Turf Notes

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1924, Page 20

Turf Notes

BY "SIR LANCELOT.".

1 * TURF FIXTURES. Jlarch\l7—Ohinemuri E.C. Annual. March- 17—Opunake E.C. Annual Meeting. March..2o—Waimate K.C. Annual Meeting. ' March 21 and 23—Bangitikei B.C. Annual. /March 22 and 21—Oamaru J.C. Autumn. VMarch 27 ami 29—Wellington Kacing Club. March 29—Franklin R.C. Autumn Meeting. lApril 2 and 3—Manawatu U.C. Autumn. \A-pr\l 19. 21, 23, and 26—Australian J.C. Autumn Meeting. I The Annual Meeting of the Eangitikei ißacing Club will be held at the Bulls (Coarse on Friday and Saturday next. ;The acceptances received are very satisfactory, and, provided the1" weather is favourable, the club should have a successful meeting. A Eangitikei correspondent writes that the Bulls course was never in better condition th'aiv :at • u present. ■ Caretaker George \M/Cabe has. devoted;a lot of attention to/ the various tracks, '.and a . 'bountiful supply of rain'during the past few weeks• nas..rendered the'going first class. Usually the tracks are 'hard at ithis time of- the year, but those, trainers working horses- at Bulls state that the _ course is all that couTd.be desired; and] even if rain does nob fall Tj'e'fofe Friday ■week, the sting will T>e' out of the ■ground. For some time past the' Wairarapa : Racing Club has subsidised conveyances that carry passengers from the Featherston railway station to Tauhcrenikau and back. With the improvement and completion of the road over the Bimutaka, | .there has been a steady increase of the number of patrons that go by road and a falling-off in the number that travel by rail. In consequence, the club is considering the advisability of arranging for | a motor service from Wellington to Tauherenikau and back for;the coming meeting. Travelling by road does away with the long journey "in the train, and' also the bother usually experienced at Featlnerston in trying to crush, into a conveyance. I The- Eangitikei Racing Club has made ifurther provision for the accommodation ot" visiting, trainers, jockeys, and horses. The accommodation house (capably managed by Mrs. M'Cabe and her assistants), contains 80 beds, while 66 loose-boxes and 20 paddocks are provided for the horses. . • ■ The nominations received for the Manawatu Racing Club's Autumn Meeting, , "which appear on this page, are very I £ood, and as most of these engaged may J>e expected to put in an appearance at iAwapuni, the gathering should be a ■great; success. . ■ ' The death occurred at his residence, South Dunedin, on Tuesday of Mr. T. :!W. Cotton, in his 66th year. Mr. Cotton i(says "The Post's" Dunedin correspondent) was well known as '"Tommy" '^Cotton when the racecourse was at Foribury, where he trained both trotters and 'igallopers. Mr. Cotton; later went to /Canterbury, where he had stables at i Eiccarton for some years,. and he was a j trainer for about two years at Meth- ■ jven," where he had a stroke which com/peHed him to relinquish his racing activities. He was brother of Mr. J-. Cotton, the well-known steeplechase rider , of former years., A grandson, Mr. D. Cotton, is also a well-known Dominion ■ jockey. ■■ _ _ : _

The Ohinemuri Meeting, which opened to-day, will be concluded on Monday, when the Opunake Meeting will also be held.

After his recent success in the Napier Cup with.9.7, it could not be expected that anything but Rapine would head the list in the Thompson Handicap. It is certainly not an impossible weight, as Sasanof and Arrowsmith both "won the •popular mile race with a pound more on their backs. Gold Light has 111b more ■'than when she ran second a year ago to Highland. The last-named is not now engaged. The.writer has a weakness for tiie three-year-olds. When Highland ■won he carried 7.13, and had earlier in the season beaten Rapine in the Wanganui Guineas. Razzle Dazzle, winner of the .Wanganni Guineas this season, is not •engaged. Other three-year-olds down to run are Parody 5.9, Murihaupo 8.6, and Suggestion 8.1. They are all solid milai-s, ■Mid the best of them may get .in the money ._- Good Sport, 7.12, is the sort that might win a Thompson;, also Queen March and Martian Miss. A previous winner of the race, Printemps, is down to 7.0.

