NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 72, 21 September 1912, Page 14

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By Sir Bedivere.)

THE OTAKI-MAORI MEETING. It is to be hoped that, after the recent downpour, we may now enjoy a day or two's fine weather. Monday is a holiday 4 and the conditions will only need to be in the least favourable to ensure a large attendansce to witness the commencement of the Otaki Maori Spring Meeting. Special trains j will be run, and arrangements have been completed which will allow of people landing at the Otaki station taking a short cut to the course through Mr. Carkeek's property. Since the club held its last meeting a considerable amount of drainage work has been done on the course and it is confidently expected that, despite' the recent downpour, the going will be in good order. This being so, the racing should be of an interesting character, for several good performers, some of whom are candidates for tho New Zealand Cup, will be seen out. One of these is Undecided, who will no doubt be Hatch's mount in the Dominion Handicap. He is favourably placed, and if assured that he was at his best, his admirers would probably make him favourite, for they have not forgotten his easy victory in the Feilding i Cup under 9st 61b. The prices recently ! quoted against him in doubles suggests, however, that he may not be yet sufficiently forward to show his true form. This being so, Ngatimaru, who won in attractive style at Marton, will probably have the largest following. With Mnlga, Bill, Sea Queen, Byron, Miscal, and "Brown Trout engaged the winner may, however, take some finding, and a fine' race may confidently be looked forward to. • Several speedy customers will contest I the Flying Handicap, in which Makara has been given a chance to distinguish himself. This gelding ie, however, inclined to be unruly at the post, and there is consequently a risk that he may not get away on terms with his opponents. , Merry Frank has previously Bhown winning form at Otaki, and at the Win* ter Meeting he beat a useful lot, including Mulga Bill, Byron, The Rover, Sit Tristrafti, and" Lady Moutoa over a mile course in the Huia Handicap. Silver Cluse holds better credentials than any of the others that will be seen out in the Hack Hurdles, in which Don Carlos, whose form over a country at Dannevirke was distinctly impressive, is due to make his reappearance over the battens. The Stewards' Handicap presents a difficult problem, and its result will no doubt be to Borne extent dependent upon the luck of the draw for positions at the Start. Peroneal proved herself a fairly smart filly last season, but in Eocene, Lady Louisa, and SemaplioTe, the lastnamed of whom was unlucky more than once last season, ehe will meet a serviceable trio, the nrstmamed -of which is nicely in. St. Serf and Master Laddo, each of whom shaped well at Marton are due to contest the Te Hiwi Memorial Handicap, and Kina, who won easily at Dannevirke, will be saddled for the Welter. The best bred horse engaged in the Maiden is Coromandel's half-brother Yankee Doodle, but whether he is any good or not remains to be seen. Up to the present Wairiki's stock have not particularly distinguished themselves. Brown Owl, Winning Way, Bon Reve, and Oxenhope were taken on to Wanganui this morning. The two flrst-named are engaged only in tlie Wanganui Guineas, but Messrs. W. G. and G. L. Stead's three-year-olds are also eligible to contest some of the hack events. ( A large number of horses were brought in from Trentham by the first train this morning and were subsequently taken on to Otaki. C, Pritcliard took Odessa, Mount Victoria, Turna, Gay Lawless, and Aemaj W, Davies, Deploy; J. Lowe, Obhgant and Peggy; Clay, War Queen. C. Cress also went North. . Nearly 35,000 residents' of San Francisco have signed a petition to have horse-racing resumed in California. A united effort is being made by horseowners, breeders, farmers, and others to knock Out the present anti -betting law, and have as a substitute the pari-mutuel form of betting, which has proved so popular m Kentucky, and also in the larger cities of Europe, where horseracing thrives. Glynne, the galloway who effected a surprise by winning the Ascot Five Hundred from eighteen other competitors, is a five-year-old son Of Eminence (a half-brother to Emir). ,He has raced extensively in Gippsland, where he has been successful in events run over a distance. His jockey, G. Harrison, had an easy ride, as he took charge soon after the start, and was never afterwards headed, covering the seven furlongs with the assistance of a strong wind, in Imm 32sec. Though Poseidon's brother Orcus, who realised the Australasian record price of 3050 guineas' as a yearling, was a rank failure on the racecourse, it seems not , unlikely that he may prove useful at the stud. f His son Orchid, whose dam, Warfare, is by the New Zealand-bred Havoc, recently won the Ascot Thousand. Cisco was on the 13th of this month practically equal favourite with Popinjay for the Epsom Handicap. He is described as being a lightly-built but wiry little colt of great gameness. As a two-year-old he won the Breeders' Stakes at the A. J.C. Spring Meeting, and last season he beat a field of record size for the A.J.C. Derby, for which he was not much fancied. Wilnri beat him by a head for the V.R.C. Derby, since when he has performed Well but unsuccessfully. He recontly established tlie season's record by running a mile on the ftnndwick tracks in lmin 44sec. Swagger, who was sold recently in iNfelbotirne for 1050 guineas, was bred by Messrs. Moses Bros., of New South Wales, and sold as a yearling to Ike Earnshaw for 70 guineas. On the eve pi Earnshaw's departure for England, he cleared, "out his horses, and Swagger realised something like 150 guineas. Since then he has won several races, including the Adelaide Cup, and has ! proved himself a genuine stayer,

The colours of R. Wootton were carried to victory in two races at Brighton, England, on 7th August — by Hay tor in the Welter Handicap, and by Courteous Lad in the Apprentices. Plate. Haytor is by Carbinej and was ridden by Stanley Wootton. Lomond, trained by Wootton for Mr. E. Hulton, started an odds-on favourite for the Brighton Cup, and was beaten a head by Etheric. On the first day of the meeting Mr. Hulton won a race each with May Cup and Waiontha, both trained by R. Wootton, and both ridden by W. Huxley. Waiontha is by the Carbine horse Fowlingpiece. The following foalings are reported from Glenora Park ; —Mr. J. M'Nicol's Miss Lottie (by Muskapeer— Ladybird), filly to Marble Arch, and visits General Latour ; Mr. J. Nicol's Waterwood (by Seaton Delaval— Wairakau), filly to Bunyan. and visits Marble Arch j Mr. W. Walters's Lady Rose (by Sonify— Rose and White), colt to Marble Arch, and goes back to the same sire ; Mr. W, Handley's Soult Maid (by Soult—Merrymaid), filly to Obligado, and visits Marble Arch. Motiti, a son of Castor and Sapphire, who was foaled to English time at Wellington Park in February, 1901, was recently discovered lying in ■» paddock on Motiti Island with his head* doubled under him, and his neck broken. It is conjectured that he must have slipped and fallen whilst enjoying a gallop. Three of his gets, in Allworthy, Kia Kaha, and Innocent, are now in training at Ellerslie. It is stated that of the sixty-two jockeys licensed by the Australian Jockey Club, only ten, and one of the ten is B. Deeley, the New Zealand horseman, go to scale at less than 7st 71b. Waiowera, who claims engagements at Avondale, is said to be going well in private. Last season she showed promise at Gisborne of turning out ' a cut above the ordinary, but she subsequently trained off.