RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22329, 1 August 1934, Page 11

RACING NEWS

By .Sentinel.

for the Christchurch Hunt Club’s meeting are due to-day.

T. R. George tpp 8: the list of trainers for, the past season with 47 races.

Handicaps for the minor events to be run-on, the first day of the Grand National meeting are due on Monday next.

One.of the best outsiders in the Grand National. Steeplechase may be Valves, who jumps well and can stay a journey.

Gold Trail has rejoined J. M. Cameron’s team at Hastings,- and so far has not shown: any recurrence of throat trouble. . _

"When moving around the various race meetings one hears talk of the future, and amongst the subjects discussed is the .pro-mise-displayed by the.first crop of Iliads foals.:-.

According to the weights published in connection -with the Longbeach Hurdles some, horses are just as good over, a short distance a* the comparatively long journey attached, to the Grand National Hurdles.

A - Press-;-Association message from Christchurch states ■ that Rereatu was scratched for all engagements at the Grand .National meeting at 11.50 yesterday morning- . ; '

Several Grand National Steeplechase candidate* were seen out. last week, their form suggests that the Riccarton fences; lack of speed, and: lack of stamina allow*.- them a very remote chance ot success,

-Riccarton trained horses won over £36,000 this season. The .success may be attributed to good tracks- and the fact tha? the number of horses-trained there i» ; .very much larger than on any course in’-tbe South Island.

The *in scored by Whyte Melville last week makes him worthy of note for next season. • He showed speed at Trentham and' should improve. Whyte Melville is a r two-year-old by Hunting from Merit, an imported mare by _ Diadumenos, a son of - Orby, who got Diacquenod.

Onlv a temporary possession is held of Mrs- C. L. Orbeli’a Challenge Cup attached to, the Pareora Steeplechase, and the one going with Teschemaker Memorial Hunt Cup. It might enhance the interest in both races if a miniature cup also went to! the winner an lasting memento ot the success. ,

The Westland Racing Club contemplates organising a bigfuss .race meeting in celebration - of' the seventieth • anniversary of -the town, A northern- paper refers to it as-a proposal to. celebrate th*-; occasion which is an obvious-, error, otherwise they could ‘Opt carry on legitimately. r v

I; Davblo has won £1069 10« in stakes this.seaspn and/yet, has 71b from Southdown in- the; - Winter Cup. At .weigut fdfv wins-'Davolo : should; give weight to Southdown; who has won £BIO. At weight-for-mze -Southdown ■. should give weight to Davolo, at weigh t-for-age, they wOidd'ihe ' equal,, and “at weight-tor-form Davolo has .a. bit the best of it. <

'• Thi /Ashburton Racing Club experienced. adoss .over'the-winter, meeting. This was prbliahly* due. to Ashburton staging; too pithy racing tad ••trottihg •.•meetings _ in' a short,’ space of time. ', From April 14 to June '23 Ashburton had four meetings, racing and trotting,, and incidentally other meetings took place at Timaru and Christchurch'.:- Too much f of'a, good 'thing clogs the.appetite. ' '■ ">t y .

Mount .’ Boa has a remote chance of making good a*' a - hurdler until he can r»6f • over;, a jump intead of hesitating and ; -landing fiatfobt,. At present he jumps -ff;hurdlej in his;OWfi .way 'and - re-, quires sonic : sharp Schooling in the shape qf being; burited into .theip. This, might make %im‘take a hurdle and get .away irittf^biri 1 stride of ~ dwelling, and • at the. take-off and landing.- '■ ; •V J

thurin* - ami-Billy. Bov ai : e the ruling favourites'.', 1 for 1 ,-' the ..Grand, National Steeples and Rasouli/holds'/the -same Pb® 1 " the Grand National Hurdles. The Winter. Cup' regarded open as 1 . Cufie t Vintage, Bay. Tree, Great Star, Bav6lo.H and Rebel share the honours, of fivoiiritism • for\ the race'. '£Thc: nest huhch is-composed of Slippery Prince vaf. Waterpower.- -Ventrac/;; Passion.; .Fruit, and ■Silyep-tStreak’.; . ■ ’*, ; \ j ’ of the membership fee-from guineas to' one guinea was unanp nfoi&lv-. 'agreed On at the annual meeting oft*members'' bff:the-■ Whangarei • Racing Cltih. ‘The:mover of the motion drew attention to the- necessity of- having-a good roH< of-vimembers,' .-the ■' ■ entrance fees* of whom ' were a; ■definite source of revenue. Two- guineas was -reasonable: in-prosperous fifrfes,''-hut--. he Hhbnght'-that 1 one-, guinea was 'quite 'sufficient 'now. , •.’■ ■' '_-■■■ •'.The Rrccarioh trainer. S. Barr saddled up' 36 ■witner»;':'thiß -season.' He is comparatiycjy iravnew-comer -.on? th> scene as a\ trainer .ana. in comparison, others who have,spent i# lifetime at-the' game caiinot get a • &dm to train, -v Why; i» ;*thw thus. Trnining' hones principally consists^ 1 in finding feed arid water -for thenv.in-addi-ti'ori to 'judicibris exercise to keep, health arid'strengtlr in evidence. Some; say that anyone, can -train a horse until it wants training, r .In other words; a trainer may have a gobd horse and‘.not know it but the . fact, remains that eorae 'trainers are more successful than others. Then agai n gome ; vVre -iriore difficult 'to tram than their-horses.. ■ I . .

