NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9757, 5 September 1917, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(By “Tohunga.”) The Marion mooting takes place today. The Wanganui Jockey Club contributed £IOOO to the War Loan, and the Trotting Club £SOO. W. Trembath has been called up in the ballot; other knights of the pigskin to receive urgent vires from His Majesty’s Government- arc V. Lee and L. Mcßandall. The Aucklander Salute is to bo mated with All Black this season. ■ Wardancer, who was slightly amiss after the Grand National meeting, has been put into work again. Marc Anthony is still causing his trainer a good deal of trouble. Tho son of Varoo is being walked about the roads in the hope of getting him sound again. Wrestler hurt himself recently, and has been spelled. Sir George Clifford has disposed of Flying Start to the H!on. W. D. S. MacDonald, who will put the son of San Francisco and Flootfoot to tho stud at Gisborne. It is stated that the Wanganui district committee will ask some questions of a brace of owner-trainers relative to tho training of tho horses owned by thorn. The Manawatu Racing Club has donated £2OO to the Manawatu Hunt Club, which recently lost its license through the curtailment of racing. A new departure has been made this year by the Auckland Racing Club in respect to the conditions for the Hobson Handicap, City Handicap, Shorts Handicap, and Normanby Handicap, to be run at their spring meeting, and instead of the fixed penalties as formerly, the winners of these events are to be subject to re-bandi-cap. These axe special conditions, and apply to the spring meeting only, the alteration being evidently due to the fact that the Avondale Jockey Club meeting is so close to the Auckland fixture, it not being deemed advisable to hold the A.R.C. weights back until after the racing on the suburban course. The result of the German Derby, worth £6250, run on June 24th, is now to hand. It was won by Landgraf, as anticipated, with Ecco and Erohsinn running a dead heat for second place. The winner gained an easy victory by four lengths, and is a brown colt by Louviers—Landora, by Ladas. The United States (to be even more specific, Covington, Kentucky) will in 1919 witness the running of the richest race in the world in the Latonia Championship Stakes, which, based on the, number of original nomination fees, 1 ’ the declaration fees, starting.fees, arid added money, will be worth more than 16,000 sovs. <■ An incident illustrating: the lengths to which some people will go in their efforts to make a few shillings was narrated at the annual meeting of ' ib’o Waverley-Waitotara Racing Club, in tho course of a discussion relative bo the issue of complimentary tickets. As is generally well known, many clubs are in the habit of giving complimentary tickets to visiting racing enthusiasts, who are known as “good sports,' 1 and invest money freely on the totalisator. Mr Alf. Symes stated that he had heard a story which ho believed to bo absolutely true, of a certain person writing to the secretary of a club on the Coast and requesting that official to forward him a number of complimentary tickets for several persons whom he declared ho knew to bo “good sports.” In due course, the tickets were forwarded to the address given, and no more would have been heard of the matter probably, but for the fact that a steward of the club happened to visit the town where tho man resided who had applied for tho tickets, and he was surprised to find someone endeavouring to sell one of these tickets, and hacT offered- one to him. In order to have absolute proof of the swindle which was being perpetrated on bis club, he purchased one of the tickets, and later on placed tho facts before the committee. Needless to say, the disclosures led to the stoppage of the little game which was being carried on by the dealer in complimentary tickets for “good sports,” who will have to find another method— and, it’ is to bo hoped, a more honest one—of raising a pound or two.