RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21431, 4 September 1931, Page 13

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel.

Tie Welcome improvement in the ■weather at Wingatui yesterday will assist in improving the going on the course proper for the Otago Hunt Clubs meeting to-morrow, and "it promisee to be much better than could have been hoped for during the early part of the week. Yesterday morning a large number ot horses was worked on the inside track, and some were allowed to stride out along the back stretch for three furlongs. A few worked at a fairly solid pace over the beet part of a circuit, but in all cases the horses were not allowed to extend themselves fully. ... Admiral Drake and Solmun, singly, were allowed to stride alone the back, and others that got through ueeful exercise during the morning included Lord Buchan, Night Attire, Banderilla, Lord Argosy, Anne Shakespeare, Wingatui, Pink Paper, Ballance, Salmo Salar, Tea Urn, Tracsona, Guncase, Scotch Tea, Francohn, Royal Saxon, Felony, Rameses, Royal Flower, Rqse Dart, Bachelor’s Idol, Red. Racer, • Heather Lad, Genteel, and one or two others. Shipshape, with R. Beale in the saddle,- gave an excellent display over three flights of hurdles. In ordinary circumstances it would have been a morning of. final gallops against the watch, but tha-'various horses, after working, conveyed' thjj impression of being well forward in racing condition. , ’ , Sailing Home is now in J* M Chesney 6 stable st Invercargill. '- * ■ i A four-year-old sister to Salmo Solar is leing trained by H. Elhs ait Wingatui. The Limond —Makepeace filly. Pacify, said to be the fastest youngster at Riccarton, is not engaged in the M Lean Stakes. ■ Sixteen two-year-olds figure on the card for the parade booked for the Otago Hunt Club’s meeting to-morrow ' The South Canterbury Jockey Clubs programme for October 17 has for its chief feature the Timaru Cup. of 200sovs. one mile and a-quarter. The remaining events range in value from 75sove to 120SOVS. . r -.5 x '■ The time-honoured Canterbury Cup has been dropped, at least temporarily, from the New Zealand Cup programme. It datesfrom 1866, and its list of winners includes some of. the best horses ever seen in the Dominion. It was stated at the annual meeting of the Wyndham Racing Club that the ■ loss experienced last season was the first in the history of. the club. The lose amounted; to £177. ... It is reported that Nightmarch :e being patronised much more freely than is usual with. horse* bred in this part of the K world: 'lf breeders do not patronise such ’ horses as Nightmarch with his splendid conformation and a pedigree full of winning strains, backed by performances showing speed and rare stamina, they are blind to their own interests. On individual merit Nightmarch holds far more claim to recognition than most of the imported stock ■ coming in without racing form, who have to be accepted' On more or less close relationship to something of note.- ' ' v ■ u -'iS (4*rA-; rdi ■ tHree years w'Agp* an effort was made'by trotting enthusiasts to convert the Kurow Jockey Club into a trotting club. "The proposal was rejected, but it was revived again this season, and at the annual meeting last week over 80 members were present to fight the battle, racing v. trotting. A vote resulted m ■ favour of racing by 50 to 30. New Zealand owners and trainers de-. airbus of scratching their horses for tile A. J.C. Derby, Breeders’ Plate, or Guncrack Stakes,. to be run at the A.J.C. spring meeting, 1931, are reminded that the first forfeit of Isov must be declared and paid to the secretary of the A.J.C., Sydney, or of the Wellington Racing Club, Wellington, New Zealand, before 4 o’clock pan. on Tuesday, September 8, 1931. At the recent Victoria Park (Sydney meeting ' two horses from the Dominior were, among the winners. The second division of the Flying Handicap four furlongs. and a-half, fell, to Doubtful,, which is;- returned as .being by Tea Tray or Paper Money from. Kilbfeeze, while the first division ; of the Novice Handicap, seven furlongs, was taken by the four-year-old Weathervane—Bonaria gelding Weatherbound. Doubtful was ‘favourite for his race, but Weatherbound was a long-priced outsider. Among the-starters in the first division of the Flying Handicap was Le Choucas, who, though now in the sere and yellow, seem* to be kept going in the hope of picking up another crumb or two in the way ol stake money. ■ ' The Press reports that Royal Mint was allowed to drop out of his engagement in the Sea View Hack Hurdles at the Otago Hunt Club’s fixture owing to meeting with a slight injury in a recent schooling task, but is to contest the Hunters" Flat Handicap. Gold Mint appears as an acceptor in both these events, and' appears likely to collect sonie stake money. Rascal has done well since the Grand National meeting, and will probably rule as favourite for his seven furlongs ' engagement, in which he will be ridden by R. Coveny. The three horses named will remain at Wingatui for the Dunedin Jockey Club’s meeting on the following Saturday.; A writer in the Sydney Referee recently. said: “ History records that St. ' Simon and the famous Eclipse used to beat their opponents in much the same way that Phar Lap does; but we have never had in this country a horse capable of. making good horses look like hacks until Phar Lap appeared on tne scene. He is not merely the most wonderful all-distance horse in Australia and New Zealand at the present time, but also he may be classed as the greatest miler we have seen. With his amazing speed and stamina he could win at_any, distance from five furlongs to three miles. ’ Tffiere are thousands of people who will not easily be convinced that Phar Lap could-have beaten Gloaming (at his best) at a. mile. ’ Tea >, Trader, who impressed by bis showink in the two-year-old parade at the Pakuranga meeting, is owned by Mr R. T. Reid, of Hamilton, and is trained at Takanini by P. E. Pope. The Tea Tray—Epitaph colt is a welbgrown chestnut with two white stockings on bis bind l%s. Not only is he one.of the best grown two-year-olds seen out at this stage of the season, but he is also well advanced in condition (says an Auckland writer). Possessed of an easy style of galloping, TeaVTfader covers the ground with a minfraiim of effort, and he looks like playing his-part well in. the early classics for candidates of his age. One of the most fruitful topics of dis-. cuesion in racing circles is the paucity of top-notch stayers in this country in recent years (says, an English writer). Breeders are commonly saddled with the blame. It is urged against them that they show a decided preference to breed for speed rather than stamina. There may be some foundation for such an assertion, but may not methods of training also have something to do with it? That, at least, is the view of one well-known trainer with whom I discussed the subject recently. “Horses intended for long-dis-tance events should never be raced as two-year-olds.” he said. “It takes too heavy a toll of their vitality while they are still immature.” It is an interesting theory. Brown Jack, unquestionably the best staver in the country, was three years old before he saw a racecourse; so was Salmon Leap, which bids fair to succeed him. Another instance is Blue Vision, a stable companion of Brown Jack, which won the Northumberland Plate a few weeks ago in such easy, style. The Eclipse ’ Stakes at Sandown Park Was for years the mose valuable prize to

