THE TURF.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19250, 14 August 1924, Page 5

THE TURF.

Br Sentinel. A DIFFERENCE OP OPINION. The stidendiary stewards were dissatisfied with RoVaJ Despatch's display in tfco Maiden handicap event at a recent Moorcfiald meeting. In commenting on the race, “Cardigan,” of the Sydney Referee, said: “Royal Despatch, one of F, D. Jones’s New Zealand team, was rushed when the betting opened for the second division of the Maidon Handicap, and at one time bo was at 6 to 4. However, a big commission was launched for Norah Agnes, and the Now Zealander weakened, until s’s could bo Detained only to firm a point at flag-fall. Royal Despatch was first to move, but Norah Agnes then took up tho running, and led into the straight from Combustion and Zamenis. Norah Agnes did not have anything in reserve, but she eventually won rather well from Combustion and tho unlucky Zamenis. Royal Despatch dropped out ‘at tho top of tho hill and was well beaten at the distance, and only beat a few home. He will need to improve considerably to have tho slightest chance of paying expenses over this side.” It seems a moat remarkable state of affairs when a thoroughly experienced sporting writer such as 1 Cardigan” can write in such a positive strain about a horse s form and future possibilities, and yet at the same time the stewards think fit to hold an inquiry into the display. Apparently tho stewards were more influenced by tho fluctuations in the market than in the actual merit of the race run by Royal Despatch. It would be very interesting to know whether the scribe or the stewards wore right. At a recent meeting in this island a stipendiary steward instigated an inquiry into a case of bumping and boring, and when it came up for hearing it is said on good authority that the official laid tho charge against the wrong horse.

