TURF TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 51

TURF TOPICS.

A rather interest in j point in turf legislation occurred at lie Washington meeting last month, when two of the stewards announced that a dead heal would be divided, whereas one of <he owners. W. C. Daly, rwicl not been consulted, and declared himself willing and xeady to run it oft. The other owner wai~ not willing to run off, wherefore the pur u e was awarded to Daly as the winner. Meantime— on the strength of the stewards' decision — the bookmakers had paid off many bets on tl,e race as a dead heat, and the backers of Daly'b horse clamoured for their money without any split. Owing to betting: being illegal at "Washington, theie <ue no Mich things as betting rulea published, but the Metropolitan Turf Association ha\e a code of rules of their own, by which they aie guided, and their rule governing the point states that in case of cload heats, where one owner declines to run it off. the bets shall be split wherefore backers oi the Dalv horse had to accept the ruling. On consideration, this rule of the M.T.A. X a good one, since it ob\iates chance ot fiaud. Were it otherwise, an owner who had backed his horse heavily could afford to biibe a dead-heater to decline tr> run off, to rhat he might win hi* bets without any split.

Lungwitz. who close'y :>tudied the foot of tht. horse, arrived at the conclusion that the growth of the horny v.all a\ crages about 5-16ths of an inch pet mouth. Ui.J-hod hoofs grow more rapidly than tho?e &hod. and hind hoofs grow more rapidly than fore. The wall grow.- slower in stallions than in other horse*, and there it, no connection between the coloul and rapidity of giowth of hoof. Growth i< fa\ ouraJ. by tho hor-e c;oinc; barcfoolfr!. Tn hoisoi whu'i .iro ■•'>od s 1 " 0 " Hi is stimulated by frro ivo\ cine.it en moderately f-oft "round, by uoni 'shinp, diet. Isy normal Mate of Fnulth, end by tho-c things which inorea-e local circulation. Growth is reta>'u^(l by vi.in. of movement, ill-health. li'/W condition, drouth, and oxi c-^ive length of hoof. Tf l- an undecided question w' ethfM- tho Ttcwiuiiis or Ifxippl;.. vei'C acquainted vith ii'i l d o i tho <*. although ihov ivi og i)i-cd -ho f.ut (!>;>( fh< 'iocf iKodi-'l proroi t>on <.f -.nmo k.nj. T»f> f.i-l \u ntT 0" *niliiion<* <if «.I,op:i j> iv-> fo.uid i" tho Mih Ipir lipcnlahon.- <>t Eivp'ii/r Leo IV of ConsrontinopV (ii'.ith fiuun). in which eve?, <"it-»hrvet! «' I'Of with nail* ai'p ni^ii tioned. After tLo naitb < oi^uvv •-hoeing wnh nai'* hot ,-uu<> aono.al. .»nd v<>t to daY in thou^anii- of pl;uo« tho ait of the farrier ifr uidin-Vrpiitlv nr.u tis-ed. Comvxirii*i\clv fow blacksmiths Ic'iow how to h.ilnncp a hoii-e for sppod. Sn«aLin» oi the Bcndisto lYu.) iaea mefct-

