IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2429, 3 October 1900, Page 41

IN A NUTSHELL.

»— Ampler cost 70gs as a yearling. — Dunedin races are on the 10th and 13th. — Eiridsdale is out of the Melbourne Cup. — Maltster's teeth are said to be giving liim trouble. — Mr H. Goodman has shifted his quarters to Riccarton. — Beddington has a 3lb penalty for -the New Zealand Cup. — Arline has gone to EldersluTuO mate with Gipsy Grand. * — First Blood is all to pieces, according to Ms Geraldine foim. — The 12th and the 17th are the days of the Tahuna Park ? trots. — Pampero gave one of his knees a slight mock the other day. — Eros, the half-brother to Sir Modied, has gone to Invercargill. — Tho Hon. J. D. Ormonde 1 has sold St. Brigid to a Southland owner. — Will o' the Wisp injured a hoof and could not start at Waipawa. ! — No penalties for Dunedin were incurred on the second day at Geraldine. — Nadejda, full sister to Diamond Jubilee, is nqmmated-for,the Oaks of 1902. — Maltster and Hautboy each have' a 71b" penalty in the Caulfield Guineas. -$. Reviver scratched on the 25th Septemberfor Caulfie.d" j aiid. /Melbourne Cups. *- Passion.' Fruit, a winner at Waip'awa, is l)y Douglas — his first winner, I think. — Seahorse was backed for £10,0-30 In the., Melbourne Cup up to the time the last mail left. ' ' — Diamond Jubilee finished a bad fifth in the Jockey Club] Stakes at Newmarket last week.. — ifr Percryal sends the Auckland book of programmes,' and. I have duly entered up the dates. . „ — Jive. special trains are to be despatched from Dunedin to Wingatui on the race days this month. — The T.R.C. is petitioning Parliament to have betting in public again legalised in Tasmania. — A Sydney cable states that the racehorses Seahorse and Labourer have arrived in good condition. — Seahorse and Labourer were scratched for the New Zealand Cup at 9 a.m. on the 25th September. —T. Buddiconib has not yet applied for a Tiding license, but I hope to see him do so ere the season i 3 out. — Clytie and Huku stumbled in the Spring Handicap at Geraldine, and the latter never recovered his position. — Badk Laborer in Australia, and don't ask any questions. I don"t advise a plunge — just a modest investment. — The Referee reports that J. M'Taggart is engaged to ride the Hon. G. M'Lcan's horses at the New Zealand Cup meeting. — Our AucKland correspondent deems it possible that Record Heign will be the only Aucklander left in the New Zealand Cup. — Mr Henrys, the handicapper, had a game at billiards with Roberts, at Wellington, and, receiving 700 out of 100 D, lost by only 19. — The Epsom Handicap winner, Anipier, -is engaged in the Caulfield Cup at' 8.0 and the Melbourne Cup at 7.7, including penalties'. '—Nihilist, Izalj 'St. Denis, and "Proposal liave""ari:ive3 to take partliri the racing at Wingatui. .1 understand that Romanoff is not corning- " " ' — Spark ll,"winner"o"f the "Great Eastern .Railway Handicap at Newmarket last week, was "bred in Australia, and is by'Antteus, son'of Sir Modfed. "" " " .! ' — From. England it is cabled that Tirant d'Eau haabeen scratched for all engagements. The New Zealand Cup winner has probably gone Vroh'g.' * * — Money for investment at Wingatui on the 10th and 13th will be received at the D.J.C.'s office up to one hour before the time of starting each race. — The