COMMON-SENSE CRUELTY. At tho present time when coursing and pigeon-ahooting are occupying attention there is usually an outburst against such “sports” or pastimes being allowed to exist. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals societies are foremost in the agitation for their abolition. Such societies undoubtedly do a tremendous amount of good work, but at times appear to go outside their province in regard to tho protection ot dumb animals. There is such a tiling as what might be termed common-sense cruelty. That is to sab', that so long as man is a flesh and fiah eater, animals and fish must he killed to supply what is considered a necessary food. The method of obtaining food for human consumption is principally by means, of the knife, gun, or hookSorno animals which are desirable as food are caught by trained dogs. In pigeonshooting matches only really expert marksmen face the traps, and very frequently drop their bird with the first barrel. Tho spread of shot generally means sudden death to tho bird, but if it is only winged or wounded, the gatherers quickly complete tho matter. These birds never go to waste, as there are plenty of people keenly anxious to convert them into a very appetising dish. Now the question arises, what is tho material difference between shooting a pigeon and chopping off a chicken’s head? Both are destined for the table. Wo knife a bullock and hen, and shoot a pigeon. We also shoot various sorts of game without protest, even though it takes the form of a drive over tho guns or some other form of slaughter. It is common-sense cruelty, primarily as a sport, and secondly as a means of obtaining food. It requires no stretch of imagination to say that it is more cruel to course an untrained hare than it is to course one specially fed and trained to travel to a sure means ot escape. Cruelty can, of course, enter into coursing and shooting, but, as a general rule, it exists more in the imagination than in reality. Then, again, it must bo remembered that the hare is just as desirable for the table as many other forms of food. There may be a certain amount of cruelty in most forms of sport, but in shooting or coursing death is inflicted with the utmost possible dispatch. Punishment is sometimes inflicted on a racehorse, but it seldoms goes beyond a few smart smacks with a whip. Blunt, spurs are in general tise, and very rarely nowadays does one see evidence of sharp spurs, and when it, is found a reprimand is promptly handed to tho jockey guilty ot using them. It may be said that some more or less mild punishment is inseparable from every sport. Some horses require a rap or two to moke thorn fully extend themselves, but unnecessary punishment is not tolerated. Some boxers will not fully extend themselves until their opponent wakes them up with a punch or two, and at times there is a good deal of buffeting and bumping in tho football field. It may be- considered punishment or cruel plav by some auper-seusitive people, but others regard it as all in the ga mo, and inseparable in a contest for supremacy. The pain inflicted by a boxer or footballer may be far more lasting than the shot which drops a bird or the snap which ends the career of a hare. To achieve an end, whether it is beating an opponent or obtaining food by a snorting route, the element of common-sense cruelty is unavoidable. It is to be hoped then that common sense will give less play to the imagination which sees a lot of unnecessary cruelty in procuring a hare or pigeon for the table. Does any one make a protest against thousands of rabbits being poisoned and trapped every year, and this may cause bunny far more pain than a straight shot from; a gun. AN UNTIMELY END. The painfully sudden death of the wellknown rider and trainer Arthur Oliver came as a great shock to his many friends. He contracted pneumonia, and after a brief illness passed away. Arthur Oliver was not only a capable and daring horseman, but he was also an ornament to his profession, and a splendid example to young riders as to how they should comport themselves both on and off tho racecourse. For many years he was associated with the Highden stable, when it was under the control of George Price, who is now established in Sydney. He rode many good winners ior the stable, and proved himself a thoroughly capable horseman. In more recent years ho was becoming established as a trainer, and would, no doubt, have proved just as successful in that branch of his profession as he was when iu the saddle. Arthur Oliver achieved the rather remarkable feat of winning three consecutive Winter Cups on Penates, North East, aid Nyland. Other important wins he scored was a Great Autumn on Bronze, tho Stewards’ Handicap on Penates, Nyland, Croesus, and Solfanello; New Zealand Derby on Bon Reve, \Velcome Stakes on Simonedes, Canterbury Cup on Gasbag, Dunedin Cup on Ghoorka, the Egmont Cup on Milan, Bronze, and Undecided ; Hawke’s Bay Stakes on Boamarges, Sir Tristram, and Sauci: Hawke’s Bay Gup on Tangimoana, Napier Cup on Bronze, the Wanganui Cup oh Truce, Milan, Merrivonia, and Bronze; tho New Zealand St. Loger on Bon Ton and Eligible. Thompson Handicap on Aborigine, and also scored many other wins, including some in France when he served during tho war. Arthur Oliver will bo greatly missed by a largo number of friends, and much sympathy will be extended towards his young widow in her sad and painfully sudden bereavement. THE OLD-TIMERS. In commenting on old-time preparation of horses for long-distance races and the custom that obtained of sending a horse two or three times over the distance. “Cardigan,” of the Sydney Referee, said in a recent issue that modern trainers laugh at the old methods. That may bo so, but the old-time trainers achieved better results when they had a stayer than the average modern trainer does with tho same class of horse. The modern trainer who knows his business and has modernised tho old-time methods still finds it absolutely necessary to give a horse plenty of good solid strong work to get him ready to go a distance. The old-time trainer could step a horse out for a race cleaned up and fit to race for his life, and this without the several races which tho modern trainer doems necessary before he saddles his charge up for a Melbourne Cup or any such important race decided over a distance of ground. Jn all probability some modern trainers give their horses just as much work by continuous racing as the old-time trainer did in setting a horse for two or three meetings in a season. The modern trainer may, however, bo unconscious of the fact. Ho also does not seem to understand hi» business if one judges by the actual results of horses started in races from a mile and a-half to two miles. Note how far a field is strung out at the end of a two-mile race, ond strung out by horses fancied and hacked, and ask if it is the fault of the horse or the trainer and hie jack of ability to prepare a horse for sucl a race? The modern tendency is to rui horses over long journeys on a sprint preparation, and the strung-out fields, as a result, are the nowadays common occurrence. A modern adoption of 'old-time methods teaches and helps u horse to stay. Tho modem trainer who laughs at oldtime methods, instead of analysing them to hnd and use the virtues they possessed,

