IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 37

IN A NUTSHELL.

— A Cromwell paper reports- the death' of Cffntive.

— Mr T. Duggan sends the Vincent nominations, and they appear in this issue.

— W. Buddieomb is making the Otago goldfields tour, commencing at Alexandra.

— The principal events at Palmerston have attracted very satisfactory nominations. —E. Hank'ina has bought a section at Wingatui, and' will put up- a string of boxes.

— News comes from England that it is contemplated to put Aurum into work again.

— The Wellington. Club- has- thoughtfully sent out a card with, the weignts lor the Wellington Cup.. — .W! McDonald, now in charge, of Mr Victor. Harris's horses, used to Da connected with the Sttephensan-Hazlett stable. •

— They say it would have taken £600 to buy Dundas during the Otago Cup meeting. Which means, I suppose, that the chestnut ■was nofr for sale.

—Mr P. Lorillard offered ±-2400 for the Sir Mbdred colt Bendorau- with the object of taking him to race in England. His American owner, however, atfked £3000;

— There will be another American jockey* riding in. England- nest season. This is ilaher. ■who has a good reputation, aud who will be first horseman for Mr Lorillard.

— "Malue." says that St. Ouida.. Tasmania, Jana Eyre, Sweetbriar, JJlva, Mabel,. Red Biding Hood, and a few other well4>red mare's have visited .Casket this season.

— -Harry" G'oddman did not accept with Pitch, and Toss for the Auckland Cup, but he Has taken her to Auckland for other races, and if the weights suit, Tom Buddieomb will ride her..

' — Irish Ivy, th'o winner of tlie Cambridgeslfire,. has been purchased' by Sir BroderickCloete for 5000gs and contingencies, and goes into. R. Marsh's" stable. Aa a yearling §he was bought for 36gs:

—It would be rank flattery to call Flying Fox a handsome horse, soye an English exchange, and he has the inelegant habit of hanging' his tongue out when he gallops. As a juattoi of fact, his sire did the same.

— The contest for "The Whip" at Newmarkei attracted' only two horses, Villiers and Canopus. The value of the stake was 290sovs. and tho distance four milea ons fur'ong and 177 yds. Villiers won from end. to end. —Mr Psitton has become so- disgusted with tho vreighis piled- by English handicappers on his Australian mare Amiable, notwithstanding her isoor performances in that country, that ho has determined to dispose of her.

— Dring the ranaiug of the Hurdle Hace at Gisborne (Vie.) «Sear threw her joskey, and the nominator of the horse, Lane, mounted, and rode the rest of the course. He was, however; thrown at one of the hurdle 3, and badly injured. —At the Hawthorn^ track, Chicago, on September 11, Carnero lowered the American record for eight and a-half furlongs to lmin 45scc, the previous best being a quarter-second. more than that. Carnero. ran the first mile in lmin. aSnsec. — In Calcutta rice hu3k is being used as a dressing for the training track, a proceedhi™ •which is regarded with apprehension by the , trainers, aa> they are of opinion, it will give horses soro heels, owing to the dried husks being like needle- points. ' — '.fliers is a rumour in the air, says Sporting Kaview, mat Battl'ease vras '"got at" before the New Zealand Cup was run. When Dummy travelled down Sau^rh for the Grand National somebody waa stated to have placed darning needios amongst his bsdeirg. ' — It is porfect'y useless to atiJamjit to tip for trie Greymouth. races. One never can tofl ■what are likely io start or how a horse will Tun on the Coast 'cou-rges. All that I can say is that Strathnaim, xieMnosa, und Be^ Farlc-y aro lively to win Ecmotiinj; on. tha Coass if they stait. —At Singapore the Autumn Handicap, one railo and. a-half, wa3 yon by The Chevalier, who used to be owned ty lir A. A. Saniue 1 . Tho son of Liochiel carried lust, and won by 10 lengths,, two other GO^ouiais in Sayles 10.5 and Toxteth ILO following him. home. The latter waa xk& favourite.

