THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17206, 28 June 1916, Page 3

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

[From Our Correspondent.] LONDON,'May 4

THE TURF

In spite of its long distance from town, the first meeting to be held at Newbury for over a year was a big success. On the opening day there was the Greenhorn Stakes, which in 3909 was won by King Edward’s Minoru, who went on and won the Two Thousand Guineas, and the Derby- On this occasion no prominent Derby horse was in tho field, and, as a matter of fact, a mare named Melissa, owned by Lord Durham, was made favourite. Last season as a. two-year-old she was known as the Meiusine filly, and she was undoubtedly smart. She- made a gallant attempt to win, but was not equal to conceding 71b more than woight-for-age to Mr E. I-lulton’s Analogy and :ur i* 1 . O. Stern’s V laming loro. Neither of tho latter wo hau previously won a race, though they were performers of some distinction. Analogy was beaten at the recent Newmarket meeting, but that was over a mile and a quarter. This was a mile race, and the horse, though broken in bis wind, just got home. Melissa v r as third, and will yet win good races lor J.ord Durham. On the second day of the meeting the Newbury Spring Clip avas_ won by Cervnl, a horse that carried 7st 7lb, and is leased by the trainer, If. 1C Hunt, from an owner who is now serving at the front. Hitherto this animal ha* scored over longer distances, and as a result he was not much fancied, but ho nevertheless just pulled through after a hard '.-ace with Lord lloseberv s Vancluse, who was trying to give 171 - Third was Rather Holder, now owned by a Spanish sportsman. The favourite was last year’s Cambridgeshire winner, Silver Tag- who was trying to win under 9st 21b. Bun her prospects were shattered at tho start, as she lost ground and was never afterwards in the struggle. Among tire failures were Clapgate, the winner or the Din-c-oiiiiield Handicap and Sir Eager, vvho represented the famous Manton stable, and see ried to bp much fancied. 1 be two-year-old winners at the meeting included Lord Rosebery s filly by Sun star from Montour, and Publican, the latter being owned in partnership b> Mr H. de La Rue and Mr H- S. iNrsse, the trainer. Publican is by Sir E. Cassel’s horse Cylgad, first runner (and winner) it’was. The Newmarket Guineas w«e«s opened.'with' a series of surprises. J' lU! > it was one for a small Epsom staole Victor Tabor’s—to come to headquarters and win three races. They appropriately enough took the Visitor s 1 and’cap with Canard, and both trie selling faces with Must-aplta. and Mediator re-c-ner-tivelv Mustapha cnee belonged •;tS u\d Carnarvon, 1 while the Hungarian Prince Ivinsky, used to own fnstapbaV The Spring Two-year-rml Stakes was won by Mr Hulton s unfancied fill* Margaretha), a daughter of Sunstar and "Wood Daisy. She defeated Mr Walter Raphael s Tngamoi by a head, whilst the first favourite, ]V[r Curzon’s Pcrnxflotft> & chnnvnng laughter of William the Third, was beaten through losing several lengths at the start. Tnpamor’s stable companion, Sir George Farrar s Resolution, n mad thing, that bad to be led to the post, won the maiden race for two-year-olds. He was absolutely unfancieci, ind was, therefore, one of the surprise winners of the afternoon. Another .race was won for Lord Derby by luisipt, -but in this case the winner was a ornnounccd favourite. . , r , , The advocates of tho Pari-Mutuel system of bjfetting are serious in then agitation to have it established on English racecourses. They havo now addressed a petition J o the Jockey Club with the object or c,v o\ving■ the strong feeling in its favour among breeders, owners and trainers. Up, to thepre T mnt it has been most influentially supported, the signatories including tho Marquis of Cholmordeley, Lord Carnarvon. Lord Marcus Beresford (manager of the King’s racehorses), Mr Ernes Russel, Sir William Nelson, Sir Willing Cooke, Sir Walter Gilbyo, Sir Robert Wilmot, Hon George Lambton, Mr E. Hulton and the principal trainTHE LONSDAIE BELT. If Sergeant Basham had paused to think of the import of his match with Eddie Beattie when he climbed into the ring at the National Sporting Club, i( is likely that the result would have been bad for his boxing- v -he would" have meditated “ Victory . will give me £430 in purse and side stake, it will be my third consecutive win in the welter-weight championship and entitle, nip to keep as my own proporty Lord Lonsdale's splendid belt, and I shall qualify for a pension of £1 a week on attaining the age of fifty.’’ Financially, as boxing prizes go in.those days, the award \vfts trifling, but the occasion was one which gave Basham, the opportunity of winning unique distinction. Needless to say, a keener boxer never put • lie gloves on, and, ■ displaying great skill and judgment against a most dangerous opponent, lie safely landed all the' honours., Now Basham is off with his regiment, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, to take part in the- greater fight across the Channel. But Beattie, with all his ruggednoss and style, was an awkward man to deal with. He put the maximum force into his blows, and with an utter indifference as to the consequence, was always prepared to take risks to get home. For the most part he mado the body his objective, and before the bout bad gone linlfwav there was a tell-tale patch on the Welshman’s ribs. But Basham took his punishment with manly courage and with the sure knowledge and satisfaction that the “other tcllow” was gutting his full share of it. Up to the tenth round there was not a deal to chose betovecn the men, but from this point the fight slowly and surely turned in favour of the champion. The beginning of the end came in the fourteenth round. Beattie forced Basham into it corner and appeared to have his man at a serious disadvantage. Suddenly, 1 however, the 'Welshman sprang out. of the angle sideways and, turning quickly, sent his right firmly to his opponent’s jaw with shaking effect. Two more blows on the same spot were delivered, and then came the sound of the gong. During his minute's rest Beattie made a good recovery, but in the seventeenth round he was again severely punished. Much weaker in the eighteenth, ho was sent down for a count of “eight” in the nineteenth. On rising he reeled across the ring in a helpless state, and then the referee very wisely stopped tho bout and gave tho verdict to Basham. Amongst the spectators of the match was the old-time fighting man Frank P. Slnvin, who has como over with a recent draft of Canadian soldiers. He spoke in warm praise of the form of both men. He was particularly impressed with their clean methods, contrasting them with the “bugging” tactics too frequently exploited in America. FOOTBALL. We have finished with competitive football for this season. Already it is being asked : Will the gome bo resumed next September? There is no reason against it. and the experience of the clubs under new conditions has been so good that there is little doubt, that an earnest endeavour will be mado to organise competitions similar to those which have just been completed. No hint has been provided officially of the financial result of tho “ adventure of 1915-16,” but so far as can bo judged tho club that has not more than covered expenses will be an exception. The forecast given of the • championship winners was correct with olio exception. This occurred in the Midland

