RACING FIXTURES.

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 79, 3 April 1926, Page 23

RACING FIXTURES.

il»ffl t- Blve'rton R.C. Annual. »"'■ April 6-Wairarapa R.C. Ea»ter,. -:-.'; April 5-Fetlding J.C. Easter. . April s—Auckland R.C* Autumn. April £, 7, 10—Australian J.C. Autumn. April 6—Beaumont R.C. Annual. April 6—Kumara R.C. Autumn. .April 5 and 6—Canterbury J.C. Autumn, April &—Waipukurau J.C. Autumn. 'April 7-WcitUnd R.C. Autumn. 'April 10—Greymouth J.C. Autumn. Mprll 10 and IS—Avondale J.C. Autumn. April 14-Beeftoa J.C. Autumn. 'April IS and 17—Wellington R.C. Autumn. - 'April 21 »nd M—M»n»watu R.C. Autumn. April BS—W»lpapakauri R.C. Annual. April 84—Whangarei R.C. Autumn. 'April 30 and Hay I—Hawkee Bay J.C. Autumn. May 1 and J—Walkato R.C, Autumn. \

Handicaps for the first day of the Wellington Meeting are due next Wednesday, «nd for .the Manawatu Meeting on Friday.-. . , . „-; ■.. The annual meeting of the Waipukurau Racing Club's .Meeting will be held on Monday, when the racing should be firstclaw for a one-day fixture. The WaiJmkurau Club is one of the fortunate few ,wha' sppefcr able to make a succeu of this; If Gaze has gone on the right "way trace racing at' Napier he appears the likely one in the Waipukurau Cup, bej Mtlatour will have plenty of friends. Horse's who appear well^placed during the day are Hukuwai, Plain Sailing, Manutai, Minstrel Boy, Butterscotch, Imitation, filiation, and Tuahine. Another example of the uncertainty and-luck of racing is shown in the Great Northern- Oaks, decided to-day. A great contest between Mandane and Oreum was expected, but first one and then the other wag; withdrawn, leaving seven of- only moderate calibre to run for a classic honour. . • , , . . - . Some light may.'be thrown on the Great Northern ■ St. Leger by the. racing nY Efferriie td-day, but no matter what happens, Star Stranger should be a good favourite on Monday. Mask may be his stronj«st opponent, for the son of Lim;ond promises to develop into a first-ctess hone, -Whether, he has developed sufficiently yet is the doubt. Royal Despatch appears to haunt Mr. j H. A. Knight, for even after getting rid of him consequent on the unfortunate affair in Australia, he bobbed up again last Saturday, at Hororata, and won the Racecourse Hill Handicap from Bonatic and '3*r. Knight's.;filly. C'alcite, who was a -good favourite. Incidentally Racecourse Hill is the.name of Mr. Knight's station. v -; The Easter-edition of the "New Zea*]?lnd Turf Register" is acknowledged from the publishers, the "Christchurch- Press" . Company. This handy little booklet, in conjunction with the spring edition, covers all the racing and trotting this season from Ist. August to 18th March. . The.sale of The Night Patrol for 10,000 guineas in Melbourne marks the fourth occasion''on which a thoroughbred ■ has brought five figures in Australia. ' Old Carbine led off when the Duke of Portland gaVe 13,000 guineas for. him over 30 years ago* and there was a long interlude, till Vslais brought 14,400 guineas in 1924 after he had proved himself as a sire of ..winners. Then came Heroic's -record of 16,000 guineas, still to be broken. The Night Patrol's buyer, Gerald Buckley, of. yKyneton,-hopes his.purchase .will prove W great » success at tlie stud as Woorale has been. If the English horse can get a few like Whittieiy. Buckley should-have no ground for complaint. A Sydney man. who occasionally backs horses-has'decided that betting is ruinous. A friend gave him a sure thing, and in a fit of recklessness he risked a fiver. By evening he was £10 better off; and in the clow of his triumph he .decided to make his wife a present o£ the lot. Her excited curiosity over, the transaction' flattered him; but suddenly her mood changed. "Well, this is the first ti_. i I've even heard of you winning," she said, 'and you needn't try to tell me it's the only time you bet. You probably make a practice of it. And if you can afford to risk £5 on betting in a single week you can afford to give me at least a couple of pounds n week more for housekeeping. The argument is still running. The -two-year-old filly Countersign will do no more racing'this season. She knocked