SPORTING NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 9167, 29 July 1890, Page 3

SPORTING NOTES.

Entries for the 'Challenge Stakes, to he run at the C.J.C. Autumn Meeting of 1893, close at 4 p.m, ou Friday, August 1. Owners at a distance should bear in rpind. that nominations for the Canterbury Cup (2 sovs), acceptances for the New Zealand Cup (3 sovs), and further payments for the Welcome (2 sovs), Derby (3 sovs), and Oats Stakes (2 sovs) must be made at the C.J.C. Booms by 4 p.m. on Friday, August 1. - Candidates for the office of Secretary or Starter to the Canterbury Jockey Club are reminded that their applications must be Jodged.not.later than July 31. Messrs Evitt, .Hately, Danvers, Henry, Donne, and Blnnie are. the .applicants for the post of Han dicapper to the Wanganui Jockey Club, and one of these, gentlemen will be elected at the annual meeting of the Club to, be held to-morrow. A private correspondent, writing from Auckland, says:—Matters relating to the Stud Company are in statu quo. An effort was made to get several persons to go into a new affair, but notwithstanding that the stallions, mares and foals could be got for a little over £12,000, a great bargain, sufficient capital was not forthcoming. * # * I fancy you will find Tirailleur slipped for New Zealand Cup, and he will certainly have a say. Reprisal has not grown up much, but ho has furnished nicely and is a very promising colt. Hia trainer thinks he has a show in the Cup, but he can know very little on that head at present. Mr Duncan Rutherford tells us that he has a couple of nice two-year-olds in work at Leslie Hills. One is Kuluine, a colt by Cadogan—Caprice, that already stands 15 hands Sin, and the other Silver Grey, a colt by St George—Lady Eva. Of course their ultimate destination is " jumping,” and if by any accident Ahua should miss the National to-day one of the pair may avenge his defeat two or three years hence. • Melton, the winner of the Epsom Derby of 1835—a race which our London correspondent describes this week as the best of the century—has been purchased by the Italian Government. Trappist, a winner of the Stewards Cup at Goodwood and sire of L’Abbeese de Jouarrc,' last year’s Oaks winner, died suddenly in England during May. A half brother to the St Albans stallion, Eiridspord, a gelding by Peter from Sonsie Queen, won a five furlong Selling Race at the Manchester meeting on May ’2B, and was sold for 520 gs. • Prodigal, the brother to Tasman, was recently sold in Sydney to Mr Smith of Tucka Tucka station, for 250 gs. A number of German coaching stallions have arrived in Sydney, and will be offered for sale on an early date. Jumbo won the Two-mile Trot of 40 sovs at the Sydney Driving Park Meeting on July 9, starting 22sec behind scratch, and covering the distance in 6min 6sec. Cavalier 12sec finished second, and Burwood Gsec was unplaced. It is reported that the injuries received by Mr C, J. Cunningham while riding Why Not in th.e Liverpool Grand National are even more serious than at first supposed, and that a long time must elapse before the accomplished amateur can appear in the saddle again. James Goater, the well-known English jockey, who won the Chester Cup on Joe Miller thirty-eight years ago, celebrated his fifty-second birthday on May 29, and is said to still ride more exercise gallops and trials than any other professional at Newmarket, St Malo has been returned to his former owner, but the cancellation of the sale reported a fortnight ago was not, as stated by one of our contemporaries, due to the gelding’s unsoundness, but to the ill-health of the purchaser, who found himself unable to give the necessary attention to the useful son of Gorton. The nominations for the Ashburton Hunt Club show a considerable falling off when compared with those of the preceding year, bub are proportionally so much better than the nominations received by the Christchurch Hunt Club that our southern friends should be well satisfied. Mr Martin Taylor returned from his Australian trip by the Mcnowai on Tuesday. Before his departure from Melbourne ho sold the greyhound Her Ladyship for £24, Sans Mariner for £36, and Stormy Night for £l2. He was banqueted by a number of Victorian coursers. In the Free Handicap Sweepstake to be run at the Newmarket Houghton Meeting next October, for which the weights were declared during.the week before the Derby. Surefoot was allotted 9st, while Sainfoin, the winner of the “ blue ribbon,” received Bst 41b. Signorina was estimated at 31b below Surefoot, and the following are the weights placed on some others engaged in the race whose names will be familiar to our readers : —Marion Bst 91b, Memoir Bst 81b, Semolina Bst 81b, Blue Green Bst 81b, Heaume Bst Blb, Right-away Bst 41b, Le Nord Bst 41b, St Serf 7st 121 b, Alloway 7st 12lb, Hackler 7st 12lb, Orwell 7st 12ib, Kirkham 7sfc 101 b, Imp 7st 91b. Janissary 7at 41fa. The Epsom Derby next year will be run on Wednesday, May 27. Owing to the late arrival of theMonowai we are unable to give our usual budget of Australian news. Our London correspondent’s letter appearing in another part of this issue gives a full account of .the race for the Epsom Derby, and particulars of other important events decided just before the departure of the mail. The official time for the English Oaks was 2min 40|-sec, which is a record, the previous best time for the Oaks being 2min 42±sec, and for the Derby 2min 43seo. News received by the mail confirms the report that the Californian colt, El Rio Rey, has 'turned roarer, and will never be fit to race again. At the Sheepshead Bay track (New York), on June 25, Salvator, by Prince Charlie— Satina, ran a mile and a quarter in 2min 4sec, which reduces the previous record lor the distance by 2|sec. It must be remembered, however, that these American records are made from flying starts and on specially prepared Iracks. News comps from Australia that Cuirassier has been heavily hacked for the Melbourne Gup, r Donovan broke down badly in his near fore-leg while galloping at Newmarket on June 11. The Duke of Portland writes to the papers contradicting a report that the horse has turned roarer.

