THE TURF. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1908, Page 4

THE TURF. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

If a two-yeav-oid displays galloping poweis" above 'the ~ ordinary' an owner or trainer is tempted to go for the, rich plums immediately at hand. What witli the strenuous nature of the preparation and the travelling,' it is a slight shado of odds against a brilliant yemngster keeping his form into his three-year-old days. Fleetfoot rounded off her great deeds thisr season by cantering" home with the Middle Park Plate, finishing on three legs. Perhaps the .-veteran Cutts, with his knowledge of the trainer's* art-, may bo able to patch her up. It would be a pity if this symmetrical filly with her macliinc-hke action did not sport • bilk rgain. " ; Fleetfoot's six wins and a second represent £2325. The only occasion on which this flying daughter 6f Clanranald and the Maxim mare Safeguard failed was in the Feilding Stakes, 'in which it will bo remembered Elevation somewhat' sensationally 'beat Aborigine. Fleetfoot got a lot of bumping, as with , a decent > run she could scarcely* have ' lost/ thatr event, taking a line through Aborigine, who is scarcely within ten pounds or a stone of her. The marvel about Fleetfoot is the apparently effortless manner in which she cuts down her opponents^ and had nob Armlet performed so well against the Australian cracks in the beginning of the season, one would be inclined to dub our youngsters a merely average lot, so very i pronounced is Fleetfoot's superiority. It would really have been interesting to Bee how >Fleetfoct~ would have shaped in a "Eandicap'agdinst those of her own age, but she was. kept strictly to the weight-for-age and weight for sex races. Aithongh- Flefetfoot's ■servicas may not be available for the* balance of the season,. Sir George Clifford has a useful second, 'String in Husbandman, ,a big reachy 'ft^pwn, colt by tjte 'Bill pf^ Portland sire Treadmill from , Gpfdou! This colt is A.Jdug^trider, ai)d\yttjl,,b.e benefited hy* Clme,: 1 H<3 bent' nothing, #f much 'aecouM* ia< i ifie j ''l^i.telk>n' Plato; but was. rimniugf''on-''reSQlu ;^>b r at tlie finikh <?f "the Middle Park v Plsto^and, if pushed, might have been closer -to, Sunglow. ' '.',; , Sunglow tJ^utiform-Qlteiclen), , H\g her full brother #o'nifbrni, isj o a the Bmall side, but full of- quality. Before the" Eandwick trip was undertaken she \^as tried to be iastcr than Armlet. Like Boniform she is none too sound, and requires dainty handling Another Yaid-, hurst pupil that was given a run at the C,J.C- Summer meeting was Los Angeles, the three-year-old colt ty San Francisco and La Valioje.. He lacks nothing in the way of size,' but, ran green in his ' race, the Trial , Stakes/, won by Moscow. 'It must be 1 hard work pla'clitlg a horss like Lapland";. If the" handicaps were of two and , three miles 'ha would-be a rare oats-earner,' but over, the usuaL distances he lacks, the^ dash -necessary to success. Yet his o^rier has sthe mortj-' fixation of seeing the'hors'e^bAnUicappeU right up to tho tip? of 'h&'.fe&rstjm^hfi strength of that 'third to Frisco, and Master Delaval in tha .. New, 1 . ■ '^alajld Chip. Lapland i& probably illhe worst Handicapped horse in 'training.' , _Takp for example the recent C.lj'.C meeting. In tho Midsummer Handicap '"over f a distance of a mile and.a^lialft' frhicjji ought to have suited him, 'h® a*uns" 'unplaced to three moderates. * Stratagem,' Southern* Cross, and Saga.,' In' the for the ' second day Lapland is handicapped to give a smart colt like \ Red Rain four pounds over one mile. T7hy. over that distance Red Rain would probably give 'Lapland a stone undAose him. Out o£ nineteen starts last seasqn Lapland , oply earned' o£b Winning bracket, and this Reason ,his record is mo better. -Really it >in .up to the- weight adjusters* to , give ilfhis -horse a' show, _ '" ."•''•'- V ' IfofcVsiJ, aisny *yeav^'ago--t)iq ! \late^W; Proftitt,; who; ejied afc.> Kapier Wist Satur ? day. was one of the'best Jujpum figures oi}* the-^sTfyw Zealand puvi.' Ass trainW, oyener and "fielder Bill - ProfiUi-, as ho was , familiarly ''styled*, played the groat lieved that 'he had forgotten lhoro'aboufc the finer -jtoints of the sport 1 thalx.tho. majority of. reputed 'racing experts will ever _ learn. He wa.s" & game i bettor i$ his .prime, and at pn£ time was well in, as-.tfie ' te3ul't of hi^ "bookmaking busfe ne^'s. * [fi "later years ["the tide tunied, and ajftei 1 a sustained trot 'of losers ho retried 'f row" the j/a;ne. As an owner the Wit' horse lie had was Macaroni, who! won many jumping races,' intjiidiug the Great Northern Steeple of 1885, with the big weight of 12 stone. \ , \ h Of all tHe eons 'of the"g reatest. Leger, Clanranald has done b,y for,, ih«? ..besj! True, . ho has had' mors chances, but ho< has been- -a. .woridcrf iilly prepdtenl horse, av'd stamps his characteristics iti ccfoui'. shape, aiul temperament upon hh progeny. During Hie last eight' seasons the stock' of tlis son* 1 of St. Ln^er and Scottish ' Lassie Have won £34,489 in- dakes. FoaJ9d nearly twenty yoais sjjfi, G'-^nranild is still fus of vitality? And "in his son Glcno:{lorh, Sir 0 Clifiprd has s a fine young hir e ff, who appeius to up vlienvosf'likoly of Sf Lfgcr's (.JeToadiMits to 'perentuate teh hY.t. With all teh srUmdiir of St. Lpgpr's nam? and prowess -to hcip his sons they hivo — Clanranald, and per-h.-ps Sylvia [ J aik excepted—failcd to fi:c st H'k giftrd with their own br'l-li-'n^y .i!ul -si-iminn. Ha'nHsome Jack is lepivseuteii by a hurdler! 1 6r two; fcr. Clonient? Ins not :: n t anything -that s f HV:. moro tl;;ui six fuilor.g.^; Nestor, fet. Cyr, Ht. (who ])ad heups of <ii tucos), :-C- llario ('^hose slock are gtuei-ully big in bone, and moie adapted, fcr voltsrr), Waiuku (a tremendous ; stud disappointment^ Re^el, B^n Oodimy, St. Aiiilrev and "St. Baul, all are djuip.u'at;\e -*ailui2s,. .. '" ." The Yw'JM^t™ Untini^ G'U-b lu.e rletH'c'J to i'rv,,,i? tjic 'sta'-p.j iq sfvei ;1 1.2 fchr- evr.'its to be com pet-id f'.\r at' the to olrrj '.-iLtim n:.',i!n^. The eyti.I'^piiuu- ihompsoJi Tratidicap, an event which, o'.er sjti-i? iti inception, has alwors uluirtcr] the be"! 'middle distaiue lio>:cs in 'ii.i'Vmf' Vvill be- wpith fiGOO, an invc^v-'of .-010 c.n last jtar's race, f hir ..tri) ]■ t.'i.-in n'^h^ t<x> booh, for tKp 'ii. ,.,,,, :i, s»ith tJiij-addition, >s now iviii.'v •. ')iui \cr_v til tit- more tlv.n it \\,i w'^- ')"■!: in th« rippties, olthonjrh in .i 1 " nit i.i iT> the Wellington Ratiiig Club his grnvru cncmotuly in presti«ra a.id un>jorL\n< c- Tho autumn hdiulicp li m,' '.! : in t.i- 'i.un" tsieainre, snd will be culowed \\\'h 400 sors. • The Fhsi Kv.rJ!-" is incre?^ed from £150 to P-200. fjul >]]<■> FPcoiv' from £150 to £17l>, hbeic'l'Ly which may induce mwiers to nominntj' ltioro fieely ior these &tib:mn hurdle events than they have dono in the past. It is difficult to see why the first day's hurdle me should be woith £2-5 more than tho second, for both take the bame amoupt of winning, and it is fairly expensive bringing horses to Trentfiam. The minor handicaps benefit somewhat, and owners will doubtless recognise, that tho club cannot launch out more extensively until it substantially reduces the liability on the oourse. All the same, many owners will argue that the reduction tbould be a gradual process, and spjead

