Turf Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 112, 14 May 1927, Page 23

Turf Notes

(BY "VEDETTE.")

The Wanganui Meeting next Thursday ari3 Saturday is the racing fixture of next week. The news of the possible resignation of Mr. J. Higgins, the chairman of the "Australian Jockey Club's Stipendiary. Stewards will be received with a certain amount of surprise. It has not been at all unexpected, however, in some well-informed circles, for, although many people think the Sydney officials have paramount powers, it is obvious that lately there has been a certain amount of restraint from the mglier authority—the honorary officials, bigns were not wanting in the spring that matters were shaping towards the curbing of the stipendiary stewards' actions, and, naturally, Mr.. Higgins chafed under the restraint. That his loss—if he goeswill be a very real one is the unanimous °Fi mon. °f the sy dney Press. Like any otaer human, he is liable to err, but his general knowledge of racing and natural efficiency are such that in him error lias ™? reduced to a minimum. Ihe Egmont Steeplechase winner, Llew?J *?"> J 8 a fine bi B gelding, and is the ideal chaser in appearance. When he first appeared it was pardonable to acclaim him a coming champion,,but lie has developed Tw. t ? bl-ts ln/ aces- He runs about •nrt,» £ cn°eS J? a dangerous fashion, and J* cn™c ?n *eter Rosa had an W ™ ortable .experience on Thursday, for has mount puled so hard that he could not keep him behind Llewellyn. The result was that m order to escape being earned off Peter Rosa was first on one dV Thi eWf yn ?, nd then on the 'other side. Then Llewellyn carried him right away off the course at the turn. Under weif toT'T'* 110! 68 Peter Rosa did very iX t£ Sll a ?loße ? econd- A» inquiry mto the happening at the turn resulted in .Llewellyn Twang'excused because he is a cJ* Bdful- /I? 8 seems hardly fair to a good-mannered horse who is the suf-

«3j * Bi)^ d, en appeared to ride a very confident finish on Eonmark at Hawera Mm W S4P Wht n Gil&ai all but beat fe but »fc was because he had lost his whip at the last fence. Bowden was get Ktd^fels^ * E™k ™* V iiS^^fJ 3 b\ ck in Hawera after bev£r ES* Bli d *™1} be the <** of the yat rf Hls a9ked again to carry sr)k..lt ig unfortunate to have to miss the jumping season with this promising Hawera that although he could &>d no t^L/u 8! 1?' 1! 011 t0 SUBPect tllat the w2'y^?r-hadjb^n doped in Sydney, wrong •' m WCre Eo ""erly The Waikato owner-trainer, H. L. Russell, is contemplating another trip to SydL f" ( Swob. Bei-inthia, *> and Mount Marta after the June meeting in Auck--%%£rStiß* lk:?Ba* receutly 'and hl'^}° VldiS 8 t goes on in* on { kW. eventuates, it all dependvi Haweia on Thursday when Birkenella hirdlfbo ha!H the- sl^wall. P This £11 n"aly be held against him. Mr. J Predric, the owner of Seatown fcV.V' 81^ two-year-old half-brother by Tonbridge to that gelding in work at Hawera. appearances suggest that the juvenile will be able to gallop ' nli;f« OnU * I s sho^ n,, several times an 'infere Tth f li anß. badly in 'a«s and interlere with other horses. His trainer nt Haxera on Thuraday was informed by the stipendiary stewards that a stronger ma\ thl n T-.Tito would have ?o be tried on Paitonu in future. Zircon looks big and healthy, and when the tracks become softer and the big races come round ho B hould be wortli more than a passing thought. Onward, who is now trained by C. Jackson at Hawera is a hack who should make some, steady improvement - Kendal looks bigger and rounder than he ', evtr/r, brforo, but he is racing to I' i r f roi*ab|y ho is one' of tho kind to_go best when:trained light. Charlatan was a big disappointment in this island last year, but it will be surprising if he does not do better this year at Ellerslie.