The jockey Watts received a present of £SOO irom Sir James Miller for winning the Derby on Sainfoin. The value of the race to the winner was 5430 sovs, while Mr J. Porter, the nominator of Sainfoin, received 500 sovs. John Porter has now trained five Derby winners. Laving prepared Blue Gown, Shotover, St Blaise, Ormonde, and Sainfoin. The team of Royal yearlings which were to be sold at Hampton Court last month included a sister to Sainfoin, the Darby winner, and a sister to Memoir, the Oaks winner.

The time for the Woodcote Stakes, six furlongs, won by' Mr D. Cooper’s filly Melody, was Imin 13 ; *eec. The Austra. lians, with an Euglish-bred horse, have beaten their own record, which still stands at Imm 14sec.

On June 13, the following were the scores of the principal winning jockeys in England:—T. Loales 47, G, Barrett 35, S. Loates 28. J. Woodburn 28. F. Rickaby 27, J. Watts 26, T. Weldon 24, J. Fagan 22, A. White 22, T. Cannon 19, G. Chaloner 17, F. Barrett 17. A writer in the Wanganui Chronicle reports the steeplechaser Oddfellow to be in a very bad way, sufferng irom lockjaw, and thinks there is little hope of the horse recovering. Kahu, a gelding by Merlin from Repo, that won the Ladies’ Bracelet at the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting last year, and subsequently passed into ( the hands of a South Canterbury sportsman, died at Waimate a few days ago from an attack of inflammation. The San, Francisco mail brought American files to June 25, from which we glean the following items: —Tournament; by Sir Modred - Plaything, started favourite, at 8 to S, ia the Carlton Stakes,*

