CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1970, 22 August 1889, Page 24

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By RATA. Perhaps the prettiest and most valuable property of its size in the immediate vicinity of Upper Riccarton is Middle Park. If is in close proximity to the racecourse, Chokebore Lodge and a paddoqk of Outts' only intervening between the racecourse main entrance and the belt of trees girdling its western extremity, and it is consequently situated on some of the best land on the Canterbury Plains. A beautiful place in Middlepark, surrounded by wellgrown trees, even now green in spring verdure, the paddocks are laid out with minute exactness, and admirably hedged, and perhaps every inch of the soil could be at once converted into a flower garden. Such land In such a locality -about five miles from Ghristchurch — must bo valuable, and I fancy some good bargains have been and can be even now picked up in this" neighbourhood. A month or two back there vf&B a three acre paddock within a stone's throw of Middlepark, on. the Yaldnurst road, sold for 30 an acre— some £90 altogether— and that cannot be the actual value of the {and, the eoii is excellent.

Twencyyeaw' purchase— i.e., the rentof land ia 20 years' lease ought to amount to the value of that land at the time- it was leased— is about the minimum price of land In a populated neighbourhood and near a market town, but £90 is considerably short of 20 years' purchase for that three acre paddock I fancy; and I feel certain there are land owners within two miles of Middlepark that would not sell similar, or even inferior land for twice that money. I called in at Middlepark on Saturday and looked over the horses, and a very excellent stud farm ib is, and it is singular that it cannot be made to pay better— it cannot do anything like pay, I should think. It is in charge of a most experienced breeder in MrNosworthy, and his assistants are men thoroughly conversant with the requirements of a stud farm. I have no doubt whatever that the horses produced there are as good as they can possibly be reared from the stock they are bred, and there is no getting away from the fact that the mares are good and that the stallions look well. It is quite on the cards, however, that the mares, taken all over,' may be a bit inferior to'thoae at Sylvia Park. Were I the proprietor of such a place I should first try what a new stallion could do, and even if that did not answer their might be little actual loss attached to the experiment, were a colonial horse honght. Yet it is evident that an infusion of new blood is requisite on the New Zealand turf— and even on the Australian turf, mayhap— and my own impression is that a good buyer, with capital enough to wait, could make breeding a very profitable concern in the Australian colonies by a practical blending of the strains he could get in New Zealand and Australia with imported cattle, both marea and stallions, ■The purchase of a good colonial sire might tend to improve the Middlepark annual sales, but I strongly suspect that the company will have to turn to imported stock ere they can rival— to say nothing of surpassing— Sylvia Park, and I believe that to be well within the pale of possibility. The best blood in the world has been imported into New Zealand and Australia, but that blood has not been imported inj the fullest extension of its development, and I should not be surprised should Lochiel and Russley prove 1 a couple of the best stud horses yet seen in the Southern Hemisphere, though in the case of Kussley I should prefer a horse by Bend Or in preference to one by Doncaster; provided both were equal performers on the turf. Locbiel, too, is one, I should think, likely to augment the quality of his get over that of his sire in equal 'ratio with the superior excellence of Bend Or's progeny over the progeny of his sire, Doncaster. Bend Or was a better racer and a better looking horse than Doncaster, and the best of Bend Or's get waa better i than Bend Or; and Lochiel evidently possesses superlative etaying capacity, together with a good proportion of the electric speed of Prince Charlie. Prince Charlie could not stay. A horse like Lochiel, had he proved himself gcod in any way at the stud could not be imported cheaply enough perhaps, but good horses can be bought on the turf, and brood mares, as brood mares are different when an opportunity ef buying them actually offers itself ; and no doubt the excellence of the horses sent out from Sylvia Park is due in a I great measure to the purchases made by Mr Stead at the disposal ot the Oobham stud. That was an exceptional opportunity, too, and opportunities like that do not come very frequently. In such purchases price is generally the main point in consideration. The mares are all well bred, and they have been picked from the turf by the soundest of judges ; and in cases of that kind mares con always be bought cheaply unless they be covered by fashionable stallions or sold with a foal at foot that is by a fashionable stallion. Stallions themselves, are different. If they have done stud duty with even average buccobb - and 1 do not know that an infusion of the best running strains could not be practicallydisseminated in New Zealand now by the purchase of mares of requisite breeding. Though good, in ' many instances the blood here does not cover a wide enough range urder two or three generations for a development of general excellence. I begin to think that the purchase of a contingent of mares by, cay, such horses as Rosicrucian. Hermit, Galopin, See-Saw, Bend Or, Isonomy, Hampton, and Kisber, would augment quality here just as much as the purchase of a couple of good well-tried stallions would. Such matrons, if .well bought, could hardly fail to throw good ones to such horses as Apremont, St. George, Manton, and Artillery, and I believe the latter pair will make a couple of good stud horses. The yearlinga — not much more than