SPORTS AND PASTIMES

Gisborne Times, Volume LIX, Issue 9573, 26 July 1923, Page 7

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

TURF. , RACING FIXTURES. July 26 —Waimate District Hunt Club July 26, 28 —Gisborne R.C. July 27 —P.B. Trotting Club. August 2 —JP.B. Trotting Club. August 4 —Poverty Bay Hunt Club. August" 14, 16, IS—Canterbury J-C----GISBORNE RACING CLUB. TO-DAY’S MEETING. With every prospect of fine weather the opening day of the. Gisborne Racing Club’s Steeplechase meeting to-day should prove a very enjoyable fixture, and a very large attendance is anticipated. There are seven events on the card, the first race being set down for 11.30 a.m., while the last event will be run on or about 4 p.m. Acceptances have amply fulfilled expectations, and big fields and exciting finishes are anticipated. The usual taxi-service will convey patrons to and from the nark, and in addition a special train will leave Gisborne at 11.15 a.m.. and is timed to depart from the Park at 4.15 p.m.

The racing will commence with the Park Hurdles, for which there are seven acceptors. Highway, who lias been racing well of late, can depend upon plenty of support. Whanolco, too. is reported to be very well and should: have a big say at the finish. There are twenty-one acceptors in the Maiden Hack Race. Much interest will be created in the performance of Novoko, who has shown good form of late in Hawke’s Bay. Both Crisis andPolonott have also been putting in exceedingly good work and their supporters are confident.

The Flying' Handicap has attracted a field of eleven, including Heather King who. a montlr hack, secured a couple of wins and is nicely weighted for to-day. Barrier and Queens Up, too, will not lack support. For the principal event —the Gishorne Steeplechase—the field: will he the smallest of the day. Signature will not he there, having had to he destroyed yesterday morning. Oak Bose on his last five starts has had the honor of being the first to salute the judge, and the son of Alalirauui will he entitled to the position of favorite to-day. Not many will believe that General Haven will succeed in heading him.

There should he an excellent field for the Hack Flat Handicap. Kingly will not lack admirers in plenty, and a similar position will arise in the case of Sweet Heather. Those who saw Koodoo at the Coast meetings earlier in the year say that they expect to hear a lot about him to-day. The acceptors for the Hack Steeplechase number ten, among which Noble is certain to put up a good .showing'. If Oak Hose were to be re-started he would, however, prove a thorny proposition for his rivals in a weak field. The day’s racing will conclude with the Winter Oats Handicap. Here Westerner is expected to shine brightly. White Hope is bound to prove troublesome. DEATH OF SIGNATURE. AFC aLAND HORSE DESTROYED TESTERDA Y.

An unfortunate incident occurred on the course yesterday morning, ns the result or which the well-known St. A mans-—Legs gelding Signature, owned by Air G. Fan I, or Auckland, was subsequently destroyed. In common with several other horses, Signature was doing track work on the course yesterday when the trainer, J. Paul, noticed that the horse was apparently in a bad way. Signature was taken oaek to his box at Air George New’s stables and a veterinary surgeon was sent for. It was found that the round hone was badly injured, and after consultation, Signature was put out of his misery by means of a meroilul 1-uilot. AhieK sympathy has been expressed for the owner, -as Signature's chances in the principal event to-day, ihe Gisborne Steeplechase, was considered particularly bright, and lie had a very large following. WILL'SOON BE CRUSHED OUT OF EXISTENCE. PROTEST AGAINST RACING TAXATION. DUNEDIN, July 25. At a meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club. Air. L. C. Hazlett said that, if some relief from taxation was not forthcoming in the near future tome racing clubs would have to go out of existence. This club was not' able to go in for a scheme of improvements at Wingatui while the imposition of the present heavy taxation continued. He thought the time had arrived when they should assert themselves, lie i ingested that a question be put to candidates for Parliamentary honors. They had taken matters too quietly in the past and it looked as if an attempt was being made to crush them cut of existence

Mr. Lough (treasure;), said the fact was the Club had not previously had a better year or better racing and the revenue had ■ kept up remarkably wGI. Under the circumstances the Club might reasonably have expected to .have earned a very handsome profit, but the Government took £24.000. The taxation did not come out of the Club’s finances, but from the pockets of the public. He thought the Government now saw tire handwriting on the wall and relief would crane shortly. Unless something was done for racing, clubs would be wiped off the slate. .Mr. A. C. Hanlon was re-elected president.

