IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2373, 24 August 1899, Page 37

IN A NUTSHELL.

— They are liking the look of Castashore at Riccarton. — Chesney has been shipped to England from Melbourne. — Somebody in Melbourne has backed Lancaster at 6 to 1 for the Derby. — That great "galloper Merganser has given birth to a filly by Apremont. —It is said that MegaptaHe will shortly go over to Sydney and there ba submitted to auction. — Though giving £500 more in stakes, the V.R.C. made £1600 over its Grand National meeting. — According to Mr Butters, the members have .subscribed £100,000 to the funds of the V.R.C. Penrose, the half-brother to Bush Rose, is teported by the Referee to be again working at Napier Park. — The Referee says that Belcher has been fiving his New Zealand Cup candidate, Rose 'lot, good serviceable work. —Mr W. Allan, father of James and Malcolmn Allan, has bought Stephenson and Haelett's racing stable for £200. — For the big money at the Canterbury Trotting Club's meeting three Otago horses competed, thus making half the field. — Chelsea, winner of the Moonee Valley (Vic.)' Hunters' Steeplechase, is by Portsea, one of the stoutest of' Australian champions. — The annual report of the Australian Jockey Club shows that the year has been very successful, and that the balance is on the right side. — The South Canterbury nominations include many horses of high quality, and the list fe a long one, so the material is there for a good meeting. — At the annual meeting of the Tuapeka Club the president (Mr H. Craig) reported fliat the course was in very good order considering the weather. — Wild Wave, Wild West, the gelding Gold Ring, and a colt by SilvermaTk — Wild Wave are for sale by O'Meara arid Co.. of Queenstown. — For many years, says Mr Sylvester Browne, Mr George Watson, the V.R.C. starter, received only three guineas expenses — about £50 a year. —Mr Sydney James sends the Dunedin Jockey Club's book of programmes — intended, it is to be presumed, for private circulation so far as Otago is concerned. —The ballot to fill vacancies on tho V.R.C. Committee resulted in the return of the six retiring members, and the election of Mr R. Gric» vice Mr o'Sha.nnasy. —At the Newmarket yearling sales a bay colt, the first of St. Frusquin's progeny to appear in a sale-ring, was sold for 2100gs. A promising start for a young sire. — The Queensland Guineas, tuu on the sth, fell to Mr H. A. Walsh's colt, Lauri, a son of GoldsbTough and Equation, and bred by Mr F. S. Reynolds, of New South Wales. —On the 27th July Mr Trickett moved for leave to bring in a Totalisator Bill in the New j South Wales Legislative Council, and Sir ! Arthur Renwick promised to oppose it at every j stage. —Mr John Cohen, a wsll-known member of the ring, intends to leave Australia for England .in April next. He will follow Mr Joe Thompson's example and 3tart fielding in the old country. — Gold Medallist, who left Lynham's csrdfolistmtnt at Ogbourue for Robinson's stable at Foxhill (Eng.) in June, camp down on the n.ad while walking over to the latter place, and broke his knees. — The Melbourne Cup winner Gaulus was in the birdcage at Warwick Farm on the sth inst. He showed an unsightly scar on one of his forelegs, which testified to the severe blistering to which he has been subjected. —At the Foibes (N-S-Y^.) show on tho 4th inst. the cha-mpion trotter Fritz covered a mile in the splendid time of 2min llsec, which equals the Australian record