TURF AND TRACK

Evening Star, Issue 19891, 13 June 1928, Page 2

TURF AND TRACK

NOTES FROM ALL QUARTERS

[By Otakoc.]

RACING FIXTURES. June I(3.—Napier Park P.C. Juno 2U.—Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. Juno 22, 23.—Hawse's Bay J.C. June 30.—Ashburton County R.C. June 30, July 2.—To Kuiti R.C. July 11, 12, 14.—Wellington R.C. Jnlv li),—Waiinato District Hunt Club.' July 21.—South Ctuilerbury M.C. July 28.—Christchurch Hunt Club. July 26, 28.—Gisborne R.C.

TROTTING FIXTURES June 23, 27.—Auckland T.C.

R. Reed rode one winner at Otaki and one at Auckland on Wednesday, and is now only two behind T. Green lor the jockeys’ premiership. Spearmint (by Carbine) won the Derby in 1906; fourteen years after Spion Kop (sou of Spearmint) led the field homo; and now, at an interval of eight years, Fclstcad (by Spion. Kop) takes a place with his sire and grandsire as a winner of the time-honoured race at Epsom. _ ■ The Viscount, by Solferino—Bon Bord, has thickened out a good deal lately at Riccarton, and at present bears a very robust appearance. Ho has not been hurried, and ho should develop into a useful three-year-old. in each of his races to date he has shown marked speed, and it will nob bo- long before tho full brother to Count Cavour opens his winning account. That good mare Piuthair, who won the Canterbury Jockey Club’s Great Autumn Handicap in 1927, is reported to bo looking particularly well after her recent spell. She is being hacked about at her owner’s property in the North Island, but will be placed in active training soon and given a preparation for spring racing. Importer, who contested tho minor jumping events at the Auckland Racing Club’s Winter Meeting, is a promising ’chaser, and it may not be long before he is led in a winner. Importer, who was bred in England in 1920, is a son of The White Knight and Golden Import.

Glendowio and Beau Cavalier figure among the nominations for the To Kumi Handicap (1m) and tlio Mairon Handicap (IJm), to be run at the To Kuiti Racing Club’s Meeting. The events in question are confined to horses that have not won a flat race of the value of £l5O or fiat races of the collective value of £IOO at time of nomination.

W. E. Russell, lately attached to G. W. New’s stable at Awapuni, has joined up with F. D. Jones. Ho was associated with the care of Limerick when the champion was a three-year-old, and has come south to look after the gelding again and accompany him to Australia. Jones has now made tentative arrangements to leave Wellington by the Maunganui on July 30. Several promising hurdlers lost their reputations at Ellerslie, but Rod Fuchsia enhanced his, and has now won eleven of the twenty-three races he has contested this season, while he has been placed on seven other occasions. It looks as if bo might have been hard to beat had he. been kept in the Great Northern Hurdles, but ho is only a young horse, and it was probably a ■wise move not to try him too severely just yet. Considering that it was as far back as July of 1926 that Sir Moment was returned a winner, it was not to be wondered at that his supporters collected a good price about him when ho won on the finifc day of the Otaki Meeting. He wont through the whole of the last year for a second and three third placings, and prior to his success at Otaki ho had started in r five events this season for a third. He is a half-brother by Merry Moment to the well-performed Sir Rosebery. The attempt to make a hurdler of Shining Armour has been temporarily abandoned owing to lack of a schoolmaster with sufficient experience to put him through his early education as it should be done. Shining Amour will therefore return to flat racing, and will make his reappearance at the Wellington Winter Meeting. The Fordcll team for Trentham will probably consist of Avro, Glenross, Shining Armour, and Consent, and perhaps one or two others. The exact composition of the team has not been decided.

