SPORT AND PASTIME.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 112, 13 May 1911, Page 14

SPORT AND PASTIME.

The Turf. FIXTURES. Way 17 and 18— Egmont E.C. Winter. May 20 and 24— Takapuua J.C. Winter. May 24 and 25— Wanganui J.C. Winter. Jim© 2 and 3— Duntdin J.C. Winter. June 3 and s~otaki Maori R.C. Winter. Jun« 3, 5 and 7— Auckland B.C. Great Northern Steeplechase. Juno 21 and 22— Hawkes Bay J.C. Winter. June 28 and 29— Napier Park B.C. Winter. July 6 and 7— -Gisborne E.C Winter. NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By Sir Bedivere.) The Auckland 'chaser Antarctic is, it seems, not altogether sound, and his owner is waiting to see how he shapes this week ere deciding '.o take him to Wanganui. This gelding is one of the most capable ero&j-country horses now in commission, and. ifc would be exceedingly regrettable if he should fail to shmd up to his collar. Le Beau will not be brought to Wuiiganui, but Sol and Loch Vyiie may be expected to represent the Northern province in the first important steeplechase of the season. After ■winning the Autumn Steeplechase at Ellerslie Sol wast taken back to the Waikato. Only the immediate connections therefore, know how he is progressing, but the fact of his being ono of the favourite selections for the Great Northern suggests that all is well with him. John, Cleinain, and Taft were associated in a school over the battens tnis. week, and each jumped well. The two first named gave an especially creditable display, and their appearance in the Hack Hurdles at Haw era in being awaited witn, considerable interest. There appears to be an opinion held in certain quarters that Ribstone Pippin is turned loose in the Great Northern Hurdles at 9.1. Personally, however, I cannot. s>ee that the Australian-bred gelding has accomplished anything whicih stamps him as a good one. His form has been markedly inconsistent, and possibly a"Buspicion has thus arisen that he may be a much batter horso than the book suggests. On at least one occasion, viz., at the Taranaki autumn 'njeeting, ho was to my certain knowledge well supported by his connections, and though he only had 9.7 to carry, he was never prominent at any stage ofjhe race. He subsequently came out at Wanganui, and after just beating Torbelle under 9.4 on the opening- day,' h&* put down Mahuta (10.7) and Astraea (9,2) decisively under 10.5. There is nothing very suggestive about these performances, and he will need to improve considerably if he is to hold his own in the best open company. Auratus is said to be training on satisfactorily at Hawera, and he has recently given creditable displays over the schooling hurdles. Probably he will be given a race on the Hat at the- Egmont meeting, after which he is to contest 'the Century Hurdles. The best has never been seen of this gelding, as he has always been difficult to train. He won the Manawatu Cup under 7.7, beating Savoury (7.13), Martian (9.2), and nine others in 1905, however, and there is no doubt that had he been a sound horse ho would have shown himself to be pretty smart. The year before last, it will be renumbered, he was a w«ll-fan-cied GrancL National candidate. After easily beating Pikopo and JJendrocK in the Trial Hurdles at Eiccarton, however, the beso he could do in the big event, in which ne carried 10.6, was to finish fourth. The aged Handsome Jack gelding Lull, who was more than a useful jumper, and won the Hawises Bay Hurdles In 1908,. is now the property of Mr. Chas. Gordon, .of Wangantii. His owner has been heating him mainly to swimming | exercise, but he was given a turn o^er the schooling fences recently, and negoI tiated them in capital style. He is engaged in the Wanganui Steeplechase, in which he has been let off with 9.11, and if he remains sound he may be a quantity to be reckoned with. The yearling colts by Scottish King — Moorooroo and San ]?rancisco— -Dismay that were purchased for 210 guineas and 120 guineas respectively by Mr. Geo. Dunnett at the Handwick sales, Jiave beep placed in F. Stenning's hands. The San I'rancisco colt is said to bear a distinct resemblance to Downfall, the "circus horse" who won the New Zealand Cup in 1908, and the Scottish King colt is spoken of as a thick-set, youngster that promises to turn out well.' The committee of the Auckland Racing has decided to throw the Club's grounds] open to the public each day until 5 p.m., and it is to be hoped this generosity will not be abused. A large sum is spent annually in maintaining the flower gardens in the main encloBure, 'and it remains to be seen whether the public can be trusted to refrain from disturbing the same. Those who are still prepared to accept commissions on southern events, (says a writer' in the Auckland Star) are finding it, very hard to beat the punters, and of late one or two have been badly wounded. This has had the effect of making them a bit cautious, and at a recent meeting when Eho knowing crowd came for a certain horse they were snowed out. However, another horse came into the market, and a fai" bit of money was t jut on it, while there was also a little money for a third horse. This had the effect of making the layers a bit happier, and they thawed a little, but their feelings can be imagined when the news came through and it was fotuid out that two of the horses backed, one of which won, -were bracketed on the machine, 1 and, consequently, they had to pay out on both. It is really pitiful to hear the I tales of some of the "Tommies"— there is no such person as a bookmaker now— as to the dodges resorted to by the versatile punter to beat them for their money. The following account of the "lightning totalisator," as it is called by its inventors, recently appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, and refers no doubt to th 6 machine which Messrs. Hartland and flayr were go favourably impressed with, and which it is believed will be installed at Ellerslie next season :—"lt: — "It is worked solely by electricity, and the , inventors claim that the lightning machino can be tuned to register 1000 investments per minute, and is an improvement on any other tote machine seen in the Southern Hemisphere. Among the features of this patent arc several that should recommend it highly to those who make their racecourse investments by machine- instead of with the ring. One of these is that Ihe moment a ticket is issued -to an investor it is registered, with the total, in view of thr public, ami against the name of the hovsp, so lhat the person who desires to know liow his fpney is travelling in the market — tlmt is, m the way oi odds — can calculate for himself. The invention is worked by the pressing of electric keys, which not only issue tickets to investors, but simultaneoubly register the amount lodged against the name of the I horse selected, while conespimdingly inI creasing the lot.il for tie Face. Tho iiiveutUii, tay lint the li.iiicii'ij.' iiiac'liimcan b'i tifi'aiiged tt> accommodate any r-iowd oi people or l'one>., i.v ut.it'-i' hu\« bis;. It is, only v ijuesliun ot 'leading upon the number of offices on the racecotKßo^at which ticket* are to be is-

