RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23204, 31 May 1937, Page 13

RACING NEWS

j, ✓ By Sentinel Ounedin Winter Meeting Acceptances for the first day of the Dunedin winter meeting are due on Friday next. The Great Northerns The Auckland Racing Club's Great Northern meeting will open on Saturday next. Beau Pere Beau Pere, who was sold under the hammer at 3300 guineas, is standing at a fee of 100 guineas. If he receives public patronage, Beau Pere would soon prove a gift at the price. Important Date June 1 is an important date, because it marks the closing day for nominations in connection with the Melbourne Cup, Caulfleld Cup, and many of the most important races decided in Australia. A Lull " There will be a lull in South Island racing this week, and the fact should serve to stimulate the interest in the Dunedin Jockey Club's winter meeting, which will take place on June 9, 10, and 12. The lull provides opportunity to followers of form to weigh up. the pros and cons of the horses engaged at the meeting. Record Fields In England there are often very large fields for two-year-old races early in the season, but the 51 starters for the Beckhampton Plate, of five longs, at Newbury on April 9, established a record for any flat race in that country. The previous record was 49 runners for the corresponding race in 1935. Worthy of Note An interesting condition attached to the principal handicaps run by the Durban Turf Club is that, horses left in after the final acceptance will not be permitted to be subsequently scratched without an explanation satisfactory to the stewards. The cost of starting for the Durban July Handicap, of 6000sovs, is £4O.

A Likely Lot In addition to Tauramai and Peony Rose, the Riverton trainer, A. M'Kay, is preparing a yearling half-sister to Peony Rose, by Te Monantii, a yearling fillv by Irish Lancer from Sole Signal, and a yearling filly by Nigger Minstrel from Charmaine. M'Kay will soon be taking in hand a three-year-old sister to Ashaway and a half-brother to Palermo by Te Monanui. The Record Totalisator

The popularity of dog racing in i London is reflected in the following clipping from the Sporting Life:— "Work is now in progress which will make the totalisator at the White City Stadium the largest and finest in the world. Great extensions are projected, and when the work is completed the machine will have a capacity for recording from 624 issuing machines. This will be two and a-half times larger than any other machine in the \vor,ld.". Strangely enough, the increasing popularity of dog racing does not appear to have a detrimental effect rn horse meetings in England. The Jockev Club enjoyed a boom season in 1936, and the. indications are that there will be no falling off in popularity this year.

A Sporting Idea A few months ago an American syndicate subscribed a little over £SOO each for the purchase of 3(5 jumpers in France and England. On arrival, the horses were drawn for, each member of the syndicate obtaining one. The horses did not cost quite as much as anticipated, and from the £19,200 about £2BOO remained. So a steeplechase subscription committee arranged_ a series of five steeplechases for the imported horses, the committee endowing each to the extent of £4OO and racing associations added £2OO to each race. All the races are to be run at tracks in the State of New York,; Saratoga getting-two, and Belmont Park, Pimlico, and Aqueduct one each. No entry or starting fees will be charged, and winners* become ineligible for the remainder of the series. Grave Evidence

One of the most remarkable inquiries in the history of racing in South Africa, during which the body of a racehorse was exhumed, was concluded last month at Capetown after a series of protracted hearings by the stewards of the South African Turf Club (relates Sporting Life). The inquiry was instituted following a smash in the chief event at Keni(worth races on March 13, when four horses fellone had to be destroyed—and two jockeys were injured. Following on certain reports, the stewards took the unprecedented step of exhuming the body of the aged mare, named Ruhr,

who fell as the field was coming round the bend, broke a fetlock, and was destroyed. Ruhr's body was exhumed in the presence of two veterinary surgeons, and certain organs were removed for analysis. As the result of a chemist's report and other evidence, a recommendation was sent to the Jockey Club of South Africa. Ruhr was the property of one of the few ladv owners in South Africa, but it is understood that she was completely exonerated at the inquiry. The race in which the incident occurred was the Stewards' Handicap, one mile and ahalf. As the horses neared the first bend, Ruhr, when leading, stumbled and fell in the way of All Clear, Eryngo, and Ponell. all of whom toppled over her.