SPORTING AND SPORTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16988, 26 April 1917, Page 8

SPORTING AND SPORTS.

THE TURF. By Sentinel. A NOTABLE DEFEAT. Tho downfall of Desert Gold forms the outstanding feature of the Wellington Racing Club s autumn meeting, and Trentham will loom large in racing hietory as tho ground where she met her Waterloo, and Kilbo.y as tho Wellington who accomplished her defeat. Desert Gold's «reat brilliancy nas long been beyond question, but over since she ran as a three-year-old n tho Derby and Oaks against Nones the writer could never, whilst being one of her greatest admirers, fully subscribe to sorao opinions held as to her.prowess under silt ine fact that O'Shea had to keep hex Roin"m the C.J.C. Challenge Stakes created an idea that a possible defeat might have been lie? Jot at the end of another furlong or two. Her defeat, in tho North Island ChalJcnge Stakes seems somewhat fluky, and attributable to the state of tho going. In the Irontham Gold Cup shcj however, rau fn-1 Y el fl , . t - for ; a S e without penalty, and failed. Iho state of the goin S may again have contributed towards her defeat, but it has to be also remembered that Kilboy is not. at home in loose going, and, as a v'tn -••TV-? ot '- Wa t hcld to havo lost 3 V.R.C. Derby on that account. Hence tho tiack conditions told against both tho colt and tho crack filly. Kilboy ran tho disnliM ? .?- 28 H , a,ld if thc S oill S ™at all bad tho performance stamps him as a lust-class colt, and as ono oven better than his previous form, good as it was, would lead one to behevc. Possibly Desert Go'd might have won on speed if kept behind; fr>,n< aS + l * e hns IJ alwa ys been taken to the tront that would mean a change of tactics, which might have been even more diW trous than what was the case. Saeanof finished alongside Desert Gold; but the fact that both ho and The Toff were well boi lb °y stamps the son of ICilbroney and Cyre as tho best colt in Australasia, ilence defeat does not mean disgrace; but ever, though Desert Gold may win and wm again the fact remains that sho has been tried and found wanting, at least ™n,T { m ?°rtant. occasion. The result goes to show the importance of tho racin-r test as Desert Gold, minus her' races at Irentham last week, would have stood out as unbeatable queen of the tnrf. A POSSIBLE LOSS. ' If a serious curtailment of racing takes place in New Zealand it would not bo surprising to find many owners sending their horses to Australia, it is to be hoped that such will not prove the case, as it would be a serious loss to the blood stock of the country, owing to tho possibility of the horses never returning here. Some of our high-class horses are, however, too valuable to bo kept idle for any great length o£ time, and if the pruning knife should be applied to tho racing calendar with an unsparing and destructive hand, an exodus of blood stock is almost sure to follow Aew Zealand has bred some famous horses in the past, but as' far as their stud value is concerned, they were lost to the land of their birth owing to their owners beintempted to sell. Carbine is the most notable instance. He proved himself on of the very best racehorses tho world lias ever knownbut very little of his strain can be found m tins country, although, fortunately some ot it has returned to Australia and is proving its merit through. Pistol and one or two others. The New Zealand-bred Sir Mqdrcd was also lost to the land of his birth, and tho fact that he proved himself one of the greatest, stallions ever seen in America accentuates and shows what a loss he was to us. New Zealand has, in fact lost many of tho very best horses 'ever bred in tho country, and about tho only one to be brought back was Multiform who proved himself a good stallion, despite tho illness which attacked him in England If a fair share of the beet stallions bred in New Zealand had remained in the country and sired their winners here instead of abroad, there is no doubt that the standard of our blood stock would bo higher than it is at present. Their loss has, of course . been balanced to a great extent by importations from England and America; but Sir Modrcd would have been the best horse in the world to have revived the Herod line in Australasia, in much tho same manner as it has been revived in recent years in England and Franco by the grey marvel, The Tctrarch. If Carbine had presented Spearmint and others to New Zealand • instead of to England, what a difference it would have made. Tho same applies to Wallace. What a stream of winners would have been flowing out of New Zealand to gather stakes in Australia! We would in such a case havo tho wealthy Australian buyers trooping to New Zealand with wellcharged purses, as they did in the days of yore.

— Master Hamilton ran two good races under big weights at Timarn. — The Warrington stud stallion Sarto has been brought back to Warrington. — The Toff is said to have been not quite at hia best when racing at Trenth-am. — Gunrcst is reported to havo received a bad passage in the Thompson Handicap. — Tho somewhat spidery-built Auetralianlwed mare Marianne showed improved form at Timaru.

—C. Eniinerson was carpeted for hie horsemanship on Plymouth at the Wellington meeting. °

— Two horses had to be withdrawn from the Timaru Cup because riders could not be obtained for them.

