SPORTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11686, 22 June 1901, Page 6

SPORTING.

! RACING FIXTURES. i •Tunc 26, 23—'iawke's Bar Jockey Club. July 3, —Napier Park Racing Club. July 17 and Wellington Eacing Club. DATES OF COMING EVENTS. June 26 —Hawke's* Bay Hurdle Race. June 28—Hawke's Bay Steeplechase. July 20—Wellington .Steeplechase. Juiy Wellington Bur tie Race. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. M.W., Thames.—l. Libeller ran in the late Mr. Walters' colours as a two, three and four-year-old. 2. The Ageirt was got by Oliver Cromwell ; Clarence by ftavensworth. SUBSCRIBER, Wa-ipiTO.— As you do not quote the conditions of the nice, it is impossible for us to say what penalty the horse incurred. 2. Mr. Spencer Golian never owned Levanter. WAGER.—The highest weight carried to victory in the Xew Zealand Cup was Bst 91b, uivier which Tasmsvn. Vanguard, and Lady Zetland each won. Waiukii carried Bst 61b when he won in 1397. WAGER.— has won the following races during the present season :— Wanganui Stakes. C.J.C. Jubilee Cup, Canterbury Cup. Auckland Plate, A..J.C. Autumn Stakes, A..T.C. All-used Wakes. The son of Vanguard suffered his first defeat tit 4yrs old iu the Newmarket Handicap.

NOTES BY PHAETON. j With the holding of the recent Grand ; Nation?.! meeting the Auckland Racing Club j brought the season of 1900-1901 to a close at I Ellerslie. The totalisatoi is now such a \ power in the racing world that the success j or otherwise of a meeting or series of meetings has largely to be summed up on the : volume of business done at the machine, and . the publication of the figures attaching to j that department are therefore always awaited with keen interest, as showing whether the j tendoncy is upward or downward. As we . are now at the end of our tether for the present season, somo little curiosity will be ] evinced as to the amount of totalizator in- ! vestments, and how suoli compare with the I previous best on record. In going through J the records I find shot the A.R.C. has . handled during the present season the largo j sum of £153,399 on the four meetings hold j at Ellerslie, which represents on increase of ] £14,663 compared with last season's record. It lias, of course, to l>o noted that the ! metropolitan club held one day's more rac- ! ing this year than last year. The following ! is a statement of the totalisator investments | for the two periods: — j

! 1809-1930. 1900-1901. ! i Spring £25,462 Spring £25,145 j \ Summer ... 63.655 Summer ... 67,516 i ; A. tumn ... 32,094 Autumn ... 32.295 ! Winter ... 17,525 Winter ... '.'3.443 ; £138,736 £153,359 I i

The weights for the New Zealand Cup j are not clue to make their appearance until ] about July 1, but no doubt Mr. Henrys has I already taken more than a passing glance at j (he entries upon which he will this year have ; to engage his thoughts in framing the handi- ! cap for the big Southern race. With Ad- j vance and Seahorse engaged, it does not ad- j mit of any doubt as to what horses will j ! figure at the head of the Cup list, but the J 1 standard to be fixed, the difference he will j : make between the two cracks of the North ; j Island, and the amount of weight there will : I be between the second and the third top i j weights are points of Mr. Henrys' work that j i the students of turf matters will experience j ! some little difficulty in anticipating. In I : costing the handicap for last year's New i ; Zealand Cup Mr. Henrys placed Advance '. at the head of the list, with 9st 9lb opposite ; . his name, Seahorse being let, off with 41b ■ l less than the black son of Vanguard. As is j | well known, neither contested the race, and j it may be added that neither crossed each j , other's path during the season. Advance's j ■winning record at four years old consists of six victories, but Seahorse has fail- ! led to earn a winning bracket. That the . ! son of Nelson's condition was sadly sapped I by the attack- of influenza which he con- ; tracted in Victoria in the spring cannot be ! doubted, and the point can be legitimately j put forth that the true Seahorse was not seen at four years old. The six wins on the ' pari, of Advance as compared with tho series ! of defeats opposite Seahorse's name may ! cause Mr. Henrys to place the black horse a J little more in front of the chestnut than was j j the case in last year's Cup handicap, but the j j weight-adjuster may possibly elect to allow J I his last year's estimate of tho pair to stand. {