is tho trainer whose horse generally finishes down tho course at the ond of a longdistance race, unless he happens to fluke a great natural stayer. To laugh at old-time training methods is to laugh at tho greatest trainer of the present clay. it. J. Mason, who rode the winner of tho Dunedin Cup of 1874. To laugh at old-time methods is to laugh at Stuart Waddell, who trained Razzle Dazzle, and with a pinch of luck boat Gloaming in tho Challenge Stakes. Both these modern and very successful trainers must be marked down as old-time men, and it would require iho courage bom of ignorance for any one to suggest that they do not know their business. Add to those two men, who have proved that they know how to prepare a horse to run from a yard to a year, and find tho man who came in ycslerday to compare with them and their results. The modern trainer may bo an adept at training an owner, but tho owner who stays longest in the game is the man who has" sufficient wisdom to give his horses to the trainer who has been in the game and knows how to modernise old-time methods. Of course, the owner who debates tho cost—that is to sj», a fair cost of training a horse —is beyond consideration. Such an owner forces a trainer to short-feed a horse unless he is so whole-hearted that tho horse is practically trained at the cost of feeding him from week to week It must be borne in mind that knowledge of anything is rarely acquired in an instant, and knowledge as to how to train a horse means a close association with “man’s best friend” for a number of years. And let it be said in passing that the greatest enemy to the really competent trainer is the Racing Conference in its method of granting trainers’ licenses, and prior to their taking control it was verv much worse under the distribution of licenses by the metropolitan clubs. SQUIBS AND SPRINTERS. During the brief discussion which took place on the proposed Gaining Amendment Bill u member spoke slightingly about the racing clubs because they encouraged squibs by having a superabundance of sprint races. Apparently the member thinks that some breeders deliberately set themselves to breed squibs because tho racing fixtures carry a large number of short races. It would be impossible to find a man who deliberately set himself to breed a squib. Every owner of a brood mare is ambitious in one direction only, and that to breed a champion. Unfortunately all the seed put in the ground does not produce an even quality of grain, nor do fruit trees annually produce an oven quality of fruit, and so also it is with horses, as like does not always produce like, and the mating of two champions may produce a squib, although no sane man would say they were bred to each other with any other object than a desire to produce another champion. It i s a whim of Nature, and Nature haa whims just the same as ordinary human beings. It may astonish some people who prattle about squibs that a well-bred squib or sprinter very frequently make very good sires, and sometimes obtain betler results than a sire who has been noted for stamina when racing. It may also astonish them to hear that it requires just as muoh stamina to win , a race like the Newmarket Handicap or Stewards’ Handicap as it docs to win a race over twice tho distance over which they are decided. It requires not a little stamina to sustain a particularly high rate of speed over six furlongs, and it is an accepted fact that races decided over any distance up to ten furlongs are very frequently harder to win than races beyond that distance. Sprint races run amongst good company form a very severe test of a horse’s stamina and soundness. Travelling at a high rate of speed means that a horse makes a more severe impact %vith tho ground than a horse racing over longer journeys which do not permit a horse to be so fully extended from post to poet as ie the case in a sprint race. Proof of that contention is supplied by the fact that horses which have broken down or failed to stand training for sprint racing very frequently develop into good hurdle racers, and win over three times as much ground as when they wore “squibs of sprinters.” Horses that have won tho Grand National Hurdles or Grand National Steeples oould not win amongst tho sprinters. It is an old saying and a very true one that it is the pace that kills. It is many a man’s epitaph, and only another way of saying that speed is far more trying than travelling at a more moderate pace. It is utter nonsense to say that clubs encourage the breeding of squibs. Quite to the contrary could be claimed, as mostly all the rich prizes are attached to races decided over a mile or more ground. There is so much racing crowded into a year that it would be inadvisable to have as many long racer, us short, ones, but it, does not necessarily follow that our horses are lacking stamina because the calendar shows far more sprint races than others mn from n mile and a-half or upwards. Summing up the matter, there seems to have been more sound than than sense in the discussion that arose when the Gaming Amendment Bill received notice in the House of Parliament.

Radial has won over 6000sova in stakes, and has been racing eight seasons. The Riverton Club will give £2170 in stakes at the December meeting.

