RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 21073, 9 April 1932, Page 18

RACING NOTES

[By St. Ciair.]

RACING. April 11—Te Kuiti Racing Club. April 15, 16.—Masterton Racing Club. April 16.—Karamea Racing Club. April 20, 21.—Manawatu Racing Club. April 21, 23.—Whangarei Racing Club. April 22, 23.—Nelson Jockey Club. April 23.—South Canterbury Jockey Club. April 30.—Marion Jockey Club. TO CHECK FOUL RIDING. The following notice hus been issued by the Executive of the New Zealand Racing Conference to all racing clubs: —“The Executive Committee has observed that very few race meetings are held without reports being received of cases of riding offences. It has been stated that this is largely due to the fact that Judicial Committees are loath to inflict suitable punishment on the offending riders. The Executive Committee lias decided to draw the special attention of the Judicial Committees of all clubs to the necessity of inflicting adequate penalties on' riders who, in the opinion of the stewards, caused or contributed to any crossing or jostling by foul, careless, or incompetent riding (see rule 302), or where, in the opinion of the stewards, any horse has not been run on its merits (see rule 295).” Rule 302 reads: A horse shall be disqualified for the race if it (a) crosses another horse without being at least its own length and one other clear length in front of such other horse at the time of crossing: or (b) jostles another horse, or the rider of another horse, in the race, unless it is proved that such jostle was caused by the fault of some other rider, or that the jostled horse or its rider was partly; in fault; (3) any rider who, in the opinion of the stewards, caused or contributed to any offence within the meaning of the last preceding sub-clause by foul, careless, or incompetent riding, _ shall bo punished, either by suspension from riding or by disqualification for such period as the stewards think fit. Rule 295 reads: Every horse which runs in a race shall be run on its merits,, and every rider shall ride his horse out to the end of the race if he has any reasonable chance of running first, second, third, or fourth, and shall in no case trust to the chance of a protest or objection. Where, in the opinion of the stewards, any horse has not been run on its merits, they may fine, disqualify, or suspend the rider, and also (if they think fit), for a specified period, and may also fine, disqualify, or suspend any licensed person other than the rider, and fine or disqualify any other person (including the owner) who, in their opinion, was party to the horse not being run on its merits.

NIGHTMARCH’S “COME BACK.” In referring to the “come back” staged iq Sydney by Nightmarch, “Banjo” Paterson, in the Sydney ‘Mail,’ says:— “Having side-stepped the Sydney Cup, there is no chance of Nightmarch equalling The Dimmer’s record of last year, when the little Spearhead horse won four races at the Easter Meeting. Probably Nightmarch’s Connections were wise in not asking him to do too much, for he has done a wonderful feat already by beating all-comers at weight for age after having had a season at the stud. “It is somewhat disappointing to find that we cannot produde a horse to beat this six-year-old stallion at weight for age. The fact that The Dimmer is out of action made no difference whatever, for Nightmarch on all public form would have little trouble in disposing of The Dimmer, and it is hard to see that any horse has a chance of beating Nightmarch in tie longdistance weight-for-age races this meeting. “Of course, all things are relative in regard- to horse-racing, and because a six-year-old stallion can heat all the younger horses it does not prove that we have no good horses. It may be that Nightmarch is one of the best horses we have ever seen, and this opinion is held by that very, experienced judge Mr Richard Wootton, who thinks that Nightmarch would be rated a good horse even in England. It will be remembered that when Nightmarch on one occasion was easily beaten by Phar Lap the stewards had Nightmarch’s rider in to explain why he had not gone faster in the early part of the race. Then it transpired that Nightmarch, though beaten, had broken the record for the race, and it looked as if for once in a way the zeal of the stipendiaries had outrun their discretion. If a horse is to be “had up ” for breaking a record, what is going to happen to him in ordinary circumstances?

“This matter of putting a racehorse to stud duties in the middle of his career has rarely been attempted in the past; but the late Ike Earnshaw, a man who knew his business thoroughly, believed in mating a horse with a couple of mares at the end of his three-year-old racing. He adopted that plan with Poseidon, but the result can hardly have been called satisfactory, for with the exception of winning the Caulfield Cup Poseidon’s four-year-old form could only be described as disappointing. He was beaten by Mountain King at weight for ago as a four-year-old; but Mountain King, before his wind infirmity became pronounced, was ahorse that commanded respect in any company. “So it all leads up to this: We go to Kandwick expecting to see first-class horses, and perhaps in Nightmareh we have seen a first-class horse without quite realising it. His defeats by Phar Lap have discounted his reputation somewhat—but Phar Lap was in a class by himself.” GEORGE PRICE’S LUCK. Kuvera, who has won £10,825 in stakes in Jess than a month, has done all that could be atked of him as a two-year-old, and is to enjoy a respite from racing (says a Sydney writer). Undoubtedly a master hand has brought him on to superlative form, and it will not be through lack of attention if the colt fails in the next Derby, a race for which he is the nominal favourite. It has been the ambition of Kuvera’s trainer, G. Price, to turn put a Derby winner. In the comparatively short time he has been training in Sydney he has had marked successes, but the Derby has eluded him. Success seemed assured in 1927, when Winalot was leading the field well clear in the last furlong, but Trivalve, with a late run, beat him on the post. Then, in 1930, Veilmond was confidently expected to turn the trick, but found in Trcgilla one just too good for him on the day. Koomeela, the stable’s representative last year, was an outsider and finished tftird. Price completes his tenth year as a trainer in Sydney this month, and in round figures he has won 200 races and £IOO,OOO in stakes for his patrons in that period. At Kandwick his record

