IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 37

IN A NUTSHELL.

— Battery has been turned out for the winter.

— Miss Emmy has "been relegated to the stud at Sylvia Park. — Rangefinder has been tried successfully over little jumps. — Tod Sloan, the celebrated American jockey, is - only 26 years of age. — The V.R.C. defrayed the funeral expenses of the late Denny Ring.

— There was racing in and about Melbourne on 109 days last season.

— Jewel has been retired from the turf after a very successful career. - — The price paid for Nihilist by Mr J. U'Kewen was half a century. — J. J. Russell has in hand a "half-brother to Muscatel. The horse is by Vanguard.

— No less a sum than £2000 was written last week in Auckland in favour of Battleaxe.

— Altair' s record to date: Five wins, once second, eight times third, twice unplaced. — A yearling sister of The Grafter and Gaulns is being educated by Ike Earnshaw, of Randwick.

— Derrett has a hunter in work — and a wellbred one too, a son of Medallion and Burlesque. — Irisb. Twist, Laving been tried over fences, will, it is stated, be taken to Hastings to be

— A report is current in Sydney to the effect that the stallion Ruenali is to be sent to Eng-

land shortly. — Flying Shot has very badly broken down at Wanganui, and it is feared that he has run his last race.

.. — The Totalisator Bill is to be reintroduced -in the Victorian Assembly at the earliest possible moment.

— Bad weather ior training purposes is universal. From all quarters unpropitious weather is reported. — Goldspur is being hacked about, his owner riding him ; this once very speedy son of Rubezahl is looking well. — Mr Goodman informs me that if he does not shortly dispose of Black and Red he will

send him to Sydney. — The death took place in April last of the widow of the great jockey .Nat Flatinan, whom she outlived 39 years. — The V.R.C. Derby winner, Cocos, who met with an accident just prior to the opening of the V.R.C. Autumn Meeting, is reported to be in easy exercise again. — Sir George Clifford considers the filly by Clanranald from Safeguard the best of the

Stonyhurst youngsters. —Mr E. Hankins intends giving up Forbury Lodge in the meantime through the training track being closed. — Nelly, the dam of that very useful horse Sunrise, is dead. She was by Daniel O'Rourke, aim had reared nine foals. — Bristol and Bloomer are both doing regular work, tae three days' National meeting apparently being the object. — Boccaccio, in Mr E. Cutts's stable, has gone amiss. This son of Stonyhurst has not been a profitable investment. — Man-V-War, the sire of Manifesto and Gentle Ida, was purchased when a five-year-old by Mr H. M. Dyaß for 180gs. — Percy White, the well-known light-weight, has gone to Sydney for the improvement of his health, which has been very bad of late. — L'ochiel's progeny captured four out ol five races at the last Roselnll meeting, and the fifth was only missed by a very short head. — Longy, the Trenton colt who won at EpBom (England), had previously been beaten at Newmarket when starting a hot favourite.

— Ogle is the name be-' owed upon the two-year-old full brother to Little Billee, owned by a patron of A. Wood's stable at Taradale. — Mr Newton, the owner of Dundonald, who has been perfoiLaing so well in Queensland recently, refused an offer of lOOOgs for his horse. — Carbine's stock to the fore in Australia by securing the two principal events at both Randwick. and Flemington on Queen's Birthday. — Tom Firr, the veteran huntsman of the Quorn hounds, was recently presented with a cheque for £3200 on behalf of 500 subscribers. — Regalia, who paid the big dividends of £39 2s and £69 9s at the Takapuna meeting on Queen's Birthday, won the last Taranaki Hack