world's record" for two and a-quarter miles has been lowered in America to 3miu 49 l-ssec, or 7sec faster than Seahorse's, which is the best in the colonies. — At the Lewes (England) meeting on August 10 Eobino was credited with covering the live furlongs ci the De Warrenne Handicap in the exceptionally good time of 58 l-ssec. — C. Cooper, who steered Arnpier to victory in the Epsom Handicap, was laid a thousand to nothing by the owner, and altogether the win meant something like £2000 to the jockey. — Selections for Kurow on Thursday, the 4th: — Cup, My Lord; Spring \ Handicap, Tsaritsa; Jockey Club Handicap, Galileo. I am writing before seeing the acceptances. — The D.J C. wants to be told the reasons of the CatUe Flat Club in seeking to xernove the life disqualification from Daniel Russell after it has run only a little more than four years. — Quickshot, daughter of Artillery and Irene, lias baen brought from Blacks on a visit to Casket, and Black Bess (by Epicure) comes flora the same district on a similar mission. — I Hear a Tumour to the: effect that an Adelaidp trainer is coming over under engagement. td tlie Hon. H. Mosraan, but whether there is any truth in the story is more than I can say. '. — Word comes from Singapore that Dewey is *td be given another chance before returning to Australia. Etewey suffers ilrom a dry skin, 'and horses that do not sweat are. seldom of any use dn. India "—" — Mis 3 Modred, by Sir Modred, was the dam of Lord W. Beresford's Yellowbird, who secured the Juvenile Selling Plate at the Alexandra Park August meeting. The colt was bought in for 200g5.- — I have an inquiry as to the price of the Southland mare Seabreeze. If vthe owner ■will forward his name and address I shall notify the inquirer, and let them do their own bargaining. —My congratulations to Mr Jack Taggart on his marriage with Miss Alice Piper, daughter of the starter.- I have known Jack since he was a- boy and wish him and his bride all sorts of luck. — Mr R. Croker's two-year-old Merilla, by the New Zealand-bred hoise Sir Modred, won the August Auction Plate by four lengths. The filly was subsequently purchased by Mr R. Sievier for 350gs. — Most of the jockeys at the Birmingham meeting drew 21b overweight as a consequence of the heavy rain, and permission of the stewards Had to be obtained- for the clerk of the scales to pass them. — Fulmen represents Otago in the Auckland Cup nominations; and Canterurby's horses are "Malatua, Cavalry, Military, Sant Ilario, and Skobeloff. There are several comparatively unknown horses in the* Steeplechase. — Tlie .Futurity Stakes, America's greatest sapling stake, run over a short six furlongs course, was this year won "by Ballyhoo Bey, his time bein lmin lOsec, equal to the record foi the race made by Ogden in 1896. — The death is reported from New South Wales of the " thoroughbred ' horse Stock■well, by Henchman from Lady Lilliard, who ■was a good performer, winning among other laces the Epsom Handicap of 1888. — Mr W.F. Dunne, who is serving the flag with one of the New Zealand contingents, sends me a line from Pretoria. He is well and desires to be remembered to Balclutha and Otago friends generally. Good boy, Billy. —Mr W. H. West, an English owner, has sold tae 'chaser Shipshape for £2200. Shipshape, who i 3 by Master Mariner (by. Ben Bat-

