RACING AND TROTTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24305, 23 May 1940, Page 13

RACING AND TROTTING

RACING NEWS By Sentinel FIXTURES May 25.—Foxton R.C. June 1, 3.—Napier Park R.C. June 1 3—Wanganui J.C. June 1. 3. s.—Auckland R.C. June 1. 3, B—Dunedin J.C. ' June B.—Hawke's Bay J.C. June 15.—Hawke's Bay J.C. June 15.—Greymouth J.C. ' June 22,-OtakJ Maori R.C. ,June 22 Ashburton County R.C. June 22-Waipa R.C June 29 Dannevirke H.C June 29—Oamaru J.C July 6 —Hawke's Bay H.C. July 9, 11, 13.-Wellington R.C. July 20.-Waimate District H.C. July 20.—Manawatu H.C July 27 -Rangitikei H.C. " ■ July 27.~Rotorua and Bay ot Plenty H.C July 27—South Canterbury H.C. August 3 Chrtstchurch H.C Trains to Wingatui i It is understood that l only a slight change of time table for ordinary trains will amply provide for the Dunedin winter meeting. The Favourites Aussie Ra, Jewelled Girdle, and Streamline are the ruling favourites for the Great Northern Hurdles. Baldric, Streamline, and Bridegroom are in favour for the Great Northern Steeplechase. All Irish All Irish, the winner of the Waikato SteeDlechase, was foaled in 1930, and is brilliant over fences, but does not stay too well. He was got by Illumination from Kiki, by Winkle—Kilrea, by Kil-broney—Arai-te-Uru, by Birkenhead— Fair Nell, by Apremont—ltalia. Rehandlcaps for Ellerslle Rehandlcaps for the first day of the Auckland Racing Club's Great Northern Steeplechase meeting are as follows: Great Northern Hurdles, Jewelled Girdle 141 b, .making ' 10.2; Great Northern Steeplechase, Baldric 101 b, making 9.10; Cornwall Handicap, Namara 61b, making 8.11. Famous Colours When Vascones won the Hack Flat Handicap at Gisborne recently it was the first time for a decade that the famous gold jacket and black cap of the Stead family had been carried to victory. The last previous occasion was when Pillow Fight won for the late Mr W. G. Stead. Vascones races in the interests x>f Messrs A. G. and W. R. Stead. First Trainer to Fly J. T. Jamieson, who has been in the north for some time, returned to Sydney on Monday by the Tasman Empire Airways flying boat. * Jamieson will have about 18 to 20 horses to prepare for the new season, including the colt by Beau Pere from Banita.who was purchased at the Sydney yearling sales by Mr A. Cooper for 3500gns. In addition, he is also to train the New Zealand-bred Gold Salute, who was added to the list recently, and has been enjoying a spell. Indian Market; The New Zealand : horses Moorsotis, Fils de Vaalsi, and Meadow, who were purchased early in the year by A. Higgins, have reached India, where they are to do their future racing. Moorsotis and Meadow arrived in splendid condition, but Fils de Vaals was in a bad way, having contracted a severe chill on the voyage from Melbourne. Higgins is an Australian who has trained with' success in India for a number of years and horses he secured previously from New Zealand were Karapotl, Martara, Kahapa, Heremia, and Ben Braggie. Abandoned The Greymouth Jockey Club has been compelled to abandon its annual winter fixture, .set down for June 15, because of railway service restrictions. Because of' the necessity ' for Conserving coal supplies, no special trains will run between Greymouth and the Omoto racecourse, while there will also be no special trains from outlying' districts and return, and with the petrol restrictions also a problem, the club, considered it was inadvisable to attempt to conduct a meeting on the date selected. ' Broken Arrangement , It .was, Mr ; L. G. Hill's intention to make a flying, trip to the Timaru meeting to get in touch with owners racing there, but the arrangement broke down too late for readjustment. Possibly Mr Hill could have secured additional nominations for the principal flat races. as the personal element frequently scores when brought into play. Jewelled Girdle The Kilbrohey gelding Jewelled Girdle, who has developed good form over hurdles, won the Vittoria Hurdles, run in heavy going, at the last winter meeting at Trentham. He also'won the Carbine .Plate, run at the Auckland winter meeting. Lolomo, the dam of Jewelled Girdle, was got by Monoform—Seabird. by Ben by Totara— Amohia, by Foxton. The Highest Jump According to some snapshots of fields racing over the Aihtree course when the English Grand National Steeplechase i& decided, the jumps seem to dwarf- any others in the world. The latest. Ruff \s Guide to hand gives the measurement of the highest steeplechase jump. It is the tipen' ditch at Aintree, the fifteenth jump in the Grand National Steeplechase. It is 5 feet 2 inches high, 3 feet 9 inches wide, ditch on take-off side 6 feet wide, and guard rail in front of ditch 1. foot 6 inches high. The brush, fence known as Cutts's jump at Riccarton is five feet high and between two and three feet