—In the Duko of York Stakes at Kempton Park (Eng.), 109 to 2 was laid oa Mount Prospect when the harse3 were abci'w 30ydB- from tblo winning posl, but to lire disgust of the layer of the odds, that distance was sufficient/ to permit of Erciidcm-iO gerihig up in time to baat Mount Prospect. — From New South Wales eouie3 news of the doath of the imported stallion Eiridspord, sire of niasy good performers, air.ongi'j thenr being Hynicttus, vrimiOi o£ the Cati'.field Cup. Biridspord was by tho {Rsnoiu English, ho.-ss Isononiy fronx Sonsie Queen, by Mualtet.

— For the C.J.G. Charcpagiie to be nui jexautumn the Otago csceutors- are: ilr J.. Stephenson's eh c Cp.imgorni. by Ruby — iliss Betty; Mr W. Crossan-'s eh i by Occident — Bay Bell; Hon. G-. M.'Lean's eh f Komuri, ( by Gorton — Lady Gertrude ; and Hon. G . M'Leiui\-3 cB. c Pampero, by St. Claiv I—Mistral.1 — Mistral.

,—, — Ted Hankins is aboui. to build slablea at Wingatui. ile is a particularly good man at his. business, as is- proved, by th« way ho got races out of Leinster and Captive, and 'other horsea that- had broken down, before ' he took, thorn, in hand, and I rccko.-t that when he is set going he wilL command plenty oi patronage.

"— Mi John Biowu. of Xew South WaJea. •who is at present m England, nas advisad h^ brother, Mr Williuni Brown, of tho purchasa of a colt by St. Simon out o£ the Oaks winner Mimi. by Barcaldine from a niaie by Lord Lyon ous of Sadie, by Voltigeur. It is understood that the colt will' be sliipped 1 to Australia.

—Mr S. Fielder, of TSfew South Wales, has been very lucky with, his racehorses. Ho seems to have dove well in disposing or Cranberry, but an offer of lOOOsovs for his two-yeur-old Commander did not tempt him. Commander is described as a colt of commanding appearance, a great galloper, and a wond'erfiiUy- quick beginner for a big fellow. —At Gaulfield' races Quatre Bras rsat very badlj in the Steeplechase. J% WiilioagE tho rider, expiained that tho horse bad' nofrnad a jump for eight months, whea he hurt hia knee. The stewards- cautioned him, and said he had 1 rup a grave risk of. being disqualified for bringing such a horse to run, for he thereby endangered, the' lives of others in the race. Aru important resolution iv- the Interests of breeders" haa. been deoided upon by the Y.E.C. committee. It has been decided that at the next spring meeting at Flemington thovi shall be four, additional, raeeß for two-yrur-olds. As the committee did not wish to disturb the present programme, the races will be in addition, to those which are alieady run, so that there will Be seven races per day. ~ A writer in the Riverina Grazier (N.S.W.) states -that unquestionably the frnesr and most arfstooratic-looking' tvro-yenr-old J ever seea in. tnosa parts is tha filly by Hova frcm Bavens■wing ('Zaza.— -Hova) 1 , wilich. is owned by Mr A. E. Tyson. An ideal filly, built or lines thus ehould satisfy the most exacting turf connoisseur, slio is something thai; students ot breeding might enthuae over. —Mr James Eadfeara's long soell ot bad Jnck was broken when, he won tho two-year-old, event at Cau'field with Vanity Fair. This is a cheesnnfc filly by. Pilgidm'3- Piogiess from. ' Madcap, (clair o£ Malvolio, iiuluma, and Chcsney), bj Hobinson' Cruioe. At the lioma turn Vaiuty. Faix was a long wnj out- of it. but she

came with a. good run. in the straight and beat Epitome quite comfortably.

