NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 18, 21 July 1926, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(BY »■ VEDETTE.")

RACING FIXTURES.

July 22—Waimate Hunt Club. ». July 24—South Canterbury Hunt Club, v ■ July 29, 31—Qisborne K.C. July 31—Christchurch Hunt Club. August 7—Poverty Bay Hunt Club. August 10, 12, 14— Canterbury .T.C. AugU6fc 21—Pakuranea Hunt Club. A ,; August 25—Egmonfc-Wanganui Hunt. Club. August 28—North Taranaki Hunt Club. September 3, 2—Marton J.C. September 4—Otago Hunt Club. September 4—Manawatu Hunt Club.September 9, 11—Wanganui J.C. '" September 15—Dannevirke R.C. September IB—Dannevirke Hunt Club. September 18, 20—Otaki Maori R.C. September 24, 25—Ashburton County B.C. September 24, 25—Napier Park R.C. September 25, 27—Avondale J.C. _ ' .' September SO, October I—Geraldine R.C. October 2—Ha-wkes Bay J.C. October 7—Kurow J.C. '"' October 7—Masterton R.C. October 7, 9—Whangarei R.C. October 9—Oamaru J.C. October 14, 16—Dunedin J.C. • --<-- October 16—Carterton R.C. , October 23, 25—Wellington R.C. October 25—Waikato Hunt Club. ■ October 25—Waipawa County R.C. October 23, 25, or 25, 27—Waverley R.C. October 25—North Canterbury R.C ... - October 25, 27-Gore R.C. October 24, 30—Poverty Bay Turf Club. October 30—Banks Peninsula R.C. October 30, November I—Thames J.C.

<■ Really good acceptances numerically have been received for the Waimate Hunt Club's Meeting to-morrow. The racing at Waimate and Timaru should give some line on Southern form for the Grand' National Meeting at Riccarton. Ahyittempt to make selections for to-morrow's fixture would be purely guesswork. ";;,',;:.' The sympathy of a wide circle of friends in all parts of the Dominion jyill.be extended to Mr. H. A. Jarden, a well-known Christchurch sporting journalist, whose wife died on Monday afternoon,. Jeaving Km with two young daughters. The-/de-ceased lady had been in ill-health* icff^.SMatime past. •<■ - '•"-'-■ When the question of racing peuhits. was under discussion in Parliament -reentry, Mr. Allen Bell, the member for-vßayof Islands, expressed the view th-tk'^a;.'.tnis-, take had been--made in securing"-only- a dozen extra permits, and t_fa__:::;twefity: could have been secured as easily; aa^the twelve. He believed that the permits should be issued on the basis of population, and, if this course were followed, the North would have greater cla'injfs tc£ attention. The two floating permits should have been allocated to the North Island; the Waimarino one to Taumarunui, and the Moteuka one to Bay of Islands. This is the typical far-northern attitude;'"to" which the remainder of the Dominion has become quite accustomed. Prior to returning to New Zealand from Sydney, J. M'Combe disposed o£ Rebuke and Glenalmond, whom he recently purchased from G. Murray-Ayrisley, to R. Skelton, and the pair will in future compete at the pony meetings. Skelton-has close on fifty ponies in work in Sydney, but lately he has not been verjr successful. T. George will take Temperature, v Tre■illian, and Penniless to Gisborae. .» The Auckland rider E. Stahwax'-Wiu •teer Radio and Silverfish at Gisbprne.and C. M'Carthy will be on Tresilfian^.Rahe-1 poto, and Orma. .r~."_.' Sympathetic reference was made ;■ at the committee meeting of the Gisborrie" Racing Club to the deaths of Messrs. M. G. Nasmith and J. Maynard,- who-were two of the oldest members of ,the..club, and votes of condolence were passed'with the relatives. During the last season or two Dunedin has made some very welcome additions to the somewhat thin ranks of owners,~and naturally one hopes to see theftl Receive encouragement to strengthen their ardour attd by Jesuits justify additions to „the bearers of their colours. Two local owners in their first efforts in the direction .of buying yearlings have received a setback, says the "Otago Daily Times." Mr.B. S. Irwin's Kilbrony—Elaine filly has' been found, dead in her box, and .Mr.;-J. M.Samson's imported filly by King. Midas was so severely kicked last week that it was deemed necessary to destroy her. Both owners are fortunately of'» .philosophical'turn of mind, and are prepared to acoepfc the various turns of Fortune's wheel. The Elaine filly had been doing well and shaping promisingly. The English 'filly was booked to Tea Tray, and 'the.loss of both owners travels beyond the financial aspect of the matter. ''.'." . Dioxide, the sister to Monoxide,-is in work again, and on looks, according .to report, fills the eye as a much more likely sort than-her elder relative. Mr. A. Cambridge has commissioned his English filly Noeline, who is a daughterof Bethelhem, and hence the name. She is a raking big youngster, with an apparently very, placid temper, as after working on Saturday she stood in her stall with a pleasing. unc6ncern of what was going on arotind her. The English filly, who is a good hard grey in colour, is somewhat bulky in condition, and will probably require some'little time to work her into racing shape. Last year passengers from Lytfeltou, on the eve of the Wellington Raeing_ Club's Winter Meeting spent nearly all of next day on the old Mararoa in Cook Strait, the vessel having broken down, says the Dunedin "Star." After a lot of.. strong comment in the papers throughout the Dominion regarding the using of a boat like the Mararoa she was taken off, and the TJ.S.S. Company announced that as a setoff against the extra cost of running two: steamers like the Maori and Wahine they would have to advance the fares- by. 2s 6d. To travel by either, of these steamers • the public gladly paid ii extra.money, and imagined they had see,, /i last of the Mararoa. But they imagineu .--ongly, for the same old boat made her re_.,'>pearance with the advent of the winter ser. :ee, but no reduction in the fare. On the eve of the Wellington Winter Meeting this year she left Lyttelton a very crowded ship, 'and did not arrive in the capital until just on 10 a.m., some three hours late.