sued. The number may ue one or 100, and the lot can be locked simultaneously by the pressing of a button ;tt any time the club's officials appoint. Arrangements Ctin also be made, the inventors say, for the instalment of auxiliary boards at various places in the paddeck in addition to the main indicating board, where the same results can be displayed." Mention of totalißators reminds me that 1 saw a paragraph this week to the effect that the li'gmont Kacing Club had decided to do without a ten shilling machine at its approaching meeting. It id not singular in this respect, but the wisdom of its decision is none the les6 questionable. Totalizator arrangements have been so deplorable at the majority of race meetings held since Ist January, that one gets rather tired of harping on the same old tune. The subject is one of such paramount importance, however, that. even at the risk of having to plead guilty of repetition, 1 cannot de6ist again referring thereto. Clubs really do not appear to recognise dieir obligations to the public, or rather to that section of the public which comprises the punter of moderate means. They seem to fail to see that in one- respect at least the ten shilling — or five shilling for that matter — bettor is equally as important to them as the man who can afford to invest in " ponies." And yet it is so. When the fate of the totalizator, and with it the whole sport of racing, again has to be decided, the small man's vote is of the same value aa that of his wealthy neighbour. In the circumstances one can only be astounded that in their greed for revenue clubs should be co blinded to the true interest of the Turf as to ignore the just claims of a large section of the community. Inability to get hie " ten bob " on must cause the moderate bettor, whose ranks, be it re- i memberod, include as good sportsmen as we have- in the country, to revile the totalisator " monopoly," as it has been termed, and wish for a return of the days when ho could get hie few shillings on with a bookmaker in comfort. It have had evidence of this at meeting afte-r meeting. Men who, to my personal knowledg_e ; would be the laßt to | desire the abolition of racing,, have been co incensed at -the griping tactics pur- i sued by certain clubs that they have I openly stated their intention of support- j ing the Turf's enemies in Parliament. Possibly in their calmer moments they will refrain from doing so, buj> the feeling indicated is one that clubs should never have allowed to arise, Research, who at one time was one of tho beat backed candidates for the last New Zealand Cup, was sold at Hokitika recently for one shilling. He went amiss at Christmas time, and since then ho has been twice badly kicked by a trptting stallion. It is said his present owner id endeavouring to patch nini up again. -- The Auckland Herald staves tliat the report- of " Patsy " Butler's death, which was referred to throughout the Dominion last week, was inaccurate. "Patfiy," according to tho information received ,by an Auckland resident, who made enquiries, is still very much alive, and is living on an island in the Waikeke passage. A notice reg^ardiug bookmakers is ad^ vertised in this issue by the Wunganui Jockey Club.