SPORTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15407, 16 September 1913, Page 9

SPORTING.

AVONDALE CUP MEETING. Tm Avondaie Jockey Club will open the local racing season to-morrow, wncii ine 01* attractions will be trio -avondale cup ana biases, and Opting OKjopieciiase Moe. 01 ifle visiting uors.ee nave arrivea, ana a uuereetins carnival may be waned torwuiu* liainjitane and Master Webb, a pair of tjuu.iiarn horses engaged in lao opuna bicepicuiase have put in an appearance, moo Vaaaei. who arrived in ..Barge ol to cnaoie io tun veal vhc same race. jjj an uruurmnaie circuiuajuice, however, iionzel win uoi bo alll « 10 compete to-morrow, it appears thai the horse was accepted lor by terrain handed in at 2 p.m last Friday, but n wag addressed to Avondaie, and aid not reach ine secretary unul lu Jv; a.m. on ihe following day—too laic to oe equally received Muleteer, a New I'lymouth horse talcing part at the meeting, has been brought to headquarters by his trainer. ' Silver Cluae, who orone down on Saturday, will not be a competitor for the First nurdle Race, in which event he was to' have been ridden by A. Julian. A large number of the horses engaged at the gathering were seen out at Elierslie yesterday, but most were restricted to serviceable exercise. The Cup horses Worcester, Merry Roe, Colonel Souft, The Celt, Soultikofi, Prince Merriwee, and Royal Arms were on the tracks, and each skipped along freely. Royal Arms, the only Southerner engaged in the Cup, strode over seven furlongs of the sand with Crown Pearl, whom he beat by a length in Im 32 l-6e. Soultikoff is an unlikely starter for the Cup. .The following are the probable starters and riders in the Avondale Stakes:—Ulster (J. Q'Shea). Suffragette (—), Mason Bee (C. Brown); Marble Star (—), Delenda (R. E. Brown), Kitty Bellairs (L. Nodder), Shepherd's Bush (L. Wilson), Mullin«ar (C. J Stenning). Lady Mabel (B Greenwood). Crescendo (J. Conquest), Castalia (J, Buchanan). Graduate (W Bell). CARRIAGE OF RACEHORSES. [by teleqeaph.— ASSOCIATION.] Chbistchtech, Monday. The deputation (consisting of Sir George Clifford, the xion. J. D. Urmond. and Messrs. Bidwill. Buckley, and Miller) appointed by the liew Zealand ttaiing Conference, which waited on the Minister lor Railways in July last, and urged upon him the necessity for making better provision for the tiansit of racehorses to race meetings, and for providing an improved type of horsebox, has been notified by the Minister (through the president of the Racing Conference) that very strict instructions have been given to the Department on the subject of the cleaning of stock waggons, and the Department is fully alive to the necessity, but that during the busy season owners of horses prefer to have their waggons supplied before being cleaned rather than ha any slight delay. It is not y.ways possible to clean the trucks as thoroughly as during the slack season of the year, without causing delay in fulfilment of orders received In cases where it is known the animals are diseased, special oare is taken in connection with the cleaning and disinfecting of the trucks by which they were conveyed. Every effort will be made to ?revent the supply of dirty stock waggons, t is suggested by the Minister that" the Racing Conference should submit particulars of any improvements and alterations which they consider necessary to the horseboxes at present in use, when the matter will be again referred to the Department's officers. With reference to the representations of the deputation in regard to conveyance of racehorses by special trains, the Minister states that, provided owners will all combine and give a load of 25 boxes or 50 horses, the Department will run a special train if convenient for the conveyance of horses from Christehurch to Dunedin, or Dunedin to Invercargill. The reply of the Minister also states that racehorse traffic is the most unremunerative class of traffic that has to be conveyed by rail. The president of the Racin? Conference has communicated with the Minister, pointing out that he rather demurs to (he statement that racehorse traffic is unromunaraHvo, inasmuch as it is vital to a very profitable consequential traffic. He also states that thb terms mentioned for a special train are prohibitive, and suvrests thai the minimum be altered to a combined load of 16 boxes c 32 horses. The Minister has replied that 'he Department is prepared to reduce the number to 40 horses, or 20 four-wheeled waggons. NEW STARTING MACHINE. SUCCESSFUL TRIALS ON COURSE. A new starting machine was tried at Avondale yesterday. It is an electrically operated apparatus. Two uprights stand on either side of the track To prepare for a start the tapes are brought down to the usual height above the ground on the ooste nearest the horses. Instead of just flying upwards when released, they go away from the horses, and up to a height of about 14ft Another novel feature is that by means of a push button and a long length of flexible wire the starter releases the triggers, which work at exactly the same instant on both sides of the course. Thus it is that the tapes rise by the pull of powerful rubber springs at an extraordinarily rapid pace, but all the time keep parallel to the ground. It is an impossibility for one side to rise without the other. The actual mechanism is simple. On each post there is a solenoid or coil, in which lies a moveable iron cone When the button is pressed tie coils are magnetised, and the cone flies forward with considerable force, driving downwards the trips or triggers. Although so easily released, the barrier is so firm before pontact is made that horses could charge into it without disturbing it The machine, which is to be used for the first time in the Islington Welter at the Avondale Meeting on Wednesday, was originally invented by Mr Hicrm'ns. but the application of electricity by Mr Drummond, of A- and T Burt and Co.. improved it considerably At the demonstration trials were made with three horses, and to every case the resu'tt were particularly satisfactory Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the trials was the way in which the atartsT was free to move about behind the Vms and art from, any portion witho"t having to run back to the side lover. Several representatives of (be Auckland Rar-ui* fl„i, TiVennns. JnrVey Cub. the AurMand and Otshnhu Trotting Clubs attended the demonstration.