foals yet— were the first of the Middlepark lot I saw. There are 14 altogether, and a nice lot they are, though I hardly think there is an actual " flyer " amongst them. Yet judgment at such an age is j most difficult, and for anything anybody can say to the contrary now this season's Middle Park sale might produce a Carbine or a Maxim, though I think the odds against its doing so are pretty extended. Only three of the 14 are by Apremont, the remainder being by St. George, and evidently the latter horse was given a very fair trial a couple of seasons ago. A chestnut colt from Flattery is a bit small, but he is not a bad one nevertheless, and j as a yearling be looks like one that will be a speedy two-year-old and train early. A bay colt out of Fantasy, however, is a better looking one in my judgment ; he is well let down, and he has capital quarters, with a strong back, and he shows every indication of plenty of power in the loins. He ia not a youngster that a connoisseur would pick to make a Derby winner of in a j ear like last season, but he will be a useful customer, and a cheap enough horse | at the price he will be sold for. The other Apremont is a bay filly from t Martyr, and she is wiry enough, certainly, but I do not like her as well as the colts. Of the lot, I prefer a filly by St. George— Miss Flat, and her greatest fault lies in being a filly. She ia a racing-like youngster, with plenty of length and freedom, and good symmetry all over. The biggest of the 14 js a brown colt by St. George— Rupee, but I do not care mnch for him, he looks a bit too angular, though that may to a certain extent be aresult of rapid growth, and he may furnish into a good horse ; he certainly has plenty of bone. A bay filly j by St. George— Watersprite is not a bad mare, though nothing phenomenal, and a far better racer will be a chestnut colt by St. George— Becky Sharp. He is a real gooi one, and one that may fetch as long a price as anything of his age at the annual sale ; he has a nice head and shows a lot of muscular development all over, and these are invariably characteristics of the best of his sire's progeny. Amongst the others there are three bay fillies, but, none are particularly taking to look at, though three or four months now will make a wonderful difference in animals of their age ; of the trio that out of FleuraDge looks the shapeliest. A bay colt from Hed Rose is not a bad one I fancy, and I like him better than a bay colt from Idalia and another from Strenua, Rone of these colts, however, are equal to the Becky Sharp colt, or the colts by Apremont— Flattery, and Apremont— Fantasy, and in my opinion the Mis 3 Flat filly is the best of the bunch. The yearling from Hammock is by St. George, and he does not show the quality of the Aprernont — Hammock nick seen in Sommeil. He looks very well until you tee him in front or behind, but he is very narrow, and he will have to famish a lot ere he racs well. He was apart from the others in consequence of having h,urt hia near hind leg slightly "through romping about in a paddock. There is only one foal at Middlepark yet, and that is by Apremont— Martyr ; it is a chestnut filly, and a nice foal. The Apremonts are distinguished forearly racing, they come very early as a rule, and as foals I believe they can romp and gallop about in an incredibly Bhort time after being foaled. Apremont was running about in a paddock, and to look at he is a magnificent horse, and one that cannot be very easily picked to pieces, and I fancy the formation of his elbows and narrow front is considerably augmented from a standpoint of ocular demonstration by the way he sometimes stands, yet there is no'u'oubt he is a narrow fronted horse, though many of the very beet racers are narrow in front, and I believe that one of Apremont's conformation in front is better to breed from than one with too much width of breast and fore legs stuck on in mastiff fashion. St. George is a short, cobby horse, and he is low on the withers too. He lacks the stylish appearance of Apremont;, but be 13 immensely muscular, and were he good enough to get many more Merrie Englands ho would speedily make a name for himself. He was in a box when I saw him on Saturday, and he is a very quiet horse. There are only a couple of two->year-oldß at Middlepark now ; one is a chestnut colt by St. George from Red Rose, and the other a bay_ colt by the same sire from Charm. s he chestnut is a big, raking horse, but he eeems a bit slab-sided, and the bay shows a lotmore substance and muscle. I fancy he would be a fairly good colt at a price he would no doubt be sold for now. Last year's yearlings must have been an unprofitable lot for the company. The Middlepark Company have several; good matrons in point of appearance, and the majority of them must have been bought on the New Zealand ' turf with great care, yet I fancy that an infusion of

imported blood In that department would benefit the stud greatly. On the other hand, I should think that the recent sales have done anything but inculcate a disposition to purchase. Suppose, for instance, that 10 mares were now imported and a stallion purchased for that atud — and purchased by one of the most experienced studma«ters in the world at the lowest possible cost they would run into a big price, and in all probability they would not pay their purchase money under five years at least', however" well they might turn out. Then, again, Apremont is a young horse, and his stock are annually improving in respect of- stamina and temper, and St. George has got a real" good one In Merrie England. These stallions have proved themselves fairly good horses, and eeveral of the mares have thrown progeny considerably beyond mediocThe first of the brood mares I saw was Flattery, an own sister to Welcome Jack, and bar Ravenswing, in foal to Total Eclipse, she is the best-looking animal of the lot. Eaveuswing is a little beauty, perfectly made with a fine turn of speed, and she has not