Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 118, 20 May 1914, Page 4

THE TURF FIXTURES. May 21 and 23.— Wanganui J.C. Winter. June 3 and 4. — Otaki Maori R.C. Winter.i nter. NOTES AND COMMENTS (By Sir Bcdivere.) Cross-country sport will commence in earnest at Wanganui to-morrow, when the Steeplechase and the Century Hurdles will be decided. The weather is reported to have been fine there yesterday, but, in view of meteorological predictions, the outlook is not too promising. The Wanganui course can stand a lot of wet,' however, and the chances are that, if holding, the going will be sound. At the commencement -of the winter season the majority ol the jumpers are usually rather backward in condition, and, by all accounts, the position is not now dissimilar. Bercola has, of course, been doing a lot of racing over hurdles recently, and his experience should have benefited him. His displays over the battens have not been of an encouraging description, however, and when it comes to getting to the end of three miles 12st may bother him considerably. Glenmore, who has not very' long since returned from Australia, may strip fit, but The Spaniard was very burly at Hastings, and, personally, I am quite prepared to see the winner come irom the light-weight, division. The result can only be regarded as being very open, in any case. Albeit no more than eight horses are to contest the Century Hurdles, there is every indication of it being a good betting race. Espartero is unlikely to be at his best, but Player won so well at Hastings that his chance is sure to be highly esteemed. So will that of Goodwin Park, whose prospects would, however, be still more fancied if ho had been racing recently. Darby Paul will meet Player on 71b better terms than he did on the second day at Hastings, and he has always finished so strongly that a two mile and a-quarter course should suit him to a nicety. p Still, Player made very small work of beating him over a mile and three-quarters, and if he (Player) can stay the extra 71b should not bring him back. Come lian, who jumped badly at Riccarton, is expected to run well, and Huia is bound to have a strong following. The last two furlongs of the trip may prove moro than the latter cares about, however. Goldsize, who will carry Buchanan, is being freely spoken of as a likely winner of the Connolly Handicap, but Bei trada promises, by all accounts, to be hard to beat, and over this distance and in a field of this size Byron is entitled to respect. Postillion will probably start favourite for the Borough Handicap, in which Sanguinary, who recently gave evidence of a, return to form is engaged Gondk lier may contest the big steeplechase, in which case Exotic, who won in hollow *tyle at Trentham, may carry most of the money. Aruake will have friends^f he starts for the Hack Hurdles, in which Manawakaha is to make his first appearance as a jumper. Square Deal has plenty of weight to deal with in the Puma Hack Handicap, but his opponents are a moderate lot, and the chances are that he will be backers' first choice. Weights for the Otaki-Maori Meeting are due to be declared next Monday, airti acceptances will close ori Wednesday. A letter was recently addressed to the editor of the v New Zealand Referee, the writer of which contended that the Rules of Racing should be amended to that no two-year-old could be hahdi capped to carry such a weight as might be detrimental to its future interests,. In support ol his views he pointed out that at important, as well as secondclass, fixtures two-year-oldß are occasion ally asked to race under heavier burdens than are horses of any other age. lhe point made is an' interesting one, and seems to have attracted considerable attention, for the letter has been repnnted in the Sydney Refeiee. On the face of it, the present system, to which exception is taken, seems quite wrong Ifi point of fact, however, it is very difficult to name any young thoroughbred whose career has unquestionably been prejudiced in the manner indicated. There may or may .not have been instances of this, but if a change is thought desirable it may easily be brought about by the introduction of class racing. Thus there would be classic events as at present, but with the restriction that no colt or filly should be penalised so as to bring its weight up to more than Bst 101b. Theu there would be open handicap • events for two-year-olds, others for two-year-olds that had not 'won a race or races of the collective value of 500 soys, still others for two-ji. .-olds that had not won, say, a race of 200 soys or races of a collective value of 300 soys, and finally, events for maiden performers. Thus the good, bad, and indifferent would be sorted out and none need be unduly crushed. This method would have a further advantage in that it would allovy of many second and third class juveniles being' handled by experienced horsemen. Instead of their being among the 7st and under division many of them, when classed as proposed, would be called upon to carry anything from 7st 71b to Bst 71b. Such imposts would bo in no way detrimental to them, and instead ol being ridden by inexperienced lads, in whose hands they are 'always liable to become unbalanced, strike tliem&elves, or run out wide, to tlio danger of themselves and their opponents, on the turn, they would 2>royide mounts for jockeys capable of doing them every justice. There is not half enough class racing in this country, either in connection with two-year-old events or races fbr older horses, and the sooner we drop the farcical term "hack" and go in for it the better. There's no "heavy going" with one of O'Connor and Tydeman's chronographs. Sweet and smooth they run — dead on time to the tick. Fiom 35s at The Jewellers, Palmerston North. — Advt.