SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

Evening Star, Issue 11724, 5 April 1902, Page 3

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

CANTERBURY SPORTING ITEMS.

CIIPJSTCHURCII, April 5. The chief event of the week alter the races was, of course, Mr Stead's sale of racing stock. The. Squire of Ya-ldhurst submitted the very pick of his horses, with the exception of a few, apparently reserving them for stud purposes. There was a very large gathering of sporting men and owners, but although a fair proportion of the lots offered were sold, tho prices realised must have Keen anything but satisfactory to Mr Stead. The idea prevailed at first tint Ihe sale was only a weeding cut process, ,ird that prohibitive reserves

this w<u« soon dissipated, as lot "after lot changed handi at ridiculously low prices. The champion Menschikoff, by Stepuiak— Pibroch, who holds no fewer than four record*, over various distances, wa-s bought by Mr T. Morrin, the well-known Auckland stud-master —and presumably will take up stud duties tor nis new owner—ax 600 gumeaj. At the price paid for him the little fellow was dirt cheap. Some judges quesiioa the v isdom of sending such a small horse to the stnd, but the ridiculousness of such an ,-irgument has been so often demons!rated that Mr Morrin can probably afford to smile at his critics. As one sporting writer remarked : "Size doesn't count to long as they can gallop." Menichikoff. indeed, k "his own justification when people talk of size. Mr Pyne, the auctioneer, grew almost pathetic as he scld him, and warned bidders that if they did not bid up for him the. colony had seen the last of tie champion. The assumption is that if he. had not been sold he would have been sent out of the colony. When Cyclamen, a shapely two-year-old daughter of Gipsy Grand—Corolla, \ras led out lor sale Mr Stead announced that he would give 100 guineas for her as a brood mare if the purchaser was dissatisfied with her. The only bid tendered for the Auckland a.nd Wellington Cups winner, St. Michael, was 200 guineas, but the bidder

declined to complete his declaration, declaring that the horse had a. suspicious leg, and he was passed in. Subsequently he wa.s purchased for 1 200 guineas' by Mr H. A. Knight. Knight Errant, Evelyn Wood, Grand Repiils, Romany Queen, Orloff, and Siege Hun tailed to attract speculation. The iljsnppointing Skobeleff was sold for 200 guineas!, and his trainer (R. Mason) offered to. take 100 to 5 that he would win the Grand National Hurdle Race, a bet which his new owner (Mr C. G. Dalgety) promptly laid. On the second flay of) the. Easter meeting Davis's name appeared on the board as the, rider of Hiiku in the. Hurdle Race, but just before the race it was replaced by that of Mr H. Wyndharn Gray, a wellknown local amateur There was much speculation as to the reason for the change, and it was stated subsequently that the rider guaranteed the stake to Hnku's owner for the privilege of riding him, in order would be place.! on the champions j but

to settle a bet as to his ability to take the • horse over the sticks i There hay been a revival of talk about the handicapping for country clubs. Dissatisfaction exists at the terms charged by the leading lights for the handicapping of a few horses, which very often they never see run, and it is snggestedj that a local ' handicapper should be appointed—a sug- . gestion that ■ will probably be given effect | to by some of the smaller clubs, especially . as several good men are known to bo available. , The little breeze on the Trotting Associa- | tion which has been occupying the minds ' of sporting men in Canterbury and elsei where seems to have blown over. The 1 president made no further reference to it j at the last meeting of the Association, and ' the honors are admitted by all to be with the writer who exploited the subject. I Fulmen was offered for sale at TatterI sail's yards on Wednesday. The New I Zealand Cup dead-heater was sold to E. I Hankins for 105 guineas, the auctioneer ' stating that the sale was a genuine one. I Somerled was passed in at 130 guineas. Sir Geo. Clifford was so little impressed I with Glenaladale's chance of winning the I Great Autumn Handicap that it was only I with the greatest difficulty that his trainer } (E. Cults) "induced him to'start the colt. I For tho South Canterbury meeting next i week the fields promise to be small, and the racing uninteresting. i 'The sport on Wednesday, when the New ! Zcaiand Metropolitan Trotting Club's mect--1 ing concluded, equalled anything seen here. | The star performer was What, a six-year-i old brother to Valour, bred by Mr Buckland, of Fritz fame. What started twice during the day. He won the two-mile race, in 4min 46sec, the result never being in doubt after the first mile. Later in the afternoon he just failed to catch Albert in tin. mile race, and as the winner was in receipt, of 6sec, and covered the distance in 2inin 24&SCC, it will be seen that What put up a, great performance. Prior to this meeting What was regarded a« an uncertain kind of animal, but he showed no inclination to skip in any of his races at tbi« ] meeting. Sir Hector, the winner of the Juvenile Stakes, is a nuggety little chap, j 'l'he son of Electioneer was trained by M. Edwards, well known all over the colony as a successful man with trotters. With time I expect to see some, of the other starters in this race do much better. The Dunedin horse Burlton put up a fine per-

formance in the two-mile saddle race. He is a slow beginner, but after the first halfmile started to overhaul his field, and #ot to the front in tha straight, finishing the journey just under five minutes. The mile saddle race provided one of the best finishes ever seen here. Bell Boy was a warm favorite, and finishing the last part of the journey at a great pace just caught HarOld C. on the post, winning by a nose. Bell Boy was bred in Victoria, and has long been looked on as an exceptionally fast horse, though hitherto he has failed to quite justify his private reputation. SOUTH CANTERBURY RACES. The following acceptances have been received for Tyrarsdiysr s raceai : I Maiden Plate. —Clanburn 8.10, Romany : Las.s 7.13. Summer Rose 7.12, Narcissus ' 7.12, Valentine 7.9, Ordnance 7.7, Little Bobs 7.7, Sahara 7.7, Birthday 6.13, Blunderbuss 6.12, Lambkin 6.10, Noxious Weed 6.10. Dash Handicap-—Antigone 8-12, Rosoj mere 8.12, Fighting Mac 8.10, Pallas 8.10, Rye 7.8, Rawmore 7.3, Charioteer 7.0, Sophistic 6.7. Autumn Handicap. —Lady Lillian 8.3, Terrapin 8.3, Scottish Minstrel 7.11, Cameo 7.10, Calibre 7.3, Whirlwind 6.10, St. Elnu 6.7, Kotokoto 6.7. Welter.—-Matmificent. 10.12, Glandeboye 9.5, Clanbnm 8.9, Calotype 8.2. Flying Handicap.—Fighting Mac 7.15, Antigone. 7.L1, Rose.mere 7.13, Telemeter 7.3, Lady Medallist 6.9. Selling Race.—Lapidary (£3O) 10.11, Summer Rose (£3O) 10.7, Seabrook (£2O) 9.11, Cinderella (£2O) 9.9, Bonaparte (£ls) 5.4, Single Event (£ls) 9.4, Caimonsltot (£ls) 9..4, Alt Saints (nil) 7.11. Novel.—Bonaparte, Twilight, Seabrook, Lapidary, All Saints. A Sydney message states that the weather is unsettled and showery for the concluding day's racing of the A.J.C. autumn meeting. The Managing Cominitee of the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association have decided to inform the Canterbury Rowing Club that coxswains tire not entitled to championship caps /.and badges. The Association have appointed a committee to prepare new rules providing for the establishment of local associations.

| Mrs Payne won tho Ladies' Tennis Chami pionship of Wellington Provincial District, j beating Miss 0. Gore, 6—2, 6—l. The cup now becomes Mrs Payne's absolute proJ perty, she having won it twice in succesj sk>n.