Dor by. — Mr George Gray's horses, including George Frederick, Chesney, and Chillagoe, are to be brought under the hammer in Melbourne at the end of June. — Another horse recently tried over hurdles is Whitirea, and the black gelding performed admirably. With his turn of foot he may be worth respect. — Tod Sloan won four races right off at Newmarket (England) on the 13th of April. Such an achievement as this rarely occurs on the English turf. — The Wellington Racing Club, it is said, is considering the advisability of following the lead of the Canterbury Club in the appointment of a paid judge. Mr G. E. G. Richardson has named his Robinson Ciusoe colt, out of a Jeuzail maie Robin Gray, and the Robinson Crusoe — Seal Brown colt, Robin Adaii. — Quickshot II is to be nominated for the Welter races at the C.J.C. National meeting, and it is a certainty that he will go up, bar accidents. So says his owner. — Mr Scott's pair, Whangaroa and Hangfire, -were struck out of their engagements at the TJorth New Zealand Grand National meeting at half-past 2 p.m., on the 26th ult. — Mr Stead forwarded Altair to England ex Wakanui last Wednesday in charge of M. Seeton. Every arrangement was made for the horse's comfort during the passage. — The West Coast sports reckoned that Marina would come home first in the Great Northern Grand National Hurdles and backed him accordingly, but he could only get fifth. — The Napier Park Committee have decided to make all contestants for the Hunters' Flat Race qualify for starting in that event by ;,umpir.g the gorse double in front of the stand. — The story that Pyroxylin had taken kindly io jumping turns out to have been a perfect fairy tale. On the contrary, he is stated to have shown quite a distaste for the illegitimate business. — Saracen has developed into a fine-looking stallion, and is located at Greytown North. 1 always looked on him as a neat specimen of a racehorse, and hope he may get a fair chance at the stud. — Tho nomination for the V.A.T.C. Grand National Hurdle Race and Grand National Steeplechase this year is free. The Hurdle Race is worth lOOOsovs and the Steeplechase 300sovs more. — The Tight to print and sell the cards at the Auckland Grand National meeting realised the sum of £113, which, in" this quarter, appearsa very big price for such a privilege, extending over two -days only. — At the recent Wanganui Races W. Davies, owner and trainer of Leda, had a good bet on

the mare in the machine, in which he had 151 - tickets invested. As the mare paid £19 17b, tho return was very good. — Zephyr having broken down badly, Mr B. Curtis disposed of her to Mr W. Crossan, of Berwick, the home of Occident, so it is pretty safe to predict that this full sister to Brisa will bo mated to the son of Lapidist. — T)odo, the full sister to the Caulfield Grand Kationhl Steeplechase winner, Ditto, who is being put through the mill at Ellerslie under the tutorship of her owner, Mr J. B. William«m, bears a promising acpearanco-

— Eefugee has been Bent home to Waikouaiti. Her three-year-old career has been very disappointing, and a great expense to her owner. She is a good-looking filly, and quite well enough bred to run for a ransom

— Mr J. B. Pearson, the owner of Contrast, had. £2.0 on his horse when he won the Elder Stakes at Adelaide, and as the son of Commotion paid a big dividend, Mr Pearson-received the amount of £708 for his investment.

— Mr W. Knight, the Auckland handicapper, met with an accident last week. He was crossing the street when he caught his toe in the tram line and fell heavily to the ground being very severely shaken and much bruised.

— After a season in India, if he keeps sound, Merloolas is likely to be despatched to England. His Australian record reads well: Started 24 times, won 11 times, ran second 7 times, third 3 times, unplaced 3 times. Won in stakes £4662.

— Really high-clKss polo ponies realise extremely high rates in England. At a sale held last month at Spring Hill, Rugby, the average for 34 head was £264 4g, the top price beinp 750gs, while others made 700gs, 500gs, 450gs, and 400g8.

—Mr W. Glassccok has received a cable from Mr J. E. Brewer, asking him to forward 10 tons of oaten hay to England. In a letter to Mr Glasscock some time ago, Mr Brewer mentioned that his horses did not take kindly to English hay. — Dunlop, who was bred by the Prince of 'Wales, and sold by his Royal Highness as a "loal 'for SOOOgs to Mr Rucker, who, in turn, "resold him to Mr W. Ward for 4100gs in the hope of winning the Derby, is to be forthwith relegated to selling plates.

— Jimmy is a trotter that has been consistently supported by backers for a, few years past, until he was given up as a hopeless case. He came out of his shell at Oamaru last week and won, paying a, dividend of £10 Bs, almost neglected by his old friends.

— The Sydney jockey, W. Delaney, now in England, did not make a promising start in the old country. His first mount was in the Anchor Stakes, on April 1, at Alexandra Park, on am unnamed horse by Derringer from Frivoli. The horse finished nearly last.

— West Australian ~TattersaJl's sweep on the Perth Birthday Cup closed with 17,800 subscribers. First prize (£1424) was drawn by J. Rowe, of the Queen Margaret mine, Bulong; second (£534), by Mr Matterson, of Perth; and third (£178), by H. Irwin, also of Perth.

— The Napier people are having a series of steeplechase obstacles erected inside the plough gallop. They will in no way interfere with training operations for .other classes of horses, and it is intended that they shall occupy a permanent position in the club grounds. — The late W. Lang, who died at Melbourne lecently held a saddle record of 14 successive steeplechase victories on the back of The Baron out of a possible 15. A stray dog brought him and his horse down on the loth essay, or he would have put up a Monte Carlo main.

— Valiant, winner of the Juvenile Stakes at the late Canterbury meeting, is pronounced to be a real beauty, and general opinion is that he will prove better than Fritz. It is currently reported that a Dunedin sport made an offer of £500 for him, which was promptly refused.