ing on June 5, ' 'Special Commispdoner," ia the Melbourne Sportsman, says : The bookmakers were beaten all aJong tue line, but they complained, and with good reason, that on mate than one occasion they did not get fair play. It was iery lough on them, tor instance, to find Hatwood scratched for the Cornwall Handicap after they had laid 4to 1 against Combat. With the defection, of Hat wood, the race, of course, looked a good thing for Combat, about whom even money was taken. The owner of Hatwood, was lined £40 for late scratching, but that wasn't much consolation to the fielders. In cases of this .sort the stewards should have power to declaie all bets off. as they do with the ponies. Bookmakers are entitled to as much protection as backer. Taking one tiling with another, "the ling" has good cause to remember "the Bendigo week" for years to come. Most of the members of the magic circle lost on every race at Bendigo, had a similar experience at Kyneton, and wound up with another disastrous day at Moouee Valley. The Bendigo lo^es of two prominent Victorian Club men were close Oil £1000 each ; and, of course, this euni was greatly increased before the week was out. I wonder what totalisator advocates have to say to this. At a very moderate estimate, the ring must have lost, after allowing for a fair winning day at riemington, something like £5000 or £6000 for the week, whereas the "tote" never loses a farthing, but takes its percentage whether fpvourite or outsider ls successful. Individually, there were some big winners among the ptincing fraternity. An ex-joc-key who went up to Btndigo with only a modest "dollar" ran it into nearly £300, and the Chinese, who now regularly follow the game, Lacked nearly e\cry winner, and as the leader of them, at all events, bets heavily, it is> little wonder that they had to secure a strong bodyguard in order to frustrate the efforts of the light-fingered gentry who were after the rolls of bank-notes which were bulging out so temptingly all over the Celestials. "Racing is coming to a fine pass,"' growled a veteran turfite, "when Chows, overrun the paddock, with niggers tipping to them. "Even the Frankfort and: roll vendors felt constrained to acknowledge the advent of the Mongolian, and instead of extolling their edibles as "chicken and "am," informed all and sundiy that the I'rankforts were "monsttrs from the deep, and the Ctr.uese punteo eats 'em." Truly, rr.cing makes us acquainted with some strange individuals. We often hear a lot about the "Sloan style," as it is practised in Australia. The little American's famous crouch is not, howex ci, coriec*ly copied in this country at^all. Several of ovr riders. >-ays "Reginald, 1 ' in the Melbourne Sportsman, ha\e acquired the knack of dodging the wind by bending their bodies and ducking tl.eir heads, but this attitudo admits of hide or no reduction of weight on t':e horse's ba^k. Believers in the Sloan theory point out thafc the burden in being put forward on to the loi ae^'s withers assists his action and speed. In Australia we do not se^ this idea fully canied out. Ther3 are sCTeial b-;ys nowriding who fancy they are doing the Sloan act if they simply lean forward and clutch the rains half-way np to the bit. Tins is altogether a mistaken notion. Sloan's pictures hhotf him to be perched right forward when he is sitting up, and when he inclines forward he is moie on the horse 8 neck than his back. He cannot, in his position, hit the animal he ia riding further back than the girth at most with his heels. Here is the difference. One would-be Sloan copyist on this side actually spurs his horse near the flanks, so it is £1 to Is that he is making a poor attempt at the crouch, and most of the other Sloanites in Australia are also a long way from the right seat, as it is understood now in England. Any rider can, in a couple of tries, perform the Australian version of the Sloan position, but we have not yet seen the man or boy here who can carcy it out to the full degree. ' So far, few Australian trainers have become 1 so impressed with the Sloan methods as to I take pains to put the "improvers" under [ their charge up to the wrinkles connected I therewith. Recent pictures of training work in England show the boys m several cases making an attempt at the pose, and no doubt they are encouraged in the practice by their i masters. Whether it will be tho same in this country remains to be r^een. It is not likely, though, on^ should pay. from present indications. If the American invasion only has the lasting effect of making the English riders pull their stirrup leathers up a hole or two it will not have occurred in vain. Photographs of oven the best English horsesmen show tuem to be riding very "Ion?." Thi,? is not so pronounced now, and the change, it may Up <=aid. is for the better. When a nun or n boy has to "reach" for the irons he can hordly sit as comfortably and as neatly as if the stirrups met his feat without exertion. Up to a few years ago the English idea was that the horseman, to ride well, should n<lo "Ions;." This theory has been knocked out to aVeat extent in the old eoim+ry lately, and now it seems even the be«t English horsemen are inclined to shorten their leathers, so that their feet will find proner "purchase" in the iro«=. This ib all due to the Americans, and the lesion is worth hpetlmsr. , T A. mcetuio t>at wa« held m Lonion early last month to rmnest a^iinst th<» new B<=ttin« Bill introduced into the House of .Lorci3 by^ the Bif-'iop of Hereford was a move, says the Melbourne Sportsman, in the neiit direction. A few yeois ago, when Mr Hawko and hU fellow-faddists endeavoured to bring in a similar measure, the sporting public could afford to smile at the effort, but sine© then tbe Anti-sf.i.nbhug League ha? Ton* plodding on, until now it is a force "to hr reckoned with. The laige and rcpre«entati\e gathering at The meeting was unanimous in the opinion that strong; ard \igorous aeitation was nectary, and that candidate? foi public po-itum* whetner nailiameivtniv or oihpnvi-e, &hcuil u_e tatklod before they h-ul r rTianeo of nomination "It wa« mormraiP to tmvA, saut an eminent o nu v-el. '"'hat if a tip w.>s <=->nt t<. a fiieml by letter, or if. through the sair-c c'wniiol, "a train&r were a*ke-l \ f his l.O!-e cou'd wi;>. ijie wntov should be lip hi e to imprisonment-. It was a srross outrage u»on the Hliorties of "kiiehshmpn. and ft .l.ould not be toleiated." After w>,tl otii'M- "lea-Imp he^c-" m both the .-.> i 111 .-litl <.porim<r nnld-, had ohon oxpros-<.,-,;i f» Uwiy \ie\\^ in no luli-heuitcd manner tho fol'uv.inr vp-oh'tioii \\a<. p-irned um.nimov.=lv— "T ot thi« nifliiiT l'png considered the provision* of the bul introduce 1 ii.tr tlvc Koii-p of Louis hy the Ri.lm.) of Hoiefoi-d f'u makinsr npnal the iuriti'ia of rer-ons to vngerms? and betting, ,-po-avcl ti-c pu>i>o=cd mi-a-urf n- .1 gro=s intprfo,en(P with the ri£>ht- ond lihprties or the people, ami hcicby pledges it^elt to ;'»e every oonfrtitutional nifnn= to prevent the fume from being passed into law."