April 28, 30.—Marlborough Racing Club. April 30. —Amberley Racing Club. TROTTING. April 16.—Ashburton Trotting Club. April 16.—Thames Trotting Club. April 21.—Nelson Trotting Club. April 23.—T« Aroha Trotting Club. April 29.—Marlborough Trotting Club. is enviable. Kuvera won the Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes for him for the first time, although he has had horses placed in these races several times. And with Windbag he has won the Craven Plate, Randwick Plate, Spring Stakes, Autumn Stakes, Cumberland Stakes, and the A.J.C. Plate, making almost a clean sweep of the weight-for-age races. Windbag and Veilmond succeeded in the St. Leger, Veilmond in the December Stakes and the Chelmsford Stakes, Jocelyn in Tattersall’s Spring Handicap and the Metropolitan, Ramulus and Caramba in the Breeders’ Plate, Whitaa the Challenge Stakes, Reonui the Villiers, and Murray King the Sydney Cuf. On other Sydney tracks Winalot is the winner of the Rosehill Guineas, Veilmond the Hobartville Stakes, and Windbag the Chipping Norton Stakes. In Melbourne the principal successes have been Windbag (Melbourne Cup), Veilmond (St. Leger and C. B. Fisher Plate). Kuvera (Sires’ Produce Stakes), and Carry On (Australian Cup). At the stables there is on an average twenty horses in work, and the preparation of such a string is no mean task. Yet, whatever the ability of the horses may be, they always look the part when stripped for their races. CONCERNING NIGHT RAID. It appears that the English gentlemen who bred Phar Lap’s sire thought so little of him that they sold him for somewhere about a hundred pounds, and now they steadfastly refuse to_ believe that such a “cull" as Night Raid could possibly have sired such a phenomenon as Phar Lap, to say nothing of Nightmarch (writes “Banjo” Paterson, in the Sydney ‘Mail ’). This attitude of mind does not take into account the fact that turf history is full of similar results that cannot be explained even by the most ingenious. Taking our own turf History for example, and taking the horses that went to the head of the winning sires’ list year after year, we find that Grafton was a great big coarse horse and a bad roarer; that Locbiel was as long in the back as an alligator, and seemed to be a compound of three or four different horses; that Malster was more like a lady’s hack than a great racehorse and sire; and that Linacre was a vast coachy-loking stallion, so much so that when'Mr Alfred Thompson bought him one of his uncles said to him; “ You will never breed a decent horse by a great soft brute like that.” Then in New Zealand they had Hotchkiss, too clumsy to be seriously regarded as a possibility as a high-class sire; while the imported Soult, one of the first St. Simon horses to reach New Zealand, was described at the time as a shapeless little weed, and yet he sired good horses. It doesn’t pay to be too sure about anything connected with thoroughbred horses. It may be of interest to recall that when Night Raid was for sale very cheaply he was inspected by that good judge, Mr William Thompson, who wanted a cheap horse to serve marcs at a fee of £2O or so. Mr Thompson was attracted by Night Raid’s pedigree, which was first-class; but the horse had so little personality, or whatever you like to call it, that Mr Thompson turned him down, preferring to buy a cheaper Malster horse, which, as he said, would draw just the same amount of patronage at a less outlay in purchase money. . So it is,evident that the low opinion of Night Raid was not confined to his English breeders, but was shared by our local authorities. It is certainly a hit of a mystery how a chamois-looking, tightly-built horse like Night Raid, who (as Mr Thompson said) could have stood on a dinner plate, could have sired such a wonderful, reachy giant as Phar Lap: but, as already pointed out, turf histoi-y is full of much more mysterious occurrences. Possibly the greatest mystery about Night Raid is why he only sired two good horses, and that they were such exceptionallv good horses. It was notified the other day that he is now, or lately was, for sale iu New Zealand, and ‘a buyer with the bump of hope strongly developed might get a bargain. If he has sired one Phar Lap he might sire another. JOTTINGS. As yearlings, Johnnie Jason (Sydney Cup) cost 12Ugs; Middle Watch (A.J.C. St. Leger). 450 gs; Kuvera (A.J.C. Sires Produce Stakes). 270 gs; and Milantheon (Easter Stakes), lOOgs. In England, except there is a special arrangement, ” the most a jockey can claim for a win on the flat is £5 ss, even though the race may be worth £IO,OOO, and £lO 10s for a race over the jumps. . A Christchurch writer says: Country King looks as though he will require a good deal inore work before he is in his best racing condition. The Southlander has so far failed to live up to the high expectations first formed of him - * . , “ I have no excuses to make for the defeats of Ammon Ra in the St. Legers at Flemington and Randwick; Middle Watch just stayed too well for him,” said J. T. Jamieson on his return to Auckland from Sydney by the Niagara on Monday. . , „ . The Melbourne writer Chiron remarks: “Lightning March would certainly have taken a hand in the finish of the Doncaster had not Spoon jumped under his neck when the barrier lifted. This was adding insult to injury, as before that Spoon had kicked him in jumper Kamehameha has rejoined the regular brigade, and is once again being trained by D. Moraghan. Last season Kamehameha was leased for A period to H. R. Gourlay, who won a couple of races with him at Gisborne, but he is now in his twelfth year, and it may not be easy to place him successfully in future. Ksar (Bruleur—Kizil Ivourgan) was the most successful sire in France last season, his total being 2,977.598 francs (approximately £31.000 at the present rate of exchange). However, he did not finish far ahead of his sire, Bruleur (Chouberski—Basse Terre), whoso total was 2.331,087 francs. Royal Lineage, a full brother to Royal Liniond, has improved since being put at hurdling. Ho won the High-weight Handicap at Hastings last Saturday in convincing style, and there is an excellent chance of his repeating the dose next Saturday. It is very unlikely that he will return to ordinary flat racing, as ho has given such good promise ns a hurdler.