— Thos. Knight, a well-known Australian horseman, had a narrow escape from serious injury at Bendigo recently. The horse he was riding reared up and fell backwards, throwing Knight into the gutter, and falling on top of him. He escaped with some nasty cuts and bruises

— Tho bookmakers had a bad time over the recent cycling carnival at Kalgoorlie. " Why," said an irate penciller, " when they come at one the only chance we have is for his tyre to bust. The next time tho parsons go to the Premier about stopping betting, gorbli'me, I go with 'em."

— The Egmont Racing Club have used the county council's steam roller on their rncing and training tracks. Barnes's Baby may be brought into requisition at Wingatui with n view to flatten that rise in the straight. I fancy the Dunedin corporation would be glad to see the back of it.

— A well-bred Australian horse, The Faithful, by Niagara — Faith, was sold in Sydney recently for £4 ss. During the season, three years ago, he won six races out of 17 starts, and in one event at Canterbury Park he cut out the six furlongs in lmin lS^eec; yet now he is valued at less than a fiver.

— Rebel is being hacked about by Harry Jackson, and the owner of tho big chestnut informs me that he will most likely try him .again in the spring. Rebel is 11 years of ape, which is not considered old for Duntroon's .stock. Very few of them have been seen at their bept before their eighth year. — Mr Stead's St. Ilario is likely to be prominent in the New Zealand Cup betting,, as the colt has already been backed for several centuries at hundreds to five. St. Unrio is by St. Legor — Cissy, and Mr Stead paid 900 guineas for him when a yearling. Some say he is better than Screw Gun. which is saying a great deal. — The Dunedin Bookmakers hod a fairly good time of it on Saturday over the first day of the Auckland National Meeting, the victory -of the. outsider, Shylock, giving them a skinner in the big race. It was, however, only lent, for the -public very largely supported Dummy for <ihe Steeplechase on the second day, and Tim also had a big following. —Mr Allison writes of tho "Westminster Pla-te: Longy got home all rigEt. running dead game and staying well. The form does not seem anything remarkable just now, but he will give us a much better show some other time if he is put by for a while and allowed to grow, for he has all the noakings of a really good horse, but is the merest baby as yet. — Remember Me, who scored in tho Welbeck Stakes at Derby on April 14, has won altogether six races during her career, one in each season. It is a strong point in favour of the horses for courses theory that no fewer than four of her victories have been obtained at "Derby, where, as a three-year-old, in 1895, she defpated Ugly and 11 others for the Chatsworth Stakes.

— Before tho invention of handicapping in England, the races were chiefly "matches," "plates," "sweepstakes," "give-and-take plates," "catch weights," and one singular race, which is now obsolete, called a " whim plate," the principle of which was not only weight-for-agc, but weight for inches. >one inch was calculated as equal to 71b. It gpnerally began at 13hds 7st, and finished at 15hds list.

—At Brighton races (South Tasmania) there was a record field of 22 starters in the Ladies' Bracelet, and it was the first time on that sidp of the water that three horses ran a dead heat for first place. The dead-heaters were Lena, Melody, and Fjdelis. Melody paid £81 18s on the -totalisator, Lena £9 2s, and Fidelis 13s. In the run off Fidelis did not take part, and Lena beat Melody by a length.

— Mr Magorian. the owner of Quickshot 11, was so pleased with the way that Higgins rode his gelding in the Wailaki Plate at Oamaru, that he brought the lad to Dunedin to take charge of the horse, and he will ride him at the National meeting at Christchurch. Higgins had not been in the saddle for a couple of month's prior to hie mount, in which hp never gave the large field behind him half a chance, paying a dividend of £15 los.

— "Honesty," in the Weekly Press, says: " It is to be hoped the Trotting Conference will be asked to pass a rule making it compulsory to pay dividends down to €d, a,nd that they be worked out, where there are £1 and 10s totalisators, on the £1 ticket bisis. If some clubs Ara not careful they will help to kill the goose

that lays the golden eggs. Ten per cent, is plenty to ask the public to pay for the privilege of betting through the totalisator." — In England the opinions of jockeys must go a lot further with the racing authorities than is the case in Australia. At the Alexandra Park meeting on April 1 the jockeys who rode in the opening races complained that the round coiirse, in its altered state, was dangerous, riding, as they had to do, right hand inside. Thereupon the stewards ordered the race for the London Cup to be run left hand inside, the finish taking place at a post 40yds from the i judge's box. I

—It doesn't always do to be glib-tongued in betting matters. Rumour has it, says " Phaeton," that a well-known penciller (apparently under the impression that the wager would not be taken) while a backer was modestly asking for 200 to 6 about the combination Splinter and Nor'-We3t, boldly offered to lay 1000 to 30, which, to his dismay, was quickly snapped up. The bookie was quick to recognise that he had all the worst of the wager, and the backer brotight him peace of mind by considerately laying him back £500 of the thousand.