and is only lscc slower that Fritz's time at Chrislchtirch in January last. — As a result of the circular issued by the A.J.0., Tegulating the powers of oountry clubs, a Southern Racing Association is to bo formed, and the Totalisator Bill, which comes before Parliame.it shortly, is the first plank io receive strong support. — Maecenas, a four-year-old brother to Patron, has not altered much in looks since his last appearance at the A.J.C. Autumn meeting, but a marked improvement is undoubtedly to be noticed in his pace, and he wo l the Stewards' Mile at Warwick Farm. — The V.R.C. possesses * tangible asset in its freehold city property, which is valued at cost, £10,832. The freehold land at the racecourse is valued at £2736. The club has expended over £165,000 on the racecourse buildings, improvements, stock, and implements. —Mr J. J. Miller's statistics show that the following amounts were given for the 1898-99 season; — Victoria, 503 meetings, £111,2*0 prize money; New South Wales, 435, £81,567; Queensland, 238, £37,954; Weat Australia, 117, £32,192; South Australia, 76, £22,533; Tasmania, 56, £8897. — Although the buyer is not positively named, there is little doubt that it is Mrs Langtry. who has bought the Victorinii colt j Chesney, brother to Malvolio and Maluma. Mr Skinner, the V.R.C. caterer, bought the colt 'ately for HOOgg, and it is st-.id lie was cold for 2000gs. —W. Franks, who brought the stallion Cyrenian out to New Zealand, and who saw many famous stud horses during his stay in England, pays the Auckland-owned Hotchkiss a high compliment (says the Canterbury Times) by stating that he did not see a horse equal to him in the old country. — The Australian Cup winner Idolater is to be given another chance on the Indian turf after an absence of three seasons. He is said to have lost his dash of a couple of years ago, nnd even for the stud was not much inquired for when he was for sale last year. He will run in the colours of Mr Apcar. — Lewes appeai-3 to be a favourite course with the colonial-bred horses. In 1897 Merj;ian (by Grand Flaneur) won ovei Ihe course, Maluma (by Malua) followed suit in the following year, while this season Form (bj CranbrooW and Uniform (by Hotchkiss) have each proved successful there. — Glonloth's stud career has been so very disappointing, says the Sportsman, that his owner was content to let the Melbourne Cup winner go at auction for the insignificant sum of 65 guineas. Glenloth is a, pov.-ei fully built horse, with lots of quality, too, but it is said he is not very sure with his mares. — When th.3 last mail left England Friar's Balsam waa rep.irtad to be hopo'lessly paralysed, and an arraagemeiit was made with the insurance people co allow him to be destroyed. The borse was insured for X'sooo, and they lot him be shot a fortnight before the policy exnireJ, agreeing to pay £3000. The "Officer, eon of Robinson Crusoe and the Gang Forward mare Marie Louise, is the horse bought by the Hon. J. D. Ormond to replace Dreadnought. The Officer's principal feat on tho turf was his winning tho Caulfield Guineas. The Officer is brother to The Captain. He is coming over in the Talune. — Sir John Henderson, of Glenavy, is prepared to sell his stallion, Mount Royal. This is the only one of the produce of the Apremont — Hammock mare Sierra left in New Zealand, as Sierra was sold the next year to Mr Wallace, owner of Carbine, and went to Victoria. The trottev Emerson, son of Bei'Jn, is also for rate.

