THE SPORTING WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 14053, 7 May 1909, Page 3

THE SPORTING WORLD.

[SriotAiiT Written toe the Star.] LONDON, March 26, THE TURF. Followers of racing were delighted to welcome the Lincoln meeting, which opens the season on the flat. Favorites failed in the big Lincolnshire Handicap on Tuesday, .when Duke of Sparta scored by a length oven Airanmore, There was a lot of money for Sucoonx and Mercutio at the finish, but neither gained a place. The winning animal is owned by a Greek gentleman who races as Mr Mandaxas. He was present on Tuesday, and allowed great pleasure when told his horse was winning—asight deniedhim, as he is blind. Duke of Sparta'started at 20 to 1 and was little fancied, though his owner accepted a bet of £2,000 to £IOO about him while at Monte Carlo recently. The race is run over the straight mile, the, winner’s time funder a burden of 951b) being Imin 44fsec. This does not strike one as of much merit, but the going is usually very heavy.. _ Perhaps the best performance in connection with the race was. when Bendigo, 5 years, carried 1171b to victory in 1835, with the watch showing Imin 36|sec. THE GRAND NATIONAL. There was a very -hig crowd at Liverpool to-day to see the Grand National decided. The race is thl blue ribbon of the steeplechase world, the jumps being very severe. The distance of the race is 4 miles 856 yards, and there are 30 jumps. The ivatex jump is 16ft wide, with a 3ft thorn fence on the take-oS side. Perhaps the worst obstacle is the open ditch. This is 6ft wide, with a thorn fence sft 2in high and 3ft 6in wide at the far side. A fort of the other fences are about 6ft high and over 3ft wide, and they ’ cannot be“brushed” through. To-day’s race produced a record. For the first time in its history it was won by a French horse, Mr James Hcnnessy’s Lutteur 111. winning by two lengths from Judas and Caubeen. The winner was well backed, and started at 100 to 9, thus sharing the position of favorite with Mattie Macgregcr and Tom West. Judas was an outsider (53 tol). and 20 to 1 was on offer against the third. Parfrement, a F’ hchmum rode Lutteur ITL, and he can indeed feel proud at his success in such a big event. The result ought to do good, and may induce the powers that he to encourage owners to run better-bred animals in hurdle and steeplechase events. .FOOTBALL. s —Rugby.— In As* 1 - j-’-t ion football the home team is consid;, ■ ’*. •" hold an advantage equal to one goh. •ging by results of the Rugby Alternation. between. Scotland and England, there is merit in lieing the visiting team, for Scotland usually wins on English soil, while the Englishmen have gained most of their triumphs in Scotland. Richmond was the scene of the latest encounter, and it gave the Scots their sixteenth victory, which is five more than England has won. Thus the Calcutta Cup remains in Scotland, but at one time on Saturday victory looked likely to go to the home side. Though Scotland scored the opening try, the Englishmen soon equalised, while another try, which was converted, enabled them to cross over with a lead of 8 points to 5. After more pressing hy England, the Scots suddenly altered the look of things, and three tries, all converted, placed them in a winning position. The game was net over, however, and the English side kept np a fierce attack. Unfortunately, the passing was faulty, and promising movements camo to nothing through fumbles and “knock-ons.” Great praise is doe the Scotchmen for their fine defence, and had they got “rattled” England might easily have several times. The result of the match leaves the positions in the Rugby championship thus : W. L. D. Pts. V> ales 5 0 0 6 Scotland 2 1 0 4 England ... 1 2 0 2 Ireland 0 3 0 0 Another international on Saturday inis the Ireland v. France match at Dublin, wherein the visitors, though beaten by 19 points to 8, showed a, good knowledge of the game and ability, which points to better tilings with more experience. Besides this, the Army Cup final at... Aldershot claimed much attention, a- fine struggle ending in' the victory of the Ist Welsh Regiment over the South Wales Borderers j)y o points to 3. In addition, followers of “Rugger” were deeply interested in the Wateonians y. Clydesdale match, and as the termer club had three, cracks playing in the international at Richmond, it was'felt that the unbeaten record niight be lost. It was a near thing, but in the end the game was left with the scores a try each. —Association.