NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 64, 17 March 1927, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(BY "VEDETTE.")

:■ BACING FIXTURES. Ueceh »3, St—BangUliel R.C. S&rtth 25, 24—Oamiru J.C. March 26—Bay of Plenty I.C. March 30—Otautm B.C. i March 31—Walpapakaurl B.C. (at Whangarel) '^.pril 2—Ashburton County B.C. •April 2—Whangarel B.C. '.April 2, 4—-Westport J.C. ' April 6, 7—Southland R.C. April 7—Mastertonß.C. April 9—Hororata B.C. April 16—Tuapeka County J.C. April 16, 18—Wairarapa R.C. April 16, 18—Feildlng J.C. April 16, 18, 19—Riverton B.C. Nominations for the Great Easter and - Great Autumn Handicaps close to-mor-row. Nominations for the Masterton Meeting close next Monday. ' At Trantham, to-morrow Messrs. Wright Stephenson, will hold a 'sale of bloodstock,'commencing at 2 p.m. Horses in training, yearlings, and brood mares will be offered. There are some good lots ■; catalogued, and those interested in racing will be well advised to attend. The Trentham Gold Cup, the two-mile weight-for-age race to be decided at Trentham on Saturday, will not be by any. means the least interesting event of the meeting. Rapine, Count Cavour, and Footfall are due to make their appearance in that race, and Hynanna and Magna Charta are also engaged. Providing it remains fine, Rapine should start a decided fay- , ourite, and be very hard to beat., The old fellow looks in great order. L. Wilson is to set up at Hastings as private trainer to Mr. J. S. M'Leod. He has two rising two-year-olds by Lord Quex to start on, and after the Trentham Meeting he will take over the two-year-old Rory Mor. It is probable that Wallace Young with Mr. H. Tupaea's horses will move to Hastings to there. Phaola is commencing to show her real form, and according to all accounts ran a decent race in the Franklin Cup last ' Saturday. She was always, in the leading division and finished close up fifth. ■ The brilliant Royal Blood, Who had not had a race for twelve months, revealed a lot of his old pace in the Tuakau Flying Handicap at Pukekohe last Saturday by going with the leaders until the straight was reached. Royal Blood is not too : sound and had his forelegs bandaged, and it is doubtful whether he will stand a preparation. In the event of him keeping sound he should not be too old to make a return to winning form possible. ■ ** wa" with a fine finishing run that Bright Knight won the Tuakau Flying Handicap at the Franklin Meeting, and nw- success was thoroughly deserved, as he was not too well placed 'n the early stages. As a result of his victory the previous week, Bright Knight was solidly supPorted and was a good second fancy. His latest form has been consistently good and he has been successful in each of his last three starts. - Mr; J. Peters stated last week that he* did not intend to place Llewellyn in work again just yet, but he has changed that idea and the big fellow is once again among the active brigade at EHerslie, under the direction of P. Conway. Llewellyn is bright and healthy and he may be a competitor at Whangarei at the end or the month. TTWIi H-.^te^had Royal Form and ? i 5 A* EUerslle on Monday and indulged the pair in schooling work. Royal form was tried over the steeplechase fences on the flat and apart from unseating his rider at the water jump, gave a creditable display, jumping the double and stonewall well. Uralla was sent over lour hurdles and made a very satisfactory showing. ■True made his reappearance at Pukekohe last Saturday. He is said to ■"»hI e M a-on ■the. i b,fe side > to* that he v£- ie m caP!tal order for races at jtvaster tune. "I have no hesitation in saying, without appealing to statistics for confirmation, that more.jockeys are killed through , Bteeplechasmg m Australia than in all the ■; T,A?"M?s! 1i? rief■ the- Y otld Put together. : Just think of it, with our handful of population! l The record is not to our cre> *t .and indicates that there is something sTk£??"'q?0"? w»th. our'methods and conditions. Steeplechasreg affords ah exhilar«^f g+ifP *eC^ cle ' \ ut J5 is s"«ly not essential that there should be so much killing B™ maimmg m order to make it interesting. So wrote the well-versed "RibbleW .™j he Anstralasian" two decades Bgo, and, sorrowful to relate, many fatali■beg have^been recorded'in the interval. Another tragic ending to a cross-country «*£? v \ .^ent meeting held at Caul--5!l ' i yJ'i? cX? Prominent rider, P. Dinsdale, lost his ite, has apparently influenctLferi"^" °f, the V^oria Amateur Jtof Club to make a pronouncement that steeplechase events will in future be withdrawn from their meetings held anmonths of Decmber, Janu- £. i-J ebrnaryv'Tnis may be taken as •dawwledgment that steeplechasing in •rammer is regarded as invested with undue^danger. That Js a fact which can be very clearly established, and we have only in «f»°S?i 8en the/ UB? :om strict'y observed m the Old Country in having a close seai 1v events. So far as .Ansfa-ahan jumping events are concerned, ™2iW Bnother, element that probably contnbutea very largely to the number of eenous accidents reported from there/and the ?r n ns, PreS? t dV \ nd to the fact that the cronch^seat and short stirrups does '"fr ?\h* eA^ e nders the same Becur% ■in the saddle as under the old order. .Although- tptalisator dividends at any '■SS ? 6v g "*% S uickly known from one end of New Zealand to the other^ the 1^ - wod a£u£T? U%% ay'P m oc^sional Sfr B d?s di ended to increase betting, fr^. • Fl'&ey na» decided that Manl M^tm: ff M°f ac 4c 1* the A.J.C. Autumn Warns