NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 124, 30 May 1927, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(BY "VEDETTE.")

2ACEJG MXTUBES.

June 1, 3, 4—Dunedln J.O. June 3, 4—OUU Maori B.C. June. 3j 4, B—Auckland B.C. June 18—Napier Park B.C. June'22—Hawkcs Bay Hunt Club. June 24, 25—Hawkes Bay J.C. June 25—Oamaru J.C. Juty^S—Ashburton County B.C. 3\iiri2, I\,- lftrTWeUlngtoh B.C. July 21—Wilnute-District Hunt Ctub. Julyr2B—Soulh Canterbury Hunt Club. July.2B, 30V^GiaboroeiB.c: July 3C—Christchurch Hunt Club.

TROTTING FIXTURES.

June 3, I—Canterbury Park T.C. June 11—Ashburton T.C. June 18, 23—Auckland T.C.

1 iThere is no doubt now that the going will-be heavy at both Ellerslie and Otaki this week. The recent rains, according ,- to renoiVhaye*.been;very general. 'The- : Hutt- ; Valley as usual received quite its share, and any work other than trotting and cantering was impossible at Trentham on Saturday. Nadarino, Indian Sage, and -Black Mint are due to leave tor Auckland to-day. ■According to Auckland reports, Town Cruajd is to run in the Carbine Plate, the race for gentlemen riders, on the second day of the Auckland Meeting. He will.be ridden by Mr. S. Howard. Manly should be be much in request in theiJerrois Handicap at Ellerslie. At Haweja Manly beat Paitpnu and Partaga' decisively,, arid then that pair went on and won at Wanganiii. Manly has had something of a reputation for some time; and lately he has. lived up to it. He-is> a four-year-old gelding by' Archies-^ town ;from Lady Gladstone. " . "lishouldli£e to take this opportunity . to refer, without .heat or prejudice, to the habit ;of the Auckland Racing Club of choosing for its' Spring Meeting the actual date of the New Zealand Cup Meeting, > mad Mr. George Gould at the annual meeting of the' Canterbury Jockey Club. "We are told; and'l willingly believe it, that- in claiming this date, the ARC. is not'actuated by any desire to damage our November Meetingi but that it is done*, at the instance, of Auckland owners yfho think their chances of winning the are improved when many of the best horses are away in the South: I can do no more than put it to the committee of the Auckland Racing Club thatvtuis is scarcely a sportsmanlike attihid^. I know that some of their most influential' members think so. The basis of tba A.R.C.'s prosperity is their big meeting at; Christmas time, at which many Canterbury horses compete. The Canterbury, carnival on the other hand, is held at a busy time of the year, when there are mo ■ general holidays. The original reason, for choosing 9th November as the f Sr°i T^^wo meetings was the Prince of Wales s Birthday, but this'obtains no longer, and the Auckland Racing Club could/get a day in October if it so de--55%-* The spring meetings in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch should follow in sequence southwards, as the steeplechase meetings in winter do. This would benent all three clubs. 'The facts are so strongi that there should be no room for argument. It is not a pleasant thing for ™*L 5 *o have to appeal to the Racing , Club Conference to exert; its powers, anc J. w .—d much Booner appeal to the good feeling of the members of the A.R.C. to no what is obviously. : only ■right anc • fair.".;- .'{. '.;;,.• £ • ;. • i ;.■■ Rosenor had not made the recovery expected from, the effects of a kick he received ati the Wellington Meeting in January and he is to be retired to the Bt»d-;-."iHe will go to Mr. G. A. Kain's establishment at Stirling, where Solferino is also, located. : ■ . ; ••,.. Apparentlyy.the project of the conjoint i use of! the. Riccarton racecourse by the trottinjf of Cliristchiirch and the Cantertpiirjr,,, Jockey,. Club lias not been abandonedffp The'TaSljfer' liv'ag "' diacunjgd'. again :last week, but ' little headway is likely to be made in. the matter. „ The San Fran mare dam of Maunca « a sister to Te Puia, the dam of Kohu. Blackella', grand-dam of Maunga, was by _Quilt from" Waiau, by Torpedo from Cascade, < and traced back to imported Mermaid. • - . Although'he did not fall, the manner m which Tall Timber ' shaped when J. Buchanan commenced to school him serioualy was not particularly encouraging, but he has made good progress lately, and is jiow showing promise. Tall Timber is tp be a competitor in the hack hurdle events at the Auckland Winter Meeting;;and it will be interesting to see how he-shapes in his engagements. A race or (two over the fences should help him considerably. According to "Sentinel," Captain Sarto looks' in! itip-top condition. He is in the Jumpers' Flat on the first day at Wingatui, and will run in the big hurdle race on the second day. ' Apparently the recent prosecutions for breaches: of the Gaming Act are having a far-reaching effect, for the committee ; of the Dunedin Jockey Club held": a special meeting last week, and decided ' to sanction the transfer of,.the engage- , nients of any horses nominated •at the Winter- Meeting by any--person Vcbnvicted 1 ', of an offence under the Gaming Act,;pro-/ ■ vided that the purchaser makes a statu- '; tory declaration that no person who. was convicted of a similar offencehas any interest in the horse. Section 13,: Part XV., ofj'the Rules of Racing deals with - the obligation of any owner; not to bet with a a tfeach-of' the. rule beiiig deemed corrupt practice ;on ■.the' Turf. ■:■• ' ■ •■.-. '■ v-: ■■ ...• •,; Regarding the rather .'unusual; position 'which has arisen in regard to.the two horses withdrawn at the last minute at the recent Oamaru Trotting Meeting, "Sentinel" writesj^The Oamaru Trotting Club has brought itself into- bad odour from the. fact, that it departed from the golden rule that a backer must have a chance; to win or he cannot lose. This oc'cnrrcdltin connection with their, recent meetings". Where the club erred was in ;the fact I that their patrons' money was in jeopardy!; and it took too long to arrive at a conclusion whether a horse or horses stood eligible to start. The club should have taken the matter firmly, and allowed both horses to start as coupled, and so protected their patrons. The penalty ■ should have been inflicted on those concerned with the ownership, and not on the club's patrons, who were not aware that they were backing a horse that.had no chance to win./ In a sense the club i» moraHy liable to their patrons for a refund *>f investments, although protection can be found under the rules which allows a*: club to hold investments after the tottUisator has closed. Cupidon's success in the Otautau Cup is the first he has achieved since he won the\: Sockburn -Handicap in 1923 as a fout-year-old. He won the A.J.C. Derby in the previous season, so that his wins are few'and far between. The maiden flat race at the Otaki Meeting promises to provide a good field for speculation. The Fordell-trained Avro will have; plenty of friends, and the Trentham representative Royal Picture has been showing'^, good deal of pace lately. Then there an? the two-year-olds Lady Limond and Vigilance, and it is probable that Ijady liimond will start favourite. A possible outsider is Roma»tie, who showed quite recent form at both "inrcra and Wanganui. . . . v Racegoers are to see something more of Vabcare before she :s retired to the stud (says an Australian writer). She is to continue her efforts on' the Turf,' and it is quite likely that by this time next year she will have regained the prestige lost through her autumn failures. Some months ago it seemed just possible that this season would see the last of Valicare on the Turf, and pedigree students began to wonder if a mate had been chosen for her at tlie stud. That Question cap. stand over now for at least twelve months. When the time does come for Valicare to go- to the paddock there should-not be much difficulty in choosing a suitable she for her. If Valicare is retired to the stud at the end of next season, she will be entering her sixth year, and this will give her plenty of opportunity to.produce good winners. V ■■ . '.- '.;■■; -■■;. ■■ ; . .. v• .