SPORTING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 19 November 1923, Page 4

SPORTING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(By Maecenas.)

have won, but should they fail oHhS rwxx theymay make ~ B&p^^TirS t£ Cl!'Kr d thi s reason m ™Z*^ the tables on Tukia if taken to Feilding for the "classics" to be decided at: the spring meeting.

.The ex-New Zealander, H. Cairns,, will pay his usual visit to the Dominion at Christmas and will be riding at: Cairns usually takes more interest im golf than racing. Last season Tamatete was troubled* with boils, and. the brilliant gelding--did not appear till the late summer JNot long since the same trouble again; manifested itself, and Tamatete has; had a bad time.

The dividend paid by Mangawherco when he won the Tiraumea Hack at Pahiatua on Thursday last was an* 'eye-opener" for the "wookbrokers" -of the Empire City, as there was fiome money for th© Taranaki geldrng As a rule the Taranaki, stables'securesome money at ; the Feildrag spring: meeting, and, judging from the nun? ber of horses from these parts engaged' at the forthcoming meeting, a portionof prize-money should again fall to the* province. o,AiL th* coming meeting of the btratford Racing Club, portion of the* new race track (about four furlongsV will be used. This will give the advantage of a straight run for a considerable distance at th© beginning of the Cup and other races, and the lasfc half mile of all races will be decided on a well graded track. This necessary improvement will be much appreciated by owners, trainers, and the public alike. Three fin© pacers from the Soutfc Island in Great Hope, Lightning and? Great Bingen are to take part int the Otahuhu meeting, and when correctly "labelled" should trouble their opponents. The form of Enthusiasm in the Stead" Gold Cup on the last day of the Canterbury meeting was her best for many months, and the daughter of Panmure will be a difficult mare to beat in anymiddle distance handicap which happens to be decided in the near future. When Razzle Dazzle ran in the Oaks and Gold Cup at Riccarton she was a very different filly to that which competed earlier in the season, and" on© is safe in stating that her Trentham conqueror (Surveyor) would have had little or no chance with the daughter of Kilbroney at Riccarton.

In the Derby at the recent Canterbury meeting Razzle Dazzle was foolishly withdrawn, an act which robbed her of the. distinction of equalising; Desert Gold's achievement in 1915. Incidentally the owner of Black Ronald must consider himself lucky, as ridden right out that colt took 2.35$ to win, whereas Razzle Dazzle ran the Oaks in 2.34, and was never at her best. .

Many considered that Great Hopewas lucky to beat Acron in the New Zealand Trotting Cup, but the point is a debatable one. The fact must be> admitted that Great Hope was going very easy over the first one and a half miles of that race, and when young Brice asked the gelding to head off the leader. Great Hope did so in no "uncertain manner, and showing. wonderful speed, he opened up a lead of twenty yards in a furlong. Acron showed great brilliancy when he won the Royal Handicap, pacing the one* and a quarter miles in 2.46, but the> point must not be overlooked that Kennerley relied on Logan Chief in preference to Acron to win the free-for-all. Logan Chief duly won, but he only defeated Good Hope by a neckin 2.7 3-5.

The apprentice jockey, W. 0Bagby, is riding remarkably well just, now, and with more experience he will no doubt emulate the deeds of his elder, brother R. S. Bagby, who is possibly as good as any rider in the Dominion. The Ashhurst—Pohangina RacingClub received a wonderful responsefrom owners for their annual meeting, which is set down- for Wednesdaynext. Some notes on the meetingwill appear in Tuesday's issue of this paper. The fashionably bred Sunshot. (Kilbroney—Sunbird) has been responsible for excellent work at Trentham, and was in the "market" at Pahiatua on Wednesday last, and succeeded in beating all of her opponents with theexception of the well seasoned Sensible. After running prominently to a point where he was carried wide, the Taranaki trained Mangawhero was allowed to pay a" false "price" on the second day of the Pahiatua meeting. Sincecoming to this province from Auckland. Mangawhero has paid his way. An offer of 2000 guineas was refuse* for Inferno after that colt had won the Welcome Stakes at Riccarton, butthe son of Absurd was not for sale. Not long since such a price was a common offer for a well-bred yearling by the same sire,, so the prestige of Absurd must be on the wane. Obviously Inferno is not easily managed, and for that reason was not started in the Electric Plate at Riccarton, in which event Inferno would onlyhave to carry 6.6 under w.f.a. conditions Unless Inferno settles down a good deal, light-weight boys will be> useless on him, and therefore races such as the rich Royal Stakes at Ellerslie will go to other horses. Taking the time test as a guide, the horses of to-day are immeasurablysuperior to those of, say, 25 years ago, and to show how fast races are run to-day, one may quote the Suburban* Hurdles run at Riccarton on the last day of the Canterbury meeting. Carrying the load of 12,3. Sir Fanciful ran 20 yards over 13 furlongs in the; wonderful time of 2.56, which is equal t> 2 41* for H mites ov€r seven fll £hts of hurdles. A decade ago our chief cup races were won in slower time.