IN A NUTSHELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 8 July 1903, Page 55

IN A NUTSHELL

— The W.A.T.C. (Perth) has 250 membeis on its roll.

— Acceptances for the Wellington winter meeting are due on. the 13th mst.

— H. Jackson has received an addition to his erring in the shaoe of a colt by Casket out of Ulva.

— The American hois°man D. Maher piloted Rock Sand -when that colt won the English Deiby.

The Auckland-bred colt Northumberland, •who is to^go to India, is now working at Flemington. — Tradewmd and Battlease are the p°P u ' ar picks for the second leg of the Kiccarton National double.

— The Cup candidates Pampero, Canteen, Sychem, and Sinus continue to do useful work on the tracks.

— A Chn«tchnrch telegram states that Cure ■was scratched for the New Zcalscd Cup A 5.25 p.m. on Monday. Tliere are eight pacers in Gaining in America who have done 2.2 or better, and of trotters a dozer have beaten 2.7.

— A Sydney cable tuyj: Oxydonor, theycaiimg brother of Survivor, h?s been purchased for Kew Zealand for 200 guineas.

— ihe West Australian Turf Club made a. profit of £11,281 for the past year, a-s against £6607 the preceding 12 months.

— The Mamototo and Vincert Jockey Clubs aio advertising in this week's Witness for a handicapper t*>act for both clubs. .—. — The Soutisnd lepper Violin will probably journey to Riccarton shortly, to ba prepared for engagements at the National meeting. — News has been received in Melbourne that Record Reign won tlia valuable Hurdle Rice in Pans that he «as taken from India to ivin.

— The Wellington Racing CJub will probably change the dates of their spring meeting from the end of November to some lime in October.

— M'G-uiness has three promising yearlings in his stable at present in the fillies by Wallace — Faraway, Stepniak — Mist, and Lord Rosslyn — Mistral.

— Wonderland, whose slock have been showing up prominently of late, is a twin foal, and waa got by Musket out of Fairyland, the dam of RuberahL

—It is expected that some interesting developments -will result from, the inquiry into certain allegations made against the Auckland Trotting Club. —A Hobart cable 3 tates that P. Byrne, of West Wanganui, won the first prize of £6000 in Tattersall's sweep on the Giand National Hurdle Race.

— The following additional subscriptions have been received by Mt Coughlan for the Dowse Testimonial Fund— E. Wilson £2 2s, J. Duncan £1 Is.

— The Fiske gelding Bellini, who raced at ■the lastWingatui meeting, js a half-brother to Westerly, who ran third m the V.R.C. National Hurdles on Saturday last. — U-iiiown is said to be looking well, and there are hopes of this erstwhilo champion making an appearance in the Winter Cup at the Grand National meeting. — Amongst tho winners at a recent meeting held at Kensington Park (Sydney), a pony race ■was won by Sarsaparilla 11, an aged hall-sister by Lorhiel to Grassnan and Brakpan. '— Blackstone, the colt by Grafton from Consistence, has been withdrawn from the market, and he will ba given an opportunity to distinguish himself on the racecourse. The Birchwood Hunt held several wellattended meets cVtring the past month, and several of the followers ara stated to be qualifying for hunters' events at the C.J.C. National meeting. The Projectile horse Finga-l, who was a hlgWy promising two-year-old, managed to serve a couple of mares last season, and there are evidences that fche unions have not been unsuccessful. , —It was recently statedly "Fritz" that tho Hermosa colt was amongst the yearlings lost by. Mr J. B. Reid. That is nob so, as the colta killed were tho3e from Marlin, Savannah, Sequin, and Black Cloud. — Sydney Tattersall's Club have adopted a resolution providing for the liability of the expulsion of any bookmaking member who becomes a member of or frequents any sporting club of a proprietary nature in Sydney. — Wairiki is the ruling favourite in Auckland for the N.Z. Cup at B's tc 1, others being quoted at 100's to 8 Lady Lillian and Shrapnel, 100 to 6 Orloff, 100 to 5 Pampero, Achilles Halberdier, Heroism, Kelburn, and Canteen.

