IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2360, 18 May 1899, Page 36

IN A NUTSHELL.

—In Russia they bar mares over seven years old from racing. '

— Paul Pry was again in work when the lasS mail left Adelaide.

— Jackson is breaking in the St. Clair— a Vaultress yearling.

— It. Hastie is left without a horse to train,, and would like to get one. — Skirmisher has again changed hands, having been bought by Bobby Reay. —It is reported that a trotting track has already been built at Santiago, Cuba. — The Tasmanian-bred Tamino (Mozart—* Lady Fisher) has been sold for export to India.

— The first Wagga, Cup was won by a chestnut horse named Ajax on St. Patrick's Day, 1847.

— Cavalier, by Battalion, won the double'at the Mooiefield (N.S.W.) meeting on the 29th April. '

—An American has named his horse Regulator, because, he says, all the other horses go by him.

— Maxim is the sire of Pleur de Lis, winner of the Burns Handicap, one of America's valuable Drizes. l

— A London cable states that Lord Durham has invited: the Jockey Club to adopt the starting gate at its races.

— (gentle Ida, the favourite for" the Liveiv pool Grand National, was one^jaf the eight horses which* fell in a, field of I*.

— The Christchurch Racing Club's meeting had to be twice postponed owing to rain, the last adjournment being till yesterday. — Canterbury Times says: Private intelligence from England is to the effect that the stallion Chainshot has become a roarer.

— The Forbury Park Company has taken the preliminary steps of a lawsuit to compel the D.J.C. to keep the old racecourse in repair. — A London cable states that the following is the betting on the Derby: — 96 to 40 on Flying Fox, 100 to 6 agst Trident, 20 to 1 St. Gris, 25 to 1 Damocles.

— It is certain that when the Australian statistics are made up at the end of the season Gozo will be an easy first amoifgst the sires, and Lochiel second.

— When the last mail left England Mr Bulteel was, anxious to make a match with Manifesto against Gentle Ida over four miles of country for £2000 a-side.

— The track at Oakland, Cal., is this season lightning fast. On February 25 O'Connell won si* furlongs in lmin 12£ sec. The record for a circiilar track is lmin 12Jsec. — Mr John Stephenson was very ill last week, and though at the more recent inquiry he seemed to have rallied, his friends realise that he is in a serious condition.

— Wai-iti won the Bell Block Cup of 4flsova on the 4th, and the Flying and Welter went to Gowrie, a four-year-old colt by the defunct Blairgowrie from Lady EmmeKne. — Ashton, son of Carbine, got home first in the Warrnambool Cup on the 27th April, but, being disqualified for interference, the stake went to Informer, son of Essex and Tell-tale.

—G. Williamson, who steered Manifesto to victory in the Grand National, received a present of £2000 in recognition of his services, in addition to a handsome retainer of a "monkey "

— The Dunedin Jockey ClutT'has given notice of nppeal against the magistrate's decision fining the secretary for advertising that money would be received for investment on the totalisator. — Mr J. Rowan, the South Australian racing man, lias bestowed the name of " St. Austral " 011 the colt by St. Leger — Ouida which he purchased at the lost sale of the 'Wellington Park yearlings, »

— Jockey Taral, of America, has signed to ride this season for Messrs Eastin and Larabie. It is that Taral's weight is now about 1401b, pjid he will have some trouble to reduce to stake weights.

— Mr Bulteel, who is said to have won £30,090 over the success of Manifesto in the Grand National, presented Mr W. H. Moore, who trained the horse, with the stakes, and in addition, put him on 1000 to 70.

— Pistache, the French mare, got her hind, legs under the guard rail of one of the open, ditches in the " National/ but did not fall, the rail coming away with her. Her owner, Count de Geloea, was shot out of the saddle.

— Stockwell headed the list of winning stallions seven times — viz., in 1860, 1861, 1862, 1864 1865, 1866. and 1867. The amounts won by his stock yi those years were respectively £18,201. £21,029, £33,330, £28,708, £33,302, £61,391, and £42,521.

— I find on looking up the forfeit list of the Chester Cup that the filly by Tyrant — Loricula, named last week as the winner, did not accept. We shall have to wait for "the papers to find out what horse won the race. The cablegram is a muddle. ■ > — The Sydney" mare, Lady Trident, while racing in, the Canterbury Park Cup/ strained a leg: through placing her hoof in a hole. The accident closes her racing career, as she is destined for stud purposes, and will be first mated with Lochiel.

