Turf Topics.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 95, 26 April 1902, Page 21

Turf Topics.

By 'Krect-Card.

Crusadei, bv St. I \^\- J , Ka : L HaM*, thewnmo oi the Dab > Ham - cap at tlie autumn mooting of the AlailWughEacmg Club, is credited with cutting out the foui turlongs in We S" urn, In a nose horn the Pomua >epu«.cntatne Blue Spur, and paid £/ 10s nside, and £3 Ids outside. If tins ?,m..is correct. «hich I doujit , ere much then it is only one second slowei tliani the record established b- Conqueror when racing under the colouis ot AJr. G G. Stead Similar to the Nelson meeting, both Pbmstone and Giey Riboon had to undergo protests in the Hurdle Race, on }he second da,v of the MarlWough meeting, for alleged inconsistent ninmna but the decision of the judge was undisturbed, and Plainstone got the stake with Grey Ribbon .second. Ruomahnaga, the aged gelding by Voltieeui— Lilian, was to the fore on the second cL^ of the Marlborough meeting as he succeeded in annexing the president's Handicap, and was, only beaten In a length in the Telegiaph Handicap later on m the day. In the former ci put he ran the mile in lmin 44 2-osec, and paiid a dividend of £8 10s, while in the latter his backers received £1 l-is. Though Sn Foote's racing career has he-en a bnef one. he has proved a s»P'endid 'spec" to Mi. J- Baron, at 4oU e-uineas Sir Foote's winnings in stakes amount to £3902, made up as follows — Caulfield Futurity Stakes, £1000 Newmaikct Handicap. L\o6l , Doncaster Handicap, £1370 His success at the stud will be watched with interest bv many who witnessed his prowess on the racing track Manifesto, who lan third in the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, with 12st 81b, is fourteen years old. He -non. the Lancashire Steeplechase m 1894 His Giand National perform - ancea aie as follows —Fourth in 1890 now-here in 189(3 won in 1897 did not start in 1898 won in 1899 ran third in 1900 did not, start in 1901 and was third in 1902 Foi brilliancy and staying power, Wakeful's equal has never been seen on the Ausitiahan tint. A meeting between her and Mi Stead's champion— Cruciform- -would be well worth seeing. Insomnia, the dam of Wakeful, is by Robinson Crusoe, fiom Nightmaie, the dam of two Melbourne and Austiahan Cup winners in Mentor and Dreamland. Mi. C. L Macdonald heads the list of puze winneis at the late AJ C meeting, with £3373, being the lesult of Wakeful's foui viotones— the Autumn Stakes, S\dne\ Cup, All Aged Stakes and AJ C. Plate. The maie also put up two lecoids, b\ lunning a mile in lmm 39 \ sec and two males vn 3nnn 28sec thus nibbing out the lecords established b\ Dim Djm and Caibine. Mi Macdonald must congiatulato himself on his foiethought and judgment in purchasing hei along with Revenue Vinous Kinghke and Regained at the Albans dealing sa.le foi between them theA h<\\ c appropnated -£10 000 in stakes done and with the exception of Regained all ha\e pioved top-notch-eis Artci an absence extending o\ er two Acarsfrom tlie tinf, the Aitillen — Adveiituiess hoise Teleinctei showed that he has lost none of Ins brilliancy bv easily defeating a stiong field in the Flying Handicap on the opening day of ihe South Canterbury J.C. meeting. He was the outsider of the bunch, and made a runaway race of it, paving the handsome dividend of £17 lls. In connection with this, it is stated that one or two local books" fell m rather badly The result of the lace was known to c-e\c -e\ craJ punteis before the telegraphic message had reached the layers of the odds and the aforesaid punters were successful in getting a few pounds on. When the news leaked out that the result wa< previously known, the bookmakers very properly declined to pay out, with the result that a fraca« occuried, and one oi two of the betting fiatemitv are not now on speaking teims The bookmakers have themselves to blame for being had in this way as they invariably accept money after the advertised time of starting and must in consequence take all risks of being 'taken down" by somr of the '-ipiehng fraternity.

