THE TURF

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 104, 4 May 1915, Page 4

THE TURF

FIXTURES. May 5 and 6— Marlboroujh K.C. Autumn Meeting. May 6 and 7 — Ashburton County R.C. Autumu. May 12 and 13— Ggmonfc R.C. Winter. May 20 and 22— Waucanui R.C. Winter. June 3 and s— Dnnedin J.C. Winter. June 3, 5, amI.T— A.R.C. Great Northern Steeplechase. NOTES AND COMMENTS (By "Sir Lancelot.") The Autumn Meeting of the Marlborough Racing Club will be held at the Riverlands racecourse to-morrow and Thursday. l?or the convenience of North Island sports the Mapourika will make a specaal trip to Picton, leaving at 11 o'clock to-night. The horses engaged in the Maiden Hack Race, six furlongs, include the Trentham-traaned two-year-old Bairnsdale; MartaaJ Air (Achilles — Marseillaise), one of F~ Higgotfc's OtaMteam that is well spoken of ; Achilleus (a fullbrother to AchUledes) ; Pink Heather (a place-getter at the Wairarapa Easter Meeting ; Orianda (second to Multoe at Nelson), and Gold King (runner-np to Elopement afc the same meeting). Achilledes and Curator, both formerly owned and trained by Mr. "T. Septor," head the list in the Ugbrooke Welter. Achilledes has greatly improved since he has been racing- in the Auckland district. On the concluOTQg day of the Auckland Easter Meeting, at a difference of 41b he defeated K&asco over a mile course. The latter subsequently won a mile race at Trentham in lmin 40sec, which form makes Achilledes out to be pretty good. Curator has bepn more or less unsound for a long tune. He recently won three races cm the West Coast, where the tracks are soft. Achilledes, Alfccar, and Evadne are also in the Flying I 'Handicap, six furlongs, run later in j the afternoon. [ In the Electric Handicap, five furlongs, Powdei* Fox is conceding weight ito several smaaifc hacks. Among the number are Royal" , Sleeves, Ormesby, Multoe, and Ccojopet. The Marlborcctgh Cup field is headed i by Byron, who will want to be in hia | best form to concede Rene 91b. Imaroee (who won the race last year) and Immer are other performers who -will keep the top-weight busy. Arlington, is set down to make his reappearance in I&ie Opawa Weltai, seven furlongs. He is conceding 71b each to Whisperer and Hap Dha and a. stone to Soporific. Roue, who won the race | last year, is again engaged. I All those engaged in the Flying Handicap except Margarita are in other events I earlier in the day. Margarita- had 7.7 to "carry when she won over a mile at) Riccarton in lnrin 42sec. Several of the i others have good credentials as sprinters, j Hatunakaka, -who showed winning i form at TrentJiaatn, is top weight in the Autumn Hack Handicap, six fnrkraga. As Deeley is fr> have the mount, the i Achillas gelding will no doubt be strongly fancied. He won his first raoo at Blenheim last yepa\ Arlington has 8.7 to vcarry m the Autumn Hack and Royal fadeevfis 8.3, and iboth have earlier engage- ! mente. 6 The general opinion of owner* «nd ' trainers present at. the Hawkes Bay Meeting was that the sentence of two years' disqualification meted out to F. Cress m connection wrlfc a mix-up at the last hurdle in the KsH-anra Hurdle Race on Jmday more than, fitted the crime. Th« ■writer had a, clisa? and uninterrupted <wew of the race. It appeared that (F. Crass) and Vi (A. M'Mnllm) came into ,Mie straight together, "the former going best. They both made for a gap m thei outside of the hurdle at the top of ,*he straight. Cress got there first, and his mount' refused to take the gap asid ran out, taking Vi--off the , fence. press endeavoured to straighten his nuount and scrambled over the corner o£ the fence, and in doing so lost his seat. He was able to keep on, and managed to save himself by running his mount into a corner of the coarse just past the judge's box. Sensitive was gojjog the "better of the pair, and would have won only for the incident' mentioned. His owner, Mr. G. McDonald, wis unlucky to lose a stake » worth .£SO soys through no fauft of his\ own. ,Vi went ou after running M, and her number was hoisted over the judge's box. - Master Timu who carafe- second, got the race, and Bollin, who , finished fourth, was placed second. Ontly for the gap in the fence it is hardly likely that the affair would have' happened; therefore, any interference that did take place could not have been intentional. Cress is an experienced horseman, and it is hard to believe that he would indulge in unfair tactics in a jumping race right under the eyes of the stewards. The press are not admitted to stewards' enquiries, and it is therefore impossible to say on what evidence he was fewnd guilty. Taking i all the circumstances into consideration, the sentence seems; a- pretty severe one, and practically means that Cress has been told to get same other occupation. One matter that appears to have escaped the notice of the officials is the action of ! M'Mullin in continuing in the race after he had run ronnd a fence. One promin- | ent North Island hoa-seman was suspended for six months for a similar offence to that of M'Mullin, winch appears to have been overlooked in the stewards' anxiety to punish Cress. Tlie- hurdles in us* at Hastings wet* of the regulation height^ but ve*y solidly built, without any lean, and with stakes that did not give mnch chance of a horse getting through if he hit one. After five of the eight runners in the first event came to grief, the riders petitioned for the obstacles to be altered, but it was decided to go on with them. In the next event, Sam Pan, owned by Mr. H. Hassafl, one of the stewards that supervised tiie^ erection of the fences, •cam© to grief. However, one of the competitors managed' to knock out one of the fences in the straight. In company with an official of the club, the writer inspected one of the flights prior to the commeiicmnpiit of racing on the fiist da.y. There is no doubt they are solid fences, and any horse that could jump thorn safely would probably get over ordinary steeplechase country. Several of the stewards- of the club bad horses Tacing last week, and one of them, Mr. H. M. Campbell, was successful with Flingot on the second day. Hovsna were galloping on top of the ground this -week, and would have a. bettor chance of getting Tound safely than in the winter, ■wiwn they will go into the ground and have more to jump. This 13 a matter that might be considered by the members of the committee appointed to superintend the erection of the obstacles for the winter meeting. From a spectator's point of view, jumping races are the most interesting. The obstacles should be made bo that they will have to be jumped without the competitors falling one after the other, as was the case last weefe. Fortunately, none of the riders were hurt, although one or two had narrow -escape* of being galloped on.