— The growing aversion to early two-year-old racing ha<3 extended to Belgium, where horses of this age will in future not be allowed to run till June. This is in accordance with a recent decision of a commission appointed to deal with the subject.

— Lowland Chief, by Antarus from Legado, who was bought in Sydney a few weeks since for 300gs, was sold lately to Mr "Jack" Leek for 445g5, with a contingency that in the event of the colt winning either the V.R.C. or A.J.C. Derby a further £50 is to be paid. — Paul Pry pulled up very lame after galloping on the gross at Adelaide a fortnight ago. The son of Lochiel has since been restricted to swimming work. The injury is not considered very serious. James Scobie declares that Paul Pry is the best horse he has trained.

— To afford an idea of the rate of progress of the competitors in the Grand National, it may he stated that the first of the two circuits of the course — two miles, 428 yds — was covered (Mum leading) in 4min 59sec, and the serond by Manifesto, the winner, in 4min 50 4-ssec.

—Mr J. Buckland, of Wonbobhie station (N.S.W.), had a try for the Australian Mile Trotting record at the Bathurst show on April 21. Fritz was in good form for the trial, but his best performance was 2min 14 l-ssec. He was paced by a galloper. The track was in good condition. — Holocauste, who has received considerable support for the Derby, * met with defeat at Maisons Laffitte in March. For the Prix Lagrange, a valuable race for three-yeai?-olds, odds of 5 to 4 were "betted on M. J., de Bremond'a representative, but they were upset by a 100 to 1 chance in Mic.

— R. H. Fry, the English bookmaker, writes: I made my first appearance in the ring at Ascot in 1870. I went by myself, quietly dressed, and carrying a satchel which contained my money, but had no name inscribed on it. I set aside £800 as capital, and I have never had any occasion to supplement that sum. —At the Oakland, Cal., track on February 21 Dunois won seven and a-half furlongs in lmin 32Jsec, making a- new record for the distance. The former record was lmin 33isec, made by Mamie Scott, 3. with 901b, on the track of the California Jockey Club, October 17, 1895. Dnn-

flis is a bay horse, 5, by imp. Florist, dam Becky B.

— Mr J. B. Haggin, of Rancho del Paso, California, has recently purchased in England the brown horse Arkle, foaled 1894, by Aiklow, dam Angelica, by Galopin out of St. Angela, by King Tom, and bay colt Shapfell, foaled 1895, by Kendal, dam Angelica. Angelica is the dam of imp. Order, and Mr Haggin now owns three of her sons.

— Jockey W. H. Blaylock died in Toronto, ' Canada, on March 20, from paralysis, at the age of 40. He -was, some years ago, one of the most prominent jockeys on the American turf, and stood high ior skill and integrity. At one time H lie rode for P. Lorillard at a salary of 10,000dol. Of late years he has been^raining and racing < a stable of his own. :

—At Kalgoorlie the Sydney Cup winner Diffidence returned those who backed her in the local totalisators handsome dividends. On one 5s place totalisator paying 50, 30 and 20 par cent., there was only one investor on the winner, and he received £69 19s. Had it been a straight-out machine, the dividend would have been £139 18s for ss.

— For entering the North Canterbury course and refusing to leave when requested, E. J. Ross was fined £5; J. Mitchell, Walter Sea--tree, and W. Mason £&; and Ernest Watson £ 2. The defence in Ross's case, taken first, was that the club was not the owner of the ground, "but the bench held that unchallenged possession under the lease was sufficient.

— In Perth, recently Thomas B. Hansen was granted an injunction restraining J. Charles (W.A. Tattersall) from paying over the first prize (£440) in the Bunbury Cup consultation - to W. Paul, of Menzies, who drew the winner, Merryman. Charles has decided to pay the amount into court. Hansen claims that he has a half interest in the winning ticket. — Monroe Salisbury is reported to have said : " If all the stallions in America were placed in one field, and Directum in another, and I was given the opportunity to choose between them, I would take Directum." He thinks that a stallion which defeated all comers, and trotted to a four-year-old record of 2.05J, stands the best chance to get tho two-minute trotter. — The first of the expatriated Carnage's stock to win in Australia was Battle Royal, who was successful in the Trial Stakes at the Warrnambool Amateur Turf Club meeting last month. Battle Royal is out of Princess Alice, who is by Bethnal Green from Saucepan (dam of Fryingpan), by Colsterdale. Mr J. N. M' Arthur gave 230gs for Battle Royal as a yearling.