Muscovite, who nai> mjuied in the Wairaiapa Cup, on New Yeai's Den, is loported to be making a, good ieco\eiy, and uill probabh be put into commission again very shoitl>. Amongst the buldeas foi Impel ator, .it the YaJdhuist sale of thoioughbieds, was Mr Pa.teison, the local nietalhcian, who went up to £140 tor the son of Gipsy Gii and and C'oional Highlandea who lan second to Nonette iJi the _Eastoi Handicap, at the re(<_nt Auckland meeting, and who won the Avondale Handicap on Saturday last, onginaJly cost his ownei, Mi J McLennan, £8 10s. Auious. who ran second to Sn Foote in the Newmaiket Handicap has finished her racing caicer, and will sliorth be mated with impoited Graf ton Auious 1-, b\ Trenton — Aura and was pin chased on the bieaking up of the Si. Albans stud Jeanio d'Albeit, who won the Farm- < is' Plate at the Blenheim meeting, is a threovear-old fill} bv Meine England — Quoen Margaret The piogenv of this imported stallion aie lapidlv making a name for him as a success at the stud, and no doubt breeders of lacing stock will avail themselves of his services more largely in the future Mr. G. P. Donnelly has determined to reduce the number of his racing stock, and five of them — Kahuwai, Waiwhera, Pearl Gun, Gold Purse, and Fair Dream — will be offered for sale immediately following the Palmerston North meeting, on May 3rd. Thei Hon. J. D. Oimond will also offer a draft of thoroughbreds from his stud on the same day. R Ramage who won much notoriety a,s the rider of Carbine in the season of 1890-1891 was recently miuied while riding in a steeplechase. Rama^e has had very little luck for over ten years past and his case is a rather pronounced illustration of a first-class rider losing caste m a very lapid manner through nothing tlse but downright bid luck. It is rumoured that R. J. Mason, who has been instrumental in making the name of YaJdhurst famous thiough some of the fastest horses on the turf in New Zealand, intends retiring from the position of trainer, and will probably settle in the North Island. It is not known whether Mr Mason is retiring fiom the turf aiena altogether but if such should be the case, he will long h\e in the memory of turfites as the mo^t =ucce*sful trainei of racehoises the coloin has ever seen The gallant little Menschikoff who was purchased by Mr. Moinn, of "Wellington Park fame, for 600 guineas at the sale of Mr. Stead's blood stock, has probably sported silk for the last time, and it is improbable that his new owner w ill ask the son of Stepmak and Pibroch to undergo another preparation as the tendons of the colt's front legs look as if they could not stand the oideal with His mission will be stud duties to take the place of eithei St Legei or Castor. Speaking ot the habit some owneis ha\e of asking the handicappei why he placed a certain weight on his hoise, it may not be geneialK known that Admiral Rons m Ins cla\ nei ci gave a lea&on for what he did noi was he called upon to do m) He would nut a horse in a lace one da-\ with bst, and, without the animal having urn in the meantime the next da-\ at Bst. In nine cases out of ten he had suimised oi found out something, to uistih the latter weight as foi instance when he put Bst on Deceit in the Cesaiewitch af"t°'i letting him off with ust in othei laces. Modem handieappeis like MesMs Hem\s E\ ett and Douse would ha\e been asked for an explanation if the>\ adopted such tactics On six of the eight occasions on w Inch Nonettei has been beaten, hoises owned b\ Mr G G Stead ha\ c accomplished the task — Meiv-clnkoff twice, St. Michael twice Ciuciform once, and St. Patricia once The other hoises that ha\ c beati n Nanette axe Cannie Cluel m tho Haw kes Bar\ Stakes Okoan and Peifection, in the King Kdw ard Handicap at Hastings Matamataharakiki Bedchngton, Rosella, and Va,l Rosa in the Auckland R ('. Autumn Handicap. The latter race is the one in which Nonette's locked, R\an. stated befoie the stewards that his mount was intefered with dunng the progress of the lace The inconsistency of racehorses is thus de^cubed bv one S> dne\ writer — Stiff running was as glaring as evci at Randwick last' meeting, a.nd more so than on suburban or much-condemned pony co-ui&os Most palpable cases were some of the later winneis who did wonders compared with efforts during pie\iousi days when the money indicated that, they were not wanted but too late to save the bulk of public money. The danne of the methods adopted evidences that those closely concerned a.ie at any rate satisfied they run no risk of being empeted — an inference supported by whispeis regarding the blinding of official vision " Truly, the waahngs of disappointed ba^keis are mournful to listen to

Blazer, the Dunedin sprmter, is m woik again, and will, m all probability, be .seen out between the flags at some of the winter gatherings. Two backeis of outsideis, at the recent Auckland meeting, are kicking themsehes for then bad luck. On looking down the caid foi one of the iaco&, one of them remarked "Now, that's the very horse for a surprise I'll back it." Don't," said the other Don't you see who trains it ? The unluckiost devil that ci er was " So they picked anothei staiter, but the unlucky trainer upset tlieir calculations, and scoicd with a big dtnidend, too. At a recent race meeting a bookmaker on the flat during the afternoon found himself nearly "broke," but very danngl\ laid five to one against a certain hoi c <e at the time having absolutely no funds to pay with if the horse won. The race started, and both bookmaker and client watched with bieathlosus excitement. Luckily for the bookie" the horse lost by a very short distance but the man who made the bet assuming an unconcerned air, said • ' Never mind I had a good run for mv money " "Yes," replied the "bookie." with a knowing wink; "but you'd have had a better run for your money if he'd won "'