RACING NEWS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10085, 26 September 1918, Page 8

RACING NEWS

FIXTURES. October 3—Knrow Jockey Club. October 11, 12—Dunedin Jockey Club. October 17, 18—Masterton Racing Club. October 19—Auckland Trotting Club. October 24, 25—Poverty Bay Turf Club. October 26. 28—Wellington Eaoing Club. November 2, €—Avondale Jockey Club. November 9—Auckland Racing Club. Kovembor 80—Takaouna Jockey Club. December 26, 27—Manawatu Eacing Club Deoembor 26, 23, January I—Auckland Racing Club. December 27, 30, January 2—Auckland Trotting Club. NOTES AND COMMENTS (By "Tohunga.") ', Nominations for all events for the Wellington Racing Club's spring meeting, also forfeits for the Wellington Stakes, close at 9 p.m. on Friday. Owners and trainers are reminded thai the telegranh office at Wellington now closes at 3 p.m. The Geraldine meeting comes up for decision to-day. Most of the horses running at the Ashburton meeting will be engaged, and probably the Ashburton form will bo some guide. Soven horses are engaged in the WainuT Hurdles, of a. mile and a-half. The top weight, Golden Prince, may put up a better performance than any of the others engaged. Kimbolton, who has 10.10, should not he far away at the" end of it.

Matty should be one of the hardest to beat in the Squatters' Handicap, of, five furlongs. She has 8.13, the same weight as ha s been allotted Leaping Burn. Pyjama and Thestiusmay worry her. Rose Pink would appear to be the pick of the five set down to contest the Geraldine Cup, of a mile and aquarter. The field is by no means a strong one, the contestants being John Barleycorn, Roso Pink, Sedd-el-Bahr, Belshire. and King of the Valley.' The Trentham-trained mare should be able to account for them. Of the ten engaged in the Ohapi Handicap, the best-looker appear s to be Naughty Boy, who has 8.5. He may be troubled by Plastic.

Quit« a. number of the horses engaged in the Belfield Welter are engaged elsewhere on the card. Spyglass will be a fresh horse, and so will Fabisco.

There are only four acceptors for the Farewell Handicap, Mortham, Matty, Subterfuge, and Bomb. It is quite on the cards that Matty will run m both the Squatters' Handicap and the Farewell, and she will probably win both.

In England this year Sir George Noble is giving half his winnings on the" turf to war charities. TJp to July 17th his contributions totalled £1136. It is remarkable that so few news-paper-boomed "good sportsmen" have done anything similar in Australasia. Hero is an excellent chance for some of- the heads.

At a meeting of the< French Jockey ■Club, held about the middle of June, to" consider the question of a racing season' in the autumn, it was decided tha,t, having regard to the important military movements and the transport of American troops, which had greatly increased, and the difficulties of victualling, it would be impossible to carry out the programme which had been tentatively arranged. At City Tattersall's Club, Sydney, on Friday last, two gold nails driven into the Homes Day cottage in Martin place were auctioned. The first nail, which waa driven by Mrs W. A. Holman, the Premier's wife, realised £lO5, and the second, driven in by Mrs J. Storey, wife of the leader of the Opposition, brought £B7 ss. It was then announced that, with an additional £55, there would be sufficient funds to purchase another cottage. Thereupon Mr R. Wallace, a bookmaking member of City Tatt s, donated the required amount.

Mr P. A. Connolly is retiring from racing—temporarily, anyhow —in West Australia, and in bidding farewell to the game at Kalgoorlie last week, expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the racing offiaials, who, in his opinion, tried to "pick him out" (says a Sydney writer). He said ho had many friends, but there were men associated with racing who were not clean sports, and who, when they could not get at him, tried to get at his horses or their riders, and, unfortunately, had occasionally succeeded. He had lost about £IO,OOO at racing during the past three or four years. Now, if Mr Connolly ever bad anything definite to go upon relative to interference with his horses or jockeys, I doubt whether he would have taken matters quietly; and seemingly while he resents the stewards having occasionally adopted a suspicious attitude towards him, he regards Eimself as quite justified in doing so towards other people in the racing game.

A cable message yesterday stated that Kilmaine had been scratched for the Caulfield Cup. It appears that the' horse bled after a gallop recently, and further progress in the training line was out of the question.

It has been mooted, says a Sydney paper, that Bipiano may not be a runner for any of the weight-for-age races at the A.J.C. spring meeting; in fact, Canlfield will be tho j scene of bis next appearance. This ■idea is erroneous, as his trainer definitely stated that unless something I went wrong with Biplajio he is a certain competitor at Bandwick, and that if ho could not run well in one of the weight-for-age races, it would seemingly be little use starting him in such ■a hot race as the Caulfield Cup with 51b over w.f.a. At Kandwiok opinions differ as to whether Biplane is going to be as well this spring as last; but there is certainly nothing wrong with his appearance, and ho moves freely in hi s work, though perhaps he does not impart quite the same dash as last year. His rival, Desert Gold, gallops as brilliantly as when last here, adds tho writer, rnd presents a more Ktrung-up appearance. Tho other morning I heard a Jvew Zealander — who has seen tho mare in most ofher races—remark he hnd never previonslv open her auite ns light ns th>B time. However, she mny be none the worse for that, and it shoe's she w*ir kerit nn to the mark t>rior to hnr departure for Sydnny. Anyhow, it cop.vor ns if R : nlnne nnrl JV'erf On),} are both going to he well eintish tn preclude axcuse, whichever is defeated.