RACING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23500, 14 May 1938, Page 21

RACING NEWS

By Sentinel Sea Fox Sea Fox was once a good actor in soft going, and the ground may suit him at Invercargill. A Rare Field It is somewhat rare to And a field of 10 hurdlers mostly comprised of novice performers. The veteran Black Duke may win by experience. Retiring It is reported from Melbourne that D. J. Price has decided to retire, and has handed in his trainer’s licence Price was equally successful with trotters and gallopers. His most successful pacers were Sal Tasker and Ribbonwood. His best gallopers were Machine Gun, Pink ’un. Subterranean, Berisina, Bribery, Idealist, Balmerino, Tookarby, Ballista. and John Wilkes. A Beau Fere The Beau Pere—Modiste II colt bought at the Sydney sales by Mr W. J. Smith and passed on to Mr R. T. Reid, of Hamilton, created a very favourable impression when under the hammer. According to the critics he is sure to be a racehorse. On pedigree ho should be named Model. He was got by Beau Pere (good father) from Modiste 11. by Franklin from Vogue, by Tracery. Hence We have Model. Parentage, Architect or merely Papa. Too Strict Suggestion of a strike against a steward is somewhat unusual, but the Blood Horse says that at Tropical Park (Miami, Florida) in March, owners were reported as threatening a strike in protest against what they termed severity on the part of steward T. Thorp, Thorp is opposed to reversal of form, and had been making things unpleasant for owners whose horses ran Inconsistently. Many owners showed their disapproval by refraining from entering, and some of the races filled long after the customary hour for closing, and attracted only poor horses. The Experts While it is rough on the A.J.C. stipendiary stewards, as experts, that three times they have imposed disqualifications the A.J.C. Committee has decided they were wrong, it was no surprise (says a Sydney paper) when the appeal of Mr A. Morrow, W. Tindall, and A. E. Breasley against their disqualification in connection with the running of Nightguard at Randwick was upheld. The owner, Mr Morrow, undoubtedly backed the horse, and it was difficult to believe that Tindall and Breasley between them had arranged he should not get a run for his money. The committee found it was not so, and the Melbourne veterinary, Dr McKenzie, in detailing Nightguard’s infirmities, made it excusable for the stewards to have erred in thinking he was not being asked to do his best. ' '

A Bl* D!y. The Betting Board of Control ran * double totalisator on. the Lincolnshire Handicap and the Grand National, and tickets were purchasable a few weeks prior to the funning of the first leg. Up to a certain date they were isued at 2s 6d, later'the. charge was ss. and those who came In late had to pay 10s. The return was the same for each, and the dividend was £971 15s. There were 17 winning tickets on Phakos and Battleship, 10 being taken when the price was 2s 6d, five at ss, and two at 10s, That was easily beaten in the totalisator dally double on National Day. Only one ticket was issued on the combination of Battleship and Barbadeche, the lucky backer collecting £5062 13s for 10s. The previous English record was £4679. Battleship’s straight-out price was 40 to 1 with the bookmakers, but the totalisator paid nearly 63 to 1, while Barbadeche’s machine return was at the rate of 55 to 1, against the 12 to 1 offered in the ring. Canterbury Jockey Club

The-balance sheet of the Canterbury Jockey Club shows that receipts were £83,268, including subscriptions £2434, entries £5871, gate receipts £12,458, privileges £1303, race cards £2295. totalisator £57,885, Government refund totalisator tax £SOO. The expenditure was £77,280. including stakes £34,575, salaries and wages £6197, racecourse maintenance £I9OO, race expenses £4493. donations £SOB, Government taxes £21,544, conference levy £745, remount encouragement fund £248, written off buildings, machinery. etc., £4313, leaving a credit balance for the year of £5987. The assets are valued at £91,161. including buildings £72,213 (less depreciation £2236), furniture and plant £3747 (less depre elation £318), totalisator £11,122 (less depreciation £1668). and office buildings £4535 (less denreciation £9Ol The liabilities are £8443, including £BIOO owing to stand subscribers, leaving an excess of assets over liabilities of £82.718.

Phar Lap Much has been said'and frequently repeated that the experts at the ringside when Phar Lap was sold at IGO guineas must have been sound asleep The fact remains that Phar Lap was got by a then practicallv unknown sire in Night Raid. When Phar Lap v,enl into the ring his sire had been represented on the turf by only one horse This was Nightmarch, who as a two-year-old started nine times for two wins, a second and a third Nightmarch was undoubtedly a good two-year-old, but trained off and finished his first season with two unplaced performances, He was afterwards purchased by Mr A Louisson and. trained by A McAulay, developed into one of the best racehorses ever bred south of the line. Before Nightmarch gave a real indication of his merit and gave Night Raid a boost as a sire the writer bought the first of his yearlings that ever came under the hammer At the yearling sales of 1928 five yearlings by Night Raid were sent. The first was Stealth, sold at 115 guineas and the last Phar Lap, at 160 guineas The writer bad a commission to go to 100 guineas for anything going near that figure, aijd had the luck to select the first of the Night Raids that-ever came under the hammer, It might have been Phar Lap.

