SPORTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13727, 18 April 1908, Page 7

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. April 13. 20. 21—Auckland Racing Club. April 18, Wairarapa Racing Club. April Waipukurau Jockev Club April 20— Beaumont Jockey Club. April 20. 21—Canterbury Jockey Club. April 20, 21—Feildinff Jockey Club. April Patea Racing Club. April 20, 21—Riverton Racing Club. April 20, 21-Knmara Racing Club. April 23. 24—Westland Racing Club. April 29—Taieri Amateur Turf Club. April 29, May 2—Avondule Jockey Club. April 29 and May 2—Wellington Racing ClubMay 6. 7-Hawke's Bay Jockey Club. May 6, 7—Marlborough Racing Club. May Mercer Hack Racing Club. May 13. Aahburton County Racing Club. May 13, Egmont Racing Club. May 16—Huntly Racing Club. May 23, Takapuna Jockey Club. May 23, 25—Wanganui Jockey Club. May 23. 25—North Otago Jockev Club. May 30, June 3. 6—Auckland Racing Club. June 3, 4—Danadin Jockey Club. DATES OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS. NEW ZEALAND April Northern Champagne Stakes. April IS-Auck.'and Racing Club's Easter J lan dicap. ' April 20—-Great Northern Oaks. April 20—Feildinsr Cup. April 20— Great Easter Handicap April 21—A.R.C. Autumn Handicap April 21—C.J.C. Challenge Stakes April 29—North Island Challenge Stakes. May 2—New Zealand St, Leger Stakes. May 6—Hawke's Bay Cup. May 7—Hawke's Bay Stakes May Great Northern Hurdle Pace June 3—Great Northern Steeplechase. AUSTRALIA. April 18—A.J.C- St. Leger. April 18—Doncaster Handicap April* 20—Sydney Cup. ENGLAND. May I—Two Thousand Guineas. May One Thousand Guineas, .lune s—The Derby. June 7—The Oaks ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. WAGEK.—Vanguard never raced in Auckland. It wad in the Duiiedin Cup of 1885 that Trenton ran second to Vanguard. J.T.M., Newmarket.—l. Fleet loot has been defeated on two occasions. 2. Maxim's turf career terminated at three years old. 3. Birkenhead wait get by Oruie. J.. Ohaupo.— Delaval and Phoebus Apollo were imported direct from England to Auckland. Musket was landed in Australia, but he did not serve a season there. QUERY.—Advance carried 9»t 61b and lOst s!b respectively when he won the Easter and Autumn Handicaps at Ellerslie in 1900. Master Delaval holds the record (2m. 35 3-55.) for the last-named race. SUBSCRIBER, Helensville.—The following are the fastest times registered at Ellerslie for the distances mentioned:—Six furlongs: Necklace, lm. 145.; Cuneiform, lm. 14 2-55.; One mile: danchattan, lm. 40 2-55.; Cambrian, lm. 415.; Celtic, lm. 415.; Golden Rose, lm. 41s. DlSPUTE.—Advance holds the weight-carry-ing record in connection with, the Autumn Handicap, but the impost (9st lllb) carried by Nonette in the Easter Handicap was 51b in excess of that under which Advance won the same race. The time registered by Advance and Nonette was the same, viz., lm. 425. CATECHIST, Pnkekohe.— Rose was in training at two years old, but she was not raced in, public. Alicia raced once, but we can fined no entry in the Turf Register as to Amorelle having faced the starter. Brown Rose last season produced a colt to Monoform. The Stud Book does not furnish a.ny particulars regarding the produce of Alicia and Amorelle. I'BARMTE.—I. Pearl Ash was imported to New Zealand from Australia, by Major George. She was an English-bred mare, by Lard Clifden, and was bought out of the Glenormiston Stud (Victoria) by Major George. 2. Clanranald was purchased as a yearling by Mr. G. G. Stead, who subsequently sold hun to Mr. H Dunn, the latter in turn disposing of the son of St. Leger to Sir George Clifford.

NOTES BY PHAETON. PROPRIETARY RACING—NO QUARTER. The proposal of a syndicate to lease the grounds of the Canterbury Agricultural Society for .the purpose of promoting pony racing there mot with a favourable reception at the hands of the chairman and some of the committee of that body, but both the leading Canterbury papers, with a knowledge of what the establishment of the proprietary element in racing means, will have none of it; and the result is some very pointed remarks. The New Zealand Racing Conference have very rightly taken up the attitude that proprietary racing should not be allowed, with the result that we have been spared a state of affairs in the Dominion such as that which exists in Australia, where several racecourses are run for the benefit of shareholders. With the New Zealand Racing Conference hostile to proprietary racing speculation in that; direction is never perhaps likely to obtain much headway here; but still it is well to deal with every organisation that savours of the proprietary element with ungloved hands. Everyone who looks at the matter dispassionately must agree that New Zealand provides quite enough race meetings, which are ■under proper control, and, that being so, the unregistered gatherings should be given no quarter. With regard to the sympathetic reception given'by the chairman of flip Canterbury Agricultural Society, when the syndicate's application came before him, such was, of course, largely influenced by the prospect of the funds of the society being augmented in payments for rent; but in the face of conditions- ruling it will be a matter for considerable surprise should the committee of the Agricultural Society offer facilities for the introduction of a class of racing to Canterbury that many will regard as a distinct blot.

