TURF TOPICS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1695, 24 August 1904, Page 52

TURF TOPICS

(By "Advance."} LOWER VALLEY JOCKEY CLUB. The following is the report to be submitted to the annual meeting of members of the Lower Valley Jockey Club: —Your stewards are pleased to present a satisfactory report and bal-ance-sheet for the year ended 31st July, 1904. The small increase in the overdraft is more than covered by sundry debts owing and members’ subscriptions to come in. The estimated value of assets over liabilities amounts to £855 9s 9d. During the year sundry improvements have been made in clearing trees, draining and tree-plant-ing. The cost of drain round the inside of grass training track is about £ls. This will keep the track drier and be of benefit to trainers. It is nroposed to make a new drive for members through the plantation, so as to give them access away from the present traffic. The members will be asked to appoint a trustee of the property in the place of the late Mr A. R. McFarlane. Messrs J. Martin and T. F. Evans are the other trustees. MASTERTON TROTTING CLUB. The adjourned annual meeting of the Masterton Trotting Club was held on the 17th inst.. Mr C. A. Pownall presided. Six new members were elected. The balance-sheet was. read by the secretai'y. • . The president, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, stated that they were over £37 better off than at the beginning of the season.

The motion wan seconded by Mr O’Meara, and carried unanimously. The following officers were elected:— President, Mr C. A. Pownall; vicepresidents, Messrs F. Hill, E. M. D. Whatman and J. O’Meara; timekeeper, Mr F. Hill; judge, Mr C. H. Smith; clerk of the course, Mr Herbert Welch; clerk of the scales, Mr A. Snodgrass; auditor, Mr A. Hathaway; stewards, Messrs W. D. Watson, T. W. Miller, W. Cragg, J. O’Neill, W. lorns, Herbert Welch,, A. Snodgrass. W. Cooper, W. Whittaker, G. H. Yates. It. J. Hodgins and J. Cress; programme committee, Messrs C. A. Pownall, J. Cress, F. Hill, A. Snodgrass and Jos. Dixon; ground committee, Messrs A. Snodgrass, W. Whittaker, R. J. Hodgins, W. Cragg, J. O’Meara, G. H. Yates, A. McMorran, J. O’Neill, ,W. Cooper, J. Dixon and D. McNair.

