RACING AND TROTTING

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 October 1945, Page 7

RACING AND TROTTING

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES GALLOPING October 27: Whangarei. November 3: Whangarei. November 3: Napier Park. November 10: Napier Park. TROTTING October 27: Invercargill. October 27: Wellington. By Defaulter: Mr. D..R. Dowell has purchased a yearling filly by Defaulter from Arrowrose, an Arrowsmith mare, who was a good winner. First In’s Weight: First In will carry 9.1 in the New' Zealand VictoryCup, and not 9.6 as previously telegraphed.—P.A....

Long Price: Kashmiri, who won on the second day at Trentham at long odds, is a three-year-old filly by Bulandshar from My Ideal, the dam of Lowry Bay and High Ideal, and races in the same colours.

Unlucky: The Riccarton-trained Bruce was unlucky in the running on both days at Trentham. He was second on the first day and fourth on Monday. This Royal Chief gelding is highly regarded and will soon make amends.

One to Watch: Master Dash, having his first outing for the season, ran a close third behind Reorapa and Tutere at Trentham' on the fii'st day, and he should soon reach the winning list. He was not started on the second day. The Gynerium— Royal Dash five-year-old has more speed than most sprinters and has only to keep sound to win good races.

Flying: Kevin is advancing rapidly in his preparation for the New Zealand Cup. On Monday at Trentham he was flying., into third place behind Longsword and Fortune’s Smile, only a neck behind the second horse. • The son of Martarma won the Cup last year with 8.0, and this year he has 71b more to carry. His connections are confident that he can make history next month.

N.Z. Cup Candidate: Longsword was credite'd with an outstanding performance when he won the Pearce Handicap at Trentham. He was some distance back in the early stages, but when asked for an effort he quickly gathered in the leaders and had the race won at the distance post. Longsword has 9.6 in the New Zealand Cup. It is a good horse’s weight for the two mile journey, but the son of Lang Bian is a proved stayer and is at home in any track conditions.

Pedantic: Pedantic did not start at the Rangiora races on Monday because of a series of mishaps in connection with the proposed transport of the horse from Riccarton. Air J. Low, the owner of the Inflation gelding, said to-day that the first float sent to take the horse was involved in a collision with a car, the second had mechanical trouble because it ran out of oil, and the third was too late to get the horse to Rangiora in lime for his race. Pedantic did not even get to the stage of being put on a float.

Lord Chancellor: A notable absentee from the list of nominations for the Auckland Cup, to be run at Ellerslie on December 26, is Lord Chancellor, who won the race in 1943 with 9.2 and was unplaced last year when top-weight with 9.8. Lord Chancellor is one of the best horses to race in Auckland in recent, years, being able to both sprint and stay, his victories being scored over distances ranging from six furlongs to two miles. His absence from the Auckland Cup field on top of his withdrawal from the Shorts Handicap at Ellerslie on October 13 suggests that all may not be well.

Important Move: The Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Owners , Breeders’ and Trainers’ Association has taken up with the Canterbury District Committee the elimination of trotting events from racing programmes. During 1943 the Minister of Internal Affairs was approached on the same subject, but he considered the matter should be held over until normal times returned. Now that, the war is over members of the branch consider that the matter should be reviewed by the Racing Conference and district committees. According to the official figures, there were 122 trotting events m the South Island in pre-war days in racing club programmes, equivalent to 15 days’ trotting of eight races a day.

Massive three-year-old: A three-year-old who attracted a good deal ol attention at the Wellington meeting was Tenor Royal, a dark bay colt by Roval Chief from Attractive Note, a sister to Lady Nuffield, and a halfsister to The Joker and Lord Nuffield. He is a massive horse, who greatly resembles his sire in the head and general outlook. He has done little racing, and is not in forward condition at present, but it will occasion surprise if he does not perform well when he is thoroughly seasoned. Tenor Royal was slow away in the Guineas, and finished tenth. He is being trained until the New Zealand Cup meeting by C. G. Humphries, for Mr. J. A. Brown, who has done well with other members of this family. AUSTRALIAN RACING TYPHOON AND THE CUP MELBOURNE, October 25. If Typhoon’s trainer, C. Stowe, has his way, the New Zealander will not run in the Melbourne Cup. The nominator of the gelding, Mr. A. E. Preston, is due in Melbourne to-day from New Zealand, and Stowe will endeavour to persuade Mr. Preston to pass by the cup. Stowe’s opinion is that Typhoon is not fit or seasoned enough for a gruelling two miles, but that possibly he could win a shorter race during, or after, the cup meeting. He will advise Mr. Preston along these lines. It is known, however, that Mr. Preston has the highest opinion of Typhoon and he may insist on a cup run. Typhoon is just beginning to ’/)ick up again after his arduous trek to Melbourne from inland New Zealand by train, float, steamer, train and float, in which he naturally was knocked out. BLOWS STRUCK AT INQUIRY MELBOURNE, October 7. Blows were struck, a t'able was overturned, and ink was spilled on the chairman of the Trotting. Stipendiary Board, Mr G. IV. Turner, when E. S. Devine, trainer and driver of Jonich in the Rocherlea Trot at Mowbray yesterday was informed that he would be suspended for a month. After this episode the board disqualified Devine for two years. FORGERS’ BIG' “HAUL” SYDNEY, October 9. Forgers of betting tickets are again working on metropolitan racecourses. Losses by bookmakers at the A.J.C. Spring meeting exceeded £7OO. One forged ticket paid was for £325 on Shannon, winner of the Epsom. Another was for £220 on Murray Stream, winner of The Metropolitan. A third was for £l6O on Chaytor, winner of the Clibborn Stakes. Bookmakers will ask that, a waterwaved paper be used by the Government Printer, who issues all betting tickets for New South Wales. It is claimed that it is impossible to alter serial numbers printed on this paper without ready detection. Some years ago ticket forgery was

so prevalent that a special method of numbering tickets was evolved by the Government Printer. This checked the gang, which at the time also included the alteration of totalisator tickets in their activities. The present operators have found a way of altering the present elaborate number system. The method of operating apparently is the same as that used by the originators. Cash bets are noted by the gang, and, when occasion offers, a small bet is made on the same horse nine bets later. This gives the forger a ticket with a number 10 higher than the ticket it is intended to forge, and necessitates the alteration of only one digit in each of the number series printed on the tickets. The ticket also has the name of the horse in the bookmakers’ handwriting, and the alteration'of the amount does not represent great difficulty. If the horse wins the ticket invariably is one of the first presented for payment. ENGLISH TURF S. AVOOTTON’S FEARS SYDNEY, October 9. . . Because of low prize-money it was impossible for English owners to make racing pay, Mr Stanley Wootton

said yesterday in Sydney. He predicted an early end to the current boom and a crisis for the English turf if present conditions continued. Mr Wootton was a leading owner and trainer in England before the war. He still owns Epsom Downs, on which 500 horses are'trained. He flew to Sydney to be with his father, Mr Richard Wootton, who is seriously ill. Average prize-money in England was 100 per cent, below the Australian average, Mr Wootton said. He attributed this to the fact that most of the 30 or 40 courses in England were company-owned and made small profits. The majority of courses were poorly equipped, but, under the law, the worst of them were entitled to as many meetings a year as the best courses. The result was that Epsom raced only seven days a year, Ascot and Goodwood four days and York six.