— Newhaven has placed another race to his credit in England by annexing the Epsom Cup, defeating Jaquemart, the only other starter, by 12 lengths. There are always good entries for this event, and it appears quite probable the ex-Australian frightened the other competitors out of it, as he now undoubtedly commands very big resjpect at Home. The bookmakers took very great liberties with him when he scored in the City and Suburban. All had a very heavy settlement in consequence. They will now be more careful of antipodean representatives.

—An interesting statement has just been issued by " Tattersall " Adams, showing what has happened in connection with his sweeps during the nine months prior to March last. New South Wales has taken nearly £80,000 of the " place " prizes ; Victoria, £35,000 ; New Zealand, £20,000 ; Queensland, £17,000 ; South Australia, £5193; Tasmania, £2600; Western Australia, £1692; and China, £1125. There were 29 consultations held, only 12 of which filled, and the aggregate amount of the " place " prizes paid away was £181,932. Then, of course, a great deal was given in cash prizes. Four of ths five " specials," drawn on the day of the race, filled.

— An unfortunate Chinaman, who had two tickets on Tally-ho in the Grandstand Steeplechase at Wanganui (remarks the Chronicle) had the old adage, " the more hurry lesd speed," forcibly brought home to him. He was standing by the rails, close to the winning post, and as soon as he saw that it was a certainty for tho horse he was backing, and without waiting for the other horses to pass, he jinnped into the track for the purpose of making an early cell for his dividend. However, no sooner was John in the tr?.ck than Whangaroa,, who luckily was slowing down, galloped over him, and for a moment it looked as though a fatality had occurred. However, he escaped with a shaking. — "Mr Barnes, of New York," is the books' cognomen for a cei-tain Yankee punter who has lately been having a big run of luck " backing 'em" at N.S.W. race meetings. A stout, redfaced little chap in a felt hat, he first showed at the Wagga meeting, at which he won £200 ; then took a hurried trip to Sydney and helped himself to iuOO at Rosehill, and got back to Narandera in time to gather in £150 or thereabouts at the local meet. That Mr B. knows something of the game he proved at Narandera, where he took all available money about a certain good thing some time before the race, and then, when said good thing looked rocky, laid the jock £50 to nothing, and collected something like £300 from the Hpbrews.

— " Phaeton," in the Auckland weekly, says : " I Have witnessed a good few race meetings conducted in sloppy going, but I never remember having seen the jockeys get so bespatteied with mud as was the case at Takaruna. So completely were their feet and lrands covered that it seemed as though during the progress of the race their colours had uudera sudden transformation from white to black, and in many casea they were irretrievably mined, and altogether the day was one long be lemembered by the jockeys who were called upon to don silk. The loosp. Band character of the soil pfc Takapima renders it very easy to be churned iip when galloped on in a heavy ttate, and to this cause may be attributed the great baptism of mud which the riders received.

— Tho victory of Contrast over Le Var, Gnullo, Paul Pry, Forest, Vigorous, and Diffidence in the South Australian Jockey Club's Elder Stakes, a weight-for-age event, is described as the surprise of the season in Australia. Contrast is a five-year-old, and is by that once-famous horse Commotion, and is owned by Mr J. B. Pearson. She paid a dividend of £3G 12s, and on the second day of the meeting she demonstrated that her Elder Stakes victory had been no fluke, aB she won the Adelaide Cup, of loOOsovs, beating 14 opponents. On this occasion, however, she was much better supported, as out of £5576 15s on tho machine, £1350 10s had been invested in her favour. Her dividend, therefore, amounted to only £3 16s, a very small one indeed considering the quality and size of the field. She carried 7.0, the top weight being Lo Var with 9.2.

— Robert Peck, at one time a famous, English trainer, in his autobiography, says : — " When a boy it was my great delight to go out on the wold and watch the cracks of the day go through their morning tasks. One of the horses that first took my fancy was Sonff?tress, who won the Oaks in 1852. That same year I used to watch West Australian doing his gallops, and I was wonderfully taken with him. One morning, when John Scott (the ' Wizard of the North ') came out to see the horses at exercise, ho was accompanied by a quiet-looking gentleman. John Scott saw me and called me to him. The gentleman sinilod at me and said : ' Well, and what ia going to win the Derby?' 'West Australian, sir,' I answered without a moment's hesitation. ' The youngster is not a bad judge!' said John Scott. Afterwards I found that the quiet-looking pentleman was none other than the great Loid Derby."