SPORTING NOTES.

Mataura Ensign, 29 November 1911, Page 7

SPORTING NOTES.

Nates by "Starter." The Wyndham Racing Club is showing signs of progress by the increasing of the stakes by £l5O for the annual meeting to be held as usual on New Year's Day. Since last meeting a number of improvements have been carried out, chief among these being the fencing of the race track and the ••rection of a new totalisator house. The programme is as follows: Trial Handicap, of £6O, one mile; Trot, of £IOO, hvo miles; Cup, of £l5O, one mile and aquarter; District Handicap, of £SO, six furlongs; Flying Handicap, of £BO, six furlongs; Trot, of £BS, one mile; Hack Race, of £6O, six furlongs; Mimihau Handicap, of £65, five furlongs. Nominations are due on Saturday, December 9.

The Southland Racing Club is offering £1650 in stakes for the summer meeting of January 2 and 3. This is a Southland record in the matter of stakes, and with such a liberal programme, in addition to Wyndham races on January 1, Soxithland should more than hold its own against Oamaru, which races on the same dates. The stakes will be distributed as follows— First day: New Year Welter Handicap, of £BO (for horses not having won £4O in one stake), six furlongs; Makarewa 'Class Trot, of £IOO, class 5.15 (two miles); Invercargill Cup, of £250 (one Smile); Waikiwi Handicap, of £BO, dis--1 trict conditions (seven furlongs); Fly[ing Handicap, of £IOO (six furlongs); Oreti Handicap Trot, of £BO (one mile and a-half); Avenal Handicap, of £BO, hack conditions (seven furlongs); Kosjhopai of £IOO (one mile). 'Second day: Summer Handicap, £BO, [hack conditions (seven furlongs); Ros. ilyn Class Trot, of £IOO, class 4.0 (one I mile and a-half); Southland Handicap, lof £165 (one mile); Gladstone Handicap, of £BO, district conditions (one mile and a-quarter); Shorts Handicap, of £BS (five furlongs); Electric Handicap Trot, of £BO (one mile); Clifton Welter Handicap, of £BO (six furlongs) ; Final Handicap, of £llO (one mile). Any winner after the declaration of weights may be re-handicapped. It will be noticed that none of the flat races are to be run over distances longer than a mile, so that the club is apparently catering for quantity in place of quality. The pacing mare Octoroon, owned by Mr George Smith, "Norham Park," Ferndale, gave birth last Wednesday to a natural pacing chestnut colt foal by Harold Rothschild. The programme issued by the Gore Trotting Club is sure to meet with favor among owners and trainers. The Gore Trotting Club Handicap, of 115 sovs., two miles, class 5.15, should bring together one of the best fields yet seen out on a Southland track, and the club is to be complimented on its efforts to encourage a better class of trotting. Now that a harness race has once more been included on the programme it is to be hoped that owners will nominate freely in this event so that it may find a permanent place on the programme. Unhoppled trotters are well provided for by a two-mile race of 70 sovs. and a mile and a-half of. 45 sovs. The principal mile race is the Boxing Day Handicap, of 85 sovs., class 2.32, and it is only to be supposed that this race will not be too well filled but rather that quality will be there. The big race is at the rate of 2.37£ to the mile, so that there is a big margin between that and 2.32. Nominations are due on Saturday, December 9.

Soldiers' Chorus was well fancied and backed for his double win at Timaru, and as he won his two races very easily probably Trainer C. Heywood is the only one who knows how good he I really is. He put Tip a very ' fine performance on the first day when ihe won in 1.14.1-5 with 8.5 up after j getting away badly. On the second day he led all the way and won in 1.16 with 9.4 on his back. The 'Press' says: "Soldiers' Chorus has developed into a sprinter of more than ordinary ability, and though his time in the last race yesterday Avas not fast he had the race won practically all the way." As evidencing the interest taken in trotting, a large manufacturing firm in Christchurch who offered to allow its employees a half-holiday on New Zealand Cup Day was approached by a large deputation representing 80 per cent, of the employees with a request that the holiday should be altered to Ithe Trotting Cup day. R. O'Donnell will take charge of Messrs W. G. and G. L. Stead's teanv on December 1. Under his agreement it will bo necessary for him to sell out any interests he may have in other horses. Glenfinnan, Genius, and a colt by Seal Rock, each of which has been under O'Donncll's charge, have been gelded. Some people are fortunate in everything they touch, while others again cannot do right. A case in point occurred recently in Wellington. In one of the big Government offices a sweep Has promoted on the Melbourne Cup and one clerk who bought two tickets drew The Parisian and Cadonia.

