IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2561, 6 May 1903, Page 47

IN A NUTSHELL.

fc- Ashburton acceptances close on May 12. — The -weights foT the D.J.C. winter meeting are due on May 16.

— St. Denis "was badly galloped on in his last race at the Wellington meeting. — The N.O.J.C. have altered the dates of the club's winier meeting to June 11 and 12. — Pilgrim's Progress is expected to leave Melbourne for New Zealand on May 7.

— Nominations for the Tahuna Park Trotting Club's winter meeting close on Saturday next.

— A London cable states that the racehorse Australian Colours has been landed in splendid condition.

—An offer of 1500gs fox Patronage was declined at the sale of blood stock just completed at Sydney. — The lifs disqualification inflicted on J. P. Morrison on February 22, 1900, has been lemoved by the V.R.C.

— The sum of £14.277 was distributed in prize money at the recent A.J.C. meeting, which extenoVr-d over four days.

—Mr J. R. Thomas's colt foal by Benzoin out of Reverie, the darn of Dundas and Welbeck, has been named Buccleuch.

.—. — The Awarua Rose gelding Ixia has been purchased by the owner of Narcissus, and will in future be trained by W. Broivn. " — The V.R.C. Committee are advertising for a successor to the late Mr Dakm, the club's handfeapper, at a salary of £800 a year. — Kohima, who was amongst the winners at the recent Manawatu meeting, is a daughter of Apremont and the Albany mare Whispet.

— Pampero struck him3e]f whilst doing a gallop at the Hutt, and was withdrawn from kis Wellington engagements as a consequence. ' — Tapioca, a son of Goldsbrough and Vermicelli, wen -the South Australian Tattersail's Cup, one mile and a-half, on April 23, and paid a dividend of £S7 15s.

— The four-year-old gelding Bob 3, who won the Second Hack Handicap at the Avondale meeting, is e'esely related to Artillery, Hilda, and Stxathmort, as he is by Hotchkiss out of Ouida.

—Mr T. Godfrey, who is advertising the Btallion Good Wind for private saJe, informs me he has had several comniunications from probable buyers, but no business has resulted up to date.

— For the W.iirarapa Hack Guineas, to be run at Clarevilk in, 1934. there have been 46 Eominatioris. Amongst the Eires represented *re St. .Hippo, Stepniak, Gipsy Grand, and Euroclydon.

—Mr G. G. Stead's yearling colt by Seaton Delaval out of Lady Moth, the dam of Hohoro, has been named Silkworm. Titania, the granddam of Silkworm, wes imported from England by Mr Stead in IS7B.

— The Duntroon horse Dun Joseph, who has been an inmate of J. Rutledge's stable, went amJss last week, and was sent homa to his owner. Witch Winnie now occupies the box vacated by the up-country hcrse

— Apropos of the recent successes of Shrapnel, it is worthy of remark that the late H. Cwsdm once said to the writer that Strath-mc-re and The Workman (Shrapnel's sire) were the two best horses he ever rode.

— The three-year-old son cf St. Simon end Tact, lately imported by Mr John Brown, of Wofio Farm, was purchased at the Sydney •ale of yearlings and other blood stock by Mr E. R. White, of the Merton stud, for SOOgs. • — The imported horse- Sir Foote, by Sir Hugo— Surefoot's dam, who won the V.A.T.C. Futurity Stakes, Newmarket Handicap, and A J.C Doncaster Handicap, is advertised to stand at the Motto Farm Stud (X.S.W.) at 60gs.

— Tho Victory's smin 253«>c for the A.J.C. Plate, three miles, is a record for the race, and knocks 2sec off Carbine's time, which was the previous record for the journey. Wallace and Qciver (dead-heaters) hold the record at smin 23Jsec.

— Orange and Blue, who is a full sister to tho crack colt Wairiki, paid the handsome dividend of £20 lls when she won the l?st race at the Avondale meeting. It is well to ktep in mind performers who Lave distinguished relations.

— Petrovna returned home last week, and her part of a northern tour was abandoned because it was not deemed advisable to race the mare under welter weights. Pini will continue the trip, and, all going -nell, will fulfil his North Island engagements. — The young pacing stallion Baron Rothschild has been sold by Mr J. M'Keweu to a Melbourne buyer at a price said to be in the neighbourhood of £900. Baron Rothschild cost Mr M'Keweu 33gs as a yearling, and is a highly uromisinjr young horse, and should do well in Victoria.

— Red Gauntlet has been purchased by Mr J. Ellis for £403, a figure well worth the horsa, but on track form a f&Hy reasonable price. The Lochiel colt ha 3 failed several times lately to run up Jtp expectations, and. the one attractive thirst .^bout him. is lhat he is falling in the estimation of handicappers. — The wall-known. , horseman, J. M'Conib. had the misfortune to lose Jiis travelling bag whilst making the return journey from the Wellington, meeting .hist, .week, and he values the contents at over. ,£4Q.. Amongst the contents oL the bag were, four pairs af riding breeches and several sets pf colours. —At the sale of lhe Wilton Park yearlings at Sydney on the 16th ult., Mr J. Marshall, of Auckland, purchased the brrwn filly by Haut Brion from Necklet for 310gs. T. Lamond, •who trained Necklet when she won the jJnribyrnong Plate for Mr Marshall at the V.R.C sprinsr meeting in ISBB, is to train the filly. — The following are draweis of the placed horses in Tattersail's enneii'tation on the Doncaster Handicap, of 25,000 subscribers, fully subscribed:— First: Rose Petal, J. Langforg, loco, sheds, Kalgoovlie, West Australia. £1600; second • Ban Ccoutha, T. Decker, car" J. Triffit. Linda Valley, Tasmania, £600; third Marvel Loch, M'Kay and Co., caro J Galbraith, Ryrie street. Geelong, Victoria, £400. _ — There was a. little wagerinr at Hip conclusion of the A.J.C. meeting on the double, Melbourne Derby and Cap. and a member of the Melbourne ring reported that 1000 to 40 was accepted about the combination of Emir and Emir. It is hardly likely (say.s a Sydney •writer) tc believe, however, that anyone would be insane enough to accept such an absurd price as that at this early stage.

