SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf. NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 138, 7 December 1912, Page 18

SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf. NOTES AND COMMENTS

; *~ (By Sir Bedivefe/) * The sporting editor of the London' *Times is amongst those who have lately been bewailing the present day standard t»f jockeyship, "There never waa," he iecentiy remarked, "a period when the average skill was so low. Possibly it is the result of the upsetting of traditions which followed the' introduction of what is called the American seat." Now with, all due deference to the opinion expressed, by the sporting contributor to the .world's greatest daily I venture to suggest that such comparisons as he makes are more likely than not to be entirely inaccurate. Fordham, Archer* Mo'rny Cannon, and other celebrities were no doubt tine horsemen, but whether they were as good, let alone better, than those now at the head of the profession no one can satisfactorily determine. Modern conditions are so markedly different to what they were. Races are now run from end to end, and excepting in rare instances the circumstances do not allow of the spectacular finshing rush that used to earn the plaudits of the crowd. In the old pre-barrier days, when only too often a muddling pace was set during the major portion of the journey, the finer points of horsemanship were m<jre easily recognisable. Now it is A case of get out quickly, and keep going, and although the men with the better hands and cleverer judgment are still able to attain their proper place in the front rank, the artistry of the efforts is to some extent obscured in the rush and bustle with which they are surrounded. In Morny Cannon, Otto Madden, and Tommy Loates, but very, little was heard about their alleged decadence, and English sportsmen were apparently happy in the conviction that all was well. When Tod Sloan and the brothers Eeiff struck England, however, they quickly showed that jockeyship there* had in reality been on nothing like so high a plane ac had popularly been supposed. Though sceptical at first, English .horsemen soon became convinced that there was something in the Yankee eeat and methods, and both the old and younger generation set about to copy them. But the pronounced success of the first invaders had set a fashion. Competent home-bred horsemen were ipasaed over in favour of the "foreigner," who thus obtained the pick of the mounts, and was assisted to maintain Jm pre-eminent position. Of the Americans, only Maher and J. H. Martin remain, and the latter of these is now a long way down in the list. Then "Wootton came on the scene, and, thanks ■to the unique opportunities he obtained through riding for the most successful stable in England, controlled by his iather, he soon mounted to the topmost rung of the ladder. Stern, too, occasionally comes over from France under special engagement, and so the fashion of employing the imported ar--ticle, still prevails, and Maher, t ''Wootton, and Stern are doubtless 1 first-rate horsemen, better probably ' jthan any of t their English contemporaries, but their presence necessarily robs 'the locally-bred riders of many excellent , etiaticfid, and /it may be that there is an ample supply of latent talent which 'has not yet found opportunity to reveal 4tself. Young Whafley, in any case, is doing well, and unless Huxley, assisted iby Wootton's influence, may come right 'to the fore, Whalley is not at all unlikely to head the winning list next year. Luck is a wonderful thing. Some say, of course, that no such thing ex hie. What, then, about Hewitt? No ijotfkey was ever more highly spoken of than Hewitt, both in Australia and in thk country. He waa a fine horseman .■without a doabt, and he probably remaams so, but it is noticeable that he is now getting very few mounts indeed. If .there are so many jockeys of greater ability than the ex- New Zealander in England, is it not fair to infer that, instead of being km, the present day standard of jockeyship there ie remark--ttbly. high?. Owners are finally reminded that acceptances for the Rangitikei meeting are ■ttue this evening. The local telegraph office closes at 8 p.m. Messrs. Monckton and Addington have decided to have Brown Trout and their other horses trained privately in their ?own stables at Otaki, and have engaged ShanaHan to take charge. Lomond, who went out favourite for the St. Leger, but ran disappointingly, made his. reappearance in the Sandown Foal Stakes on 24th October. He had been clipped and certainly looked better than at Doncaster, but had evidently not yet cleared his system of the Wood poisoning that attacked him earlier in the. year, and was not nearly at his best. He was, nevertheless, very much expected to account for the five somewhat moderate three-year-olds now opposing him, though the Kingsclere people made no secret of their great faith in Aiglon, who, however, had never before done anything to suggest getting the mile and a-quarter at a- good racing pace. With a«ptill of 281b over the favouritei Robbins naturally made the most use of ODoanithorne. Evidently, however, says "Vigilant," he is of no great account, and was quickly in difficulties when Lomond and Aiglon ranged alongside well an the straight. Lomond then took the lead, but instead of coming away and winning hits race he was unable to shake off Ai^on. The pair raced together for some little distance, but the difference in the weight told, and Wootton did not ride his horse out to the bitter end on realising that he was beaten. One of the crack two-year-olds in Lord Hosebery's Sanquhar did not compete in the Middle Park Plate, but he put up a remarkable performance the previous week at Kingston, where after giving Golden Sun what appeared to be an ,'impossibJe start, he overhauled and beat him. Sanquhar, who was bred by his owner, is a member of the great •Paraffin family to which Ladas, Chelandfy, Cicero, Flair, Glare, Traquair, J3ezonian, and Prince Palatine, belong*. Touching on the reported determination of the King to retire from the Turf the Special Commissioner wrote on 26th October :— "To begin with, I wish to refer to the canard, which has been industriously circulated in certain quarters, that His Majesty contemplates giving up racing and bloodstock breeding. 1 Am enabled to state on authority which is absolutely beyond question that there in no vestige of foundation for any such report. The King is very keenly interested in his stud and stables, and his interest has increased rather than diminished since he first saw his colours carried. There hftfl never at any time been any inclination on hia p&ft to abandon a sport which he enjoys, and it is little short of scandalous that ignorant busyfeodies should vamp np rumours of the sort to which lam now referring. Nothing but a malignant hatred of the Turf can have inspired the invention of such a grossly untrue) fabrication, and it is high time that tim should be put on re-cord—-as I now pat it— in terms which cannot be misunderstood." Mr. J, Loughlin, who was a prominent horseman in this 'country before he became a penciD«r and horse owner, has recently; purchased the Gresham Hotel hi

Sydney, where he has already had the pleasure of welcoming some of his old' Zealand friends.