RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 19840, 13 April 1928, Page 11

RACING NOTES

[l3y Bx. Claib.]

RACING FIXTURES. April 14.—Middlemarcli Races. April 14.—Greymouth J.C. April 14, J.C. April 18.—Rdefton J.C. April 18, 19.—Mah'awaiu R.C. April 21, 23.—Marlborough R.C. April 27, 28.—South Canterbury J.C. April 27, 28. Hawke's Bay J.C. April 28, 30.—Waikato R.C. May 3. 5. —Nelson J.C. May 10. 12.—Egmont R.C. May 12.—Ashburton County R.C. May 17, 19.—Wanganui J.C. May 26.—Amberley R.C. June-2, 4. —Otaki-Maori R.C. June 2,4, 6.—Dunedin J.C. June 2,4, 6.—Auckland R.C. June 16.—Napier Park R.C.

THE RIVERTON MEETING No country club in the South Island has endeavored to meet the requirements of the public without sacrificing the owners during the past four or live years than the Riverton Racing Club. The executive put in hand a most comprehensive scheme ot improvements, including one of the most up-to-date public stands in this island, running into a sum exceeding £IO,OOO. and having the best racing dates in the racing calendar at their backs, the successes of their meetings have now landed, them out of debt. Already the executive is considering further improvements, including the lengthening of the present stand and removal and enlarging of the totnlisator house. The stakes this year, over £5,000, were increased from last meeting, and 1 understand that it is the committee’s intention to increase the value of all the minor races. This year the fields were smaller than usual, but the steeplochasing over almost natural country is a great attraction, and the gate receipts for the three days totalled over £O,OOO. With such crowds each day increased betting was only' the natural result. There were more than the usual complaints from owners and trainers regarding the handicapping, and this no doubt was partially the cause of the smallness of many of the fields. That there were grounds for complaints was confirmed by the number of first favorites that prevailed during the three davs and the smallness of the dividends. Rut despite all. these matters there was some good racing, and the meeting was much more than merely a financial success. The club 'has long been noted for its hospitality to visitors, and its meetings attract sportsmen from long distances year after year. It was excellently managed by a very competent set of officials, both honorary and otherwise, and when the balancesheet is made up it will show the largest surplus of any meeting held this season in the South Island. And the executive and members thoroughly deserve the success.

LAWRENCE’S FATE Although strong opposition will, be mad© to any such proposal, the amalgamation of the Tuapeka Countv Jockey Club and the Beaumont Racing Club will have vo take place before many years are gone. And the opposition will be clamorous because it will be the Tuapeka Club that will have to sink its interests in the amalgamation. The annual meeting at Lawrence lives in old memories, while the Beaumont gathering is a big success. The need for amalgamation is strengthened after the Raster racing .Lawrence does not draw .the district or city crowds. Mhile the fields were quite as strong numerically us those at Beaumont, a little over half the money was passed through the machine. It was thought that the 10s machine last year was responsible for the falling-off, and it was only after lengthy consideration that the Tuapeka Club decided to retain the 10s tote. If,the olnb had gone back to the £1 investments for this year’s meeting the death knell would have been sounded. In that district there was not Ibe money about. In anv case, the fields were so small that not many of the general public were prepared to stake their pounds when only one dividend was being paid.

The Lawrence course was in compare,tivclv good condition, Imt it is still bad. Little or nothing lias been done to improve it, and if the chib hopes to attract bigger and bettor class fields a heavy expenditure is needed. Luring the past year the Beaumont Club spent over £IOO on filling in the homo bond, where accidents had occurred in past years, and the racing was free' from mishaps. The course was in good order. Moreover,_ Beaumont is hotter provided with buildings. Lawrence’s appointments arc totally inadequate and out of date. If the clubs amalgamated a two-day meeting could bo hold at Beaumont. Better stakes could be offered, and bigger and hettm fields would bo obtained. The Lawrence Chib lias had a battle for years, and the energies of its members has to be admired. But time will tell, and the “die hards’’.will have to move with the times or link up with the thriving Beaumont Club.