Two smart locally-owned gallopers in Degage and Diogenes made their reappearance at Hawera this week after lengthy spells. Both wero obviously in need of sharpening up, but they ran decent races, and both pulled up well.: Time was when the night before a'race meeting was always lively, and plenty of people were present. The motor-car has altered all this, and nowadays from the appearance of any town twelve hours before a race meeting it would be difficult to discover that it was so close at hand. At Hawera this week this was even more pronounced, for hardly any racing folk could be found,.yet on race day the enclosures were well filled with hardly any of the regulars absent. Comical is being schooled over the big fences this season, and so far he has not jumped a hurdle. He is to be a starter in the Wanganui Steeplechase, and not the Century Hurdles. At. an early hour on race morning the drawer of Bright Sea in the Albury Cup telephoned to a "Sydney Morning Herald" representative asking him to lay the owner £1000 of the sweep money. An urgent telegram was sent to the "Herald" correspondent at Albury and the following reply was promptly received:— "Owner Bright Sea appreciates offer, will take'thousand to fifty." The horse was not placed, but Mr.. Stan O'Keefe's (owner) cheque for £50 reached the "Herald" office two mornings afterwards. Tartan Sash a three-year-old sister to Beauford, made her first appearance recently in Australia and ran a fair race. Blueford has produced three fair winners in Kenilf ord by Kenilworth, Blairmore by Shepherd King, and Anambah by Magpie, in addition to Beauford.

The imported sire Spelthorne, who arrived in Sydney a fortnight ago was at Messrs. William Inglis and Son's Newmarket stables prior to being taken to Mr. P. Miller's Kia-ora Stud, and was inspected by a number of breeders, who were favourably impressed by his appearance. Spelthorne is a bay, five years of age, standing over 16 hands high. He is by Spearmint (the sire of Spearhead, Imp.) from Dutch Mary, by .William the Third from Pretty Polly, one of the greatest race mares England has known. Spelthorne acquitted himself well as a three-year-old. He finished third to Zionist and Foxlaw in the Newmarket Spring Three-Year-Old Stakes, one mile and a quarter, and won the Sandringham Foal Plate, one mile and a quarter, the St. George Stakes, one mile and'a quarter, the Duke of York Plate, one mile and a quarter, and the Irish St. Leger, one mile and three-quar-ters. In his races he carried the colours of Lieutenant-Colonel Giles Loder, whose filly, Cresta Run, won the Thousand Guineas. '

Valicare, -who trained off in the autumn, nai gone out for a. spell. If she comes back fit and well she should make things interesting again in the short distance weight-for-age races in ttc spring at Kandwick. . It would be interesting to know what the Aga Khan spends on breeding and racing. He is a great buyer of yearlings, and few of those for which he has given exceptional prices in various seasons have proved of much account. He has a couple of stud farms in Ireland, and in France recently purchased a stud which was owned by the late E. Kahn. All the brood mares and a stallion named Bridane were included in the purchase. The English jockey, H. Fox, who was reported to the English Jockey Club stewards because the Epsom stewards were dissatisfied with his riding in one, race at their meeting, was able to give a satisfactory explanation. Without suggesting Fox did anything wrong, jockeys in England can do things for which they would receive short shrift from capable stipendiary stewSrds. This is something of which even prominent trainers take advantage. I can recall one instance in England where I saw a jockey '"hang on" in glaring fashion right up to the winning post, but luck was against the owner-train-W»<*f that,horsej,.smtes "Pilot,"-" A.«k : ,

later, when backed as if defeat were out of the question, it got away badly, and had to put up with a minor place. Entries for the A.J.C. Hurdle Race total 40, against 54 last year, and for the Steeplechase 36 against 32. There is excellent support from Melbourne for each race, and the probabilities are runners will be more numerous than when Piratic beat 13 in the Hurdle Race and Pericles six in the Steeplechase last year.