RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22498, 16 February 1935, Page 20

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel.

A Change of Going ; ';A; run on * hard track may improve a horse more thap a change in a handicap. . ; 1 .

Special Trains ’Aspecial train Will leave Dunedin for ' Invercargill at 6.40 p.m. One will also leave for Christchurch at 8.30 a.tn. to- • taonw. . ’

0* Offer - Scratchraerd 7 Scar : is under offer to an v Australian buyer; and' the probability of business led to “dropping one of his en- ■ gagements at Wingatui. An Importation Mr J. J. M'Grath, of theCurragh Stud, hae purchased the/ English stallion Leighe. ton,La aon of Gainsborough and Leighton • Tor,by Torloisk —Laoinedia, by St. Serf, a son of St. . Simon. .

tli* Concluding C*rd " ' . The concluding card of the Dunedin Cup/mceting will be got off to-day, and the promise of mood racing should attract ■ '* large attendance, providing the weather -is not-hostile.-v‘ - AMis^p .olt is understood that Silver Ring met ; c »rith a slight mishap when tunning in the Publican’s Handicap, but he worked yesterday, morning without showing any i, signs of trouble'. ■ -i: •• A Good Schoolmaster v -A; M'Kay, the trainer of Tauramai, was > brice. i associated with the late R. J. stable, and .rode Cruciform in one. of her wins. He thus commenced under a good schoolmaster,; and the knowi ledge : gathered at Yaldhufst has home . good fruit. Traiaert Combining i *-Xn England a few weeks ago the Epsom - trainers formed, an ! association, with S. Wbottoh., as chairman. ; Evidently the , Epsom trainer* have -ideas concerning th,e-betterment of racing conditions -in England, and intend putting them forward.- It was mentioned that there arh'JOO horses-in, raining at Epsom. r Forcing the Pace Cuddle went; out to win her races at Trentham tpo fat from home and again at Riccarton. She/won at both'places, ' but it is a bad’ policy to make ,a top- .. weight, endeavour to. force the pace for the iJight-weights;■'«!£ Cuddle is reserved VTor the James Hazlett Gold Cup, she may ..be carried along instead of the reverse taetief. , , /., ' ■

' Beiia«/.pr' Sentiment . .On day’s form ftt Wingatui one , requires ..to screw up, their courage to ; follow Grecian Prince and Alma, but they were not defeated oh their merits but by misbehaviour rat the barrier. The same remark applies: to others that had-a clear v run; ip their .race* but failed. Some of ■ them may win,, but in betting it is a ewe of sense, or. sentiment.. „ . :A Handicap.:;,. V’A horsV tapped, in the; wind is physically unable to stay, but - may get. a good race over;*: middle - distance. A hqrse that has been successfully operated on »for tbgv trouble, may’ go a distance but as :• a rule the,; infirmity hull* them up; For that reason Silver Ring may be more in favour. ■; than Nightly •> in the . Jamee Haslett, . Gold; Gup, Hightlr is credited witn, ruhnihg .a: really, good six furlongs '/on; Thursday morning. > Foaling Returns; Breeders are reminded that foaling returnsrmust be sent in to the. keeper of the' Hew Zealand Stud, Book by February. 28. It is unnecesary to emSise the value attached to a stud , pedigree, and. while in New Zealand the authorities; Have not gone to the . lengths of“ theTAustralian Jockey Club and the Victoria Racing Club, which now refuse, classic jentrie* from yearlings . not'in the Stud Book, a penalty is provided for iate returns. A New Sirs . Tfie -thoroughbred stallion Myosbtis ~ reached Aucklaqflvby the steamer. Port ! Hobart,., which arrived from England on r AVednesd*y ‘«v'«ning; and he will he , brought to Wellington before being' unshipped,. and jywrdue there on Thurs-“ vday., Myosotia Has been purchased by 'the' Canterbury etudmaster, Mr A. S. Biggs/ and is ..a well-bred and performed home. ’ He is by Phalaris from Scarlet Martagon, half-sister to Valais, who was a; great success at the stud in Australia. Mypsotis is a full-brother to Plantago, who in bis first season at the stud sired Sevrier, one of the most promising two- , year-olds' in England last year. the Books latest there was great weeping on •the. ipapt. of Chicago bookmakers conseon the “padding” of the pari mutual* st the Charles Town (West Virginia) track. • The “padding” referred to is the old. one—well known in Sydney—of selecting a race that looks a certainty for something, backing it at tote price away from, the. course, and then, at the last moment? putting a fair sum on the others in the race. In coneequence some horses .that should have been at 6 to 4 on at Chairles Town paid 2 to 1 •gainat on the pari rautuel. It fs claimed that the group doing the business. beat the starting-price bookmakers .for 120,000 in a ffew weeks, and the ‘latter, 1 in. their indignation, have announced they will, do no further business ‘with such “swindlers,” and have wiped off Charles Town, Apprentices In returning a verdict of accidental death in the'case of G. N. Oliver, an ap-' prentice who' killed at Flemington on January 10/ the coroner (Mr Grant) tt-aiaed a point about Oliver’s being apprenticed before he had reached .the age ' of 14, the school-leaving age in Victoria. He said that he had to consider whether a lad of 13 should have engaged in the occupation of a jockey, but as the section of the Education Act set out that if a child, obtained his certificate of merit as prescribed by the department before the age of 14 He could leave school, and as the governing, racing body had accepted the yoqth’s, apprenticeship, he must assume that was iti order.' Referring to a. statement that the position of the posts inside the course constituted a source of danger,-Mr Grant advised that it would be as well if the "osts were placed outside the track. r Back to ike Fold T. F. Quinlivan has hot. taken' an active interest in racing for' Some years,, but it reported from Hastings that he intends taking out a trainer’s; license again, and that a member of the, Racing Conference executive will be ope of his .patrons. Quinlivan was in the forefront in-nis profession when trainingfor Mr E. J, Watt, and later for Messrs V. and E. Riddiford Quinlivan trained four winners of the New Zealand Cup, in Menelaus, Scion, Bridge, and Midnight Sun, and among many other good horses .that passed through his Hands were Billy,. Aborigine, Ventura. Royal Scotch, Mascot. Maori King, Boomerang. Nobility, Palaver, Tradewind. and Bunting. Timing in England English trainers as a whole, do. not attach much importance to time, cither in private or public.! ''' Racecourses'.differ greatly in conformation, and climatic changes are such that conditions often vary from day to day. At some tracks, however, times in two-year-old races give a fair idea as to the relative merits of vounpsters. and- touching on this, a, contributor to a Lorid&h 'sporting paper re-