The Sydney trainer, I. H. Andrews',' has no fewer than seventeen yearlings in his charge. He has an anxious time ahead of him.

Sparkling Moselle showed that her V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race success was no fluke by winning the Keilor Hurdles on the second day of the meeting from Bindweed and Fiscomi 'She Was only third in request in the betting. The English jockey, J. Leach, visited America a few months ago in company with G. Archibald, and in a recent issue of the London "Evening News'''expressed himself as follows concerning what he caw:—"The character of the courses is not .without interest. They have a 'cushion' of 'dirt' about two inches deep, and,"/ the hard track underneath leads to jarring and soreness, and it is probably due t6 .this' fact that the horses soon become infirm in the legs. I have never before seen such bad-legged thoroughbreds. There is no comparisqn between English and.;A'mcridah racehorses: the English horses are more muscled up, and better conditioned. Ame, rican riders have a much better-seat than the majority of European jockeys,- but: it appeared to me—from the grai.dstahd— that they did not show as much judgment,nor did they ride such strong finishes as we see m England. They do npt appear to use their whips so well. The horses *rf, not _^ locked until they reach a full gallop. The starting gate is about 20 yards behind the starting pole, at which the time is first taken. This accounts to some extent for the fast times registered " It ig reported that Mr. W. H. 'Gaisford has cancelled Commendation's .proposed tr}P to Sydney, and the Limond gelding will do his spring racing nearer home. The present intention is to start off with the Avondale Guineas and then to take on the Great Northern Guineas, a programme .which, if carried out, -will mean missing the chance of Derby honours at Riccarton.

The programme for the Spring Meeting ef the Wanganui J.C, to be held on 9th and 11th September, is now in the hands of tlfe printers. The stake money to be given amounts to £4500, compared" with :£4250 last year, an increase of £250. For _ome time past work lias been going on preparing the ground for a seven-furlong starting point, and this is now so' far advanced as to enable the Wanganui Quito include a seven furlong race each day of its Spring Meeting. For the forthcoming fixture the distance is "about seven furlongs," but subsequent races from that barrier will be about seven furlongs and fifty yards. The starting point is just inside the outer rail, and the horsc-s will have about 180 yards straight run-before turning into the hack stretch."1 The "new

starting post is practically at the foot of what is known as the Bookmakers' Hill. The Jumpers' Flat Handicap, one mile and a quarter, on the opening day of the Wanganui Spring Meeting, has been done away with, and in its place is substituted the Seafield Handicap, about seven furlongs. This, and the alteration of the distance of the Railway Hack Handicap on the second day from six furlongs to about seven furlongs, are the only race changes on the Wanganui programme for September.