RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 20653, 28 November 1930, Page 5

RACING NOTES

[By St. Claie.]

RACING. Not. 29, Doe. I.—Takapuna Jockey Club. Nor. 29, Dec. 1. -Feilding Jockey Club. December 5, 6.—'Taumarunui Racing Club. December 6.—Ashburton County Racing Club. . , . . : December 10.—Woodrillo District Jockey Club. December 13.—Waipa Racing Club. December 26.—Waipukurau Jockey Club. , December 26, 27.—Dunedin Jockey Club. ■ December 26, 27.—Westland Racing Club. December 26, 27.—Taranaki Jockey Club.

TO-MORROW AT FORBURY PARR The prospects for a good afternoon’s sport at Forbury Park to-morrow are good. The weather is now settled, and the track will be in first, class order. The fields, with one exception, are good, and as there are no horses ot outstanding merit engaged the racing should be interesting. Yesterday a good deal of money was sent out of the Machine through, punters , taking too long to make up their minds what to back, Mr James lias strict instructions t» close the machine promptly on the advertised time, and this will again be observed to : morrow. The Tramway Department will run a special tram service to and from the course at short intervals. The following is the card for to-mor-row:— 12.15 SUBURBAN HANDICAP (Unhoppled Trotters), 200sovs (3.45). . IJm. Biddy Parish scr Welcome Guy scr Ette Bells ... scr Wally Bingen 12 Iwanta scr Rapture ... 12 Merrijigs ... scr All Thorpe ... 24 Patchwood ... sor Great Glee ... 24 Pattie Bingen scr Hydro 60 Todd Lonzia scr Silurian ... 84 Welcome Guy was driven so indifferently yesterday that it robbed his chance of winning, and differently handled in this race he should be hard to beat. ’ Todd Lonzia is a new-comer at the meeting, and his reputation may cause him to be sent out favourite, and Wally Bingen will be better suited on a hard track. 12,55 , , ADVANCE HANDICAP, 200sovs ' 3.42). 11m. , Bonny Muir ... scr Pekara ... ... scr Black Watch scr Scotty Bingen scr Ballade ... ... scr , Willie Derby scr Molly Great Chenault 12 Desborpugh scr Baby Joan ... 12 Emma , . Location. ... 12 Harvester scr Locanda Lu 24 Madame . Herod ... ... 24 Uocauda ... scr Holly Bank ... 36 Sunny Morn scr Ballade and Scotty Bingen will be bracketed on the totalisator. Herod has been penalised 24yda for his easy win yesterday and he looks the hardest to beat again. Black Watch was travelling very fast at the finish but ho is a slow beginner. Sunny Morn and Great Chenault promise to lie Herod’s most dangerous opponents. • ' . 1.40EMPIRE HANDICAP (Saddle), 200 sovs (2.18). lin. Milo Minto ... 12 Liberal ... 24 Bingen Patch 24 Mac Dillon ... 36 Brook Pointer 24 Royal Comrade 72 If Royal Comrade repeated his Addington form he could easily concede the starts he. has to give,, and Brook Pointer, who is a bruliaiit beginner, would be his most troublesome opponent./ Bingen Patch should be the best of 'the others. 2.20 ’ BRIGHTON HANDICAP, 200sovs ; 1 , (3.0). lim. , • Automatic ... scr Stella Bingen scr Herod scr Speckled Gold scr Elite Bingen scr Sunranes ...scr Belle Lornmer scr Awaiti 24 Erin’s Chance scr Real Girl ... 36 Holly Bank ;.. scr Red Shadow 36 Nor’-wester ... scr Sonoma Laddie 48 Radio ... ... scr Danny Boy ... 72 Herod and Red Shadow will bo bracketed on the totalisator. This promises to be the best field of the day. Red Shadow won very .easily yesterday, and looks sure to beat Real Girl again. Speckled Gold is a newcomer, but would have to. improve a lot on Winton form to have a chance, and Stella Bingen may bo the most troublesome to Red Shadow at the finish., 3.0 ■ ■ FORBURY HANDICAP, 400sovs (4.32). 2m. Morning Sun scr Erin’s Fortune 12 Sunny Bob ... scr Great Logan 24 Wrackeen ... scr Avenger ... 24 Arikitoa ... 12 Grand Light 36 Steel All ... 12 Morning Sun and Sunny Bob will be bracketed on the totalisator. At a difference of 12yds in the handicap Grand Light should turn the tables on Avenger, but Erin’s Fortune, did not get a good run in yesterday’s race, and she should beat both of them provided she goes away well. 3.40 VICTORIA HANDICAP, 250sovs. Unhoppled trotters (4.46). 2ra. Fifa, ..._ ... scr Surprise White Satin 24 Journey ... 72 Kyra ... ... So Stanley T. ... 72 Trampcrisp ... 48 Len Wood ... 96 The driver of Stanley T. was caught napping yesterday after ho had the race won, and will not take the same chances tp-morrow; Surprise . Journey and White Satin look like beating all the others. 4.20—. TAINUI HANDICAP, 200sovs. (3.30), Ijm. Alva Lass ... scr St. George ... scr Red Shadow scr Kelp 12 Imperial Milo Minto ... 12 Bingen ... scr Lily Harold 24 Lady Antrim scr Sodium 24 Roddy ... ... scr Hostess ... 36 Kelp was another badly driven horse yesterday, and he should easily turn the tables on Sodium at a difference of 24yds to-morrow, with St. George the best of the others. 5.0 RECOVERY HANDICAP, 250sovs (2 48). lim. John Jinks ... scr Nelson de Oro 12 John Noble scr Delightful ... 12 Liberal scr- Morning Sun 12 Proud Dillon scr Royal Comrade 24 Sunchild ... scr Free Advice 36 Warepa ... scr Logan Hanlon 36 El Direct ... 12 Talent 36 Jolly Chimes 12 Punters will have a fine field to invest on for a final plunge, and the pick of the handicap is Royal Comrade. John Noble and Nelson do Oro aro likely to cause him the most trouble.