Tho Forbury Park meeting takes place this week and promises to be a great success, judging by the fine acceptances received. Quite a number of Southland horses are engaged, and it will be somewhat unusual if they fail to get a fair share of the prize money. Followers of signs and portents "fell in" over a rather peculiar coincidence concerning Jacamar in the Melbourne Cup. The Cup was run on November 7, 1911—7.11.11—and many people who noticed that Jacamar carried 7.11 and was No. 11 on the card jumped at the coincidence and dropped their sovereigns accordingly. An extraordinary case of twin foals is reported from the Bushy Park Stud Farm. On November 3 Mr G. F. Moore's brood mare Carrara (Cravat — Mantelpiece) foaled a weak colt to Signor, and nine days later she foaled a fine strong filly. The colt died, but the filly promises well. Lord Emms broke his tail when he fell in the Steeplechase at Flemington. The New Zealand-bred Wild West, by Soult—-The Squaw, won a race at Rosehill (N.S.W.) on the 11th inst. Sir G. Clifford's cast-off Sharpshooter won the nrincipal event on the first day at the Williamstown (Vic.) races. America is alive with fast trotting and pacing youngsters this season, more than ever before, and yet the hopples are not allowed this year on anything younger than a four-year-old. Frank Perry, a yearling, has paced a mile in 2miri. losec.; Floy Belle, a two-year-old

trotting filly, has covered a mile on a half-mile track in 2min. 19isec.; and Peter Thompson, a three-year-old trotting gelding, has trotted a mile in 2min. BJsec. Hickenbotham, asked if he ever trained a Cup horse that could go faster over a mile than Trafalgar, answered, "Not one." "Not even Carbine?" queried a friend. "Not, not even Old Jack," returned Hickenbotham. "Nor Newhaven either." Hickenbotham w«nT on to say that in his half-mile sprint one Friday morning Trafalgar carried 9.5 and broke 50sec. He never had another horse under a Cup preparation to equal this. For the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, which is worth 1000 sovs., Lemberg was allowed to walk over, the fact that 150 sovs. and 50 sovs. were offered 'for second and third not tempting any I owner to oppose last year's Derby winner.

Unless the .reckoning of those who should know is decidedly out of joint, the profit on the recent Melbourne Cupj meeting will exceed that of last year, when £l-4,000 was made. This year the added money exceeded last year by £2250, and yet the profit is reported to i be larger. According to the London 'Sportsman' his Majesty was not a little annoyed at having been snapshotted on the racecourse, and threatens that unless a stop is piit to this objectionable process he will refrain from visiting either Newmarket or any other race meeting. The stewards of the Jockey Club are determined to take drastic measures to protect his Majesty from a recurrence of i the annoyance, for the turf without the King would be something akin to Ham-j let without the Prince of Denmark. _ | One has often heard of horses being sold for what is termed a "mere song" and afterwards turning out useful (says a writer in 'Horse and Hound'), but it is certain that no animal to win a race ever changed hands for so little as Sugar Loaf. She was actually some weeks since sold to Mr Arthur Evans for 2s, but after the daughter of Wolf's Crag had easily won the Monument Plate at Great Yarmouth last week Mr Evans bought her in for 150 guineas. I may add, however, that the filly was virtually a gift to Mr Evans and the two "bob" paid was more or less a joke; but there it stands as another record for a "low-priced racer"! '

After Dutch Girl had beaten Persimmon's Pride in the last race at Edin- i burgh recently a young swell went up! to a bookmaker and complained that he had made him lay odds on the winner whereas the starting price was 21 to 20, against. "Well, sir," replied the penciller, "you had your choice, and at any! rate you had the winner" ; then with a) bland' smile he added, "but if you are not satisfied you can scratch the bet if you like." "I shall, sir," replied the young Scotchman with severe dignity, "and what is more I shall never bet with you again." He did not see where the laughter came in till he told the tale to a pal. August Camp, miner, 57, a Belgian, of Herbeumert, Bruges, was remanded at Bow Street charged with being concerned with two other men, not in custody, in stealing £350 by means of a I trick from WilliamOverington Rowland, an American merchant, staying at the Savoy Hotel. The prosecutor said he motored to Gatwiek races with Camp and one Thatcher, both of whom he had met in a liner coming to England. At the races they met a man named Lester, who offered to place a bet for the witness. Supposed bets ranging from £IOO to £750 were detailed by the witness, who said lie was told he had won the first bet, £SOO to £2OO, but at the end of the day his net losses were said to be £350. He paid seven £SO notes next day to the accused, who called on him with Lester. Cross-examined, the witness said he had not been on a racecourse before for 20 years. He did not see Lester place the money with a bookmaker, and that made him suspicious. Mr Conway (for the defence): "Do you suggest that you are one of Mark Twain's 'lnnocents Abroad' and that you would expect Lester to 'fork out' £750 to the bookmaker on the course?" "I don't know what is customary." It was stated that two of the £SO notes were found on the accused.

The King before leaving London for Newmarket last month (says the 'Live Stock Journal') inspected the horse Brisbane, presented to his Majesty by the Government of Queensland. The animal is an upstanding bay of about 16 hands with black points, and the King appeared highly pleased with it. The presentation was brought about in a somewhat singular way. His Majesty on the occasion of the procession through London on the day of the funeral of the late King Edward rode his black charger Rupert. This horse bears on its near shoulder the brand "2GD," and it chanced that in a striking photograph taken for the press, showing the King and the German Emperor riding side by side, the brand appeared very distinctly. The photograph was widely published, and an Australian visitor to London immediately recognised the brand as one used by his father, a Queensland farmer. Inquiries were made and served to prove that Rupert •■v:ir, in fact, an Australian horse. The King, it seems, acquired the. animal when in India in 1906-6. It was then the property of a cavalry officer and was lent to his Majesty, who took a warm liking to it and purchased it. When these matters were brought to light the Queensland Government decided to ask his Majsety's acceptance of another horse born and bred in the State, and the arrival of Brisbane is the result.