— The members of the Southampton team who visited the Argentine Republic three fears ago often speak of their very enjoyable trip, and the great! hospitality extended to them. ’This tends to make the Everton and Tottenham Hotspur teams keen on their coming visit. Naturally, with such a big British population in the Argentine, the “ Soccer ” game flourishes ixceedingly, and the tour of the two crack earns is sure to give it a further “ fillip.” Both play highly scientific and attractive bothall, and as past winners of the F.A. Hup the clubs stand high. It is arranged hat the players will leave London by the Araguaya on May 14, and they will be ihout three weeks in the Argentine. It was decidedly unlucky for Ireland that M’Connell was injured during the International against Wales at Belfast. The scores were one goal each when this happened, and during his absence Wales scored twice more. Ireland redudeed the gap before the finish, but had to put- up with defeat by the odd goal in five. Interest in the First League championship is less now that Newcastle United hold such a hig lead, and it is hard to see how the team can fail to win. The record now reads: 46 points for 30 matches, Everton (40 for 31) coming next. The struggle in the second division is of quite another character. West Bromwich Albion managed to beat (1—0) Hull City at West Bromwich, and to draw (1 —1) on entertaining Barnsley. Tottenham Hotspur also shared the honors (3 —3) on visiting Birmingham City, and as Bolton Wanderers were not engaged on Saturday the positions >f the leaders are: West Bromwich 11 for 31; and Tottenham, 40 for 30. The semi-finals of the Scottish Cup enabled Glasgow Rangers to qualify at the expense of Falkirk "(1—0), but Celtic and Clyde played a draw (no score). The latter match proved a big success, the gate money xmoufiting to £l,OBl. while £620 represented the receipts at Falkirk, a record for the ground.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION. There are some legislators on crosscountry running in the South of England who do not approve of the expenditure of a few pounds yearly, with the view of promoting good feeling among followers of the pastime throughout the world. Fortunately, they do not control the sport in England, and the good sportsmen of the North and Midlands will continue to keep England's end up, and strive, with Ireland. Scotland, Wales, and France, to carry on the good work. This policy was settled at Derby last Saturday, and it is nop - assured that the International Cross-country Race win go on, in spite of the non-support by the Southerners. The race at Derby was the seventh in the series, and the bm success of the venture is highly, satisfa-c” Everyone was glad to see France join m, and in the course of time we mav s ?f Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and possibly the United Stales represented. That jross-country running is fine groundwork for Marathon racing is certain, and as the latter is now general throughout the world it ought to lead to cross-country running gaining many new recruits. The rise of France in regard to long-distance running ks been remarkable, and at no distant date we shall have great difficulty to beat a really representative team. There is little loubt that had the latest race been decided in France the positions of the first and second men would have been reversed. A. E. Wood, the winner, only just managed to forge a few yards to the front in the final spurt, and he appeared more tired than J; Eouin, his piucky. rivaL

—The Winner and Runner-up.— And now % word or two about the winner and runner-up. Wood has only been running about eighteen months, and yet has won the highest honors in the cross-country world. He is also a fine nspver on the track, and finished third in the Pour-mile Championship last July, which ought to have ensured him a place in the British Isles Olympic team. As to Bonin, he deovv eG £reat praise, for he had to journey. 