RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22808, 18 February 1936, Page 7

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel. A Gift Horse The Surgeon is a gift horse and has von over 600sovs in stakes in his present ownership. A Shipload OiTPriday last 14 yearlings were shipped to Australia on behalf of Mr W. B. Kemball. The Easter and Autumn The -Great Easter Handicap and the Great Autumn Handicap will each carry a stake of 600sovs. Riverton A Eiccarton report states that the Biverton programme will attract several jumpers from that part of the world. Kinnoull Kinnoull was making progress towards recovery at the latter end of the week and may be ready to race again at the autumn meetings. A Spell Cerne Abbas is to be treated to a. spell in order to allow her to furnish and strengthen her frame. She has speed and will benefit by time. M'Heath M'Heath wa a slow away at the start of the Waihola Handicap and did remarkably well to finish on in second place under 9.6. Stable Mates In addition to Cuddle, the . Sydney trainer G. Price is training Omarere at Eandwick for Mr E. J. Murphy, of Wellington. Omarere is by Iliad from Gesture, whom Mr Murphy raced. Fit and Well Air old-time trainer claimed that when Senior and Plato went out for their races on the second day of the Dunedin Cup meeting they looked to be the two fittest horses on the course. Pillow Fight When Pillow Fight raced in New Zealand he was apparently speed crazy and was a rip and tearaway. When a horse gets that way there is not much hope for him as a racehorse. A Duplicate The Wellington Cup, Great Northern Derby, and A.B.C. Summer Cup winner Enthusiasm, has a foal by Laughing Prince, who is said to bear a striking resemblance in colour and marking to the Australian champion Peter Pan, even to the silver, tail A Difference

In the early days at Wingatui there •was a dip at the six-furlong post and another of a more serious nature just after entering the straight. These were subsequently levelled up, but prior to that they made a difference in the times put up on the course.

A Change The Dunedin Jockey Club's stewards should consider the introduction of » mile and three furlong'race on the second day of the Cup meeting instead of the mile and a-quarter distance. The extra distance would suit horses trained for the Dunedin Cup better than a start in.front of the crowd. A Feature

AS feature" of: the ;Duhedih Cup was the excellent betting races provided by several events on the programme. The investments show that punters were by no means sure of their ground when making, selections, and the open races stand as a tribute to Mr A. L. Canter's handicapping. A Good Hunter

- According to a note received by the secretary of the New Zealand Racing Conference (Mr H. R. Sellers) from Sir Arthur Curtis, private secretary to the Duke of Gloucester on his trio to the Dominion 12 months ago, Silent Bill is being admired as one of the finest hunters at present in England—or rather, as Sir Arthur believes, he is the very finest England has ever seen.

Wingatui and Riccarton The time put up by Silver King under a big weight confirms the opinion that Wingatui is as fast as Riccarton over a mile and a-half. The Dunedin Cup was won by Silver Ring with 10.4 in 2min 30 l-ssec. The fastest time put up in the CiJ.C. Metropolitan in 2min 30 l-ssec, put up by Concentrate in 1932 when carrying 17lb ; less than Silver Ring. The fastest time put up in the Great Autumn Handicap is 2miri 31sec, put up by Bonnie Winkie when carrying 7.10.

A Regulation* Barrier" 'Die day will come 1 when a regulation barrier of Hhe.>:six'-strand type will be compulsory, ?in. mnch the. same manner as the regulatibn hurdle is specified under the Rules 6f : Racing. The flimsy "barrier" in .use at some meetings is useless as a means of steadying a field, and the fact has been recognised for years, but it seems difficult, if not impossible, to effect a change for the better. The sixstrand barrier has-proved the greatest possible success in Australia, where it has stood the test of very many years and has been in general use in England and on the Continent. It has been tried at Trentham, but did not receive a proper test. Still, in both theory arid practice the Australian barrier is miles ahead of the string in general use in this country. A Run of Racing

Application has. been made "by tne Manawatu Racing Club to the New Zealand Racing. Conference for permission to hold the club's next autumn meeting at Trenthariv instead of at Awapuni. Fn» course at : Awapuni was extensively damaged bv, the recent cyclone, the main grand stand being reduced to wreckage and the other buildings also suffering severely, so that it will not be possible to race at the course for some considerable time. The cost of repairs has been tentatively estimated at £6OOO. . The application will be dealt with during the course of the next few days. If the of venue is allowed it will mean five days' racing at Trentham from one Saturday to the next, as the Wellington autumn dates are March 14, 16, and 17, and the Manawatu dates. March 20 and 21, March 14 and 21 being the Saturdays. A Limited Handicap

Silver Ring was handicapped to carry 0 13 in the Telegraph Handicap, run.at tiiP Wellington Cup meeting, and give 171 b to Siller Streak. They met in the .Tames Hazlett Gold Cup at even weights. tV will be seen from the figures that SilverK paid a surprisingly, good price It a ia°cethat looked a "walk-over. l"> 'LbLmvc 281 b and a beating to fffk Sheid in the Dunedin Cup, and SA?Bfe Saturday. Assuming that Creek Shepherd is on a par witn

Kinnoull, it is interesting to recall that Silver Ring gave Kinnoull 191 b and a beating in the Wellington Cup. At Wingatui on Saturday last Silver Eing was meetins? Greek Shepherd at a difference of 121 b. It will be seen from the above figures that both Silver Streak and Greek Shepherd were started from a sentimental point of view and with a very remote chance of winning. It was for this reason that the writer suggested a limited handicap on the lines of the King's Plate to avoid the possibility of a walk-over. It would be a matter of regret if such a thing occurred, and a limited handicap would make it a real race instead of a foregone conclusion.