When the announcement came through I)}' I cable from London last month that Mr. L. I D. Nathan had purchased a St. .Simon sire I for Sylvia Park, a doubt existed as to the | identity of the animal secured by the Aucki laud breeder, owing to a similarity of names. The name given in the cablegram was Fifcz- ! Simon, but many formed the opinion that '■ the horse purchased was Fitzsimons, a four. | year-old that carried the colours of His j Majesty King Edward VII. last season. | Letters to ha.nd by this week's mail show ! that Fitzsimons is the horse that is to find j a home in Auckland, and, judging from the eulogistic remarks that are made concerning ; the son of St. Simon, Mr. Nathan must ac- | count himself fortunate in securing such a ! horse. Pitasimons is in colour a brown, and ; is spoken of as a big horse. Merrio Lassie, i the dam of Fitzsimons, is a daughter of ! Rotherhill and Lassie, by Blair Atliol from j. Mrs. Johnstone, by Newminster, ami it will j therefore be seen he is a very strongly-bred horso. AH going well with Fitzsimons, it is expected that he will be. located in his new homo at Sylvia Park during the coming : month. I | Crusoe haying failed to jump off at the I start for the First and Second Welter Han- . (Heaps, run at the recent Grand National I meeting at Ellorslie, a visiting trainer j presented himself at tlw post with a carriage whip when the Taranaki horse was on hand to contest the Third Welter Handicap, with the object by that moans of assisting the son of Cruiser off the mark. The eye of the i starter (Mr. Cutis) quickly took in the poI sition, and he firmly refused to allow the ! whip to bo used unless the permission of the : stewards was obtained. This declaration apj parently took the visitor by surprise, but he i subsequently came again to light with the j state-ment to the starter that Mr. George, | the owner of the horse, had represented the mutter to the stewards, and that he had re- ! coivod permission to act with the whip. As ; the start, had already been long delayed, ■ Mr. Cut-ts did not have time to obtain tiro j necessary confirmation of the statement, and 1 the. man was allowed to stand behind Crusoe : with the whip. Crusoe wanted no sue), asi sistance, however, and the veteran jumped off one of the best of the field. The lue of [. the carriage whip at the post has boon ruled I out on racecourses of any note, and., I think, < rightly .so. It is most unfair to other horses . engaged, who are good starters, that they should have to undergo any risk of having . their tempers upset by a man with a longI tailed whip standing at their heels, and it is to be hoped that the stewards will in the future support the starter in discouraging the practice. ' ! The weights for the V.R.C. Grand National j Hurdle Race made their appearance this week, and, as was only to bo expected, the j two Auckland bred champions, Record Reign | and Cavalioro, occupy prominent places in j the list, the former being weighted at 12st j 121b and the latter at 12st 71b. As the race 33 set down for decision in a fortnight, and Cavulioro being still in Auckland, there is I should say, very little prospect of the big I son ° Cuirassier being seen at the post, but, all being well with Record Reign, he will no doubt be on the scene to play his par as he has been training at Randwick for a couple of months past. Everyone will wish Mr. " Dan" Mel,cod's horse the best of luck, out the task before him is a very different one to that in which he triumphed last spring, when he scored in the New Zealand Grand -National Hurdle Race at Ricearton.

Seringapatam (late Screw Gun) gave the turfites of the Old Country a taste of his quality last month at Hurst Park, when he won the Durham Park Plate, an event run over a mile at weight -tor-age. Seringapatam won in's race in such style as to warrant the conclusion that lie will bo heard of to further advantage later on. The success gained by the son of Hotchkiss in his second essay on the English turf will be pleasing to his breeder, Mr. T. Morrin, and also to his late owner. Mr. G. (J. Stead.

