NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 93, 22 April 1925, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS

° SBY "VEDETTE")

r :* fixtures. Vapriras and 30—Hamilton R.C. Autumn. ■ Slay 1 and 2—Marlborough K.C. Autumu, , May 1 and 2—South. Canterbury J.C. i Say S and 0-Hawkes Bay J.C. Autumn. V-Jky 9-Wnangarei K.C. Autumn. .'■ «&fay IS-and 14—Egmont E.C. Winter,

i "Entries are due on Friday for the iTy-incipal races at the Great Northern VjWinter Meeting and for all events at She Egmont Winter ■Meeting. : i for the Marlborough iiSntumn Meeting close on. 'Friday.- - i - .Wapping, when being schooled ■ over Mie big fences at Otautau- daring last wgeek, crashed badly ■when endeavouring Rfco ran off one of the obstacles, and is EnW ont in the paddock. But for this tone mistake he jumped fairly well. p33as rider, A. Morton, was unhurt. „ (^Another jamping recruit in Southland \gs the Calibre gelding Calibration, ar*l |<jn Friday ■ morning, with A. Morton in Stue saddle and Soldier's Pride as a com|panion,_he ,was_ jumping very well congidering', it yi.as " his first attempt %vith |^be pace np when he tumbled over at Bfche last hurdle. Neither horse nor rider ftwas injured. Soldier's Pride finished mp bis task like a tradesman, but was /feme after the gallop, j - Commenting on the accident in the Sydney Cup, the "Bulletin" says:—E. LMarsden, the rider of Kingslot, and L. .JTr.anklin, who took Lewis's place on |Spiiarfelt after suspension, were seriously .'pint; Franklin's skull was fractnred, and tMaisden is suffering from concussion mid. broken ribs. Donnelly (Royal Eoue) fjnd Bobinson- (Prince Minimbah) sustained minor injuries; and Kingslot, for Aw-hom Samuel Hordern and his friend vTMr.' Constable" gave 2000 guineas and jtamtrngencies without getting a tithe of f& back, had to be destroyed, while Boyal EEtoue and Backwood will be out of Section for some time. It is no use (guessing whether or not the result fwouid have been the same had the six fSorses not come down and interfered fcgith others, notably Polycletaji and Mortlake. What is certain is afait the ugly business was avoidable, laitd that it is the duty of the stewards Jto fix the Wame and take such action /as -will, 'as"lai as is humanly possible, jja-esvent. a repetition. There is a {great deal-too much foul or incapable /jading on Australian racecourses. » Otford, the dam of Manfred, who beat jlios Gatos in the AJ.C. Champagne ■.iStakes.,Jasfc week, is from Otterform, .', aj sister to Bonifonn ai>H half-sister to JMartfcsn. Manfred is by Valais, and (except that Ofcford is by Tressady, who >:has_npt sired many stayers, the colt's ipedigree is attractive in the light cf fiiree-year-old classic races. ' When Tamaiete finished oat of a place 'I in. the AH-aged Stakes at Avondaie on '.Saturday ft -was the first time he had 'failed to gam some of the prize-money ; since 24th January, 1923, when Bazzle Dazzle as. a two-year-old defeated Glentruin and Queen March in the Waterloo Stakes at Trentham, with The Hawk and Tamateto comprising the also rans, ;■ states the "Press." The Absurd gelding has. raced four seasons, and has been wonderfully' consistent, though his opposition on numerous occasions was not formidable. In all he' has started "^35 times, for 22 wins, five seconds, and three thirds, and five unplaced performances. He. has been beaten in his .last three starts, and after beginning .well on Saturday he failed to show his usual speed, and perhaps is on the down grade. Tamatete's best wins were recorded in the Great Northern Champagne Stakes, Egmont Stakes, Fetiding Stakes (twice), Oroua Stakes (twice), Mana-watu Stakes (twice), Palmerston North Stakes (three times), iWanganui Guineas, Jackson Stakes, and a dead-heat with Thespian in the 'All-aged Stakes at Avondale in 1923. '■'Where are the horses of yesteryear?" the poet sings at this period of the pacing calendar; and the reply of the savage punter is usually short and to the point, writes "The Deacon." It's either "Hope the cow has gone to the Zoo for a lion's breakfast;" or "Hope 'he's palling his internal mechanism out in a dealer's oart." But a one-time galloper that was backed heartily at one Stage for a Sydney Cup has plumbed the depths of equine degradation. I saw Rim recently in the western suburbs of .Sydney in an ice-cart.. He was offsider 'to a large,.and unlovely: mule, and, squibby as ever, was letting the American pull double..,. : " A-: Wairarapa...writer states that consequent, on his. fall at Ellerslie, Suggestion will-not" be raced- again this sea-son.:-He has been a good stake-earner .for Mr. W...i;:..;,Bidvyffl; -..