NOTES AND COMMENTS. THE TURF.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 108, 7 May 1912, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE TURF.

(By Sir Bedivere.)

On being shipped for homo at Picton, Aloha again played up, and succeeded in getting both of her hind le«s over the back of tho box. As a insult she lost a considerable amount of hair and sustained a number of bruises. It is evident that «he must have got a fright at some time or another. After increasing the value of the, stakeß, spending £626 Ms-ldon permanent improvements, and £112 4s on plant and machinery, tlw Mtu-ton Jockey Club made a profit on the year's transactions of £592 19s. The club's new course is one of the most convenientlysituated in the North .Island, .and; being under the control of a live Bet of men, the meetings held thereon > cannot fail to become increasingly important aud'popular. Autmnnus has wdn seven races, run second twee, third twice, and finished unplaced once, viz., in the Feilding Stakes, won by Naumai. His total earn. mgs amount to £3070, . or £309 more I than the amount' won by Multiform in 1 1896-7. Ermenjjarde ha*, of course, been' j his most formidable rival, but provided he winters satisfactorily it is unlikely that Charlemagne ll. 's speedy daughter will ever again defeat him. All going well, Sir George Clifford should have another most successful ee&Ktn, for i Autumnus-' looks like winning the Guineas, the two Derbies, and the L«ger, and Brown Owl is cjuite likely to land the Oaks. Counterfeit will 'be quite capable of attending to the Champagne Plate, Canterbury Cup, Stead ■ Memorial Cup, Islington Plate, Auckland Plate, etc., aud if a smart ' two-year-old should be unearthed Chokebore Lodge will indeed be a formidable stable, Owners are reminded that nominations for the Otaki Maori Winter Meeting are due next Friday. The principal events are the llaukawa Cup, of 300 &ovu, and the Huia Handicap, of 220 so vs. Hacks, are particularly well catered for. This meeting ia annually tho last to be held in the Dominion at which horses may carry less than 9.0 in « flat race. | In an article on "The Best .Steeple chaser," My. John Corlott, the 'father ' of sporting pressmen, writes thus in nis own paper, the Sporting Tittles : If we were asked to name the best-looking steeplechaser wo had ever seen, we . should wiithout hesitation say L'Africano, and very' likely we should not be far wrong if we were to nain* him as th« best. There was no Derby winner w« ever saw that for eize, colour, symmetry, and, action would have beaten him. He was in colour like the well-polished dark mahogany tables that we eoinetimee nee at our institutions, the top table in the Middle Temple, for example, and he had the real Faugh-a-Ballagh back, broad as the proverbial billiard table. Wo nevei' paw Bourton, but in th» opinion of old men we have spoken to who had the reputation of being fine judges, he was the best steeplechaser they had ever seen. Standing seventeen hands, and with a magnificent stride, he ©tood out from the rest of tho field when lie won the Grand National as much as Chamant did as he walked round tho enclosure before winning the Two Thousand. Good looks, however, do not furnish an infallible guide, more especially for ihe Grand National. Casee Tete wae one of the commonest-looking little screws that ever was seeiij and "Hotspur" said he would eat-heriif, eh* won. Mr. Brayley said, " I tell 4 you, Henry, she'll win, I,'1 ,' and he' told' us" the same. We did not Ray that we ' would eat' her If she Won, recollecting the grief we canie to over the Cesarewitch of 1886, when wo said that if such a, "buck rabbit" as Lecturer won we would mako a meal of him. The Ground Committee of the Masterton Racing Club has recommended that a new stewards' stand lie erected on the east side of the main building. Tho old structure, which served as & stewards and members' stand at the recent meeting, is to be removed to a cite in the outside enclosure. The most anxious person in Wellington' concerning the result of the Adelaide Cup was a gentleman who had been lucky enough to draw i\ w«ll-fan-cied candidate in Didus in TattersalTs sweep. The question now is was Didus amongst tho starters. Antarctic is due to arrive at Wanganui early next, week and will contest the Wanganui Steeplechase. He is still backward, but report has it that his condition is improving fast. In this connection it may be worth remembering that last Juno he dumbfounded th* critic* by running second lo Corazon in tho Great Northern Steeplechase, his preparation for which was of the lightest order. One . Auckland writer who has had a lifelong experience of the Turf and has . himself owned more than one useful 'chaser, said straight out tlie week before the race :■ "Antarctic hag no chance." Tha big chestnut not only acted as ruuner-up to Corazon, however, but did so 'after losing several lengths through being interfered with by tJie riderless Paritutu. Mount Victoria, will not, as originally intended, accompany the other of Mr. Whitney's horse» to Aehburton. lio injured, himself whilst boiug unshipped on Ilia return from • Blenheim last week. His stable mates Odessa and Naumai have been ''engaged at the Auckland Winter Meeting. The nutty little New Zealander, L. H. Hewitt, says «m exchange, was among the jockeys riding ai Lincoln and Liverpool, but 'though lie had several mounts, he failed to tscore a. win, three thirds )>eing, his record for three days' riding. It it? improbable Hewitt will remain in 1 England, and no doubt we shall shortly hear of his return to Austria, where his ■services are in auch demand. D. Mailer's only win in the first three days of the season was in the ( Brockleaby Stakee. j In one race he went to scale a.t 8.6, so that it would appear as if he will !'be riding lighter this season than lost. lv view of til© overcrowding of the official stand at recent meetings at Randwick, il. haw boen" decided to increase tho cluugo for admission thereto from 5s to 10s. The form of Gunboat in the Glenhuntley Handicap at Cuulueld on Saturday (says the Referee) has been a fruitful source of conversation. The general opinion is that Gunboat should have won easily, and either Lambert rode a bad race or else Gunboat is a hard horse to ride. Gunboat fairly flew at the finish, when he got out, and it. was only by half a neck that he failed to reach tho winner, Avenger, who run n. disappointing race at Mooneo Valley the previous Mon day, and 1 was, therefore, allowed to go out at an outfeidc prii-o. The stewards did not actually accept the explanation offorod by tha Gunboat people us pntis* factory,, but simply decidod to take no action. T. Scott evidencu to prove tha.t he had put v Mibstailtial sum on Gunboat. * Tho Eginont Racing Club's meeting will cominenoo tomorrow, and as good tieldbiaru engaged iho racing should be of. m uUtactivtt uaturs. Gcii -Jho

Shaughraun, who showed good form ut Irentham, is duo to contest the MaJiniu Handicap, and a 7 furlong course Bhoukl suit him. Sir Solo and Strategist, the latter of whom was just outside tho "money on each day at Awaiumi, me expected to run well in the Waihi Handicap, and Seaman, who won at Napier Park and ran second nt Hastings, will fee fancied for the Hurdles. Glenfern,* who is engaged in the Telegraph Handicap, has run consistently this season, and if Simple Sam is back to form he should give a good account of himself in the Railway Handicap.