TROTTING FIXTURES.

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 105, 5 May 1928, Page 23

TROTTING FIXTURES.

May 19—Oamaru T.C. June S, 4—Canterbury Park T.C. Jufie 4—Hawta Bay T.C. June 9—Ashburton T.C. June 23, 27—Auckland T.C. Next Week. The Egmont Meeting on Thursday and Saturday opens the jumping season.' The Ashburton Meeting .will be held on Saturday in the South. Nominations for the Otaki and Dunedin Meetings close next Friday. Handicaps for Wanganui will be declared on Monday, and acceptances close on Friday. The Two Thousand Winner. Apparently Flamingo, the winner of the Two Thousand Guineas on AVednesday at Newmarket, impressed some of the critics as a two-year-old. "Augur," of the "Sporting Life," in a review of classic candidates early in the year, wrote: — Flamingo, who'was actively employed during the first half of the season, retired after winning the valuable Produce Stakes at Sundown in July. In accepting several opportunities of showing himself to be a dour fighter he fully justified his selection from the yearling sales ring. It may be little against him, either, that he is not bred in the purple, and ho can show a stayer's pedigree. But he is limited in respect of scope and room for improvement by comparison, say, with Fairway and Kanjit Singh, so that his best may be seen in a race like the Two Thousand, (although he is built for Epsom, and'he will hive the help of the right kind of jockey for that course in E. C. Elliott. The juvenile form, however, left me more partial to'tlip Derby chances of Fairway and Banjit Singh. Nothing more stylish amongst the performances of the young horses last season were seen than the former's final-stride victory over the ill-fated Hakim in the July Stakes and Eanjit Singh's manner of winning the Prince of Wales's Nursery at Doncaster. Hakim ■ was .an abnormally fast colt, and at five furlongs in the July Stakes he was well Jjhead of Fairway. But it was in the final hundred yards where the latter put on liis scoring points. (Fan-way was not able to run on Wednesday). A Promising Jumper.. It is scarcely twelve months ago since Glendowie made his first appearance in i public, and in all he has only started five • times. Nevertheless he'has come to be regarded as one of the most promising jumpers in the Dominion, for he has won twice and gives /every indication of making a really good horse. Naturally his victories have only been attained in minor company, but promotion to the open class will not be.a bar to further success, because he Ims all the attributes of a good jumper, namely, speed, stamina, and ability to fence well, writes "Archer." Moreover, lie is only a five-year-old and has therefore time to improve a Jot yet. For the present Glendowie is doing nicely in preparation for events ahead under the direction of A: Rhodes and has lately had fieveral good runs in the hunting field. Glendowie will start the winter in a. good .position in il\c handicaps and he should be one of the successes of the season. Starting Methods. Starters and methods of starting are continually under discussion in the South, but not much is heard in this »island. Mr. C. O'Connor has set so high a standard at Trentham, Ellerslie, and his numerous country courses that his younger rivals have to keep up to their best. Generally the absolute flat-footed start is insisted on by Mr. O'Connor, the only exception being in a field of throe or four runners. It is interesting to read now that ?n England the stewards of the Jockey .Club have instructed their starters that the start is, as far as possible, to be made from a "stand." They have ordered that any jockey who turns his horse round unnecessarily shall be reported. A Winter Performer. As a three-year-old last season Tinokoa did rather well and accounted for £1275 ,in stakes. His principal success was in the King George Handicap at the Auckland Winter Meetingl last June. Since then he has been unable to win a race, although he has notched a few minor placings, and lately has given evidence of returning to form. It ajipcars that he wants the ground soft to bo seen at his best, and he went a fine race to • finish third among the sprinters in the heavy going at Te Eapa on Monday. Tinokoa is overdue for a win and his turn may come again at the winter meeting next month. Something Unusual. The presence of Mr. Howard Brace's American steeplechaser, Billy Barton, in this year's Grand National, was responsible for a big influx of visitors to England from the United States and from Canada. Accommodation in Liverpool was limited and the various steamship com- . panics made arrangements for their pas-, sengers to stay on board the liners. The Canadian. Pacific Railway Company made arrangements for passengers who so desired to be accommodated on board the Montcalm on. the Thursday night before the Grand National was run. Striking Example of a Horse for a Course. The adage ofj horses for courses! is particularly applicable*' to King Smock and Te Rapa, as he has almost invariably raced well on that course. The Snow King gelding has "been a competitor at six of the last seven meetings held on the track—he was absent' in the spring—and has won a race on each occasion. It is a fine record, and it is doubtful whether there is j another case in recent years to compare with it. King Smock obviously relishes the long straight. War Days in Cairo. New Zcalanders who were in Egypt and patronised the pony meetings in Cairo will remember the English jockey, G. 'Digby, who was easily the leading artist in the saddle. The following, therefore, from a recent English exchange is of interest: George Digby, who has been appointed private trainer to Mr. J. Reid Walker, has spent the last 21 years as \h jockey and trainer in Egypt. Digby . served his apprenticeship with the late W. T. Robinson, at Foxhill, and in iOul went ■ to, France as light-weight jockey for T. Ciinnington-, senior. He rode there for four years, returned to England in 1905, . and a year later went to Egypt, where he ro.de for Khalil Pasha Khayat. He soon put himself at the head of the winning jockeys' list, a position lie occupied in fourteen different years, his total of winning mounts being 1007/ One Way as Good as Another. A friend of Mr. E. K. White, owner of the Sydney Cup winner, Winalot, will long remember Sydney Cup Day, ]f)2B (says a Sydney exchange). Driving to the members' entrance, he was told by an attendant that only 12 more cars were being admitted owing to pressure on the parking space, and that his was twelfth. Immediately he said he would back No. 12 in the second race. He had his usual investment of £1 on Bob's March at 100 to 1. It won, and ho put the £100 on Winalot at 4to 1. Tt was a thing he had never done in his life before. He thus turned £1 into £501 in two 'investments, Awapuni Activities. A good deal of rain has falk-n at. Awapuni, iinrl the tracks on Thursday morning were rather on the holding sidp. Puivhrro giillopcd two rounds on Hie' glass, hitting out well. He goes to Haworn. Mister Gan>)>, who i.s now regarded as v jumper, iilso galloped on the il.-il., having Dlimji as a nmtr. lioyal Heather, Son o' Mine, and Maidos ■ wore schooled over the big fences, all going well. Vexatious and KilimVs galloped seven

