SPORT AND PASTIME.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 128, 26 November 1904, Page 14

SPORT AND PASTIME.

[By Lochiel.]

The Turf.

RACING FIXTURES. November 26 and 30.— Takapuna Spring Meeting. November 30 and December I—Fielding Spring Meeting. December I— North Canterbury Meeting. December 7 and B.— Woodville Summer Meeting. December 10 and 16— Christchurch R.C. Summer Meeting. „„,„., December 26 and 27— Reefton J.C. Mideummer Meeting. December 26, 29, January 2 and 5— Auckland R.C. Summer Meeting. December 26 and 27— Taranaki J.C. Christmas Meeting. December 26 and 27— Lower Valley J.C. Annual Meeting. * December 26 and 27— Manawatu R.C. Summer Meeting. - I December 26 and 27— Dunedin J.C. Summer Meeting. December 31 and January 2—Greymouth J.C. Summer Meeting December 28— Ashhurst-Pohangina R.C. Annual Meeting. . January 2 and 3 — Rangitikei R.C. Summer Meeting. > January 2 and 3— Hawkes Bay J.C. Summer Meeting. , j January 2 and 3— Wairarapa R.C. Summer Meeting. That Mr. Henrys still retains the full confidence of owners and trainers, is evidenced by the generous response made by nonmiators on acceptance night for the first day's programme of tho Feilding Jockey Club's Meeting at the end of the month. The grand total of nominations received numbered 171,, and out of that no less than 156 have cried content, which probably constitutes a record, and should be very pleasing to the club. The programme consists of eight events for each day's racing, so that patrons have no caiise to complain on that score; and, provided the weather be on its best behaviour, some excellent racing should be •witnessed. The meeting opens with the Flying Stakes, in which sixteen made the payment, and taking recent form as a guide, the winner may be found from ~?Z2l Z.Z, Matwku 8.4, and Tessera 8.0; aad they may finish in that order. There are some good horses »n the St. Andrew's Handicap, Cannie Chiel heading the list with 8.4. I like Lass-o'-Gow-rie (8.3), Fleka (7.13), and Tercelet (6.13). The latter, on his* running in the Otaia Handicap at Riccarton, wnere he finished second 'to Bowman and carried 10.3, in the good time of 2man 40£ sec, should have more than an outside chance. In th& Aorangi Hack Flat nineteen have accepted, and Marinella 8.3, or Crimson Lake' 7.3, may furnish the winner between them, with Tomairangi close up. In the Spring Hurdles, . * V«. and Lissa 9.13 should be thereabouts at the finish. In the Waituna Hack Hurdles the large field of twenty-two has elected to do battle, and the placed hor.=es may be supplied by Peruvian 10.3, Westguavd 10.10, and Valkyrie 11.2, in that order. Golden Vein 10.8, Shrapnel 10.8, and Bowman 8.8, seems a likely trio in the Kiwitea Welter; and Tomairangi 8.7, Per. dita 7.12, and Federation 6.10 in the Fitzroy Hack of six furlongs. The weights for three of the leading handicaps to be decided at the Auckland Racing Club's Summer Meeting made their appearance on the advertised date. The Auckland Cup, which is now endowed to the extent of £1500, is in point of value second only to the rich stake of £2000 provided by the C.J.C. for its last New Zealand Cup. Id the Northern Club's- Cup f the locally-owned Achilles is made the chopping-block with. 9.10, but, judging by his recent displays at Riccarton, the Medallion horse's chance of success does not appear too rosy. More to my liking is his stable companion, Ghoorka, who is called on to carry the nice racing weight of 7.4, or 41b less than he was aUotted in the last New Zealand Cup. Despite Ghoorka's recent failures, I am of the opinion that if Prosser should happen to got this five-year-old son of Locjiiel and Fiancee in the condition he was in when he romped home last March in the Wangaiuii Cup of one mile and threequarters in the slashing time of 3min 3sec, he must possess a chance second to none of landing this valuable prize. Of jMr. Stead's half-a-dozen the most likely to me appears to be Cruciform (9.9), whose showing in the Jubilee Cup at Riccarton, when she cantered in four lengths ahead of Red Gauntlet and Achilles, proves the daughter of St. Leger— Forme to be still possessed of all her old dash ; and as the Yaldhurst mare has a twomile aad a- quarter Canterbury Cup to her credit, there is no need to doubt her ability to compass the journey. "Mr. Stead,' however, has so strong a team that it is, perhaps, unwise to attempt to single out the best of the bunch at tne weights. Mahutonga (8.32) is thought by his admirers to have a chance, and is being coupled with a good many candidates in the Railway Handicap double, and of those lower down the fist, Melodeon, Romeo, and Float seem to be fairly well treated. Bat to name the probable winner in three I shall take Ghoorka, Mr. Stead's selected (probably Cruciform), and Melodeon. In tbe Railway Stakes, Machine Gun. heads the list with 10.10 (not 10.0, as telegraphed), and after his great performance in the Randolf Handicap over five furlongs, in which he put up a record with the thumping weight of 11.5, he cannot be said to be harshly treated. However, I am inclined to think that Mason holds the key to -he position in this event, with one of the younger members of bis formidable string, the best of which on the day will most likely turn out to be Rubia (8.6) or Savoury (8.4). Others with favourable prospects are Quarryman 8.11, Ailsa 7.10, and Solution 7.4. But perhaps some of tbe South and Middle Island owners hare had enough of chasing Mason's charges, and may elect on trying their luck somewhere nearer home, where the bearers of the yellow jacket are likely to be absent. ,'ln the Steeplechase, Slow Tom, Up-to-Date, and Princess of Thule stand out as likely ones in the top-weight division, and Pharos and Tuni in the bottom lot may also have something to say in the settling of the three and a half mile, cross-country event. Achilles is looked uppn in some quarters as a likely competitor for the Newmarket Handicap to be decided at the V.R.C. Autumn Meeting in March next, a race in which his late stable mate Advance got a- place. Bat as Australian handicappers, as a general rule, appear to consider all horses entered from New Zealand veritable flying machines over any distance and capable of carrying "grandstands" in the matter of weight, the Porirua-trained horse is almost sare to be well cared for in that respect. March is a good way off, however, and the "early birds" may ;fall in ,as usual. At the time of writing Mr. G. G. Stead is represented in the Auckland Cup by no less than six candidates, and in the Railway Handicap by five, so that it is possible for that oAWier's combination to be backed in thirty different ways. Yet in the face of sucb tremendous odd« backers are to be found game enough to try and pick the likely pair at the absurd price of 20 to 1 (and less) weeks before the races are run, with the risk of not even getting a run for their money on the deciding-day.