over a long .term, of , years, , so that owners -in the . future will not benefit unduly at the expense of the present ones. The owner of St. Joe has a just gnevance against the handicapping of his horse in the Launceston Oun. A nice phanoe St. Joe .had with lOst lib. Tho Handsome Jack horse might just as well have remained in tho Dominion. 'Milkeroo, to whom ho was set to conceda 21b, would give St. Joe almost a stone and a beating any day in tho week. Thero are handicappers and handicappers, we know, but some of the fraternity would get better results' if they pui names in a hat, and drew them out haphazard, which method it was slyly insinuated 'a- not I unsuccessful "Victorian weight adjuster i adopted. As' an outcome of th& dissatisfaction expressed by many of the visiting trainers, with the nature of the accommodation provided for jockeys at Trontham, the Wellington Racing Club has decided to erect additional quarters for the boys. This improvement was urgently required, as trainers had great difficulty in persuading the boys to stay in such primitive quarters as had hitherto been provided. Master Delaval has been withdrawn from the Australian Cup and Champion Stakes. The ex-Aucklander Waipvuia was landed in Sydney in good condition. Eclairs racing days are almost ended, for the old gelding pulled up very lame at Randwick last week, and his trainer is not considered to have much chance of getting him right again. R. J. Mason and Murray Hobbs intepd leaving for a holiday trip to the Old Country. During the absence of the Yaldhurst trainer, R. O'Donnell, who for some years has been Mason's •trusted honcliman, will be in charge of Armlet, Coniform, and company. It is reported from the South that the owners of Suttee intend to appeal to ihs Racing Conference ,in connection . the Tongariro Hack Race contretemps. ! 'Mr. /J. Chadwick, who got two dead I heats at tho Gisborne R.C. meeting laht Lfweefc, equalled the record of Mr. J. "Henrys at the, Manawatu summer meetI' In*, 1906, when he scored dead heats in , t,wp consecutive events with Full Rate , and Immolation -in the Tararua Hack, •ah'd.Buccieuch and Grand Slam in the .President's Handicap. the Egmont R.C. meeting Will ber concluded, and the Eketahuna. R.C. will hold its annual gathering. On Thursday p.ncl Friday .next the Poverty Bay Club wind up the "Gisborne fortnight." Stratagem, as the presumed best of an. indifferent lot, is ' top weight in the Dunedin Cup. They appear very badly off for decent handicap horses iv the South at present, and .it looks as if it might pay somß of'-our North Island trainers to make the .trip. Soiuon of our hacks would score in the poor fields at Dune din. ' > y