JOTTINGS Owners and trainers are reminded tliat nominations tor the Forbury Park '['rotting Chib’s Winter Meeting, to be held on'May 3 and 5, close this evening at 5 o’clock. Overdrawn ran well at Riverton, and is evidently coming back to form. Tile news that Mr C. Hassell, of limaru, has been appointed to frame the handicaps for the June Meeting of the. Dunedin Jockey Chib did not meet with the general approval of Wingatui trainers. With thirty-nine winning rules to Ins credit this season A. K. Oldham takes fourth place in the list ot winning .jockeys to date.

Blank Duke was one of (.lie. star performers at the Riverton Meeting, and lie won each of his two races very well. He caught a slight cold travelling down on Friday, and could not ho started the first day. Tn several of the races he won at the Riverton Meeting A. K. Didham showed excellent judgment of the pace the leaders were travelling at. This was. particularly noticeable in the two races he won on Black Duke.

Manngainoe raced well on the first two days of the Riverton Meeting, but on the last day he Booked very jaded before his race, and, after hitting the first fence hard, tailed off all the wayt He was sore on pulling up. Overhaul is improving with each race he gets, and he won very comfortably on the second day at Riverton. In the Cup he was going well until Bilbo fell in front of him, and might have been second but for the accident. There was some outstanding* bad riding at the Riverton Meeting, and several trainers threw away dny chances their horses had by putting up riders, some without experience and others whose experience has apparently not been of any use to them. Mr J. M. Samson’s pair Money Mine and Money Mint each won well at the Riverton Meeting. The latter is a very smart two-year-old, a little on the small side perhaps, but thoroughly game, and likely to develop into a-useful A strong stipendiary steward at the Lawrence and ' Bes.umont Meetings

June 20.—Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. June 22, 23.—Hawke’s Bay J.C. June 30.—Ashburton County R.C. TROTTING FIXTURES.

April 14. N.Z. Metropolitan T.C. April 14.—Taranaki T.C. April 21.—Te Aroha T.C April 21.—Ashburton T.C. May 3, s.—Forbury Park T.C. May s.—Cambridge T.C. May 19.—Oamaru T.C.. June 2, 4.—Canterbury Park T.C. June 4;—Hawke’s Bay T.C. June 9.—Ashburton T.C. June 23, 27.—Auckland T.C. June, 1928.—Ashburton T.C. (N.Z. Sapling Stakes).

would'.'have been appreciated by the public.' ; Some of the riders can thank their luckv Stars that the official representative of the Racing Conference was both generous and lenient ‘in the view he took of some of their actions. The Middleniarch Meeting will take place to-morrow. The following , penalties have been incurred:—Sutton Handicap, Mart is 10.9; Glcnwyn Handicap, 168yds; Middleniarch Racing Club Handicap—.Martis 9.10, King Sol 9.0; Garthmyll Handicap Martis 10.4, King Sol 9.8; One Mile Dash Trot, Pool burn Lad 96yds. Circulation won both tire Southland and Riverton Cups very easily- This marc has taken a long time to come right this season, and A. J. Cassells now has her right at the top of her form. She is a genuine stayer, and can muster up a very strong and fastliiiishing run. Scamp ran two very poor races at Riverton, and was not started on the last day. Ho has not improved iu his jumping much, and directly ho gets tired ho runs down his fences badly. It is reported that his preparation was interfered with between tlio Invercargill and Riverton Meetings, having been removed from bis owner’s stable for two or three days. Mylptis, who won tiie steeplechase on the third day of the Riverton Meeting, showed a good deal of promise in the hunting held last season with the Birchwood Hounds. Alter the Invercargill Meeting ho became a stable mate of Raimi, and Mr F. J. Conn worked a great improvement in him'. He stays well, and should win again when the company is not too select. Top Gear was the only promising young steeplechaser seen out at the Riverton Meeting, and with a little more experience at the game he will make a first-class cross-country horse. Flo hit two fences very hard on the first day, but on the second day his jumping was almost laultless, and there is no doubt about his gameness. Ho is the first of Tractor’s stock to be raced over country. , * When Bilbo returned to the enclosure alter his fall iu the Riverton Cup he showed signs of having been galloped on. An inquiry belu after Uio race failed to show any cause of the accident. He ran well on Monday and Tuesday, but apparently the fall took a good deal out of him. L. J. Ellis, who rode him in the Cup, thinks Bilbo would have won but for falling. Mr A. H. M’ivor did some excellent work with the starting harrier at Riverton, and it was noticeable that he jacked up the electric releaser directly the horses lined into the barrier, and left the straightening up of unruly horses to his assistant. He was thus in a position to release the tapes directly the horses were in good line. This enabled him to despatch the fields with much less delay, and the improvement in his work was generally commended. No jockey riding in the dominion ax the present time has a better average ol winning rides than A. it’. .Didhain. His increasing weight limits the number of mounts he can secure at a meeting, bux ho rarely goes through a fixture without a couple of winning rides. He owes much of Ids ability as a rider to the very thorough teaching of the late “ Arty ” 'Wilson, who when in good health bad' no superior as a horseman in New Zealand. Unfortunately for himself and many owners in Otago and Southland Did ham is still growing, and, though a good waster, his height is going to make bis career as a jockey a short one.