' The Frenchmen brought off their Grant ' Prix de Paris on Sunday l&st at Longcbamps : and the result cabled shows that they had the race 1 ! to themselves, the three placed horse* all hailing from French stables. The win ner was supplied by Comte P. do Sunt Pliaiie with his colt Oheri, a son of St. ami en, who, I think, is an English-bred sire. A good many British sportsmen annually send in nominations for ihe Grand Prix, but in most cases it is simply a*a act of courtesy, and the fact of the race being always fixed to be run on a Sunday is a bar to the sending of horses to compete. In turning over the leaves of an old scrapbook recently I came across an incident in connection with the Grand Prix in which a British sportsman played a part. On one occasion a. rumour had gone abroad among the Falkirk people that tho late Mr. .lames Merry, who at the time represented that constituency in the House of Cominan.-,, had allowed one of his racehorses to run in a race on the Sabbath on the Continent, and it was solemnly determined that he should he called up-on for an explanation of such godless conduct. The day arrived. The largest hall was crowded, the " moeuistcr" himself put the question. Mr. Merry rose to answer. " It is quite true,"' lie said. " that, having sent a horse of miue to the Continent, J did so far forget myself as to conform to tho customs of the country in which 1 was staying, and allow him to start for an important prize on tho Sabbath day." {"'Oh, oh !" and loud groans all over the place.) " But, gentlemen, I. must add tliat. before I though', about the day on which the race was to he run. I had backed my horse very heavily with ihe French, and I won their money and brought it back to spend in aukl Scotland.'' And straightway all true Scots in that rooms fell their hearts touched, and, waring their bonnets exultantly over their heads, the assembly joined in three cheers for the canny member and then dispersed, singing " Auld Lang .Syne I"

Tho cable man in London has considered it important enough to wire that Mr. R. S. Sievier scored a win in the Ascot Bieennial Stakes with his colt Lavengro, and it may be thai- the interpretation to be placed on tho despatch of the cablegram has its origin in that the plunger landed a big stake. Lavengro, who is a son of the Derby winner Lada-;. it may ho remarked, was bred by Lord Rosebory, and at a clearing-out sale of the Scottish's Earl's horses in September last he was secured by Mr. Sievier at the reasonable price of 700 guineas.

In referring to Hie sale of Mr. R. S. Sievicr's horses, " Robin Hood,*' the English correspondoat of the Australasian, says: —" The paddock was crowded, and with such a good muster of influential owners present, good prices were expected. In a way, the sale did realise expectations, as for as the horses who were sold went, but in a good many cases the horses were bought in. It was a great disappointment to rind that the two-year-old Sceptre (by Persimmon—Ornament), who was purchased last year for the record sum of 10 000 guineas, was not to be put up, but it transpired that the filly had met with an accident, running through a hedge and cutting herself slightly the day previously. The best price realised was for King's Courier, by Kingston—Styh'tene. This four-year-old was purchased last year by Mr. Sievier for 52.00 guineas, and yesterday, put in at 2500 guineas, he was quickly run up to 5300 guineas, at which price he was knocked down to Mr. Heaton, acting for Lord EUesmere. Toddington, who was purchased for 10,000 guineas from "Mr. Muske-r last year, was then put up, but as it was well known that he had become a roarer, no one seemed anxious to buy, ami as 2400 guineas was the host bid, the colt was retained. The same was the case with the two-year-old Duke of Westminster, by Orme out of Gantlet, purchased with Sceptre last year, at the sale of the late Duke of Westminster's yearlings. He was put in at 6000 guineas, but." failed to elicit a bid at that figure. Of (he other lots, Consort, 2yrs, by Console, brought 2000 guineas, while St. Louvaine, bv Carnage or Wolf's Crag—St. Rcino, was sold for 1200 guineas. Crarae, by St. Angel©— who has done good service for Mr. Sievier, fetched 1150 guineas ■ and Egg Plum, by Persimmon—Ornis, 10C0 guineas. Altogether the nine lots sold fetched a. total of 12.150 guineas, It is said that the rest of Mr. Sievicr's horses will be sold privately, but in any case it is certain that the sensational prices he gave for them a year ago cannot be realised."

