IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 50

IN A NUTSHELL.

Slow Tom is to be spellecE until nesft winter. — Heirloom was never prominent in lu9 races at Riccarton. Golden Knight has 3omed M. Hobbs'9 team at Riccarton. According to Lord) Davey, there are 30,000 boolkmakera in England. It is stated that a little while ago an offer of 700gs was refused for Romeo. InniskiTlen charges his fences like the proverbial mad bull at the proverbial gate. Sir George Clifford has been elected a life member of the Auckland Racing Club. Trumpery injured her spine when sha fell over Romeo, and was subseqiiently shot. — Jolly Friar, who landed a double at the National meeting, is a hall-brother to Jolly Bog-r. -- Playfair, who got amongst the winners at Riccarton last week 4 is * half-brother to Chivalry*

— 3?ull--Cry-ran a good horse in the Winter Cup, but failed when strongly fancied for ins race on the last day.

— Scotty was supported for the New Zealand Cup shortly after the handicap for the lace made its appearance.

— Veneer, the brother to Mahutonga, is a nice cut of a gelding, but is at present Buffering from dental troubles. — Flying Spark was a hot pot for the Hack Handicap, but did not get away too well, and was walking sore after the race. — The amount passed through tihe totalisators at Riccarton last week totalled £44,944, as «gainsl iasit year's total of £39,495.

— Inniskillen is a fine cut of a horse, and if he could be cuTed of his pulling propensities would make a fine 'chaser.

— Nadador was completely off-colour at the National, and was so far out from the leaders that she was pulled up. — The i&a of Flying Fox has been raised to 600gs, -which is lOOgs more than the sum charged for the services of St. Sunon.

— Durable struck heavily when running in the National Hurdles, and he will require a. bit of a spell before h% is seen out again. — Leeside made his debut as a hurdler last ■week, and promises to develop into a useful eovt when he has had a bit more experience.

— At the English iihoroughbred sales- Avice, a yearling filly by Bill of Portland, realised 1150gs, and Eidothea, a sister to Merman, 700gs. — Flower b' Clntha, was a, strong order for lier race on Saturday, but she failed to justify the confidence placed upon her galloping powers. — Silkworm pulled up latmo after his race in the August Handicap, and) itjs more than likely that the attempt to- train him will not be persevered with. — Ability was one of the quiet tips for tis races ' last -week, but the son of Queen Bee waß a drone, who did not bring hia supporters any honey to their hives. — Maniapoto bas been shipped to Sydney, »nd is reported to have 'shaped well in his final "gallops at the Hntt. The hors© will go into R. J. Mason's charge at Raridwick. — Romeo is believed to have had his leg broken owing td Trumpery landing ,on him after he took the fence which was responsible for terminating the careers of both horses. Borneo had his throat cut, and Trumpery was shot. — Cavalry was nominated by cable for the hurdle events to be decided at the Randwick spring •meeting, and if he makes /the journey it will probably be undter the charge of Mr D. J. Price. — The death ia reported of tfoe Natator gelding Gobo, who was a smart horse over country in his day, and was amongst tihe past /winners of the C.J.O. Grand National Steeples. — Heroism gave "a poor display in the Trial Hurdles, and' fenced badly. His owner, however, informed ' the -writer that the son of G-raftori had not been given a great deal of schooling.

— The Southland cross-country horse Mana*ona showed.-a good display of form by arunJiing second on 4he day of the National meeting after getting carried off in tie early part of" the raoe.

— 'A /private .cable received on Saturday at Christchurch informed Mr D. J. Price that Machine Gun had won a six-furlong race at Banctwiofe in Imin" lisee. Mi Price returns to Sydney on Friday next. — Rowlock looked to "have a winning chance in the Hunt Club Cup> and piloted the way ior the greater portion of the journey, but lie could not pace it home with. Wi "Waka and Playfair at the finish.

— It is reported from Sydney that all hope has been abandoned of that good colt Murilio standing another preparation, either in the near future or later on, one of his legs being aegarded as beyond repair. — Haydn las been. dripped to Sydney, and if the sports on the other side of the- water are not impressed- with hi» appearance) they trill have to admire bis fencing abilities and the courage he displays under silk.

— TJie form displayed by Daredlsvil in tie HurdGes and subsequent races suggests that he was unlucky to lose the TriaJ Hurdles, or that his gallop in that raoe effected a great improvement in his condition.

— Creusot looked rough and ragged in condition when he won the National Hurdles last week, and if he can race so well when appearing to be far from fit he should be a difficult one to Feat when in good order.

— Mahutonga is the ruling favourite: fol the New Zealand Cup, and is quoted at 12's to 1. Achilles ranks next at 14's, and then come Quarryman, Moniapoto, Gladstone, Scotty, Paritutu, and Melodeon at 16's. — Victory broke a blood-vessel on tihe Saturday before the National whilst doing a, gallop. He again bled after his race in the big Steeples, but still came up fairly well for his race on the last day of the meeting. — Waiwera for some time past has been .spoken of as a light 10-J other days; but he ana-de ' a good -fight in the National Hurdilcs, and only faded out in the last furlong, after looking to have a good winning chance at the last fence. '

— Blythemaid won the Summer Handicap, one mile and a-half, in good style, and although ,the opposition was not particulaly strong, •It was -a -fair performaTzce for the filly to carry 11.1 over 12 furlongs in 2.47 2-5 on a heavy track. — Rose. Madder was ■doing good 1 wcark -on the track prior to the National -week, and looked to have a good chance in the "Winter Cup, but the diay before the Tace she was unfortunate enough to slip and hurt herself when, entering th© passage to her box. — Without wishing in any way to detract from +ho merits of Inniskiilen's National victory, it struck the -writer that, judging- by the way the Fraternite gelding charges his fences, he was ■» bit lucky in getting safely ©veir the Riccarion country.

