THE TURF.

Evening Star, Issue 14788, 1 February 1912, Page 3

THE TURF.

IGossip ur Old Identity.] It is gratifying to find quite a number of purchase* • made by Otago owners at the. Eldersli-e dispersal sale. Mr B. Mackenzie (of tho Excelsior Hotel), Mr H. Hav (of Moa Flat). Mr H. Small (Lumsden). Mr R. M. Paterson (Arlowtown), Dr Robertson (Tapamri), and others who seldom deal in horseflesh may be reckoned as likerr to do well for Otago with their purchases, and it is pleasing to find such staunch Otago sportsmen as Mr L. C. Hazlett a-nd Mr St. John Buckley adding to their stock. Last yeir Soultoria (7.7) started a warm favorite for the Takapuna Cup, and boat Tanekaha, Domino, and seven others in 2min 28ssec, the record for the present Cup distance. This vear Soultoria carried 8.6, and won again, nor time being 2min 30.sec. There was a rumor the day before that the was amiss. » It is stated that an offer of 500gs was refused for Birkline during the Wellington Meeting. At Calcutta tho ex-New Zealand horse Aborigine won the Wellesley Stakes, of ono mile aaid a-quarter, defeating 15 others. He had 9.7. covered tho journey in 2min B|.<ec. winning easily and returning a good dividend. Tikitere and Genius are again in work at Riccnrton. Quickset, by Quarryman—Quickshot, has been added to D. Wilson's team at Wing.v tui. Gold Pin is out for the present, having gone lame. The services of the Auckland horseman B. Dee ley were in great demand at Wellington, and out of thi 23 races in which he waf* eligible to ride lie had mounts in 21 of them. Kilts and Colleen Mary nre> amongst the improved horses at Riccarton. Kic-v trakoff is shortly to go into A. Hall's W:\n'janni stable. Soultoria. winner of the Takapuna Cup for the second time in succession, was bred by Mr J. Roulst.in in 1906, and is a brown mare by Sonlt—Pretoria, by Cuirassier— Winnie, by Kingfisher. The French racecourses may shortly in troduce a very simple method of verifying the judge's decision by photography. This innovation -was tried at Zellick, in Belgium, and % proved completely successful. A light green cord, stretched aeroes the course just in irent of the winning post, operates a snapshot as soon as the first horse's head touches it. The horses are photographed automatic-ally as they pass the post. At. Zellick the judge declared a. dead-heat. A few minutes afterwards the developed photograph proved that he was right. La Reine. who ran well at Takapuna, is half-sister to Mr W. T. Hazlett's mare Dircctoire. The Middle Park Plate looks liJe a, good thing for Sir George Clifford, who scored his first success in it in 1905 with Stronghold, and then, ;,fter an interval of oneyear, landed it five times in succession, with Glenculloch, Fleett'cot, Sharpshooter, -Madame Madcap, and Antagonist. The time is rapidly approaching when ' hopples will not be allowed on American racehorse:. This year they must not be used on five-year-olds or undor. or on six-year-olds or under in 1914. after which thev will bo barred. tew New Zealanders realise tho magnitude of the sales held each year at Newmarket and Doncaster. At the December sales at Newmarket 583 horses were disposed of, and they realised 180,512g5. Last rear's aggregate was exceeded bv over 20,000g5. Ono of tho venders was Mr Spencer Gollan, who has been racing on a fairly large scale in England for a number of yeare. He disposed of all his horses. Tho Bill of Portland mare Tirara, who is out of Tiraillerie, by Nordenieldt, realised 1,500g5, the Imperial" Graditz Stud (Germany) being the purchaser. * • Mr Brown, the manager of Mr Sol. Green's Shipley stud, is at present on a vit-it to Neir Zealand, and he tolls the ' Press' that Comedy King will be retired to the stud after the conclusion of the autumn race meetings. One of tho most liberal patrons of tho turf in England is the American sportsman Mr H. P. Whitney, who. wh« tho last mail left, hid no fewer than 44 racehorses in active tiaining. Last season 18 of Mr Whitney's horses won him £4.C48 in stakes. The foal by Maranui from Mersey's Daughter, ifhieh has been bred to English time, has made its appearance at Wnrroo stud (N.S.V.). It is a colt, and is said to be specially good looking. The idea is to race the in the English Derby. Mr M. f'Titlin, whose death was announced the other day in Sydney, stood on more th 2 one occasion to win a very large stake over Battailous, a horse that he acquired in 1884 after he had mn second in Sydney Turf Club Royal Stakes to Highland Jlaiy. Ernest B.c:on, the Jubilee Plunger, did not die a pioer, as seems to be generally supposed. Ayer he had squandered nearly a. quarter c. i million in two years he was rescued by a lvlative, who made a settlement from which Eenzon derived £4OO per rear. From Bat-hrst (17.5. W.) is reported the death of Mr George Lee, who bred Merriwee, Nellie, The Barb, Etra Weenie, Lecturer, Kingslorough, Savanaka, and a host of other notd Australian performers. Mr Lee was the oldest membrr of the A.J.C. Committee. A link wiih the day: of those famous racehorses Bink Bonny, Blair Athol, and Caller Ou war-severed when James Clarke, acred.9o. a belong employee of the famous Highfield Hmse training establishment, was buried on December 21 at Malton, Yorks. Ono of the several old-time sporting charactes present was Will Chivers, who attended the foalinjj of Blair Athol. - The total amount of swke money won on the flat in Great Britain and Ireland during the Ist racing season was £547,476 3s, which onstitutes a record. The next highest tota was £546,099 18s, in 1909. Sexr Zealnd-bred loli, by Birkenhead— Isnlt, won he Trial Stakes at the A.J.C. meeting or the 20th January. Isolt was one of'Mr Stead's good racers. Pride o Murillo was a good second favorite fc the Challenge Stakes that she won on th same day. Obsono is reported to be doing sound work at Ilemington. He has top weight in the Oaleigh Plate. The wil of Mr W. T. Jones has been proved inEngland at £102,320. •' Glenoe " says there is every indication that Ma,aa-d (St. Ambrose—Parera) may turn outnuite as good if not better than his halfjrothers, Boanerges and Nyland. Whenthe betting opened on tho Anniversary handicap at Caulfield on the 20th Januan ,'there was a rush for the New Ze.ilaner Merrie Zealand, and, of course, the ma>rity jumped to the conclusion that this ws another Gunboat certainty. The peoplewho backed Gunboat were said to bo bating this favorite, also he was pronoiincd, to be in too light, and so on, but 1 " Terlinga ") noticed that the bookmaker did not regard Merrie Zealand in the sine way as Gunboat. They opened him i 2 to 1, and you could always get a trie over these odds. Evidently the ringren were not frightened of Merrie Zealnd. And they were right. Merrie Zealud was never in the hunt. Perhaps this was not his form. Perhaps Cairns wasnot fit to ride after his fall, and tho horr went short in his canter, but anyway the bookmakers scored heavily. Francis woi the race. Tie non-racing public at Caulfield seem to iave got in the thin end of the wedge in heir attempt of long standing to d"rivo th V-A.T.C. out of possession of the Caulfiel racecourse. The Victorian Minister fc Lands has announced that it has been a-eed that the training of horses on the Culfiekl racecourse shall not be allowed gter 10 o'clock in tha morning between fc'ptcmbcr 1 and April 30, and after 11 -clock between jfclay 1 and August 31. In a notice of Old Sam Waldock a Meljourne writer says:—He bad Blazes and *ly Idea, both of whom ran at the meeting when Strop beat Bella in the Hobart Cup. A few may remember the incident that occurred at Elwicfc in a mile race on the last day. My Idea and King of Diamonds were started by mistake half an ,'. hour before the appointed time, and My ( / Idea won* but the owner of Tho Fop colt if

