NOTES FROM TASMANIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 30

NOTES FROM TASMANIA.

** By Tasman. Launceston, July 15. As thorc are six Tasmanian horses engaged in tho Melbourne Cup and five in the Caulfield Cup, a fow facts concerning them may be acceptable to homo of j pur readers. Honotoun is supposed to be off to India, and therefore I pass him for the present. > Rotrcat ia a compactly b«ilt chestnut, by The Assyrian from Nellie, by St. Albans from a mare rejoicing in thp name of The Moke by the imported horse Old English Cf entleman. At 7.10 he is not badly used, as he showed very fair handicap form Ayhen ho defeated Hopetoun and that un : lucky mare Bodkin for the Launceston Cup, and it must be borne in mind that Retreat carried tho same weight as Hopetoun on the occasion of his victory. ' In the same stable is Strahan, a horse that won the T.R.C. Darby at Hobart last November. He is engaged in the "big race at 6.10, and in the Caulfield event at 6.7— not mammoth imposts for a strapping four-year-old. Mick Carmody, the erstwhile New Zealander, purchased Strahan last December for 450gR. Whether he \yas acting on his own behalf or for a client I can't say, but he is training him, and if he sends him to the post with' the Glenloth polish on, depend upon it there are more unlikely things. This is how he is bred :— Got by Musk Rose (Escutcheon's brother) from Claudia by Lapidist from Claudine (full sister to Sheet Anchor) by St. Afbans from Queen Mary, by Castle Hill, her dam Black Bess, by Peter Wilkins from Jobn Field's celebrated old mare Merry Maid (a descendantof Edella, imported in the twenties by the Creasy Company). This is an out-and-out Calstock pedigree, and I hope he will sustain the reputation of that famous stud where Tasman, Malua, Blink Bonny, Sheet Anchor, Stockwell, and others first saw the light of day. That unknown quantity Pauline is engaged in both races, and at 7.7 over 12 furlongs she should have an average chance, but I cannot see her in a race like the Melbourne Cup for many reasons, ohief amongst .which is that she is much too email and one. that would not stand the knooklng

about horses get in a large field. I must admit however, that she is a wonder for her inches (14.3 I think is her height), long and low, of the greyhound species, with a big heart in its right place', and she must be accorded a " possible " for the Caulfield event. , Bischoff is engaged only in the Melbourne Cup, and 7.1 ought not to trouble a horse of such huge proportions as this Waverly bred son of The Assyrian. Perhaps his most meritorious effort was winning the Turf Club Handicap last February after a dingdong- finish with Foxtail. At the same meeting he ran very creditably in the Cup won by. Tim Swiveller's brother Come dian, and it is just as likely that he would have reversed the order of things had he not been disappointed twice in the run home. His dam May Queen is one of the gems of the Waverly stud, being by Castle Hill (old'Volti's son) from Mayflower by imported Boiardo, and running back to Fairy by Catton, to whom Musket was distantly related. - Harefield, a big strapping son of Hobart and Chlons, is in the same stable as Pauline. When I last saw him he struck me as being a colt that would improve with age, as most* of Panic's descendants generally do. I have a fancy that the shorter race will be more to his liking, and in this the handicapper has apportioned him 6.8. I like .the following dozen horse 3 for the Melbourne Cvp :— Camoola, Sternchaser, Culloden, Vakeel, Jonathan, Strahan, Penance, Hartington ( Light Artillery, Havoc, Newman, Oxide. For the Caulfield Cup I fancy Warpaint, Strahan, All There, Swordbearer, Beverley, Ascot Vale, Port Admiral, JS, Sainfoin, Newman, Fulham, Vakeel, and Blswick. , The sudden death of David Rose quite recently called attention «to his- father, old Alexander Rose. It was this enthusiastic Scot that imported Jersey and Lady Villiers to this colony in 1842 Very many years ago the celebrated btud" horse Peter Fin and 'other animals of distinction occupied a place at his stud at Corra Lynn, and it was here that Peter Fin is supposed to have ended his days. Jeweller, a candidate for Cup honours, who has been the medium of some speculation lately for the Caulfield Cup, has a full brother named Bowenville at the stud in this colony, Mr Krushka's fine colt Amadeus, by Mozart from Saucy, has been performing creditably across the Straits, and general regret is expressed at his non-inclusion for some of the classical events of the spring. In my opinion he is one of the best two-year-olds that has been raised here for many a day, and with ordinary luck will win an important race. His dam ' Saucy is a descendant of Modesty, a noted mare here in her day. I see no reason why Mozart should not 1 make his name asa'sire, for he is out of Sheet Anchor's dam by Tim Whiffler's great son Napoleon, and when thoroughly fit won some good races in tip-top company. He is now located at Malahide estate, the residence of his owner, Mr R. G. Talbot) who has collected a' fine lot of brood mares, the best perhaps being Blink Bonny. This mare threw Bloodshed to Napoleon. He was somewhat of a disappointment, but on the assumption of the Yankees " that the father 1 irked creation and the son licked the father," she ought to produce something like herself to Mozart. John Mann of the Oaki, owner of Vision, by St Albans and Filibuster (by Panic), sire of Wellington and other cross-country horses, died last week, aged 83 years. He was one of the most successful breeders of draught horses we had.