Wellcast, winner of the Maiden Hurdles at the Auckland Spring Meeting, promises to be a good one at the jumping business. He is splendidly bred, being by Castor — Lady Wellington, and although not in the front rank as 'a flatracer, he should make a name for himself in the fencing department of the game. The first blow in connection with the next Melbourne Cup was struck last week, when a backer accepted 100 to 1 about Mr. H. V. Foy's English-bred colt Murillo (by Velasquez-Balsam), winner of the Nursery Handicap at the V.R.C. Spring Meeting. When laying the wager Mr. Oxenham's manager remarked, "You deserve to win, old man" — a .sentiment that will be shared in by most followers of the game. Blinker, who ran third in the Melbourne Cup, got his owner into trouble through 1 his erratic behaviour in the race for the V.R.C. Derby. Mr. J. Wilson, who, by the way, prepared Merriwee for his essays (says an exchange), was hailed before the stewards and .. cautioned. Blinker's owner is one of the oldest racing men in Victoria, his connection wiih. the turf extending over a period of forty years. He has won almost every race of importance in Australia. According to a writer in the Sydney Telegraph,, Wairiki's owner, Mr. S. Bradley, purposes remaining in Melbourne until that horse recovers sufficiently to leave Flemington to be turned out. Several people have spoken to Mr. Bradley about buying his old favourite, but he says when it comes to a question of selling the would-be buyers must talk "thousands," not "hundreds." He can afford to keep Wairiki, and unless a very tempting bait is offered him he means to do so. There was a consensus of opinion among sporting writers that Pretty Polly's defeat in the Prix de Conseil Municipal in France was a fluke. The Paris correspondent of a London sporting paper said that' the defeat can only be ascribed to the rider's slight knowledge of the track and an error respecting her speed. Her rider and Zinfandel's three furlongs from the chair were watching each other, thinking Presto 11. would come back'to them. Presto 11. was the ugliest horse in the paddock, and his past record shows him to be a mere plater. Tho French papers devoted long articles to the race and the unexpected defeat of Pretty Polly, and without exception they declare that the soaked condition of the course, and the contempt which the jockeys felt for Presto 11. when they allowed that colt to get such, a lead, w-ere responsible. The Echo dcs Courses says : "In England it will never be admitted that the victory of such a wretched specimen of a French thoroughbred is correct, and that opinion will be quite right." As a yearling Presto 11. was sold for £108, whilst M. Dreyfus, his present owner, claimed him out of a selling race for £570, and drew lots with another gentleman as to who should keep him. But the "Special Commissioner," in London Sportsman, in admitting that Pretty Polljvivas not beaten on her merits, said he never viewed her remarksble series of victories as proving even approximately any title on her part to rauk with Sceptre, for Henry the First, when by no means at his best, is positively the best animal she has beaten in England. And yet other authorities dubbed Pretty Polly to be a filly of exceptional excellence. Maro, who has won some decent handicap, races on the flat for Mr. Jervie George, of Taranaki, has been sold by that gentleman, and is now an inmate of John Thorpe's stables in Auckland. His new owner should he on good terms with himself, for at the first time of asking the Lebel gelding managed to score by winning the Te Aroha Cup on Tuesday last. Sir George Clifford's - team— Golden Vein, Cannie Chiel, and .Tessera — in charge of H. putts, arrived from Christchurch yesterday, and left immediately for Feilding by rail. The horses are stated to Tie in tip-top fettle, and should account for a race or two before returning South. Ailsa, Crichton, and Phaetonitis are unlikely starters at the Auckland Summer Meeting. Sir Percival, whose name figures in the list of entries for the Maiden Hack and Scurry at Feilding, is also an aspirant for Auckland Cup honours, in which he is allotted the minimum weight of 6.7. Comfort was withdrawn from the Auckland Summer Steeplechase as soon as the weights appeared. For Gladsome, £3000 was offered and refused by Mr. Sol Green since the V.R.C. Spring Meeting. Gladsome's winnings to date in prize-money totals over £7000. Alf Shearsby has ceased to act as private trainer for Mr. G. P. Donnelly, of Hawkes Bay, and that owner's team is now under the temporary supervision of G. Collett. Union Jack, who raced in this colony in the colours of Major-General Babington, and was sold by that gentleman, is now under the guidance of W. H. Keith, the ex-New Zealand trainer, at Caulfield, Victoria. Wet Reef, 8.4, is an acceptor for the Flying Handicap at Feilding, but was omitted in the telegraphed list sent through. A full brother to Mr. "Monk's crack Achilles, is said to be one of the finest foals ever seen in New South Wales The Cambria Park Stud (Auckland) has decided to abandon operations, and the whole of the ctock will be submitted to public auction at an early date.