—Mr J. Ruthven refused an offex of £300 for his stallion Casket last week Now that the Castor horse has shown his ability to get gallopers, no doubt he will receive more patrotage from the owners of thoroughbred mares. — At the Singapore meeting last month the Singapore Derby was won by Essington, with Cadenas smd Khmbo in the other pieces Other Aus-tralian-bred horses successful ut the fixture were Comical (by Manton), Jumdo, Lochabecvand Olaf. — The National Stallion Stake, for two-year-olds, was run at Morris Park (New York) on Mn.y 23, and was won by A. Be'.moiit's Magistrate, alsto 1 chance, in a field of ten. The winner, who is by tho crack sire Hastings, ran the five iurlonga in BSaec. —At Canterbury Park (Sydney) on June 20 tliree N.Z.-bred sires had winning representatives during the day. Jumbo 8., a son of Medallion, scored in a six-furlong race; Bombshell, a son of Scot* Grey, won at a mile, and "Lifebelt, an unsexed son ol Niagara, v:on a two-year-old handicap. — A rumour was current that Red Gauntlet had broken down, but bhere is- nothing seriously amiss with the Lochiel horse. A few days" back one of his shoes spread, and cut one of his legs, which had the effect of easing the horse m his work or a few days.

— The first NZ. Cup candidato to win a race after the declaration of weights, is Kohupapa, tho five-year-old gelding by Wonderland. Lady Leger, Kohupapa's dam, is a daughter of St. Leger and Barbelle, the dam of Seabreeze and Marina. Wonderland was got by Musket out of the imported mare Fairyland, tho dam of Rubezahl.

— Marmont, the winner of the Y.R.C. Grand Rational Hurdles, is a- bay gelding got by Wellington (son of Panic), out of Lady Gay, a daughter of Gang Forward and Fille de Joie. At the Victoria Amateur Turf Club June meeting, held on June 20, Marmont defeated 26 others in a two-mile 61yds hurdle race, with 9.5 up, in 3.55 i. Cruesot, who is engaged in the New Zealand Cup with 6.7, won a double at the. Napier Park meeting, but escapes a penalty, as the collective value of his wins waa £90, which 13 £10 short of earning a, 3lb penalty. Creusot fs a rising six-year-old gelding by Torpedo out of iEgyptilla, the daughter of Ingornar and Nordenfeldt's dam Onyx.

The still speedy St. Clair gelding Blazer will probably ere long be broken to b*rnes3 and used by H. Jackson as a utility horse. Tiger Lily, a full brother to Blazer, is used in. the same capacity by B. Ellis, but the latter horse is too unsound tc race whilst Blazer is as sound as a belt, and before the last Riccarton meeting ran half a mile in 49aeo. — The following motion was set dowa to be moved at t meeting of the English Jockey Club held on June 8 : — "Should the starter consider that through any faulty action oi the starting gat» ft fair start has not been effected, ho shall

declare it 'no start,.' and older the j'ockpys, Ly means of a recall flpg, to rc'urn to the nost. The starter's decision on this i.omt shall be final.

— A Mo. bourne cabV says Westerly received a r.a.-ty uijuiy to hi& (cro ic°r. requiring several stitch.es, in the Nat oral Hurdle Race. It is feared the Uijuiy will Lcep him idle for some Urre. A later uicssogo btate3 that. Westerly rpimiincd at Fiemiugton after the race. H.s l'o-e leg has filled, arici he is expected not to be able to lesume training lor at least a fort-ni&'-t.

— Dan Patch the crack Yankee pacer recently eel to lot. lV Star Pointer's 1 59 i, equalled the latter's record., but as he was scheduled to '10.-er" the record he wa3 depnved ol tb.L' honour ol standing ou the same line as Star Pointer, ard'lns tare vas made 1 59 J. Law's v,lnch permit such an injustice seem in need of ie\.sion, as x horse snould be yi\en th? lecord he earus.

