CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1901, 10 July 1890, Page 26

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By RATA.

Mr Penfold is going to Australia (to the secretaryship of a soolal 'club), and his resignation has been accepted by the 0. J.C. with regret.

Some new regulations have been made for two-year-old running .by the C.J.G.(up.'to seven furlongs) but I shall not discuss them at present. On Saturday afternoon I looked over Butler's horaei In their boxes. A singularity of that team this season is an absence of young horses. Apparently Butler -will have nothing to carry bis colours In the chief two-year-old events of the spring. That may not be matter of great regret, however. In late years the ,stable has not been particularly lucky In regard to juvenile racing, and the team as It at present exists appears ,to be' an uncommonly useful one. Butler's strongest and most conspicuous point as an owner lies In buying well. He must be an excellent judge of blood stock ; yet, the stable has been unlucky with its best horses somehow, and perhaps one of themostprofitableracehwses Butler has everowned was The Agent. Manton was anabsolute clinker that would have paid his first buyer considerably better than Carbine did his first buyer had he been sold immediately after winning that memorable treble at Biooarton. I heard a very liberal offer made for him, but no doubt bis owner thought he was worth quite as much to him as to anybody; aud doubtless he would have been had he remained sound for Australian engagements, but that matter of soundness is the primary argument In favour of " never refuse a «ood price" if monetary aggrandisement be wanted. Had Manton stood he was worth as much as Carbine as a three-year-old under the hammer, but then Manton did not stand, and it is a peculiarity of the turf that horses for whom big prices have been offered and refused very of ten go 'crooked." Manton is a case in point, and «ois Wolverine to a certain extent. Five hundred guineas were offered for Wolverine in Ohristchurch, for instimce, and he was afterwards sold nt half thnt prfoe by his thon owner. He may prove cheap onougU yet for anything anybody can actually say to the contrary, but bis case shows the rapidity of fluctuation in the value of racine stock, and in a majority of cases that fluctuation is in favour of the veudor who never refuses a good price, though in exceptional instances, such as Carbine, it is vice versa. Regarding really first; and second clasß racehorses, I fancy 16 can be proved from statistics that, as a rule, a racer's value after one or a series of brilliant .three-year-old performances is his maximum market value. Of course several exceptions can be auoted, but a majority of the best dealers in raoing stock find it more profitable to sell at good prices than to race their horses after their true form has been «au«ed or exposed. Another unluoky horse on the turf owned by Butler was Artillery, and I know he was tried as a three-year-old to be even better than Manton was when he won his big treble at Bicearton, A very good racer was Artillery, ana from his appearance now I should say he will develop into an excellent tire. Like a good many other good stallions in New Zealand, he has had little or no opportunity yet in respeot of the mares he has covered. Even in point of looks he has improved since being sent to the stud, and when I inspected him in his box on Saturday I concluded that there mnst be something radically wrong In the breeding department both in Canterbury and Otago when horses like Artillery are relegated to the covering of hacks while third-rate sires are apportioned a majority of the thoroughbred mares. In Artillery and Maxim, Musket has given a couple of good stud

horses to Canterbury. „,,",,,„. When looking over Butlers, stud the nrsfc animal I saw wa» Thackeray. He is a well-grown, colt, and perhaps one of the best of Apremont's get. It Is said that his victory in Dunedin was somewhat of the flukey description of wins, but I do not believe it nevertheless from what I have aeen of him on the exercise grounds. He was adisappointing colt to his owner as a two-year-old, for the reason that he got his off fore hoof split, and the galloping he did on that affected hoof impaired his temper considerably more than it would have otherwise been apparent at the starting post or on the raoing track. He Is a nicely made colt, well eprung, and deep enough in the ribs, with good quarters and shoulders. He has excellent legs, too, and bis split hoof is something ot an enigma, though I believe it oan be accounted for. Only one of his feet haibeenin anywise affected, and that split has now grown down— l examined his feet particularly on Saturday— and in the spring we may ice something of Thackeray's true quality over sprint couraea. He may be a stayer, but he does hoc appear so to my eye, though it is a., moral ce» aln ty he is a horse that oan go fast, with a good horseman up and with a guarantee of a start he would be a very hot customer for the Hewmarket Handicap in Australia with about 7.2 to carry. I have no doob. whatever that Thackeray is a very jpeedy horse, and in the event of hia going as kindly on the racing track as he usually does now on the exerolse .grounds he would be a bad one to beat over certain journeys by anything we have here at present. Crackshot ocoupies the next box to Thackeray, and in that colt Butler has another good one-one that will go f.at. stay well, and carry weight. Hia owner antertaina no fear of his legs not standing, and hi is a well-made colt allover, A pl ??^Sntfe substance, and power. His only fault is a slightly hollow back, and that is no fault In a good raoer. Indeed, a hollow baok U .very frequently a rejUlCo*

