TALK OF THE DAY;

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 29

TALK OF THE DAY;

BY MAZBPPA.

*** The Cromwell Club is apparently jogging along all right in a steady soft of way, fulfilling its purpose without much fuss, doing more for the general good of the turf— l refer to its efforts in keeping its Derby and now establishing a sort of local^ Challenge Stakes— than some clubs which could be named that are nearer centres of population and consequently in a, better position to attract a large attendance, and contriving to remain well on the solvent side of the ledger, having a credit balance of £77. So it was reported at the annual meeting held last month. In course of time the wisdom of the governing turf bodies may declare that clubs of this sort, which show a proper appreciation of their functions, shall be in some • way privileged— that is, if they do their bestf for the turf according to their means ; and should this ever come about the Cromwell Club will reap the reward of the good and faithful servant. Meantime it must be content with the approval of a clear conscience. I note, by the way, that this club has recently adopted a new 'set of rules, and that Mr James Cowan, who for the lafct 12 years has occupied the honourable position of president, has resigned membership. I have often heard Mr Cowan spoken of as a hard grafter for his club and'an unselfish sportsman, and the resolution passed by the club in connection with the resignation was, I should say, something more than' a mere matter of - form. The motion was in these words : — " That this meeting regrets that the late president, Mr James Cowan, has'decided to resign his connection with the 'club, and resolves that a vote of thanks be passed for his past valuable services " It may not be generally known out ide the district that Mr Cowan has had to do with racing from its initiation in Cromwell. My records show that at the Rest race meeting held there, in 1867, Mr J. Cowan ran a horse called Arkwright in the Hurdle Race won by Camel, and the following year, when he was acting as one of the ttewards, he won the -Hurdles with his black geldiDg Dr Black, ridden by Mr Taggart, and had. Poison racing in his colours. I presume that the Mr Cowan there referred to is the gentleman who has just resigned.

* # * I understand that the old club at Alexandra has been dissolved and a new one formed under the presidency of Mr Theyers, with Mr L. Ryan as secretary and treasurer. The other officers are Mr J. Young as t andicapper, Mr L. Cameron as Btarter, and Mr Butler as judge. The membership was raised to 20 on the night the club was formed, and at a guinea a head there is a fair fund to begin with when to the fees thus subscribed is added the £30 left as a legacy by the old club. No particulars hav<e reached me as to how this new club came to be formed, and I am therefore unable to explain the situation, but all the same I wish the olnb luck, and I may add that it seems to stand on a secure basii, the movement beiDg characterised with energy. At the opening meetiDg the Bum of £150 will be given in stakes. The races will be held on the old course, which is to be somewhat improved,

*#* "Verax," of Sydney Referee, has some thing to say about big jumps. Chatdler's leap at Warwick, he says, is generally regarded as the record, and put down at 37ft; There is, however, a difference of opinion as to whether he jumped 34ft, 35ft, 37ft, or 39ft. • t'avo," of the London Morning Post, I think! the oldest, and certainly one of the best write rs on the metropolitan sporting press, says that Chandler really jumped 39ffc at Warwick meeting in 18*8, ridden by Captain Broadley. " Pavo " saj she can testify to the p correctness of this jump as measured by Mr Sam Merry, who was the ruling spirit at Warwick for many years. Mr Henry Soaurthwaite, who, when I remember him first was writing on old Bell's Life as 41 Ble>s,"and then on the Sportsman as " Vigilant," says that he knew a gentleman who rode in the Leamington Hunt Club Steeplechase— that was the name of the race — and saw Chandler make his jump, the jump being increased by Chandler havieg to clear a fallen horse. Rosebud was the mare this gentleman was on, and he landed close behind Chandler, whese jump, he says, was not a very big- one. Bell's Life, March fc8, 1847, says that the distance jumped was measured by Captain W. Peel, and declared to be 37t't. The Hon. Francis Lawley says : •** My own impression was at that time, and still remains, that the tape indicated 34ft, not 39ft, and that it was quite impossible for Cap.tain Broadley or anyone e^e to fix with certainty Upon the spots at which Chandler took off." Captain Peel says the horse cleared 39ft, although Bull's Life says Captain Peel measured the distance as 37tt. Emblem, another great steeplechaser, is said to have cleared 36;t or 37ft at Sutton Cold field on February 23, 1863. Emblem's big jump was accomplished at a fence into the winning field. Thirty-six feet three -inches was the actual measurement of this jump. Emblem aho jumped 33ft in the Liverpool Grand National in 1865. In reckoning this jump, Emblem cleared sft 6>n height of fence with 12. 4 in the saddle. She was in every sense a remarkable mare. Lottery, whef won the Liverpool Grand National in 1838, was another great fencer. Culverthorpe's great jump a!; Newport Paguell in November 1848 is recorded as 39ft. According to these jumps, Sbylock's jump at Caultield is creditable, although not done in a race. The probabilities are, if going at a fence in a steeplechase, Shylock would beat this jump. There is more chance of correctly measuring a jump at practice than in a race, and there should* have been no difficulty in measuring Shylock's distance. With regard to Chandler's leap, it is probable the Hon. F. Lawley, who knows as much about such things as any man living, is correct when he estimates Chandler's leap at about 34ft or 35ft.

