SPORTING FROM AUSTRALIA

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 56

SPORTING FROM AUSTRALIA

>/ - _ " - ' - Bt Hoxr.PoENE.

( ' I MELBOUR^' December 7. '--." • THE TURF. ""Sliere was a pr.etty.' fair attendance at San-.i town Park on. Ssiturday, and albeit nothing' cf ! V startling chara-ctex occurred 1 , two or three \ i>fthe events deserve a parapraph. Fox, in- j ktwice/in the opening event — a Madden Pla,te of five furlcngs, f gr which no less than 16 st«urted-r ; winner tiurned-up in ft rare bred 'un with aboriginal p&tionymic of- King Billy, who Started 'third favourite at s's (Hadji being at Vb ana Distraction at 4's). King Billy,' who now «• fiye-year-old, and 1 unsexed, too; at jthat, was- bfed by Mr Sam Hordern, and was purchased as a yearling by Cataxer Harry Skin•aier for 50Qgs. It was . found impossible to bain bam as a two-year-old, and uxvtil the event kinder notice he has been a perfect white ele--chant. His breeding lines, .however, are undeniable, seeing that he is by Haut Brion from iPidncesa Olga, the latter being by Chester from Princess Maud,- who, in turn, was by AdVenturer 'from tha illustrous Princess of Wales fun of ■the English Derby winnex G-eoxge ederick, Albert Victor, Louise Viotoria, kud "VictOTia,.and others). On Saturday King Uy defeated Tom Uphill's two-year-old filly V^xisaka by, half *, length in the moderate time Df lmin 4-Jsec^ Distraction being a poor- third, ■toxe wmner-ran^in the- nomination of the onetime crack exoss-countxy horseman, W. S. Cox, .who has been-fcuining^winnprs out of his training establishment at intervals for some time past. Stopwatch (by Jeweller— Matilda) 10.9, ridden by F. Fieider, won the Two-mile Hurdle. ERace in. 3min S4seo, after which a 16 to 1. , chance, yclept Precocious (a, four-year-old 1 'mare by The Inquisitor from Preston's dam 1 , -.Blue Eyes) ;won"th© Trial Handicap of six ihirlongs in good style by two lengths in lmin l7Jsec.- v Prior to the Sandhurst Cup, +he MartinijE!enry — Miss Kaipara six-year-old gelding Chassepot jschowed ins teainer a high-class pri- 1 T»;te gallop, but failed to"repea.t the performance in the race proper. 'However, he came out-in^ the SancTown -Park -Sumimer Cup,- and, with ,7.10, won >handsomely by two lengths from Bail 8.10, flattie, BA, and 11 other "pretty good 'uns, " tc^niin 43|seo for- the anile. P. K. 7.12 staited favourite at 3's (Chassepot was at 6's), and i;an r so .disappointingly thit it was decided: to leport him b"ack.to New South Walea forthwith. ' Killua (Haimonis.t— : Lady Golightly) exhibited some of his latent powers by securing ,the Welter Handicap, of six furlongs, somewhat isomfortablv, with the steadier of 11.0, in lmm I6j»ec.

On the Sydney side, at Canterbury Park, Rock

Harbour (Gibraltar — Miss Hawthorn) 7.12 won the Flying Handicap, by nearly three lengths tn lmin 16sec. Saraswati (Niagara^ — Eloquence) got home by a neck from Parting" Glass 8.12 In the Shorts Handicap, of a similar distance, in* lmin WJseCj^not a-t all a. bad performance considering he carried 10.10. The Canterbury Handicap, of a mile and