500 miles to compete, and was very sick crossing the Channel. Besides this, he u ore a pair of shoes purchased new for him at Derby, and all this, with the strange conditions, makes his performance of finishing only a second behind Wood of great It is possible be will compete in the Ten Miles Plat Championship in Lon--Aptil 17, and if so he will trouble the best. Besides being a fine runner, Bonin is a splendid sportsman, as he showed by assisting' Coales .to. rise when the Midhind champion fell. Like Wood, the French athlete is useful on the track, as he proved when winning a heat of the Three Miles Olympic Team Race in 14min 53sec, beating the United States cracks. To return to the international race at Derby, seven of the English team finished in the first ten, and so again the honors went to the representatives of the Rose. Both Wood and Bourn beat such tried runners as Straw and Barnes by over a minute more than Murphy and Robertson did in the National,” while Coales was 18sec, Loney Usee, Lord 46sec, and Price 59sec further behind' Wood than behind Robertson, which goes to show that the latter would have had to improve on his National running to win the international race had he started. PEDESTRIANISM. '

The cable informs us that A. B. Postle of Australia, defeated B. R. Day, of Ireland, for the 220 Yards Professional Championship at Johannesburg in 23sec. Why the time was so slow is not stated, for while neither man is in the same class as B. «T. Wefers and a few other famous amateurs of the past, they are capable of approaching “even time” (22sec) for the furlong. In another part of the Empire (loronto) A. Shrubb has been keeping in form by engaging in a twelve-mile race with Fred Simpson, the Canadian Indian, who was highly fancied by W. J. Sherring (the winner at Athens in 1906) for the Olympic Marathon Race. Shrubb’s time, 66min 33sec, is very fair, but he will have to knock more than off this at the Stadium, London, in May if he wants to set up a new record, as he is advertised to do. The record stands at 62min' 2J,scc, by “Deerfoot,” at West Brompton in 1863. In this race the Indian covered 11 miles 970 yds in the hour, and failed by hall a yard to concede W. Lang 100 yds in the twelve miles. The promoters of the big professional meeting at the Shepherd’s Bush Stadium on May 15 advertise Shrubb, Aldridge, Appleby, and another to run twelve miles, and while the first-named may win, the writer doubts his ability to beat the record. BILLIARDS. MAjor H. L. Fleming, the new. amateur billiards champion, appears to be a line all-round sportsman. He shines at lawn tennis, polo, Rugby football, cricket, golf, and billiards, besides which he is a crack shot and fine steeplechase rider. His advent into Home billiard circles took most people byt surprise, but he is, of course, better known in India, where he served nearly twenty years with the 36th Sikh Regiment. In depriving H. C. Yirr of his title. Major Fleming accomplished a fine performance, for not only did he win by 499 points in a game of 2,000 up, but he also made a fine break of 172. ROWING. Both the Oxford and Cambridge crews have given the cities something to talk about this week. Favored with fine conditions on Tuesday, the Dark Bhiesrowed a trial—Putney to Mortlake—in 18min 21sec. The previous best was 18min 27sec bv the Oxford crew in 1893, also in a trial. The record in a race is 18min 4 1 sec, by Oxford, in 1893, and Cambridge in 1900, so there is no mistaking the ability of the Oxford men. They were slow over the first mile, and still outside record at Hammersmith, but,at Chiswick Steps, passed in llmin 39sec, they were 6sec inside the record made by Harvard (U.S.A.) in a trial in 1906. Staying on splendidly, they rowed the final stretch (Barnes to the finish) in 2min 45sec, which is really -wonderful at the end of a long row j.,.-h® Cambridge men had even better conditions for ; their Putney-to-Hammer-smith trial on Wednesday, there being a strong following .wind. They also beatrthe record, doing 7min or faster than the Oxford crew of 1897 accomplished. IN GENERAL. The river Stour (Hants) has just yielded a grand pike of in weight, 45in in length, and 24in in girth. It was caught with a live bait on snap tackle, and was on view in London on Wednesday. This is probably the heaviest pike of which there is authentic record caught with rod and line in England. Lieutenant J. J. Astor (holder) did not play up to form in the final of the military racquets singles' championship, the title _gomg on to Captain A. Berger, Army Service Corps, by 3 games to 2. F. Boeling, a .Continental crack, created surprise at the Cannes lawn tennis tournament this week by beating R. B. Powell, of Canada, in the third round of the Singles by 3 sets to 1, the winner showing excellent form.