— The Carbine horse War God, who was ! heavily backed in Sydney recently for the Melbourne Cup, was exercised in the paddock at Warwick farm on race day, and looks blooming. There can be no doubt, remarks Mcl- , bourne Sportsman, that Mr Forrestei holds a strong hand in this horse and The Chief for ' the big spring events. —B. Lewis, the crack lightweight jockey, had not (says the Age) left England for Aus- , tralia prior to the departure of the last moil ! which reached Melbourne. J. E. Brewer, writing to a friend in Melbourne on the day the mail closed, said that Lewis was anxious ifi return and was arrangmg with his employer, j Mr J. G. Clarke, for permission to do so. | — A Victorian sportsman who is visiting the West Australian fields says that he thinks the chestnut colt Carbineer the best-looking of any of Carbine's stock in Australia. Mr Roberts, who has one of the most charming bits of country imaginable at Yatheroo, has set his heart on winning the Perth Cup, and Carbineer is to be prepared for the big two-mile handi- i cap.. i " Taihoa" writes: — The Briar has probably j run his last race. When competing in the ' Wellington Steeplechase the little son of Hiko and Religeuse broke down in one of his fore- | pins (where it was feared ho would break up), but so willing was he to compete that his rider < could not pull him up before the game little , bay had covered a considerable distance of i ground. —He was a humble racing man, and he went to complain to his landlord that his rooms wore over-run by rats. "But, surely," said the latter, "I've heard, somewhere or other, that you depend on backin' horses for a living?" "Tact's so." "Well, dash it all, don't go an' scare the things away ; you may be glad to catch 'era and eat. 'em afore the season finishes'." | — The Bill of Portland colt Promontory, who j so gamely fought out the finish in the Bala> | c.lava Stakes at Caulfield, is engaged in the . Derby, and so is Ideal, who finished fourth. \ Other Derby candidates to run during the day [ were Lancaster (whose iorm was again disappointing), Skylark, Bugle Call, Eminence, Duke of Portland, and Battle Royal. Promontory has 7.1 in the two Cups. j —At a special meeting of the V.R.C. Corn- ! mittee Mr Septimus Miller was re-olected ohair- i man and Mr C. M. Lloyd vice-chairm-ui. In j pecordauce with the recommendation of theannual meeting of t.ho V.R.C. the committee ' have passed the following resolution: — "That • as recompense to the club's starter (Geo. Wat- < son), it is resolved that he be paid from the funds of the club the sum of £ - moo." — In American racing circles it is stated that Murcus Daly (the "' Copper King ") has expressed his willingness to put in half a million dollars in hard cash towards the purchase of ground and the equipment of a racing track within easy distance of New York. There must be money in racecourse owning in that particular portion of this terrestrial sphere, when one man is willing to invest so much in it. —Mr Albion writes: There was plenty of evidence at the English sales in July that the yearlings by colonial-bred sires ate in demand, In id hpyo "of course wa are on pretty sure gio\M'd, having seen what Longy and Dum Uuiu i'au do. My own idea is that the very [ best jearimg of the week is the colt by Trenton out cf TjbUha, bought by S. Darling for 600 guineas, and passed on to Sir Edgar Vincent at 150 guineas profit. The Carnage colt is, in the opinion of such an experienced judge as Mr John Mackay, the anest yearling he e i- er saw in iSiigland. — The fact that some two-year-olds of merit '.vere contesting gave a, very interesting complexion to the Hurst Park Foal Plate on the Ist July, but Democrat, despite his putting up the "full penalty, was strongly supported, I and started v good first favourite from Oria, I while Vain Duchess also received substantial [ recognition. The market fairly fcrotoid Ihe j result, as those named supplied ihe first tJwc.e, uncl in winning cleverly by three-quarters of a length from Tain Duchess, the American-bred ; colt endorbed the 'orm between the pair in the ! ; Coventry Stni.es a* Ascot. — The appeal of the South Australian ! jockey, J. Lyall, against the decision of Tattersnll's stewards disqualifying him for two years , in connection with the running of Fund in the | club's Hurdle Race on 15th July last came before the S.A.J.C again on the 7th. The case had previously ben under the con- j sideration of the S.A.J.C. executive, when the > committee decided to take the appeal under a j rule which gives them power to rehear the j whole case and take fresh evidence. The re- | suit was that tho appeal was dismissed. i — Sydney correspondent of Melbourne Sports- ; man says: — Cocos, Cravat, and Flodden went j to Kensington on the 3rd, and were put to a > genuine gallop over