NOTES BY PHAETON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 9

NOTES BY PHAETON.

AMMON RA IN AUSTRALIA. FUTURITY STAKES SUCCESS. PURCHASER WELL REWARDED. By adding to his list of wins tho Canlfield Futurity Stakes, seven furlongs, Amnion Ha has given New Zealand another attractive advertisement. Having a 151b. penalty as a result of previous successes, the. son of Limond had to carry 0.3. How brilliantly ho rose to tho occasion is shown by the fact that he disposed of the opposition in great style and created a coureo record of 1.252. Amnion Ra has now contested 15 races, and from the following record of .his performances it will bo seen that ho has been unplaced on only one occusion: — UnFirst. Second. Third, placed. A t 2yrs . . 5 1 1 0 At 3yrs . . 7 0 0 1 12 1 1 1 It took Amnion Ha only a. few weeks in his two-year-old career to reward Mr. C. C. Sheath for his purchase price of £3500. for ho won .L' 5951 at tho Austialian Jockey Club's Autumn Meeting, and . this season has earned X 11,007 10s. making a total of 120,018 10s since he changed hands. FIRST AUTUMN CLASSIC. VICTORIA ST. LEGER. Tho first classic event of the autumn season is the Victoria Racing Club's St. Leger, to be run at Fleniington to-day. and the fact that Amnion Ra is engaged invests tho contest with much Auckland interest. Amnion Ra has not essayed a longer distance than a mile and a-lialf, but the extra two furlongs which tho St. Leger entails should not trouble him if be has tho truo staying quality. Johnnie Jason, winner of tho Victoria Derby, is expected to oppose Amnion Ra. and the meeting of the pair should prove interesting. Middle Watch, who was credited with running a good mile and a-lialf when he ran second to Second Wind in the Williamstown Cup, is considered to be a colt of much promise, and Pretzel is also accepted as likely to stay well. Pretzel is by Spelthorne, a son of Spearmint, and he therefore traces to Carbine.

A LUCKY PURCHASE. VERTIGERN IN AUSTRALIA. At the sale of Mrs. C. E. Edgar's horses at. Trentham last July prices were low, and Vertifjern. the six-year-old son of I-fossen-dale, was bought by his trainer, W. D. Moloney, for tho small outlay of 35 guineas. Transported to Australia, Vertigern has pointedly demonstrated that bo is yet far from being a back number. At Randwick on December 20 ho brought off a surprise victory in the Summer Cup. one milo five furlongs, in which ho carried 8.7 and beat a field of a dozen. That success earned a prize of £B2O for his owner, and at Caulfield last Saturday ho was again responsible for good form, when he won the Woodcliff Handicap, one mile three furlongs, under 8.9. Tho winner's portion of the stake in that face amounted to £350, so that Vertigern has already made a good return for tho 35 guineas expended in his purchase. Vertigern figures in tho Australian Cup with 8.4. Tho cup stake is £2500, of which £IBSO goes to the winner. STEEPLECHASE EVENTS. NEWS, SOUTH WALES* ' ATTITUDE. In New South Wales steeplechase events have never been promoted to tho same extent us in Victoria, and even the establishment of a £2OOO race by the Australian Jockey Club did not infuse interest into cross-country racing. Now comes the announcement that the two steeplechase events that have figured on the programme for the A.J.C. Autumn Meeting have been ruled out in favour of flat, events. In referring to the lack of interest in cross-country events in New South Wales a Sydney writer remarks:—"lt. is a pity that the steeplechase business has fallen into such ill repute in this State, for. after all. there is no such tesf of tho thoroughbred as his ability to carry up to 12 stone at a consistent speed for three miles over fences. In view of the financial stringency and tho lack of interest in the races, it i,s perhaps too much to expect that the steeplechases will get much encouragement in tho future, but the disappearance of tho real steeplechaser, with his intelligence and staying power, will bo a tragedy all the earnc. - '

STUD ITEMS. BR EE DING PROBLEMS. In an interesting article " Beacon." an authority on breeding matters, remarks:— " Breeding of livestock is an intriguing subject that never loses its charm ami interest. In regard to thoroughbreds, perhaps the two most fascinating topics nre tho inheritance of stamina and speed nnd that of colour. The workings of Nature as regards die inheritance of colour have been clearly disclosed, but much is still obscure in regard to tho more-important matters of stamina and speed. Colour depends on tho incidence of dominance and recessiveness, discovered by Gregor Mendel many, years ago. But it seems to me that the inheritance of stamina or speed is not affected in similar manner. Mendings of different characteristics do not, all produce relatively similar results. Mendel's experiments brought out two striking phenomena. The first, of these is dominance—the complete resemblance of the first hybrid generation to one of tho parents, the characteristic of the other parent being entirely suppressed. The second is segregation—in definite proportions —of the characters combined in tho cross. Wlien Mendel's paper was first discovered it was supposed by many that both dominance nnd segregation were essential features of Mendclism, and many writers were led to refer to a ' law oi dominance' and a. ' law of segregation.' But wo now know that dominance is quite an irregular phenomenon and that it was only by accident that complete dominance occurred,, in oil tho cusep studied by Mendel."

THE RACING TEST. 8.-uon Von Oettingen. tho great German authority on horse-breeding, was a great believer in (ho tested horse—that is to say. the horse with a racing record. In one of his masterly reviews on the subject he sa.vs;— " Thoroughbred breeding would lose every prospect of success if breeding material wore used which lincl been pampered vithout training and (racing) tests, especially if tho process is continued for several generations." LIMOND'S RECORD. The progeny of Limond racing in Australia and New Zealand last B&ason won prize-money to the amount of £32,9(54, and, with his son Amnion Ra having: already captured £11,607 in Australia this eensop, the English-bred eiro is again suro of a good place on the winning sires' list. At the close of last season it was computed that the progeny of Limond had won over £150,000 in stake-money, so that there is a good prospect of his total being raised to £200,000 ere his career closes.