—Arthur George amd King Star both failed -to run at Tinvaxu in keeping with their recent Tticcarton form.

— Tho well-known Southland rider A. M'Kay is amongst those en Hod up for military service- by the last ballot.

— Blackall is said to be " tapped in the wind." That is the end of his prospects of being a winner over a distance. — Oxcnhope made a bold bid in the Smithfield Handicap, but could not, concede 2st Blb to a horse capable of running five furlongs' 'n 1.1. . °

— Desert Gold wr.s carrying 9.12 and conceding 3Slb toKililinn when the lattor beat the crack in tho North Island Challenge Stakes.

— Sardinia put up an excellent performance when he ran second in the Muritai Handicap, as ho was left several lengths at the start.

— Tho Gazeley gelding Spectoal can skip fairly fast over a short course, and always looked to have a good winning chance when he scored at Timara.

— Ogier seems to be putting far moreheart into his_ races, and in his last few runs has put in some good work, although not quite good enough \o win. — Tho Australian-bred Blairfmde is speedy out of. the ba-rrier, but is not too sound a stayer. He was always well .placed at Timnru, but failed to see it out.

— Marsn, ilie winner of the Timnru Cup, has besn in tho market eovera.l times dining the past couple of seasons, and'now seems to be a far better irmre- than ever.

— The Rokoby two-year-old Mortham, who created a fai-crarable impression at Riccarton, scored nicely at Timaru. He is a halfbrother to Bellshire and a brother Bellrock.

— Korke's Drift w«ni out one of (he ranloutsiders in the Timaru. Cup, 'ml, even when much vnore strongly supported -m the second day, failed to got amongst the first half dozen.

—P. T. Hogan had Eorke's Drift and Golden King, both representing- his stable, in each of the two principal events at Timaru, bifc neither of tho pair got amongst Uio money.

— Now that the coal strike is reported at an end, tho ?Jorlh Otago Jockey Club may decide to hold its winter -meeting on the dates originally appearing in tho catendaj>— May 24 and 25. — Flying Start did not seem to be too well in the Timaru Cup; but in any case lie was getting a full share of •tho dust during the race, and that would not help his char.ee.

— Golden Prince, who was sold at £500 in tho early spring, has turned cut a dear horea. He is speedy, but doee not stay on Tins, in conjunction with a foil share of weight, keeps him out of the money. — Tho Calibre Hardshof, who has shown winning form in the south, get out to win tho Autumn Handicap at Timaru from end to end, but after leading for about a mile- ho faded out and finished fifth.

— Point Blank, tho brother to Rorkc's Drift, was amongst; th-o runners at Timaru, but made no show. Ho may improve, but does uot fill_ tho eye anything like -o attractively as liis Well-performed brotl

— Varnish is said U> have shown s<.gns of fioreness after racing in the Timaru Cup, and •vas not, in consequence, started, on tlic sevond dny of tli3 'meeting. He, however, seemed to be all right when walking on Saturday.

— Tho North Otago siro Kilbronoy gave fuither cvidenoo of liis merit last week, and ns all his winners were bred at Eldorslie' that limestone district incidentally received a further boast as great ground far breeding tharougijtßodG.

Tho two-year-old Clavcrhouse wao made a strong order for tho Electric Stakes, but lie made a poor show and finished outsidetho places. Cln.verhoirso is believed to bo a bit faint-hearted, and accepts defeat when others light on.

"7 ! ,<?rrv rnade his reappearance in a hurdle field at Timn.ru, but tired after jumping three fences and never looked dsjigerous. Hβ was pulled out twice on tho second day, and. ran botli over hurdles and on tho flat.

— Marc Antony either struck himself or was galloped on during tho raco for tho Timani Cup, ar.d showed signs of lameness after_ running. Ho, however, appeared to be right, again when lie went out for his second race, at the meeting — Admiral "Wood mado a fairly qnick rc<oveiy from the indisposition which kept him in his box on tho last da.y of the Addington Easter meeting, as ho ie again doing useful work in view of hie engagements at tlio Now Brighton meeting. — The imported maro Shrill, who annexed tho Thompson Handicap and ihe chief sprint, was got by Llnngibby, who won £13,907 in stakes, and incidentally defeated' tho now great sire Polymelus when they met in tho Eclipse Stakes. Llangibby stands tho present season at £id 19s service.

