TURF TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2511, 30 April 1902, Page 48

TURF TOPICS.

A table has been compiled (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) showing the remarkable success of the Tucka Tucka (New South Wale?) horae, Gozo, for the ten years which ended on the 22nd March. During that period ho sired 213 winners of *42 races, of the value of £68,190, a record sufficient to make other stud masters turn green •with envy. It is impossible to coll«ct all the doings of the progeny of euch «, stallion, because some of them are registered i« outlandish places, but there is this much authentio about Gozo, that in 1£92 his stock won £2500, in 1893 £1800, in 1894 £1900, in 1895 £2013. in 1896 £3033, in 1897 £5693, in 1898 £10.059. in 1899 £12,795, in 1900 £7801. in 1901 £13,862, and in 1902 (to March) £8739. He got two Melbourne Cup winners in the brothers Gaulus and The Grafter, as well as the appropriation of other importa«t events, and though Gozo vraa foaled in 1882 his owner, Mr J. R. Smith, thinks him good for at least another season or two. Imported Metal, who is also at Tuuka Tucka. has a cplendid record too, for during the period extending from "1894- to Maich, 1902, he got 143 winners of 325 races, totalling £24,950 in prize money. As racing cannot be made to pay without betting, and without racing and princely stakes the English horse would lose prestige, consequently a valuable national asiet would be lowered considerably in value. Land anil Water opposes the suppression of it. 'J he writer says: — "The attitude towards betting which good eportemen should assume is that of an oppn miml. Let ub admit the evils (begotten of street-betting, and (though we may doubt the feasibility and question the wisdom of suppressing the natural bent of the Anglo-Saxon) abstain from stigmatising as spoil-sports thosewortiiy --ouls who, striving to ameliorate the condition of the working classes, muy appear to us to hold mistaken views as to the means of attaining their ends. Let U6 reflect that these would-be reformers arc men to whom the beauty and eymmetry </f the thoroughbred horso in nowise appeal, by whom the generous rivalry of a classic contest is not appreciated. The amenities of the English "turf have attracted to our shores many wealthy foreigners who have spent princely incomes, but we have also received our full share of undesirable aliens who ply a hundred contemptible trades under the guise of 'sporting men.' Truculent tirades against social agitators may form attractive reading to their opponents: but we are of opinion that little good e\er emaiitos from infective Registration cf bookmakerr is, of course, to be highly re-_ commended on certain grounds, though of the many objections to it the principle* of legalisation of gambling that ib attributed to it is not easily swept aEido. Should the measure, however, become law, we hope that th»* absurd pittance which the State grants towards improving the breed of borsea will be borne in mind, and that an> iudij of money realised by the licenses ma\ be applied appropriately thereto." For mmc time a Houte of Lord> Committee have been iuquiung into betting on hoi be-raoifijr in England, and ha\f had voluminous eviflpiu-e foi and against it presented to them. In y leading article on the ->übject that vf-ry conservative wpekly, Laiid and \Vat»r, *.i.»» tl ■; " dur.rij: the la-; two racing seasonp vi England no lets than £> million and fifty odd thousand of pounds have been won in f-take.s. It ua'i from these figure? be deftly demonstrated that those \aet Mim<- aie derived from the racing publn'-* ccutribiHK.ii.- to thr coffeis of the vari<iu- racp n>eetn.s»i<. Tt is the turnstiles, ivp sire told, that by groaning to the tune of ;> t-h : !ling »>i half-a-crown enrich tlif nv. nc-r so irmnilicontly. Suppreae betting nnd there will he no racing public, meetiu;j-> will bo few and far between, and rarc-'ior-' 1 -. nou in training will be reduced by lv.v'f .li.ekeyß will no longer roll m l-icl'c-,. j!ih fharpholdeir, of suburban parks v ill a fearful blow, and other m;=fucn'.io-* too uumeroub to mention will aiife. '1 hat any Government of the near future will carry a mcamrc to exterminate b ttii.L' wi- can hardly think, and certainly do not hopr-. But whilst wo devoutly trust tint i the good sen-p of (ireat Britain may not ho \c\ astray by weU-nipaning and wrongly <1 roc tod « f f . i i t >- a r »ocial nnprovoment. i mature rrflrction t.up««'fts«that it is not to I the public support that the inflated mms of ' added ' money arc solely due. though, tloubtlesh. the comfortable dividends of ra< ing enterprise aie chiefly drawn from it Tho huge prize- which graco modern p'o gininmc-- gpnerally fall to wealthy patronof the Tint, whose foifcit-, alone are mv 1 pcudou- of figure, not to mention the pin cliasc- of high-priced blood fctcck or .ib normal covering fees for the -er\ice« '1 fashionable stallions." War ha& been declared against the totjh--ator in Germany by the goody-goody people, who accept the excu«o from every man ■«ho has gone wrone that the fir-t downward <tcp i« to ba attributed to betting. Prn-fe-:^i(>nal bookmaking it an offenco aga.n-t the ia\v in the Gtrman Kinnnc, and tho totahsator h tlie only recoptni-scd medium f>f turf sppculation Hettintr lia, been 'lPavilv taxed, and (the lepr. <■( ntatv. c of the London Spo!t-.r...ui poii-t- out) theurtatfr impo-.t 1 - (louTiini-'iit levip- on tli • l>otun<;. .-.nil the more re-ir.<tiou* impo-e-1 om ur ' -pnulation, th" i.io.e th.- numb, r cf < .ai. di-si.nc ofnccb and " wcl-iicrs. Foi <■ \ pzr^iu-* h. , '.'11G..11 111 Gcrmu.y \v : "t l.uiijr ht-, dine to»\..r.'.- unpro\uig the ia.-e.l of hoi-c-. a-n-J (.io^.'i.i.g piop. r 1.1 for >li.:i.uid ot'.( 1 -n.iroo, an.l liaion \o,i (Jertzcn, oni; •'.' tin- u.^'c-t .uithoiitir, on turf i|urIKI.I- in lii-i o.\n luimii-y. has taken \i\> tlir Pdi in d. Knrv of die t(,lah=ator, wii'ni h.i^ 1 !ji.i;it;hi in .1 *i< ;. dv r.^vemiP to tl\- Ndrth CiLiiia'i I'.K'i ('( r-' As-O(iauoa and i.uihluiel ih uiuiii.'-.' oi .i|M)ro\("J -.:. -. (rum Kn^ land ami Fianic. .'s wrll a-> %nr.i] I'l.irf^ lor breediiifi uurjaoses. Boiou \un Oeriieu dc

