TROTTING FIXTURES.

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 122, 25 May 1928, Page 7

TROTTING FIXTURES.

June 2, 4— Cauterbury Park T.C. Juno 4—Hawltcs Bay T.C. ; Juno 9—Ashburton T.C. Juno 23. 27—Auckland T.C. Reminders. Acceptances for the Otaki Meeting close to-night at 8.30. o'clock. Acceptances are due for the Great ■ Northern Meeting 'to-night at 5 o'clock. Amberley To-morrow. The Amberley Meeting to be held tomorrow is one of the popular Canterbury j gatherings. Evidence of this is the good acceptance list in both racing and trotting events. The chief event is the G. B. STARKY MEMORIAL HANDICAP, of 200 sots; one mile and a quarter. Bt. lb. St. lb. - Battle Colours 8 9 Kotor 7 6 Thorndale .. D 8 Steel Bar 1 1 ' Sir Roy .... 9 0 Kllloch 7 0 Chickwheat .8 6 Bronstell .... 7 0 Fresco 7 12 Amor 7 0 Moratorium ..77 - Battle Colours and Thorndale are both good gallopers in form, and at the weights the former lias preference. Sir Roy possibly is a little too close to them. Fresco at 7.12 has a handy racing weight, and is about due.. Rotor may be a possibility of the lightweights, but'the pair who ap- • peal most are Battle Colours and Fresco. In the minor events those who take the eye are Oriflamb, Malmsey, The Viscount, Skyquest, Polydectes, and Master Clarence.' Pleasing. y Perle de Leon's successful initial effort over the steeplechase fences at Ellerslie yesterday augurs well. The Polydamon gelding has a number of advantages over the average jumper, and as one enthusiast summed up, he is a clean bred one. It has been shown in the past that any capable hurdle horse ca_n_negotiate the steeplechase fences at Ellerslie, for in point of fact many of the fences are easier than standard hurdles. Perle de Leon/ may essay the task of winning -the double, and horses with less ability than he has have done the job before. With 10.2 in the hurdle ~ race and 9.11 in the steeplechase he is nicely weighted. If he scores in the hurdle race fhere is not much doubt about bis being a popular pick for the .second day's event. At the same time Aucklanders are loyal to their own, and Beau Cavalier, Wedding March, Wiltshire, and Glendowie may all be better backed. Mud. The reports of the work at Ellerslie show already that the track is heavy. The Ellerslie course is in a basin, and once the winter weather comes nothing but inches of mud cna be expected at Ellerslie. For that reason the only horses worth considering arc those "who are proved in bad ground. Only those who can act in mud to their knees have any.eliance of catching the judge's eye. Sir Archie Well. A mudlark who has been doing nicely in his work lately is Sir Archie, and it is on the cards he will show form at the coming'meeting. Sir Archie is engaged in both the Cornwall Handicap and the Members' Handicap on • the opening day, but it is reported thjitsbe. wjll ruiUn the short lace. The 'Archiestowti > gelding finished third in the-second division of the Members' Handicap last year. For the Cornwall, ■ Aueklanders at Wanganui favoured the chances of High Pitch in the Cornwall Handicap. He was quite a failure for some considerable time after his sale to an Aucklandcr, and it was not until the tracks were soft/recently,that he commenced to show form.; When'lie won .; the, A.R.C. liaiiway Handicap eighteen months ago the trade 'was:]iolding. He will-thus have the' conditions;to suit him next week. He is trained at; ; Pa.eroa, and -fib news has tome through, about his preparation. After he goes to Ellerslie some further idea may be gained of his prospects. As he raced well quite recently, tjiere :is no reason to tioubt his fitness. Racing Dates. < Apparently the Dales 'Cinnnltec of the Racing Com'crent.-e will have iix hands full Ihi.s year placating clubs which cannot get the dates., they would like. The majority of the malcontents are iii the North, where the trouble appears to be veally that there 3s too much racing and clashes cannot be avoided easily. Even those in the racing business as a means "of a livelihood agree that there is too much now in New Zealand. In regard to the Waikato RaeinClub and Hunt Club squabble, it is to be hoped that this will be settled this year in a sane and dignified manner, and that the officials of the clubs concerned will refrain from playing into the hands of the real enemies of racing. Australian Classic Winners. ' ; With,the decision of the South Australian' St.-Leger the list of classic races in Australia. for the present season was brought to a conclusion. The list of classic wiftnersi and their sires in the Commonwealth for the season'is made up, as follows:— . ■ Adelaide Guiueas.-^Marco Polo, by Lord Marco. > Port Adelaide Giiineas.-rSoinc Quality, by Ethiopian. Jtosehill Guineas.—Winalot, by Rossen- • ■ dale/ - - • ' ' ' Australian Jockey Club's Derby.—Trf- ; valve, by Cyklon. Caulfield Guineas.—Avaut Courier, by Valais. "Victoria Racing Club's Derby.—Trivalvo, ' 'by Cyklon." . v Queensland Guineas,—Night Glare, by • Rossendale. - ■ . i Queensland Derby.—High Syce, by Higli- ■ '■ field. . ' South Australian Derby.—Marco Polo, by Lord Marco. "West Australian Derby.—Hint, by Night Hawk. • Tasmanian Derby.—Prince Viol, by \io.- ---; lonccllo. Victorian Raeinj Club's St. Legcr.—Tri--1 valve, by Cyklon. " Australian Jockey Club's' St. Leger.— '". Winalot, by ■ Rossendale. South Australian St. Leger.—Burnaby, by Spearhead. Winners tracing to the Carbine line are: Trivalve (3) and Burnaby. The St. Simon line was represented by Winalot (2) and Night Glare. Some Heart Burnings. There was something like consternation at the Newbury Slicing Meeting in Ensland when Top Dressing beat Bemax in the Manton Plnte.; Bemax and Top Dressing are both owned by the tobacco magnate, Sir Hugo Cimliffe-On-en, and trained in 0. Bell's stable at Lainboiirn. Neither had been out in public before, but Bemax, who had shown herself superior to her stable-companion at home, was a well backed favourite. Top Dressing was, ignored in the market. Had this race taken place a couple of seasons agd the result might have been different, for at that time L. ' ' Brown would have been permitted to pull Top Dressing in order to allow Bemax to win. Two years ago an owner running two ,or more horses in a race could "declare to win" with one of them, aud, according to the Rules of Racing, a jockey riding one of that owner's other horses could (■top his mount in favour of the nnimnl on whose behalf the declaration had boon made. The jockey could only stop Ins horse in favour of tin: •'do.-liirsition,' but. Unit would have been allowed in this 'case, since it is to be; presumed that kir Hugo would hiivc declined in favour ot Bcmax. However,- last .yent1 the rule was abolished, the- following being substituted: .. "Every horse which runs in a race slum he run on its merits, whether the owner runs another horse in the race or not.

