THE TURF

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 218, 15 August 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE TURF

Overseas Items

(By "Binocular.”)

0 English Racing. The Aga Khan has some good two-year-olds this season in England, his . latest a wiiiner of note being Taj Kasra ; I a colt' by Gay Crusader from Taj I Mahal. There were 23 runners for the Redfern Plate at Kempton Park last month, and though Taj Kasra was so little fancied that he was quoted at 12 to 1, he won by a half-length from ’ the second favourite, Crumpets, with the favourite, Thorndean in third • place. Dastur and Tarte Maison are others owned by the Aga Khan who ■ next year may have something that will go closer to winning the Derby than did Ponune d’Api in June. Few Applications. I The A.J.C. has received about 40 fewer applications from bookmakers for paddock licenses for the season. The unsettled state of affairs generally and the incidence of the betting tax have so affected attendances that some paddock bookmakers have been unable to obtain even their share of clients and are retiring temporarily from business. Others have applied for a transfer to the cheaper enclosures. Notwithstanding this, there were fewer applications for licenses to operate in the St. Leger reserve. The programme for the A.J.C. winter meeting showed that 140 bookmakers were licensed for the paddock and 146 for the St. Leger reserve. | Trainer in France.

"Flying Machines.”

Tn the way of important three-year-old races, F. Carter, who trains in France, has done even better this year than F. Darling, who took the Two Thousand Guineas and Derby with Cameronian. and the One Thousand with Four Course. Following the successes of Indus and Pearl Cap in the French equivalents to the Two Thousand and One Thousand Guineas, he took Brulette to England to score an easy victory in the Oaks at Epsom, and at Chantilly, a few days later, he carried off the French Oaks with Pearl Cap. Proving Popular. The “daily tote double” has taken strong hold in England, and in Hungary it was such a great success when tried at Budapest that the Vienna Jockey Club decided to adopt the system at its Derby meeting. Probably it is only a matter of time for the “daily double” to be given a trial in Sydney, but when the totalisator gets going in Melbourne the chances are some of the clubs over there will give | the double an earlier run than those on this 6ide, says “Pilot.” Lucky Holders. Among the drawers of Cameronian in one of the Irish sweeps on the Epsom Derby was an unemployed boilermaker of Waterloo (England), who had worked only eight weeks in the previous five months. He turned down an offer of £3OOO for half his ticket. Others who drew Cameronian were of opinion it was better to be sure than sorry, and sold half-shares in their tickets. One accepted £3OOO, rind two

others —one a blind fruniture manufacturer —£3400 each. Success on the Turf. John McCormack (now Count McCormack), of wonderful voice, had something to'sing about at Manchester on May 31. when his three-vear-old colt, Sant ill o (Sansovino —Tillywhim) won the Red Rose Stakes, of £2099. He was but little fancied, starting at 8 to 1, but easily settled the 6 to 5 on favourite Leninarchus, who is in the same stable as Cameronian. Santilio, who was bred at the National Stud in Ireland, was sold as a yearling for 4000 guineas. Hard Hit. The latest from England is that the bookmakers have been hit hard this season. The Grand National, on which there is invariably heavy antepost betting, was a bad race for them, as was the Derby, in which they suffered both straight out and for places. According to the books mug punters

Horses And Performances

are decreasing in England. Nor is bookmaking the business it was in Australia, and so far as Sydney is con. cerned, some of the paddock men are crossing over to the Leger, and there is also a feeling that the clubs should do something in the way of lowering license fees.—“ Pilot” in the Sydney Referee.

There must be some exceptionally speedy two-year-olds racing in New York this year. At Belmont Park on May 30 a colt named Morfair (Morwicli—Mormaw) was credited with running four and a-lialf furlongs in 51 1-5, which, as he carried 8.5, was exceptional travelling The Australian record for that distance is still Woorak’s 54J at Randwick. The track must have been very fast and presumably the races were timed from a flying start. In nine other two-year-old races the times for the four and a half furlongs ranged from 52 4-5 to 54 1-5. Taking a Chance

Epithet (Epinard—Fairy Wand), one of America’s prominent two-year-olds of last season—his winnings totalling a little over £ll,OO0 —was submitted to auctioii in New York on May 23, and was sold for £4OOO, which was a little less than anticipated. Another of Gifford A. Cochran’s lot in the two-year-old Caerleon (a brother to Epithet) made £6OOO on the strength of his private reputation. He had never started in a race, but those who had seen him work boosted him as something quite out of the common. In the Dominion it would need something more than that to cause an unraced two-year-old to reach the figure mentioned. Flying Heels, a four-year-old horse, made £2900, and The'Bea--sel, a mare of the same age, £3700. Ihe 28 horses sold on behalf of the Cochran estate averaged 5905 dollars (£1181). Good Proposition.

Starting price 1 retting in Victoria, although illegal away from the course, must be a profitable business in Victoria, for those who engage in that form of bookmaking have paid in the last five years £46.000 in fines. The chairman of the Victorian Racing Club has stated that he would commit to prison without the option of a fine any person found guilty of starting price betting, which he characterises as being the greatest menace to the continued prosperity of the turf. By the. huge fines collected by the authorities from those who do so, it would appear as if it is a better proposition to keep them out of prison. Man o’ War Honoured. Man o’ War, one of the greatest, if not the greatest racehorse produced in America, has been honoured by the. placing of a model of him in the Field Museum of Chicago. The famous galloper was selected to show the highest development of the modern horse in the museum’s series of models showing the evolution of the horse from the earliest specimen to the present development.

Big Winnings. The Victorian owner, Mr E. E. D. Clarke, has been racing horses for 30 years, and he has won more than i £150,000 in stakes, this being the largest amount credited to any owner in i Australia. His best season was 192728. when liis horse won £29,350, the I Derby and Cup successes of Trivalve | being the chief factor. Most of his | horses have been trained by James Scobie. Won As He Liked.

A division of the Maiden Three-vear-old Handicap at Warwick Farm races on August 1 went to the New Zealander Cypress. Cypress is a fine stamp of gelding, that is likely to play a large part in some of the classic races in the spring (says the Svdney Morning Herald). He ousted Flying Dave from favouritism in the last few minutes of the betting, and not at any part of the race did he look like being beaten. In fact, he covered more ground than a number of his opponents, and, as if to emphasise his superiority, came out wide in the straight and finished in the centre of the course. Flying Dave and Lindean, the only other horses inside double figures, made strong runs in the straight, but neither of them could make any material impression on Cypress. Flying Dave was a little unlucky. He was squeezed out at the start, and was at the rear of the field for the first furlong. He then, made a smart move, but even with a clear run it is doubtful if he would have caused Cypress’s party any anxiety. Cypress ran in the nomination of J. H. Jefferd.