bean raced sufficiently long to impair heroffspring in any way beyond a first foal afe-anyrate. She was put to St. George before being covered by Total Eclipse; but the covering was unsuccessful, and it may be a bit of misfortune should the same thing happen next [season. I fanoy she would nick well with St. George. Flattery is in foal to Apremont, and she is a real good mare, and ib it is not Improbable that the coming progeny may improve on the chestnut colt of last season, though he is not a bad one, though small, by any means, and it is odds on him getting into the first three brought to the hammer during the present season. Rupee is a brown mare, but she is not so roomy as Flattery, and from her general contour I doubt her ability to produce mußcular horses with undoubted stamina in equal ratio with Flattery. She is now in foal to Apremont, and it is very evident that she nicks better with that stallion than with St. George on a [ comparison of this season's yearling with some some of her former progeny. A mare by King of Clubs— Misa Flat was in close proximity to [Rupee, and .immaterial of her actual breeding she looks a fairly good mare in herself ; like the previous season, she was covered by St. George last year, but I do not care much for the bay filly, now a yearling. Mrs Rawdon is in foal to Apremont, and so is Becky Sharp, and Water Sprite, Hammock— a good mare— and Charm were all covered by St. George last season. Fleurange, Tell Tale, Maria Theresa, Idalia, and Strenua are all barren. [Escalade, a brown mare, was covered last year by Artillery, and I should think she will nick well with that sire. Artillery's greatest fault is being a bit too much split up, and in all probability that will be counteracted in the Escalade foal. Fair Nell, Red Rose, Gilda, and Charity— the property ot the Hon. W. Robinson— are in foal to St. George, and Fantacy is again in foal to Apremont. Fantacy is not a bad mare, and I shall not be surprised should she throw a real good one to Apremont cooper or later. Miss Flat is barren this season, She is a very old mare too— 23— and she is getting very hollow in the back, and beginning to show the effects of age otherwise. When I saw her on Saturday she was in a long winter coat, and she had been rolling somewhere in the paddock, and nobody who did not actually know her would ever have taken her for a good thoroughbred matron on casual observation. I noticed a chestnut gelding by Apremont — Red Rose running about in a paddoak, and 1 believe an offer has been made for him from ,Dunedin. He is hardly up to the Sultan standard perhaps, but I fancy he will race a bit ; his action appears to be all right when galloping round the paddook, and I believe he can bo bought for lOOgs, and if a racer be not worth a lOOgs he is worth, or ought to be worth nothing for racing purposes. It cannot possibly pay either to breed thoroughbred stock and sell them as yearlings under an average of 150gs or 200gs. In the Hurdles at Timaru Satan, Presto, Louis, and Playboy are entered from here, and the names of the same quartette figure in the Spring Hurdles. Satan has done a lot? of. work during the winter, and he can get a couple of miles, I believe, though not a real Btayer, and he has previously shown an ability to negotiate timber all right. Louis ia a different stamp of horsw from Satan altogether ; he is a real good one, and O'Connor has him forward enough, but of course he Is young at the game get, and some time may elapse ere he distinguishes himself very greatly, and lack of that distinction may be a resolt of a peculiarity of temperament rather than inferiority of actual quality. Louis is a hard puller, and they are bad over hurdles until they are cured of that. Presto is in form, of course, and he is a wellknown horse ; but he is too slow for good timbertopping company immaterial of an ordinary disparity of weight adjustment. Playboy looks as well now as he has ever done ; his spell last back end benefited him greatly, and he may prove of more monetary, value in .the i near future than he has ordinarily done in the recent past. Harry Thomson's pair — St. Malo and Lorraine— have both been entered for the President's Handicap, and both are apparently going all right. Lorraine was recently given 'a doae of physic, and that necessitated a couple of days' inactivity ; but he has never been really lame, though he was certainly a bit stiff on one or two occasions. Prior to becoming an inmate of H. Thomson's stable— when he was turned out— l hear that St. Malo wa« bo bad that his owner contemplated shooting him ; but he has progressed very well of late, and hia racing at the Grand National meeting did not appear to affect him prejudicially in any way. .Another trio of Riccarton nags in Erin-go-Bragh, Mikado, and Ruby have been entered for the President's Handicap. Until very recently Brin-goßragh has been taking matters eomewhat easily, but Sheenan is now pushing him along O f a morning, and he seems to go quite as well as he did last season. Both Mikado and Ruby have done a lot of, work, and Mikado is certainly a fairly good horse. He chipped his knees some time since, and they are marked, but his legs are apparently sound enough now, though he has shown lameness on two or three occasions in the past, but not recently. Ruby will be as " fit as a fiddle " in a month hence. Alcinous is entered in the Welter Handicap, and he has hitherto been a very disappointing horse to Mr Campbell. Perhaps he is a bit too slow for good or medium company on the fiat, though he sometimes seems to have a bit of foot on the exercise ground. In all probability he will be a good jumper, however ; he is built on the lines of a good performer over fences. ', Sankey and Swamphen are nominated for the Ladies' Bracelet. Sankey is now trained by Sheenan, but he is an indifferent customer, arid co is Swamphen, but, on the other hand, the field they will bave to meet st Timaru is Indifferent all through.