for three-year-olds, at the Brooklyn Meeting on May 24, but was , beaten rather easily by Kenwood, by Falsetto—-Katie Creel, who covered . the mile in Imin 42}aec. At the New’ York Meeting, on May 30, a mare named Fides, by 111-used —Pillette, eclipsed El Rio Key’s record (Imin llsec) for the six furlongs, getting over the 'distance 1 with Bst 41b in the saddle in Next day fillies by Sir Modred ran first and second' in a sweepstake for two-year-olds, the four furlongs being covered in 47Iaec, or half a second better than the Australasian record. Gloaming, by Sir Modred—Twilight, won at the same meeting the Elms Stakes for three-year-old fillies, and Kildeer, by Darebin— Lou Lanier, a sweepstakes for. maiden two-year-olds. On June 10, Dr Hasbrouek, by Sir Modred . Sweetbriar secured the Larchmbnt Stakes for three-year-olds. At the annual sale of the Rancho del Paso yearlings on June 16, the three highest prices were as follows: Colt by St Blaise—Maud Hampton, .£1750; colt by Darebin —Katrine, ill 500; colt by Sir Modred—Schoolgirl, £1450. Fifteen colts and nine fillies by Sir Modred averaged £IBO, and eight colts and sevtn fillies by Darebin £384, At New York on June 14, Dr Helmuth, by Sir Modred— Sweetbriar, won the Throgg’s Neck Stakes for three-year-olds, and several other youngsters by the New Zealand sire showed good form during the meeting. Robert Bonner says “If I desired to produce only the greatest possible number of 2.30 trotters I should nob use any thoroughbred blood, bub would stick to tested trotting families. If, however, extreme speed was the result I wished to obtain, I should want at least 25 per cent of approved thoroughbred blood.” It is reported from Berlin that the Emperor William, who, like his brother-in-law, the Duke of Augestenberg and Prince Frederick Leopold, tabes a great interest in the German turf, has just intimated his intention to give £3OOO out of his private purse to a stake for three-year-olds to be called the Prussian Derby, to be run at Berlin. A curious story is attached to the famous Irish racehorse Barcaldine. After winning all his races as a two-year-old and three-year-old on the Cuiragh of Kildare, his owner in an evil moment entered him in the. Northumberland Plate. He was assigned the weight of 6st 101 b, which, ns after events proved, placed the race at his mercy. Many people were quite aware of this, and he was at once made first favourite, the bookmakers refusing to offer more than 3 to 1 a fortnight before the race. Under such circumstances it must have been an extraordinary madness that seized upon his owner when he telegraphed to Sir John Astley, asking if the baronet would give him £2OOO if he scratched Barcaldine. As a matter of course, Sir John reported the whole affair to the Jockey Club; the owner was at once warned off the Turf, and the horse forbidden to run while it was his property. Attempts were made to run him under the names of different persons, bub the stewards kept a sharp look-out, and would not be satisfied that it was a bond fide change until two years after the fatal mistake. It was Mr Robert Peck who was bis purchaser, and under him he soon afterwards won the Westminster Cup at Kempton Park (1883). Then starting with longer odds against him than any other competitor, he easily worsted such irood lu.rsfes as Tristan, Lucerne, and Wallenstein. The winning of the Epsom Cup and Orange Cup cost him no trouble, and that same year he took the Northumberland Plate under 9st 101 b. He never competed again, but quitted the turf, leaving upon his admirers the conviction that he was one of the finest horses that ever trod a racecourse, and that but for his owner’s folly turf records might be somewhat different, and that Foxhall would never have had a Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire put to his name.