E-qnartex. eventuated m-a. dead heat between E. jffeva's Insolence (Invader — Laura) 8.6 and E-. Jluid's The Mite (Lochiel— Mabel) €.9, the f&vourite Philibeg 1 , being four lengths away third, and,the time 2min 12seo. 'Way up in Bananaland the Queensland Turf Club opened their summer meeting on Saturday at Eagle Farm, the weather being fine and the attendance good, albeit only £2892 went through the iotalisator. W. J. Nou'd's Forge (who, it is stated, wall shortly be under Harry IRayaior's care at Randwick) proved his staying Ability by carrying off the weight-f or-age Spring Stakes, of a, mile and a-quaxter, from Gozard* Escamillo, and Croagh -Patrick, leading all the S*ay, and yet traversing the distance in Stain Bisec. For thia event .the Queensland: dhdpttiipn of the back end of last season, Fite-Gxafton, Was scratched- at the last moment, the stewards, >fter a vet.'s examination, deciding that he wag buffering so severely from a sore shoulder that it was inadvisable for him to start.

There was no betting on the Q.T.C. Derby, Itr A. C. Cooper's colt Joyance paralysing speculation. Leading all the way, he won by a length from Lard Bernie and The Painter (the only Vther starters) in 2min 41} sec.

E. Lewis (Sandown Park), W. H. S'luith (a.t Uauterbuiy Park)., tend C. Bolt on /fit E«&1»

Farm) each roae % couple of winners on Saturday.

TUFTS OF TURF.

Wairiki is still on the improve, and it is now next door to a certainty that he can be saved for stud, purposes. At F^lemington Joe Cxipps's Meniang hus been executing serviceable work for some time past, and, like Boz. this erstwhile firstcla.ss sprinter may yet be heard of to advantage over a distance.

Talk about getting in early ! On the Sydney sidle a punter has already accepted the fancy wager of £10,000 to 10 about the double, Emir fox the next Cauifield Cup and Blinker for the Melbourne Cup. Mairp, the Newmarket Handicap winner, •nhb, with 8.6, won the great six-furlong dash last season from Pendant 9.12 and Playaway 7 If, is ogam in work at headquarters, looking particularly well. Sport Royal carxied 9.5 into third place in the last Perth Cup, and was finishing far faster than either the winner (Cypher 8.1) or the second (Homeward Bound 8.1). Although let down a couple of pounds for this year's great W.A. two-mile event, the aged son of Malvolio and Adelaide will not cross the Great Australian Bight— which looks as if the Australian Cup was to be his dart. Two miles and, aquartex iB well within his compass, take my tip for it.

The old Randwick "rangex," W. Woodburn— who has held the position for some two score years now — is to be placed on the retired list, and on Boxing Day will be presenteQ by the irainexs with an illuminated address. He deserves iff thoroughly.

Bookmaker T. E. Arnfield, who I reported last week as being! the inmate of a private hospital, has- experienced a -paralytic stroke.

Grand Rapids has come in for any amount of "gape-seed" since pationising the Caulfield training track, and has been universally admired, albeit he -has been suffering severely from soreness' since his That ancient of 'chasing days, Freedom (who carried off tile V.R.C. Gxand National in 1901, with 9.11; Bethnel 12.10 being second and The African 11.7 third), is once more jumping like a stag on the classic heath. He will develop pace anon. J. M'Ewan, the Queensland trainer, is expected to arrive at Caulfiel'd with a team of horses from, Bananaland in the immediate future. Amongst other successes h« annexed the Sandhurst Cup with Nimbus on the occasion of bis last visit. It is understood that M'Ewan's visiting team will include Nimbus, Gozotina, - John Redmond^ and Harkaway. After a lengthened spell, T. Dempsey has put the steeplechaser Robgill into work again at Mentone. He will repay following. James Rogers, a very successful Brisbane light-weight jockey, has been retained as "first mount" in Joe Burton's stable at Randwick.

The American-bred txotters, Lottie Derby and Ruby Wilkes, failed to realise the reserve price at auction last week, and were passed in. The Hobart Cup, to be decided! on January 18, is woxth JESOO.