, One of the greatest complaints of the pre- ! sent day heard in connection with racing is lin respect to the jockeys. " Murtindalc" i says:—Without a doubt, we are badly oft' in tl>o way of good riders, and, what is' worse, ; there is very little prospect of improvement! That wo have not many and serious acci- : dents is a matter of good luck, for in almost ; every race reckless riding can be noted. | Perhaps, after there have been a. few serious I accidents those in power will step in and j make an effort to improve matters in some ! way. _ Looking through the English and I American papers, it would appear that on j tho other side they are in similar trouble, ! and many are the ways pointed out to bring I about an improvement. One of the best ■ ideas that 1 have come across is that which I appeared in a recent Spirit of the Times, I and that is the establishing of a school for I jockeys, and it has much to recommend it, ' if run on a practical basis. That there is j money in jockeys and the leasing of their services is well known— .should not a j school for jo-keys be formed, in which they i should be taught to ride properly and scienj tifically, their faults eliminated, the poor. i inadequate material sieved out, and the good j retained? There appears to be no great ! difficulty in the way of such a scheme, and j the lines on which it should ¥q run to render ! it a financial success will readily suggest j themselves to any average business man.

Mr. W. Lyons gave his recent purchase Kaimate a chance to distinguish himself in the Winter Steeplechase at Ellerslie on Wednesday last. The popular peneillcr flattered himself that lie had the key to the situation in the son of Australian, and hacked hint accordingly. The chestnut jumped splendidly throughout, but he could do no better than finish fourth. Mr. Lyons has a hope of being able to land a race with Kaimate in Australia., and he intends shipping him to Sydney on Monday by the Zealandin.

The Messrs. Ihider, I am sorry to say, experienced a stroke of bad luck on Sunday last, the colt foal by Soult from Anna being found dead in the paddock at their Devonport establishment. The youngster was a really nice stamp of colt, and his owners had very good reason to view the future hopefully with him. A post-mortem examination revealed that the cause of death was a ruptured blood-vessel.

A meeting of the bookmaking members of the Victorian Club was held recently, when they agreed that they should not in future guarantee fellow bookmakers with the V.R.C. authorities. In cases where a bookmaker applied for permission to ply his calling at Flcmington the V.R.C. authorities have in the past, in the absence of any other acceptable security, insisted on a- guarantee from a member of the Victorian Club to the extent of £500 for the paddock and £200 for the hill.

The win of Sir Edward Cassel's colt Handicapper in the Two Thousand Guineas was a perfect facer to those who follow form. Only a fortnight before he scored at Newmarket, Handicapper ran unplaced in a £100 welter at the last meeting at headquarters. The fact that the company in this race was extremely moderate makes his success in the Guineas all the more wonderful. "Robin Hood" says that Handicapper was undoubtedly the best of the lot that ran in the Guineas; and, in fact, ran like the only stayer of the 17.

The. A.R.C.'s officer at Ellorslie (Mr. C. V. Hi'!) had a very sorry sight upon which to cast his eyes as the curtain was rung down for the season at Ellerslio on Wednesday last. The running track was in a terribly cut up state, while the saddling paddock and lawn in many places ,v«s a perfect; quagmire. It would, however, take something more than a deluge of rain to make the burly Charles lose his equanimity of temper, and even though he was promised a big time in repairing damages, he was able to call up a really bold smile in viewing the position.

The following new rule is to bo submitted to the forthcoming Trotting Conference: — Any person or persons importing a trotting horse into New Zealand shall notify the '.r----rival of such horse or horses to the secretary of the New Zealand Trotting Association, and upon receipt of such notice the New Zealand Trotting Association shall cause to be taken a description of such horse, and such description, together with the certificate of identity of such horse or horses, shall lie entered in a book to be kept by the association for that purpose. The association shall be empowered to charge the importer or owner of such horse or horses a fee not exceeding £1 Is for each such horse. A certificate yiia.ll thereupon be issued by the association, which shall ho .id good wherever these, rules are in opera-lion. In the event of any person or persons neglecting or refusing to comply with this rule he or they shall be subject to a fine- not exceeding £2.0 or disqualification.