POVERTY BAY TROTTING CLUB’S MEETING.

A further six horsfis arrived from Auckland by the Arahura last evening from „the tables cf W. Orange, T. Rowe* and Nugent. The toatl number of acceptances for the trots is now on 40. About 30 trotters were exercised ,on the track yesterday in the presence of a large number of interested persons,* some fast work being done. From all appearances tiie public will be given a good day's outing to-morrow. < SWIMMtIMG. WEISSMULLER IN HOSPITAL.

CHICAGO, July G. Johnny Weissmuller, world champion swimmer, attached to the Illinois Athletic Club, was taken to a. hospital to-day and all his engagements for the* month were cancelled. Physicians say he is suffering from leakage of tile heart and must take a long rest, ft is said to he doubtful whether he will ever compete again. The trouble is said to have teen brought on by over-exertion Wednesday at Decatur, 111., where Weissmuller swam five hard races. This would seem to indicate that there is little possibility of a match race being staged'at Honolulu between Duke Kahanmnoku, island swimmer now in Los Angeles, and Johnny Weissmuller, Illinois Athletic club star. Duke holds the 50yard outdoor record and Weismuller holds the 100 yd record.‘The two were recently invited by tLy Hawaiian A.A.TJ. to come to llomd”’u for a meet in September or October. No word has been received to date in reply to the invitation, which was sent a week or so ago by wireless. CRICK FT. COUNTY MATCHES. LONDON, July 24. Lancashire, 249 for 8, declared (Vallows 114, not out), beat Warwickshire, 122 and 112. Parkin took seven for 71, and six fur 26. Notts, 271 and 218 for 5, declared, beat Worcester, 126 and 229. Hampshire, 443 (Mead 145) and 100 for 2, beat Middlesex. 279 and 263.' Yorkshire, 280 for 3, declared (Holmes 122. not out) and 38 for 0, boat Gloucester, 183 and 133. — A. and N Z.C.A.

SURREY’S GREAT VICTORY OVER KENT. NOTABLE WORK BY FENDER. (Received July 25, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 24. Surrey beat Kent by 322 runs, the first victory at Blackheatli since 1889 and the first on Kentish soil since 1897. Woolley and Seymour gave /Kent a fine start and there appeared the prospect of an exciting finish. They carried the score-to 115, when Seymour was caught by Slieppercl off Fender at 49. At 135 Woolley received a fast ball on the elbow and retired hurt with the score of 54. The rest of the team collapsed and the innings closed for 187. Fender took four wickets for 51, and Hitch three for 42. Fender completed his thousand runs and one hundred wickets, being' the first to do so in 1923.—A. and N.Z.C.A

BOXING. JIM FLETT ARRIVES. WILL 'FIGHT AT 13sf !db. James Flett, the massive heavyweight boxer, arrived in Gisborne last evening with bis trainer, Tom Moylan. Flett stands about 6ft Sin, and should enter the ring at about 13st 81bs. On the trip over in the Maraiya he was luc-ky enough to meet Peter Felix, an ox-champion heavyweight fighter, and Joe Tliomat, one-time heavyweight champion of Western Australia. Felix and’Thomat are with the Oscar Ashe Company, engaged to do a. wrestling match in one of their productions, and: have to keep fit. The chief officer of the boat allowed the boxers to train and box in one of the holds of tfie steamer. Flett says, although Peter is fairly old. he. has lost nunc of his ringcraft ami negro cunning, and can still punch very hard. The same applies to Tliomat, who is; also a negro. Jim Flett is a difficult man to interview; lie will not talk of, himself, lie is happy to talk of everyone but Jim Flett. But, after about thirty minutes of old-time reminiscences, the big fellow was cajoled into saying something of iiis ring career. His first big money fight was some years ago. He went upcountry to meet a great big Swede, or Norwegian, who had been winning all ihe fighting bouts with the shearers, and was looked upon as a wonderful fighter. Jim Flett is a big man, but this Norwegian was a sight bigger.

