IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 45

IN A NUTSHELL.

— — Torpina is again in training. — Complimentaries from Westland Racing Club to hand. —Mr W. Crossan has sold St. Denis to a patron of R. Ellis's stable. — John Roberts, the champion billiardist, •will visit Australia again early in July next. —Mr J. Daly, the A.J.C. handicapper, says Advance is the fastest horse he has ever seen. — Clean Sweep, at 5 to 1, and La Carabine, at 7 to 1, are the favourites for the Sydney Cup. — Both Blazer and Jupiter seem to be mending quickly, and may now be seen about again at Mosgiel. — " Phaeton " says that some little time back it was stated that £5000 was the price asked for Advance. — Boreas's mission is said to be the Auckland Century Stakes, run at the Easter meeting of the A.R.C. — Fulmen 8.5 was omitted from the list of ■weights for the Great Autumn Handicap, published on Tuesday. — The V.R.C., as usual, have made a loss over their Autumn meeting. - This year it amounts to about £3500. " Native '•suggests that a trotting meeting ahould he held at Winton in May, as trotters are very numerous in Southland. '— Mr Mate, who is at present racing Fulaainate, is not the owner of the mare, but has leased her from Mr H. C. White. — The Gore Racing Club have> nominated their president, Mr Thornaa Green, as a country delegate to the Racing Conference. . — The Gore Trotting Club have secured the Use of the Gore Racing Club's course for their meeting on May 1, at a fee of JEIO 10s. — E. M'Kewen has- Vandyke in hand with a •view to the May meeting. A, local syndicate have purchased him, the figure being £70. — While exercising on the Wingatui racecourse on Wednesdny morning, Mr G. Smith's horse Bracken broke a blood vessel and bled to death. — 'A Melbourne cablegram notifies the death of Mr E. T. Barnard, formerly handicapper to the Victoria Racing Club and Victoria Amateur Turf Club. ■ — The laonomy horse Gallinule was a "service gratis" stallion in his first stud season in the old country. Nowadays his list fills xeadily at loOgs. — Notwithstanding the adverse criticisms bestowed on Jenkins in Australia, he retains the confidence of his employers, and will ride Ad.vance in his Randwick engagements. —La Carabine was greatly distressed after the Champion Race, and ice had to be applied ■to her head, whereas Clean Sweep pulled up comparatively little the worse for the three miles journey. —Mr G. G. Stead headed the list of stakevinners at the Hawke's Bay meeting with £440, the nest lushest being the. Hon. J- D. Ormond with £350, Mr E. J. Watt JE24O, and Sir (I. Clifford £190. — Dreamland, winner of the Australian Cup, holds a record in the way of Melbourne Cup starts. He has run. in the last-mentioned race .five times, and it .is as likely as not that he ■will again be a competitor next November. -• • — Sir Rupert Clarke, the Victorian sportsman, contemplates paving a visit fo the oldcountry shortly. If he cau obtain suitable •tables in England, he will probably shift the -whole of his string, and race" there for some time. l -■ — The following are 1 the- nominations for the3?eiMing'Cup, of 200sovs; one mile and a-q,uaf-% ■itst: — Ostiak, Tortulla, Queen's Guard, Crusoe, The Hempie, Gipsy Queen, Fashion, Ideal, 3mdoo, Bona Fide, Sylvia Park, St. Mark, The Shannon. — Wakeful is such a strong order for the Doncaster Handicap that the prices of some doubles with her have gone down to 100 to 2 from the original 1000 to 2 on offer when the books opened on the Doncaster Handicap and

Sydney Cup. — J4r H. Dargin, of N.S.W., intends giving croas-country racing some attention this winter. Bud has already taken in hand a couple of horses suited to this branch of the sport. One has been imported from New Zealand, lseing named Crash, by Foulshot from Squib, -while the other is the shew jumper Twiggy Voo. — After many attempts to get his name on tha winning list. Bacchus, the four-year-old fall brother to Three Star. Tauhei, Dayntree, and Canteen, succeeded in that direction. It was, however, only a maiden plate and hack i»ce at Ohinemuri in which the son of Castor achieved distinction. <■ — The recent meeting of the Clutha Hack Racing Club was profitable to the exxent that a debit balance of £12 from last year has been ■wiped off, and there is now a deficiency of only "58a. The financial position, considering the luge amount expended in forming and improving the track, is very satisfactory. — Of all our great losses'" (says " Whalebone," in the Melbourne' Sportsman) the exportation. oi Trenton has most to be regretted. He was - to us the sire looked to for the replacement of Musket's loss, and one that promised to even cTim the lustre of past heroes, such as Yatten«!on, Fisherman. Ace of Clubs, and Fireworks. . In the All-aged Stakes on the Jast day 'J^dvance is said to have shown the white'feather when he found Maltster sticking to him (says "Pilot," in the Sydney Referee)., However, he shaped gamely enough in all his other traces at the meeting, and it would scarcely do to condemn him as faint-hearted when the amount of hard racing he did under disadvantageous circumstances is taken into consideration. Advance has arrived in Sydney, and has been entered for the following weight-for-age races at the A. J.C. meeting : —First dayAutumn Stakes, one mile and a-haif. Third day_AH-aged Stakes, one mile; Cumberland Stakes, two miles. Fourth day — A. J.C. Plate, three mile 3. He has also been entered for the City Handicap, one mile and a-half, run on tha third day of the meeting, which commences «n the 6th April. It now transpires that Mr E. J . Watt, of Napier, the owner of Nobility, Palaver, etc., is the purchaser of the Bill of Portland hores Merriwee. By a transposition of the figures it was made to appear that the horse realised 650es, whereas the actual price was 560gs. With the advent of Merriwee there will be four stud horses of the St. Simon strain in this colony— ■viz., Soult, Phoebus Apollo, Cyreman, and Mr Watt's latest importation. . — Referring to the sale of Merriwee, -lerlinca" says: Merriwee came into the ring looking a picture of health, and he certainly isWlf the nicest horses Bill of Portland ever sired. The reports about his leg must have Wn very much exaggerated, as there was very Jittle to notice as h© walked round on Monday. I don't suppose Merriwee will race »g» in » ■nd he win probably start stud life in New Zealand. It is a pity he is to go out of Vicloria, as we are badly off foi sir«s just -now. ; — " Ribbleden," under the heading Horses Names and Their . Signification," includes the following New Zealanders : — Komuri.— By <*orton—Lady Gertrude. In Maori, zephyrs, aoit airs. Menura.— By Flintlock— Lyrebird. The ■scientific name of the genus of the lyre-bird> so called from the crescent-shaped form of the spots on the tail ; the tail itself is shaped like » lyre. Pampero. — By St. Clair — MistraL A cold and dry south-westerly wind that sweeps over the pampas of tlie Argentine Republic, and north-eastward to the Brazilian coast, in the rear ol barometric depressions.

— South Australia boasts of a full brother to the Melbourne Cup winner, Clean Sweep, in Fieldgun, a black gelding by Zahnski—Benzine, and who is at present being trained at the oldgeourse, Adelaide. Fieldgun is six years of affe, and was purchased by Quinn for Mr Northmore, but he only raced twice, and was then sold for a fiver. He has a peculiar temper, and it is doubtful whether he could be got into fit condition to race. Another of the family, a half-brother named Blackwood, is running in West Australia, and he also possesses an eccentric humour, whilst Clean Sweep has also shown signs of sulkmess on occasions.