CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2055, 13 July 1893, Page 29

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

— "Asmodeus" says.&hat Mr Gollan's Derby colts, Kempenfelt, by Nordenfelt—Bianca, and Pounamu, by Newminster—Beryl, ■ are remarkably well-grown, though very much in flesh, being in fact bo beefy that it will take Martin all his time to get them in racing trim by the first week in November. Kempenfelt, who is more of a roan than a chestnut, is -the most powerfully built of the two, but he does,-not" present such, a bloodlike and aristocrat exterior as Pounamu; — The Argus says it is highly probable that Retreat, though wrongly nominated, will be allowed to remain in the Caulfield Cup. An application has been made to the V.A.T.C. Committee to amend the'entry, and the committee have decided to grant the application, subject to a report from the handicapper as to whether or not he was misled as to Retreat's identity owing to his age being given as bix years instead of five. The horse was rather hastily scratched for the Melbourne Cup. — After Spokesman had won the Deer-park Handicap at the Melbourne Hunt Club meeting on May 13, the stewards held an inquiry into his running at Caulfield on the previous Saturday, when he ran last in the Glenhuntly Handicap. They eventually decided to refer the matter back to the Caulfield stewards, who have since decided that they have no power to deal with the case under the present rules of racing. Provision is made in theproposed new rules for reviewing past running. . * —A New South Wales writer hasthefollowing: A jockey applied to a trainer presiding, over a notorious ' waiting' stable for a billet,' and on being asked for references replied, ' Well, I caught hold of a'fence the other day and pulled three panels out, and my friends cay what Donald Diunie can't lift I can throw over my shoulder.' The trainer thought these credentials just a trifle too strong to fill the bill, and fearing that the great power might be applied when not required he decided not to engage the boy. — There were this year 21 runners for the Prix Diane (or French Oaks), and Tilly, the property of M. H. Say, started a good favourite. She failed, however, to run into the first four, and the stake went to a 40 to 1 chance in Praline, who disputed the issue with Sylphine, a greatei outsider than herself. The winner was bred by her owner, M. P. Aumont, and had not before run in public. The distance (ten furlongs and a-half) was covered in 2min 24 2-ssec, and the value of the stakes was £2714. Praline is by Saxifrage from Paquerettell, by Salvator. — Tho sale of Meddler for £14,500 rakes up memories of other high-priced horses. Common brought 15,000g3, Doncaster 14,000gs,^g||^Athol 12,500g5, while St. Gatien, the sire^pßßddler, changed hands at 15,000g5. Ormonde was sold to go to South America for 12,000g8, and^was afterwards purchased by a Californian sportsman for 30,000gs; and St. Slaize, an EDglieh-bred horee, also changed hands in America at 20,000g5. In Australia the highest price ever given for a thoroughbred was 5600g5, paid by Mr S. Hordern for Nordenfeldt. — In the Novel Hunters' Flat Race, one of the events of the Oakland's (Vie.) Hunt Cup meeting, to be held on July 29. it was provided that horsea should be ridden by their owners: 1 hat the lowest weight should be not less than 9.7; that owners had to declare at the time of-entry the weight at which the horse would be ridden, and which weight or over or the handicap weight, when it exceeded the declared weight, had to be carried in the race, a distance handicap of 12ydsbeingikllowed for every full £lb in which the declared weight at time of entry exceeded the weight at which the horse was handicapped. These conditions were so novel that the V.A.T.C. Committee (on whose course the meeting is to be held) thought them unworkable, and the Oaklands Club has been asked to expunge the ovenfc as at present constituted from the programme.. j i

Br Rata. The past week was a very bad one, and vety little work was done on the training tra ks at Riccarton beyond cantering iv the centre. "Yet the tracks are now under most excellent management, and I do believe that the present caretaker can conduct them better than even a committee of trainers could, could.' he be left in sole charge of them. In winter we cannot expect real good weather, and fanners do not want it either ; and I fancy the plough at Riccarton will be greatly improved in the spring by being ploughed up in the winter. In regard to the ' tracks, however, trainers cannot grumble much. The sand track laid down last year proves a v*ry great innovation in favour of track galloping at Riccarton. There is no doubt, that the sand gallop is the greatest improvement to the course that has been made for years. It greatest value, too, will come in in the spring. Consequent upon inclement weather the jumpiDg tracks have not been in great requisition during the week, Trainers do not caw to jump good

