SPORTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 26 August 1924, Page 3

SPORTING.

RUMOURED SALE OF PARODY. *Y CABLE —PB2BB ASSOCIATION—COPYBIQHI SYDNEY, Aug. 25. It is rumoured that Mr Greenwood has sold Parody at a high price, but no details are available.

NOTED TRAINER DEAD

AIR PATRICK BUTLER

HISTORIC RACES RECALLED

(BY TELF.GUAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 25. The death occurred at Nazareth House on Sunday evening of Mr Patrick Butler, at one time one of the best known trainers of racehorses in New Zealand. For many years past Mr Butler had taken little active interest in the preparation of horses for the racing track, but at one time he was 'known from one end of New Zealand to the other as a most astute judge of horseflesh, and as a trainer of such great horses as The Agent, Manton and Liberator. Manton was only one of the great racehorses owned by Air Butler, who also prepared The Agent, a wonderful steeplechaser, who, in 1879, with 12.0, and in 1880, with 12.7, won the New Zealand Grand National Steeplechase, and, under 12.6, in 1884, repeated the performance, a feat that has not been equalled by any horse in the history of the race. Artillery, who won the Canterbhry'Cup in 1886, and Crackshot, who won in 1890, were another pair who helped to set the seal on the fame of one of the greatest trainers New Zealand has ever known, while the victories of the racecourse idol Liberator, in the Grand ,National Hurdle Race of 1894, under 12.6, the Great Northern Hurdle Race of 1895, under 12.6, and the Great Northern Steeplechase of 1895, under 11.12, all pay tribute to the ability of the deceased sportsman. For Liberator Air Butler paid £SOO, a A r ery large sum in those days, but his judgment was borne out by the gelding’s subsequent form. Air Butler rode with success in the South Island against, the leading horsemen of the day. He was also well known as an athlete many years ago, being great at the hop, step and jump, while he could he depended upon to rattle over the 100 yards in less than llsec.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By Alaecenas.) The North Taranaki Hunt Club are to be congratulated on the good acceptances for their meeting, which is set down for Saturday next.

Chairman (Nassau —Culress) with which a. big “coup” was brought off at the Ohinemuri meeting last March, is at present going well and may run prominently at the forthcoming Alarton meeting.

Official changes in the racing world continue to.be recorded, the latest club to appoint an official is the TaratahiCarterton body, the committee of which have appointed Captain Gage AVilliams as judge in place of Mr. Ulic Shannon, who held the position for a, considerable time.

After officiating as handicapper to the Riverton Racing Club for one meeting, Air. N. B. Lusk was again appointed.

The well-bred Sun shot- (Kilbroney— Sunbird) which was trained by 11. Telford at Trentham last season, is now under E. Murtagh’s care, and may be given a run at the Taranaki Hunt Club meeting next Saturday. Bred in the purple, Sunshot is much inferior to that which his breeding would suggest. While Wassail is being hailed by some a.s a champion, Yoma, is spoken of as a disappointment, yet the race between the pair up till the last half furlong in the Heath cote Handicap at Rir-carton was quite interesting, and AVassail could .not have, done much better, so as there was only 51bs between them Yoma. cannot be' a failure, if Wassail is as good as many say he is. AVhile the Canterbury , Jockey Club received 62 nominations for the New Zealand Cup, fully two-thirds of those nominated are out of their class, although it. may be stated that “class’ is not a strong feature of the big two mile handicap. Possibly many owners refrain . from nominating their horses for such a strenuous race on the score that much money can be won by a good /handicap horse over middle 'distance courses, which, of course, are much more popular. Included in the list of horses nominated for the New Zealand Cup are the hurdle horses Nuknniai and Santiago, both of which showed their best form at the recent Canterbury meeting, but on anything the pair have shown in public they can have but an outside chance m a. race like the New Zealand Cup.

As that good stayer Income does not ngure in the nominations for the New Zealand Cup, it may . be that his trainer would not risk breaking down the son of Guianforte, which could be put aside till the tracks get soft, for bis iorm this winter has proved that ncome gallops just as well on a soft tiaek as he did on concrete-like courses when perfectly sound . In speaking of the Royal Despatch incident, Owner-Trainer j M Cam wbii; "tl 1 ! WitTlC I SSe / i V l6 racc > says that ih le the incident looked somewhat bf,i° ° nC "'l 10 w ? s lookil ‘g for trouble, +hf le 'U lS c°ii a r; Slatle of corruption on the pal t of McCarten or Jones, Cameron adding that they will be unlucky individuals it they do not succeed in the appeal. As Cameron is a lirst-cJass judge and a very shrewd observer bis opinion was worth seeking. Cameron was only in the Dominion a few days and has returned to Australia The price offering by bookmakers is very often a guide in Australia as to what chance a runner has, but even this is not sufficient, for should the iorm of a horse not warrant the connections supporting him then lie automatically lengthens in the betting with the '‘metullieans,who naturallv bet according to the money offering 'about a hoi so. In the event which caused the trouble to Jones and McCarten Royal Despatch carried within a few pounds of the favourite (Hard Cash) on the totalisator, hut with the “books” Hard Cash was quoted at 9 to 4, hut o to 1 was offering about Royal Despatch. What chance has Nigger Minstrel in A.J.C. D<?rl>y 'i This is a question or ten asked. The brother to Desert Gold was not produced till late in his two-year-old career, and while his form last season was not that of a great youngster, Nigger Minstrel ran sufficiently well to make his throe-voar-old prospects bright, even if he is riot good enough to beat the Australian Heroic, who showed exceptional promise last season. The form of Nigger Minstrel as a two-year-old, was infinitely better than that of .Ballymena at the same age, but Ballymena’s improvement from two to three was exceptional. In a trial with Sunart and Arch Salute on the Woodville course, before going south to the Canterbury meeting, Soliform easily beat his ' opponents, and as Soliform continued to im-

prove after getting to Riccartoii, Trainer Coyle was very confident his charge would win the Winter Cun. So confident was lie that he booked passage back to Wellington by the steamer leaving the day after the race was run, remarking at the time that the Winter Cup would do him. AVhile nothing had a chance with or could have beaten Sturdee on the day the Grand National Steeplechase was run, both the AVinterxCup and Grand National Hurdles may have been won by other than the ultimate winners had the luck of the race been evenly distributed. For instance, Yoma was undoubtedly stopped twice in the last furlong of the AAinter Cup by the rider of an opposing horse, yet he finished within a length of Soliform, which had an uninterrupted run throughout the big mile race. In the Grand National Hurdles the instructions given the rider of AMgabond undoubtedly cost that gelding the race, as 'after giving Lochson quite 20 lengths’ start over the last mile he appeared to have a level money chance before rising at the final obstacle, but unfortunately for his owners and backers A 7 agabond made his only bad jump of the race, as by getting too close to jump he lost six lengths and an excellent chance. Still, the honours of the race were with Lochson, which never put a foot wrong, and after being one of the leaders over the major portion of the journey struggled on with a weakened leg to beat the also unlucky Santiago, which photos of the race show was last of a strung-out field going down the back stretch.