be won on the turf. Last year the Aga Khan, who won the race with Ruston Pasha, received £10,528, which was £492 more than he got for winning the Derby with Blenheim. This year the Derby is .an easy first, and the Two Thousand Guineas second. These races were worth £12,161 and £11,472 respectively to Mr J. A. Dewar, the owner of Cameronian. This year’s Eclipse Stakes was worth, roughly, £IO,OOO. which was increased by £SOO, Lord Derby, owner of the winner, receiving that premium as the breeder. The One Thousand Guineas this year brought £8854 to Lord Ellesmere, the owner of Four Course, and Lieutenantcolonel Birkin won £9067 when Brulette took the Oaks. It is interesting to note that the Grand National was worth more than cither of the fillies’ classics. Mr T. K, Laidlaw, owner of Grakle, won £9385. In England there appears to be rather a slump in the thoroughbred industry. Recently, at Newmarket, Messrs Tattersails conducted a sale, but the result was not encouraging for the yearling distribution a few days later. On the day referred to, the late Mr S. 8.. Joel’s stud was offered, and the best prices realised were 1200 guineas for the six-year-old horse Fleeting Memory, by Vaneedor from Memoria 11. arid 1250 guineas for the two-year-old bay colt Bayport, by Polyphonies from Bayamo. Mr J. A. Dewar was among the vendors, and his fmir-year-old chestnut horse Culloden changed hands at 710 guineas. The Marchioness Gurzon of Kedleston has retired from turf pursuits,, and her aged brown gelding was sold for 1100 guineas, and this must be considered a good price in the circumstances. Colonel and Mrs Sofer Whitburn are also forsaking direct interests in the turf, and their racing establishment will soon come under the hammer. W. Cook, Sydney’s leading jockey, who was disqualified for 12 months in connection with-his riding of Royalfort in the Jumpers’ Flat Race' at Gosfotd a fortnight, ago, lodged his appeal with the A.J.C. . It is understood that Cook, in his appeal, has asked the committee for permission to call additional evidence, .which Vi’-as not available at . the time of the stewards’ decision. His friends hope that the fresh evidence will be sufficient to convince the A.J.C; committee that Cook is innocent of the charge against him. The appeal also points out the unlikelihood of a jockey of Cook’s ability and standing to take the risk of preventing Royalfort from doing his best in such a small race, when he had so many valuable engagements at the approaching spring Meetings, Love Song figured in a double protest at Rosehill recently when he passed the post sandwiched between- Cathmar and Sir Duninald at the finish of the first division of the Dundas Handicap. J. H. Jefferd ‘protested against Cathmar, who ‘won, and in turn the connections of Sir Duninald-lodged a protest against Love Song. It was (says the Sydney representative of the New Zealand Herald) a gruelling ' struggle over the last furlong, with Cathmar Bugging right out ,on Love Song, who in . turn crowded Sir Duninald. There is ■no doubt that Love Song was finishing better than either of the others, and forcing his way-almost headed Cathmar on the post. The stewards took so long to decide that the book--makers were-inclined-to switch to. Love Song in the betting on the'protest after first of all favouring Cathmar’s chance They did not know, that Love Song was also in jeopardy. No action was taken in either case. Love Song ran another fine race and it looks ns if he will stick. It would not be surprising if he comes into calculations as a Metropolitan horse, for he is handily weighted in that race with 7.11. The Metropolitan will not be hard to win and Love Song looks as likely as anything at this stage. j Although few of Martian’s progeny now remain on the turf, the record down to the credit of the sou of - Martagon gives him such a commanding lead in the winning sires’ list embracing both Australia and New Zealand that it is likely to stand as the record for a considerable period. .During last season Martian’s progeny won only £673 in prize money. An interesting fact brought out as the result of last season’s racing is that the winning total of Comedy King’s progeny is now raised to over £300,000. The following is a list of the amounts won in stakes .by sires in New Zealand and Australia ranging above £200,000: —

