TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 50

TALK OF THE DAY.

THE D.J.O. SUMMER MEETING. The latest meeting of the Dunedin Jockey | Club to be made turf history will rank as on© of th© rccst pleasant gatherings which his yet taken place at Wingatiii. The } weather on each day was splendid, albeit a I trifle threatening at times; the course in ! excellent order, the quality of the sport of j a fairly high order, and bearing the appear- > anoe of being of a healthy type. Finani cially th© meeting was also a success, as the returns show that a handsome profit was ( made by the club, which has for a, number ; of years had' to beait.a- loss over .the.. fixture. The sum of £10,800 10s was put through the totalisators, as against last year's • total of £7699 i. At" the previous year's meeting the total was £6725, and this goes to show that the' " gathering- has regained" its lost . popularity There is excellent reasons for ; believing that the summer meeting at Wingatui will soon become -very popular, both with owners and public. The dates are a strong auxiliary towards success, and if the club would adopt a bold policy in their states there is no doubt that many horses which are sent to the Coast or the North Island would) be found competing at j Wingatui, where it only requires a decent class of horses and reasonably large fields to attract many sports from a distance. There was a splendid attendance present each day, but many well known patrons of the club who hail from Invercargill, Gore, Maniototo, and the North Otago districts were conspicuous by their absence, . and who would be lured from their homes j if the prospect of witnessing some good sport was suggested by the programme. Zealous had her work cut out to beat The Guesser in the first day's hurdles, but the gallop evidently did her a lot of good, as she won from ond l to end on the second day, and had a fair amount in hand when i sh© sailed past the post. Th© tim.es which. ' she put up are track records ; but the going- was distinctly in favour of the watch, as the ground was fairly hard and firm. Quagga, the half-brother to Bulawayo, landed his double oh the first day in good! style, and* Pallas, who scored each day, proved he was back to form by the convincing manner in whioh he settled the opposition. Petrovna was in close attendance to the son of Chain Armour -up to about six furlongs, but she dropped back, and I Manjess defeated her for second honours somowhal. comfortably. On the s&rond day Red Gauntlet, who is galloping very well at present, was commonly expected to down Pallas over a mile, but the former dwelt on the mark, and had to concede about four lengths to Mr M'Kenzie's horse. Gauntlet quickly made up his ground, and was on terms in less than a furlong. Scoullar, on Pallas, made th© pacevery solid, and Red G-auntlet was in trouble

before getting to th© end of seven furlongs. Pallas slipped a bandage during the race, but fortunately the flapping cloth did not do any damage. Alixis's wins were popular with the public, who gave th© Hon. Geo. M*Lean a fine ovation as the youngster returned to the paddock after his first race. Alexis, whose show will probably prove the best advertisement Lord Rosslyn has had up to date, is a racey-looking gelding who will improve with age. He was nicely handled by young M'Guire, who. probably owing to instructions, rode without the use oi his whip, to which he is rather prone, as for example was the case when he was up on Casque on his second day, when it wae noted that as soon as Red Gauntlet had him In trouble, although about a mile from home, the whip 1 was at once brought into play. It is understood that M'Guire's apprenticeship is on the point of expiring, but he would be I studying his best interests if he served another term with J. M 'Guineas, who has [ had the trouble of converting him into arider. Slow Tom appeared to be getting an unlucky passage in the Caversham Welter, and this was the ause of his defeat, as with a clearer run there is no doubt he would have beaten Carlo. Donna Rosa annexed the Otakaia Welter after a scrambling finish, and had to undergo the ordeal of a protest before finally getting the stake. The protest, however, seemed to be a frivolous one, as Donna Rosa appeared to be getting- hit over the head in' the last few strides. Manjess put up a fine performance In the Fernhill Welter Hack in which he had the steadier of 11.6. He was cannoned into at the start, and lost a bit of ground by the mishap. Len. King, however, rode a fine patient race, and measured off his opponents very judiciously. He gradually mad© up his ground, and did 1 not appear in the van until it was time to win th© race. It was pleasing to see J. Lewis have a wining turn, as he is a good patron of the club— particularly after his bad luck with th© more pretentious members of the team. Stepenfeldt gave Mr T. C. Donnelly a winning turn, and Petrovna did the same for Mr J. Jeffs, the popular clerk of the course, who had the pleasure of leading in his own horse. Brighton brought a^ pleasant meeting to a close by winning the Farewell Handicap, and marked the second success of the Messrs Ellis Brothers' horses at the gathering.

