RAGING NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 136, 5 December 1929, Page 6

RAGING NEWS

(BY "VEDETTE.")

KACLNG FIXTURES.

I)cc. .7.—-Aoshburton C'ty. J!.C. .hcc. c, f.—Taumarunui II.C. Dec. 11, 12.^-WooUville Dist. J.C. rise. 14.—W'alpa n.C. Dec. 18, ID.—Egmont R.C. Dec 26.—Walpukurau J.C. ."Dec 26.—Westland R.C. Pec. 20, 27.—Taranaki J.C. Dec. 26, 28.—Dunedin J.C. -Bee. 26, 27, 28.—Manawatu E.C. Dec 26, SO, Jan. 1, 2.—Auckland R.C. ,' Dec: 28, Jan. 1. —Greymouth J.C. -" 1930, Jan. I, —Waikouaitl R.C. Jan.l.'-Wj'ndham K.C. -Jan. 1, 2.—Wairarapa R.C. ■ Jan. 1, 2.—Hawkcs Bay J!C. Jan. 1, 2.—Stratford R.C. Jan. 1, 2.—Marton J.C. ■ Jan.- 2, 3.—Southland 15.C. Jan. Ti B.—Reefton J.C. Jan. 9, 11.—Thames J.C. ".Tan. 11, 13.—Vincent J.C. Jan. 15, IC—Foxton R.C. Jan. IT, 18.—Oaruaru J.C. 'Jan. IS.—Bay of Islands R.C. Jan. 18, 20, 22.—Wellington R.C. Jan.- 22.—Ashhurst-Pohangina R.C. •Reminders. ;: - .Acceptances for the Woodvillo- Meeting close to-morrow (Friday), at 0 p.m.' --' for tlie Manawatu and .'."Wairarapa Meetings are clue to-morrow ' Bight. ■ x General entries for tliG Auckland Meetjng close to-morrow night. Tirst forfeits /for..'the Derby, JPoal Stakes, and Royal •■- ptakes are due at the same time. ' "The Taumarunui Meeting. The outstanding feature of the Taiivihai'unui Meeting, which, opens to-morrow, .is the number of horses with two or niore engagements. Attempting to pick the .right race is about as difficult as picking \a winner. It is safe to say that the ■ horses ridden by H. Goldfinch, and H* \:Gray will be in demand. There are possibilities of divisions in the. Trial Plate ; aiid Matapuna Hack Handicap. The .Taeroa trainer, H. Spinks, has both Ohine•"muri and Billiking in the Taumarunui .\Cup, and M. Carroll has Macroom and Glena Bay. ■ None of these horses will /-be coupled on the totalisator. It is a pbpr field, and it .is the type of race to /suit Ohinemuri with 8.7. Ohiriemuri, Billikins, Macroom, and Hakanoa also • %ure in the Flying Handicap. Marble 3ving with 101b above the minimum appears ' well placed, and it is the course to suit '-"Billikine. In the other races horses who appear well placed are Antique, Norval Tea, Abbess, Tasty, Pure Tea, and Otranto. ■ ■ The Auckland Double. , ; :".The publication of the weights for the Cup and Railway Handicap has ,-^een plenty of activity amongst the early • ispeokers. As there is no acceptance Aintil 20th December, for both these races ,':%arly backers have plenty of time to take ' Tisks. At present Star Stranger, Oorinax, ' Paquito, and Pegaway are in most demand -.iov the Cup, with the preference for Star /-.Stranger. In the Railway 'Handicap r -;Lady Quex is a clear-cut favourite with Vflie early birds. A good deal can happen between now and Boxing Day, and there are sure to be many fluctuations in ideas. Corlnax. Good fortune in getting away well from an indifferent start enabled Corinax to escape all the trouble in the early stages of the St. Andrew's Handicap, at Takapuna, which Was a rough race, and this materially assisted in his victory. Luck was undoubtedly on his side, but one could not help being impressed by the manner in which he Was staying on at the finish, and it is evident that he is going tt be at the top of his form to tackle the Auckland Cup at the end. of the month. Corinax won that race last year, and he night ..again succeed this year. Admitting that Corinaxran disappointingly in the Alison .'Cupj the. pronounced neglect of his pi-os->-:p.ccts in his second race at the. North JHhore ground was a pointed surprise, and .furnished-an illustration of how quickly -'■a horse can at times lose caste on one "unplaced performance. ■ ."•'Australian-bred Youngsters. ■■■■' Tfemotus, winner.of the Cambria. Hau.".■diciip at Takapuna last Saturday, is an .Austi'aKan-bred gelding by Treclare from' Lady Mildred. He was bought cheaply • "for- 80 guineas by the Ellerslie trainer, Ji on account of Mr. E. IJ.1 J. Amiieas, of Sydney, who furnished a .winner on'two occasions last season in Auckland with Gemlight, another son of Trcclaro. "-'■ ■Rsmpton Park, who was responsible for !