‘‘After flu* first: round.” says Flett, "I came to the corner and fold mv trainer that the Swede could not tight at all, and asked him what I should do. The trainer said: ‘Go in and take a few punches, and I will let you know after the round.’ I let the hig chap punch away at me. The next round the same, and then we found that we had been all wrong; lie was only halftrained. and in the fourth, round he could not come to light, if lie could have gone on for another three or four rounds we would have made a heap of money ns the shearers thought he was winning all the way.” Flett recalls having met Tam lleonoy in Rockhampton, "the hottest place on earth.” Ton; got the decision: but Flett, of course, lias his own opinion as to who won. and there were plenty who thought the same as Flett. He said he has heard that Torn has improved out of sight since his lasi visit to Sydney, but that does not make any difference. Tie reckons Taylor will beat AYnddy. .Jim Flett has been boxing for about- five years and in that time he has met many men whose names are well known in the annals of the ring. Amongst those he has beaten are Pat Moran in 3 rounds; Otto Frost. 5 rounds; Sailor King, 10 rounds; O. McCarthy, 1 round; Jim Roland on points alter 20 rounds; T. O’Malley, points., and J. 'Leahy. He has fought drawn matches with Sailor King and Taylor, and lost on points to Tom Hecney and Kni Shepherd. In mentioning the above, Jim Flett explained that he was speaking only from inemery, and could recall only these as the outstanding contests in which he had participated. The 'visitor in reply to an inquiry said he was in particularly good form. '‘As a matter of fact,” he confessed with a smile, “I somehow got. the impression that the contest was to take place, on this coining Saturday night, so you can. imagine I did not leave any stone unturned to get fit. 1. did nut know until I arrived here that I would have a week’s training before the match, hut I can a.sure you it will suit me much better, although. I still consider I am quite lit to go into the ring almost immediately.'’ To-morrow the Australian will commence his training at the Gisborne Boxing Association rooms in Harris Buildings. Gladstone Hoad, working from 3 p.m. till 5 p.m. The public are invited to he present and watch the visitor, who is said to excel in shadow sparring and skipping. An appeal is made for sparring partners. preferably quick men, and Flett issues a verbal, guarantee that he will not take advantage of his knowledge to inflict punishment upon any amateur who ,will stand m the ring for' a few rounds with him. Alter to-morrow the training will he continued every afternoon at the rooms.

SOUTH IS LAN I) Cl IA M PION SI I IPS. ASHBURTON, July 25. The Smith Island amateur boxing championship tournament opened tonight with, thirty-four competitors. Following are the muftis: — FLY WEIGHTS. First. Round.—if. Kioley (Grcyniouth) beat V. Howell (Christchurch): A. Ennis (Timaru) beat L. Spencer (Invercargill). BANTAMWEIGHT. First Round.- —Weston (Tininrii) beat 11. Lloyd (Oamaru); T. Griffiths beat L. Black (Christchurch). FEATHERWEIGHTS. First Round.-—R. Fulcher (Dunedin) heat D. Crea (Oamaru). Second Round —T. Armstrong (Christchurch) beat G. Reed (Invercargill). LIGHTWEIGHTS.' . ’ First Round. —T. Harris (Dunedin) beat E. Livingstone (Invercargill). WELTERWEIGHTS.

First Round.—A. Thompson (Christchurch) beat A. Wilkinson (Invercargill): J. Nelson (Grcyniouth) beat F. ESmitheram (Oamaru). HEAVYWEIGHTS. First Round.—J. G. I.ecldo (Invercargill) beat W. Ghaffe* (Ashburton).— Press Assn. ivItEFEREH .HEAVYWEIGHT ' 1 CHAMPIONSHIP BELT. CHARLIE TAYLOR v. ERN WADDY; IN BRISBANE ON-EXHIBITION NIGHT.