— "Caspian' writes: Burrabari appears to possess a knaclr of falling in his races when most required to stand up. I well remember another horse, Despot, belonging to the late Mr James White, of Sydney, who consistently fell just when the earnest portion of the race commenced. A r o doubt it is some affection or weakness- of the knee that causes horses to fall unde- pressure of pace. )

— Searchlight, the five-year-old American pacing stallion, is getting within a reasonable distance of the 2min mark". At Indianapoii3, towards tho end of September, he covered' a milo in. 2min 2sec, which places him fifth, on the list of crack, pacers, those- with better Tecords being s Star Pointer (lmin 59} sec), John R. Gentry (2min Oisec). Joe, Patchen {jlmiu l£sec) r and Robert J. (2inin ijsec).

— Among other military lovers of racing, chasing-,, and other sports, andeii orders for the Transvaal, when the- last mail left were Colonel X B. Fisher, owner of the 1885 Grand National winner, Roquefort; Mr Peel, R.A., nephew of the owner of Irish Ivy; Mr Frank Wise, master of the Limerick hounds, who. goes out with his regiment,, the 13th Hussars ; and Major Poore, the famous Hants cricketer.

—A. Quinn, the South Australian trainer who took Merman and Auium to England, has gone in charge of Cranberry to the old country.

—Mr H. C. White, of New Souxh Wales, who has successfully raced Georgic and Old Clo, two Australian- bred horses, in England, has decided that they shr.ll be sold. Mr White is not severing his connection with tha English turf, but simply desires to make room for a better lot.

— "Austral" writes : Society could get on very well without the bookmaker, but' let us not forget that society has brought him into existence, and rather Jikes him, though it doe 3 affect at times to despise him and ail his doings. -Ths totalisator has not driven him out of the land where it has been set up. In New Z'ealaad, for example, He competes successfully with tho machine that was intended for his destruction.

— Oban was the hottest favourite for the Cambridgeshire known for years past. The night befoie the race a con.missioner took 4 to 1 in thousands as long as he could get it. Oban did not make the slightest show in tho race. — Mr J. C. Polain. the inventor' of the starting gate, ended his life in a lunatic asylum at Fremantle, W.A. Ho- died penniless, and haa left a wife and large family. It_ is intended to organise a fund for theii rjilie£.

— Last month, says Sydney Mail, that smart Medallion filly Mcdalet went temporarily mad. Sexual troubles, no doubt, brought on hysteria, and after fralioping half a mile fast sho set to work and tried to kick the aky. She behaved like a lunatic for 24 hours, then her trainer gave her a doso of physic, aud when il b9gan to work she settled down,, and is now very 'subuued, and as quiet and" friendly as sho always waa beforo the temporary aberra(ion. While in hysterics aha injured her off hock, and nothing' but a spell on- grass will nut her right.

— A member of the ring was anathematising the Age for its recently-published fading article, which, strorgly represented the desirability of relieving' the public charitable institufcians from their present deplorable impecunious condition by tegnlising the totalisator (writes "Javelin").. "I should have thought that you bookies, of all poople, instoad of opposing it, would have welcomed it," said a well-knowa backer. "Welcome it! Wot'ro yer givin' us?" replied tho irata reetallician. "How cculd wo welcome a- thing, thai? you know as well as I do would take our business ?'' "That's exactly what I mean," returned the punter, with a,\viiik at the third member of the party. "You fellows say that you loses at evary meeting, so I thought you might like to shift- such an undesirable responsibility!"

— Says a writer in ISaily'a Magazine: Nowadays to divide a big race 'after a dead heat is looked upon aa humane and' sportsmanlike. I well remonibsr meeting that old-fashioned racing enthusiast, Sir Francis Doylo, just after tho Derby dead heat of 1884. "Well, Sir Francis, what do you think of a divided Dsrhy?" Those who remember him will understand how his stick came down on tho pavement and tho corners of his mouth became parenthetical : "The owners ought both to havo bsen flogged on cop ofy the hill!" Corporal pu-iishniant publicly administered was, by tho way, his favourite remedy for breaches of hi.i unwritten, codo of turf morals. I have a lester by me in which ho vented his wrath oi Lord Gicavenor, who sold Mambrino to lhe Americans — "for which ho ought to have been publicly flogged on the quay r.fc Liverpool — or, I suppose, Bristol:"