NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 5, 7 January 1927, Page 5

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(BY -"VEDETTE."}

■ ' x RACING FIXTURES. January 8 and" 10-^-Vincent J.C. January 15—Ashburton County R C. January 15^-Walrio J.C. : January 18 and 20—Walroa R.C. January 20, 22, and 24—Wellington R.C.

ANSWERS. TO CORRESPONDENTS. "Anxious to. Knoiv,'^ Newtown.—£ 2 os. "5.X.," Willis street.—The placed horses in the Southland "Handicap, were.: . Circulation 1, Countersign 2, Vsiward 3". Tho . Southern nowspapors, appear to have tangled up ■ tho result: considerably, but it scorns. obvious that* the above is the corroct order. Nominations for the Pahiatua Meeting close to-night.

It isxbecoming move and more evident that the present'stipendiary steward system:in New. Zealand is in need of a complete overhaul.. At big meetings and at small ones there is evidence of failure. Last year on the West Coast matters reached a ' culminating point, but apparently matters' have not improved, as can be gleaned from the following in a Greymbuth journal:—"'After the notorious Maunu dncident—also known as the 'Mother Maohree Stakes' —sporting journals atl votaries with one voice urged the, infusion of new blood into the ranks of the stipendiary stewards, but apparently little notice has been taken of that agitation, at least in the case of local racing. Such' officials require to concentrate their eyes upon the hori- • rather, than upon the colours of the riders. In more than one glaring instance "pulling" has been in evidence during the present Coast meetings, nor have the Rules of Racing been, complied with in reference to horses crossing at the start of a race. The stewards have been called upon here on two occasions to inquire into trivial matters, but ones calling for more of their attention have been'overlooked or not noticed. The job is one for a live man who misses nothing of the tactics in question, especially at the business end of the race." A. Goodman had no luck during the holidays. Black Mint ran one good race at Awapuni, but the effort apparently put him back rather than helped him, and he failed" afterwards at Awapuni and Tauherenikau., He should be a better horse at Trentham. Cerf broke down, and will require a good spell, but Kilmezzo injured a leg at Awapuni. He was sent home and is v now apparently right again, and should be racing at Trentham. Even if he did not ride a winner on New Year's Day, the last day of the West Australi. i- Meeting, the New Zealand jockey M. M'Carten had a very profitable trip to Perth. On the first day,he finished second on .Greenly in the Karrahatta Plate, the big, twa-year-old race, and second on Cams in the West Australian Derby, finishing up the day -by getting Cunningman home in the concluding event. On the second day he /rode the last three winners, Silver Prince, Tich, and Spearage. Spearage was the favourite for. the Perth Cup, run on New Year s Day, and was one of M'Carten's mounts. He failed to gain a place. Front .Rank has made a good recovery from the trouble which prevented her from racing at Wingatui, and probably she will form one of Sir George Clifford's team at Trentham. ' - According to a Christchurch writer lift is going on nicely in his work, and in the meantime he shows no sign of leg troubles. He is fast getting, into racing shape, and if he remains sound he' is certain to get on the winning list'before long. In addition to possessing plenty of speed, Tiff can stay. . Young Lochinvar is reported to becoming to hand quickly after his spell. He is in the open sprint events on the second and third days,of the Trentham Meeting. Eric Connolly" won at last with one_of his English > importations of 1925 at Sandown Park ten days ago. ' The horse -in question was Herilda, a, five-year-old gelding, "who had fun once in New South Wales. At Warwick Farm on 14th Aug-ust-he -was a good second favourite to Royal Tea. From barrier position 20 HerHda, carrying 8.4, displayed much pace to follow the ultimate winner Lilah ,into the straight, but then he died 1 away. He'has had a run or two since in Melbourne, and was pitch-forked into the Sandown ,race with only 7.3. Mr. Connolly got a "liberal price^about: him. 'HeriWa's' last race in England was to win a mile selling plate at Tvempton Park by six lengths, which so impressed Mr. Connolly that when the gelding was offered at auction after the race he gave 1000 guineas for hi..}.

