TURF TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 52

TURF TOPICS.

. Some years ago the V.R.C. decided to license •bookmakers,, with a view to cleansing ■jthe_ Augean- stable of the turf. The idea - 1 't*ia {Commendable, but the result has been the re-Terse of satisfactory. Even such y potentates of sport as the rulers at head 'IftnArten are not exempt from susceptibility to consideration' of financial advantages, and |as candidates for registration came rolling jup with their £25 fees in hand, it became /rare and still more rare for thoee> fees to fee declined. According to the last official Uist; 117 bookmakers are licensed to bet in fehe- paddock at Flemington and 1 151 on the £liv. The aggregate fees paid to the V.R.C. /by ' these 268 professional wagerers amount )ko £4500 per annunv! The temptation to Irake in registration fees to add to the club's funds has certainly led to the number being {increased to quite inordinate proportions. iFew experienced racegoers will deny that jthe -total might well be reduced to 150 — say £0 in the paddock and 100 elsewhere. That )the remaining 118 could be well dispensed Jwitn will bardly be denied. Over and above f1.50 the number must include a considerable /(proportion of the objectionable riff-raff, ariose room would be preferable to their jcompany. In consideration for the public And for the better class of ringmen (who are mow brought into unfair competition) the Sr.R.C.5 r .R.C. Committee ought to sharpen up its {pruning knife and lop off the dead wood, (which is worse than useless and distinctly junornamental \ , An Australian who visited the Welbeck fetud lately brought away a card, giving particulars of horses, mares, foals, etc. / Moweiina, the dam of Donovan, Raeburn, Scmo'lina, etc., is <now 26 years old, and was not iput to the horse this year. The old mare I raraa weighed recently, and found to weigh Bcwt. It is estimated that her descendants nave won 16owt in gold — Donovan alone Inron £55,153. The Duke of Portland has •five Bires at Welbeck, two at Newmarket, anc'l one _*t Tamworth. Besides St. Simon and Carbine, there are the Derby winners Donovan and Ayshire. while Raeburn once had the honour of beating Isinglass. St. Simon -is said to be showing bis age. He is 21, while Carbine is 17. It is evident, from tthe card, that Carbine was going out of {favour at Welbeck when his stock started to Wo well laßt year. Of the 17 yearlings, only Vine is by Carbine, and only one of the 22 aoals is by him. However, this year he had «ix of the 31 mares. The Duke does not reserve his mares for his own stallions. Orme, JCyllene, Gallinule, Isinglass, and Ladaswere all patronised this year. Wheel of Fortune *nd Mowerina are the same age, and next |to them come Tact and Satchel, who axe each 20. There are three daughters of Mowerina in the stud.