thick. Two of the jumps are brush 4 feet 10 inches high. Thirty fences have to be negotiated at Aintree, and 21 at Riccarton. Paying for Permits If reliance can be placed on reports appearing in northern papers, a system of trafficking in totalisator permits is being established. As soon as some clubs, find themselves unable to race with profit, they take steps to put up their permits for sale, and in this they seem to have the approval of District Committees. In the South Island one trotting club has twice endeavoured to put its licence up for tender. In one case one North Island provincial club is alleged to have paid £ISOO for a day's racing. That the permit was sold is not open to doubt (says the Timaru Herald), but the figure named is too fantastic to be accepted. The latest transport restrictions are likely to. caused a slump in the market for permits, but" under normal conditions floating permits are likely to go to the club able to pay the highest price, and hoi to districts where they might render the greatest service to the sport. The question Is one on which the conference should lay down a definite policy. Re-handicapi'ing Jewelled Girdle has been re-handicapped to carry an extra 141 b for the Great Northern Hurdles. As a rule the Auckland handicapper deals on the lenient side in re-handicapping, and a lift of a stone is probably a record for him. New Zealand clubs should adopt th? practice in Australia of limiting the amount to which a re-handicap may go. This is done in the interests of the smaller meetings which precede important fixtures. Revenue From Racing In the report presented at the last Racing Conference it was stated that over £400.000 from racing alone was paid in taxation to the Government. The amount contributed by trotting meetings also amounted to a very large sum. In addition the Government derives the benefit from race trains, the carriage of horses, and other channels, so that the curtailment of meetings and railway transport to them is a matter off considerable importance to the Government sources of revenue. Taxation from re ring and trotting is easy money " to the Government,? which would no doubt be very loath to interfere with a big flow of money into the Treasury coffers For lhat reason railway transport at the principal racing centres may not suffer to any serious extent. TROTTING NOTES By Sentinel FIXTURES May 25. 29.—Auckland T.C. May 25.— Canterbury Park T.C. June 3.—Ashburton T.C. At Timaru If the Timaru Trotting Club succeeds in obtaining a permit it will be used in aid of the Patriotic Funds. Trotting Conference Notices of motion to go before the Trotting Conference must be lodeed on or before Friday. May 24, with the secretary, Mr W. H. Larcombe. A Young I'acer Probably the youngest pacer to race unhoppled in the Dominion is the two-year-old Gay Spark, who at Cambridge and Claudelar.ds gave creditable displays for one of her age. Gay Spark-is by Nelson Parrish from Cogent.

Mardella Stud A writer in the Australasian Trotting Record pays a tribute to Miss N. Edwards, of the Mardella Stud, Otahuhu. Referring to the many fine performances of the trotters Fritz and Monte Carlo, the writer says: " The driver of Monte Carlo was the late B. Edwards, whose daughter presides over the stud at Otahuhu. For knowledge of the thoroughbred and trotter. Miss Nancy Edwards stands alone among her sex." Worthy Queen The Hawke's Bay breeder, J. Agnew, has a couple of very promising youngsters from the champion trotting mare Worthy Queen, 2min 3sec, 3min ssec. One is by Gallant Knight, and already some tempting offers have been made for him. The other is by U Scott. On breeding the young horses have much to recommend them. Worthy Queen was got by Worthy Bingen from Queen Chimes, by Coldstream Bells—Vanquish, by Vancleve— Victress, by Abbotsford—Agnes, by John Nelson. Peter Smith Peter Smith's breeding is given as by Peter Bingen from Aggie Bell. According to the registrations the spelling, Aggie Bell, is not correct. A mare named Agie Bell, by Gold Bell—Agnita, was registered at Auckland in January, 1923, and, presumably (says the Trotting Calender), this Is the dam of Peter Smith. Agie Bell has not yet appeared in the Stud Book, but it is believed that she has produced other winners, and more information about this mare would be welcomed. Half Hopples The New Zealand Trotting Association has issued a circular notifying its intention to forward to the next meeting of the conference a remit to allow the use of half hopples on trotting horses. The reason advanced for the remit was that there was a strong feeling of dissatisfaction with the maiden and slow class trotting races because of the amount of breaking which takes place in a race and the consequent lack of public interest in slow trotting races. It was suggested that the