— Off i1:i 1 : ccr, an aged gpkling by Bengal, who rliims engagement in the V R.C. Natior.nl Steepld.ha=o on Saturday next with 9.9, de-ie'ite-J JG others in a. stcpplecrftse over two miles thiec furloiigs and 80yds, run at Caulfie'id on June CO. He won cr-«i!y by «r: lengths in 4.19^ a".d .Spiingfield, who finished second, "truck th^ last force heavily, and '<""3t s^vera! lengths when running in the lead with Offender.

—No less than 26 ho-=r» started m a £150 hurdle race (of v'-iifh £3S went to the second horse r.v.d £15 to the thud) at Ibe C&u'.neld June m-Eet.n-g. In. i on COth of last month, ar.<l 17 started in o £160 steeplechase (£lO for the second and £20 for the third hoi?c). Some horseevners vho^e cattla tue engaged in the big Nationals like to i-pce their 4iorses in public before starting for the pwze money, bence the large field- competing for. .such small s'akes.

— "G. C. F." It was a- rmspnet. In Badmrnfor> on Racing it is sta* ;<1 that en Monday, Feb-aaij £», IS3G, th:> thst Liverpool S f ccp!ec!i<i=e was run neajr Amtro3 twice round a two lrile course. The condition* were a sweepstakes of 10=ovs, each with 80sova added, for horsas- of ail denominations, 12.0 each, winnei to be sold for 200?s if demanded. Captain Bccher, after whom "B;oher's Brook" was subsequently called, won on a horse called The Duke. In 1839 the Grand NM.onal Steeplechase supplanted the Selling Race. — The Amciican four- year-old racehorse Heruns, who was a great performer last season, v/inning ten consecutive races for L. V. Bell, was sold last month for 60,000d0l (£12,000) to E. R. Thonws, one of America's numerous milhcnaires. Hermis cost Mr Bell 20,000d01, so that he made a good investment when he bought lum. The price paid by Thomas probably constitutes a record for the American turf, as though the late Marcus Daly was said to have given 60,f100d0l for Hamburg, it v. as afterwards stated that the amount was only 5').000dol. Thonra-a is a newcomer to the turf.

— The N<>w Zealand horse Westerly was not generally expected to run so forward m the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdles as he did,- although one or two of the Melbourne track watchers displayed a little anxiety about the horse, as he was always worked long b?fore sunrise. The quietly-kept good thing nearly came off, as latest advices state that Westerly shuck one of his fences very hard and was lame otter the .race. Westeily was got by Westnicre out of the Cadog?-.n mare Martha, and his most notable win prior to leawi.g New Zealand was his victory in the Wairarapa Hack Guineas. —In referring 1o the fact, that size is not everything, even when it comes to- cross-country business, "Milroy" says — I recollect a little thcioughbrcd mare, l.ot unlike Wakeful, by the way, named Ruby, canyiog 12.7 and beating Royal Oak 12.0 and Mernder 12.2 in the V.RC. Grand National Steeplechase in 18S8. Royal CUk was nearly double the weight of Ruby, and Mernderwas one of the biggest and be°t 'chasers in training. Ruby began as a flatraoer, but before she became stiff in the joints by severe training .she fell into the hands of a jumping man, and was schooled. Ruby was only about 15 hands. — A pamphlet has b?en received fiom Mr J. H. Pollock, of Wellington, setting forth that it is desirable that there should be more handicappera appointed in the colbny, as it is impossible for owners to get justice done their horses when all the handicapping is practically m one hand. Theie is ro doubt there is nn.ple loom foi more competent handicuppers in this island, a-nd the whole colony should be able to support at l^ast hsi!f a. dozen weightadjusters i,t sala-ni's which allow them to 6eicte then' uho'e attention to the business, and clubs v.ou'd then be abe to m=ist on li.unlicappers seeing the lacing which they weie paid to handicap. —It is highly piohable that the meeting which the Forhury Park Racing Club contemplated holding in August will have to be abandoned, as the Land Company have given out that the jumps would have to bo elected on the inside grass- trsrek. The writer recently rode several times Tounct the tracks, and in its present fat: to the inside grato gallop is absolutely unfit to tram horfecs on, and nothing has been done in the w?y of putting it in order beyond cutting the grass. It is full ct cart nits, and where the contingenters' cookhouses were erected small stacks of ashes and hole 3 remain as they were left by the soldiers who liust camped ou tho ground.