jumpers on slippery ground sometimes. Some time ago I advocated the payment of schooling •fees to boys riding exercise over steeplechase •country, and it i 3 beyond doubt that such boys ought to receive something ; but some of the chief trainers of jumpers here tell me that not one in a dozen boys will ride over jumps even when they are getting heavy. That wont do, however. A lad that is getting a bit too heavy for the flat that ■can't ride over sticks at any rate should restrict himself to stable work. Beyond the riders of jumpers, too, we have some boys at Riccarton that can hardly ride walking exercise properly, for the simple reason that they are above their business, ■or too genial to attend to their employers' interests when in company with other boys. Xhe "flash" business is no good in the Taring game, and whenever I see a flash horseman I put him down as a duffer. There is, of course, a lot of difference between a jockey "duffer" and a jockey hack: a jockey " duffer " is one that has got beaten in a race by parhap3 no fault of his own. and a jockey hack is merely a" boy that can do real good stable-work and ride fair exercise. Canterbury will be full of thoroughbred stallions this season, but my impression is that the ownera of suitable mares are few and tar between. There is no doubt we want a good studfnrm here, and that would be more in the interests of racing than all the stallions about. The majority of the stallions here will have to cover trap mares to pay for their travelling, or even standing. That is no barm to the country, I think, but wo have first-class stallions here that would get firat-class stock by good racing mares, or good bred mares that had never raced at all; and of tbe lot we have in Canterbury this season I shall not be surprised to see the worst of the lot get the best mares. .„ , I cannot enumerate the stallions we will have here altogether, but I know a good many of them. Stonyhurat, as in former years, will travel under the care of Mat, Cowan. St. George and Apremont will stand in the neighbourhood, and so will Tasman and Freedom. Freedom's career on the turf is now ended, but he has got no hereditary ailment about him, and I fancy he may get .good stock. The reason of taking him out of training was.lbelieve,,hishock. He might not train on that, but I am sure he will never extend it to his progeny. Medallion will stand for an approved number of mares, and I shall not be surprised to see Medallion's stock come out very well. He is a little horse, but he is a really good made one, and his blood cannot be disputed. - As a matter of fact we have too many stallions in Canterbury this season for the number of mares we have good enough to put to them. A good many of them may be put to most inferior mam and get fair trotter 3 or roadsters, but I have heard it frequently said that a thoroughbred stallion ought to ba restricted to thoroughbred mares to produce his best quality. In that respect, however, Traducer was not, but I think had he been travelled on that rule his stock would have been even better than they were "Connection with inferiority in animal nature breeds inferiority" is a thing that has bsolutely been proved. Were I a breeder, then, I would not send a good mare to a horse that had been covering hacks and cart horses all over the country. That, in fact, is the reason of a good racing stallion being advertised to cover a certain number of approved mares. A majority of people know it, but a good many owners of good mares do not ; and I am sure of that in regard to Otago. The owner of a good stallion wants good racing stock, in fact. In the breeding line Otago is very strong at present, and may prove a very sharp thorn m the side of Canterbury. St. Clair in special I think ■will get real good stock. His breeding is right -enough, and when racing he was a real bulldog. I shall certainly be surprised if that hoise does .not get something really good. ' Ruby, who went downjfrom here to ptago, is mot a bad one either, and he most certainly should improve the breed of horses in the colony, should >he not get anything very brilliant in the racing Uine. Given good mares, however, I think he will •get something fair for racing. We are within a very short time of the National, but there are very few National candidates^at Riccarton now, and until the North Islanders come down there is nothing very interesting to chronicle in respect of National candidates. The week being a bad one in regard to rain, horses have not been able to exercise properly, and horses' fitness is hard to elucidate. • Were I a backer, however, I should stand Mr Murray- Aynsley's stable right through the forthcomiag meeting. If a backer can stand to it on the machine he will come out in pocket. Ihe team M Mr S R. Ford will ride Justice in the Hunt Club Cup. He never had a better mount. That mare can jump like a doe, and if she comes down most probably it will be Mr Ford's fault, though I do not thinK there is any better amateur horseman about here. ..... . . The Stranger is a decent kind of horse, but we Lave got better down about here than he is. Weight is everything, however. Some people think thatjClanranald is well in for the New Zealand Cup ; and so he w, but I intimate to backers that he has got a hock. I dropped into the Bush Inn this (Monday) afternoon and interviewed my friend Mr Webb, and afterwards went over the establishment— so far as horses were concerned — with Jim. Jim ' seems to be the " boss " of the horsey department now, though I have no doubt the "General pushes him up to the work. Jim has only got one horse in training— viz., the colt by Chainshot— Veno, and a very strong one he looks. They have three foals there, however, and the Chainshot— Miranda is a good one. As a matter of fact, however, there is very little to write about from Riccarton at present beyond drawing pictures from imagination, like artists do.

Y'r. No. Rn. Winner. Rider. Weight. ~Bt lb~ 10 6 10 4 11 5 9 10 10 10 9 3 10 4 10 0 10 0 10 7 9 10 1881 1885 1836 1887 1888 1889 1890 8 8 6 10 5 12 8 Early Bird Faugh-a-Ballagh Denbigh Echo Kangaroo Rossiter Orient /Whalebone ... \Oeo [ngorangi Victrix Herd \... Chambers ... Ellingham... Kollo Pell Cameron ... Keith Johnson ... Frewin Williams ... Gillett 189J 10 1892 1893 13 15

Winners of the Wellington Steeplechase.