cently wrote as follows:—"I have noticed at Ascot, when the valuable two-year-old events' have been decided under seemingly similar conditions, that the youngsters recording the various times usually stand in point of merit in accordance with the times recorded." S. Wootton is a trainer who makes a practice of timing his two-year-olds early in the season. He does so in order to leatu how their, pace compares with that of youngsters he has prepared in previous seasons.'

Skull Capa - In England, the condition of skull caps used by jockeys riding in jumping races Has been the subject of official comment. Opinions 1 differ as - to who should be saddled’with the responsibility of seeing they afe in good condition, and touching upon why useless skull caps are kept and used, a jumping rider wrote as follows to the London Sporting Life “ May I express a jockey’s point of view why useless helmets are kept and used. It is because some riders cannot afford to buy new ones. You may think this strange, with riding fees at five guineas and three guineas, but' how ffiany riders get' the fees to which.they are entitled? “Take the Case of most boys who get n job to ride schooling, with opportunities of mounts in public. Frequently they are asked by the trainer, to ride for a special fee, which means half, or less, and, enough, hotting. •-’r ;, V’ .. . “ When a lad is ambitious the temptation to grasp the opportunity is very hard to resist, and, in any case, a refusal to meet with the trainer’s wishes might put the lad out of a job. A jockey's equipment is expensive, and skull caps want renewing frequently." Local Conditions