Martian (1901), by Martagon— Otterden, sired in England and foaled in New Zealand 372,907 Comedy King (1907), by Persimmon—Tragedy Queen, bred in England and imported to Australia when a foal .. 302,658 Linacre ’ (1904), by , Wolf’s Crag—Lismaine, bred in England .'. .. 290,313 The Welkin (1904), by Flying Fox—Woodbury, bred in England .. .. .. .. 289,313 Maltster (1897), by Bill of Portland—Barley, bred in Australia .. .. .. .. .. 285,224 Absurd (1909), by Sunbridge— Absurdity, bred in England' 280,677 Grafton (1894), by Galopin— Maid Marian, bred in England.. .. 260,232 Calais (1913), by Cicero—Lily of the Valley, bred in England 251,089 Wallace (1892), by Carbine-^-Melodious, bred in Australia 246,145 Pistol (1899), by Carbine— Wenonah, bred in England 245,759 Magpie (1914), by Dark Ronald —Popinjay, bred in England 225,105 Kilbronev (1907), by The Wag —lniiismakil, bred in Ireland 209,373

The latest English mail furnishes full details of the Caerleon inquiry, instituted by the stewards of the Jockey Club after he bad unexpectedly won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown following upon a prior indifferent performance. It seems fairly clear from a reading of the reports that the cable messages at the time gave an obscure pdeture of the incident. To begin with Caerleon, who started at long odds, was not an unpopular winner. Loud applause greeted Tommy Weston as he rode Caerleon into the saddling enclosure after winning the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown (says one writer). He deserved the ovation, for he had ridden a brilliant race. He did not forget to pay tribute to his mount. “Caerleon ran a good, game race, and never gave me the slightest uneasiness,” he told me. The happiest man on the course was Mr George Lambton. He was like a delighted schoolboy, and it was a pleasure to see how owners, trainers, and jockeys of defeated candidates crowded round in their eagerness to grasp his hand in congratulation. Lord Derby’s luck seems to have turned at long last. The stewards of the Sandown Park meetiugLord Lonsdale, Sir William Bass, and Colonel Giles Loder—resumed the Caerleon inquiry after the first face on the next dav of the meeting, and issued the following statement:—“The stewards at Sandown Park held an inquiry into the running of Caerleon in the Eclipse Stakes as compared with his previous running in the Duke of Cambridge Handicap at Newmarket on July 1. Weston (the jockey) stated that the horse ran ungenerously at Newmarket. Mr Lambton (the trainer) stated that his horses had been coughing badly in June, that Caerleon was a peculiar tempered horse who could not b” relied on. and that he had had great difficulty in training him, but that the horse had made great improvement since he ran at Newmarket. 1 lie stewards, in view of the fact that they considered that this had a false-run race, were satisfied with Air LambtonV explanation.” The race was run in 2min 14 2-ssec. which was comparatively poor time for this event. The stewards, it wquld seem, incline to the opinion that if a strong pace had been set from the start and maintained Caerleon would not have won (says the. Daily Alnil’s special

correspondent). Lord Derby, the owner of Caerleon, would be the first to admit that the circumstances of the case called for investigation. He often acts as a local steward, and I am sure that he viewed with much displeasure the presumptuous non-official but apparently authoritative statement supplied to the press to the effect that the inquiry had been finished, and that the explanation had been accefrted. The inquiry was not then complete, 'and this attempt to anticipate the stewards’ finding was most unfortunate.