NEWS AND NOTES.

NZ Truth, Issue 852, 18 March 1922, Page 7

NEWS AND NOTES.

Generous looks the best of the maidens at Opunake. ;.: Te Kuri will be ,home on the s.teel inthe Maiden at Mastertoni . ; ..;-- <: ; As yet Wamba is a patchy jumper and some of his fences he hits all round, •■ but he does not lose ground. ■.-.■"< Indemnity, the two-year-old half-sister to Silver Link, Is a good-looking sort that will be heard of later on. With any luck Sir Roseberry would have won one of the big races at Blenheim, but he got off badly each day. -

Be with Sir Roseberry to-day. • ■ Sunray. was very sore after racing at Napier. Paphian.is now very bad at the barrier and this spoilt his chances at Blenheim. ' If Passin' Thro' gets away m the Opunake Cup to-day he will be very, hard to beat at the finish. Ruruwai has been sold and at Napier she ran m the colors of the Gisborne owner, Mr. B. Lowe. The long straight at Opaki. will suit Vagabond, and ; he should be the best backed m the big handicap- to-day.' A start has already been made with. the straightening of the 1% miles start at Riccarton, and the work is m full awing. Grotesque was much above ' himself when he ran at Napier, but the outing, will help to get him into shape for his autumn engagements. Matareka and Kilreid will have a duel m the Telephone Handicap 'at Opaki. The first-named has a big pull m the weights so should be favorite. Kick Off, who has won three races on end, is to make his next appearance m the St., Leger, run on the opening day. of the ' Trentham Meeting. It looks very much as if R. J. Mason has turned down the Sydney, trip as lids team is freely entered at the Wellington and Riccarton meetings. Mr. D. M. Findlay has been appointed a steward of the Wellington Racing. Club. He fills the place of Mr. V. Riddiford, , who is at present m England. 'At Napier last week Mr. J. S. McLeod informed "Spearmint" that his brood mare Tressida was undoubtedly m foal to the Tetrarch horse King John. The two-year-old Vogue (Boniform — Effort) was expected to show up m the Maiden races at Nelson, but she failed; badly, and' was sent back- to Trentham.;. • Sycorax won the Napier , Cup m very easy fashion; but a rise of 'eleven pounds ■■ settled her on the .second, day when she. could only get third m a very fast race. The Dominion Sportsmen's Association is promoting a petition for presentation to Parliament praying that bookmakers be licensed to- ply, their calling on New Zealartd racecourses. Barrier ran a good race m the Open Flying Handicap on the first day at Napier, and those who noticed this got a good price when he narrowly defeated Warpath on Saturday. .Warpath did riot" get out well m. the Esk Handicap at Napier but he finished very strongly. On Saturday he was made a short-priced favorite, but m a close finish Barrier just beat him.,,. Red Stag, a three-year-old half-brother to The Native, accompanied Ngata to the Napier Meeting, and was a. runner m the Hack Scurry, but he showed no pace and was the last to pass the Judge's box.

Secretary H. L. Brett, of Ihe Tuapek.l County. Jockey Cliib, wall take entries for the annual meeting of his club up -till 8 p.m. on Sturday, March 25. The gathering will, as usual, be held on Easter

Saturday. ' ) . Moonstruck, who scored a surprise win

In the Awarua Handicap at Blenheim onSaturday, ds owned by the Wellington sportsman, Mr. W. Higgins. Moonstruck is a three-year-old gelding by Absurd' from Lady Eta.

It ds reported that Mr.- P. D. McNab, caretaker at Riccarton, has decided not to go on with ,the starting game as the Canterbury Jockey. Club has given him an increase fo salary. A wise move on the part of both.

The Dannevirke winner Ambitious reads well m the Dash Handicap at MaSterton to-day. When she scored at Dannevirke the Absurd filly got off badly and was not too lucky m the running, but she won well at the finish.