Tho rising eight-year-old gelding, Orifiamb has been purchased from Mr D. H. Roberts by Mr G. Fulton, and has entered H. Nurse’s stable. It is intended to school him over the big fences at once, and to nominate him for the Steeplechase at the Ashburton Meeting to he held on Juno 30. Oriflamb has proved himself a perfect jumper over the battens, and there is no reason why he should not be equally as proficient over the country. If be gives encouragement he will compete in the hack steeplechases at the Wellington Winter Meeting. Great, and apparently quite unnecessary, mystery was made here about the identity of the Australian purchaser from Mr J. S. Barrett of the three-year-old Paladin—Persian Lilac gelding Satrap. From Sydney fdes to hand it would appear that the new owner -of tho Now Zealand classics winner is Mr R. S. White, of Brisbane, a brother of Mr E. K. White, owner of Winalot, also a classics winner, who took the Sydney Cup last Easter-time. Satrap lias been nominated for some Queensland events, hut so far wo have not heard of his having been started in any. Tho next Melbourne Cup is said to be bis main objective. Sir George Clifford’s horses, almost without exception, are aptly named, and ho has been as happy as usual in his choice for the present draft of yearlings. The chestnut colt by Winning Hit from Equipment will bo known as Semper Paratus. He is a well-grown and good-looking chestnut, from tho dam of Centrepiece, and his admirers are hopeful that lie will live up to his ambitious title. “ always ready.” Straight Course is excellent for the bay colt by The Ace from Winning Way, dam of Winning Hit, and so Ts Parthian for the chestnut gelding by Winning Hit from Flitaway. The brown filly by The Ace from Scrimmaeo will be known as Discord, while Upheaval, for the chestnut gelding by Winning Hit from Heitor Skelter, dam of Childsnlay, and Quick Plunge for the bay filly by Tho Ace from Bravo Deed, are eqnalv happy efforts. One of tho remits to go before (lie meeting of delegates to tho New Zealand ’Trotting Conference at next month’s meeting is the following, to be moved by the Forbury Park Trotting Club;—“That the New Zealand Trolling Association be abolished and district, committees instituted in lieu thereof, and that the Conference Executive take steps to have the necessary alterations to the rules drafted for submission to a further meeting of the conference for approval and confirmation.” The discussion of this remit at the forthcoming Trotting Conference will create a great deal of interest, and it may serve to pave the way to some alteration in the present system of the government of the lightharness sport (comments “Sir Modred”). There is no overlooking the fact that the New Zealand Trotting Association has to a great extent out-lived its usefulness, and that it fails in many respects to _ effectively grapple with questions arising in disI tricts far removed from its headquar- [ ters in Canterbury, i The Derby course, where Felstcad 1 won last week, is shaped like a hairpin, and, unlike tho majority of our racecourses, which are perfectly flat, the course at Epsom has some steep

rises and depressions. From the Hart the ground rises and falls slightly until a furlong lias been covered, when it rises steeply, and when the mile and n-quartcr post is reached the gradient is I in 21. It is not until the Derby runnel's have travelled five furlongs that they meet level ground, and then for onlv a furlong, when they commence to go down bill to I'attenham Cornel'. At this famous spot tho descent is very marked, and the fall <onlinues until a furlong from the winning post, when the runners encounter a slight rise. There are ni.in.v_ better racecourses in England than Epsom, hilt for all its faults the Derby course is a wonderful test, as the winner must have both speed and stamina and ability to gallop on failing and rising ground. The suspension imposed on C. Emerson at Wingatui did net meet with tho approval of tho majority of racegoers present (says tho ‘Press’). The evidence adduced at the inquiry _ left no doubt that Carinthia crossed in front of Despot less than 100yds from the post, but the Judicial Committee was quite satisfied that the horse swerved in from tho whip, and Emerson was unable to check him. In previous races Carinthia had shown signs of laziness, and although he headed the loaders at the point mentioned Emerson thought it wise to use the whip to keep him up to his work. In spite of tho fact that tnc committee decided tho crossing made no difference to tho result of the race, and to its opinion that the incident was accidental and due solely to tho horse’s sudden tactics, it nevertheless punished the. rider. The finding Mas rather harsh and inconsistent, especially when it is considered that no object could have been gained bj Emerson crossing to the rails, as in the position he occupied a few feet out ho had the race won, and would have lost ground by going in. it has to be said of Emerson that during his twenty years’ riding his appearances “on the mat’’ have been extremely few.

When W. J. Donovan left Wellington on Friday for Sydney he was accompanied by tho unpleasant doubt whether his horses had been nominated in time for the big Australian events in Sydney in tho spring. He had posted his entries to the local agent of tho Australian Jockey Club, but owing to tho holiday last Monday these arrived rather late. They were cabled immediately to Sydney, and with Hie difference in New Zealand time and time should have been in tho A.J.C. office before entries closed. So far no word to tho contrary has been received by tho Wellington Club’s secretary, who acts for tho A.J.C. Donovan will not know whether his entries are in order until ho arrives in Sydney. He was particularly anxious to have Greengrocer engaged in tho long-distance events, for he has ideas of selling the English horse, and tho latter’s value will he infinitely greater if he is well engaged. Donovan overlooked tho closing of entries for the big Melbourne events.

Under the heading ‘ Humane Racing,’ the Melbourne ‘ Leader ’ remarked in the course of a leading article: — “The sharp spur has been steadily going out of use for a very long Lime, and one seldom sees a horse with marks ou the Hank duo to the use of the spur. Unless the horse happens to bo of a very sluggish disposition, the rider will, almost without exception, wear dummy spurs. In the old days it was no uncommon thing to see a horso return to scale with blooding - sides. Now the stewards keep a check upon Hie use of spurs, and if a horse shows any sign of having been cut up by the spurs the rider is called upon for an explanation. The whips now in use aro mere toys in comparison with those used by some of tho old jockeys. None of our present-day riders can use a whip like tho veteran R. Lewis, hut, although lie can lay it on with tremendous ppwer, he uses it with discrimination. He was credited with having fiogged Trivalve home from the bottom of tho straight in tho A.J.C. Derby, but, as a matter of fact, he was merely nourishing it at the colt, and did not actually touch him.”