SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf.

Evening Post, Volume LXIII, Issue 87, 12 April 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf.

IBy Cbackshot.] •RACING FIXTURES. (April 15 and 16— Marlborough R.C.. AuJtumn. April 24 and 26— Wellington R.C.. Auluino. April 30 and May I—Manawatu1 — Manawatu R.O. NOTES. Tho first day's races at tho Nelson were held in beautiful weather. •The course was in splendid order, the atWdance numbered 1000, and the totalisator receipt* were £2541. Alf. Roro met with bud luck previous to the Nelson meeting. One if his charges Qlurieblast, wus being brought to the racecourse, when he wits startled and fell into a ditch and broko his leg at tho thigh. Ho had to bo shot. Hurleblast was a black gelding by Sou'-wester — Lucrotia, and had shown Roro fair form. There were rumours that the Hurdlo Race on the first day was arranged, and a grey mare by Sou'-Svester named SeaWavo was scut out favourite. Fortunately for her owner Grey Ribbon ran off at a fence along the back, and l'lainstone refused the next fence. This left SeaiWave to canter home. But for the pair making mistakes Sea-Wavo would not •have had a chanco. Tho stewards had the riders of the pair before them, but their explanations were considered satisfactory. Cumuhis, the winner of tho Maiden Hack, is a nice horse, by Sou-wester, from a Stoneyhurst, mare, and later on he ran a good race in the Hope Hack Handicap. Abydos was perhaps a .bit lucky in winning the Nelson Cup, as Jackson let him up on the inside, and Hinekoa tiring badly, Abydos beat him in tho run home. Tha latter is a genuine horse,. Crusoo and Volley were in trouble from the start. Rekanui, a raay looking marc by Fiske. ran away with the District Hack Race, and Hinekoa, liking the short course, had an easy victory in the Grandstand Handicap, in which Pure Silver was left at the post by eight lengths, after a great finish. The judge declared in favour of Heritas in the Hope Hack [Handicap, bflt many thought Plainstone had at least dead-heated him. Mr. Baldwin's stable intended to 'b© represented at Nelson with Spun Gold and Blue Spur, but accommodation coilld not be obtained on Sunday's boat ; and ■on Tuesday tho weather was too* rough, .therefore they were not sent over. C. Burkett, who had to stand down for twelvo months owing to his riding of ■pr. Bill in a hack race at Wanganui, Tiad the satisfaction of boating tho Doctor in the first day's Hurdle Handicap at Feilding. Ho had the mount on The Bempie, who outstayed Dr. Bill in the last half mile, and won comfortably at the end. The mare, however, broke down in, the race. Dr. Bill showed so much pace for a mile and a half in the Hurdle Race at jTeilding, and also previously on the Hutt .track, that it might havo been a better plan to have raced him on tho flat instead of over hurdles. He would certainly have had a good chanco in the mile races at Feilding.. Tho Doctor's effort in tho Hurdle Race knocked him right out. Ho overjumped most of the hurdles, and nearly brought some of the competitors down Frontier the Hotchkiss— Eve gelding, made a very poor showing at Feilding, never being prominent at any part of his races. The West Coast people are very sweet on Halberdier's chance in the Thompson xlandicap. Benefactor was tinder offer to a Palmerston North buy«r for £150. The barfain had to be clinched on Friday week, ut tho prospective buyer did not turn up and negotiations were declared off. The Stepniak — Charity horse was cheap enough at £180, a* he is likely to turn out a useful horse next year. Ho has been growing too much this year to do much good. He is a rare stayer, and was coming at the end of both his races at Feilding. Boko, who showed promising form at the Wairarapa Meeting, originally cost his owner £16. Mr. J. Cress, tho popular Wairarapa cportsman, having purchased the Empiro Hotel at Masterton, will only keep .Volley and Tutangatfehu in training. Halberdier, the Feilding Cup winner, was allotted lOst 41b aDd lOst 121 b .in his second day's engagements, but did not pay up. There is every prospect of the coming meeting of the W.R.C. being the most successful gathering that has taken place at tue Hutt this season. Under dato Bth. March the London correspondent of the Post writes:— "l notice that the New Zealand bred horse, Levanter, now figures as third favourite for tbe Liverpool Grand National, his' quoterl price being 100 to 8. It is stated that tho crack cross-country horseman, Mason, will ride Levanter in this race, a consideration that materially enhances hia chance of success. It may bo remembered, that last year Levanter finished fourth, in this race." But the cable has informed us that Levanter was scratched jusf before tho race. Thero wore only three starters for the Richmond Park Stakes at Nelson on Thursday, but the raco resulted m a great fight. Abydos and Hinekoa were hard tit it in front turning for home, and there -was little between them. Crusoe was then five lengths off them, and it was thought he could net get up, but oeing -well under pressure, ho gradually "wore tho leaders down, and the trio rushed past tho post locked together, the judge declared Crusoe the winner by half a head from Abydos, with Hinekoa third, tho same distance off. A protesj; was entered for inconsistent running on tho port of Crusoe, but the stewards dismissed it. Ob his running tho first day Crusoe's chance was connidered hopelejßH, but the gallop improved him, and on Thursday he mot Hinekoa on 141 b better torms, and Abydos 131 b better than ho did in the Cnp. The Hutt horses Pure Silver and Heritas had comfortable victories at Nelson. ' Their wins were popular, especially that of Pure Silver, who was giveo. three cheers. Hinekoa cost her backers on the course a lot of money, the mare being s heavily backed on her tw\> engagements. It seemed good business to bock her in the second race, but Calceolaria showed improved form, and coming with a fine late run, won fairly easily at the end, and paid £5 12s. Four horses ran. Wakeful was undoubtedly a great bargain when Mr. Leslie Macdonald secured her at 310 guineas at the dispersal of the St. Alban.s team in the spring of 1900. The daughter of Trenton led off by annexing the Nowmarket and Doncaster Handicaps, the combined stake money attaching to which amounted to £2976. In addition, she scored in a number of valuable woight-for-age races, and the victory which she achieved in the Sydney Cup on Easter Monday adds another big stake to her winning repertoire. That a great improvement has been wrought in Wakeful between her four and five-year-old career is well exemplified in tho Sydney Cup contests of the two hist years. In last year's Cup the daughter of Trenton was beaten under 7st 101 b in a race that took 3min 32sec. This year she carried 9st 71b to victory in the record time of 3min 28sec. Wakeful, now takes rank as a record-breaker for two distances In