one mile and three furlongs. ] Flodden won by a head, iv 2inin 39Jsec, from Cocos, who, however, had the worst position, I and was obliged to run wide to prevent crushing j Flodden on the hurdlea. Cravat was most disappointing, being easily beaten off, aud refus- j ing to answer the whip, he made a- sorry show, j After the gallop Cravat showed sigus of lame- i ness, which was more pronounced in evidence I on the sth, when he was merely trotted on the track. — Death of Young Fullerton. — Following closely upon the death of that famous greyhound Fullerton, whose end was reported less thaa a month ago, comes tho news that Mr Harry North's Young Fullerton, a younger brother of the celebrated dog, has died. The son of Greentick and Bit of Fashion spent his early days at Short Flatt, and subsequently became the property of the late Colonel North, at whose sale in June, 1894, he was bought in after a very high figure had been bid. He was not the great success in the coursing field that was anticipated, and in the Waterloo Cup o{ 1892 he was put out in the third round ly Ivan the Great. — That .eminent American authority, the Spirit of the Times, states that Batten, winner of the Frank Fehr Stakes and the Premier Stokes at Louisville, is the product of the artificial impregnation system, and was named nfter Dr Batten, the veterinary who performed the operation. His dam, Sudie M'Kairy, had been barren for several years, though mated v. ith a number of stallions. She was bred to imported Candlemas in 1893, but failed to throw a foal. Dr Batten persuaded T. M. M'Dowell to let him try an artificial impregnation system. The experiment was tried, and in the spring of 1896 she threw a, bay colt, and since that time "*he has been a Tegular breeder. — There were Cup candidates in the Warwick Farm Handicap at Warwick Faim on the st'i August, and they were backed, but they a.U failed to get a place. Severity was favourite, but he had a 71b penalty. Holbrook was well supported, and Jean was third in demand. Sydney Referee says it was a great race as far as the half-distance, at which point Jean dashed up and smothered the lot with a good finishing run. which was a. decided improvement on her effort at Moorefield. Mr Oxenham must have been pleased with tho wwar3 r Gauleon shaped. Ho is now a great, fine horse, looking very much as he should do fo far away fioro his Victorian engagements. Jean is by Mar.ton. —Mr Marcus Stevenson, one of the best known veterinary surgeons in England, hah expressed his opinion as to the causa of the accident to the French colt Holocauste in the English Derby. He says that. "if the rider, Sloan, had been sitting on the saddle instead of crouching on the neck, he would have finished at the post. Had he been on the shoulders he could have helped his horse to recover after its firpt mistake^ when one of its tendons was ricked.

I've been a cross-country rider myself for years, and I know nobody can have the smallest control of his horse in the position adopted by Sloan. Sloan's position extorts speed by frightening his mount, and Holocauste was clearly sacrificed for the Derby." — Says the London Chronicle: — The Parisians may boast to be superior to us in some things. They may claim to produce better artists, better actors, better dramatists, better novel-writers ; but they must allow at least that we still hold the field in respect of horse-race riders, seeing that every one -of the 15 jockeys who rode for the Grand Prix this year bore an English name. Yet some of those jockeys have been born of British parentage in France, *nd one or two of them speak French better than English. What Spitalftelds was to the silk weavers who lied from France to escape religiotis persecution, Chantilly has become to the English jockeys who have migrated to France to better their worldly fortunes, and for its size this Gallic Newmarket has the largest British population in the Republic. — The Duke of Portland's two Derbys now 10 and 11 yea-rs back respectively, are mainly kept in memory at Welbeck by a solid block of buildings bearing ihe significant name of "Winnings," and the Duke has still some of the stokeholder's money left to spend. A new school and a new church within a walk of Welbeck Abbey he opened last week (says the Sporting Times). He was not the man to pursue racing at a loss, and his dignity must have received a severe shock at a certain Newmarket meeting when an old schoolfellow turnefl up in a new Sportsman reporter, fresh from "down under," who, knowing nothing of the Duke's slice of luck, cried out: Hullo, Bentinck, old chap, how are ye?" iNor should we cloak the context. When the verbose pressman was mildly rebuked by a brother scribbler, ■vho was showing him the ropes, he added: " What— Bentinc^ a duke?— why, the beggar owes me a dollar!"