TROTTING. November 29.—Forbury Park T.C. December 13. New Brighton T.C. December 20. -Hawke's Bay T.C. December 26.- Ashburton T.C. December 26. —Gore T.C. December 26. 27. Westport T.C. December 26, 27. South Wairarapa T.C, December 27, 30, 31. Auckland T.C. December 30. Winton T.C. December 30.—Inaagahua T.C,

THE FIVE SHILLING TOTALISATOR [Spiciil to tii ‘ Star.’] AUCKLAND, November 27. The decision of the Takapuna Jockey Club to sell 5s totalisator tickets at its forthcoming Spring Meeting was discussed by Mr I''. Earl, K.C., in an interview with the 1 Star ’ this morning. Mr Earl has been a member of the committee of the Auckland Racing Club almost from the time the totalisator was instituted, and he definitely expressed himself in favour of the innovation. “In the first place,” said Mr Earl, “ whether the course is a wise one or not the Takapuna Club has an undeniable right to try the experiment, and to resent adverse criticism of what is purely their own affair. Personally I consider the step taken to be well warranted by the present conditions, and the committee of the Takapuna Club is to be highly commended for its courage and resource.” Mr Earl went on to say that clubs were confronted with an alarming fall in totalisator receipts throughout the dominion, and yet no club other than Takapuna had made any attempt to meet the altered conditions. As a matter of fact, 5s was a perfectly reasonable unit for betting on the outside enclosure. It was so recognised in New South Wales, where on ail the courses, including llandwick, 5s was the unit in the Leger enclosures. Mr A. V. Kenney, secretary of the Victoria Racing Club, had Informed him that when the totalisator was established in Victoria 5s would be the unit in all enclosures. The racegoer who had not too much to spend could now go to Takapuna with £2 in his pocket, and have a little “ flutter ” on every race, without having to trouble his friends to share tickets. Moreover, many a 5s bet that would otherwise go to a bookmaker would now go to the machine. The experiment might not be an immediate success, hut once the public got used to the change the results would justify the action of the Takapuna. Club. “ Anyhow,” he added, “it cannot do any harm. If it decreases bettiijg, no one will be able to say that evil has been wrought thereby, and if, on the other hand, it increases the totalisator receipts the committees of racing clubs will rejoice; so why worry?” Asked whether he favoured the issue of 10s tickets on the lawn at Elierslie, Mr Earl replied lie had always advocated it, and he would continue to do so, although for the present he appeared to be in the minority as far as the committee of the Auckland Racing Club was concerned.

