RACING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18388, 2 May 1923, Page 6

RACING.

SEASON'S FIXTURES. ~ May 4. sMarlborough Racing Club. ;'.. May 9, 10—Egmont Facing Club. : . May 17, Wanganui Jockey Club. June 2, 4. 6—Auckland Racing Club. - : June 2, i, Dnnedin Jockey Club. '. July 11, 14—Wellington Racing Club. ; DATES:' OF COMING EVENTS. 'i New Zealand. May o—Egmont Steeplechase. ' May 17—Wanganui Steeplechase. ■■■.■•■■-?. May 17— Century Hurdle Race. June 2— Otago SteeplechaseJune 2— Great Northern Hurdle Race. Juno Great Northern Steeplechase. Australia. May 9—Adelaide Cup. June 2, 4— Australian Jockey Club July 7, 11, Victoria Racing Club. England. May 2Two Thousand Guineas. May 4— On© Thousand Guineas. June 6—The Derby. June B— The Oaks. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. W.G.T., Waihon.—Recluse ' was got by Daniel O'Rourke—Voltarina. the latter being by Traducer— Dod. 'We can find no 1 traco of the other horse you mention in the Stud Book. ' . .■..'''".' '.'•■ - ' * ■•'• ■ .'■■ ■ ■." -.. ''■ NOTES BY PHAETON. ~ POSITION OF COUNTRY CLUBS.: The pronounced - success of the pooling scheme of the one-day country clubs of the province is gratifying in the extreme. Credit is due to all concerned for the. manner in which the scheme was accepted as; the only way out of an extremely difficult position. This was not thoroughly ' understood or appreciated by a considerable section of the public, and from time to time '■ voices .were , raised in protest' against . the principle- of country, clubs holding their meetings metropolitan courses. Racing authorities ; proverbially conservative and difficult to move from welltried and long-established methods. '• Obviously the necessity must have been imperative that induced the metropolitan body, the Racing Conference, and the Government to adopt a scheme; to assist > the greatlyburdened country clubs. As a matter of fact, the position of the country clubs having only one day's racing in the year .was not altogether enviable in prosperous times. ;In the period of financial stress, when racing was called upon to bear an exceptionally heavy burden of taxation, it became desper- i ate. ' ' Racing clubs ' are , now called upon to incur a heavy capital ; expenditure in providing .suitable; courses and . appointments to maintain the' high standard the sport has attained in the' Dominion. The revenue derived from one day's racing in a year prior to the imposition of extra taxation was barely sufficient in many ' cases to provide the necessary equipment . and make ends meet. Practically all the ! clubs were assisted; to finance by , members possessed of the true j sporting .spirit.) The country clubs So/ not desire to race on city courses, and it is thoroughly : recognised that the, method j adopted this season ;- of meeting an extraordinary position is merely an expedient that will; not recur. : ' The remission of a certain amount of taxation on racing has been forecasted, and ; this will be welcomed by all clubs, but more than this is necessary to place the : one-day clubs ■•• in a satisfactory position.::;' In . the interests of ; the clubs, of the owners and the public, and to ensure the maintenance of' the :high' standard of tho sport, it is essential that the one-day meetings' should be converted into two days. The Government, no doubt, is fully alive to:' the situation, and when racing matters are being reviewed .by Parliament this : aspect of; the, matter should receive profound consideration.

S. REID'S RIDING EXPERIENCES.

'■■■;' The well-known New.Zealand cross-country rider. Stan Reid. is contributing a T series -of articles, oh' his riding experiences. to a Melbourne newspaper. The New Zealand' jockey has : been. in the v Commonwealth ; for some time, and has met. considerable success in - the saddle. ■- Referring to some of his experiences in New Zealand, Reid writes,as follows:—"One incident I; remember vividly was in .regard to; the intelligence of two racehorses. It occurred in New ■< Zealand some years ago. ■' I waß riding Bon Reve in a steeplechase at Wellington, when he fell at:'the last ' fence along with' a horse :named Sleight.:of;Hand.; .'Now,- neither horse had previously fallen ■ in a; j race, > and evidently the experience:. was ' ? very'; strange to'' them—if not to the riders. :; . Alan McDonald was on Sleight of ; Hand, and ; when he hit the earth he was -about"'2o yards away from ; me. Both horses* began :. neighing when they : got to their feet, and, strange to say/ Bon Reve trotted ■■ over to where I was - on the ground and ; .Sleight ,of Hand did the same to. McDonald. The horses stood still near each of us. and , one could ;really", believe that they .did 'so out of sympathy. .*j' That is an incident I will long remember. I had a great fondness for Bon Rove- You see, he was purchased by his owner for:; £28 in a ' pound' after he had broken down." That man. put him to jumping, and 1 rode' him in his races. Well, he won £3000 in stakes when 1 was on him, so he was a good friend to mo. Ron Reve ' was the same type ;or horse as Sir Prim—a splendid jumper and a good stayer. As a three-year-old he ran a dead heat for first in the.Stewards' Handicap, won the Derby, the Canterbury Cup, and the Stead -Memorial Cup all-? within the space of;; a;-week. ;•:> I had" often heard of a horse in a hurdle race having made a jump at an obstacle, and, taking off too far, landing on the take-off side of the hurdle. Really I did not think it was feasible until one afternoon at the Riccarton course. Christ. • church, it happened to a horse 1 was riding. I do. not want it -to occur again, as the horse, whose name was" Otarara, crashed into . tho hurdle^with, his chest and threw me heavily One can get a nasty fall in that way—l know that much. Before concluding, 1 would like to refer to an incident that occurred at; Amberley. New Zealand. I hadthe i. mount on a mare named Fairy Finn and. having difficulty in getting down to the weight, I rode her in a lib saddle. At the first hurdle one; of the ktirrup '; leathers broke. . I went through the race with one knee hold up to the height of the one in the. stirrup._ I won. but paid for the experience- ;•. The strain of holding my leg in that position- caused a contraction of- the roiwcles, and I could not walk for some time alter the race. I was somewhat ' green" in those days, ' but now I know the best plan in such a situation is to take the other foot out of the iron— can keep balance much better then."