. J, T. Jamieson was interviewed on lira return to Sydney from the New Zealand yearling, sales on the subject of racing in the Dominion. . Jamieson was not at nil anxious-to express his views, and he remarked that it was a big subject, with the chance that isbme of his remarks might be misconstrued as bad taste or out of place. Jamieson, however, hag had years of experience both here and in Australia, and His views are valuable. In effect be said, “ Cut out many pf, the country meetings and reduce* totahsator percentages, is my advice to New Zealand racing authorities; otherwise racing over there appears to me to have little " hope of surviving.” Jamieson also drew attention to the high cost of transport in New Zealand, but his main contention was against the high taxation and the lack of centralisation. He really broke no new ground. Taxation; and 'centralisation are aged fturners now in any racing discussion. 'Whether centralisation would do all that itg admirers claim for it is a moot point; ‘ Conditions over here (says “ The Watcher ”) are so different from ; Australia/ ‘where the bulk pi the population is crowded into seaboard cities. Centralisation here would, throw the burden upon the population of our four main centres, arid it is. extremely doubtful whether it is sufficiently strong,. either numerically or financially, to Stand up to the strain. Reduction of taxes and transport costs would undoubtedly relieve the. situation, but the only real solution to the difficulties that. face racing is improved economic conditions- and a greater margin of spending power for the general public. ■ Spelling and Pronunciation The, name of , Youssipof has been bestowed by/Sir Thomas Wilford on the fourryear.-old, Grand/ Knight—Sartoyna gelding, whom he has placed in J. Ayres’s stable at Trentham. - Sir Thomas remarked that • he Had decided on this spelling of the name (says “Rangitira”), though., it, is given in several ways in various books of reference, for it shows, most, deafly' the, correct pronunciation. The Russian word cannot be literally transcribed into English script! The name is, of course, most apposite, and, although it has not yet been officially claimed, there will be no difficulty in ita acceptance, as the name has not been previously sought :at the conference.' Prince Ybussipof was' the “Grand Knight” of Russia who rid that unhappy . Empire in the closing ‘days of 1916 of- her mad monk, Gregory Efimovitch Rasputin, whose iris fluence arid doctrines had'so oebased the Russian morality in the years leading; rip to and the early .years of the Great VVar, Rasputin was invited to a supper at Youssipof Palace, and when an attempt to poison him failed to produce the desired result he was shot dead by Prince Youssi-. pof.-;' The geldingYoUssipof-.hnabeen at. Trentharii for over a' i week now; but he has come off his breeder’s farm in poor condition, and he will require some mouths td*' build up to racing ’ strength. Sir Thomas leaves on his return to England on Friday, and he may never actually see the gelding race, but he is enthusiastic to have the Zetland spots, colours he acquired , from. his father-in-law, the late Sir George M'Leah, carried again on New Zealand racecourses. His action is truly that of a great sportsman, and the example he has unwittingly set should do much to assist racing back to its former prestige in this Dominion. ■ A New Tote

Mr .A. M’Donald Smith, the, tqtalisator manager of the Canterbury Jockey Club, will leave next week on a visit to Australia. He will go first to Melbourne/ where he will study the working of the latest totalisators. He will start oft with the Victoria Racing Club, at whose autumn meeting he will see the largest machine in Australia at work, after, which he will witness racing at Caulfield and Ascot. He' will then go to Sydney; where, at the factory of Automatic Totalisators, Ltd., he will see some of the work of assembling, the parts for. the Canterbury Jockey Club’s new machine. In this way he will obtain much valuable information/: which;,'/willVbe useful when the new tqtalisator is'installed. f /Thd Eastern-meeting o'f..the Canterbury Jockey Cub ‘ will 'be carried oil with the' present appliances, but immediately afterwards there will be great activity at Riccarton. The first shipment of parts of the new machine i$ ..expected to. arrive there soon after Easter, arid rid time will be lost' Hi assembling the machine, in preparation for use at the Grand National meeting in August. An announcement from Sydney by the directors of Automatic Totalisators, Ltd., states that since the end. of last financial year three important orders hpye been/received..to, .replace; old type ■ installations previously, carried out by 'the company. The macHine*! feeing iristalled are 1 of the type with the latest odds barometer indicators, as operated on the leading racecourses in Victoria. They will be installed for the Australian Jockey Club at Randwiek, where one of the largest machines in the world will erected/ the Madras Race Club, India; •and the Canterbury Jockey Club. ;>v Under the -Hammer

There wfs a fairly good attendance, at the blopA'iStock sale oqnducted by ’Messrs Wrighii ‘ Stephenson, arid Go. at Wingatui yesterday. The following sales were made:—

Bay filly, by Jericho —Luminant, 50gus —Mr J. Poff, Oaraaru. Bay colt, by., Rosenor —Commentary, 20gns—Mr Higgins, Oamaru. .Bay colt, by Iliad—Countersign, 80gns —Mr GV J, Barton. . Broo'd mare, Moiselle, with foal at foot, by Nightmare!), 52igns—Wright, Stephenson and Co. . Bay filly; 2 years, by Night. Raid — Victory Lass,. 30gus—Mr Cotton. Bay colt, two years, by. Night March—- . Commentary, 32Jgns—Mr F. Shaw. Br’ g/ four years, by Tractoi’ —Bonnie Puie,‘2sgns—Mr L. C. Hazlett.

B g, three years, by Songbird—Olga, 25gns—Mrs Nicholl, B g, three years, by Paladin—Blush, 6gns—Mr P. T. Hogan. High Court, by Grandcourt—Taleteeter, lOgns—Mr F. Shaw. Blue Metal, by Paper Money—Bo Peep, 42igns—Mr L. Smith.