Both Carbine and Phar Lap accumulated their grand totals in the course of four seasons, so on that basis they start square. An Australian writer recently estimated that Carbine’s £29,G26 represented £67,000 today. Phar Lap succeeded in passing that figure, if his Agua Caliente Handicap stake is thrown in, by about £5,500. but the proponents of Carbine are entitled to object that the last stake is more or less a fortuitous or freak circumstance.

The following is the wonderful record of The Hawk to date:— Stakes

Totals 32 16 20 62 £26,411

A number of horses who will be prominent during the season were at the Hawke’s Bay Meeting last Saturday. One of these was Goshawk, who was not seen to advantage. His rider had a very heavy hold of him nearlv all the way, and this did not seem ‘to suit him, as when asked to run on at the finish he could not do so. Goshawk has been troubled with soreness for a while, but he seemed to have got rid of it when he raced last week-end. and if he has done so he should be a good proposition for the "Tuiiis been ruled in England by the stewards of the National Hunt Committee that Mr W. P. Dutton, who won a Liverpool Grand National on Tipperary Tim and recently took out a license as a professional trainer in England, is still entitled in races confined to amateurs. The fSandown Park stewards asked for a decision after Mr Dutton rode in an amateur race at that track. It certainly seems anomalous that a paid trainer can ride in races restricted to jockeys who are supposed not to receive'anything for their services. With Hie exception of the Sandown Eclipse Stakes, the most valuable races arc those for the throe-year-olds Lost year the richest was the St. L®©® l ' Which carried £12,339. The Derby, though not as valuable as in some previous years, was worth £12,161, Two Thousand, £11,472; and Oaks, £9,067. The richest English handicaps do not approach the value of any of the races mentioned, though there are a fair number worth over £I,OOO to the winner. Last year those in excess of that value totalled thirty, but only four went over £2,000. ... . Mr Becker, a regular contributor to the ‘ Thoroughbred Review, who believes nothing good can come out ot Australia or New Zealand because of the prevalence of moderate English stallions, wrote as follows prior to the big race at Agua Caliente:— Apprehensions ns to Phar Lap’s display at Agua Caliente should be entertained for three reasons: First, that he may have stood out in his native country solely because the Australian thoroughbred has greatly deteriorated since the war—in other words, that he is merely the best of a bad lot, which opinion 1 advanced last year, holding that such an outcast of imported horses as NightRaid. Winkie, and Pilgrim’s Progress hardly can be productive of a class conidered very near, if not equal, to Carbine’s- second, because the sea journey at this time of the year can hardly he a rest cure for him; and, third, because it mar be questioned whether a. horse which from his earliest days is accustomed to the elastic going of the Australian tracks will he able to make a compromise with a sandy loam track. I doubt it.”

Age. 2 1st. 5 2nd. 2 3rd. 1 Unp. 2 Won. £2,640 3 3 1 5 3 2,520 4 3 2 2 5 2,100 5 5 1 1 5 6,333 8,569 6 8 3 1 4 7 1 , 1 0 7 581 8 9 2 1 2 6 1,105 2 3 2 5 1,185 10 0 1 2 9 893 11 2 1 2 11 855 12 1 0 2 5 160