Hyttus was unlucky at the start of the Welter on the first day at Napier, otherwise he" would have beaten Queen's Up. The latter was ridden by B. ■ H. Morris, who got the ride owing to the -inablity of F. Porter to attend the meeting.

Petunia (Absurd — Bonze) scored his first win m the Hack Welter at Blenheim, and as he was well supported m Wellington there- was a lot of wailing amongst the pencillers. The gelding was ridden by the hurdJe horseman, W. Bp,Wden.

<At Napier Ngata was one of the rear division the whole way m the Cup. His owner came to the conclusion that the Wanganui Cup winner had trained off, so he scratched him for all forthcoming engagements, and the Maniopoto gelding is to be spelled.

The luck of the Wellington owner, Mr. W. Higgins, has taken . a .. turn for the better, and on the Nelson-Marlborough circuit he . won three races with Island and Moonstruck: The. man m the street says investments on the totalisator made each race a Cup..

. Prominent ; members of the Masterton Club are assisting' materially to try and make to-day's meeting. a success. Reference to the list of, acceptances will show that several horses .owned; by, members have been paid up for m two races, while Matatua figures m three. :

After getting away badly • in ' the Esk Handicap at. Napier Blissfulness finished well m fourth place. ,On- Saturday his supporters doubled up on him m the Hack Welter run over a furlong further, and he paid a good price due to the solid support accorded Dissertation. >- ■

The £50,000 worth of ' debentures issued by the Wellington Racing- Club last week was over,- subscribed m forty-eight hours. This must be something of a record considering the' issue was^not advertised. It i? . that, the -investors include Ninany well-known wowsers.

• .'Excellent;, entries >.haye been received for the big events at both the Auckland and Canterbury' meetings, but it is noticeable that' a big 'proportion of the J horses 'figure' m-'both'lis'ts so the haridiVcappers be, working overtime m mak-'.i'ing^thpiri-'b'i'ds'Tfor. the horses. |. 'a Secretary John Geary, of the Riverton t- ..'• Rcfcihg '"■ Club,, 'has an advertisement m '!-this-:issue-' notifying owners that nominaitioris for th,e,. Easter Meeting of his club [{' clbse'-'td-nigfit (Friday). The club races Yoh'' Easter Saturday and Monday and ', stakes "'to the value of £3750 will be distributed. They are a poor lot °* ,two-year-olds m commission at" the present time and prominent absentees from the Pacific Handicap at Trentham, include Farceur, Tressayr",- Highland and Fingoland. With Epitaph engaged at the maximum weight, ?st. 71b., the others will all get thrown m about the minimum., Good Sport, the half-brother by Poly-damon-to Amusement, was regarded as a certainty for the Sapling Stakes at Napier, but though he beat all but King's Trumperter, he had no chance with the latter, who was m : front all the way, and he also scored again on Saturday with an Additional fifteen pounds m the saddle. Lady Renown, winner of the Novices' Hack at Blenheim, is not the jumper that used to carry the colors of Mr. H. J. Cameron, but comes from Kaikoura, where she ds trained by the ex-hurdle horseman, L. Traill. The same trainer also brouKht. Worth and Raukauiti to the meeting, but Lady Renown was the only one to score. .At, one of the Auckland meetings held recently a prominent photographer lined up the jockeys present to make a group iu r »i H !.M P0 . r \. A disgruntled punter, with little fa 1 Hi left m human nature, said to a friend 'Wot's all them jockeys lined • J°» - " "Gottin' • their photograph , akon was the reply. "Ahem!" sniffed prfnts"'^ 01 '" ° Ught t0 be th eir dngeri, A ?. ch oo!boy owner of racehorses is l /-something out of the ordinary; i still Vie- ™«? v '^ Sseases one-Ted Rennie. Some ™ «™S? young Rennj e, who is now just |pLSn n , teen , years o£ a ce. was sent from I « a i«tf U °i y - le ,\: e hls father is a cattile- . raiser, to Melbourne Grammar School; | and being a lover, of horses and racing, no soon acquired; • a couple of racers, vilZiW* leistered dn his own- name. f ii „„ . he , has &&aea t0 his stable, and on several occasions good wins have dome his way. He is returning to South America m a few months, but intends .coming back to Melbourne. England's crack rider, Steve Donoghue, has it on his rivals, inasmuch as he Walks _. only ,7st. lOlbs., and rarely does he have -. t ?, waste j. Few. people realise the hard- >, ships, .-a -jockey whose natural tendency Is to put- on weight m keeping dt down to a limit at which he can ride. It is a positive nlghtmade, but he must do it if ,' fl c i.?- tO . make, a. giving.; .This constant WagMng^has. shortened the olives of many, and it killed the great Fred. Archer at II the. age"=of 20. The mental and physical * str&in of sitting at a dinner-table where . everyone else is enjoying food, and contenting one's self with a glass of water, is/ often as much as ilesh can endure.