JOTTINGS The first race tb-morrow is scheduled to start at 12,15 p.m., and the chief event, the. Forbury Handicap, at 3 o’clock. Handicaps for the Auckland Cup and Railway Handicap are .due next Wednesday. Projection, who was only beaten by half a head at the recent Levin Meeting, is being selected as a sure winner during the noliday meetings. The Tinwald Handicap, to be decided at Ashburton next week, attracted only three nominations—viz., Beau Geste, Glenrowan, and High Court. The catalogue for the fifth annual sale of yearlings, to be held at Trentliam on January 21 contains 186 entries, the largest ever offered at these sales.

The 1 saddle, races at Forbury never appear to attract big fields. Some aver that the class is too slow, but whatever the cause is the club can easily substitute a more popular race. Several horses will be racing at Forbury Park to-morrow that were not present on Thursday. R. Townley will have four. He missed the acceptances for the opening day. The mile saddle race yesterday was one of the poorest contests ever seen at Forbury Park, only two of the five starters going away , well, and only the winner did not make a mistake in the running. , The gate receipts at Forbury Park yesterday were down about £IOO as coin pared with the first day’s takings last year, but about £25 ahead of the 1928 meeting’s takings on the opening day. ,

The trotting events on the West Coast holiday circuit of meetings are endowed with £7,165 in stakes. In Southland there ’s also a circuit, and £4,155 will ht given for the light harness events on the several programmes. One driver who was fined for interference at Forbury Park yesterday afternoon should also have been fined lor incompetence. Had he had his horse horse better placed at the turn for home he could have won easily and without causing any interference. Racegoers in Adelaide on Saturday must have had a' very thin time. The ‘Ocean News,’ published on the Ulimaroa, shows that five of the winners at Adelaide' TattersaU’s Meeting came homo at the following tremendous odds:—100 to 1, 66 to 1, 62 to I, 60 to 1, and 300 to 1 At the Wyong Park Racing Club’s (Vic.) Meeting, on November 15, the bookmakers were there, and the punters were there with their money, but the first race was abandoned because there wore no starters. Three horses started in the second race, and the outsider Avon, at 4 to 1. Tho third raco Avas called “ no race.” and the fourth raco was abandoned, as there Avero no starters.

G. Murray Aynsley has nominated Footfall and Meprisant for the Ashburton Meeting next Avoek, and. it is intended that both of them Avill start. It is doubtful if the stable aviTl bo represented at any of the holiday meetings, but the pair mentioned, along with Spoon, Riri, and Kakara, should make a strong team for tho autumn, by which time all of them should be at their best.

It appears to be the proper thing now during an afternoon’s racing for the rider of an odds-on favourite to be caught napping. At Christchurch R. Reed, on Nightmarch, lost the G. G. Stead Gold Cup; at Winton A. E. Ellis, on Palermo, the Awarua Handicap; and yesterday J. Y 7 pung, jun., followed suit by allowing Stanley T. to case up before reaching the winning post. It is better to win by ten lengths than bo caught asleep. . W. J. Torakinson drove a very well judged race behind Surprise Journey

Avhen he stole the first prize in the Dominion Handicap off Stanley T. Surprise Journey Avas one of the last into the straight, and Tcrakinson had to thread his way through and round half a dozen before making his final dash on the rails. It looked as if J. Young, jun., the driver of Stanley T., did not see Tomkinson coming until the latter ivas almost level, and then it Avas too late.

