TROTTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 13

TROTTING.

'V: —* —' — : ; SEASON'S fixtures. ■;j . ■ / ' t{ *' - May 31,' .Tunp 3—Canterbury V ark I.C. ■[j ' : June B—South Wairarapa T.C. i'v-i vJune 7—Aihburton T.C. • NOTES BY PIC'ADOIt.. . TROTTERS AT THE ROYAL SHOW. Tho deciaion of tho New Zealand Trotting Association, to encourage the exhibition of trotting liorpsf at the Royal Agricultural. Show is to be commended. The trotter is essentially a farmers' horse, tile utility of which cannot be over-estimated. Any action calculated to improTe and Maintain the standard of such stock is certain to meet with widespread support. Hitherto tho classes for thoroughbreds and standard-bred trotters at the majority of agricultural shows have been very poorly ' patronised. The difficulty of exhibiting stud stock during tho season that shows are usually held in well recognised, but something worth while could surely be done provided proper inducement were offered. It is to be hoped the establishment of the Royal Show in the Dominion will mark the occasion of a thoroughly representative exhibition of high-class trotting stock. INCREASED PERMITS REQUIRED. Good progress is being made with the W?lr 10n w°L f grandstand at Alexandra V*.' , u V ta completion the accommodation for the public will be on a very &TE ®i ' The Auckland Trotting ' Club has always adopted th bioad outlook m regard to the management of trotting and the provision of pTo ,^ r facilities or patrons ? ,® port - Tila wisdom of this attitude has bee K amply demonstrated In the pro--Bt8? °h * tin « , ir \ Auckland. Much ha* tmsts b A - » V wovor - La tho " tlie sDort vhM V£l Un?tely °pnne<;ted with , conclusion of tho Auckland ironing Club g Autumn Meeting in April The new tcoson will not open till the S llrtnlL sprU) sT. meeting i toward tho end of October. t Thus nearly sis months- will elapse before tilo local owner* and trainers , will have on • opportunity of competing for stakes on their own ground. Tharo axe only permits for 12 day/ trotting in the Aucki Byen 1 being allocated to thoAuckland Club, four to Otaliuhu. and one to the Wiiiatojfiotlmi Club, and with thena limited opportunities th« sport has progressed remarkably during recent years. Without additional opportunities for stake-earning, however, the trotting owners of the <l*«triol cannot be expected to increase in a manner commensurate with the popularity of the sport. lie efforts of the majority of the horses hare to be confined to the local courses, tho coat of travelling far afield to compete at other meetings being prohibitive except in (he ease of horses »pproaohintr champion plajs. The result is that the. ordinary handicap horses, of which thera ares many, are compelled to eat the oats os idlepess for six months and endeavour to -win sufficient to par for their keep with vert' restricted opportunities. Auckland certainly i? *, g ?° d case * or additional trotting per* mits both in city una country, and no effort should be epated to red pi its ois&ns to tho utmost THE '- 1 RINGING-IN" OASES. Referring to the recent c«ae« of rinjjing-in of trotting horses, "Sentinel," of the Otago Witness, makes comment that is wortnj? of note by tho v authority. Tho trotting atmosphere is far from clear, he states, but strong efforts aw being made to bring about that desirable state of affairs, nod the legal recognition of the offence should oevtalnly deter any others from committing similar offences. In some quartets it has been said that the discovery of such caasa will do * lot of damage to the sport, but no fears need bo eait«rtßineii in that action. In ;x ntating that a rmjfing-in onsa &t any other fraudulent work in connection with sport can be ( classed under "Ethics of Racing" a grave < injustioo to the game is committed, fl-nd, m fact, it shows a lack of knowledge regarding the difforenoe between robbery and sport, and surely on® cannot class robbery as an ethlo of sport. One might as weu. top embezzlement or safe-breaking as " Tha Ethics of Banking," or incendiarism as The Ethics of Insurance." The authorities have won ft great deal of well-deserved crwlit for leaving no stone unturned in order _to clear up the matter, but they snouid trowel further and make some start to remove temptation for & repetition of such cases. This can be assisted by the institution of class races, which would give & high-class performer » cha>noe to pa# hio way , intend of ■■ being kept on a handicap which considerably reduce® Its value as a racing proposition, _ When a horße r»&chet) ' extreme speed and; is kept on a mark repre- [ panting thai speed, its value diminishes. This would not be the" case if short limit [ classes were more generally adopted. A, horse has always a chance in his own class, ; but not in ft race allowing lons handicap/, which -are' very seldom won by a backmarker, who is a {ully-expoqod horse. Taka i the case of Ben O'Han. Ho fiji on® of tne •; speediest pacers in - training. »nd yet •ha : could only reach 55srt\s ' when under tho . hammer, last week. If there were a tew '• class races from 2.10 to 2.13, the same horse ; would be well worth 6Cogti4,' instead of " only a-tenth of the money. It; will bo 1 ! seen that our system of long-distanoo ■ handicap is really an encouragement to l fraud and consgir&cy, and it is up to the ; authorities to effect ft remedy and recognise , the fact that a good horse la always a , good horse, and should be Kiuognispd as such instead of being easily acquired as the basis of otich cases ad the one under " notice. . ' " " .

, MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. . That good hone, Sheik, lit reported to.bo on the oasy list and unlikely to race ! until the hew season. . R. HeaJey ii keeping his two" imported horgefl to easy tasks, and ; the pair, look healthy and bright The imported horse Truimoh i» being worked at Aldington by By Water in view of the Canterbury Pars winter meeting. 1 Word received from Canterbury states itot the American sportsman, Mr. R. Smith, who has imported a number of hones • to' New Zealand during the past two years. 'is expected to arrive there shortly with & further contingent. ■ TaJoro, a three-year-old pacer by ; 'Great Audubon, made a favourable impression at Fprbwry Park by accounting for the Domain Handicap and finishing second in the Pacific Handicap. Ho is trained by C. B. Hooper and is evidently : full of promise. It is suggested that ; a Napier turf scribe committed an excellent citizen and good sportsman to a premature grave when he published an obituary: note with regard to Mr. C. F. Mark, the capable and popular secretary of the Auckland Trotting Club, who at latest advice'»« still very .much?alive. It will do Mr. Mark no harm, anyway, even, at this late date, to be reminded that he is the son of a Presbyterian minister. Probably his identity was confused with that of iha late Mr. F. W. Marks, fop many years cleric of the scales to the Auckland Racing Club, whose death' occurred recently. < . J ' Information is to hand from the South stating that the American-bred _ stallion Petereta reared up while playipg in a paddock recently and broke a .bind leg. . ," veterinary surgeon was called in immediately, but it was found necessary to destroy tie horse. Petereta was foaled m 1909. ,He was a eon of Peter the Great (£.71), his dam, Receleta, being by Arion (2.7}). He wis bred by Mr. 0. M. Buck, Faith all. U.S.A., and was imported to New Zealand by the late R. A. McMillan. Petereta • proved a , successful sire, Riring those good trotters, Reta Peter (two New Zealand Trotting Cups). Pete Peter. Peter Dean, Peter. Swift,.and Tinv Moon, besides the pacew Peter . Mac. Pitaroa. Kewpie, Partner, and many other good ones ...