Turf Topic

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 80, 11 January 1902, Page 21

Turf Topic

By Silverspur.

The utter absurdity of ha\ing the Wellington Cup weights declared so early is now very much appaient The acceptances disclosed the fact that owners weie not taking on the Yaldhurst representative, St JVlichael, at am price and with great unanimity the-\ declined to pa-\ up Although seven are engaged, it is not probable that that numbei will go to the> post Barring Mi Stead's nomination there- are bettei horse& out of the race than are left in, and what should be the most atti active contest of the season at the Hutt is spoilt m consequence However, the experience' of this year will result in a repetition of the blunder beang avoided in the future There is no gainsaying the* fact that on paper St. Michael has* a second to none chance in the Cup. His ten pounds penalty will not stop him and he will go out one of the hottest favourites that has ever graced the Hutt course Ido not know whether Sir George' Clifford intends to start, the 1 top weight- — Canine Chiel. The horse maj make a respectable showing, ,but I would sooner stand Fashion, who has a stone less, for a place. The Somnus horse is veiry well just now. I cannot say that I like The Shannon, but Melw-ood ought to make a respectable showing. As for the other two— Queen's Guard and St. Lj'ra — they have no pretensions to downing the Auckland Cup winner. No. the 'bo> in yellow" ought to capture the yellow coin this time all right The races programmed for two-year-olds at the Hutt have secured a goodly array of entries, and ought to provide interesting ,sport Quality and quantity are represented in the other events, handicaps for which are due on the lnth mstajnt. » ♦ • Muscovite's non-appearance in the W.R.C. entry list was owing to lameness. Tyronne, who scooped in a race at Bulls, is in the same stable as Battleaxe. The Southern horse Ayrdale shaped very indifferently at the Wairarapa fixture. The New Zealand Cup winner Seahorse will soon be seen out under colours in England. The trotting sport has now struck Hokitika. A club is in course of formation there. Dirk, Golden Vein, and Canine Chiel are doing good w ork in new of the Wellington meieting. The Dreadnought horse Toa has been racing with bad luck lately He will not be seen out at the Hutt. St. Lyra will have to improve out. of knowledge on Palmerston running to have any chance in the Wellington Cup. Prince Consort, who, as a three-year-old, finished fourth in Bravo's Melbourne Cu*-> died recently in South Australia. The Hotchkiss — Lady Augusta colt, purchased' by Mr. Hugo Fnedlander the other d!ay, is full-brother to Kelburne, who ishowed winning form at Auckland lately. Coronet, Formula, iand Rosella take the eye m the Takapuna Cup, to be run on the 25th instant, and Rufus. Evening Wonder, and Voltageur 11. in the Steeplechase. The Dunedin racer Canteen did not accept for our Cup, but was entered for other events. He is reported to be suffering from a growth of warts on one of his flanks. The latest joke going the rounds concerns a certain jockey who wanted to get away with the Eighth Contingent The testing official passed him aside on the ground that he could not nde' The Auckland Racing Club committee ■do not feel very pleased at the Austerhtz appeal going against them. Although the owner now gets the stakes ktiU, hei, in common with others, loses the dividend paid bv thei animal, as it was paid out on the- course to investors on the second horse Alphabetical Member Fraser, who has gone in for the great racing game, made a successful start at Hastings, where Kiwa won him a couple of races The horse is out of Fair Nell, dam of the C.J.C. Challenge Stakes winner Loyalty the Sydney Derb\ winner Bonnie Scotland and Saracen.

Rajigitata winnei of a double at Rangitikei is in the same stable as Toa and gets o\ei the gioiuid in fine sfs le NaielTe us said to be the best tlnee-Ae-ai-old seen out in Queensland since Megaphone. He is now being spelled, and will probably figure' in next year's Melbourne Cup The Musket horse Fneloek died in Gin^sl'ankl recently thiough in-)unes caused bj a faJJ He was not a shinin «• light on the "turf and onh accounted for a few minor races A horse may often pa-\ a biggei dividend than what lie is woith A moke named Leading Article letumed LI 13s in a. paltiy selling lace at Westport and was bought in for thiee shillings le^s The starting gate will in future be used in all races got off at meetings held undei the rides of the English Jockey Club It was bound to be adopted in the Old C ountrv sooner or later An Kngh.sh steeplechase udei was lecenth fined for llltreatmg his mount during the progress of a race The animal refused one of the fences and the jockey spuned her unmercifully when she persisted in baulking A few horses, raced by cute, sharpened owners, which have not been galloping too fast lately, will probably upset past form at the Hutt gathering. But, on which of the three days wall tbe\ materialise? That is the all important question for backers The thoroughbred stallion Swnell^r died recently m Victoria. He was bv Snowden from Little Nell and won a few good handicaps when on the turf in the seventies As a sire, he got i bn Melbourne Cup winner Mentor Dick Swrvellejr, Tim Swiveller, Daimio, mJ other horses that distinguished themselves in first-class company At Brighton (Sydney) recently the owners of six ponies withdrew them from one race, allowing the seventh to walk over. The latter had been backed in all the town betting shops, and it was pretty evident that the owners had laid their heads together to bring about this result Pony racing appears to be m a veiry low state, over there just now . Mr. Dan OBrien was not in evidence as a buyer at the Wellington Park sale tins year, but his old racing opponent, Mr. Stead, secured a trio, including a co-It out of Dan'siold mare Rubina, who was a shining light when on the turf. Mr. Stead, by the way, let the Hotchkiss — Rose of Wellington filly go, Mr. Friedlander being the purchaser at 520 guineas. The Squire of YaJdhurst likes this strain, but was not apparently inclined to pay too much for it. Men who lay themselves out to break the ring generally end up in the one way. There are countless instances of this recorded in history, and there are likely to be milhons wore while confident, sap-headed fools inhabit this great hunk of mud. Riley Grannan, the whilom meteoric and phenomenally successful American plunger is at present in an asylum a physical, if not a mental, wreck. He has made and lost many fortunes, and is just now without a bean. He expects to rise again, however as soon as he has nulled himself together A genius, who wanted to make pretty certain of making a pound or two, cut a rope which fastened one of a flight of hurdles m order to facilitate Cabin Lad's win at a Longford (Tasmanian) meeting. The horse got through without jumping, while his nearest opponent had to negotiate the obstacle. Cabin Lad won all right, and his owner received the stake. The meddlesome spectator was fined a fiver, or two months' gaol for "damaging property." Some rather interesting evidence was given during the hearing of the case. The crowd that backed Elusion in the Killymoon Hack Race at Bulls appeared to be under the impression that the judge was suffering from a delusion in placing Nioiti first, and they bellowed accordingly The row they made resembled that which generally greets a wrong decision of an unfortunate football referee, and was quite out of place. Mr Stevens, M.H.R., whose judging has always given satisfaction, declared that Nioiti won by a nose, and that should have ended it It is not likely that any man is going to alter an official decision at the behest of a howling mob who backed the wrong 'un. Anyway, there is more than one of Elusion's backers who will not vote for Jack Stevens next election. A propos of close finishes and fine judging, I once dropped across a backblocks meeting where the judge declared three dead heats during the afternoon, although the second horses in each case were over a neck away. When I humbly pointed out his error, he said 'Oil, it's near enough for 119 coves up hero you town blokes are> too blooming particular." It was a nice homely little meeting that The clerk of the course rode up in front of the field in the last race and was awarded the stake bv the obfuscated judge. Then there were i-uctions indeed.