tie) out of Celeste, by Xenophone, won tho Tantivy Steeplechase of lOOsovs at Gatwick.

— Dirk Hpmmerhand broke his long spell of bad luck at Morphettville, when, with 9.7 in the saddle, he won the Spring Handicap, a mile and a- half. The son of Carlyon gave away weight to all his opponents, and beat them at his ea3c.

— Maltster rules the roost in the betting on the Victorian Derby, and, remarks " Terlinga," it will be gratifying to the sporting public that the fa\ounte is owned by a man of the character ot Mr Orr, who is nothing if not a sportsman.

— A run on Kaaba for the Caulfield Cup resulted in the haif-brocher to Wait-a-Bit being well backed at 1000 to 4. Haut Boy was backed for both Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup at 100 to 1, about £3000 being secured for the fastnamed event.

— ' Sir Modred" reports that the following horses are working on the Southland course : Chnker, Windermere, Waikaia, Glenclg, Zillah, and Enticer, 3yrs, by Remembrance — Enchantress. Several trotters arc aiso in training, incliKling Teddy, Belmont, and Jimmy.

— Sydney Referee leports that Mora, though looking above herself, lan respectably in 'the Spiing Stakes. If all goes well with her durmg the aest few weeks she may go closer to winning, the coining Cauhield Cup than when she started such a warm favourite, last year. Says the Canterbury Times' correspondent,:,;. Of the^ New Zealand Cup horses "training" in Hawke's Ba}', the following are-all' doing a&.well as their supporters could wish: — Paphos/No--bility, Kahauwai, and Autaia. Robert M'Carthy I will not' have at any price. He is shaping very -badlv, and does. not seem to improve at all. .

—At Oegood, Ind. (U.S.), recently, a negro jockey, was wrapped in a blanket and placed on a tin roof where the sun shone on him all day in order to reduce his weight 12lb by the sweating piocess. This failing, he was buried in a> manure pile up to his neck, and came out at the desired light weight in twelve hours' time.

— " Spectator " fell into the same mistake as myself in giving the dam of Mehvood as the Ladybird thai w«is the dam of Lottie. Melwood's dam is another Ladybird, half sister to Record Reigii. Thanks to Sir George Cliffoid, these pardonable mistakes will not occur in the future. He has taken steps to effectually- prevent confusion.

— The idea, of establishing a Derby for North Queensland has died a natural death. The proposition to institute an event oi this kind, open to all comers, but leserving certain concessions for horses bred in the northern districts, came before the ISf.Q R.A. Executive recently, but it met with very little support, only die movei and seconder voting in its favour.

— Amongst the three Carbines entered for the English Derby of 1902 are daughters of Semolina and Wheel of Fortune. So far, the last-named wonderful mare has only produced one good performer in Oberon, and it will ba a great triumph for the Australian horse if her daughter by him shouM rank in the first class, for the marc was foaled as far back as 1876.

—It is an accepted fact, observes a Yankee writer, that a track is always fastest when 'new. As an example : Washington Park track, Chicago, had been lying idle from ]534 to IS9B. Herbage hr.d grown, all over it during its four years' idleness. This herbage was mown, and then the hanows were applied constantly, the live roots acting as a cushion. That season it was a- daily thing for records to fly.

— The Duke of Portland has not done well with ' Carbine's progeny up to date, but it is just possible he may have a good colt in the two-year-01-d Mannlicher; who ran third in tho Ham Stakes, of lOOOsovs, six furlongs, at the Goodwood meeting. Mannlicher was outpaced in the early part of the race, but he put in such good work at the end that he was bsroly a length away from the winner as the winningpost was rpanhed.

— " Javelia " wiites: The cute little trainer who presides over Grace Darling, villa at Caulfield has given the Randwick talent an upper cut. It is 15 years since Jgck Williams won the CaulfioJcl Cup on Grace Darling, and only lost the Melbourne Cup by about the length oi that same good little mare's handsome head. Since that time he has trained the winners of a good many races, but his crowning triumph was in the valuable and important Epsom Handicap. '. — Spells of illuck come to nil jockeys in their turn, but it is not often that a rider like Mornington Cannon experiences such a run oi it as was lately his lot. Up to the running of the Vauxhall Selling Plate at Keinpton Park, he had had no fewer than 33 consecutive losing mounts, and did not win out of his turn in getting Dewy Rose home by a head from Matagon. Dewy Rose started at 10 to 1, so that followers of the popular horseman received some consolation. _ — All the sentimental gush thatTias been let off about Diamond Jubilee's love for the stable jockey is the greatest flummery that ever .got into type, gays the Sporting~Times. The whole thing is due to an accident. The colt one v day turned -on Jones and would have savaged him. The boy raised his arm u to save- himself, and accidentally caught the horse a severe blow under the eye with a stick he was carrying. Ever since then Diamond Jubilee has shown Jones the greatest respect. — The sire Foul Shot, by Musket, dam Slander, now standing at Woodlands Stud, near St. Louis (U.S.;, produced five winning two-year-olds in 1899, which was the first year of any of his get to race. They were Fine ,Shot, eh c, dam Dignity II; Gigo, b f, dam Why Not; Glissar.da, b c, dam Berna, by Fetterlock ; Giro, br f , dam Rita ; and Gravita, bf , dam Rosette. So far this year only one winner has turned up, namely, In Shot, b f, dam Innocence. This was at Washington Park, June 30. „

