NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9621, 29 March 1917, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By "Tohunga.") Nominations for the Manawatu R' ac ' me Club’s meeting close on V> r-tlneeclay nest. Acceptances for the Wairnrapa Racing Club’s meeting close. m-morro.i night. Acceptances for the minor cvel L’A ; jK the Auckland Racing Clubs meetin„ close on Friday. Acceptances for Foilding dote on Saturday. Nominations for 4a- n Wellington Riving Club’s autumn meeting close on Friday night with Mr A. F.. A/hytoat the club's offices. Woodward street, Wellington. Bee was sent over a mile at Ricoarton on Tuesday morning. She got tnrough the obligation in Imm 45 1-osec. Charley, who looks to be in good condition, covered fivo furlongs at Riccaiton in Imin ssoc-

Sweet Corn, with a light-weight up, got to the end of six furlongs in Hum 9 -t-s=cc. The Australasian recordholder for the distance looked to be doing her best, and cud not please, bno suggests that sho is oif colour. Nothing could havo finished up a task better than either Sasanof or Ail boy did the same morning. Though, doing their best, both colts, respectively, ran on strongly right to tho post. The Australian three-year-old Wolaroi has so far won £13.136 in stakes, £0931 being secured this season. At the .close of his three-year-old career Patrobas had £13,725 to his credit, all of it being won in one Season. It seems only a question' of health for Wolaroi to heal the figures of Patrobas by tie tune ho gets through his engagements at tne Australian Jockey Club's meeting next month.

From |Australia comes intelligence o. the death of the stallion Newhaven. Ihe defunct son of Newminster holds a place with the noteworthy horses that nave figured on the Australian turf, cpieny by reason of his captvi’.ng tne A - -!’ Derby and Melbourne Cup. Three years after Newhaven captured the coveted double at Flemington he distinguished himself in England by winning the City and Suburban Handicap under 9st, and on that performance he very justly came in for much favourable comment. Being ineligible for the Said Book by reason of some missing links in nedigree, Newhaven was practically Valueless as a stallion in England, and he was retransported to Australia. he sired a few winners, but nothing noai his own class. As a yearling Newhaven was bought cheaply for 130gns, and, as ho won 2213,254. he can be referred to as a ba-rain of tho sale-ring. Fooled in 1893, Newhaven had thus reached what can be termed a green old age. The first batch of the Stenyhurst yearUnits comprising four colts navo nrrived at Chokehore. The youngsters pro Onslaught by Antagonist—Mad Whirl. Long Range, by Antagonist-Telescope, Wild Night, by Antagonist—Windwhistle; and Sir Fanciful by EokebjLadv Wayward. They will be broken in at once.

Disdainful is credited with gallop in the fastest four furlongs at Ricoarton on Tuesday morning, and there was no apparent effort in the task. At a meeting of members of th© Tapanui Racing Club held last week the advisability of continuing racing during the remaining nenod of the war was aijcussed, the general opinion being m favour of discontinuing it. but final consideration was held over until the annual meeting. Tapanui had a population ot some few hundreds before the war commenced and now the depletion has lett it in the.hands of about nine has-beens; hence the resolutions.

Though he has only been #n work a few weeks, the pacer Matchlight put up a remarkably fine performance in the two-mile trotting race at Gore. He tad none the best of the running, yet reeled off the two miles in 4min 4-1 2-sseo. time that he is sure to improve on when more seasoned.

A. McMillan has been engaged .to ride the Australian-bred Hopfield in the Auckland Racing Club’s Easter Handicap-

O. Emerson’s suspension will expire next week, and h© will bo riding at Ellerslie at Easter. Amongst other mounts he will be up on The Toff, Ample, Koesian and Wishful, who will represent Mr G. It Stead.

A- southern paper states that tho reported death of Trainer D. Alunn iesembles the incident Mark Twain made so much of when he was grossly maligned and outed by a death notice concerning himself. Mark said 'on that occasion that his death had been grossly exaggerated.

The Racing Restriction Bill has passed both Houses iu West Australia, ipnd according to tho telegraphic account tho number of days for gallopiug race meetings has been reduced to 76, no club being able to race without a license from the W.A.T.C. Courses hitherto unregistered are to come under W.A.T.C. rules, the managements t of the former being quite agreeable. This, of course, means that owners, trainers, jockevs, and horses competing at unregistered meetings are whitewashed by the new Act. Trotting days have been fixed at 40, five of these, however, being for charity meetings. It was proposed to reduce the days under W.A.T.C. rules to 52, but this was negatived. With only 116 days'.racing (galloping and trotting) in the whole of the State, the W.A. Government lias certainly brought tho sport well within bounds. Still, it was being overdone to such an extent that Governmental interference was certain.

At Kembla Grange last wSek, says a Sydney writer, one winner returned its backers less than they invested on the totalisator, while in two other cases dividends were considerably less than the bookmakers' prices. Naturally. this gave the odds-layers cause for rejoicing as well as amusement, but happenings at some of the meetings just outside tho metropolitan area can scarcely bo regarded as any test in connection with the totalisator. Such fixtures do not attract an. average section of the general public, the battling element being very much in evidence, and they naturally wish to know how they stand all tho time. Therefore the totalisator does not appeal to them. This is not penned in a derogatory spirit so far as the clubs are concerned, but merely to instance one factor against the marked success of the machine at fixtures two or three hours’ train ride from Sydney, with small fields tho rule. It will be quite time enough for the opponents of the totalisator to talk about its failure after it has been operating for a year at metropolitan meetings.

Mr J- N. McArthur, who died suddenly iu Melbourne on Tuesday of last week, was successfully represented by tho two-year-olds Newton Stewart and Macadam" at the recent V.R.C. meeting. Owing to the trainer, G. Coleman, being unaware of the sad happening, the imported mare White Lady, owned by Mr McArthur, ran and won at Lancefield on the afternoon of the day of the owner’s death- Mr McArthur was president of the Camperdown Turf Club for many years, and the best horse he over owned was Marmont. winner of a V.R.C. Grand National Hurdles, Caulfield Grand National Hurdles, and an j Australian Cup.