great number of complaints from backers that concession bookmakers either barred equine candidates reckoned to have a chance or offered such a restricted price about them as to make the system almost prohibitive. Special precautions were taken to investigate these complaint®, and the reports submitted were evidently not favourable to the concession bookmaking fraternity as a whole, with the result that they will shortly find themselves deprived of a bookmaking system that, because of its very attractiveness, has enabled some of them to enrich themselves' to an extent that would astound their patrons. Naturally' neither the V.R.0. 1 nor the other racing clubs will take the drastic step, without providing something to take the place of concession betting. Those entrusted with the control of racing realise that the success of the sport depends, not on the big bettor, not on the owners, trainers, or jockeys, ‘ but upon the measure of patronage accorded it by the general public. The interests ana the welfare of the general public are therefore paramount. To meet, the wishes of the public w*io dqsire. as far as possible, to bet on a ‘’safety first” basis, it is probable therefore that a regulation will be framed requiring all bookmakers to bet for a win and a place.

George Parfroment, the famous French cross-countryfi jockey, who was killed last April while rjding at Enghein. had many successes in his own country, and also rode cross-country in England. A bust of the famous jockey was erected on the tombstone by his French colleagues as a token of respect and esteem for their unfortunate comrade. Only jockeys will bo allowed to participate m the memorial, and some of Parfrement’s friends in England sent a tribute. A frequent subject of discussion amongst the older generation of racing men is the respective merits of those two great horses Ormonde and St. Simon, boh of them unbeaten. In a recent issue of the “Field” appears n very interesting article op St. Simon, written by so great an authority on the horse as the Duke of Portland, whose colours he carried in all his races. St. Simon became the property of the Duke as; a sequel to the tragic death cf his owner. Prince Batthyany, who dropped dead at Newmarket just prior to the decision of the Two Thousand Guineas, forty, years ago. When the Prince’* horses came up for sale in the summer, the Duke of Portland, acting on the advice of Mat Dawson, the trainer, purchased St. Simon, who had not up to

that time carried silk, for 1600gns. When the colt was given a canter the next dav both the Duke and Dawson were anything but impressed with his comportment. Tho former, indeed, remarks that ho moved more like a rabbit than a horse. All tho same, the Duke was offered a profit of 4CO gns. on tho deal, but, luckily as subsequent events proved, decided to stand by his bargain. Owing to the death of his nominator, tho book engagements of St. Simon, of course, became void, but he was entered for a couple of events at Goodwood, both of which he won in the most facile style. It was now beginning to dawn on' most people who had seen him that St. Simon was tip-topper, and this fact became quite clear when he won the Devonshire Nursery at Derby and the Prince of Wales Nursery at Doncaster. In the latter race he carried 9st., and, 1 to quote his owner, had won, literally speaking, before he had gone a furlong. At the half-way stage he was fifty yards in front, and eventually won by that distance, with the Duke’s hard-ridden second string lambic, his nearest attendant past the winning post. The celebrated match with Duke of Richmond at the Houghton meeting is recalled. There was considerable excitement over this match, which had been talked about since the summer. John Porter’s instructions to Tom Cannon, who rode Duke of Richmond, was to “jump off and cut the beggar’s throat from the commencement.” But this was more easily said than done. Archer, the rider of St. Simon, was given like instructions. Porter’s remark having been communicated to Dawson. When it came to racing St. Simon was fifty yards to the good when the pair had gone two furlongs, but Archer was satisfied to win by less than a length. Dawson’s comment was to the effect that the winner was the best two-vear-old he had ever seen. Archer’s view on a later occasion was expressed in other words: “He’s not a horse; he’s a machine.” When St. Simon won the Ascot Gold Cup his rider could not pull him up until he had got nearly a mile past the post, and it was much the same at Goodwood. 1886 he went to the stud.

Hie English trainer P. P. Gilpin believes that there are more skilled trainers at the present time than at »ny rime previously, and he recently wrote as follows in an English paper: — “We often hear racegoers speaking of the good old days and of the remarkable skill possessed by trainees of the last generation, but I am nevertheless convinced that . there were never as many good trainers in England as there are. with us now*. During my association .with the turf I have seen advances made in the art of training, particularly in the matter of hygiene—ventilation, drainage, and so on —in feeding, in veterinary science, and also in the treatment of tho horses on the exercise grounds. Though we trainers may not have niade'’such a wonderful stride a® the jockeys made when they adopted the American seat, I think wg have improved on our forerunners,. as they, perhaps, improved on theirs. It is more difficult to become a trainer ot racehorses than to enter other professions, although there is no examination to pass. Ab a rule trainers learn their art from their fathers, although occasionally we see the advent of one who has not obtained his knowledge by inheritance.” An American writer, who says that, at different times, he was a believer in every breeding theory put forward, adds that he is now sceptical concerning the lot. Close study showed, it was not difficult to find weak points in all, and in discussing this, he writes as follows;—“When working at the Charts of the. successful sire and female lines which rendered essential to examine ths achievements of thousands of stallions and brood mares and the results of an endless number of matings, it became perfectly obvious to me .that these self-styled breeding experts when they concocted their theories, must have consulted the racing calendars only for evidence in support, but carefully avoided to. check their findings with the entries in the stud books. Had they done so, they would have found that one instance m support of their theories taken from the racing calendars is opposed by dozens of adverse cases which appear in the stud books only, in this reckless recorder of failures as well. This discovery sobered me thoroughly.”