clares that racing cannot go on -without a certain amount of speculation, and that the interest taken in sport by classes -with- j out the circle of owners and leading club men would dwindle away to nothing if_j people could not give pecuniary support to the opinions entertained by them as to j the merits of certain horses. He admit 9 I that owners will not patronise the machine betting, which prevents all chance of "hedging," but adds that while a more liberal policy might be pursued by the Legislature with regard to betting, the abolition of the totalisator would deprive the race societies of the public patronage so necessary to their existence. Considering the present price of horse feed the following should prove interesting j to horse-owners: — Horsemen will be inter- 1 ©steel (says an American paper) in the method i of utilising sawdust as a foodstuff for horses and live stock without the aid of the green goggles of the traditional anecdote, lheie fs a reridue of the beets consumed in beet, sugar factories called " melassc, which contains about 50 per cent, of ™ c T3^ all^ sugar. This melasse is to be mixed with sawdust, which is Bhown by analysis to be more nutritious than straw Straw con- , tains over 31 per cenL of albumen 364 per cent, of nitrogen, H per cent of fatty substance, and 392 per cent, of wood fibre, while pine sawdust has 81 per cent, of albu- , men, 40 1-3 per cent, of nitrogen, 5 per cent of fatty substance, and 391 per cent, of wood fibre. The sawdust, however, is first treated with salt and lime water and ( fermented to a certain extent before mix- j ing with melasse. Animals, it has been ob- , served, easily digest young shoots and roots j of shrubs, sunflower stalks, and cornstalks, ! and tho came nutriment remains when these become wood. Referring to the great influence the King has on the turf in the Old Country, '" Old Blue" has this to say: "God bless the King! This toast was drunk by sportsmen all, and with even greater acclaim than usual at a recent meeting. No one who walks through the world with his eyes open can j refuse to behe\e in the va&t amount of good that i(> done' by the influence of high rank and the cxamnle of our superiors on the turf. ' Fashion alone,' said Heary Fielding more than a century ago, ' can make and keep the turf swpet and wholesome-,' and with a good deal of truth. Any way, if the turf has its occasional scandals, if it incluclcb iv us votaries some less scrupulous in thoir dealings less rigid in their notions of the ' honouiable ' than we would ha^o them, where shall w© look for one in this c onntry whose rank or character can exert such ati influence as our beloved King. His participation in and presence at the leading race meetings show that he at least believes in the present integrity of the turf. Of course, pome take exceotion to his connection hoi>e racing, and uplift their hands iv horror at the mention of a sport of which they have taken FC-dulous care to knnw nothing, or nothing but its seamy side. By the way, th© same people were equally horrified at the kindly action of his Majesty in taking the initial step towards creating the royal ' brew ' at Burton. All this matters very little, however, especially to one possessed of such sound sense as the King. He knows full well that the turf has its advantages, its utility, its necessity; in brief, that it is a fact which cannot be ignored. "With the highest nobility of the land, with the most learned, with the most powerful, the wealthiest, and the most influential of his subjects, bo it. furthermore aware that the lurf — as it at pi-rMMit oxi^ — is the noblrst pastime in wlvch any nation has ever indulged. Again, 1 ';iv. Ood bless the King ! "