THE TURF. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 139, 14 June 1909, Page 2

THE TURF. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Among the sprinters competing at lh% Ellerslie mcehntr, Dogger Bank, by Mem - schikoff— Mysterious, created a favour* able impression. In both his attempts, he was finishing at a very fast rate, and had the journey been a furlong further, would probably have been returned a winner in one, if not both, of his races. Ife is noticeable that nearly all the stock of Menschikoff are natural gallopers. They do not as a rule show much size, but are compact, strongly framed, me-dium-sized horses, and it is rather a pity the well-performed son of Stepniak and Pibroch was sold to go to Victoria, &oma two seasons ago, before his merits were realised. Of the cross-couniry horses who' caught the eye at Ellerslie, Le Beau, Capitol, and To Arai come in for praise. All three boast the St. Leger strain ; the, first two inheriting it through their sirs, Leolantis, whose dam Atlantis was alsoi) the dam of St. Legei, whilst Monaco, sire of Te Arai, was a son of the Don, caster horse. Lo Beau's dam, Belle, wag a good winner over bi^ timber, and although her son has taken time to become proficient at the game, now than he is seasoned his jumping, pace, and powerful frame will- conduce to furthertriumphs. Capitol's cleverness will always help him when the obstacles are more than usually formidable. Te Arai has a great turn of pace, but is not to 3 sound. Hickey despaired of getting him. to stand a preparation, and Te Arai't present owner was thereby enabled to buy the brown gelding for about thirtyguineas. Tho A.E.C. stipendiaries held an enquiry into the running of Beservoir and Bully in the Campbell Hurdles, in which, tho former won, and the G.N. winner ran last. The explanation given was accepted as satisfactory. I know thatl Reservoir's poor display in the 0.N.. Hurdles was a great disappointment to his party, particularly as Waipu, who finished third, was of little use to the Jet D'Eau gelding on the track, prior to that race. Bully must have been stiff' and tore after his great effort in thai G.N. Hurdles. It not infrequently happens that when a tyro at the hurdling; game happens lo win, his subsequent form for some little time is poor, due, no doubt, to a premature tightening of the jumping muscles. Ultimately this wears off, and the hors3 is able to strike winning form again. Strangely enough, the, A.R.C. Vigilance Committee missed, so | I am told, one pretty strong case of shunting wnicb occurred in a flat race. Aroha, who is engaged in the H.B. Hack Steeple, and Iranui will be the only Trentham-trained horses competing at the Hastings meeting this week. Aroha, until he came down through blnji* dering into another horse, I fancy was well up with the leaders in the Wanga-. nui Steeple. The old Sequab gelding is a fast and ''clever fencer, and he is, moreover, in good fettle, an essential" which several of his opponents will ba lucking in. Iranui is a good little mara in the heavy going — she may not, however, be sufficiently strung-up just yet, for, as we found out at Ellerslie, they, must be at their best to win under tha winter scale of weights. Nearly all the Gold Reefs have tha gift of jumping. Two seasons ago Assayer was one of our smartest hurdlers up to a.Tttii^ and three-quarters — beyond that he stopped to nothing. "In his schooling essays at Hastings, Assayer has been shaping in attractive style, und his debut on Wednesday will be awaited with interest, for if such a fast horsa can jump the big fences in public, nis pace will mako him a formidable antagonist in the Important events yet to be decided this season. Mountain ' King is again in training at Randwick. The long striding chestnut still makes a noise, but he is galloping as beautifully as ever, and Joe Burtoit is not without hopes of landing several |of the shorter w.f.a. l-aces with tho handsome son of Wallace. Mooßan, who is certain to figure at the end of tha Spring Handicaps, is another great horse whose trainer does not despair of winding up, and in Aborigine, Mooltan has something good to gallop with oo the track. It is not often that one stable shelters three such giants as Pikopo, Kopu, and Maku, a bay, a chestnut, and a black, respectively. The trio are trained by Jim Munn, and their total height must be quite 50 hands. If that type of horse cannot win welters of the 9.0 and 10.7 minimum class, they cannot win anything. They are all the progeny of San Fran. THE BLADE.