CAN GOLD CREST WIN THE EASTER HANDICAP? A much-criticised horse engaged in the Easter Handicap, and one who courts a large number of admirer?, is Gold Crest, the three-year-old son of Gold Reef and Crest. In awarding Gold Crest 9st in the Ellerslie race, which impost, it may be remarked, represents 61b over woight for ago, Mr. Morse lias not left it open to any doubt that ho estimates the chestnut colt very highly, and a consideration of his form during the spring and summer would appear to bear out the handieapper's conclusion. In the decision of the Kawke's Bay Guineas, which event was run over a distance similar to the Easter Handicap. Gold Crest won by a head from Elevation in the fast time of Ira. 41 2-55.; and going on to Canterbury ho fairly bolted away with the Stewards' Handicap, in which lie carried Bst 31b, and traversed the distance in lm. 14 3-ss. In the C.J.C. Derby Gold Crest had to strike his colours to Elevation, who beat him three-quarters of a length in 2m. 35 2-ss. At Trentham :n January Gold Crest made an effort to win the Wellington Cup under Bst, but after flattering the hopes of his admirers for the greater part of the journey he had to strike bis colours to Moloch (fet 101b). Some idea of the pace that was feet up iu the Trentham race may be gathered from the fact that the 12 furlongs were cast behind in 2m. 33 3-ss. In the W.R.C. Handicap Gold Crest carried Bst 121b into third place behind Tangimoana (7at 4!b) and Sir Tristram (8st); and then he was produced to try conclusions with a field of 13 in the Summer Handicap, in which event he was weighted at Bst 111b; and he won his race in brilliant style from hie stable mate Marguerite (who was in at the same weight), in the splendid time of lm. 40 2-ss. Gold Great is carrying a blooming appearance, and some of his enthusiastic admirers contend that he will be the star of the Ellerslie meeting,

LEAVES FROM. MY NOTEBOOK. I i Zimmerman has been sent .South to fulfil i his engagements at the C.J.C. Autumn Meet- ! ing, i'he son of Birkenhead claims a double j engagement in the Great Easter Handicap i (seven furlongs) and Great Autumn Handicap i (one mile and a-half), in which he is weighted i at 9st 21b and 9st 31b respectively. A victory | in the first-named race would, however, entail a penalty for the Great Autumn Handi- j cap, and that would mean the steadier of j lust 31b for the son of Birkenhead in the j mile and a-half race. oodhey, who won the Champion Hark Plate at the Manawatu meeting last week, is voted a very useful filly. Got by Birkenhead from, the Dreadnought mare Goyt, who traces to Mersey (dam of Carbine), vVoodhey is bred on high-class lines, and, as she claims an engagement in the Great Northern Oaks, to be run at Ellerslie on Monday next, she will have an opportunity to take rank amongst classic winners. The attractive programme put forth by the Takapuna Jockey Club in connection with their winter meeting will require attention at the hands of horseowners on or before Friday next at nine p.m., on which date nominations close for all events. With prize money to the extent of £1765 figuring on the bill-of-fare, there is plenty of material id claim the attention of horseowncrs, and highly satisfactory entries may be expected to follow. j ( In referring to the fact that the Ascot Gold Cup, of 1836, which was won by Touchstone, is to lie given as a prize next summer at a race meeting in Germany, an English exchange mentions that Baron Oppenheim, president of the Cologne Race Society, discovered this cup last summer in London in j the shop of a dealer in antiquities and objets j d'art. Baron Oppenheim bought the cup i forthwith, and decided to offer it as a. prize I at one of the Cologne race meetings. This is j remarkable enough, but it would be still more interesting to learn how Touchstone's Ascot Cup ever came to leave Eaton Hall. The new 28--horse totalizator recently erected at Ellerslie has undergone a searching trial, when everything was found to run most satisfactorily. With the new addition it is hoped that the totalisator staff will now be able to deal effectively with the difficulties that have been experienced at preceding meetings, since the edict regarding the number of machines to be used was put into force. Tim name of Suffragette, selected for the Stepniak—Belle Clair filly having been disallowed, Mr. J. Monk has selected the title of Gipsy Belle, and this has been accepted. The filly is engaged in the Victoria Handicap, to be run at Ellerslie to-day. At a special meeting of the Auckland j Metropolitan Committee, held on Thursday, the three months' disqualification passed on G. Robinson, part owner of Santa. Rosa, for using abusive language in the jockeys' room at the summer meeting, was endorsed. There is a marked falling off in the number of applications received from bookmakers for the right to bet at Ellerslie, and some of those who study the matter closely predict that, in the event <of the license fee continuing at £20 per day, a further shrinkage in applications will have to be noted in the winter.