objected, and the stewards decided that the race should be jerun. My Idea, who subsequently became famous in New Zealand as the dam c! Nelson, won again. Mayfowl's second win in the Viceroy's Cup was a surprieo The Apcnr 6tablo started throe, and considered Vavasor their best, on the strength of a gallop in which he beat Mnyfowl, and when C. lloyt, Sir A. A. A pear's fii'6t jockey, picked Vavasor, and left Mnyfowl yet once again for little Arthur Kuhii, the public thought that the stable must surely know something, ami they went solid for Vavasor. Tho other backed woro Last Call, Black Buck, and Aborigine. The. correspondent of tho ' Australasian ' says : Apcar's pacemaker, Lawn Sand, went out at tho start as if ho wero going five furlongs, and before they had gone "six he, was 20 lengths in front of Vavasor and Last Call, who lay next, with Aborigine close up to them, Mayfowl and Black Buck next. He was of no use as a pacemaker eo far out in front as this, and might just ae well have been left at home. Vavasor started racing with Last Call all the way. C. lloyt has been much criticised for making so much use of his horse, knowing that he was one that possessed a very brilliant run at the finish. Be this as it may, I do not think there is any doubt whatever that Mayfowl would havo beaten his stable companion however the race had been run. Mayfowl I had hi 6 field at his mercy three furlongs I from home, and won easily by three lengths in better time than that in which he galloped this distance last year—a most consistent performance. Black Buck and Aborigine were badly beaten half a milo from home." Quoen o' Scots and Desert Rose were favorites for the V.R.C. Newmarket Handicap, and tho Parisian was most favored for the Australian Cup a week ago. The stake money of the Liverpool Grand National is to be raised to £3,soo<sovs, including a trophy worth £125. The breeder of the winner is to receive lOOeovs, tho owner of the second 200eovs, of tho third lOOsovs, and of the fourth 70sovs. As the subscription for starters is 30eovs, the race will bo worth to the winner £3,000 net. Penalties are to bo abolished. Mr W. Taylor Sharpe, who for many years'was one of the best-known sporting men in England, died in December. Mr Sharpe bred Galopin, whose reputation as a racehorse and sire was equalled by few and excelled only, perhaps, during the last 60 years by that of St. Simon and Stockwell. Galopin was by Vedette out of Mr Tavlor Sharpe's mare Flving Duchess, and was foaled at the Diss Stud in 1872. In after years (says tho London ' Sportsman ') many people rjavo credence to talcs that Galopin's sire-"was really Delight, but some years ago tho deceased showed conclusively that Delight was at his Baumber Stud all through the season of 1871, whilst Flying Duchess was in residence at the Diss Stud during the same period, and was mated ;

with Vedette.