It was left to the programme committee to fix the date of the trotting meeting, such, date to bo a Thursday in October. The committee were also authorised to allocate an amount not exceeding £2OO for stakes. It was decided to recommend the programme committee that unless it is possible to alternate some of the two miles races with t he shorter races, the longer races should be shortened. The programme committee are to meet at an early date in order to draw up the programme. WAIRARAPA NOTES . (From Our Own Correspondent.) The annual meeting of members of the Wairarapa Racing Club, hold at 'Greytown on Thursday, was attended by over seventy, and great interest was manifested in the proceedings. Mr N. Grace, '/ice-president, occupied the chair. Mr W. E. Ridwill, chairman of stewards, gave figures showing that the Club had bettered its position during the year by £564, notwithstanding the fact that bookmakers had taken a very considerable amount of business from the totalisator. Contracts had‘been let for the erection of buildings amounting to over £BOO, hut he thought the profit on the summer and autumn meetings would clear this off. For the greater convenience of horse owners, and more particularly trainers, jockeys and horses accommodation in the way of houses and stabbling was being provided. The Club had taken this step as it was felt that trainers would support those clubs which treated them best. The matter of better communication to the Tauherenikau course would come up for consideration at a later period, but the club could not do anything in this direction at present. The chairman congratulated the Club on the extremely satisfactory financial position, for which the stewards deserve great credit. The election of officers resulted as follows: —Vice-presidents, H. S.* Wardell, N. Grace and W. E. Bidwill (re-elected); judge, G. Tully (reelected) ; timekeeper, T. Benton (reelected); clerk of scales, W,. Dalrymple; hon. surgeons, Drs Bey, Palmer (reelected), Reamer; treasurer, A. J. Twogood; auditors, A. H. Knowles and G. H. Cobb; stewards, S'. Cundy, G. Hume, T. Benton, H, Mori son, W. J. Nix, Allan Ronald, 0. Ronald, C. Elgar,' J: W. Card, J. S. Cundy, F. Pearce and A. McKenzie (re-elected). . In proposing the following motion—• Strike out Rule 20 and substitute —“20. Candidates for any office shall be nominated by two members of the Club, and the nomination paper signed by such two members and by the candidate shall be delivered to the secretary at least 10 days before the day appointed for the annual meeting. If the number of candidates exceeds the number -of offices to be filled, the secretary shall cause voting papers containing the names of sUoh candidates to be printed and posted to each member of the Club not later than seven days before the annual meeting. The member shall strike out the name of the candidate or candidates for whom he desires not to vote, and return such voting paper to the "secretary not later than 11 a.in. of the day appointed for the annual meeting. Should any member leave uncanoelled a greater number of names than there are vacancies to be filled, the voting paper will be invalid.’’—Mr Adam Ronald said his principal idea was to allow every member of the Club an opportunity to vote in an election. The Cluib had a membership of nearly 300, and there were never more than a third of this number at annual meetings. Mr W. E. Bidwill, in seconding pro forma, said he would support the motion if Mr Ronald would include the words “cancel or” between the words “leave” and “'uncancelled.” Mr Ronald objecting, Mr Bidwill moved the inclusion of the words “cancel or” as an amendment, and this as carried. Mr Ronald's motion with the addition of the two words was also carried. Resolved that the stewards be empowered to allot up to' £3OOO in stakes for the season, also to give up to £5 for third money. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr G. Reynolds, who had acted as Treasurer for many years. The Tauherenikau trainers who have horses in work at the present time are T. Ross (Strathcona), R. Ross (Lady Campbell), A. McPherson (Ngatitoa, Oudenarde and Brown Bill mare), I. Freetli (Waitoti and Sunfish), A. Mackay (SilVerlene and Strathbraan gelding), K. McKenzie (Waitoa), T. C. White (Matakokiri and Rangipuhi)

mare., D. Wilkinson (Saraband —'Marstone and Merrie England—Prologue) filly. Mr J. O. Hayward, one of the oldest of Wairairapa’s sporting men and who for the past three years has been host at the Tauherenikau Hotel, has sold out to Mr P. M. Rogers, of Greytown. The new landlord will take possession on September 1. Mr C. H. Ohavannes, of Wanganui, has been offered the position of starter to the Masterton Racing Club- This Club is fully alive to the advantages of securing really good men for positions of this kind, was to retain the confidence of owners and the racing public generally. The Masterton Racing Club has resolved that training on the Opaki course on Sundays shall be discontinued. This lead is not likely to be followed by other district clubs, it being considered better to leave it to the discretion of trainers whether they shall gallop their horses that day.

When R. J. Marr —who lias started training operations at Opaki—came from Queensland, lie brought with him Lord Loch, by Lochiel —Maori Girl. This is a strain of blood that is sure lo be favoured in this district.