—On liia run to Thaddcus rn the Doncaster Welter Kaminohe appeared, to hold a fairly good- chance in thc Seadown Welter, but, ho got badly placed., and after being last into tho straight finished up sixth in a field of 12. His owner, Mr P. Holmes, goes into camp in the course of a- few days. — Placid scored at Timarn by a narrow margin, bnt lie woxdd havo ljeen very unlucky to lose, as he caught tho barrier at the start and "appeared to bo hopelessly left. Beale, however, gradually and patiently improved hia position, and just got up in timo to head off Borodino in tho last few strides. •

— Whilst attending the South Canterbury meeting tijo Wingatui trainer C. Christie purchased a threo-yenr-old gelding by Heroism from a sister to Ikowai, who was got by Kulnine from Tiger Lily. The throe-year-old will not bo taken in hand for some time, and in the meantime is to be built up m condition.

— Speedometer created a surprise when he won at Timaru. Ho won easily at the finish, but was perhaps assisted to victory by tho fact that Sir Malt, Trenxena, and Kilboyno ran themselves out in the first half-mile. Speedometer ran a good on tho second day, when Tre-niena, meeting bim on 15lb better terms, Won nicely. — The 'chaser Ikowai proved to be more sonously injured than what was originally believed l at tho timo of his recent accident, and it has since been deemed advisable to destroy tho Kulnirio gelding. IkoTyai was a promising sort that would have shown improved form this season, and his loss through an unluclcy accident is a matter of regret

—It -would not be surprising , to find Triple Entente 'furnishing into ono of the left by All Red up to date. At iimaru he showed a good deal of pace m both his races, but his dead heat on the second day was due to Beale outriding F. Ellis on Charley. With another season on him Triple Entente should prove rather useful.

—■Winter Cherry left tho mark at Timaru, but did not get going properly over the firsi furlong, and even then was a bit unlucky to lose, as she got blocked in an attempt to get up on the rails, and then had to come round. She appears to be one that has never been jumped off from a stand, and, wants schooling in that department of the busineas.

— Ardenvhor made a bold show in the Autumn Handicap, when running his first race after a spell. He was always with the leaders, and took charge in the straight, but at the finish Thaddeua. in receipt of 151b, beat the New Zealand Cup winner nicely. Ardenvhor ran a good generous lace, and may do better lator on if there aro any more meetings to run at. — Malvolia has built up and strengthened m appearance since joining W. M'Donald's stable. She was always fairly epeedy, but at Timaru won by staying on, and gave indication of all-ro\md improvement. It is, however, a noteworthy fact that her sire, ■Mensclrikoff, never sired anything of his own class. Probably the ve-rv best was Tawhaki, who never showed his best form. — Winsratm stables played a strong haiad at Ilia Timaru meeting, and gathered all' the plums of tho programme. On the first day C. Christie won with Compulsion, Spectual. and 'Speedometer, and D. P. Wilson with Jfarsa. and Thaddeus. On the second day Wilson won with Thaddeus and Kilboyne, J. A. -White with .Placid, R. M'Donald dead-heated with Triple Entente; and other Wingatui horses to run well were Ardenvhor, Marianne, Borodino, Ogier, Volspeil, Redowa (who got hopelessly placed earl" in_ her races), and Sir' Malt, Other Wingatui-ites that ran moderately were Benefit, Tho White King, Sedd-el-Bahr, Linden, Kazan, and .Helicon. — The well-known North Island trainer J. MTJanghlin ventilated a grievance at the Timaru meeting. He purchased the Antonio gelding Blairfindo in Australia, and the horse landed here with a declaration of identity from J. Feild-w (who is well known :n Victoria), the previoas owner, and also, it is understood, a declaration made before a magistrate with the Victoria Bacing Club.' The- horso was not allowed to start nt the Wairairapa meeting, and could not start on tho first day of the Timaru meeting, but, at tae cost of several pounds expended in cables, figured in a field on the second day MLaughlin claims that ho has been badly treated in the matter, and put io a great deal of expense that should not havo 'been incurred in connection with a horse about which all the necessary certificates had been lodged in order to comply with the New Zealand Rules of Racing. — The Southland owners with horses engaged at Timaru were seriously considering the advisability of cutting out the last day ot the- S.C.J.C. meeting and rnakin" for home. It was suggested to the club that the second day should be held oh the Friday, but to this the crab was net inclined to agree. Tho difficulty was, however, solved by an assurance from the- Minister ot Kailways that his department would complete its contract and transport the horses home at tho earliest opportunity. The Southland horses were shipped from Tinraru to Wingatui on Saturday night, and were to be taken on a couple of days afterwards. Iho absence of the -Southland and Wingatni horses would have proved a serious blow to i he success of the meeting, and evidence of that is supplied by the fact that 10 out of tlio dozen colouring on the card for the chief event on the second duy came from Southland and Winga+ui. In "their absence Mie race would have become a match between Marc Antony and San Sebastian.