First Preston (Preston —Ruth), who started at-7 to 4 against half a dozen others, and won the. Jumpers' Flat Race at the Aspendale Park -Kaces lasi Wednesday, 1 managed' to squeeze home witH 9.5, but only by a short hea3 from Boas Croker < 10.2, th« mile and a-quarter being negotiated in-2min 15Jsec. First Preston— )jred by 'Mr Sej>t. Miller — is running in Mx W: Lang's name. BCr. is evidently, no "smouch." At the sanie meeting an aged Easy JohnDressmaker gelding named Colenso, hailing from the Riyerina Distxict, and the beau ideal of a chusei in confoxmation, carried 9.13 to a. hollow victory in *ho two-mile Steeplechase. Scotch Reel 11.6, Freedom 11.12, and Jacques 10.5 were included amongst the six staxters. Padlock's stock wer© greatly in evidence at Aspendale Park— Posco (dam Postulant) se~ cuxing the Trial Handicap, Bail (Harbour Trust) the Welter Plate, and Gilda (Melodise) the Welter Purse. Gilda is a four-year-old half-sister to the West Australian celebrities Warrior II and Fifeness; her dam, Melodise, tracing back to Goldslnrough andi Melody (the dam of Melos).

Deeming that they had exceeded their authority in charging' Mr C. Lenny the £2 2s incurred in costs through holding the inquiry into . his protest (Avalon v. Maltie), ; the Epsom stewards met again oil Friday last, and rescinded that particulax part of their finding. It appeaxs that when the horses returned! to scale after the Mordialloo Handicap (the last race of the afternoon) thexe wexe only a coupde of stewards "on duty," and search having failed to dis- , cover another ("not even in the refreshment room," as friend "Javelin" jocosely puts it), the inquiry had to be held over to the following week; hence the tw._ guineas "costs." However, the Epsom stewards appear to have once more exceeded their authority in reversing a previous finding without first consulting the Victorian Racing Club thereanent, and so more may yet be heard of the matter. I fancy, • from news I have received from Randwick, that Mr W. P. Crick's Ossian will be^vexy much about. up Randwick way during the Boxing Day and New Year reunions. Cato has ' sufficiently recovered from his . bruised heel" to be appoxtioned half-pace work. s I incline to tihe opinion that when this four-year-old .son of Amberite and Krangi gets another twelvemonth over ihim- he will turn out "one of the few." , Extensive alterations are to be made in the "official" stand at Randwick. At present there is only seating accommodation for some 450, but the committee intend providing for

Of a verity (writes a. Sydney sporting scribe) some trainers will be put to their wits' end for a reasonable excuse if they fail to win races during the next few weeks, judging by the extent of their strings' of horses in work. Tom Payten, for instance, has 16 in active preparation, including Mark, Flora M'Donald, and Elvo; and as Burton 'has charge of 17, with Cato, Tartan, Port Jackson, The Belie, Lady Voypu, and Steeltrust, his followers ought Reasonably to expect a good time in the near future. Scully has Marvel Loch and 13 others in hand, and AUsop's dozen include Lord Ullin's Daughter, No Shenanagan, and Playaway. A. E. Comwell presides over ll in activ© wort, among therm being- Dumont ; while Miraanar, -Zythos, «nd Rudyard are included in J. Mayo's collection of 10. Mr S. Fielder's lot is only~ small — four — including Lamrock and Abington; and H. Lowe continues in charge of Mr W. P. Crick's team— Ossian, Irish Corner, The Desolator, and • an unnamed filly. As usual, I. Eainshaw has a usefuWooking lot, for among his crowd of 15 are Birida, Nottios, Bee Bee, Philibeg, and The Harvest; and naturally he is looking forwaxd to having % good innings. Recognising the. good work accomplished by Mr E. B. B«ll as honorary secretary, the committee of the Victorian _ Owners' and Trainers' Association lat their meeting on Monday presented the one-time Maorilander with a valuable chronograph. Mr J. B. Reid (vice-presidi'ent) made the- presentation.