LEAVES FROM MY " NOTEBOOK. Profound appreciation of the • assistance rendered by the metropolitan and suburban racing clubs to the country: clubs in connection with the pool scheme was expressed by Mr. A. F. Howarth st the social function held by the. Countrv Clubs'. Association ■on triday,: evening. ■ The ready &nd wholeheartea manner in which th* city racins authorities had responded to the appeal of the country clubs, he said, would have a' much more permanent and.. great*"- effect than anpeared on the. surface- The financial heln was very welcome, but he considered that by far .tho most-important result was the j'iminati.on of misunderstandings that may have existed, th» drawing together of the bond« of p.fellowship and the weldinc of enorting interests that mu«t inevitably follow. These sentiments will be heartily endorsed by all jrood sportsmen who desire" to s»e the interests of sport maintained in all districts. One of the most interesting yearlings at Pi mington this, autumn, states a Melbourne writer, is a full sister to Gloaming, which has just been broken in under the direction of Austin Scobie. The filly is of nice size, and looks all over a galloper. This ' i-> the first of The Welkin—Light family we have had here since Refraction, who is" now at the stud. There can be no doubt that Refraction, though she left the turf without any record to speak of. was a good one. The trouble With her was that she had a rather delicate constitution, and would not, th«»re~ fore, stand much wear. Refraction had fneed above the ordinary, as she frequently showed on the tracks and in several of her races. The filly ju«t taken in hand looks Tore robust than Refraction. It is time The We'km— alliance produced an--1 other cood one, and it is quite on the cards that tho youngster that has iust been introduced to tho training ground will be found capable of filling the bill. King's Trumpeter added lustre to his three-year-old record on Monday by winnine the Ormond Memorial Gold Cup at the hawke's Bay autumn meeting. The son of Clarenceux thus takes rank among distinguished ccmrany. The event w:s established in '.1920, and previous winners include Parisian Diamond, Sasanof, and Gloamins. King's Trumpeter, is evidently partial to distances up to.a- mile and n-quartcr. all his Vst efforts having been made over distances within that limit- As his weight, including * penalty, in the Memorial Cup was 9.4. the C'arenceux gelding was responsible for a good performance in "ompassing the mile in lm •*!" on a track that must have been rather dead. Correspondent accounted for a fairly good field in the Hawke's Bay Cup. and. although he only can-ied 6.7. apparently won his race in good style- The son of Gazely has shown considerable improvement since the beginning of the season, and evidently has yet to show his best form. His initial effort this season was in hack company, and in achieving cup honours at Hawke's Bay he. has shown himself capable of getting a mile and a-half in good styl»- ■- .

It ! is evidently intended that Vagabond shall take ?, seriously to. the i limping game this season. The Martian -'■'.gelding --won the Karamu- Hurdle Race at f no Hawke s Bay autumn meeting! :in good. style, - and. as trie miio and three-quarters was cast behind ■- in 3m 15,.1-os. there was ,-no loitering on the journey. The '- Martians have, not greatly distinguished themselves in - hurdle events, but it may be left for Vagabond, to win honours for his sire at the jumping game. Vagabond is a fine stamp of a horse'; and should carry weight well. / He is engaged in the Great Northern Hurdle Eace at the Auckland winter meeting. ; \ ■ • .;' .; Among the Auckland jockeys riding at the Hawke's Bay. autumn meeting A. J. Mcilynn had a winning mount on each day. Joy Ride ' in the Poransihau Handicap on the first day and Misgovern in the Juvenile Handicap on the second day were his successful mounts. E. Keesinsr stpered. Blissf illness to victory in the Ohiti Handicap , on the second day of the meeting.