--Some interesting statistics ate given in an exchange as to tho deVelo'p'meiU of s"port in Russia. There aie 18 different" race meetings, with a total of 2GO days 'ihe loaiVi.g sphering is Moscow, wit.h 5S d:ns. Then come fet Pcterbburg, with 40 days; W.u*a\v. 35, Odes c .i, 28, and R-ga, 22. The events of the pnet yeai we're competed for by 225 different racing stables, represented by 1003 horses, including 420 ynee-year-olds and 342 tv.o-yeer-olds, the others being four-year-olds amd upwards. The amou-nt of money" divided among the different winning stables is set down at £152,239. The training stable of M. M. J-. Lasarew includes 47 horses, among whom tue 23 two-year-olds, while the string of Me3&rs S. O Miohialowski and Co. is rhade up of 56, including 27 two-year-olds.

— All lines must have a beginning. Somo start on a strong foundation, others begin on slender material, or material (families) that has not stood the bevero test of tho racecourse as well as other stuff, but by a system of piling up the best tried .strains upon a -weak line the influence of that hue will in time be obliterated, and will not militate against the horse belonging to it. The success of Oml, Lochiel, and many another good stallion be!on<nng to an obscure line has proved this in their stock, but (says that well-known authority en breeding who writes under file pen-name of "Milroy" in the Sydney Mail) it la a Moticeable fact that when a good individual springs from an outside source and succeeds at the stud the dams of their winning stock arc slwayb stiongly inbred to the strains that dominate in the pedigTee ofthe horse. — The London Times say? —The Betting Bill, which the House of Lords rejected, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, is an excellent rpecimen of th< moat vexatious and futile o5 all legislation— i.e., legislation by faddists. Professedly directed against street betting, which ib already recognised as a nuisance ahke by the law and by public opinion, the bill was really an attempt to put an end to all betting except that carried on by well-to-do people who can afford to attend race meetings. Betting when carried to excess 13 an svil, like most thmgs when earned to excess. No doubt it is responsible for a certain amount of evil

consequences, just as a. hundred other things are. But when ths faddist fixes his eye upon a thing of this kind he loses all sense of proportion aiid perspective. We should all be very glad if men could be induced to abstain fiom belting, but we ne=;d not, on liiat account, frrgct that it :s, after .ill, ooly a small part of the general sum of enor and misdirection. — The North Ib'.and-bred pony Belle Cole, the daughter of Lcbel and Miss Cole, was Fent out favourite for (he 14.2 Handicap at Kensington P.-uk (Sjdm"y; on June 17, and won cleverly by a length from nne others. Beile is well bred eno.Lgh to win Melbourne Cnps, plates, or snuc?rs, as her sire Lclkl is a son of Norde ife'dt i^d Pnlchra, the later bnng the iinoor'ed daughter of Ro'iciuc.an, from ■whom have descended St. C'air, Formo 'the dam of Muitiorni), Uniform, and Forme (the dam of Fcrmosan srd Crncilorm). Miss Cole, the dam of Belle Col», is a daughter of Kirg Cole (mm. =on of King Tom and Qui Vive, a sister to the sire of Galopm) end Tmambra, the daughter of The Marquis, and produced to Nelson an Auckland Cup and Hawke's liay Guineas winner in Pegasus. Despite the fact of her being a hiiputian equine, Belle Cole should prove valuable as a brood mare at the conclusion of her racing carepr. Behind Belle m her recent win was Lady Margaict Botrcaux, the daughter of La Rose.