— A meeting of ths Forbury Park Racing Club will be held in the near future to discu£3 lie terms which the Forbury Park Land Company are asking for a lease with a purchasing clause for their rjro-Derty. It is to bs hoped that the club will obtain a tenure of the croperty at a figure which will justify the club in continuing to race at the Park nnd avoid meet-ing-the fate which was the lot of the D.J.C.. — Ilderim, a three-year-old gelduig by Grafton, who won the Rons Hardirap on Hie last day of the recent A.J.C. meeting, ran in the ownership »f Mr J. Samuels, who, a riumbei of years ago, was a well-known knight of the pencil in Dunedin. Mr Samuels did not greatly fancy his horse's chance, but had a.nice bet of 200 to 8 about him, and shortly aiter the race disposed of the horse foi £300.

— It is reported, that the charges cf trespsss wlach were commenced by the Taieri Amateur Turf Club against \ couple of bookmakers were abandoned bpcause other bookmakers who also laid themselves open to bfi piusecutpfl by the club wer not warned off, ano xnus were Dot liabl tc be piosecuted The wospruttoaa

alluded to were withdrawn on the understanding that the fielders were to pay the preliminary costs incurred by the club. — A well-known jockey (says "Javelin"), who was sceptical about the powers claimed for the second-sight man at the circus which recently toured this colony, tried him with a horse's tooth. "What have I got here 9 " asked the other Howard. ''A horse's tooth," was the prompt reply, followed by the embarrassing addition, "That tooth was hauled out of a horse's jaw when he was trying to get his head loose coming round the turn at Caulfield."

— The Ayrshire horse Orzil has had remarkable success in Australia. The first year ho was at the stud he served only eight mares, and three of the progeny were trained — namely, Kilfera, Dumcnt, and Bassirc — who all won races at the recent A.J.C. meeting. Duggan, who trained the trio, considers that the pick of the foals had one of his legs broken, and had to be destroyed. Orzil, who is out of a granddaughter of Hermit, is advertised to stand next season at 30gs.

—It seems but yesterday that- Indian Queen defeated Menschikoff, Cruciform, and others in the C.J.C. Welcome Stakes, of 1900, yet in the Jackson Stakes of 1905 the daughter of Stepniak figures as the dam of a colt called King Billy, whom she produced to the Bill of Portland horse Memwee. There's a strong infusion of ih.& Musket blood in King Billy, as his dam was sired by a grandson of the Toxopholite horse and his sire- is out of a Trenton mare. This, allied to the St. Simon straan which he receives through Merriwee, makes the youngster a -very promisingly-bred equine.

—In the sporting paragraph of a London weekly dated MaTch, 1863, it is announced that "Fisherman's owner stoutly denies that the horse can be purchased under a thouaandjin Australia, where The Peer's fee has been raised to 20gs on the strength of The Marquis's running." This was printed three year's after Fisherman came to Australia, and about the time his stock began to show their worth on the turf. The Peer, who was a half-brother to The Marquis, was imported to New Zealand in 1859 and came to Victoria in 1865. 'lTie Marquis won the English St. Leger in 1862, and was imported to Australia by the late Mr F. F. Dakin and his brother W. E. in 1871.

— Blackstone, the upstanding Australianbred two-year-old son of Grafton and Consistence, is advertised for private sale in this issue. Being an exceptionally big youngster hj has never been asked any severe questions oa the training track, but if he never earned an oat as a racehorse he should make an ideal stallion. Blacksione stands about 17 hands, and is powerfully and symetrically built. His sjre, Grafton, is a son of Galopin (St. Simon's sire), and some cf his stook have been highly successful in Australia. Consistence, the colt's dam, is by M«los, a good performer and brother to Wallace's dam out of Constance, a mare by the imported horse Cheddar. — The two highest salaried jockeys in the world, it is cleimed, are Arthur Redfern and Danny Maher. The former expects to earn 40,000d0l and the latter 35,000d0l before the year is over. In order to secure Redfern' s services W. C. Whitney pmd Colonel James E. Pepper 12,000d0l for the boy's release, and made a contract with Redfem calling for a salary of 15,0G0d01. Frank Hitchcock will pay little Arthur 5000dol for second call. Danny Maher will rids in England, and, it is said, his retaining fees will amount to 25,0CCd01, in addition to which both R.edfern and Maher will receive "outside fees," which will swell their earnings to something in the neighbourhood of 40,00Dd0l each. — The following are *the drawers of the placed horses in Tattersail's Nc i consultation, on the Sydney Cup, of 25,000 subscribers, fully subscribed —First: Street Arab, W. W. Lawler, public school, Martinsville, New South Walea, £1600 ; second : Patronage, M. J. Meehan, Mussell Creek, Adamstown, New South Wales, £600 ; third • Bewitcher. Speedwell, ca-re Roycl Hotel, Mornington, Victoria, £400. No. 2 consultation Sydney Cup, of 25,000 subscribers, fully subscribed : — First : Street Arab, Thos. Currie, care Cume, Buchanan, Co., Queen street, Brisbane, Queensland, £1600 ; second . Patronage, E. Andrews. Macquarie street, Plattsburg, New South Wales, £600; Ihird: Bowitcher, G. S. Co., caie J. Hawkins, Murtoa, Victoria, £400. These amounts are net.