furlongs on the grass, Vexatious showing up quite well. Atareria, who is a qualified hunter, and a hunter from C 4. New's stable, jumped four hurdles, the pair shaping satisfactorily. . Chelone is in work again, and G. Jones also has Disrauk' and the Kilbroney and Tea Tray rising two-year-olds, of Mr. W. H. Gaisford's in work. Commendation's arrival at the training stables has been further postponed. Crown Area, Moorgas, Inflame, and Holus Bolus have gone out for a spell. Arrivals at Awapuni are Kobuvant into E. Watson's stable, and Moutoa Treasury into J. Hastie's establishment. Move to Australia Probable. The Wairarapa trainer, K..S. Bagby,'has five horses in his stable, the property of the South Australian, Mr. E. E. Jolly, some of them being Australian-bred youngsters and others New Zealand purchases. Nothing definite has; been decided concerning them, and it is possible they-will be raced in the Dominion, but \t is more likely that they will go to Australia very shortly, and that Bagby will train them over there. The Jockey Premiership. The position iv regard to the jockeys' premiership for the season has reached an interesting «tage.' Until recently it looked a certainty for either T. Green or A. E. Ellis to head the list, but K. Heed has lately been so steadily increasing his tally of wins that he is now also well in the running. T. Green leads with Go' wins, K. Heed is sceo-nd with 61 wins, and A: E. Ellis third with 58 wins. Breeders' Privileges. In France the fact of being a breeder of thoroughbreds carries privileges unthought of in England or Australia. In "Faraway's" contribution to "Horse and Hound" (London) is the following:— "Any breeder who breeds to three or more mares in this country receives at the beginning of each year a free pass, which entitles him to a maximum of forty days' racing free on the principal racecourses. I believe that the maximum number of mares which are necessary to obtain the full concession of forty free admissions to meetings is ten, but anyone breeding from three mares or upwards obtains sixteen days.' racing free, and- the card will entitle him (or her) to accommodation in the owners' stand and enclosure at all meetings. The obvious advantage, to the small breeder is that he. curtails his racing expenses, and is frequently a useful customer after the claiming'and selling races, as he will, on occasion, take a fancy to some well-bred mare in this class of event, and is enabled to follow racing far more closely than if he stayed at home. Moreover, he is enabled to judge the form of animals according to their breeding, and also their conforr mation, etc. Both the owners' arid breeders' entrance cards are such sniall concessions, and yet mean so much in encouraging owners and breeders, that it is hard to realise that English racing companies have so long remained in the rut and not looked around for fresh means of attracting new owners and also breeders." Simeon's Fort. It is unusual for an English horse' to win such an important race as the Doricastcr Handicap as his first success in Australia, but Simeon's Fort has been given every chance to properly acclimatise, and he was specially prepared for the Doncaster Handicap, (writes "Cardigan"). Mr. G. L. Scott gave 3000 guineas for Simeon's Fort in England, Clarence Hailey purchasing the Hainault horse for him. He is already a bargain. Simeon's Fort had good form in England to his credit, winning two nice races and beating proved performers, and if he returns to his best English form—and it looks as -if he has — he may reach wcight-for-age class. lie will, in the future certainly receive his fair share of weight in handicaps. He is, nothing out of the ordinary to look at, being a low-set brown, powerfully made over the back and quarters. His sire, Hainault, was a first-class middle-distance horse in England and a determined finisher. I remember seeing him win a good race at Newmarket one day, and it was over the last furlong that he did his best work. Unfortunately he died when on the threshold of a brilliant stud career. Odds and Ends. Some West Australian newspapers have inaugurated a naming competition . for three rising two-year-ojds. Two of these arc New Zealand-bred, one being a colt by Paper Money from Bonny Helen, and the other a filly by Tea Tray from Takahau. Both arc owned by Mr. E. LeeSteerc, who raced Eurythmic. Jack Homer. who won the Aintreo Grand National years ago for a wealthy American. Mr. A. C. Schwartz, has been sent to America to bo used as a hack. He, was engaged in this year's event, but broke down at Cheltenham early in March. F. Christmas has Nine of Spades looking well at Riccarton, and the gelding gives signs of standing up to a preparation.