Tho Mackay (Q.) sport and boxing promoter, Mr. Con. Sullivan, writes under date 9th inst.. to Mr. W. F. Corbett of tho Sydney Referee as follows: “Charlie Taylor, who defeated Max Gornik in Brisbane last. _ Saturday night, is tiie best Australian heavyweight since Les Dnrcv Perhaps you could prevail on Jack Munro to give him a contest in Sydney. Unlike most heavies, ho is very fast and can take punishment. He has a sleepproducer i i both hands. Re lyis onlv lost one fight out '4 about sixteen contests, namely first, and be turned the tables a few • weeks la 4 ';" when be knocked man nut. fought a draw with Tup TToenov;_ ay as Wnddy fought- '■ ruder d<*cvi •• with Heenov, the- "H srun-w- 1 ■ a good nhampio’s 1 ' • •«,(;. .-. Taylor is a v*v , -Ey ' deservedly so. H ‘ si ve.ird 1 they make them. 9~ oh 1 ■ just on 13st, and ' _;>Hv Imy. the game about, t A: ’’’ :

and Rockhampton .supporters would have no trouble in "finding £SOO to back him against any lighter in Australia.” [The pair are to meet in Brisbane on Exhibition Night.] WADDY WHIPS iWEXON. BATTLE LASTSTWO MINUTES. ■gj) * Fonce Mexoii, challenger for the Australian heavyweight championship soon went down before the holder, Ern Wnddy, at the Unley Stadium, Adelaide, last week. The contest lasted only two minutes. WacTdy inflicted severe punishment from tho outset. Lie caught i Moxon several times in the ribs. Shortly after tho. challenger had lasted for a count of “eight,” his seconds threw in tho towel.

SCULLING. PADDON’S OFFICIAL RECOGNITION AS CHAMPION. (Received July 25, 7.25 p.m.) •SYDNEY, July 25. Replying to questions in the House, Mr. Bruce promised to inquire into the matter of officially recognising the fact that Padclon had retained the world’s sculling championship against the New Zealand challenger.—U.l’.A. RUGBY.

WELLINGTON BEAT SOUTH LAND WELLINGTON, July 25. Wellington met and defeated Southland on a. heavy ground to-day, in the presence of SUOU spectators. The match, on the whole, was not up to representative standard, although the bright flashes played helped to give incident to an otherwise uninteresting game. There was very little between the- two sets of the forwards, but in the backs Wellington word vastly superior, and the final score, Wellington 30 points, Southland 18, indicated the relative merits of the teams. Tries for Wellington were, scored by Swain (3), M. Nicholls, Rogers, Thomas, Duncan, and a try for obstruction; . while M. Nicholls converted three. For Southland, tries were scored by Clark, White, Black (2), and Agtiew converted three. —P.A.

WAIR ARAB A. HEAT MARLBOROUGH. EIGHT MEN DOWN WITH INFLUENZA. • MASTERTOX, July 25. AA’airainnn defeated the Marlborough team by 22 points to G. The home team was depleted of eight of i-heir best men down with influei.aa. The game was played on a heavy ground and was uninspiring.— P.A. BARRINGTON SHIELD MATCH. RAH I.VIU A, .July 25. For the Bauhington Shield match at Manga tainoke, Rush heat Horowlieuua by G points to 5. INTER-COLLEGIATE GAME. PALMERSTON NORTH, July 25. Tn inter-collegiate Rugby. Palmerston North . Boys’ * High School - defeated Wanganui College after a great game by It points to 13. —P.A. • BILLIARDS. amat eu i : rnaa hr o n sin pa . IH'XEDJN. July 2.5. The 1 otiriiament for ti e New Zealand amateur billiard cim mpiunship was continued to-day. In the first round Sideiierg (Dunedin) beat Mason (Dunedin) by 750 to HO. The second round commenced tonight when Stewart (Dunedin) beat Anderson (Dunedin) by 750 to 537. In each case the winner had an easy victory. Roberts, the present champion, will meet Howeson (Dunedin) to-mor-row aft ernoon.- —P. A.