The third report of the English Royal Commission on Horse-breeding has iust been issued as a Parliamentary paper. The Commissioners express the opinion that the present method of applying the Royal Bounty, the giving of prizes at agricultural exhibitions, is likely to prove more efficacious in improving the breed of horses than when it was bestowed in the form of Queen’s Plates. They add:—“ It has come to our knowledge that one of the results of the present scheme has been that some high-class stallions, which would otherwise have been purchased to go abroad, have been retained in this country, and some of the evidence which we have taken points to the probability that by augmenting the grant, and by offering prizes for mares, a distinct inducement would be afforded to owners to retain the best young mares in the country.” The report refers with regret to the withdrawal by the Royal Agricultural Society of the annual premiums, and suggests that it would be desirable to increase the number of premium stallions, and to offer prizes for mares which have been served by those stallions, and prizes for young stock. The sum at the disposal of the Commissioners during the last two years was £10,200. To the report is appended a memorandum by Mr Chaplin, who says that he concurs with the general views expressed, and adds:—“ There is every reason to believe, from all the information we receive, that the work of the Commission has already been attended by most encouraging results ; and that a great impetus has ; been given to horse-breeding in many districts of the country. The services of highclass stallions who have passed the ordeal of the severe examinations. to which they are submitted are eagerly sought after, while the breed is improved both in quality and class. The number of sound horses is being steadily increased, and I am strongly of opinion that an extended operation of the system would be attended with great public advantage.” Commenting upon the recent refusal of a Scottish Duke to lend his park for a small local race-meeting, because on the last occasion betting was permitted, contrary to his express wish,, the Field saysTo endeavour to maintain or harbour a racemeeting, and at the; same time to'forbid the'adjunct of betting with, the noisy utterances of the trade would be as futile, as the Parfcingtonian attempt to mop the Atlantic. We are inclined to have our doubts whether his Grace at any time really believed it possible that a British public, whether Celtic or Saxon, could look, on at'horseracing and not insist upon wagering as to the results; and if the wagering once enters into calculation, to expect it to be conducted in silence would be truly hyperbolical. “Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with,” and if a petty racemeeting proves to be conducive to no social or moral benefit in a locality, we can understand that a formal excuse for its discontinuance might have to be found and recorded. The “ ring ” of such a meeting would be an olla podrida more than usual; ' and, even with the right of the owner of the ground to make selections as to admission, it would be almost impossible to keep sufficietn watch to debar the entrance of black sheep. Such roughs would doubtless be a nuisance, and would tend to create disorder, and the straight portion of the ring would suffer in repute through the contamination of welshers taking in vain the calling of bookmakers and passing as such. Under such circumstances, the best nominal pretext for summarily closing the gates in future mighfwell be found-in* a complaint that heretofore betting had been carried on in a turbulent manner, and by many an individual whose room would be preferred to his company. Such, wo take it, may be the history of this extinction of a scene of quondam leather-flapping. Ho one will be injured by the withdrawal of leave, unless it be local publicans and a certain amount of racing tag-rag who patronise them. The day of such gatherings is more or less past, but we can hardly bring ourselves to believe that any landowner, however charitably philanthropical, could seriously suppose it possible to conduct thorn on a moral scale of purity wherein the propensity for betting was an unknown element, neither attempted nor tolerated.