■"-'■« mild surprise in the decision of the ••■^lakhio Handicap at the Takapuna Mcct-.'i-iiig last Monday by leading the field home !in tliat race, formed.one of the collection of I'vearlings bought cheaply at 100 guineas.-by Mr. E. W. Alison, jun.. at the. Sydney scales last autumn. Hampton Park was ' .jpilrchiiscd some time back'by Mr. A. E. :.-Wotkins. and he gave his new'owner an ..'.parly return. Hampton Park carries a ■ appearance and the future should ..have something in store for him. >:Tlib Wanganui Cup. ~i- The Wanganni Cup; to be run in Kc-bru-1 - ,-ary next, will bo worth £1000,' the club decided to give £900 in specie, j.jwhile in additum Mr. J. J. Taylor, of -. Westmere, is giving a gold cup of the value V;o£ £100 to the owner of the winner. It ■■"^'is understood that some members of the '■3Y;6mmittee were desirous of reducing the -".distance* of the "Wangamii Gup from one "mile and three-quarters to a mile aiid a :?bali, but the proposal was not | carried. ■•■"Possibly the. Cup would ■ attract a" bigger . Held if the distance was shortened, but - 'the extra quarter of a mile is more a test *„.oE stamina, and the Wanganui Club has 'r.alWays shaped its policy—and wisely, too— jn favour of encouraging stayers and the ■''"best- quality of horses. As the only mile and three-quarter handicap race in the -'■'Dominion, the Wanganui Cup holds a -unique position and provides a good test "•"between the mile and a half horses and the "proved stayers. The Juvenile Handicap pat the Wanganui Cup Meeting has been r pmade open to two and three year olds, and not limited to two-year-olds- only, as : .;formerly. ' •:Hawkes Bay Notes. *■■ The Magpie—Kahuinaiiu yearling colt, -."which was recently brought over from Australia, has been turned out on his -.'.'owner's farm, where he will remain until i-tlie -autumn, when he will be brought in -and put through his initial education. The '■..youngster is well grown,' and his owner .~ ; should have something well worth while fjto re-enter the ranks of owners. Kahu- -~ maim is at present in foal to the sanle "•sire again, and may, after the New Year, '-'.return here. H. Greene has just completed the edu- : ■• cation of a two-year-old by. Lord Quex-*----(Mountain Lass (Mountain Knight—Manthe property of Mr. P. B. Don••,<)telly. This colt is said to be a fine cut ■i," of a "thoroughbred. ... Aston, Who has not raced for some time, ■".■May accompany Cook and Gipsy Fate to .-. Woodville next" week. It will bo remembered that the Irish-bred gelding fell -vat the last Hawkes Bay Summer Meet- ' ing,, injuring himself rather badly. Mr. .H. R. Campbell's gelding is now quite himself again, and showing all his oldtime brilliance on the tracks. Watch Officer was shipped from Wellington on Saturday for his new home in South Australia. His yearling sister is a most promising youngster, and when she races it may be under the name of The Mater, which, on her breeding (Chief Ruler—Watchful), is quite appropriate. .Mountain Heath, who if anything bears ... an improved' appearance after his recent ;i: effort in the Levin Gup, when he finished ■ second to Talisker, was given a working ~ gallop alone over seven furlongs at Hast-"-"rings on Saturday, which he accomplished ' in lmin 37% sec. The next race in which v he will compete is the Bolton Handicap, ...'; at Woodville. 5 White Fang is a daily visitor to the .Hastings tracks, but is doing only light ■'. work. The trip to Australia for the sum- • nier meetings is still in the air, and it will i not surprise to see him taking his place in tha A.R.C. Railway Handicap on next - Boxing Day. Head Scrang and Royal Parade (in re- - ceipt of a stone and a half) did the best ■■ on Saturday morning by running half a.milo - in 'lO'.isee. Both the Chief Euler thrcev "year-olds mo yery_ forward, and

