NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9691, 20 June 1917, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(By "Tohunga.'T The committee set up to go into the matter of the reduction of racing days, in tlie Wellington district has aoaxe to a decision on the matter, in all e.g days dad to bo erased »n tne district, and the committee recommended that tne Weilintton K-C. sdould give three days, tne Utaki Club one day, tde Wairarupa Kacing Club (Tauherenikau) one day the .Master ton Kacing Club one dav.' the Taratahi-Cartertou Uub one day. and the iioroivhenua Club one day. The tommitteo was unanimous in its decision.

Two of the clubs which have been aske dto turow in the towel are oneday clubs. They are the Tarataui-Car-terton Club and tne ilorowhenua Club (Kevin). Those two clubs have one day a year each, and they received that day only a coupio of years ago, after being out up by the extraordinary Juicing Commission which hurried through the country and cut out this and that ad lib. There cannot be much doubt about the manner i nwhich the country is overburdened with courses, but while they are in being it might be just as well ot use them. Tor instance, the people of Carterton and those of Levin have just about as much right to have their annual meeting as the people ot Wellington have to ten days, or as the cut will have it. seven days.

.Regarding the Wellington Club the -osiuon would appear tnat there wiK be three meetings of two nays and one meeting of one day only. That will remain for the decision oi the heads ol the concern. Maybe one of the meetings will be cut out. and a three-day cut meeting held, though that poseibidty seems rather remote. However, one-day meoAngs -have never been a success, and they hardly can be. One has been held in' Christchurch for many years, but it is mereiy a sop for the largo owners.

The committee that dealt with the cut recommended that tnose clubs completely wiped out should receive financial consideration from those lelt to carry on; also that the financial members of tne erased clubs should be allowed full privileges from the lucky ones. Apparently the members of the clubs cherish the belief that they are the maintaining factors. The public are nonentities. It would have been much more reasonable if the public, had received ust as much consideration os the members did. considering the fact that the said public pays a great deal more for their racing than tho members of the clubs do. The imported mare Fotheringay. who is now in M. Hobbs’s stable, is doing well at Enccarton. She will form part of the Hobbs team for Australia. Her recent doings on the Biccarton tracks have impressed the track-watchers. The yearling filly by Masterpiece from Rose Shield has been leased by Messrs Dwan Bros, to Mr Ebb Simpson, owner of Mies De Val. . The dam of the youngster is a full sister to True Blue, Royal Artillery aud Scitw Gun. Sasanof appe’ars amongst the missing

in the Australian spring nominations, which is rather surprising considering his successes there. Maybe the eon of Martian and Ukraine will be found amongst the New Zealand Cup field next November. now standing in New South Wales. One of his best Australian, representatives is tho Queenslander Venerable,

The Australian owner, B. J. Watt, is reported to bo going to take the whole of his stock from this country. If that idea is carried out it will mean that All Black will emulate his owner and become an Australian. He may come back after the war, and breed a few more Desert Golds. Cable news from Australia tells of a further mishap to the unlucky Comedy King colt. Biplane, who was struck on the hindquarters by a tramcar whilst being taken to tho track at Bandwick. Biplane was said to have been tho best of the four M'ason took across with him, and if ho does not come right before the A.J.C. meeting his trainer will bo communicated withThe date of the annual meeting of the New Zealand Racing Conference has been fixed for July 13th. and the location Wellington, as usual. It seems d pity that the headquarters of the con ference cannot bo fixed in Wellington, which idea is backed up by the fact that tho conference meets here every year.

A Christchurch paper states that there are twenty-eight days of racing in. Can terhury for gallopers every season, on fourteen of which trotting races are included in the programme. The Wellington racing district, ’which is twice as enthusiastic as the depopulated Can. terhury district, has not anything like that amount of days. . Be ports from the south state that the new schooling ring for jumpers at Riccarton has proved an unqualified success. That may lead to some forward move at Trenth’am. The committee of the Australian Jockey Club has voted a further sum of J 31560 to the salary and expenses of the twenty nurses sent from Austialia to the French hospitals by the Bed Cross some months ago. This make 6 the total given to that object ■£-h>so. The club has now given almost .650,0C0 for patriotic purposes. Demosthenes's son. Procrastinate (to Mistime) who is trained at Eiccarton, has grown into an attractive-looking horse, and wilt be heard of later.