— Fairy Prince, who shares the mile and a-half record witn Survivor, "furnished a remarkable instance of reversal of form by his running in the Canterbury Park Cup with 8.10 and the Moorefield Handicap with 9.5. lit the former race throughout he was at the tail of the field, and in the latter he carried his bigger -weight into second place like a tradesman.

—In the Telegraphic department nt Aintree on the Grand National day, the business, which is always heavy, was this year in excess of any previous occasion. As many as 8800 public telegrams were dealt with, and 28,000 words of press matter were disposed of at the grand stand alone, to say nothing of the large number ,of messages despatched from the head post office.

- — Taking part for the fourth time in the contest ( for the Grand National, Manifesto this year'followed in tlie footsteps of Peter Simple, Abdel-Kadir, The Lamb, and the "Colonel, the previous dual winners of the great/Steeplechase, and by his victory under 12.7 equalled the performance of Cloister six years ago! who for the first time in the history of the race was victorious under 12.7.

— Amongst the bookmaking fraternity operating at the bicycle races in Melbourne, writes " Javelin," are a couple of Egyptians! What •with their loss of Dr Bevan as a co-worker against the totalisator and " bad betting " at suburban meetings, the books have not been having it all their own way lately, but competition from Egypt was one of the last things which might have been feared.

— In the Northamptonshire Stakes this year Neish, South Australian, and Roughside were left to fight out an exciting finish, of which the Duke of Devonshire's colt had a head the best from South Australian, while Roughside only failed to obtain second place by the same narrow margin. \The winner covered the mile and a-half and 200 yds in 2min 56 3 ssec. He is by Ayrshire, from Applause 11, by Balfe.

— Three of Mr H. Bottomley's 5000 guinea purchases have been singularly unfortunate. Count Schomberg has not recovered a penny of the £5000 that was paid for him, and the investment of the same amount in Hawfinch has, Tip to the present, turned out almost equally unfortunate. Similarly profitless has been Gentle Ida, who started favourite for the last Grand National Steeplechase. — Owing to complaints of the jockeys who Tode in the opening races at Alexandra Park (Eng.) on the Ist April that the round course in its altered state was, in their opinion, dangerous, riding as they had to do, right hand outside, the Stewards ordered the race for the London Cup to be run left hand inside, as was the case last year with the principal race, and the finish took place at a post 40yds beyond the judge's bos. ■ '

— Amiable, the winner of the V.R.C. Newmarket Handicap, ran in the Welter Handicap (six furlongs and 190 yds) at the Northampton and Pytchley meeting on March 30. There \rer3 only six runners, the winner, Argon, carrying 7.8 to Amiable' s 9.2. The race was won by any number of lengths, with the majority of those behind the winner pulling up at the finish. Amiable was fourth. She runs 'in the name of Mr P. C. Paton, owner of the Trenton colt Longy. —As T. Canning was showing me round the spacious and excellently-planned mansion at Garlogs (remarks an English writer), a portrait of the great Isonomy prompted me to say: " I take it that was the best horse you ever lode?" "Yes," was the quiet reply, "over a distance of ground ; but putting him, Ormonde, and all the rest of them in, over a mile, I never put my leg across a better than Springfield. How good he was over his own course I never could, tell." — A contributor to one of the London sporting papers says he recently saw two very fine chestnut yearling daughters of Carnage, one out of Lady Halle and the other out of Dingie (daughter of Angelica). Lady Halle's filly is •the older of the two, and she is at present a thicker and more substantial filly than the other, but Dingle's daughter would be the writer's choice. She is very deep of girth, with a rare forehand, beautiful quality, wiry limbs, and plenty of length from hip to hock. The man who bred Electioneer, and scores •of other famous American horses, says: Although Green Mountain Maid stood but 15hds, all her produce, except Antonio, were large or of fair size. The stallions used by me, however, stood from 15.3hds to 16hds; and I prefer size in the stallion. In selecting a brood mare, I cared far more for roomy body than for mere height. A good, lengthy barrel on short legs is preferable a dozen times over to a contracted barrel supported by long legs.