the way a horse is going or standing at the time you see him, and with Craokshot, fit, well, and thoroughly extended, I fanoy very little hollow back would be noticeable. He is a colt I have always liked, and I shall be surprised if he fails to distinguish himself if aenfc to the post actually pink in the spring. Should he meet Medallion in bheO.J.O. Derby he will have a olinklng racehorse to meet, but with Medallion over in Australia he will ba afforded as big a chance at Riccarton in November as was Manton when Carbine was giving them a taite of his quality as a three-year-old at the " other side." The next box was tenanted by Bay King. He is a horse I never cared for greatly when compared with first class racers. At the same time he may be useful if well placed. He ia looking in good winter fettle now, but in point of quality he appears to me greatly removed from Thajkeray and Crackshot. He is greatly removed from these horses in point of conformation'; he is narrow, too much on the leg, and crooked over the rump, I believe he can gallop, and in a particular class be may be a fairly profitable horse— he would be a profitable horse for plating meetings in Australia, but he lacks the class of such as Thaokeray and Craokshot. In Thackeray and Orackshot I fancy Butler has a pair of very good racers for spring engagements. A four-year-old chestnut gelding by St. ■ Leger was the next one I was introduced to, and it is very evident that hia owner intends making a jum- '. per of him. He stands about 17 hands, and he has ' already negotiated Bticka admirably. He appears a ■ good kind of jumper; he Js up to plenty of weight, i and from his appearance at exercise he seems to be . a horse that can get over timber without excessive exertion, novice though he Is yet. In a chestnut gelding by Ascot— Mystery Girl, Butler has a good-looking nag of his olass. He ' was brought from the North Island at the same time as the gelding by St. Leger, and he 1b the • better made of the pair. He is well balanced, with , good quarters and shoulders and a capital set of legs. He is a horse likely to make a good jumper, I imagine. Two really first-class horses are only seen occasionally in one stable in Canterbury, and I am of opinion that Butler has got two first-class ones now in Thackeray and Orackahot, and in Artllliery he has a most excellent stud horse. The team all over ought to prove more than ordinarily useful. ' Ten of the 20 weighted for the Grand National have accepted, and according to rule that is a fair acceptance— the Ecus dictum. Mangoanane - has gone out, but hit elimination can hardly be a result of too much weight. Of the 10 left in only two are trained at Riccarton for the present, and both are in the same stable. These are Ahua and Lands- ' borough, and I have no doubt that Ahua Ib quite 2at • in front of Landaborough both fit and welljon the • day. The only suspicion in regard to Ahua is in respect of stamina ; yet I think he Is a real stayer • as well as a speedy horse, and though not over big according to standard measurement ne is quite up to 12.0. A finely-proportioned horse ahowir gno end of • quality for a chaser is Ahua. and Landsborough is not. Landsborough is too much on the leg and too ' alaok in the loins. A good kind of mare is Squib should she Btrip fit, but she has had a bad leg since . ever I knew her, and a thorough preparation will necessarily be subservient to the condition of that ' leg. Ico not know how Little Arthur is progressing 1 at Ashburton, but Daddy Longlegs is fancied here, . and there is no denying that he can stay wall and . Las before compassed the country. As I previously anticipated, Ahua has gone out of the Grand National Hurdle Race, and Lunn 1 is only responsible for Ixlon in that event now. A 1 good horse is Ixion of a second-rate hurdle race class, «- and his weight has been nicely adjusted on these - lines. He ia quite up to 10.9, and can travel fast ■ under that burden. He is a good jumper, sufficiently . practised not to hang at the obstacles, and it appears 1 obvious that Lunn'a stable will have a big show of 1 success in each of the two chief events in the Grand "". National programme. i Besides ixion, Erin-go-Bragh is the only , Grand National Hurdle Race horse in training at , Riccarton, and he will have to be reckoned with be- , fore the newly inatituted timber-topping prize be ' won. Sheenan is driving him along when opportuv nity offers, and he ia evidently a genuine candidate for the 300SOVS stick contest. Little Arthur has accepted for both the ' "National" and the Grand National Hurdle Race. and I shall not be surprised should his genial owner start him for the latter event, He is one of the best '. jumpers over sticks that I have seen for some time. • I watohed him minutely on his last appearance at '. Riccarton. Garryowen was bought out of a saleyard for £8, and now he can be had for 30gs. A good jumper la " Garry," and a nag that has improved. f' The New Zealand Cup Handicap is framed on a good scale considering the cattle the handi- - cappers had to operate upon. Regarding the horses here and those I know, I see no flaw in the weight • adjustment, and to take a pair against the field I should pick the two ;Nordenfeldta, Medallion and . Oraokshot, though mayhap Medallion will be sent to L the other side. I should think, too. that the owner of • Crackshot would be unlikely to regret auch a dcv parture. Scots Grey (8.12) is fairly enough handi- . capped for a Derby winner, but his knees are bad— < that was the seat of his. lameness last season— and ) Dudu (8 9) though leniently enough treated is not a ' stayer beyond a mile and a-half in a strong run •' race.