The; report to be submitted to the anrival Meeting of. the; North* Canterbury Racing Club, to'be; held at Rangiora on August; 7, is, as follows:—As the club baa been in existence; for considerably more than half' s ceritury it cannot be considered that the- financial position is altogether satisfactory. This apparently ia due to two. main causes—first, the club ha»,-we crinsitfer, in its wisdom and owing to pressure from the Government Commission,’ spent in the last few years a considerable sum' on: appointments; and. secondly, the economic depression,, and high Government taxation. It appears that, owing' to the times, the financial position is not going to improve in the near future; It seems- that the club s life-ds dependent entirely upon the kindness or otherwise of the weather. For this reason it, may-be wise to consider the question of arnalgamation with other country- clubs or club.

At" the conclusion of the Hunt Cup at - the South ' Canterbury meeting the cups- associated' with the. Pareora and Teachcmaker Steeplechases were presented by the master, Mr C.L. Orbell. In presenting Mrs ; C. L. Orbell s. challenge clip to :Mi«. C. Elwortby, owner of Witui, Mr Orbell congratulated her on the horse’s performance, and said he regarded the race' as a great- family triumph. Witui had "been bred by Miss Elworthy s father .at Craigmore, his dam having also been- a-apod performer. Miss Elworthy had trained Witui practically up to the last minute. ;He was a genuine hunter, and had shown exceptional jumping ability with the South' Canterbury Hunt during the last two seasons. His only regret was that Miss Elwortby was not allowed td<rHe Witui, for if she had he felt sure that the win. would have been easier. Described as a famous old trophy, which had been*won by many" good horses, the TPschemaker Memorial Cup was then presented: to Mr ■ H.- H. Elwortby, the.owner of’ Night Club, Mr Orbell said that N'igbt Club had been bred.-at Holme Station by Mr A, S. Elwortby, and had been ff iven to his nephew as a wedding present. Mr H. H. Elworthy had ridden the mare 1,-*, vfi « r in the race which he had won that day-on his sister’s horse, Witui, and it was very pleasing to see tl iat \igit Club had progressed so well as to the more difficult event a year later.

The handicapping of Southdown for the Winter Cup has attracted widespread attention. It is generally recognised that the colt has received more than bis full share of-weight, but the fact: may not Stop him from winning. The same re-

mark applies to Bay Tree. A northern critic has expressed the opinion that Southdown will improve, and hence be able to handle the weight. That may be so. but it suggests a strange idea of handicapping for a weight adjuster to frame a handicap on a guess into the future instead of the facte of form. Southdown has not been seen since he won the Yaldhurst Handicap, in which Hayoio finished third when in receipt of 12ib from the Kampion colt. At that time it was- a- common opinion that Davolo was not at his best. He showed a return to form by winning easily at Irentham, and as a result the margin between him and Southdown has been reduced to olb.' That seems to be fair enough treatment for Southdown. Some Shamble, who ran a good second to Southdown m the Yaldhurst Handicap, meets him on 91b better terms in the Winter Cup, although he has won twice since then. Here we have a winner marked at depreciation . whilst, another that has not run is held to improve about 101 b. it is frequently said that horses improve with age. and the' weight-for-age scale is dragged' in to show a- so-called natural improvement.- The cold facts of common sense- show that horses do not ini* prove according to the progress indicated by the weight-for-age scale, and that is why so very few high-class horses appear each season. A horse should be handicapped on form, and not on what he is expected to do, because millions hare been lost on expectations based on false grounds. A horse should he handicapped on what he has done, and not on what he may threaten to do. It is time enough to increase the weight and the margin made by form when the threat has been carried into fulfilment. Giving a horse an exra 71b or so “for luck” or because the stable is considered clever or because objection exists to the colour of _ the colours is a relic of the Adniiral Ilous days, and should be buried with them.

Now that the A.J.C. stipendiary stewards have committed themselves to retrospective inquiries, they are likely to have a busy time, with results generally as abortive ag in the case of Version. It would be interesting to learn the line of inquiry adopted in connection with Version, as it was apparent the lad rode him at Victoria Park did bis best, even to the extent of using his whip. Perhaps Version may have been a trifle short of work on that occasion, but if the stewards are going to constitute themselves arbiters of condition they are in for quite & lot of trouble. Horses occasionally win' when even trainers do not regard them as ready. It will also be interesting to note whether the stewards are consistent in their retrospective inquiries! That is to say, will they be as keen' (asks “Pilot ”) to review the running of a horse owned by an A.J.C. committeeman or some prominent owner as they would one raced by a mao lower in the.social scale. Even horses owned by those high in the game can run inconsistently and such owners might re,sent a reflection on their integrity, whereas the “battler’' would be -content to let it pass. Furthermore, if ,form from week to-week is to be reviewed, tlie A.J.C. should open.these inquiries to*representst tives of the press, so that- the public should he afforded more information- than the bald statement that the {stewards had accepted the explanation offered. "