Post positions count a good veal m Xew Zealand in short^iaccs csnc;cia!iy in the . "big fields in the"~Aiicfclai:d province, yet backers appear- to- ignc.o I'uis very vital feature. There were instances at the? recent meeting at Ellr:=li/; of horses heavily backed drawn in outside positions at six furlongs and a i.iilc. An outside marble is a big handicap,. for a smart beginner next the rails has an enormous advantage.' Botli bookmakers and layers realise the importance of barrier positions in Australia, for p. 5 to 2 favourite prior to the posting of barrier position goes to 5 or 6 • to 1 if drawn in an outside position at the barrier. An attempt was made on Boxing Day at Awapuni to receive the results of the racing at EUerslie broadcasted by the Auckland station. The ■ electric totalisator at Awapuni, however, npset the plans and the attempt had to be abandoned. Apparently, there is money in this part of the business in Australia, for at a meeting of the South Australian Jockey-Club it,was decided that tenders should be invited for the exclusive rights of broadcasting a running description of races at meetings held at the Morphettville Racecourse by .the club (seven days) during the year 1927.

-The only living creatures at the Ken sington track on the morning following Boxing Day -were the caretaker and the Press representatives. The continuous rain did not appeal to thei trainers or jockeys, and most of them took tKe opportunity to have a sleep. It was just as well a trainer did not brave the elements,, with his 'horses, as he would have had a patient wait for a jockey to ride his team work. The caretaker stated that he could not call to mind -when a similar thing happened. Somebody generally braves the weather. At 7.30 the pressmen left. Not a .horse, trainer, or jockey-was in sight. The caretaker waited anxiously for someone to visit the track. The tracks were covered with water, and had any trainer attended it would have been impossible for his charges to go faster than half pace. With hundreds of horses trained in, the .Kensington area this must be a "record. On the same morning only six horses .attended at Randwick. . "Outside of a few of the outstanding performers, such as SolarTo and Coronach, the English racehorses are not above the standard of those racing in Australia," said Mr. H. Alan Currie, •vice-chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, on his return to Melbourne from a trip to Great Britain and Europe. In the Derby, he said, all except the first three''or~ fotir were very ordinarylooking horses, and did riot run particularly well. The betting tax which has recently been put into operation, had the effect of stopping practically all betting on the course, and there were too many bookmakers.- It seemed that the owners of English racehorses were training them harder and racing them more in a season than was formerly the case. There was, however, a good opening for big horses for jumping, and he thought that if a few good horses of that type were sent from Australia . there would be a keen demand for them. - \ Spean Bridge, who won a hack race at Invercargill, on Tuesday, is an imported mare'who carries the Glancruin colours. This was her first success in New Zealand. She is a five-year-old mare by Rich Mor from Annie Laurie. Up to. a; certain stage'in the race for the recently-run. Stratford Cup, Euphonium received a better run on the rails than most of his opponents, but. approaching the home turn his 'rider tried, to 1 take Euphonium through a very small opening," and received a bad check, says' the Hawera "Star." A .little later Euphonium got through, and again there appeared to be some bumping, but Barry was not altogether blameless. Hud he gone outside Euphonium must have won. Looked on by most as a non-slayer, it surprised many to see The Lamb taken to the front in the contest for the Stratford Cup last week. The ten furlongs of that race., are .possibly more - tryhig._ to horses than any race run. over a similar distance on any pther Dominion course.

Ridden in behind, The Lamb's brilliancy | would have stood to him, and he might ■ have done better. Had the weather been fine for the second day of the Stratford Meeting, the club must have had a record day. Despite the unsettled weather, the attendance was particularly large for a second day. This is-proved by the fact that all "correct cards" were sold out before the second event. /It is reported that Erie has been leased arid will not: be offered'at the Treritham sales.- , She has been broken to harness, but has not done a great deal of work between the shafts. The Archiestown mare Curraghmore, who was formerly trained at To Kapa by M. J. Carroll, has joined J. T. Jamieson's teanvat Glenora Park. The three-year-old Limerick is a regular visitor to the tracks at Riccarton. His tasks have been of the lightest so far, .but | his burst foot is mending fast, and it is hoped that he will be all right for autumn engagements, in order to take on Commendation in the New-Zealand St. Leger. A. M'Aulay is keeping Sagittarius and Sir Roy and the two-year-old Tripaway busy. The las>t-namcd pair will probably be raced at Ashburton, while Trentham is the special mission of Sagittarius, who continues .to show, smart sprinting.'.form on the tracks at Riccarton.

It was cabled recently that Mr. J. White, of, theatrical and horse-owning fame, had offered to put a totalisator on rvery important course in England. A Lo 'ion writer says the Chancellor was attracted by the offer, and mentioned it to the Home Secretary. The latter threw cold water on the "idea by 'pointing out that in the opinion of the Government's legal advisers, the parimutuel was illegal in England. - Sir William Joynson-Hicks, however, is reported to have suggested establishing one tote so as to provide a test case. „