— Three men arrested at Randwick for swindling the bookmakers had a complete plant for printing bettmg tickets, etc.. stowed away. The game was to look over a fielder's shoulder when in the act of booking a large bet, and get all particulars, such as the number of ticket, amount of wager, etc. The sharpers would Lhen fake a duplicate ticket, and in the event of the horse on whom the be' whs made proving successful, the lio-ders of the cleverly executed forgery would present their ticket for payment before the genuine backer had a chance to hand in his.

— A considerable amount of interest attached this year to the Lewes Handicap, which did very well in bringing out eight competitors, five more than last year. Twelve months ago 3 to 1 wss betted on Jiffy 11, who finished last, and though Spectrum this year was not quite so warm a favourite, she was regarded as a good thing by hei connections. But she met a Tartar in Santoi, about whom 100 to 9 was forthcoming, for Mr G. Edwardes's colt went to the front a quarter of a mile from home, and left Spectrum to fill second place, half a dozen lengths away.

—Mi G. Kennedy laid a complaint against Mr Walter Powell for publicly stating in the Ring at Redcar (Eng.) in August that he did not try on Kingthorpe in the Holm Hill Plate, j, at Carlisle Summer meeting. The Stewards i of Redoar, having heard the evidence, from , which it appeared that Mr Powell denied having made the alleged statement, dismissed the complaint. Mr Powell having stated in his evidence that he was part owner of Kingthorpe, and that no such partnership had been registered, tho Stewards ordered the matter to be j reported to the stewards of the Jockey Club. — ' The City of London Breeders' Foal Plate,

comueLeu for in Aiigust, brought cut 11 runners,

half a dozen in excess of the field lasl year, when the uncertain Harrow signally failed to land the odds betted on hini. Mr Wallace Johnstone's colours were carried by Faigie — an own sister to Harrow — and she was confidently expected to do better than did her stable companion a twelvemonth ago. But her best was to run third behind Aquascutum and G-uidwife, and the former, a. son of Childwick, the Cesarewitch winner of 1894, continued the run of good fortune that recently set in for Sir J. Blundell Marie.

— A curious and, I fancy, unprecedented incident took place at Leicester recently (says a London writer). Acting, I suppose, on the principle of the schoolboys who were talking about fighting — "one was afraid and the other durst not" — not a horse that was entered in the Bradgate Park Stakes was sent to Leicester, with the result, of course, that the race was declared void, and the fund benefited to the extent of lOlsovs. It is only another instance of the wisdom, and policy of running horses through their engagaments when they are well. How annoyed Eoroe of the owners must have been when they heard of what had taken place. — The fastest mile thus far made this season and tlie fastest ever gone in Canada was paced on the Windsor track on 12th July by Joo Patchen.. The black stallion also went one of the fastest quarters ever seen, covering one of his last quarter miles in 29Jsec — a- lmin sSsec gait. . The match a-ace- between Patchen and. John'R.. Gentry was a- fine, hard-driven contest, and was won by Patchen in two straight heats , by. a coupie of lengths in each case. Patchen' ,made his first mile in 2min 4Jsec— a half second better than Gentry's mile at Lima, Ohio. Patchen led all the way in both heats, although chased closely by Driver Andrews and the bay horse.

— A" former Premier of Queensland was on an electioneering tour up country, and had arrived at Roma, famous for its hospitality. A race :neeting was in progress, and among the courtesies extended to him, the Premier wps appointed judge. The principal event of +be day was late in the hot. sultry afternoon, during which many whiskies-ati-i-sodr.s hart been imbibed. It was a close finish, with a brown horse and a white horse rocing neck and neck, when it was discovered thai the judge was asleep in his box." Roughly shaken up, he was asked to name the winner. Straightening himself, and with great gravity, he answered promptly, " It's the piebald."