amendment should be effective until the following conference, when it could be reviewed in the light of experience, CANTERBURY JOCKEY CLUB RACING AND THE' WAR DIFFICULT TIMES AHEAD (Special to Daily Times) CHRISTCHURCH, May 22. Mr M. G. Gould was elected an honorary life member of the Canterbury Jockey Club at the annual meeting .to-day on the motion of Mr H. A. Rhind, who said that members appreciated the work of Mr Gould in navigating their financial ship through many storms. Mr Govid, thanking members, said he joined the committee in 1902, and had been treasurer since 1916. . The chairman (Mr A. S. Elworthy), in his annual address, said that as a result of several successful years, it had been possible to create a cash reserve which would stand the club in good stead in the difficult, period that undoubtedly lay ahead. With the British Empire engaged in a struggle of life and death, it- was certain that racing must suffer, considerably. Chiefly owing to the work of the treasurer. (Mr G. Gould), the club was in a fairly strong position, and while he did not wish to appear unduly pessimistic, he said he felt it necessary to sound a note of warning. While the club's meetings during the past year had. been quite successful, the attendance and totalisator returns had shown a gradual decline after the outbreak of war. This decline would continue, and it followed that adjustments would have to be made should the position become serious. He thought it was the general opinion that racing should be continued during the war with as. little curtailment as possible. It was an industry of considerable magnitude in which much capital was invested, while it provided the Government with a source of revenue which the country could ill-afford to lose. The 1939 Year Book showed that the Government had received £673,855 In. taxes that year, and that the stakes had been £550,054. ■ The attendance , at. to-day's annual meeting was small, and the business was disposed of in about a-auarter of an hour There was no election for the committee, and the election of stewards resulted in the return of all the old officials, Mr W. E. Simes being the defeated candidate. RICCARTON NOTES WINGATUI CANDIDATES (Special to Daily 'Times) CHRISTCHURCH. May 28. Although the Dunedin Jockey Club has received a good list of entries for the winter meeting next month, the Riccarton contingent will not be very strong. Cottingham is the only jumping candidate from here, while Capricious, Trench Fight, Paper Note, Gold Don, Grey Silk, Pink Lad, Lady Magellan and Richelieu Pearl figure in events on the flat. A. McMullan has a likely sort of two-year-old filly,'who has started on useful tasks. Her sire, Croupier, a brilliant Surveyor horse, has come under favourable notice lately through the excellent form of The Raker. The Ally's dam, Makeshift, is by Diacquenod from the Kilboy, mare RosenUr, dam of Makeup, a good-class hurdler and steeplechaser. King's Toast, who showed signs of lameness after being cast in his box at Washdyke last week, has been sent back to his owner and will be spelled for a few months, after which he will be got ready to race again, but probably he will not resume racing until well on in the new season. In the mepntime. his box at F. D. Jones's stable has been filled by another of Mr J. R. McKenzie's' horses, a yearling fillv purchased at Trentham in January. She is a well-grown youngster by Foxbridge from Drama, an imported mare by Thespian from importedDrax, by Spearmint. H. Nurse is breaking In a yearling colt which he will race later in his colours. He is by Myosotis, his dame being by Paladin from Lady Kinloch, by Menschikoff. ' The colt is well grown and on appearances looks like being good A S. Ellis has made a start with the education of Red Dragon as a, steeplechaser. Ridden by E. J. Jennings and with Tomcat (M. Caddy) *to give him a lead, he was sent over three brush fences including the double. They travelled at a moderate pace, but Red Dragon jumped exceptionally well for a horse having his first experience over brush. Tomou has had a spell since he raced last Easter but he has not lost any of his ability a Li a fegua n rd el '(M. P. Reilly) went well in a turn over the pony hurdles. He has been racing lately among the sprinters, but, though he has speed,, he does not carry on well enough to look a good prospect. He had some jumping experience before he came to the South Island, so It should not take long to fit him for another trial as a hurdler. St Cedric. in R. Register's team, was ridden by J. Sullivan over the pony hurdles, and gave a satisfactory display. It was his second try. and he improved on his earlier effort. He will require a lot of education before hei is a proficient hamper, but, apart from that, it will be some time before he is in racing condition.