NOTES BY PHAETON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21912, 22 September 1934, Page 9

NOTES BY PHAETON

THE AUSTRALIAN DERBY NEXT SATURDAY'S CONTEST SILVER KING AS FAVOURITE After Silver King won .the Hobartvillo Stakes at Wanviok Farm on August 25 he was populai'fv selected as the most promising New. South Wales candidate for the Australian Jockey Club's Derby. Having followed up his early success by disposiipg of sixteen opponents in the Rosehill' Guineas, his prospects in the classic race at Handwick next Saturday are still further enhanced. / Victories in the Hobartvijle Stakes and Rosehill Guineas are not always an infallible guide, for some brilliant colts have failed to stay the mile and. a-half in the Derby. The case of Mollisoiji may be cited. That colt, who at two yeiilre old was unbeaten in seven starts, commenced hia three-year-old career by taking the llobartville Stakes and Rosehill (Iruineus. lie was made an odds-on favourite for the Derby, but was decisively defcfcisted by Prince Humphrey. Silver King is given cre.fljt for being well endowed in regard to physique, and, as a great deal may be urged in his favour on pedigree grounds, it will apparently require something pretty powerful,' to dethrone him from the position of favou fite next Saturday. THE MELBOURNE CUP ONLY FOUR MARF/S SUCCESSFUL A study of Melbourne Cup history shows that in the 73 contests c/nly four mares have been successful, name'fy, Briseis, 6.4. in 1876, Auraria, 7.4, in ifcos, Acrasia, 7.6, in 1904, and Sister Olive, .6.9, in 1921. The entries this year {include 34 mares, as fellows:—Palantua, 8.3 j Roman Spear. 7.11: Mince Pie, 7.8; Miss Npltava, 7.7; Guterina, Daleful, 7.6; Folk Lovei Sarchere, 7.2; Clash of Colour, liasteoits, "7.0; Hap, Caliente. 6.12; Intombi, Queen, 6.11; Flower of Egypt, Entreat, E't Seno Rita, Almada. Cftpris, Noni, Miss Carious, Veritus, Koolagoor, 6.10; Nayoya. Valoric, Wilma Gay. 6.9; Loromine, MelZsande, Belle Zircon, Blcnda. What Joy, 'Curious Lady, Dilly, Fanfanorade, 6.7. That there are a , large number of unknown quantities in the above list ie evident from the fact that 24, of the 34 handicapped figure below 7.0. Roinan Spear, a five-year-old daughter of Spfearhead and Koyal Romance, who has donle all her racing in New South Wales, has lk'tely won several races, but only over sprint .rcourses. The greatest performance recorded by a mare in the Melbourne Cup was that of Wakeful, who in 19'p3 carried 10.0 and ran a good Lord Cardigan, 6.8. to half a length for fitst. JOCKEYS AfND THEIR FEES ! i LARGE RETAINERS IN ENGLAND The announcemfent that Gordon Richards, the champion jockey in England, is to receive from the Atea Khan retaining fee of £7OOO n year, plu& 10 per cent, of the Btakea won, in a contract for three yeare for first call on his services, furnishes a striking illustration of how very different the remuneration of le; iding pfesent-day jockeys is compared with that paid 50 years ago. It is related that tl/e largest eum the renowned Fred. Archer niceived as a retainer from Lord Falmouth rwa3 £IOOO a year. Going a bit further back t it is on record that £IOO a year was all thktt Sir Joseph Hawley paid T. Wells as a retainer for first call. A few years aito it was stated that Stephen Donoghue received £SOOO from Mr. James White for two jyears, and Lord Rosebery paid 4he AmarMan jockey D. Mnher £IOOO a year for years, while the sportsman who rac«dj undfcr the assumed name of " Mr. Fairier paid Maher £3OOO a year for second call-;' It is not in- retaining fees alone that matters have Whanged to the marked advantage of jockjeye, Harry Custance, a rider of note, stated that the only present Mr. James Merry .gave him during the three years he rods for the wealthy Scotsman was £IOO after winning the Derby of 1860 on Thormanby t John Day. who steered the Duke of Grafton's pair Dervise and Problem to victory, in tfoe Two Thousand Guineas and One Thousand! 