TROTTING

NZ Truth, 5 October 1918, Page 7

TROTTING

CANTERBURY NOTES.

; TIMING OF TRfOT.S: i ■ • • «'•■■ _i _

' (By "Waimangu.")

At ; the' annual. meeting of the New Zealand :'jTr,otting Co.hferenc'e ' the president •has squire a lbt..to'iay about' the importance of',correct clocking of trotting events. As time is' the basis upon which handicapper's work m their endeavors to provide 'exciting finishes, everyone recognises ■ that the president was 'on solid ground 4n his remarks. The timekeepers at meetings where, trotting comprises the whole of the programme are invariably men m constant practice with the watch, but where racing clubs provide one and sometimes two trotting races on a programme, there is room to doubt the accuracy of the timing. Many country clubs have honorary timekeepers, men who probably never time a horse raceexcept on those occasions when they attend their own little country fixture. For instance, at Geraldine last week, Nabob off the limit won the Orari Trot with Wee Winnie who was giving away 2secs., second. The times posted on the. board were: Nabob 3m. 6 l-55., Wee Winnie 3m./3s. It would not take a mathematician. , to see at a glance that this- is absurd,' 'be- - cause if Wee Winnie who trotted 2 1-5-secs. faster than -Nabob, was only giving * him 2secs. start, then she must have finished m front and could not possibly be behind him. • -'' The Patriotic Trotting Carnival' to be held at Addington this week-end gives promise of being a big success. No official note will be taken of the running which will afford trainers the opportunity of giving their a dress rehearsal for the November meeting. it-is not. expected that Agathos will be as strung up this November as when he ran a great fourth m the Cup last year. Bigamist was running well UP £^ t , tl } c home turn at Geraldine when he tried to get off the course. There are no trots on the Dunedin programme next week. Cathedral Chimes is at a very short price m the Trotting Cup. Author Dillon is now" two points away and three points . m advance of Matchlight and Emilius. All the others are quoted at double ngures ranging up to 25 to 1. B Jarden has a team of ten m work at his place at Islington. Sally Wood dropped her backers badly at Geraldine. Said that the reason the fields m the trots at Ashburton were small was because reinsmen are dead against the yards system of starting. Cathedral Chimes is still a good favorite for the Trotting Cup. No chance of him being ousted from the position either. The proof of the cocoanut is m the milk, and under the yards system at Ashburton only a couple of horses left .the mark properly:If the timing by private watch-holders was correct then the official -timekeeper

for the trotting events at Geraldine must have been timing the events with the face of a weighing machine. B. Jarden's Trotting Cup candidates, Author. .. Dillon • and- John Dillon, are reported to be going on nicely. It will not -to© for -the -want of care if they are not •at their best. : . J.. Bryce, - who has three horses m • the Cup, .will be behind Cathedral' Chimes. x The .latter . is -to try. and lower Our Thorpe's mile record this week at the Trotting Carnival, but considering tliat he is being prepared for the big Cup,, the chances are against him beating Our Thoz-pe's record. "What weight; did McDonald, rider of Wee Winnie turn the scale at when he won the .Geraldine Trot? Did he weigh Jn at all?_ "..'.■•- \..~:. -. :'.- ■■: , The racing Leewopd is getting will <Jo the brother to Calm a,' world' of good, and provided ." the good-looking son of Wildwood Junior goes the right way he should be- in the. first flight^ith age. \ ;., . Wastewpod, - a ,'fiv.e-year-old Driftwood mare, showed 'pace at Geraldine; but -vyas ; inclined to /leave'-his feet. ' • • -■ ; '•; . .Sally Wood-was 1 whispered about'at tihe •goods for, the Geraldine .Trot, but if she nas'any pace she. did not show it, because she \ would' hot settle into' her stride =at the send-Off: ' On her showings she was nominated m the wrong events and should have b.een with the gallopers, .<,,'/■ \ A. Fleming stepped, Bigamist out twice at Geraldine but he was as unreliable as- ariy bigamist.:' •'; ! ; • V'; ■ ■Francis ; Derby 1 is a nice sort 'of fifty 'arid showed enough pace over ■ the ' nYst six furlongs inthe Orari Trot to suggest that he- will take out when', m a maiden lateron. '■'■ ' v -' • M.- ; Edwards took Myk'ot to Geraldine and gave the three-year-old a run m the Orari Trot., He was. a, strong favorite arid had every chance to win at the home turn,- but over the last quarter was beaten .a treat arid finished out of a place. There may be' so.me Excuse to offer because the gelding picked .jup a nail on the previous day and "was slightly lame behind. However, the chances are 1 ' he would have been beaten m any case. '• ' , Nabob, trained, driven and owned by O. ;E:' Hooper of. >&shburtdn, stepped out ori'the limit m. the Orari Trot at Geraldine and led all the way, but with ordih.ary luck Wee Winnie would have beaten him. . '■ . • "■ Emperor was dead unlucky not to land the money at Geraldine. J. McDonnell's gelding losta lot of time at the start and then finished nicely m third place. [ Both trotting events on the Geraldina programme were won by outsiders. What's the matter? > On the way home from the Addington meeting Hughie IVlcNaughton lost a bag of gear. at—Wellington. He would be pleased to hear from anyone who found, it.