NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 125, 23 November 1923, Page 11

NOTES AND COMMENTS

<n "m uacnoT/')

Owner* and troinerg who fat-end patronising iht Daiinevirks Racing Club's meeting on -the 12th December, are g'v«n a final reminder that nominations close ut 8 o 1 clock to-night with Mr, Walter Dobson (secretary).

From P»lmerstou North the death Is announced of Mr. C. Hawkins, -who a few se««ons back raced Empire, Unity, and oth»r hoTMe in tie Manawatu diairict. .- '•" '._ :: ... AyroTßki, -who -was among the runners in the Maiden Stakes at-Ashhurst^ is an Au*tralian=bred gelding by Aryan—Liffey, both imported. Ayrovski was riddec by his owner and trainer, Mr. P. A. Duncan, who holds a gentleman rider's license, and i B a veteran of the pigskin. Among those who were unable to attend the. Ashhurst Meeting, and who sent messages wishing the club success, were the Hon. D. Guthrie and Mr. Len R. Freeman, formerly secretary of the Foxton Racing Club. ; There was a representative attendance of country racing club secretaries at Ashhurst on Wednesday. Among those wjio put in an appearance were: Messrs. A.' Way (Marion)," E. Goodbehere (Feilding), W. A. Lyon (Wpodville), W. G. Nightingale (Waipukurau), W. Dobson (Dannevirke), and C. J. Carlyon (Wairarapa). None of Mr. C. E. Elgar's team were produced at the Ashhurst. Meeting. Some of them will probably be at Feildingl and Woodville. ; When Kimua fell in the Hack Hurdles at Ashhurst on Wednesday, she broke: a leg and had to be destroyed. Kimua was an aged mare by Advance, and was trained by E. Coleman, at Marton. . . The Waverley Jockey 1 Club, which; held a successful meeting on Labour Day, lias been notified by the Minister of Internal Affairs that another permit is available for a day's racing. The committee meets to-night to select a suitable date. The permit the Waverley ' Club received was the one forfeited by the Cheviot Club. The name of Thurles has been accepted .for the . Bezonian—Royal Academy gelding, who was among the runners in the Maiden at Ashhurst. ■'.--'

Members of A- Oliver's team backed and beaten at Ashhurst were Santiago, Santonio, Eonmark, Cushat, and Millimetre. Eonmark and Millimetre were the first choice of backers.

The'new stand in the people's enclosure at Awapuni ie nearing completion, and will be. quite ready for the Summer Meeting. This will be welcome news for patrons of the Manawatu Racing Club. Mr. P. J. Kelleher, who toiirned the. Dominion with the Kacing Commission, and visited all courses, saw the Awapuni stand, this week, and considers it is one of the best in the Dominion for a people's stand.'

Mr. John Grigg, chairman of the Canterbury Jockey Club, who has been assisting at the Hamilton Show, returned South last night. Some of the riders that took part in the Hurdle Race at Ashhurst say that the hurdle in the straight at which two of the' competitors came to grief was much straighter, and had less lean, than those in other parts of the race. The Absurd horse Farceur is now one of M.- v Matthewß's team at Kensington, and, ; if -he stands a preparation, that trainer will find himself in possession of 'a...sprinterquite above the..average. As a two-year-old, 'Farceur "was a- topnotcher, and--when he was brought over here in the spring of last year "Pilot," the Australian writer, saw him show remarkable pace in a few sprints at Bandwick. ' Unfortunately he went amiss, and did not race then, nor on liig return to New Zealand. When he came over this time he had done nothing, but one morning slipped over three iurlongs very smartly, causing E. J. Mason to. remark: "Not bad, considering it was his first dash for a year." The Ashhurst winner Hytinu s has 61b more at Woodville over the same distance, six furlongs. Import, who ran second;'has the same weight, and Sen-' sible, who ran third, has been raised 51b.

Landstep, winner of the Nursery Handicap at Rosehill on the 9th inst., is by Finland—The Hague,- and coßt 130 guineas at . the , Sydney yearling sales. She is a full sister to Lapland, for whom F. Musgrove gave four figures as a yearling.

It is stated that A. Wilson, who won tneMelbourne Cup on Bitalli, received £2000 from that horse's owner, Mr. A. T. Craig. A. Wood received a similar present from Mr. O. Falkiner when he won the Sydney Cup on David; "When Australian jockeys succeed in important races they are sure of substantial reward, but.it is in the matter of retaining fees English riders have the pull over them. S. Doneghue and others start each season with retainers that assure them a good income, and, at the close of this year's flat-racing in England, Doneghue is going to India to do a couple of months' riding at Calcutta. For this he gets a retaining fee of £2500, and each win will bring him in something additional. Men at the top of the tree, in almost any profession or calling generally receive payment in,keeping with their ability, but .very few fare as well as leading jockeys. A fide' of about three and a half minutes occasionally gives a jockey nearly as much as even prominent legal or medical men can make in a year.

The top weights in the Nursery Handicap at Woodville are Lady Isinglass and Lady Joyce, both of whom have "\von\a race, and Tanadees and King's Folly, who have yet to gain a winning bracket.