'Guineas respectively in 1826. was given a aresent of £2O. Truly times have changed; ajnd the jockey of the present day is oertairtps not left out in the cold. L_l SirUD ITEMS WINDSdR LAD'S PEDIGREE Having fol'icrwed up his Derby victory with success ip the St. Leger, Windsor La<l has proved th prt he possessed all the qualities of a true stiiyer. The leading lines in his pedigree are as follows, from which it will bo seen that, ho has a strain of Carbine, which comes rtc him on the darn's side:— Sire: Blandfcfood, by Swynford, son of John o' Gauntj and grandson of Isinglass, from Blahfche, by White Er.gle. son of Gallinule. 'from Black Cherry, by Bendigo, son'i of Ben Battle. Dam: Resplcladent, by By George, son of Lally anfl grandson of Amphion, from Sundridgb, by Bridge of Earn, son of Cyllene, Srom Sunshot, by Carbine, son of Muskck. VALUE OF OPPORTUNITY The fact that opportunity counts for a great deal in.ithe stud career of stallions has often been ptojintedly illustrated. Heroic and Thracian, wAib are full-brothers, by Valais from Chersohdso. were relegated to the stud about the stiflne period. The former commenced etucl life at a great stud in New South Wales, while Thracian hp.d a humble beginning in Victoria. Heroic's numerous progeny won, £32,581 in prize-money lust season, whilfa' the limited number that represented Thrajb(ian captured only £1737. It is held to be aili'® possible that Thracian may have a first-d-lass three-year-old to race for him this season, namely, Aztec, who is a candidate foe Derby honours. THE, STAYING QUALITY An AmeriJjcem turf writer, in discussing the staying quqPiSty, declared that no horse could run the half-mile in a distance race in 46 seconds wjii have anything left to finish with. Referring to this contention, " Warnwee," in ihe Sydney Referee, says; This recalls mighty Manfred's .feat in the A.J.C. Derby of lfc)2s. Ho was left at the barrier about half |a furlong, ran the first half-mile, to pick ivf) the field, in 40 6econds, and left the opposition at the end of 12 furlongs to win in fa, canter. How many horses have there been |anywhere, in any age. that could have put 'Zip such a performance as that? Fred Archer held that the greatest of stayers coijild be beaten by hurrying them over the /barly part of a long race. and. broadly srfeaking, this is true. To do himself justicf, a stayer must be allowed to get balanced Ijiefore he is asked to exert all his powers. <Sood stayers have commonly been beaten through the failure of their riders to recognise itliis fact. TH|E NATIONAL STUD A pleas/ng feature of the sale of yearlings at Newmarket in July was improved prices, especially' for the lot sent up from the National Stud. The collection numbered nine and Ihe eum realised was 11,955 guineas. The high eat-priced lot was a colt by Blandford froi/n Tilia. who was Gold for 6100 guineas, .Lord Ellesmere being the buyer. FULL-BROTHERS The N'(w Zealand gelding Apache, winner of the Samdringhum Steeplechase at Caulfield recently, is a full-brother to Paris, who was successful in tho Wellington Steeplechase in 1031. A feature of the pedigree is the inbreeding to St. Simon. The sire, Solferino, is by Socman, son of St. Simon, while the dam, is by Wairiki. son of Soult, by St.. Siinon. RACING FIXTURES September 22—Geraldine Racing Club. Septemlfer 22—Foxton Racing Club. September 29—Napier Park Racing Club. Stptember 29 Oamaru Jcckey Club. September 29, October I—Taumarunui Racing Club (at Paeroa) October* 4, 6—Dunedin Jockey Club. October 5. 6—Otaki Maori Racing Club. October J2, 13—Mastertoa Racing Club. October 13—South Jockey Club. October* ,13, 15—Auckland Racing Club '