The Wairarapa representatives at Riccarton this week were Moeraki and Tb Kohau. The latter scored in good style in the Hunt Club Steeplechase on Thursday and rewarded Messrs Vallanco for their enterprise in sending the Duke D’Amour gelding so far away from home to compete. Electrio Gun, recently purchased by Mr P. J. Quirk, owner of Joe Chamberlain and Athol Brose, will probably join these horses at McGrath s stable, Opaki. Mr A. C. Bicknell, Mayor of Greytown and Mr 'John Cuttar, paid a visit to Christchurch tbit week to interview Sir George Clifford, Chairman of Conference, relative to a Greytown Hack Racing Club meeting this year. At time of writing the result of the interview has not been received. NAPIFJR. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Mr F. Martin, the owner of Benefactor, arrived from his holiday trip today. Since he Left New Zealand five months ago he has visited America, England and Germany. During his jaunt he only participated in racing at Newcastle (England) and,- evidently, the sport was not to his liking, for he informed me that the arrangements and betting facilities were not to be compared with the manner in which racing is carried on in the colonies. Owing to Mr Martin’s absence from the colonies the owner of Platypus was not able to get the refund of the stake paid over in connection with the Pahiatua Cup won by Benefactor. Mr Martin has informed me that he intends to immediately discharge his liability in connection with the matter. Wrickham, the eldest member of the Denbigh clan, has been purchased by Mr H. Ellingham, of Takapau who bred her. She is by Trickster and it is her owner’s intention to breed from her. It is only natural that Mr Ellingham would like some of the strain to go on with, as Denbigh is dead and her filly foal, by Torpedo, also passed away ; besides Rhyl, Ruaton (Mahaki —Denbigh) is also the property of the Takapau sportsman. Submarine, the three-year-old son of Torpedo and Blue Water, is giving every satisfaction in liis work at present. Last season he was afflicted with a severe attack of influenza which, completely destroyed his two-year-old career; a fine-looking sort, endowed as he is with brilliancy and stamina, lie should prove a worthy bearer of the Blue and White banner during the just opened season. T. Jones, who used to educate Rhino, Blackberry and several others, has a three-year-old son of Torpedo and Parlour Maid in work at Paid Paki for a native follower of the sport.* Mahutonga, late Rchua, who annexed the Winter Cup last Tuesday at Riocarton, brought honours to Hawke’s Bay, as lie was bred at the Messrs Douglas Brothers stud at Te Mahanga. Waiwhera, who scored in the Winter Cup in 1902, also first saw the glimpse of day at Te Mahanga. Maude, dam of Mahutonga, produced a beautiful filly last season to S'an Fran. A three-year-old gelding by Torpedo IJa, is shortly to be sent down from Te Mahanga to Mr Cameron at Hastings for educational purposes. Local backers did not fare too well over the National fixture so far; Mahutonga was certainly supported, but the major portion of the money won was invested on others who were not so fortunate as the Gisborne-owned gelding. By the way, as a rule Gisborne does not generally figure in the distribution of big stakes, but the success of Mahutonga (Winter Cup) and Medallius (Grand National Hurdles), both of whom are trained and owned in the Poverty Bay district, will have the effect of placing Gisborne well up in the winning list paid over the National fixture. Mr F. D. Luckie who for a quarter of a centm-y filled the office of Secretary of the Htiwlv©\s Jockey Club, and who had to relinquish the position on account of bad health, necessitating a trip to the old country, leaves England next month for New Zealand. It is