A Bar to Success A race meeting will never be a complete success until fractious horses are treated as they deserve. Starters should know the character of the horses they have to handle, and if they do not treat fractious horses according to the authority laid down by the Eules of Eacing then it becomes the duty of the stewards to insist in a remedy for a really impossible state of affairs. It is really astonishing to notice starters, studying a fractious horse more than the rest of the field. In fact, they make a start to suit the fractious horse rather than the. majority, and so display a ridiculous misuse of authority. Notoriously fractious horses should npt be allowed to line up -with the rest of the' field, but ordered away and kept away until the rest of the field is set and then allowed to take their chance. It creates a ridiculous state of affairs to find two or three well-behaved horses getting hopelessly left because an unwarrantable leniency has been bestowed on fractious horses. Instead of the fractious- horses getting the worst of the deal they generally get the best of it. A National Horse

After Belted Hero had outpaced Kellsboro' Jack for most of the way and convincingly won the Lonsdale Steeplechase at Hurst Park on December 14 last, a. London critic commented that it would indeed be a triumph if Lord Penrhyns 'chaser went on to Liverpool and won the Grand National, for he is the only steeplechaser in Eric Stedall's team at Lewes, and this very able trainer deserves every credit for the way he has turned out the seven-year-old for his engagements. This gelded son of Herodias has an interesting pedigree. Belted Lady, his dam, never raced, but her dam, Lady Slavey, was a winner over country at Nottingham and Gatwick. Belted Hero was Belted Lady s first foal, and was bred by Mr C. M. Fagan, who sold the dam for only lOgns. The second foal, also by Herodias, was Diabolo, who was sold for 40gns. Belted Hero first saw the racecourse in Ireland, where he won two point-to-point steeplechases at Powerstown Park, over country that takes some jumping. Lord Fingall then raced him for a while, and then sold him to his present owner. He started at Nottingham in December 12 months ago, when he was successful in the Midland Handicap Steeplechase, deafeating that good jumper Glenhazel by eight lengths, and also in the Becher Steeplechase at the Aintree meeting. He is a grand type of horse, and as he stays well he should be a dangerous contender for the Grand National this year.

Australian Purchases As has been the rule in recent years, several of the yearlings purchased at the National Sales for Australian eportsmen have been left at Trentham (says ' Rangitiri") to be broken in and brought to a stage of preparation at which only the final touches shall be required to fit them .for racing. J. W. Lowe has one this year, S. J. Reid two, and H. A. Telford four, Telford also having four others to prepare for Dominion owners. The colt Lowe is breaking in is by Posterity irom the Thespian—Damaris mare Genesta. He was purchased by Mr J. Jameson, ot Masterton, for 525gns on behalf ot M. M'Grath, of Melbourne. M'Grath i» visiting the Dominion after the Easter carnival, and will probably take the colt back with him. Telford's Australian four are:—Chief Ruler—Very Hot colt, purchased by Mr H. T. Lucerne, of Newcastle, for 750gns; Chief Ruler—Helen colt, purchased by Sir James Murdock, of Sydney/for 525gne; Pink- Coat-The Geisha colt, purchased by the Sydney trainer G.Price for 500gns; and Posterity —Episode filly, purchased by Mr E. J. Watt, of Sydney, for 47ogns. The other four youngsters whom Telford is breaking in are:—Night Raid—Endorse fill/, purchased by the auctioneers, as agents, for 275gns: Gascony—Aureate filly, purchased by'Mr M. Millar, of Palmers on North, for 250gns; Iliad—Sunkissed filly, purchased as agent by Dr Martin Tweed, of Wellington, for 70gns; and Hiad— Kilcalm filly, who was passed in at_4ogns and is being prepared for Mr B. U. Edkins. :«£,-:;

The Betting Board f' y , In the House of Commons Mr T. Williams recently asked the Home Secretary what are the total liabilities .of the Betting Control Board; and whether recent grants have been made out of profit or Ca Sr E 'Lloyd, Under-Secretary, stated that the accounts for the year 1935 are not yet available, but the published accounts the year 1934 show that on December 31 of that year the liabilities of the board amounted to £2,186,300. The grarite referred to are made out ol the excess of annual revenue over expenditure from the operations of . the totalisator. * s a . Mr Hall-Caine asked the Home Secretary whether, before approving the recent grant from the Racecourse Betting Control Board for the assistance of horsebreeding during 1936, he took any steps to ascertain whether the grant in question would be so distributed as to benefit all types of horse-breeding in Great Britain; and whether it will be possible to arrange for any supplementary grant during 1936 to assist those sections of horse-breeding which will not benefit by the £SOOO granted to the Hunters' Improvement Society. Mr Geoffrey Lloyd replied that the srrant of £SOOO was approved for . the specific purpose of awarding premiums for thoroughbred stallions in 1936. As regards further grants for other sections of horse-breeding, the board had informed him that they would bear this question in mind when preparing schemes for the application of money from the Totalisator Fund. - Mr Thomas Williams asked: What proportion of the original £2,000,000 loan has been repaid by the Betting Control Board, and how much has been written down, to date, for depreciation? Mr Geoffrey Lloyd stated that the accounts show that of the total amount borrowed bv the board there has been repaid at December 31, 1934, a sum of £301,916. No specific provision has been made for depreciation 4 but up to December 31, 1934, sums amounting to £159,555 have been applied from the revenue and expenditure account in writing down the book value of the assets.