Master ton to-day: The Opunake Meeting takes place today. Kick Off's record as a three-year-old is three starts for as many wins. Weights for the Trentham Meeting are, due to-day, and acceptances close next Friday. -» Misrule (King's, Mark— Parula) is a good-looking filly, but as yet she is very green. Fulsome has turned very sour and m her. races at Napier she was one of tlie last to leave the barrier. Gasbag shaped well m tlie Napier Cup; and if he remains sound he looks "sure to win a race during the autumn. A good beginner like Mixture will have i it on the others for pace m the Electric Handicap at Opunake to-day. R. Reed was a spectator at Napier but his head was bandaged and he is still on stacks as a resul of his fall off Epitaph. Anomaly was sore at Napier ..and after going about six furlongs m the Cup he shut up and was well back at the finish. Big fields are engaged m all? the events at the Opunake Meeting to-day, and the club should have a very successful fixture. . , ' Entries for all events at" the Southland Meeting must, reach Secretary R. B. Caws, Invercargill, by 5 p.m. on Monday next. It is evidently intended to give Amy--thas a good spell as he has not been nominated for any of the Easter meetings. A reminder is given all concerned that entries for the Southland Racing Club's Autumn Meeting close on Monday next at 5 p.m. It was intended to race Imaribbon m •the Marlborough Cup but the brown mare again went wrong On" the eve of the meeting. J. Barry went to Napier without any engagements, but he secured the ride on King's Trumpeter, the only dual winner at the meeting. Believe (Absurd— Liquify) went all to pieces on the Nelson— Blenheim trip and her trainer was at a loss to account for her poor displays. . After beginning slowly m the Flying Handicap at Napier, Crown Gem finished very strongly m the straight arid won nicely at the finish. Two-year-olds by The Welkin had a great run at the Flemington Meeting, and with two exceptions all the events open to them fell to the progeny of the imported sire. The win of Deucalion m the Flying Handicap at Motukarara must have impressed ' his owner as the Demosthenes gelding has been nominated for the Great Easter Handicap. Dissertation ran her best race to date when she scored m hollow fashion with m the saddle m the Hack Welter at 'Napier. She was heavdly supported on the second day, but Blissfulness, m receipt of 271b5., beat her. The Demosthenes mare may win an open handicap during the autumn.

If there are many more meetings like Napier Park the game will Quickly end. for there will be no punters !eft to carry on. So far this season has been a very bad one for the big bettors as very few favorites have been successful m the big handicaps, and betting dn the last few months has fallen off to an unimaginable extent. The bookmakers say they have also had a bad season, for although they are winners on paper, their outstanding bad debts are very large. Apropos of the racecourse detectives and their recent work a correspondent from Auckland writes pointing out that they are only administering the law as it stands.. Quite so, and of^ourse the law is an ass. What is wanted is that racing clubs who pay the piper should have discretionary power and this phase of the matter should be brought under the notice of the Minister of Internal Affairs. As at present administered the situation is quite impossible. Even if the detectives try to use discretion there is always some "shelfer" who will squeal out and ask why so and so is not ejected because he had a conviction m the courts at some distant date.