SPORT AND PASTIME.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 129, 1 June 1907, Page 14

SPORT AND PASTIME.

The Turf. [By 'The Blade."] PACING FIXTURES. 'June 1 and 3 — Dunedin J.C. Winter. June 1, 3, and B—Auckland8 — Auckland E.G. Grrat Northern Steeplechase | .lunj 3 and 4— Otaki Maori K.C. Winter June 19 and 20— Hawkes Bay J.C. Winter. June 26 and 27 — Napisr Park E.C. Winter. ' ! July 4 and s—Gisborne5 — Gisborne R.C. Steeplechase. July 20, 24, and 27— Wellington lI.C. * Winter. August 13, 15, and 17— C.J.C. Grand National. OTAKI WINTER MEETING. The club has received excellent accepthncos, and the class of Iforses that will be seen out 1 should furnish an. intcreitinjr day's sport. The chief event is the RuaSiivrn Cup, ran over one and a quniter piiles, and no k"B than sixteen horses stand their grourd. A rapid run through the handicapper's worl^ reveals. , an nppar»nt inconsistency, as it were, if we are j to be guided by public form. For example, in the Connolly Handicap at Wanganui, Marguerite with 8.11 in the saddle conceded' Waitapu Sllhs and »v beating. True it was only v, nose, and tliere are not » a few good judges who aver that superior jockeyship was the main factor in contributing -to the Tesult. Even admitting such to be tho crso. it looks rather rough on Waitapu's owrer that 'the Gipsy King gelding is raised 1 libs, or, in other words, meets "his conqueror on .61bs worse terms. Surely a severe penalty under the circumstances. However, we may have to seek the winner in another quarter. The Hawkes Bay Cnjs ■winner, Volumcs,_.has beea.raifttv Qlbe,,! while .Six Tristram, > wljo« ran him, ,to »vlength, has his weight increased by lib. Over a mile and a qua: tor under ordinsT'r circumstances, I wonld expect this concession of 71bs to enable the Sir Lancelot, •gelding to reverse tho pljcings. However, there is a. ''but." Jenkins (the rider of Volume) is such an a&tute jockey th.it •he may have had a, little more up his sleeve, and in addition to that the three-year-old may leasonably be expected to keep on improving, whereas Sir Tristram was probably at the top of his form. I am not inclined to probe amongst those handicapped lower down the list, and) although 1 am flying somewhat in the face of Gtnct figures I shall rote for Volume, for I understand he has thrown off any ill effects of his fail in the Winter Oats at Wangamii. Tho minor events •will take somn picking, und I wilh content myself with expressing a partiality for the chance of Kitehenmaid in iha Kangiuru Handicap, . six furlongs, as this maro has on one or -two occasions sliown her party good gallops in private, and Sherlock Holmes might ateo run prominently in the same race on his Trentham- form in the Thompson and Suburban Handicaps, in both of which Tiis name was called at the home turn. There are no less than twenty -one in the Flying Handicap, and for those who do not mind taking sporting risks Idtalist might be trusted. On paper the nicest bet of the day seems to be Swimming' Belt in the Otaki Handicap, as this colt got a shockingly bad run at Wanganui. Bonhour should be the best of the seven acceptors in the Handicap Hurdles, although the Seaton Delaval mare could scarcely concede Hydroscope 331bs if the Captain Webb gelding were well. THE DERBY. Next Wednesday will bo decided the 128 th contest for the English Derby, and recent cable messages show conclusively that Captain Greer's black colt . SH&ve Gallion, who won the Two Thousand Gruineas, will start a hot odd»-on favourite. Despite Slieve Gallion's defeat as a two-year-old in the Middle Park Plate byMajor Loder's Galrani, competent authorities have maintained that this form was wrong. Bezonian, who is third favourite, is the property of Lord Rosebery, and i 9 a half-brother to Cicero, who won ihe Derby in 1905. Both Slieve Gallion and Galvani are descendants of that bucoessfnl sire Gallinule, the first being sired by him, whilst Gallinaria, the dam of Galvani, is a daughter of Gallinule. Mr. Allison, "Special Commissioner" of the London Sportsman, comments as follows on Slieve Gallion after the colt had. won the Craven Plate at Newmarket last ! month : — "No horse conld have wintered fiertter, and he has muscled out splendidly, j chough lie has grown little in point of | ieight. He stripped clean and hard, but with abundance of substance to- go on jrith through a Derby preparation, and though he cantered down in his usual impetuous, star-gazing fashion, nothing sould have been smoother and better colKcted than the style in which the colt galloped from start to finish. Slieve Gallion carries his head high even when Be is on the stretch, and not fighting with his jockey. Mr. Allison adds that 'ie thinks Mr. W. Clark's brilliant colt mar prove the only ona to trouble • slieve Galfion later in the season. HEWITT IN ENGLAND. In the face of L. Hewitt's brilliant and successful horsemanship since bis 'jrriva' in England, it is astonishing now prejudiced critics are against the New Zealand rider. The ignorance of «>nie of the critics is exposed when the Sporting Times, a paper one would ex*^ect to know better, describes Hewitt is a "ranch rider from Melbourne." In another contribution the same paper Remarks anent Hewitt, ".though the Jatest recruit to the ranks of our yockeys may have been the Maher or •iPCall of New Zealand, he can scarcc>y be termed an exponent of elegance <n horsehanship, and his curious antics ji getting Rarer Sort home last Saturday evoked the sneers of at least one *Id .h^lvTtue of iKfe u-eijjting-room '"Never seen a jockey in such extraordinary positions in all my life !' cried Ihis veteran ; and Templeman, who was waiting to scale, charitably rejoined on oehalf of the absent one : 'You haven't? Well, bnt yon should see some of 'cm ihat aro riding in Holland !' " When Hewitt rode Rarer Sort in his third jnccessivo victory at Alexandra Park, *he staid and alv.ays correct Sportsman referred to the raco : ''Though the Bourse is, so to say, a freak, it is all right when you know it, though I expect Hewitt thought to himself, "but you've got to know it first," when he won on Rarer Sort once more, but not until after he had seemed almost to k>se his way, and then cot a deal flurried when Hill Climber bore down Mi him. All the same ho won, and that is the main thing. There were many who criticised, but It is not fair to criticise any jockey tiding at Alexandra Park for the first time. It is already admitted that Hewitt sits still and gets away well, that ho rides his races with judgment, and the only point in suspense is how lie finishes. When he has really settled down to racing in this country we shall be able to judge from time to time later on, but I have seen (juite enough already to satisfy me that tho New Zealand jockey can win his races when his tnount is good enough no vngXlev syho opposes him*"-

A NEW ZEALAND INVASION. D. J. Prico has arrived in Melbourne with the largest team of horses that ever loft New Zealand foi Australia. In Pink 'Un, Submarine, and Savoury Prico has three seasoned campaigners, and as he has aheady proved himself an adopt in placing his charges it is highly probable that befoie long we shill hear of their success. That Price does' not/ intend nis team to eat tho oats of idleness is pioved by his nominating Savourr for the Royal Handicap, six furlongs, to be run at Flemington on Monday, and tho form shown by The Swimmer hoi so in that race will furnish a jjood line upon which to assess the prospects of Pink 'Un, who has only to repeat his Trcntham gallops last Januaiy to win fame and money ior his enterprising owner.