- . Z Suggestion'^^s^blemate,; Subjection, s has teen"one~.of-*the' disappointments of the -season. There r.iai .■no doubt about ihis gallqpjpg.a'bility,'.but he'.is'.npt al- : ways, in thCJirippd':to.' do, '.His •■ b'est,.';and apparently is'atliis -worst on race-day. . He is .the typo of horse who would, break the ;bank. ■ , .- - '. ; Mr. '£. M'Donald is-Having an uri-, SsuallyXlean'time,: for he. has hardly a ■liorse of note" esqepting Killocra. Since ; going wrong in- the spring, however, ■;Kolocra -has-not brought a great deal' of grist-'io. the. mill, but there is little .iloubt that, if he can bo got quite right ■ again ;he will be a, good winner. ■"- Lady fingers is expected to "* improve? ,siow that the tracks are loosening up. She Showed- useful form at . TauhereTiikau. .... .; ■•' One Australian writer has decided I that tho Australian two-year-olds are ;% poor lot. . Tho running of Nincompoop and Chignon at Biccarton would • support that contention. -' XiilypQnd, the Sydney Cup winner, '^was second into tho straight in. the 'Autumn Stakes (one mile and a half) .on Easter Saturday at Randwick, but ; faded right out and finished a moderate fifth. Despite this, he was backed for big money at a fairly good price in the ■ Sydney Cup (two miles), and won in -great style. His stablemate, Heroic, •won the Autumn Stakes, so possibly ■ all was in order, but Australian writers seem to think that the sudden improvement of .Lilypond merited a "Please •explain." ■ , ■ - -: The Doncaster Handicap winner, Fugi San, was a bad horse for the public, or at least worse than visual. Although one of the all-conquering Valais breed, he was an outsider, and his starting price was returned as a little more than 19 to 1. The Hawk, for all his big weight, jumped out first, but soon went back, and eventual]v finished eighth, t In the A.-J-C. St. Leger, states a Sydney exchange, Lord Merle, the outsider of 'the party, set a slow pace—much too slow to suit the favourite Spearfelt— and entered the sti-aigbt with Meenah alongside him and Windbag and Spearleft behind them, the latter being on tne rails. At the distance Windbag had everything settled bar the favourite, whon) Lewis had had to bring up on €ho outside. Spearfelt drew leivel with, Windbag, and momentarily headed him, j Irai the' MagpisiCharleyille colt, magnifioM^g -Twjijfin bjf -Mxcaio^, .cams again

an 3 got the better of a thrilling struggle by half a head, with Meenah and "Solidify, following . at _ intervals of three lengths. Not much to look at, Windbag was rather, a jqke among Randwick trainers- when first "introduced to the tracks,., but .he has como .^ood with a vengeance in the" last ' six months. Lewis's' handling of Spearfelt was not up to his'old' standard. Munro indis-putably-rode a much more vigorous finish. .All the same, there was general sympathy for the veteran when the stewards suspended him for three months at the end of the day, deciding that his mount, Petunia, had crossed a bunch too suddenly in tho Sires' Produce Stakes and interfered with Vaals.

Ifilyveil, the sire of this year's Sydney Cup winner Lilypond, won the race in 1914 with 8.8, or 61b less than his son carried on Easter Monday- Mr. T. Foy, the owner of Lilypond, hails from Western Australia, where he is better known as the owner and driver of the champion pacer Kola Girl, a mare who practically Held her own with Great Hope and company in the recent trotting championship in Perth. West Australian horses have won five of the last 18 Sydney Cups, and provided one second, rather a remarkable record for the most distant State from New South Wales, and the least populated except Tasmania. :