. j BREVITIES. | St. Olga is on the up-grade. i , Nor'-west is reported to have gone amiss. Potter's Paddock has been renamed Alexandra Park. Finland is stated to have broken downbadly, and may not race again. The win of Handicapper in the Two Thou, sand Guineas was a great surprise. The Hawke's Bay .1.0. _ Meeting takes place on Wednesday and Friday next. i Old Vo-ltigeur 11. must be voted thei wonder of the New Zealand race track. | The Australasian states that tho stallion I Ben Bolt has been sold 10 a New Zealand breederIt is held that the heavy going settled Lady Avon's winning chance in the Farewell Handicap. ; Beddinjitoa opened his three-year-old career with a win and closed it with a like record. I Mr. W. Lyons leaves on a visisj to Aus- : tralia on Monday, and will be absent a | couple of mouths. i Sly Miss was badly galloped on while con testily the Maiden Welter Handicap at Eli leraiie on Wednesday lasts'. j Highlander had bad luck at the. start for tho Maiden Welter Handicap, run at Kilerslio on Wednesday last. | St. Paul's three relations. St. Ursula, St. Peter, and St. Olga, saw the season out, at Ellerslie on Wednesday last. | Did anyone detect anything questionable at the tail end of one of the races run at i Ellerslie on Wednesday last? j La Gloria is reported to have gone amiss. : I understand that the daughter of St. Leger I will be put to the stud next season. I Fulme.ii, who ran a dead-heat for the New ' Zealand Cup last November, w;>s recently I given a turn over the schooling hurdles. j Mr. R. S. Sieyier, who gave tho English j ring a severe raking on several occasions last j year, is stated to bo going very quietly this I season. j The St. Simon blood was to the fore in I the Grand Prix de Paris. St. Damien, the ; sire of the winner, was got by "the king i of sires."

Kaitnate, who was purchased last week at ! auction by Mr. Lyons, is to be shipped to I Sydney next week, with a view to being | raced there. The French sportsman, M. Michel EphI russi, sent a representative to England this \ year to contest the Two Thousand Guineas, but he ran badly. Judging from the disturbed state of matters in the local lx>okjnaking camp, the recent | Grand National meeting has left other than j pleasurable effects. ! A lot of people are found contending flint ■ Miss Drury should have beaten Natation i in the Hunters' Steeplechase run at Ellerslie I on Wednesday last. I When Fitzsimous arrives the Messrs. ! Nathan will have f our stallions at their comi mand, viz.. Seatcn Delaval, St. Hippo, ExI plosion, and Fitzsimous. ! The amount of the Government tax on j totalizator investments at the recent North j New Zealand Grand National Meeting amounted to £426 12s lid. | The Auckland cast-off Crusado figures again I a,s a candidate for V.R.C. Grand National \ Steeplechase honours. The son of Cruiser j has been awarded lOst 121b. t Hylas jumped tho steeplechase country at j Ellerslie .satisfactorily in his nice on Monday last, and he may be heard of to advantage | across country next season. | Mr. W. T. Jones has selected the name of I Maelgwyn for the yearling colt by Bill of I Portland from Barlev, full brother to the ! dual Derby winner. Maltster. I learn from Mr. A. Davis that the half- | dozen mares put to Explosion last season I are all in foal. They are Miss Letty, Miss • Rose, Stepfast, Miscalculation, Sybil, and I Mara tea.