The well-known owner-trainer A. Pringle is at present seriously indisposed. Tho Auckland Racing Club gave £65,700 away in prize money last season. The Ashburton Cup, will carry a stakro£ 300sova, and a cup valued at 25sovs. Duo does not look anything like the horse he was when racing as a three-year-old. Income gave a very disappointing display in his first school over hurdles at Biccarton.

Two hurdle races and a steeplechase figure on the programme for Ashburton Spring meeting. The Ashburton Cop will carry trophy valued n.t, 25sovs, which has b.-en presented by Mr 11. F. Niooll. Handicaps for the Otago Hii.it Club’s meeting are due on August 18, ~nd acceptances close on Friday, August 22. One of the newly elected stewards, in Mr A. B. Armour, has been appointed hon. treasurer to tbe Dunedin Jockey Club. Duo’s absence from the Christchurch Hunt Club’s race meeting _ was owing to his straining a muscle whilst doing a gallop. Palestrina has been doing good work a' Riccarton, and will probably be seen out or the second or third day of the Grand National meeting. The Auckland Racing Club distributed prize money amounting to £65,700 last season, and after writing off £13,510, hold assets valued at £162.533 18s Bd.

While at the post for the Y.R.C. Grand National Hurdles, Pistolier was kicked by another horse, and blood-poisoning setting in it was found necessary to destroy him. Firouze Mahal, for whom H.H. Aga Khar paid 5400 guineas last year, made he-r do but in the Queen Mary Stakes at Ascot or June 17, but ran very green and was un placed. Since the Grand National Hurdle raot was established in 1890, it has been won only twice by horses bred south of the Waitak River. The successful horses were Ixion and Art.

D. J. Price had bad luck in missing the Grand National Hurdles with Razda, and n further stroke of bad luck occurred by the horse breaking down whilst running in the Leamington Hurdles. Tho ex-New Zealander, G. Delaney, trains the Sea Prince gelding, Tookarby, who won Uie Marrumbeena Handicap of 650 aovs, 11 furlongs, which formed the principal event run at Caulfield, on July 19. The New Zealand Trotting Association incurred expenses amounting to in making inquiries into the ringing-in cases, which attracted an unsavoury at tention to trotting during the past season. The Victoria Racing Club is carrying out extensive improvements at Flemington, and in consequence will hold its August meeting at Mooneo Valley. A special horse train will convey horses free to and from the meet-

ing. The Southland trainer J. W. Pandhurst has purchased from Mrs J. Griffen, on behalf of a client of his stable, the four-year-old mare Yulun, by Solferino, from Zia, by Bokeby from Stepka, the dam of Enare. Tbe late Charley Brewer, who owned Robert the Devil, and woo a big bookmaker, was once asked if he had been to sec Moody and Sankoy. “No,” he replied, "they might convert me, and then what should I d..* for a living?” The New Zealander Ballymena was the biggest stake winner at Raudwick last season with 667050v3 to his credit. He is one of the ruling favourites for the Melbourne Cup, although tho stable has not supported him for a penny. Lochson has been showing signs of soreness, as a result of being lucked when at the post in the race be won at the Christchurch Hunt meeting. It is expected, however, that ne will be all right for tbe Grand National Hurdles.

During tbe past season, tbe taxation pa-id to the State by racing clubs (not including trotting clubs) throughout New Zealand amounted to the huge sum ot £-152,617, in adidtion to which local rates were paid amounting to £6677. Bon Spec has been sold to go to Tasmania, It is feared that the one great flying machine has seen his best day. When at his best those who know what they are talking about were prepared to bade him against Gloaming from a flat foot start over a furlong or two.

Mr Mills, a miner in a colliery near Cessnook (Wales), haa been informed by solicitors (says the Evening News, Sydney correspondent), that ho and two sisters nhedt a legacy of £60,000. Their mother was related to the late Mr George Adams, the well-known promoter in Australia of ’Tat,tergal l’e Sweopo.”