VARIOUS JOTTINGS.

Northern Advocate, 25 September 1919, Page 4

VARIOUS JOTTINGS.

Mr.l-\ Armstrong's horses, Sleight of Hand, Ret'onnntion, and 'Miranmr, are lo l>e turned out for a lonothy spell. Minunai' is closely related to that good performer, Morning, iind shows a deal of promise. . . ■*■ * * * A Sydney writer, in the'course of au article on the abuse of whip and spur in races, states that M. Council, Bracken, Lillynian, Walker, Meddick, —horsemen of note—disdain torture as an aid to success, for the all-suffi-cien;. .reason that spurs do not comma ml success. Ho adds that at Kensington, W. H. Smith on one occasion took up his whip to King's Cross in a long rape before passing the' grand stand the •first tune, arid did not cease the flailing .until he squeezed home r'roni Lady Ditrideiieo and Tulkcroo. '..'..* " * ■ * ' • * Mr T. H.'.Lowry has abandoned his proposed trip to Melbourne and Sydney, and Lucid, who was paid- up for in the Melbourne Cup, will have his racing confined to Dominion meetings. * * . *. - ■ * . The New Zealand Cup winner, Menelaus, has ended his career as a racehorse, and will eat the cats of idleness for the -rest of his days. This is a fitting reward for tho son of Martian, who has been a consistent performer during the past few seasons. '. * * *""■ .'*'"' There is no Biblical record of Adam having indulged in betting, but Samson did, as shown in Judges XIV., verse 12. It reads: "And Samson said unto them I will now put forth a riddle "unto you; if" you can certainly declare unto me within seYe.n-days-qf the. feast and find it. out, then will I give you. 30. sheets and 30 changes of garments; but if ye cannot declare it'mc, then shall ye give me 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments." And so the bet was made and recorded.- The foregoing is put forward by a writer in an American contemporary in a plea on horse-racing in some shape, in every State. * * ... * * In London-in July a special meeting of the council of the Hunters' Improvement and National Light Horse Breeding Society was held to consider the precarious position of the light horse breeding industry. Sir Walter Bilbey presided, and the council reaffirmed tho representations made to the Government during the past two years, asking that some definite and encouraging pronouncement as to the future intentions of the Government should be given, and again urging that a price should be paid for army remounts, based on the cost of production, plus a reasonable profit. A representative deputation subsequent ly placed these views and other facts before the Secretary of State for War at the-Houscof Commons.. The representatives were sympathetically received by Mr Winston Churchill who asked that a detailed statement should be sent to him for his personal consideration and. attention. * ■■.'-■#■"■ *' . * In a recent report on the jockeys and stable-boys of New York, Edward J. Matthew, Field Inspector for the New York Military Training Commission, expressed surprise at the educational attainments of most. Relative to this subject, he wrote: "In following up my work on the race-tracks I found three high school graduates in the ranks of the jockeys, while the stable-boys and apprentices would average about the seventh grade. It was a surprise to me. I understand that in former days of the Turf there were schools operated in the vicinity of the various courses, and that it was compulsory for these stable lads to attend. I am told that the racing authorities paid the teachers. That was a good work, and I have taken up the matter of reinstating these schools. The Board of Education will gladly furnish the teaching staff. A letter to the Jockey Club has brought tho assurance of its desire to co-operate, and it is hoped that the schools will be opened during the coming winter." The "Australasian" says that an important decision was recently arrived at by the'VR.C. committee in regard to concession bets. The point under review was the amount which a backer was entitler to receive, when a horse, which he had backed on the concession principle, made a dead-heat for first place. The committee decided that in such a case the backer should receive half of the winning wager, and should not lose any portion of his stake, which under concession conditions is refunded to a backer when the horse he has supported obtains a place. This decision is the outcome of a dispute over a bet on the Welter at .Caulfield recently, in which Girralong and Marchand ran a dead-heat for first. It is understood that this is the first occasion on which the question has come before tho V.It.C. committee. A report gained currency some time ago that in a similar case the V.R.C. committee had decided that a backer should only receive half his wager and half -his stake. It is now stated definitely that no such decision was ever reached by the committee.