— For some time past thcro has been a dlsrmt<» between the Forbury Park Lan£ Company and tho St. Ki'.da Borough Council concerning the ro?.d lino which runs round the back cf ho Forbnry Park 3ixce«suyse. A few days ' ack, as a. rasuit of the Land Company dechn-n-ij to oay rent for the strip of land eavo!v"d m the di.s:>\ite, the St. Ki'da Council took down r.C'rt en of the boundivrv fence us an indication of what they intended dong in tfie mattar, but on tbe fence beins re-eTcct;d they too 1 : mere drastic measures by puling down and carting a-way the timber '?ith which the fence ■vas bmlt. and so much progress has been mfde in the matter that by the time, the*e lines are seen the entire fence, from the ofd entrance at thiT Windmill round to the- St. C.air end of tho Park, will probably be a thing of the past. The belt of trees which at present adorns the same portion, of course will doubtloss m«t the ifate of the fencs. The width of the ground in dispute is about 20ft and, lightly or wrongly, the Dnr.echn Jockey »tud rent for a number of years to the council for ths privilege of allowing the fence to remain on its present boundary line.

— The welt-known Biccarton trotting man, C'aude Piper, head manager and trainer for Mr JBuckland. is at present on a rvisit to Bathurst, Jf.S.W. He recently informed a Sydney Mail representative that Mr Buckland's venture in invading New Zealand three years ago with his trotters has proved remarkably successful, and at present he has 15 horses in his Christchurch stables. He. heads the winning list in New Zealand, and his main successes may be traced to the Vancleve blood. Piper declares that trotting has such a, firm lio!d upon the sporting public of New Zealand that this clasa of s-port draws larger attendances than flat racing, and the prize money totals an enormous siinj, while the greatest possible care is bastowed upon the trotting courses throughout the colony. The sport is kept particu!a,i'y pure fiom malpractice, and officials are appointed to supervise meetings whose names are sufficient gnarantee of bona fides. Regarding the recent defeat of Mr Pmcklond's gtent trotter Fritz, Piper said that Fritz 'hRd not don* well prior to his departure from New South Wales, and was not by any means himself on his arrival in New Zealand ; and, without detracting in any way from Ribbenwood's performance, he is of opinion th-at Fntz'p defest was due to his uot being in form.

—Mr Love, a prominent Indian buyer Rt present in Australia recently gave some details regarding the class of ho/ses required in India. Fn-?t there was the very heavy battery hoTse. Then there was the leader of the field artillery teams, from 15.1 to 35 3 hands, and the ordinary fie'd aitillery horse of 14.31 to 15.2J iiands. The cei'tre horse of the same class was the hardest for buyers to obtain, and had to be a big, strong well-bred animal, with plenty of action. The medium cavalry was 15 to 15.3 hands, and rarely earned less than I7st. It could be understood what sort of a horse was xeq-Kiv^d to carry that -weight. It must have plenty of quality and strength. Then there was the charger. If a shipper had an order for. «ay, 100 horpes, which was a very tall order, he vjb supposed to include seven chargers, and it ws.s very rarely that a buyer could obtain his prooortion of that class of horse, which l.g<l to be ail entire, showing splendid action ard qooil in every way. The hoi sen were dc-o'y inspected, and very many were lejected for cataracts. Out of the last lot of horses he =ent to India tliere were n. number rejected for this fault, which was often rlitScu't to detect. Theie were various kinds of native ci>valry hoise-.s Ho re-Jtl a letter fiom the officer commanding the 10th Bengal Lancers, showing that this cla^s of horse must bo between 14.2 and 15 hands, with good shoulders end straight legs, four to six years old, wellriLbeJ. He further pnid no amount of ejecolleuce in a horse would make an army huyer depart from the conditions laid down. That was to say, n a- horse whs 16 hands high and another was shown at. say, 15.3 hands, the former would be re>ect«l even if a finer-looking hoisa than the other.