* # * The Canterbury Club's book" of programmes shows that the total amount of added money for the season is £11,855, or £100 more than that given during the past season. The increase is made by additions to the minor events of the National meeting. The Spriog programme is on the same lines as that of last season, and so is the Summer programme ; but this last-mentioned fixture will this season be really as welt as in name a midsummer meeting, since the date has been altered again to January 2. I do not know that the change is altogether a wise one, but the end of January has not proved to be a suitable time for this meeting, and the committee are hardly to be blamed for once more trying the original date. As to the Autumn meeting, the only changes ere that £50 is lopped off the Kildare SteepleI chase and added to the endowment of the Fare1 well Handicap, which now will be worth going for. It is satisfactory to find that the cotn- | mittee of this leading club has not found it necessary to retrench. Owners have all their work cut out to tnake ends meet even at the present high range of stakes. They have, however, the satisfaction of knowing that the clubs 'as a whole have no desire to cut down stakes for the sake of making up big bank balances. The policy is to give as much as they can consistent with prudent finance.

*** Of the 71 horses entered for the New Zealand Cup, 45 survive the first acceptance, or six fewer than last year, leaving 26 con-, cerning whom backers need have no further concern beyond paying up with as good a grace as possible any liabilities that may have been incurred to the odds-merchants. I scarcely think that backers will be losing much this way. The full list of defections is as -follows :— Launceston Radiant colt Crackshot The Artist Loyalty Ruatangata Leolantis Chris North Atlantic Frivolity Reynard ' H aneiatea Quilt The Dreamer Crown Jewel Albatross filly Ultimatum Flaneur Lakeshell Haeata Midas Allandale Solano Sister Mary Tangi colt Black Cloud, What is there in the above list that any man would be likely to back P Nothing much. Not that they were as a body badly treated by the handicapper, but people don't know enough about the majority of them. There is only one in the whole crowd that I would have spent half a crown on, and that is Chris, who I heir is not a bad stamp of a horse. Por sibly h'e'bas gone wroßg. But the public have not backed him. What they probably have gene down on to the extent of a few pounds here and there are Mr O'Brien's couple Lauuceston and Loyalty, who were fancied before the weights came out; Lakeshel), a colt that is generally supposed to be capsble of a gocd performance should he ever come to the post thoroughly fit ; and Mr Rathbone's Albatross filly, who was spoken of at one time as the possible representative of the stable in preference to her full sister Merganser. But a hundred or two will pay for all this dead wood, and the backing public have so far got off cheaply. It is the next acceptance that will tune up some of them. Owners will look twice before paying the 7sovs then due on account of each horse, and by that date they will be sorting out the best of each stable.

