RACING FIXTURES.

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 100, 2 May 1929, Page 11

RACING FIXTURES.

May 3, -s—Jlarlborugb K.C. May 4—Oamaru J.C. .May 4—Martoo J.C. '.-'ay 9. ,H -EKmont K.C. ■'-7 -i—Franklin R.C. May 113, 18—Wanganul J.C. ..iay 23—-Ashburton County K.C. June 1, 3—Otaki-Maori U.C. Juno 1, 3, s—Duncdin J.C. Juno 1. 3, D—Auckland U.C. Juno 12—Egniont-WaugaDUi Hunt Club. Juuo 11. 13—Napier Park K.C. Juno 20, 22—South Canterbury J.C. Juno 21, 22—Hawkcs liay J.C. .Tuuo 29—Wavcrley R.C. Juno 23—Ashburton County K.C. July 10, 11. 13—Wellington K.C. July 23—Walmate District Hunt Club. July 23, 2T—Gisboruo K.C. July 27—South Canterbury Uunt Club. Reminders. Acceptances for thu Egmont Meeting close to-morrow night at 8.30 o'clock. General entries for the Great Northern Meeting close to-morrow at 5 p.m. Still Waiting. iS'cw Zealand followers of racing have been waiting patiently for news o£ the horses taken to Australia by K. S. Uagby and J. M'Combc—High Disdain, Crowu Area, and Moorgas. They arc still waiting for tidings of success, although not one of the three named has raced a great deal. Crown Area, it is understood, lias not done well over there. Moorgas has been produced and failed. On Saturday, 20th April, High-Disdain was wildly in the market for the I'lying Handicap at Moorefield. Bagby rode him at 9 stone, the winner being the three-year-old Rossendale gelding Magnetic 7.10, with Tea Miss 8.3 second. High Disdain did not finish- in the first half-dozen. "Pilot" comments on his performance thus: As the New Zealauder, High Disdain, was drawn wide out at the barrier, and waß weighted above anything he had shown in the Dominion, the support accorded him ■was scarcely warranted. He was prominent soon after the start, but did not have the slightest chance over the final half of the journey. At his last start in New Zealand ho was unplaced with 8.0 —minimum 7.o—in a six furlongs handicap at Woodville, so, unless form over there is much better than here, he had more thau his-share with 0.0 in a failfield. Corrupting Officials. Follo'riug on v report of an attempt recently to bribe the starter in South Australia, a writer in a Sydney exchange lias the following:—"I now have definite knowledge o£ a handicapper who, many years <igo, was laid tlic stake foi* *i fairly valuable race if a certain horse won. Of course, this was before the appearance of the weights, and when they were issued, it was impossible to accuse the handicapper of having 'thrown it in.' He had done something of equal value by taking tare of horses accounted dangerous, and the one from which he was to benefit duly won. Ido not make this statement lightly. I have heard amusing tales of .small country meetings, where some starters reckoned they were being unfair to themselves if they did not take advantage of their official position. Sometimes they blundered, and I heard a "battler' tell of an experience in which the "best laid plans' came undone. ''We took tlircc horses to the meeting,' he said, 'and things looked serious when two were beaten. A mutual friend then discussed matters with the starter, and the upshot was that if anything gained an advantage at barrier-rise, in the last race <>i the day, it was to be our horse. As bad lu<-!, .iadjt, our horse and another carried b~.. .t.cj.lours. The starter made no mistuu.. ...Oout giving what ho thought was (ilu.» v 'no.' It was the only one really facing the barrier when it rose, and it pined >uch a tremendous break iv the tirst furlong of a live furlong race that it had no chance of being beaten. Our horse was among those left. Of course we saw how the mistake had occurred and continued to howl 'No start.' until the ktarter got back to the paddock. He was unaware of the calamity, and replied, 'It was a start, all right.' That settled it, and when he was told what had happened, it was as .great a shock to him as his start was for us." A Lucky Owner. Maple (Uossendalc—Houeywuod), who broke down when she ran third (and last) in the King's Plato at Flcmington, goes to the stud next season. Iv addition to various handicaps and wcight-for-agc races in Perth, Maple won tiie Derby and St. Lcgcr in that city, and, with the C'aulfield Cup included iv her Victorian successes, she has'finished her racing career with over £11,400 in stakes to her credit. As Mr. E. Lee Steero paid only 2SO guineas for Maple as a yearling, and Eurythmic, winner of nearly £37,000 in stakes, cost, him 310 guineas at the same age, he lias certainly been one of Fortune's favourites. Mr. Lee Steere docs not go in for a large team, and over £'18,000 in stakes from two horses iv about ten years would give him a very satisfactory margin over what others may have cost him in that period. However, Eurythmic and Maple ace not Mr. Lee Steere's only good winners of recent years, another being Second Wind, who accounted for the last W.A. Derby. Maple is to be mated with Bold and Bad. No Allowance for Geldings. Geldings do not receive any allowance in New Zealand, but provision of 31b is made in the rules of some of the Australian States. An important step taken by the V.R.C. Committee is the removal of the allowances for geldings in the V.R.C. Sires' Produce Stakes, Ascotvale Stakes, and Maribyrnong Plate. In future geldings will be required to carry the same weight as colts in those races. Dunedin Travellers. The special correspondent of "The Post" in Dunediu telegraphs that D. P. Wilson, with Overhaul, Booster, and Black Duke, and V. Shaw, .with Umtali, Full Flight, and Kapuna, left yesterday by the Manuka to bike part at the Egmont, Wanganui, and Auckland Steeplechase Meeting during the next few weeks. Wharncliffe and Wanganui. WbiirnclilTe has been uomin;,ted for the Wanganui Steeplechase. The country is not difficult and the race looks eminently suitable for n horse who is in need of education before he can rank as an accomplished steeplechaser. Wharncliffc'is on the easy list for a few days, as a result of receiving a knock on one of his knees. Radiac Jumps Well. Hndiac is training on steadily and is gradually getting into racing shape. Ridden by the light-weight jockey, R. M'Cann, he gave a good exhibition of jumping in .i school over three fences on Tuesday at Riccarton. Provided he remains sound, Radiac should pay his way in minor steeplechases during the winter. The Waikato Hunt Club. As the Waikato Hunt Club looms large in public interest owing to its anuual dispute over the Labour Day date, the report of the annual meeting may be briefly summarised. Owing to bad weather the club's race meeting last Labour Day did not prove as profitable as expected. Despite this, however, the general account showed that the season commenced with a credit balance of £120 Is Id, and concluded with a credit of £545 5s Cd. Assets over liabilities amounted to £3074 Os b'd. The working account of the hunt farm, although showing a debit of £300 ISs lOd, is compensated by the fact that the assets amount to £1919 11s 7d more than liabilities. The net. profit on the Labour Day race meeting was £217 12s 3d. It is quite unnecessary to state that many of the racing clubs of the Dominion would like to be in as equally satisfactory a. financial position. Big Money Required in England Wheu a breeder wishes to bu. a stallion, he has to take a lot on tni> unless he buys a horse that has already proved himself a success, and those horses are practically unpurchaseable in England. Mr. Percy Miller is off to tho Old Country to buy a horse, but ho may have overlooked a better bargain nearer homo (comments a .Sydney writer). As an example <>l' what has In he paid for a horse in England, -.'O.OUO guineas ivas refused for