It seems for the moment that there is little probability of the handicapping difficulty—the dispute between Mr Stead and the Dunedin Jockey Club— being settled without the intervention of-the.lawv- Mf

Stead has not actually apologised as demanded by the Club’s ultimhtuto, but has expressed his readiness, to withdraw any statement which exceeds the .limits of fait and reasonable criticism. This looks like trifling with the matter; and we are not surprised to learn that the Club ha» practically directed the handicapper to. take legal proceedings against his accusers’ We think the Club would have no difficulty, in finding plenty of statements in Mr Stead’s letters which exceed the limits of fair and reasonable criticism; but it would be extremely undignified' to depart from) the conditions of the ultimatum, and so open another discursive' correspondence.: If Mr Stead is really anxious for what the public would call an “amicable settlement, . there is no serious obstacle ini the way. The Club in its last letter has specially' pointed out that “it could not be considered derogatory to any gentlemim to disclaim the intention of having imputed; the dishonourable motives which the' language used baa been supposed to express.” Mr Dowse might have to sacrifice something, the Jockey Club a great deal more, and Mr Stead most of all; but, then, these parties would suffer in proportion to their offences, and learn lessons which could scarcely fail to be of much value in the future. If Mr Dowse were made a little more careful, the Jockey; Club less “ provincial,” and Mr Stead less dictatorial, the quarrel would not be without its good results. We have heard a great deal during.the last decade about the deterioration of. the English thoroughbred, and It is an accepted theory among a large number of sporting people that the modern system of racing has ruined the stamina of the horses at; Home. We take a rather more respectful view of the animals produced in the “ effete old country,” and have little doubt that breeders can still produce whatever. Race Committees encourage and the condiv tions of the sport demand. A correspondent ; writing to one of our English content-! poraries on this subject, says the outcry| against sprint races is, to a great extent, rubbish. “As far as we can judge,” he con- : tinues, “ long distance races have prospered: in exactly inverse ratio to legislationjn their, favour. In the palmy days‘of two mile* and upwards, when forty odd horses' scrambled about on each others’., backs in 1 the Chester Cup, half-mile races were;rife: throughout the land.. , Then we awoke to i the fact that the * unrivalled breed was in; danger,’ &c., and we abolished; half-milei spins for three-year-olds and upwards; ■ after which entries for long courses fell off. faster than before, so by way of making our.horses stay, whether they liked it or' nob, we exacted that two-year-olds should] run no shorter distance than five furlongs, and, as a result, lo! we had fewer stayers! than ever—at least, so the owners seem to think, and they are very likely to know.! It may be all a mere coincidence, but at ’ any rate it is an unfortunate one.” We do not suppose the writer Wishes to imply that long distance races dee-v troy the stamina of horses, and .that I the multiplication of half-mile sprints has' a precisely opposite effect; but he has; shown pretty clearly that racehorses are; made what they are, not by turf legis-. lation but by the races in which they are | set to compete. Thirty years ago, when! the principal prizes were given for ra<»s' over long distances, horses were bred and! trained to stay; now, when mammoth ■ stakes are provided for six-furlong sprints,; owners want a horse that will, above all ; things, go fast. If they could be practi- j cally tested and compared, we should; probably find the champions of later days j —such animals as Barcaldine, Bendigo, i Ormonde and Donovan—immeasurably’ superior, even over the cruel Beacon i Course, to the very best of the heroes of ] the four-mile beats which flourished at.tfae , beginning of the century: Taming hearer I home we see many people attaching ‘tqo’’ much importance to exhibitions of endu-'. ranee. At Riccarton to-day we are to have ‘ a Grand National Steeplechase, and in ( deference to a not very merciful whim of! our forefathers the distance is to be four' miles over a number of formidable fences, j We have been improving the breed of : jumping horses in this way for fifteen' or ■ sixteen years, until we have well nigh' improved them off the face of the earth.; Fifteen years ago we had a dozen horses I competing for a £IOO Grand National at Timaru, to-day we shall have hall that ; number competing for a £4OO Grand, National at Riccarton. If we had fixedthe course at a reasonable length, two and 1 a half or three miles, the fields would have ■' steadily grown and the quality of the com- i petitors just as certainly improved. As it ; is owners can find much more profitable use for genuine stayers. Some time ago we mentioned that, Hr, Duncan Rutherford had complained to the Committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club of the weight placed upon Ahua in the' Epsom Stakes at the Autumn Meeting.of the Club, and asked for an explanation., It. will be remembered that Ahua was set to carry 12st, and to give as much as 401 b to Kimberley; while in a similar race at the same meeting Kimberley received only, 16Ib from Ruby. This, as was pointed out at the time, made Ahua 241 b better than , Ruby, an estimate which puzzled the public just as much as it did the owner of the champion hurdle-racer. Mr Rutherford’s request was passed on to the mem-' hereof the Handicapping Committee, and those gentlemen forthwith* got up on the “high horse” and announced that they would give no explanation of their work. We are not surprised; the handicappers were fairly cornered, and an explanation could only have been a confession of ignorance; hut it is quite time we had a rule by which owners could demand as a right an explanation of the • weights placed upon their horses. This would do away with amateur handicapping and the various indulgences extended to amateur handicappers, but these might very well be spared in the interests of sport. If services, are worth anything at all they are worth paying for, and it is not creditable that the premier Club of the Colony should put up with an inferior article simply because it is cheap, or, more correctly, because its first cost is small. Tbit unfortunate measure, the Gaming and Lotteries Act, is the object of another tilt in the House of Representatives. This time, Mr R. H. Reeves, the member for Inangahua, a gentleman who has hot previously displayed a feverish anxiety for the morals of the people, or the welfare of the turf, is the assailant. He proposes that the Act should he repealed altogether, and that we should return to the old system of free-trade in gambling. It is whispered, possibly with some truth, that Mr Reeves and some of his friends have taken offence at the recent decision of the Dunedin Jockey Club on the Westland metropolitan question, and determined to adjust matters in their own particular style, by getting rid of the tot&lisator. We would, however, rather believe Mr Reeves is impelled by higher motives j that he really thinks the bookmakers better - than the machine, and desires to make a change which he considers would be for the good of the country at large. But whatever Mr Reeves’motives, his proposal is sure to find plenty of support outside the House. A considerable number of people woulsl ' rejoice at a return to the old order.‘of things, when they might prey.on' the public to their hearts’ content; and-a much larger number; good, well-meaning people, who are “ agin ” • everything that does not make betting in any!fchape or form an indictable offence, would satisfy their consciences by jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Fortunately our legislators have been compelled by the force of public opinion to give .a,little, serious thought to the matter, and a majority have sense enough to see that the totalisator is steadily ridding the turf of some of its worst abuses. Mr Reeves’ Bill is not likely to become law.