TURF NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 14117, 21 July 1909, Page 3

TURF NOTES.

Grand National August 10, 12, 14. -f [Gossip by Old Identity.] , -. Nothing to cause surprise or raise a up at the annual meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club this week. The Hon.. G. M'Lean was able to announce that the club had plenty of money to go on with the works in hand, and the proposal to increase the stakes was assented to with the greatest cheerfulness. The club's linauce is easy now, thanks to the wisdom displayed in moving to Wingatui. -. Stormont has accepted for both the Steeplechase and the Hurdle Race at the Grand National meeting, and Lone Star is paid up for in the Winter Cup. These Otago horses seem to me to have racing chances, and no more. The fields promise ,to be big, and the unrevealed abdity of several candidates may upset all calculations.

It is rumored, by the way, that all is not well with Stormont at Wellington—that his wind is not too clear—butpresumably the owner expects him to come right, or hs would not have, accepted for the Nationals.

The Dunedin Jockey Club have resolved to increase the stakes for the coming season by nearly £I,OOO. The Cup is up to £SOO. There are to be two steeplechases at the winter meeting. In all races under hack conditions the minimum weight has been raised by the D.J.C. to 7.7, to cope with the difficulty of finding light-weight riders.

.Mr Bid will's team for the Australian Jockey Club's spring meeting, including Provocation and his younger brother, Tribulation, will be shipped to Sydney from Wellington during the first week in September.

A peculiar incident happened during the running of the Hurdle Race at Mowbray (Hobart). After turning from the back Sharpshooter got rid of his pilot, who took the steering gear along with him. Touchwood, in his wake, got his legs in the bridle as it was lying on the ground, and ran thus till nearing the open stand, presenting the appearance of a hoppled pacer rather than a galloper. Trafalgar is the ruling favorite on the other side for the Melboume Cup. J. H. Martin, who rode Sir Martin in the English Derby, says that the colt did not actually fall, but went down on his knees. Martin stated that his mount was going well at the time of the mishap, "but," he added, "that does not prove anything; there was another half-mile to go." Some of the leading Flemington trainers (says the Melbourne ' Sporting Judge ') are agitating for the increasing of the minimum weight in early two-year-old races, so as to avoid risking valuable horseflesh to the tender mercies of light-weight riders, very few of whom have the strength to effectively handle young and spirited stock. The move appears to be a reasonable one.

James Cotton is out of the hospital. Dropsy wa6 his complaint, I understand. Fossil, who won the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race, was bred at Mamco, in the Wimmera district, by Mr Tom Skene, and comes from a line Mr Skene has been breeding from man} - years. Seddon is a pronounced favorite for the Canlfield Cup. Posture, Didus, and Ungarie aTc also much inquired after. It is reported in the ' Asian' a syndicate of Calcutta owners have purchased the English horse White Eagle, winner of the City and Suburban, with the idea of' running him in the Viceroys Cud. The price mentioned is £2,000. * Seddon's runaway victory in the V.R.C. Winter Handicap does not entail a penalty for either of the Cups, and, of course, his chance at Caulfield with 7.3 looks good, but year after year the winter form at Flemington proves very deceptive as a spring guide. The new Ministry in the Taemanian Parliament are a "real "mixed team," so far as their views on what the goodygoodv people term the "gambling evil" is concerned. Sir Elliot Lewis (Premier) is a pretty regular attendant at the chief T*ce meetings, and is a gentleman who can distinguish between a good horse and a bad one: Dt Butler (Chief Secretary) is; and has long been, the chairman of the Tasmanian Ra-cing Club : but Mr Solomon (Attorney-General) denounced gambling in general and _" Tattersall's " in particular at' election time, and won the vote of <-;- e «y "pious person" in the electorate of Bass. Whether Mr Solomon's inclusion in the Mini-stry is going to kill " Tattersall's." tho totalisator, and even Old Horny himself remains to be seen. Anyway, the marbles still roll in the Collins street establishment in Hobart, and are likely to roll, if not forever, for a long time.— "■ Coronach."