1 Shogun as a two-year-old, though he was not eligible for the British Stud Book. At the sale of Mr. Rundle Brendon's thoroughbreds at Easter Mr. John Browu only paid 2200 guineas for an unbroken English two-year-old colt by the crack sire, Hurry Ou. This colt is from Paraffin Light, dam of three winners, and belonging to the celebrated Illuminata family, which gave us, among others, Cicero, sire of Valais; Rossendale, sire of Rampiou; and Popinjay, dam of Magpie. This branch of the No. 1 family 6ecms to acclimatise well here, and a buyer could hardly want any better pedigree for a stallion than that possessed by his Hurry On colt. Mr. Brown may have got a better bargain right here on the spot than Mr. Miller will get by a trip to England. The Road to Wealth. In the passing of John Walters, wealthy bookmaker, in Paris, iv February, the Turf lost a noted figure. When a boyWalters sold programmes at race tracks in the United States for a dime; last season he handled wagers aggregating 50,000,000 dollars. He was known to two generations of. race followers as a betting commissioner and bookmaker. He was the dean and leader of the bookies on New York tracks (says a New York paper), and his friends and clients were legion. Always calm and of a quiet disDosition, he would' accept bets from 23 dollars to 100,000 dollars with apparent indifference. When the Prince of Wales visited the United States he went out to Behnont Park, Long Island, to see Epinard, the great French horse, race Wise Counsellor. The P~rinee placed and lost a bet on the French horse with Walters, and the latter cherished with pride as souvenirs of the Prince's visit the "markers" or cards on which the Prince had noted his choice and the amount he wished to play; Walters never revealed I the amount of the Royal bet.