#** Though the present acceptors are six fewer in number than those of a year ago, they exceed those of the 1891 Cup by four, they are seven in excess of the 1890 lot, and eight more than we had in 1889. So that there is nothing ±o grumble at, and Mr Henry may well feel on good terms with himself. Bar Launceston, I can see nothing that can be supposed ,to have dropped out on account of weight, unless it be Loyalty, and it may be that one or both of this pair would have remained in had it not been for the fact that they have had speoial inducements held out to them in the matter of weight by the Sydney handicapper. As to the other 24 withdrawals there is ground for the belief that it is not the weight that has driven them out, but infirmity in some instances, and in others the discovery of want of quality. In the latter oases the sacrifice of past payments may be reckoned as a penalty on owners for the sake of beeping up the system of taking nominations seven mouths in advance of the race—a system

which ought not to last very much longer. As to the prospects of the race to be run 12 weeks hence, there is every chance of a brisk and a shifting betting market, and I do not think bickers have yet found out the joker that will be the final favourite, though if Hippomenes keeps well he will be near the head of the quotations all the way through. The weight of money behind him will "do this. But there is a good deal of promise in some of the youngsters, and one of these may yet depose both Hippomenes and St. Hippo The latter I will not have at all till something more is known about him. As for the Dunedin gel ing, I am pleased to say that he was one of my origiual selections ; indeed the eight that I mentioned when reviewing the handicap are all acceptors, and. I shall not add to nor take from that list till something occurs to give us more light. Those of Mr Stead's horses that have gone to Sydney may possibly return in time for the New Zealand Cup ; but at present they are best left alone. The following table, which explains itself, will doubtless prove of interest. I may remark that the odds are quoted by Mr B. Curtis :—

House. | | Trainer. i iWgt.l | Odds. 3t. Hippo Merganser ... Stepniak Prime Warden Jlanranatd ... Boulanger ... Eippomenes... rhe Workman 3t. Katherine Saracen Dilemma Palliser Skirmisher ... Fraternite „ . Blizzard Rosefeldt Liberator ... iv Revoir ... Westinere ... L'hame Melinite rempest Captive Dishonour ... 3 b. Anthony... Royal Rose ..: Dutpost Riversdale ... 3trephon Pegasus Response Lady Zetland iitano Beadonwell ... Stanmoor My Jack Musket Lochness Magazine discount Dussock LTa Purepu [chßien Spinaway i G. Wright A. Bobertson R. Mason M. tiobbs H. Lunn J Belcher S. Bishop H. Harrison W. Edwards M. Hobbs J. M'Guinne3S M. Hobbs J. M'Guinness W. Butler H. Goodman J. Munn M. Goodger P. Butler J. Belcher A. Wood' R. Mason S. Bishop S. Waddell Williamson F. Carrington G. Wright S. Bishop A. Robertson J. Munn H. Harrison D. O'Brien M. Hobb3 S. Waddell S. Mercer G. Wright R. Ray V. Collello G. Wright R. Mason D. O'Brien F. Carrington J. Munn G. Donnelly R. Mason F. Uarrington i 9 10 9 10 9 1 8 7 8 6 8 4 8 3 8 3 8 2 8 1 7 9 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 5 7 4 7 3 7 3 7 3 7 3 7 2 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 6 13 6 13 6 13 6 12 6 12 6 11 6 10 6 10 6 9 6 9 6 9 6 9 6 '9 .6 8 6 7 6 7 6 7 ! i 100 to 12 100 to 7 100 to 6 100 to 8 100 to 6 100 to 5 100 to 10 1(10 to 6 100 to 4 100 to 6 100 to 6 100 to 4 100 to 6 100 to 4 '00 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 2 100 to 3 LOO to 5 100 to 5 100 to 4 100 to 4 100 to 5 100 to 3 100 to 6 100 to 6 1(0 to 6 100 to 8 100 to 4 100 to « 100 to 4 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 3 LOO to 4 100 to 3 10) to 3 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 5 100 to 4 LOO to 4 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to a