A Rand wick writer 6aye that no horse could bo better at this stage than Maltine. Clipped, 6he looks big and well, and just right for J. Burton to begin work with. Mountain King i 6 doing satisfactorily, but the big horse still makes a noise. Mooltan is doing nicely, but with the weights allotted is more*likely to bo seen in the weight-for-age evcaits than handicaps. Blue Book, Parsee, Aborigine, and Artillerie are all doing well. Sydney ' Daily Telegraph' states that ■two horses left the Commonwealth recently by one of the French mail boats, whore identity ha 6 not been disclosed. Arrangemente foT their despatch and housing wore completed in Sydney, but the horses are said to have joined the steamer at. another port. It may have been quite an oversight that particulars of the horses referred to were not given out, or their destination mentioned, and it is not too late to supply the omission. The- Sun started favorite for the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race, whilst Fossil went back to an outside price. " Terlinga " writes: The Sun's chance was spoilt through his getting out of hand. There is no better man riding over jumps than R. Kcops, but The Sun is a heavyheaded horse, and Koops could not hold him in the early stages. Rogue's March was well up at first, but he had the bad luck to get a knock, and in a furlong he was nearly last. It was only in the lasL mile that he -started to make up his ground again, and then it was too late. George Scobie rode a perfect race on Fossil. He got to the front, and made steady running, without attempting to overdo the thing. Old Nick and Kalmick had Fossil hard at it for the last halfmile, but he did what Scobie said he would do. He kept plugging along, and, although Kalmick jumped the last hurdle with him—both made splendid jumps—the little fellow drew out in the last hundred yards, and won by a length. Kalnuck's was a fine performance, as he was giving away 211b. Cosgrove rode him a great race, and had the old fellow won a deal of money would have gone to Tasmania, as, bar The Sun. he was the best-backed horse in the paddock. Tf Fossil had earned a 71b penalty at the Valley the day George .Scobie came off, Kalmick would have won the National. George Scobie is acroncher, but after the Valley incident his uncle made him let his stirrups down a couple of holes. Some people who had lost their money did a little hooting when Fossil came back to scale, but we are getting used to that sort of thing. The notions of these people who bet in silver are truly amusing. James Scobie had never before this July trained a G.N. Hurdle winner, though he rode the winner, Rheus, in 1882. Since he became so successful a trainer of flatracers, Scobie has not paid much attention to jumpers, though he occasionally has had one in Ids stable. Fossil came into his hands only at the beginning of this season, and the material did not appear very promising. Not only was Fossil plain to the eye, but he appeared deficient in pace. He, however, showed some aptitude as a jumper, and it did not take Scobie long to discover that the gelding was a first-class stayer.

The champion Sydney 14.1 pony Barney, who in his own State has carried up to 12.0 to victory, ran at Ascot (Vic.) on the 3rd inst. in the Plate for horses and galloways. He was handicapped to carry top •weight (9.5), and was conceding both inches and weight to several good Melbourne performers. Barney ran a good race, and in the straight, he was proclaimed the winner,' but the 'Menschikoff geldyig Moonbi just got up in time to defeat him by a head, with Fargo, who cut up the early running, third. Pony enthusiasts describe Barney as the best animal of his inches seen in Melbourne

since Pickles won so many races there in the early nineties. .Hitherto (writes "Goodwood") Seddon has shown himself to be unreliable, but no horse could have run more brilliantly than he did in the V.R.C. Winter Handicap: He momentarily looked, about five furlongs from home, like stopping, but if he had any such intention, changed his mind, and eventually won in a canter by. five lengths. The Sydney jockey, W. M'Lachlan. was brought over from Sydney to ride Seddon, his usual pilot, C. Cooper, asking Mr MacLeod to put up another rider, as Seddon did not go well with him. That he won on the New Zealander does not necessarily prove that M'Lachlan is a better rider than Cooper. Seddon is a horse of a peculiar temperament, and it can only be said that hands he went more kindly than he has hitherto in Cooper's.