■ The Auckland performer Pavo is topweight in the Bailway Handicap, in ■which there are no Glentruins or Kationals., Mireusonta, the unlucky horse of the season, has b^en given a chance -with 8.12, -which is only 21b more than whan he ran second at Wahganui. Mireusonta and Halgina may be the best of the top-weights.' Razzle Dazzle at her best would take a lot of beating with 8.6, ;and Good Sport has been given a good chance with 8.4. Civility 7.11, Ares 7.9, and Lady Fingers 7.4 may be the best of those in below 8.0. Tukia won at Wanga-nu'i with 8.12, and the ■wnter^does not consider Razzle Dazzle badly used with 61b less. Concerning- the well-known ex-Wel-Jingtonian, Hugh Cairns, the Melbourne scribe "Musket" writes as follows : —H. Cairns, who rode Sandrino--ham to victory in the V.H.O. St. Leger, hasrwon many good races in the colours of Mr. L<flt: S. Mackinnon, theV.R.C. chawman.viiHe was successful on Mr. JlacJojmou.'s''. colt King Carnival in the '5pR-9" Sires' Produce Stakes, the A-.J.G...Breeders' Plate, and the V A T C Debufeiit^talces. Cairns won the Grand jftalAonaMturdies on Mereunqua, and also achieved other successes in the white and-orange livery. Ten years ago; Cairns won'the V.R.C. . Pines Hurdles on Darrawa, and to pilot a St. Leger winner exactly a-decade later is a good performance in riding annals. . , While galloping at Woodville one morning- this week the well-known- performer Import - (Birkenhead-Suratura) fell .and; broke a leg, and was destroyed Import was owned by Mr P' F Wall and trained by J. Suilivan. ' ■ r ' ' _ It; is not the fault of the Wellington Kacing Uub that the electric clock' has not been, installed at Trentham; where some Australasian records have been put 'lip. Concerning good performances put up at I'lemmgton recently, "Beacon " of the "Leader," has the following :—The time'record for the Newmarket Handicap was reduced to lmin 11-isec, and in winning the Sires' Produce Stakes Arendal created a new time record for the race. Prior to Saturday the'best time, -ever made up the Fleminglon straight was lmin lljsec, which was accomplish- «, ,'■ ,i? S'™ 8' when he w»'i the •SUndisli Handicap. Quintus clipped a ,:<iuartor. of a-second off that time The Australasian, record for sis furlongs is held- jointly by The Hawk and Chimera two ±\ Tew Hollanders, their, time beiii" lmin 9 4-s.sec. Tlio Hawk made his record at Trenthsuii, where the, Wellington .Racing Club races, but that is a pat-'icu- . larly fast course, as there is a droo in the track, and the horses are running down a decline. New Zealand race:, are not timed with an electric dock, as is the case here. All the condition's were ,an favour, of:fast times on Saturday, as .there was no-wind to ■.check .the horses at any.4part of the rate and the trackwas remarkably fast. There seems to be agood deal in the contention of English racing men that the time test is really ,pf little value, apart from telling whether

a race is ..truly jun or not. Whether fast or slow time is made depends so much -upon; the 'state. of: the track and the atmospheric conditions. A Melbourne writer states that the exNew Zealander George. Delaney, of Caulfield, has at present a. team of ten' horses in hand. Delaiiey's string includes Bardoleur, Tookarby, All Aboard, Shepherd Queen, Viceroy, Denise, Chickling, Sir Felix, The Lop, and a recent arrival from Sydney in Pericles. Delaney has been located at Caulfield for several seasons. He trained the celebrated De Gama, with whom he won many races. He also had charge of Sea Pink when that horse won the Hobart Cup and other events. Besides those two, Delaney won many races with Expiation, Marigold, Moorna Lass, and Tookarby. Delaney is a native of Auckland. H estarted at racing when nine years of age by becoming attached to the stable of W. Edwards, who then trained for fc>ir William ,Bussell, and had under his charge St. Catherine and other noted New Zealand performers.