RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 20981, 21 December 1931, Page 6

RACING NOTES

[By St. Claxk.]

RACING, December 26. —Waipukurau Jockey Club. December 26, 28.—Dunedin Jockey Club. December 26, 28.—Taranaki Jockey Club. December 26, 28, 29.—Manawatu Racing Club. December 26, 29, January X, 2.—Auckland Racing Club. January I.—Waikouaiti Racing Club. January 1. —Wyndham Racing Cub. January 1, 2.—Greymouth Jockey Club. January 1, 2.—Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club. January 1, 2.—Stratford Racing Club. January 1,2. —Marten Jockey Club. January 1, 2.—Wairarapa Racing Club. January 2.—Oamaru Jockey Club. January 2, 4. —Southland Racing Club.

OWNED POLYMELUS. . By the death in England last month of Mr David Faber, the turf lost a staunch supporter, who had been connected with the sport as _ owner for nearly thirty years. During recent years Mr Faber’s interests have been mainly in racing under National Hunt rules, but there was a time when his “ black jacket, pink cap ” was familiar to followers of the sport on the flat. His colours might well, indeed, have become truly famous on the turf, for he was at one time the owner of Polymelus, one of the finest racehorses and sires of all time. Mr Faber bought Polymelus for 4,500 gs from Lord Crewe, who was then a steward of the Jockey Club. Mr Faber had Polymelus and several other of his horses sent up for sale at the Newmarket First October Meeting in 1906, 4,000 gs reserve being placed on the horse. Polymelus had not accomplished much that season, and it was not expected he would reach his reserve. The late Mr Sol Joel, however, was determined to buy the horse, and thereby gained a fortune. For his new owner Polymelus won the Duke of York Handicap, the Champion Stakes, and the Cambridgeshire. He started an 11 to 10 chance for the last-named race, and won, it was reported at the time, £IOO,OOO in bets for Mr Joel and his friends.

At the stud Polymelus was a great success.' He headed the list of winning sires in 1914, 1915,1916,1920, and 1921. He sired three Derby winners—Pommern, Fifinella, and Humorist. Pommern also won the Two Thousand Guineas and St. Leger, and Fifinella the Oaks. Another classic winner sired by him was Cinna, who won the One Thousand Guineas.

Mr Faber had hopes of winning the Grand National in 1929 with Beech Martin, following the success of that horse in the Prince of Wales’s Handicap Steeplechase at Sandown Park, but at A intree the gelding was one of the many “casualties” in the-field of sixty-six. Edomite credited Mr Faber with several, steeplechases last season.

JOTTINGS. Nominations for the Vincent/ Jockey Club’s Meeting, to be held on January 9 and 11, are due on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. This is the only club in Otago that has kept its stakes up to last year’s figures, and for that reason owners, should support its meeting well. Trainers are reminded that acceptances for the Oamaru Meetings close to-morrow at 9 p.m., and for Wyndham on Wednesday at midnight. The race cards for the first day. of the Dunedin Jockey Club’s holiday meeting will be on sale to-morrow afternoon, Mr W. Crqssan’s Polozel—Parable colt _ engaged in the Trial Stakes on Boxing Day has been named Associate, not Allude as stated on Saturday. Gay Crest, who is now a good favourite for the Auckland Cup, to be run on Saturday, is reported to hay© done well since he raced at Woodville this month.

Bronze Eagle gave Heremai and Huntingdon a start over six furlongs at Takanini last Tuesday morning, and easily bent them home in Imin 13 3-ssec. The Derby candidate is very well just now. W. J. Morland will be represented by Gold Country and Senorita at tho Gore and Winton trotting meetings. A. Holmes has been engaged to drive the pair in their engagements. A Madrid message states that, in accordance with the parliamentary decicision to confiscate King Alfonso’s property, the remainder of his stud was submitted for sale by auction. Loyal aristocrats bought the horses and painlessly killed them with injections. A much-needed rain was experienced in Auckland last Wednesday which did tho tracks at Ellprslie an immense amount of good, and the going, which had previously been on the hard side, will now bo good for the Cup Meeting, providing the weather remains fine. Evenness of class in a race always makes interesting racing, and that is why the approaching meeting of tho Dunedin Jockey Club promises to provide good sport. Every race has filled well, and there is no horse of outstanding class engaged in any of tho events.

The tracks in Southland are very hard just now, and followers of the light harness sport expect to see fresh track records established at both the Gore and Winton Meetings during the holidays if this weather continues. Both tracks arc reported to be in excellent oixlor.

There should be no dearth of good horsemen available for the Dunedin Meeting this week-end, but owners will be wise to secure their riders for the new year meetings, as with racing on the West Coast, Otago, and Southland, there will bo a scramble for good horsemen.