There have been instances of horses with which a declaration to win has been made being beaten by the stable companion, though there cannot have been many cases previously—if there were any—in which a' "declared" horse finished second to the one in the. same ownership. The Oldest Race. That the historic Town, Plate, instituted in 1666 by Charles 11. for Newmarket tradesmen and their sons, is not the oldest horse race still annually contested in the' world will no doubt surprise most readers. But such is the case. In the "National Geographic Magazine" for April are illustrated phases of the preparation for the Palio, a horse race annually held at Siena, in Italy. Legend ascribes to Senius, son of Remus and nephew of Romulus, the founding of Siena. The city is closely built, and one of the few open spaces within the city walls is the Piazzo del Campo. On the Campo is held the Palio, which has been an annual event in Siena for hundreds of years. .The day before the great race takes place the ward captains gather together in the Palazzo and draw lots for the horses that have been selected for the contest. Then each rider takes his designated steed to the Campo for a practice gallop. At one time each of Siena's 17 wards fiad an entry, in the annual race, but the hazards attendant upon so large a number of horses with reckless riders have caused the city officials to limit the contestants in recent years to 10. Arrayed, in all the trappings of medieval pageantry a parade is held of citizens representing each contrada, or ward, before the cathedral to obtain the archbishop's blessing upon banners and horse. Apparently it is immaterial if the horse finishes the race riderless, as it is recorded that strange tricks have sometimes been resorted to by the various wards in thair efforts to win the Palio. One ward secured a wiry little steed that had several times won the race, but as he grew 'older his pace diminished when weighted with a rider. Strategy was therefore ii'esorted to. He was equipped, with a bridle made of pasteboard, painted to resemble leather, aud the rider was given instructions to be thrown as soon after the start as possible. When opposing jockeys tried to catch at the bridle it would break, and thus the venerable steed galloped .on. to ridet'less victory. Rafferty's rules seem to have-some vogue in the decision of the Palio,-and the.appointment of stipendiary stewards would be considered ultra vires. . . ■ .. Australian Sires. Trivalve's decline at the A.J.C. Meeting has bad a material effect on the prospects of Cyklon heading the list of. winning sires this. year. At the end of the first six months of the season the son of' Spearmint had such a commanding lead in the list of sires that: it seemed unlikely he-would be deposed: In. the last three months, however, his stock have won less than; £5000,-whereas the Valais horses have won more'than £10,000, and the. defunct sou of' Cicero had at the end of April got within £700 of the Spearmint horse, the respective totals being Cyklon £38,414 and Valais £32,752. Rossendale's stock have exceeded the success of even the Valaises in the last quarter, almost doubling their sire's total from £14,304 to .£28,421. But'Seremond has outstripped Rossendale's marked advance, -as, thanks almost solely, to Mollison, the Desmond horse has jumped up more than £15,000, arid is now a few pounds ahead of Rossendale. Magpie pursues the'■even tenor of his way, and has more than £26,000 to his credit. St! Anton is another model of consistency, though a good way below the total amount to credit of Magpie. Just ponder over the St. Simon or Galopin blood in all the foregoing except Valais.—'''The Australasian." „. Odds and Ends. ;J. Cammiek is to „Wd&. Corinax in the Cornwall Handicap. So-far Corinax. who has only one eye, has 'not raced well the Ellerslie way round.1 A horse rejoicing in the name of Good Whisky won both the hurdle races at the Adelaide Cup Meeting. Quite appropriately is is said he was inclined to be risky at his fences. ■ ' • Catkin, who has done well since he raced last, will be taken North early next week to race at the Great Northern Meeting. He has not been-exactly thrown into the Jervois Handicap on the first.day of that fixture. His trainer,-J. Lowe, returned from a_ holiday '.trip .to'''Sydney "this week. ' ' . ■ \ There is little work of importance at Trentham nowadays. 11. Telford has put plenty of work into his yearlings, and con-, templates making a move :to Wanganui' with them next month. Carrigallen is being schooled over hurdles at Trentham. Captain Gazeley,. who showed quite respectable form at \Vangitmii. is to race at. the Great Northern. Meeting.. As he goes wejl in bad ground "'he'.may-spring'a surprise on the trip. .'#..-■. ,■-■■ ■-". - ■ -.- Orasione has been leased by i'the'Ha'wgra trainer, J. Fryer, from; Mr: A. Alex.ander. , .