j Cannongato looked all right to the eye j when he ran at Ellerslie on Wednesday last, I but he apparently retained effects from his j racing on the first and second days of the i meeting. I Mr. H. C. White has a representative in I next English Oaks, that being a daughter of i the defunct Yardley and Pearlsheil, who was j bred at Havilah, at :1 afterwards sent to the Old Country. ! Mr. John Kirkwood, who, my readers will not require to be told, is one of the oldest members connected with the management of the Auckland Racing Club, is, I regret to say, in bad health. Carbine was represented by a winner on j the opening day of the Newmarket meeting, ; M.-nnlicher scoring in the principal event. Mannlicber carried the colours of his breeder, j the Duke of Portland. | The totalizator investments (£9308) on the I concluding day of the North New Zealand | Grand National Meeting were £408 in excess j of the sum (£"000) handled on the second, or "Grand National day."' The Wellington ring is stated to have got a terrible raking over the victory of Stepina in the Maiden Welter Handicap, run on the opening day of the North New Zealand Grand National meeting. It is a compliment to the prowess of Auckland-bred jumpers that two of their number (Record Reign and Cttvaliero) should figure at the head of the list in the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race. Jlinau cut up badly in the Hurdle Race run on the third day of the North New Zealand Grand National Meeting. The heavy state of the going is the excuse that some advance for the Wanganui horse's indifferent display. Princess Melton, for whom Mr. J. B. Joel gave tho enormous sum of £15.000 as a two-year-old, was amongst the starters for the One Thousand Guineas. She started in the position of second favourite, but failed to gain a situation. The Hawke's Bay Jockey Club hold their winter meeting on Wednesday and Friday next. The principal event of the opening day is the Hurdle Race, in which Hairtrigger reads to me as well as anything. In the Steeplechase Moifa will probably prove the hardest horse to beat. J A gueat many people have had to acknowledge themselves beaten in unearthing the meaning of Moifa. lam told that it is a vNe'fh word denoting a swimmer. As the Great Northern Steeplechase winner was got by Vatator (the latter is out of Waterwitch), it wiu be seen that, the title is an appropriate' one.

Ihe Watchdog, who has a deal of indifferent form to his account, since he won the .Newmarket Handicap of 1900, scored in the Ellesmero Stakes. ,Un at Randwick on the Ist llin ' The SOU of Gibraltar carried Bst 13lb, and he won easily and traversed the six furlongs in lm. lUs.. there is plenty of evidence that he retains a dash of brilliancy. Richard Marsh, the English trainer, lias, since his occupation of Egerton House, won the colossal susm of £216.000 in stakes for his employers, and three Derbies, a couple of Two Thousand Guineas, and the same number of St. Legers, the latter a, race he won with Ossian (John Watts up) so far backus 1883 for his staunch patron, the late Duke of Hamilton. Mr. W. Ellingham, of Takapau, who owns Denbigh, has a four-year-old full brother to Moifa named Abergcldie : Ruby, the six-year-old wet I -performed half-sister bv Turouoise ; three-year-old half-brother Defoe, by 'Robinson Crusoe; two-year-old colt bv Strephon • and a yearling colt by Mahaki. Some of these youngsters should bo heard of next season.

_ A lady, noted for her practical interest in the various charitable and philanthropic societies of the district in which she resides, said to a well-known trainer. "Now, Mr! Stopham, as you must be an authority on the subject, will you tell me what particular class of men are the principal offenders in regard to cruelty to animals? Well," mum," answered the. horsey man, "if yer ask me from my own experience, I should say it's a million tt;r one on "andicappers !" —"Javelin," in the Melbourne Leader. This is how they go shooting in India: — "On Saturday news of rhino and buffalo came into camp from a place about 16 miles off, and Lord Curzon, with Colonel Pears, Baring, and Fenn, decided to visit the spot. They got a tiger and saw the rhino, but he sot away. Subseqeuntly His Excellency got'a chance and bagged him, and a tiger was also brought to book. The total bag is now I<2 tigers, 1 rhinoceros, and 1 leopard. The total bag of H.H. the Maharajah of Gooch Bebar's shoot is 11 tigers, 3 rhinos, 9 bison, 3 buffaloes, 5 leopards, 5 boars, and 10 stags." After that (remarks "Javelin," of the Melbourne Leader) quail and parrels don't sound much like "Royal sport," do they'.'" John Watts, who won the Derby on Persimmon (owned by His Majesty the King) settle'! down as a trainer only a few months pgo. lie was one of the finest horsemen that ever threw a log across a saddle, no less than four Ocrbys and five Lcgers appearing in his record. Now he is giving a rave taste of his quality at the (raining business. illonly a few horses in his stable, he has already won two good races with his colt, Bonny Scotland, by Ayrshire out of Formosa, as well as the Babraham Plate at Newmarket for Mr. Elliot Galer with Beautiwick. The greatest satisfaction was generally expressed that Watts should have started in his new career with such marked success.