League when Leeds City instead of Notts Forest finished in the first place. Tho latter made no mistake in their engagement with Leicester Fosse, but Leeds City did nuich better than was anticipated in going to Bradford and scoring a decisive victory over tho City. They were two goals behind at the interval, when their chance of gaining championship honours seemed to have departed, but they mado a brilliant rally in the second half, obtaining four goals. Ever since they became a. firstclass club Leeds City have been struggling against adversity and this success will be very cheering. In the Lancashire group there was really a tie between Burnley and Blackpool, but tho former take premier rank by reason of a superior goal average which is so slight as to bo represented by a decimal fraction. Chelsea again made themselves supreme in the London area, finishing two points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. It is perhaps true to say that Chelsea have not had “ much to beat,” but they havo played excellent- football. The inclusion of Buchan, tho Sunderland inside right, lifted tho forwards on to a much higher plane than in the past, this fact being reflected by their record scoring performances. Until the last day of the season- Buchan had been at the head of tho goal scorers’ list, but Thomson, his colleague in the centre of the Chelsea front line, went ahead in the match against Queen’s Park Hangers. They finished with thirty-nine to thirty-eight goals to their credit respectively, Thomson’s total beating by ono the record established by Freeman. the Burnley centre-forward in season 1908-9. - Chelsea’s total of 121 goals for the past eight months is much the highest that has ever been cordedTHE TOLL OF SPORT. The war’s toll -amongst Rugby international footballers now numbers forty, and Andrew Ross is the sixteenth Scottish representative to fall. An old Edinburgh Royal High School bov, he played three times for Scotland in -190-5 and against Wales and Ireland in 1909. Early in the match against England in 1905 ho had a rib broken, but though suffering much pain lie. never left the field. Another well-known Rugby man Lieutenant C. Thorne, tho Oam->-i'Vo University and Harlequin centre vY eo-Runrter, has just been invested by Vie King with the Military Cross. Though not attached to the same regiment ho heard that his brother had been wounded and was lying- out in No Man’s Land, that deadly area between the opposing trenches. Obtaining permission to go out and look for him, Thorne was successful in- his search, but not until his brother had died from his wounds. He brought the body back under a heavy fire. Hampshire lias suffered severely as regards her cricketers. Captain A. who has succumbed to his wounds, was an old Charterhouse boy, and went up to Cambridge in 1907. He did not get his blue until three years later. "Ho had a curious experience iu the match against Oxfoul. As a fast bowler lie started on a ramsoaked pitch with two wides and two wickets in one over. He only delivered ono more over, and then was taken off at his own request. ' Another Hampshire Mayor, the Rev W. A . Jephsnn, lias just been pronounced convalescent. He sewed as chaplain with the Forces iu Gallipoli and Egypt, and was on bis way home on leave when he contracted typhoid. Dining his illness he has been in Rouen, where his old cricketing friend, Captain H. G. M. Yates, happened to he quartered. Lieutenant G. Howard Smith, the brilliant Cambridge athletic blue, has died. ' He was badly wounded during a. bombing exneditior:, being carried out of action by his brother officers, several of whom were killed by an aerial torpedo as they wore taking lnm to safetv. Howard Smith was a very fine high jumper,, winning the ;, event agniiist Oxford three years nWs.ueceasion. He was known as a straight-at-the-bar jumper, but in bis early days jumped sideways. An old blue persuaded him to try jumping straight, and at his very first attempt lie cleaved six feet for the firsfr time in Jus lire.