NOTES AND COMMENTS

give a good account of themselves at Woodville next week.

Admiral Drake is working well and is said to be a better horse now than earlier in the season. lie is to race at Woodviile next week. Lordlike, who is shaping well, may race next at Hawera. Expert Opinion.- ---■ The Woodville J.C.s hamlicapper (Mr. J. E. Henrys) has expressed hi* opinion of Cylinder by the weight allotted him in tho ;Nursery Handicap. Gesture, winner of three races, is top weight with 5.13, Simba.and Princess Betty, who have won twice and have been in minor plates, have 8.7 and 8.0 respectively, while Cylinder, who until Monday was not. placed, and finished/second, has 5.5. This appears to bo a decided handicapper's tip, but it is doubtful if Jeft'erd's horses will bo at Wpodville. Courtesy, the sister to Honour, who has yet to race, has S stone, so that the handicapper appears to have heard something about her galloping ability. Whether the owners of these two juveniles will appreciate the compliment is doubtful, but at tho same time it is very probable that the handicapper's ideas will not be very far astray. An Unlucky Runner. Although she failed to reach a place in either of her engagements at the Taka-' puna Meeting, Royal Doulton demonstrated that she is back to form by running a fine race to finish fifth in the St. Andrew's Handicap. She was extremely unlucky to lose this race, for she was sideways on when the barrier went up and lost considerable ground at the start. In addition she had to go on the outside when she made a dash for a position across the top, and in the circumstances she did remarkably well to finish as close as she did. Another very unlucky horse in the St. Andrew's Handicap was Prince Val, who was squeezed back at the start and also met with interference on the journey. Like Royal Doulton, Prince Val also made a brilliant run across the top, but the effort left him Wanting at the finish and he faded right out. "To Celebrate the Victory." After Nightmareh had won the Randwick Plate at the A.J.C. carnival, the colt's owner (Mr. A. Louisson) made his way. to the Press room at the A.J.C. course and handed to the chairman of the Press-gallery a sum of money to "celebrate the horse's victory." It was election day, and all bars were supposed to be closed: But the A.J.C. sees to the comfort of the pressmen, and they had no need to seek liquid comforts outside the room; The sporting journalists held a meeting and decided that the money should be sent to a benevolent fund. Subsequently the trustees of the latter fund thanked the journalists for their action, and also passed a special resolution of thanks to Mr. A. Louissou. High Interests. Lady's Chain, the champion 14.1 performer in Sydney, will remain contented all day if she is allowed to watch aeroplanes flying about. The mare was standing quietly in a stall at the Kensington course the other morning when she suddenly pricked her ears, stepped a fewpaces forward, and threw her head in the air. The reason for her sudden activity was apparent when the drone of a 'plane engine far- away ' Was heard. Lady's Chain's keen' eye did not take long to pick up the object, and she followed it keenly until it passed out of sight. "She will watch them for hours," said her trainer, P. Hart. ."Often, when I am leading her at her exercise, she will hear a 'plane, and immediately pull up and search tho sky until she sees it. Not until it is out of vision will she move on. Sometimes when there are a lot about, I have trouble in leading her. She wants to stop and Eec all of them. I think she woiild fly in one if she had a chance," he added. Dolomite Lasts it Out. Dolomite' mended his ways when he won a race worth £215 for his new owner, Mr. H. Murphy, at the Ghristchurch Meeting; says a Sydney writer. He led; all the way, and had to be ridden right out to gain the verdict by a neck. It is to be hoped thai he treats Mr. Murphy better than he did one of his former owners, Mr. '"Constable." After running away with a maiden race at Warwick Farm in that gentleman's colours, the flash-looking Englishman was repeatedly backed by a good betting owner and his friends, only, to leave them, in the cart. An Unusual Experiment. Mollison, who won the whole of his seven engagements at two years old in the season of 1927-28, but who, though showing pace, failed to stay, has formed the subject of consideration by Dr. Stuart M'Kay, who holds advanced opinions on' the heart question. According to a Melbourne .writer, Dr. -M'Kh.v diagnosed.