tho running of the Sydney Cup she knocked a quarter of a second ofl Carbine's record (3min 281 sec for two miles) and in the All-agod Stakes contest she got over tho mile attaching to that raco in lmin 39sec. Previous to tho latter performance lmin 39-jsec was tho record ior eight furlongs, Djin-Djin and Wakeful hotng executants. True Blue (by Hotchkiss— Rose of Wellington), tho full brother to Soringapatani and Royal Artillery, was represented by his first winner at tho Australian Jockey Club's Autumn Meeting. This was Blue Spec, A< f ho won the Two-year-old Maiden Stakes. Bluo Spec was picked up cheaply at the yearling sales last April for 45 guineas. , The conditions of tho next Melbourne Cup havo been decided on by tho V.R.C. Committee. They will bo exactly tho same as last year. The raco will be a sweepstakes of 30 soys each, with 6000 sovjj added, two miles. The Committee fixed up tho conditions of several other events, but made, no alteration whatever. The Grand National Hurdle Race next July will remain a sweepstakes of 15 soys each, with 1000 soys added, and tho Grand National Steeplechase a sweepstakes of 20 soys each with 1500 soys added. Mr. O. L. Macdonald has made arrangements with Mr. J. Macdouald, of Muuglobundio, to race the two-year-old brother to Bonnio Chiel and Kinglike. Tho colt, who is a splendid youngster, will return to Melbourne with Wakeful after the A.J.C. autumn meeting. London Truth has it that tho Royal colours are- not likely to figuro often in handicaps, but that tho King's horses will "go for" weight-for-age stakes, and any animal which is not good enough for this class of raco will bo got rid of. This is a proper sporting arrangement, being in accordance with 'the general practice of the lato Duke of Westminster and tho lato Lord Falmouth, neither of whom often patronised handicaps, and it is also a policy which has the advantage of being sound from the financial point of view. A writer in a Melbourne paper, in malting mention of high-priced yearlings, says: — "The Positano filly Posca, who cost Mr. Hawkins 450 guineas in Sydney last autumn, has bean a dead failure so far. Fancy,' a 450-guinea yearling not being ablp to win a £25 Maiden Plate. Mr. Hawkins gave 510 guineas for a Haut Brion colt at tho time ho bought Posca. It was found impossible to train him, and it has been the same | with tho Etra- Weenie fllly, tho brother to Maltster, and the brother to Hautvillers, all of whom brought good-prices last autumn." The Australian bred horso Syerla, by Qozo from Cerise and Blue (now racing ia England) won the Broosgrove Selling Plate recently, Vickers being, second, and Glimpse third. It has been decided. to retire Sir Foote (winner of tho Futurity Stakes, Newmarket Handicap, and Doncaster Handicap) from the turf, "and ho will be prepared during> the coming winter for next season's Btud work. Tho merits of Carbine as a sire (says an English student of breeding) are now generally recognised, and I am convinced ho will be of great use if properly used. I desire to place on record my opinion of what strains of the blood will suit him best. Mares of the Galopin blood (which has been extensively recommended as the "correct crosl") are not the correct thing ait all. I have many reasons that explain, to me why the Galopin blood on Musket as kindred blood is, and should be, successful, but I havo yet to learn why tho reverse cross should be so. It is my purpose to show how best we can utilise the very Valuable blood in Carbide. Ho is of English parentage, although Australian bred, and I daresay accidentally produced. ' Had his sire and dam remained in England they probably would have- never met, ana consequently we should have had no Carbine, but they gravitated by the force of circumstances towards each other in their new home. The Muskot line of Touchstone is the hardiest of /the strain, and we recognise, or should, that in-breeding to Touchstone from English parents is a sure way to produce excitability in the offspring. This nervousness is one of the factors which causes them to show erratic form. For mares of this temperament Carbine is just tbe sire to use. I have noticed in many cases good results follow » from tho union of a mare whose sire came from the samo line as ihe horse to whom she is put does. Carbine himself is an instance of this. My advice, therefore, to breeders is to continue this method when breeding from him. Mares by Friar's Balsam appear | to me, if other things are equal, to be composed of just the material to suit him on blood. Any one having a subscription to Carbine and possessing a Friar's Balsam maro should most .decidedly use her to fill the subscription in preference to all others, no matter how bred.