An unusually largo number of light harness horses are in work on the different tracks in Southland at the present time. Many of them are maiden performers, and it does not appear as if trotting meetings in the

TROTTING. December 26.—Ashburton Trotting Club. December 26.—Gore Trotting Club, December 26, 28.—Westport Trotting Club. December 26, 28.—South Wairarapa Trotting Club. December 28, 30, 31.—Auckland Trotting Club. December 30.—Winton Trotting Club, December 30. —Eeefton Trotting Club, January 1, 2.—Canterbury Park Trotting Club. January 4-.—'Westland Trotting Club. January 5, 6.—Greymouth Trotting Club. January 16.—Wellington Trotting Club. January 23.—'Timaru Trotting Club. January 28, 30. Forbury Park Trotting Club.

future are going to suffer from lack of support from owners. A maiden performer in F. W. Ellis’s stable at Invercargill, named Dazzling Eyes, a half-sister to the speedy Tea Party, is reported to be a very smart sprinter. She is engaged in the Trial Plate, five furlongs, at Wydnham on New Year’s Day, a'nd should be worth keeping in mind. Phar Lap did his customary two rounds’ jog on the lead at.Trentham on Tuesday and was very hard to restrain. The pony that accompanies him galloped on nis near coronet but the injury was only slight. T. Woodcock states that there is no chance, whatever of Phar Lap leaving Trentham before his departure on the Monowai, so that he will not be paraded at any of the holiday meetings. Red Shadow is the early public selection in Christchurch for the Ashburton Cup, to be decided on Boxing Day, but he will meet worthy opposition, in this race. Aretlmsa and Arikitoa on the front are a strong pair, while Regal Voyage showed at New Brighton that she was in rare form, and from 36yds behind she is likely to keep most of the others very busy. Only five three-year-olds have won the Auckland Cup, namely, Welcome Jack in 1882, Crackshot 1890, St. Hippo 1892, Pegasus 1893, and Nestor 1896. Tho greatest weight carried by a three-year-old winner of the race was St. Hippo’s 8.9, while Crackshot also won with a good deal over weight-ier-age in carrying 8.3. Peter Jackson is much more favourably served in tho matter of weight, having only 7.0, and whether he is successful or otherwise on Boxing Day his running will be watched with great interest by followers of racing. Full accounts now to hand of First Acre’s success in the December Handicap at Warwick Farm suggest that ho was somewhat lucky in securing victory. It is said that had Windbag’s full sister, Loquacious, been more judiciously handled she would probably nave won. As it was, she ran a close third after coming from the tail of tho field only to be blocked on the rails and thrown out of her stride by a stopping horse in front of her. First Acre, however, ran a sterling race under his load of 9st 21b, or Sib less than Loquacious carried. In this race Vertigerrc was again heavily backed, only to be beaten out of a place. At Invercargill on Saturday morning (says'the ‘ News ’) ail interesting gallop was performed by King '.Balboa (Stuck) and The Smuggler; (Austin). The Smuggler fought his rider in the early stages, and was restrained with difficulty. He made most of the running, but King Balboa joined him in the straiight, and there was nothing between them at the finish. _ King Balboa went very evenly, and finished the better. It ivas a sound effort for Tho Smuggler, as he has not done much last work, and he should improve quickly within the next couple ot weeks. The sectional times were as follow: —Two furlongs, 27 4-ssec; four 5 56 4-sse.c; five, Imin 10 4-sscc; six, Imin 25 l-ssec; eight, Imin 52 2-ssec; and tho full distance in 2min 21sec.

The Sydney writer who. has been tompiling statistics dealing with “ great winning owners ” has at last awoke to the fact that some New Zealanders have been on the map. Some time ago he stated that Mr E. E: D. Clarke’s £150,000 was a record for Australia and New Zealand. Now he has evidently been informed that Sir George Clifford easily beat those figures, and publishes a list crediting the late baronet with £181,250 (from 1897 only). Sir George Clifford was a good winner long before that year. The remarkable point about Sir 'George Clifford’s total of £190,000 was that his highest individual winner, Winning Hit, accounted for less than £B,IOO, and that the aggregate was built up by winning 614 races, all in New Zealand. Then in New Zealand alone Mr G. D. Greenwood has won considoraby over £131,000 in stakes, quite apart from his big score of £47,000 in Australia, and eclipses Mr Clarke’s record by over £30,000. I feel sure that trainer Jack Ross must ere now have come to the conclusion that he possesses a very good horse in Meadow Lark, because the handicappers are always telling him that in their weight adjustments (writes “ Torpedo,’’ in the ‘ North Otago Times ’). Last season the son of Songbird started on thirteen occasions, out of which he won only one event, once second, and twice third. The last occasion on which Meadow Lark saluted the judges was just about twelve months ago, when he won the Grand Stand Handicap on Boxing Day at Wingatui with 9st 71b. His last pubhq, appearance was at Wellington in the City Handicap, in which he was unplaced with Bst 131 b. Despite his failure, ho is allotted 9st 61b in the Flying Handicap at Oanlaru. It might bo argued that he is not up against the same class as at Trentham, but no one can tell me that Mount Boa, Caterpillar, and Wise Choice are only mediocre over a sprint course, and to give a sprinter like Taku Tama, and a recent winner, two stone and a pound is certainly flattering, if not flattening, the locally-trained and owned Meadow Lark. Taboo has also apparently earned the high opinion of the handicapper, as ho has been allotted list 31b in the High-weight Handicap, with a minimum of 9st. Why not ride him yourself, Jack ?