-. Mol-lis-on's case to be that of- heart pressure, and the. owner of Mollison, Mr. E. M. Pearce, "-having been convinced that an operation for blood-letting would be benej iicial to Mollison, the operation is to be I performed. This will take the form of draining Mollison's blood by some six quarts. Needless to say, the result of the operation is awaited with keen interest. All continuing well with ' Mollison, the gelding will be raced again in the autumn. The heart question bearing on racehorses is also receiving attention in America. ■ The following is an excerpt from a New York journal: "Modern racing stables are fitted out not only with every convenience for the comfort of the thoroughbreds they, house, but also with devices of 1 modern surgery and medicine. Now comes the 'equine stethoscope,' similar in principle to what doctors use to listen in on 1 the human heart, but equipped to measure 1 and record a racehorse's heart beats. 1 'More speed from contented ponies' is the slogan of the racing man. He knows his ' horse-flesh must be physically, well and 1 mentally at peace if he is to capture 1 coveted trophies and purses. It is important" to know the endurance of individual racers; exactly the strain a race 1 hai! upon their vital organs. When Blue Larkspur outdistanced a field of prize steppers in the recent American classic at Arlington Park, Illinois, tlie horse was ' hurried to its stall, and the hearti gauging device used. Other entrants were [ similarly examined, and it was found L that each horse's condition as shown by ! the machine had been reflected in his ■ performance on the track. Race-track : veterinarians are equipping themselves ■ with the new instrument at many tracks. : They believe it will become an important , adjunct of the sport—in addition to a valuable tool to the kits of surgeons who ■ treat horses employed at more prosaic, • but just as important tasks." . A Change of Doubtful Wisdom. ■ Iv the history of racing in the State'of New South Wales there is not on record . any instance where a handicapper has 1 been given power to upset the. original ' weight he has allotted to any horse, but. 1 (says the Sydney "Referee") on and after ■ next Sydney Cup the committee of the | Australian Jockey Club has decided to '■ give the handieapper power to rehandicap " the winner of tho Doncaster Handicap should that horse be engaged in the Syd- [ ney Cup also. They restrict him only to ; a 101b penalty. There have been sev--5 eral innovations of recent day, all of , which appear to be for the betterment of . racing generally. But there is just a doubt whether*'departure from a sot rule . with regard to auy two races involved in I a betting double will be iv the interest of [ all' concerned. While one cannot doubt r the integrity of our handicappers, there is ; nothing like a fixed rule in this conuec- [ tion. 1 Sires of Early Speed. Breeders generally expect early winners ; among the two-year-olds sired by horses t who. themselves did well at that age. The - imported horses Moabite and Legionnaire 1 have strengthened that belief this season > when the first of the foals by them were t put into training, says a Sydney writer. Both sires were smart gallopers as juveniles, and they seem to have imparted to b their stock that trait. On tho other hand 3 a case of an early galloper who as a sire - got stock requiring plenty of time to de--1 -vekß is recalled b^ the deutlt of gul-

i'crino in Xew Zealand recently. Solferino won. three races in his first season on the Turf, and showed such great promise that Earl Cadogan was induced lo pay 4000 guineas for him. He won the -Kith Ascot Biennial Stakes by eight lengths, and was retired to the stud. Jii .1910 ho was brought to New Zealand, and his winners have since credited him with more than £150,000 in stakes. Solferino (imp.) had early gallopers to represent him, but the best of his stock improved with age.