a joint recently and as there was no other meeting at which she could compete, after the Canterbury Jockey Club's fixture nest week, for which she probably would haave been backward, E. Scoullar I .decided to turn her out for a good spell. " She will remain .on the retired list for a few months, until it" isi time to start on her preparation for spring engagements. Mr. H. L. Russell took Berinthia, a half-sister by: Mountain Knight to Siaosi ; and- Civility, to Riecarton, .but will not tacs her tnere, owing to the filly ricking r.her shoulder while competing at the Pae-roa-Meeting.' Siaosi will be ridden by J. pesJe in,the Great Eastern, and probably A. Didham; will be on Mount Marta in the Great /,utumn. ' Owing to the indisposition of A. MCal- ■ man, the trainer of Manfred, there was a great deal of uncertainty whether the colt j would go to Sydney for the A.J.C. St. :<Leger. First of all M'Calman's medical iadviser forbade, the trip, and accordingly ;it was.decided that Manfred would not ;,go. Later the doctor lifted the ban, aand although Manfred was scratched for the Sidney, Cup,'he was left, in the St. Leger I And some of the Weifiht-for-age races. '•Now his name has not been cabled as a (final "acceptor for the St. Leger, so that ,'no doubt Mr. B. Chaffey's original indention of not starting him again until [liext- season is being adhered tdi Since this unsatisfactory behaviour on Newmariet Handicap day Manfred has been given • a good deal of.practice at the barrier, and (in.the'band's of the veteran R. Lewis he Sga^e no trouble. Lewis differs from nearly all our jockeys in that he is a horseman As'well as s, jockey, adds the "Leader." VMosfc bf them are just jockeys. Manfred {is a colt who requires strong handling, and "Lewis was easily able to make him realise that w!fcn he is on top he is boss. The Sydney Cup will be the principal race at Randwick on Monday. No matter what happens to-day,, short oE an accident, Pilliewinkie will start a good favourite for all 'his 9.13. According to "Pilot," 'he is a'much better horse now than in the spring. Tookarby was a solid second favourite when the last mail left Sydney, and {•he has some consistent; performances on |his-side- Caserta was third choice, while -there;was plenty of support for the New ■Zetland-bred Naos, a four-year-old gelding by Martian from Lady Lucy, owned by Mr. Sol Green.' At his last start he was a good third to Tookarby in the. St. Kilda Cup. ' . "Many fielders in Victoria object to the system'of win and a place betting, a-sys-teth brought into vogue to take the place of concession betting which, failing the still more popular totalisator, was accepted by racegoers as the most convenient form of wagering that could be devised.- The objections of fielders are based on the theory that on occasions big operators among backers are able to'so place their wagers where perhaps only three out of eight starters have a reasonable chance of success .that they stand to win heavily with little or no chance of losing. Cases ..of. this, sort were cited last week when a deputation representing bookinakiUK inemfcerg of the Victorian Club waited upon tba committ ;e of the V.R.C. to urge that Win and af, ]VJce betting be abolished. So .far ;as-can be gathered from the official 'announcement ot.what happened, the deputation did not put forward any alternative proposal or proposals. Its spokesmen confined, themselves to arguments designed to diow that the existing system is unfair in its incidence; is, in well-worn legal phraseology, "harsh and unconscionable," and contented themselves by asking that they lie.given .early rclieE from its operation, leaving it to the racing authorities to provide some other method of meeting the ■wishes of those racegoers who want somet thing akin to the totalisator or, altcrna- , tively, concession betting. After hearing { 'the case for the bookmakers, Mr. L. K. S. 'Maekinnon, on behalf of his committee, promised the deputation that its representations would receive earnest considera-

tion. It is understood that the views of other, metropolitan racing clubs will be sought by the V.R.C. Committee before a decision in the matter is arrived at.