satisfactory to know that he is greatly benefited by the change. Sleepwell and Catspaw are progressing favourably in their studies on the Park preparing grounds. The pair will put in an appearance at the Marton meeting next month provided tho weight adjustments are not excessive. PALMERSTON NORTH. (From Our Own Correspondent.) At the Crofton stable, Marton, J. Morris, head lad for J. Green, has his hands full, all the boxes having occupants. The majority of them will bo seen out at Marton unless something untoward happens. Included among them is Sir Athol, who has been taken up in view of the Rangitikei Steeplechases at Bulls in September. The time, however, is short, and he is hardly likely to be ready in time. Among the new arrivals at the stable is a gelding by Hotspur, himself a good performer in past years. One of the best improved horses in the stable is Highland' Nell, a moderate performer up to date, tinder Morris’s charge she has improved out of all knoweldge and she will bo ready at an early date. Her best effort so far was a double at the Shannon meeting. The hurdler. Pushful, is looking in great heart and has filled out wonderfully well since last season. Tho racing in Wellington left no ill effects, neither did a fairly hard season and he will be given another onport unity of proving his prowess at the Marton meeting. Captain Campbell's grey gelding, The Clown, by Country Boy, has been an inmate of the stable during the hunting season. It will be remembered The Clown scored in the Hunters’ Hurdles at the Woodlands’ Hunt meeting, beating General Babington’s Union Jack. The Clown has maintained his form and should be prominent at the Marton meeting. Another recent addition, Haerelyn, by Haere. is showing good form and gives great promise of being something out of the ordinary in jumping ranks. The annual meeting of the Manawatu Racing Club will be held at the end of the pi'esent month. Nominations for office have been received as follows: President, Mr C. A. Loughnan; vicepresident, Mr M. Cohen; treasurer, Mr D. Pringle; members of committee, Messrs L. A, Abraham, IT. M. Simmonds, F. J. Nathan, H. Gillies and P. A. MoHardy. There are oply four vacancies on the committee. Lord Plunket has announced his intention of accepting tiie invitation of the Manawatu Racing Club to be present at the summer meeting. Vailinia has been relegated to the paddock for a lengthy spell. TARANAKI NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Bookmakers report the slackest betting for years over the National meeting, the calise being the excitement engendered over the footbalL match between Britain and Taranaki. It was all football, and punters had not time to think about backing horses last Tuesday. On Thursday there was more spirited betting. Tupara came in for good support for the National Hurdles, mid had the going been dry he would perhaps have won, taking the Jumpers’ Flat race on tho first day as a guide. His owner and trainer were pretty sanguine. Waiwera did not have many supporters here, but Cavalry, the other candidate from this place, received a lair amount of support. Racing affairs throughout the district are pretty dull at present, but should improve next month when the coastal racing starts. Word was received here to-day that Messrs Corrigan’s and Paltridge’s appeals against their disqualification by the Taranaki Jockey Club had been dismissed by the Racing Court of Appeal. August 19. CHATTER. Mr A. E. Whyte, secretary of the Wellington Racing Club, was too busy fixing up the purchase of the new course to attend the Grand National meeting. Mr J. B. Ha rcourt' (president) made tho trip. Hurdle horsemen J. Hall, F. Lind and It. Arnett will have reason to remember the Grand National meeting. Each of the riders mentioned returned from Christchurch with a fractured collarbone. Shrapnel Shell, Warwick, Coxswain and Te Kokau did not Avait for th© concluding day of the Grand National meeting. Spalpeen was fancied for the F inal Hurdle Race at Riccarton, but finished a bad last. . , -» T Mr F. Martin has returned to Napier after a visit to Germany. G Price avlio recently returned from a trip to Australia, was riding at the Grand National meeting. Haydn was beaten three times at Riccarton, and is evidently not improving. la cut herself badly when she got hung up in a hurdle at Riccarton. It will”take some time before the Avound, which cut to the bone, heals up, even if she ever races again.

Mr W. Tl. Hart gill, the well-known racing official, recently met with a nasty accident. He fell off a bicycle ami injured one of his knees. He took

Lis usual place in the judge's box at Eiocarton last week, but it was with difficulty that he managed to walk. Mr J. Devonshire writes me from Donnevirke that he is huntsman to the {Woodlands Hunt Club and has held that position for the past three years. In my notes on the club’s race meeting it was erroneously stated that Mr It. Hoake held the position. Nominations for the Rangitikei Racing Club’s spring meeting close on the 27th inst.

A Sydney scribe has the following concerning the arrival of the Yaldhurst team in Sydney:—The event of the week was the arrival of R. J. Mason with Mr G. G. Stead’s horses from New Zealand, and when the quartet appeared on the tracks the regulars exhibited much curiosity and interest in them. The team comprises Martian, Cruciform, Grand Rapids, and Nightfall. Though they had a rough passage across, the horses “looked well c:i arrival. Cruciform, who suffered from intermittent lameness for same time, and has spent a good deal of the last year in her paddock, looks bigger, stronger and rougher than when she was here in the spring. Martian is a handsome little English horse, only a pony, but a very shapely one, and lie knows how to gallop. Grand Rapids is a big, strong, coarsehaired brown, who throws to the style of his celebrated sire, Gipsy Grand. He is a nice mover, but with the exception of a short spurt or two, neither he nor his mates have been galloped against the watch since their arrival. Nightfall is the most shapely of the quartete. She is a well-grown chestnut three-year-old,- by Multiform, and is related on both sides to Wakeful. Scobie has arranged for accommodation for six horses here, and Gladsome has booked to arrive in a week from date. The nominations for the various offices of the Manawatu Racing Club are as folloews: —President, Mr C. A. Loughnan; vice-president, Mr M. Cohen ; treasurer, Mr D. Pringle; members of committee. Messrs L. A. Abraham. H. M. Simmonds. F. J. Nathan, H. Gillies and P. A. McHardy. There are four vacancies on the committee.