— Tho Thornton Strikes, four miles, run at Oakland, CaL, on February 22, was the fifth, renewal of that popular event, and The Bachelor, 6, by Judge Murray, dam Spinster, by Springbok, won easily in 7min IGSsec, clipping 33ec from the time of Fellowcraft, made at Saratoga, August 20, 1874, which has for 25 years stood as the best time ever made in a race at the distance. The record for four miles against time is 7min llsec, made by Lucretia Borgia, on tho same track, May 20, 1897. »i£iaid, Mr Justice Hood in summing up in

the conspiracy charge laid in Melbourne against John Wren and John Bassett Cullen for attempting to suborn Arthur Smythe to commit perjury : "If the suggestion were fact that the detectives had concocted their evidence for the purpose of convicting Wren particularly, who was a reputed owner of a totalisator which the police had failed to crush, and whose conviction, therefore, would lead to promotion for them, the police force was lotten from top to bottom." The accused were discharged. — Sweet Adare was weighed out for the Oxton Hurdle Race at Nottingham in March, but at the v preliminary hurdle he came down, and, bolting riderless, went away towards the stables, where he collided with a stone wall and broke his neck. He was a four-year-old by Sweetheart out of Goldsmith Maid. When M. Lebaudy sold off his horses at Newmarket in December, 1897, Sweet Adare was purchased, by Mr Barker for 2500g5, but he never afterwards ran up to his juvenile form, and went through his next season without earning a bracket in the half dozen races in which he took part.

—It was in the " thirties," we believe, says the Live Stock Journal, that a great horse, standing over 19hds high, was exhibited in London, and attracted considerable attention at the time. In the month of November, 1845, however, there was on view at the Egyptian Hall a still bigger animal, General Washington, whose stature was 20hds lin. He was a draught horse, bred in America, and was exhibited by Carter, the *' Lion Tamer," who was at one time attached to Wombwell's menagerie. From the ground to the top of his withers was 6ft 9in — within an inch of the height of Freeman, the American .giant.

— The Warrnambool Steeplechase is acknowledged to be one of the prettiest sights in the way of a fencing exhibition imaginable, says the sportsman. The obstacles are too close together to admit of the pace seen on an open course like Caulfield, and hence it is more a trial of jumping than racing ability. The Pell Mell mare Mistletoe is perfect in such respect, and is gifted, moreover, with pace/ She carried 10.7, and won as she liked from Butler (10.9). The distance was beyond, his powers. It would have suited N.Z., but he fell. Mistletoe was at once in request, and was secured by the Indian buyer, Mr Gidney, for something like £300, Rumour sayeth.

— Had it not been for the energy of that great purifier of the turf — Lord George Bentinck — the beautiful Orlando, who appears so often in the pedigrees of the modern day thoroughbred, would not have come down to posterity as the winner of the JJerby of 1644. He » ran second to a horse named Running Rein, whose legs, it struck "Lord George, were dyed; and he went to work, with the result that he proved the winner to be Maccabeus, by Gladiator. Lord George first found out where the dye had been got, and who had purchased it. This was the first link of evidence given before a court of law — the law having been invoked by Orlando's owner to recover the stakes from Messrs Weatherby — and link by link being added, the identity of Running Rein was fully proved.

— At Warrnambool last month Mr Manifold's Carbine colt, Ashton, reached the judge first from Mr Tozer's Essex gelding, Informer. Mr W. E. Dakin declared tha-t all Carbines bore. Ashton does, and C. i Moore, who steered." him, admitted that when I the field ran "wide at the home turn he could not hinder Ashton from hanging in, but evidence at the inquiry appeared to show that he hardly prevented Informer from winning. The only horse that he really did hinder, saya the Sportsman, was Ercildoun, and it was allowed on all hands he was not to blame. Nevertheless, in view of the disqualification of Paradox, the stewards, to be consistent, thought it right to 1 award the valued prize to Mr Tozer. Informer j iipnot a good horse, and it is a pity a better ! Utould have lost it.