TWO-YEAR-OLDS AT WINGATUI. The unusual sight of witnessing seven two-year-olds contesting a race at Wingatui was one of the most notable events in connection with the recent D.J.C. meeting. The two-year-old races at Wingatui have frequently attracted some well-performed youngsters, but up to the present the numerical strength of the fields has generally been very j^oor, and it would appear that the club's efforts to eater for that class of racing stands a reasonable chance of being rewarded. The writer has always been adverse* to -two-year-olds being asked to race* early in the season, but there is no doubt that in November or December some of th© juveniles can undergo fairly severe tasks without seriously affecting their subsequent value. One or two of the youngsters seen out last week were a bit backward in racing condition, but as far as quality and breeding goes they made a creditable, show. Alexis, who won a race each day, was bred by his owner, the Hon. Geo. M'Lean, at his Warrington stud, and was got by Lord Rosslyn (St. Olair — Lady Emma) out of Plevna (a daughter of Stepniak and Ambush, the sister to Orloff's dam, Sortie). Alexis, who shows a lot of quality, is inbred to !Musket, and has his pedigree further strengthened by infusions of Yattendon, Tradue&r, and Stockwell. H© is a dark brown in colour, and is built on speedy lines. Grand Opera, who ran second each day. to Alexis, is a nice cut of a filly, who evidently possesses a fair share of pace, which should be used to advantage when she has had more experience at the game. She was bred by Mr J. F. Reid, and got by Gipsy Grand out of lima, a daughter of Stepniak and Ranee Nuna, the last-named being by St. Georgs (brother to Chester) cut of the Traducer mare Watersprite. Hilarity is a raking big filly, who should be served by time, and was evidently not quite at her best, as she did not race so attractively as she did at Riccarton or Plumpton. She is the first of Castashore's stock to sport silk and as she includes a win on her list, together with her attractive appearance, she should give her sire_ a boost into favour. Her dam. Pleasure Seeker, is one of the Psyche family, t which "Vogengang. Ben Farley, and co. belong. Salaam, who showed pafce in both her races, is an Australian-bred daughter of Medallion and Salutation, by Segenhoe, from the imported Dutch Skater mare Welcome, whose dam, Fair Diichess, was got by - Blair Athol. Salaam locked a bit weak behind the -saddle, but showed promising galloping powers in her races. Moudjik, a brown by Stepniak out of Vaultress (Albany — Miranda), the dam of Pitch and Toss and Mountebank, is a good cut of a youngster, and possesses plenty of size-. Rio Grande is a compactly- ■ built son of Stepniak and British Queen, the daughter of St. George and Britomarte, the sistej to Euroclydon ; consequently he is closely related to Vladimir. Abusive, who also sported silk at the meeting, is a son of Sir Lancelot (half-brother by Dreadnought to Sir Modred and co.) out of Tirade, by Mouequetaire (Nordenfeldt — Frailty) out of Florence Macarthy, dam of Tirailleur. Abusive reads very promisingly on breeding lines, and he should do better when he is next asked to carry silk.

THE WELLINGTON PARK SALE. Although this year's sale of th© Wellington Park stock averaged jvist on 118gs a head, som© of the prices returned react particularly small, as for instance the 12gs paid for th© Phcebus Ap.ollo— Lady Gertrude colt. In all probability there was something amiss with the* youngster, but it will be remembered that Roscommon, ■who has picked' up a few stakes, is another of Lady Gertrude's stock, and he went for a song when he realised 25gs as a yearling at th© same sales. For an untried eir© the stock of Menschikoff brought good prices, and the 300gs paid for the colt by him out of Stmningdale reads very promising for the son of Stepniak. The highest price mad© this year v^as returned for the San. Francisco — Miss Gladys colt, who is a half-brother to the well-performed Gladsome. As a comparison the following list of the highestpriced youngsters at previous sales should prove of interest : — 1887 — Foiest Queen, by Musket — Sylvia, Mr T. Chirnside, HOOgs. ISB7— Beryl, by Musket— Onyx, Mr T. Chiruside, 1040gs.

lf-38 — Necklet by Musket — Locket, Mr J. Marshal!, 650gs. 1889— Steadfast, by Nordenfeldt— Nelly Moore, Mr W. R Wil<=on, 1025g5. 18&9— Zalinski, by Nordenfeldt— Frailty, Mr W. R. Wilson, 900gs lfc90 — Mousquetsire, by Nordenfeldt — Frailty, Mr S. H. Golian, 2025g5. IS£l— Culloden, by NorQenfeldt— Nelly Moore, Mr S. H. Gollan, 950gs. 1892 — Havoc, by Nordenfeldt — Frailty, Mr W. P.. Wilson, 2200g5. 1893— Novelette, by Nordenfeldt — Ouida, Mr S. Hordern, 900gs. 1894 — Astronomer, by Castor — Frailty, Mr S. Hordern, 1575g5. 1894 — Cravat, by Castor — Necklace, Mr S. Hordern, 1050gs. 1595 — Edith Ciurcton, by Castor— Frailty, Mr G. Wright, 450gs. 3896 — St. Conon, by St. Leger — Sapphire, Mr T. H. Lowry, 510gs. 1897— Altair, by Castor— Cissy, Mr G. G. Stead, 420gs. 1898 — Lancaster, by Hotchkiss — Frailty, Mr I. Foulsham, lOOOgs. 1899— Hengist, by St. Leger— Hilda, Hon. H. Mosnian, 1050gs. 1900— Royal Artillery, by Hotchkiss— Rose of Wellington, Mr G. G. Stead, 1400gs. 1301— St. Hilda, by St. Leger— Hilda, Mr G-. G. .Stead, SiOgs. 1902 — Royal Fusileer, by Hotchkiss — Janet, Mr T. H. Lowry, 560gs. 1903— Chestnut colt by Hotchkiss— Fqrmo, My E. W. Alison, 1200gs.