A trotter who will improve immensely is Ardgonr, a lusty three-year-old black horse, by Harold Rothschild—M'Kinney mare, who went two solid mile and a-linlf races in saddle at Beaumont and Lawrence. Ardgonr, who is trained by Mr W. D. Naylor, his owner, at Cromwell. is a big horse with a good gait, hut a lazy racer. In both races his rider was the first one to bring out tho whip. Trusty Child, from Invercargill, failed at Lawrence and Beaumont in the mile saddle events. Trusty Child still lack. 1 * dash, although he goes at an even pace all the way. Cabin Spark raced promisingly at tho Easter Central meetings in the trots, but when the pressure was apnlied she loft the ground or could not muster up a, final burst. The Wildwood Junior—La I’aloma gelding Wild Flight, a long strider, is worth keeping in mind for one mile and a-half saddle events. The So! Torino*—All Red—Winter Rose mare Solrose has been sold by Mr Janies Lindsay io Mr A. W. Douglass, of Wnikonniti, tho price being reported as 750 gs. Solrose was first raced in the Novice Stakes at the Oamarn Spring Meeting in the l!)2o-2C season under J. Boss's colors, and ran into third nlace. Her first win was at the Geraldine Meeting for Mr Lindsay, who bought the filly for 500 gs. ' Solrose lias ’been a good stake winner for Mr Lindsay, her total winning to the end of last season being ,£1,367. When Solrose was sold Mr Lindsay cancelled his intended trip to Christchurch to watch the mare’s running in the Great Easter.

Heather Lad meed disappointingly at Christchurch, and John Bradbury’s form at Lawrence and Beaumont was bad. John Bradbury was very sore on both days, and did not warm up to the, work. Mr Lindsay's Songbird gelding Meadow Lark did not show any prospects of being a good one in his outings.

Quickform was racing well at blaster. She scored a double at Lawrence, while in her two races at Beaumont she got the worst of the start, and was handicapped with a heavy weight when chasing the fields. Mr John Clare proposed taking the Bdniform mare up to his station at Omakau for the winter, hut he has decided, after Qnickform’s latest displays, to leave her in C. Christie’s stables at Wingatui. Quickform has only to win another hack race to be in open company. When the horses were lined up for the final race at Lawrence a man on the bank yelled “Go!” in a raucous voice, heard all over the grounds. The horses jumped out, but were called back. As it happened, Mr Bert Griffiths, the racecourse inspector, was standing behind the unofficial starter, who was given a severe warning. The culprit will not be an offender again, it being pointed out to him that lie was liable to a charge in the Police Court. Mr Griffiths’s warning should be taken notice of, as a similar offender was fined £lO for a breach at Invercargill two or three years ago. Clause 2, Part XXV. of the Rules of Racing-was forgotten by a number of riders at Beaumont and Lawrence. Some dangerous crossing "Was indulged in, both in the trotting and galloping races. The jockeys would not have tried these tactics on a metropolitan course, or they would have been sus-