Rilling Engagements The following riding engagements have been made for the Ashburton meeting;—G. H. Humphries—Paper Slipper, and The Wrecker or Ruling Star; A. C, Messervy—Every Port, Phalanx, Gilford and Rangemore; L. J. Ellis—Studley Royal, Lady Leigh, Mazzamarch, Grey Honour and Wagner; H. W. Hibberd— Settlement, Swordstick, Davolo. Gay Lyric and Gay Parade; A. E. Ellis. Silver Ring and Cocksure; A. G. Parsons —The Masquerader, Nolana, Merry March. Wine Card and Bright Pros§ect; J. McFarlane—Rex Maitland, ilver Slipper and Last Refrain; A. Messervy, Pelmet and Nightcalm; M. Caddy—Patuma, Sheeny, Glenogil and Lazybones; C, T. Wilson, Rebel Lad and Parakino; J. Veever, Grampian; C. Ridgway. Haulbowline; A. Stokes, Dividend; A. Leach, Courtyard; G. Watson, Happy Night; J. Murfltt, Hunting Bag. A Lucky Owner Success in the racing world comes easily to some men, Mr H. E. Morris is a notable instance. Twenty-five years ago at the Newmarket December sales in England, Mr Morris, who has extensive business interests in Shanghai. paid 3100 guineas for a colt foal by Bayardo, from Cheshire. Cat, sent into the ring by the Duke of Devonshire. Named Bayodee, the colt was a failure, as he won one race, and seven years later was sold to a Belgian buyer for 35 guineas. It was not until the Doncaster sales in 1923 that Mr Morris made another venture into the bloodstock field. That year he asked Fred Darling to purchase him a yearling, but he did not send the cable with which he had been credited with, asking Darling to “Buy me the best yearling at Doncaster. Two great youngsters were sold that year at Doncaster as Sir John Rutherford got Solario for 3500 guineas and Darling purchased Manna for 6300 guineas. Between them they won the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and St. Leger, and as Manna was the Guineas and Derby winner, we may give Darling credit for having purchased the best yearling at the Doncaster sales. Now Mr Morris again won the Two Thousand Guineas with Pasch. whose dam Is a daughter of Manna. Pasch. who now appears to have an excellent chance of winning Mr Morris his second Derby, was bred by his owner at the Banstead Manor Stud, which Mr Morris established after Manna retired from racing. Inherited Trouble

Some years ago a recognised English authority on breeding stated that the Paraffin line or taproot was too “ soft ” to stand doubling in a pedigree. It is a rather interesting fact that the top price colt by Heroic from Traxina, who made 2800gns at the Sydney sales, is inbred to Paraffin, yet the fact seems to have escaped observation by the Australian critics. It goes without saying that the Heroic Trasina colt is a good-looker, but on pedigree may show more speed that stamina. Sometimes it pays to look below the surface and inside the skin of a horse. Some years ago a friend of the writer sent two Stepniak mares on a visit to All Black, He said he hoped to get good results, and perhaps he did. because both mares proved empty. The writer said that if any result was obtained from the mating great care should be taken in the training and no really fast work allowed until the youngsters were thoroughly cleaned up and ready for business. When a reason was requested for the opinion it was pointed out that Gallinule, the sire of All Black, was a notorious bleeder, and Stepniak sired more bleeders than any other six sires in New Zealand. The danger of inbreeding to an inherited bleeder is obvious. All Black sired Desert Gold, who, as far as is known, did not bleed, but her brother, Egypt, did. Menschikoff did not bleed, but his brother. Scobeloff, did. Bobadil sired bleeders. He was a son of She, a sister to Stepniak. The linking up of All Black and Stepniak came out in Balmerino, who won the Caulfield Guineas. Shortly afterwards his owner, the late Mr J. Edmonds, was on a visit to Dunedin and informed the writer that the colt showed a tendency to bleed. The writer tabulated the colt’s pedigree and pointed out that he was got by All Black from Anna, by Sea Prince from Anna Carlovna, by Soult from Czarevna, by Stepniak, The trouble may a member of a family or a generation, but it is apt to crop up, and the reason can be traced through the pages of the Stud Book Stepniak sired about 40 known bleeders. Gallinule, the sire of All Black, was produced by Moorhen, o daughter of Hermit, a sensational bleeder, who won the English Derby. Hermit was a son of Seclusion, the grand-dam of Stepniak. and hence it may be wise to look inside the skin of a horse when searching for a yearling to win races.