The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, will hold an important sale of bloodstock on Wednesday next, at the Harp of Erin stables, Ellerslie, when a number of horses in training, brood mares and foals, and stallions, are to be submitted to auction. The sale is fixed to commence at 11 a.m. In concluding an article on the small owner, a writer in the Sporting Chronicle says:—"Nothing in the science of horseracing is so fatuous as (.he attempt to dissociate it from betting. The two must inevitably go hand in hand, and, though the owner who can afford to raco for tho sheer love of the sport is always to bo admired, the otlu,: chap, generally a man of much smaller means, is none the less to be applauded. It is, as a rule, the ' little fish' that come into his net, and without an occasional wager on his own horses— bets concerning those belonging to other people are beside the point—he would find it difficult indeed to escape the position of philanthropist. Few of us—and in this category I include the ' big' owners:would care to launch into the stormy sea of racing without the hope of some financial return. Some don't mind a steady yearly loss within certain bounds; others try steadily and sedulously to keep the balance on the right side. But every man who runs horses is, like the man who marries, giving a hostage to fortune. Tho marital 'sharp' is apt to burn his fingers, and the racing sharp, when he goes to the extent of ownership, is as a rule, just as sure to do so."

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. Claremont has been scratched for all engagements at the'A.R.C. Autumn Meeting. Nominations for all events to be run at the Avondale Jockey Club's Autumn Meeting close to-night at, nine o'clock. The good-looking but disappointing Melodeon continues to run badly in Australia. It is now said that the son of Medallion is a confirmed rogue. The Hawke's Bay sportsman, Mr. T. H. Lowry, has only a brace of representatives engaged at the A.R.C. Autumn Meeting,, viz., Finery and Chanteuse. There is no rush for Carbine's services in England this season. At latest advices his list was not full at £98. That of his son, Spearmint, filled early at 250 guineas. Maranui is going well at Randwiek, and the manner in which the son of Malatua is shaping encourages the hope that ho will win a good race for Mr. O'Brien before long. The Auckland-bred gelding Waipuna, who is engaged at Randwick on the third and fourth days of the A..1.C. Autumn Meeting, is reported to be hitting out freely in his work. At Oakland, San ' Francisco, on February 22, a two-year-old filly named Carmisa was credited with running three and a-half furlongs in 40 2-sth seconds, which is a world's record. Since the A.R.C. Easter Handicap was reduced to a mile, which was in 1898, a three-year-old has won on three occasions, viz., Advance (9s 61b), None tie (9st 111b), and Mobility (6st 71b). According to a Johannesburg paper, Mr. Harry Solomon, M.L.A., and chairman of the Stock Exchange, and lion, judge for the Johannesburg Turf Club, has been appointed paid judge at £950 a year. A Sydney writer characterises the New South Wales horses engaged in the two steeplechases to be decided at the forthcoming A.J.C. Autumn Meeting to be the worst in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Some idea of the magnitude of the New South Wales bloodstock sales, held annually at Randwick, in tho autumn, may be gathered from the statement that fully 500 horses will be submitted to auction next week. The Canterbury Times says:"lf we were asked to state the two forms of racing which are least desirable, we should have no hesitation in bracketing proprietary and pony racing. In connection with the Avondale Jockey Club's forthcoming autumn meeting, it is notified that applications from bookmakers for licenses must be lodged with the secretary, Mr. H. H. Hayr, by four p.m. on Friday next. The poor acceptances received in connection with,'the leading events of the C.J.C. Autumn Meeting have caused a drooping of spirits in the South, and the field for the Great Autumn Handicap will especially be of a disappointing character.

Olympus, the half-brother (by Phoebus Apollo) to the New Zealand Cup winner Impulse, who has been a perfecs failure, is being schooled as a hurdler. Olympus was foaled in 1901, and, without a win, it must be said he has proved a costly horse. It is stated that Mr. T. Wilford, M.P.. has been retained by the Wellington Bookmakers' Association r.s counsel in an action to be brought against the Manawatu Racing Club on behalf of the bookmakers who were refused licences to bet at the recent meeting. The Sir Lancelot gelding Sir Percivale broke one of his shoulders whilst doing a gallop at the Forbury on Saturday last, and he was subsequently shot. Sir Percivale was bred by the Hon. J. D. Ormond, and was out of Trentalto, a daughter of Trenton. The two-year-old Santa Rosa seemed likely to earn another winning bracket ere the season ended, but the disqualification of his part owner, Mr. G. Robinson., follows the colt, and he can, therefore, be counted out as one that has run his last; nice in public as a youngster. Golden Rose holds the time record dm. 415.) for the A.R.C. Easter Handicap. When the daughter of St. Leger registered her performance in the mile race of 1903. the starting point was at the bottom of the straight. The present, point is held to be more conducive to a fast mile. It having been found more difficult than was at first supposed by the officials of the Income Tax Department of West Australia to assess the incomes of bookmakers carrying on their business at unregistered meetings, the trouble was surmounted by charging them £3 each for th© current year.