pended for a long period. The clause reads: “A horse may bo disqualified for a race if such horse or any horse belonging to the same owner (a) crosses another horse unless two clear lengths of daylight in front of the other horse at the time of starting.” During the two days’ racing at Lawrence and Beaumont nine first favorites scored. It a bettor backed first favorites in every race the profit on the meetings in £1 bets would have been £2 Bs, which might have paid for expenses with little over. Eliminator was one of the unluckiest horses racing in the Central during Easter. At her only start at Lawrence she lost her chances ■ from the start, being nearly I ;crowded over the rail ’when tlio barrier was released. In her first start at Beaumont the Leighton Salvetto filly was interfered with, while in the last race a bad start again stopped her. Eliminator will win a hack race before long. The starting at both Lawrence and Beaumont was far from satisfactory. Undue leniency was shown to fractious horses, .Frivol and Lady M'Kemia being the worst offenders. They caused much delay at Beaumont, and in Envoi's race one horse which had every prospect of landing the thick end of the stake was chopped out through the Absurd gelding’s bad behaviour. The respective starters at each meeting were also too lenient with horsemen who persisted in breaking the line, one jockey being prominent in his breaking tactics.

The stewards at Beaumont were watchful, and they made an early start by inquiring into the running of one winner as compared with Lawrence form; but not a word was said about one glaring exhibition of inconsistent running. This particular horse was not seen at any stage ol the race at Lawrence yet lie romped home after clearing out from his field with two furlongs to go. An inquiry would have been very satisfactory to the general public following form. Great interest was taken locally in the running ol the two Southland trained two-year-olds. Bin Tin Tin and Nightmarch, at Riccarton this week. As they showed on the opening dav of the Invercargill meeting last month, Bin Tin Tin bandies heavy going well, while Nightmarch gallops best on the top of the ground. The former ran two-good races, and scored a second and a win lor Mr Raines. Nightmarch, oh the other hand, failed to stay on in the mud. Both of these youngsters have now finished racing for the season, and they promise to make useful three-year-olds. Greenstone, who won the two principal cross-country races at Riverton, is trained by F. J. M‘Kav and schooled and ridden by Arthur Ellis. A headstrong horse, and always difficult to manage, ho has passed through several trainers’ hands without them making a success of him. After being raced at the Wellington and Grand National Meetings last winter in, Mr W. Baird’s colors, tlie latter left him in Christchurch to bo sold at any price, but there was no bid forthcoming. Then Mr Jack Hazlett, the, well-known Southland Rugby football representative, secured him for a station hack, and also jumped him at the Southland shows. He handed him over to F. M'Kay to train two or three months ago, and since then, narrowly missed winning the Otautau Steeplechase by running wide at the judge’s box; then won on the second day at Invercargill and a double at Riverton. Mr J. Hazlett is a grandson of the late Mr James Hazlett, and bis colors are the same as registered by bis grandfather when racing in partnership with the late Mr Stephenson. A well-known Wingalui jockey who was at Beaumont has learned a lesson. In future he will .not annoy another jockey who displays a nervous temperament. Two horses were badly, left m the last race through the fractiousness of one of the horses, and on the journey stfmething happened between the boys. Immediately after the race one rushed into the secretary’s office in a disturbed state and said, “I lodge a complaint against ■ for insulting me.” “On what grounds?” be'was asked,.. The boy was about to “spill the beans,” but only answered; “ Er—for something that happened during the race.” Apparently tlio officials took no action, and the boy returned to the jockeys’ room. He was no sooner in the room than the “insulting” jockey made a rush at him. The boy was obviously feeling the strain, and lashed out with his whip. The charger received two hits over the head, and a wound was made. The immediate future in the jockeys’ room looked lively, but prompt intervention by the other jockeys prevented any further scene.