Racing is booming in America, and studmasters are ,in the position that they can ask exorbitant fees for their sires. The American breeder. Colonel E. R. Bradley, has reduced the fees of some of his stallions, but he is asking £I,OOO for Black Tony’s services next year. The fees will be refunded if a mare should prove barren. Black Tony is by Peter Pan from Belgravia, and will be twenty years of age next year. Sun Briar is another stallion at the stud in America ivhose fee may be advanced to £I,OOO. Last season it was £6OO.

It seems extraordinary that a horse with such good form as Bayacre should have been so little fancied in a hack field as he ivas when he won the Hokio Handicap at Levin on Saturday. While in Australia for the spring meetings Bayacre registered ' tAVO Avins, _ besides running second to Tregilla in the Three-year-old Handicap at Rosehill and filling the same position behind Veilmond in the Hobartville Stakes at Warwick Farm, Avhere ho defeated, among others, Balloon King, who afterAvards Avon the Victoria Derby and the Rosehill Guineas.

Mr Sam Whitehead, a farmer, of Greta (North-east Victoria), had Phar Lap in one of Tasmania’s £20,000 propositions. He ivas approached by a syndicate of Victorian bookmakers Avho altered £6,000 for this £20,000 stake, but he refused to do business. At the time Phar Lap Avas at 6 to 4, and as they Avere seeking better than 3 to 1, he Avas Avise. Mr Whitehead said, commenting on this affair; “ It is only once in a lifetime that one has the' fortune to draAv such a good horse. I think Phar Lap is.unbeatable, so I prefer to keep the ticket myself.” Clubs AA’ith classic events on their programmes are often faced with a succession of very lean years in which their events are either dominated by one particular horse or the fields are small and belmv par. In some cases the clubs have cut such races out of their programmes. Good years, however, more than compensate for the lean ones, _ and this year's Feilding, Stakes, \vhich_ willy he decided on Saturday, is a case in point. There are tivelvo engaged, and they represent the very best talent available at the present time. There is the Stewards’ Handicap Avinner Autopay, while Toxeuma, Supremacy, Lady' Quex, Gesture, Hunting Day, and others disclose the prospects of an exceptionally good contest.

A good many Noav Zealand and Australian time records have been lowered during the past few months. Those for the principal distances iioav stand ns follows :—Four furlongs. Gloaming, 45sec; five furlongs, Machine Gun 58sec; six furlongs, Tho Hawk and Chimera, 1.9 4-5; seven furlongs, Finqra and Waranton, 1.24; mile, The-Haivk and Amounts, 1.36 i; nine furlongs, Fuji San, 1.483; li miles, Phar Lap, 2.3; eleven furlongs, Glare, 2.16.; 1J miles, Gothic and Kidaides, 2.29 J; 1J miles, ji’irst Acre, 2.561; tAvo miles, Star Stranger, 3.221; 21 miles, Phar Lap, 3.49 J. Of the 'fourteen horses in this list, eight Avere bred in Ngav Zealand, and tAvo others AA’ero dcA'elopcd in this dominion.

During the currency of the recent Melbourne Cup Meeting one of the leading stud masters in Victoria', who has had a considerable amount of success in the ownership of racehorses, expressed his opinion that the marked decline in the number of good class stayers in recent years was directly attributable to the policy of the V.R.C. in cutting down the distances of the standard weight-for-age races. “ The rot began to set in some years ago, and the attenuated Melbourne Cup fields last year and this year are the result,” he said. Later a world-famous trainer emphatically stated that, excluding Phar Lap, who is unquestionably a great horse, the Melbourne Cup field this year was the worst bo has over seen in his long career. “And with Phar Lap out of it, it will be worse next year—no better than an ordinary everyday handicap,” ho concluded. This is the opinion of a man who in the last forty years has trained more great stayers anil won more coveted races than any other man in Australia, except perhaps the late Walter Hickenbotham.