— • Acrasia's Melbourne Oup -win (placed Mr Humphrey Oienham at the head of mailing owners in Australia with £5382 to his credit. Mr S. G-iefoi, owner of Gladsome, was second ©n the list witih £4319 ; and Mr J. Wrem, owner ol Murmur, sixth -with! £2880. It i 3 reported from Ballarat that so far the Derby favourite Charles Stuart has wintered splendidly. If lie continues to progress in a. satisfactory manner he will probably be cent to Sydney to take part in the A.J.C. spring meeting in September. The grey gelding Makuri is one of the gamest horses that ever raced at Riccarton, and his wins last week were well deseved. He is not an attractive horse to look «*, but improves on acquaintance, a,nd. wli-at He lacks in beauty is made up in. power. — Haydn ran better in his races at Riccarion than what his appearance suggested 1 to the •writer. The game old gelding was never a gaudy one to look at, and this year ha looked overdone, particuilairly when working in, tha unflattering cold! ol the early morning. —Mr G-. G-. Sfceadl has sold Golden Knight to Mi' J. C. N. Grigg, of Longheach. The eon of Aura is one of the handsomest horses in trainings but he appears to navie deteriorated in pace -and not made the improvement which usually results from, care and training of Jroung horses. — It is said to take an ordinary man who has Jaid 7 to 4 on a dead-heiater some time to a-ealiso that he is a losei' on the transaction; liut under the same circumstances it is almost loveless to try and. convince, one of the fail

sex that she has not won enough to keep heT in gloves foi" a twelvemonth. — Pricx to Jus win xv the Winter Cup Kremlin looked lighter in condition than when bo was last sesn at Riccarton. He stayed out the nuie well, and a furiong from home looked as if he was going to nave am easy victory; but hie- had to be hard ridden to shake off Full Cry s challenge at tiie finish.

—An examination of the books of the A.R.C. show that the defalcations in connection with which a charge of embezzlement is to be laid against the club's late accountant amount to £2900; but it is expected that a further increase will have to be made to this sum when the complete figures are known.

—F. Howard's win on Inmskiilen in the National Stopples was a well-deserved success, as in the two precedling year 3he fell at the fatal pest-and-rails when riding Hipstone and Eclair, when both these horses looked to have good winning chances before failing to safely negotiate the second last fence to be crossed in the race.

— Mr P. Neagle gave a clever display of horsemanship when The Whip fell with him in the Hunt Club Cup. Mr Neagle was up before the horse, and was into the saddlebefore his mount regained its legs, and set sail ait the next fence in such smart style that the spectators accorded him a welldeserved ovation.

— A certain light-weight who rides for a quiet stable that frequently finds him & winning mount weighed out very fine thei other day, and when outside the weighing room door expectorated violently. "Don't dio that again," excitedly exclaimed the trainer, who had observed the actioin, "or you won't be able to draw the blan'ky weight!" — The Mohican's display in the National Hurdles mught have been better if he had not beem raced in the Jumpers' Flat Raoe on the first day. He looked well, -'but had probaby d'ooie more thau enough of track work, in addition to suffering from dental troubles, and that race took sonnet of th© steel out of Mm, whdeh he could ill afford to lose.

— Orichton achieved his two wins at Ricoarton in a most convincing manner, and looks like being a, cheap hors© at £400. At present he is a lot bigger in condition than when he was racing in his former owner's colours, and the bold style- of action hie displayed did. not gnggest lack of courage, which has' been held responsible for some of his failures. — Savoury ran >a .good colt in the Islington Handicap, and, alMhough he could! not have beaten Exmoor, lie was sure 1 to have been a good second if he had) not dropped back when running abcut three furlomgs from home. He came with a fine! run in ths straight, and his effort Tvas a praiseworthy one, considering he looked a bit above himself in condition*.

— Beldame, Mr Belrnont's great American lace mare, has now won over 100,000dol in stakes and purses. Only two mares have ever outranked her in money won — Miss Woodford and Firenzi. Her great rival this season has been Delhi, although Agile has beaten her once. Delhi, to date, has won over 119,000d0l in three seasons' racing.

— The Raccarton obstacles levied a toll on the horses which raced over them last week, and some of the' horses which hit their jumps aire not likely to race for some time. Tha writer has always objected to the stoutness of the hurdles ait Riccarrt.on, as -he has seem them smash up several norses, but, does not remember ever seeing a jump .smashed! by a horse..

— A fielder who -witnessed Waiwera rao© at the last Auckland meeting thought so little of his Natiomafi chance that he laid 500 to 20 against the gelding without having a book on the raoe. Whem Waiwera was sailing along in front as the field was racing round tho home turn there were a few anxious moments', but Creusot's arrival on the scene saved thei halftnousand.

— Tispacra's win om. the last day of the National gathering was well deserved, as he was weil up in all his Taces prior to his success; but Comfort would have only required a pinch of luck to have masiteiried him in tha race. Comfort lost a bit of ground at the last fence, and had that been saved it must have made a bit of difference at the finish, and probably converted a (narrow deifeat into a victory.

— The majority of the penciillers who had books on the National doubl'a laid little or nothing . against tho winning combination. Messrs Barnett and Grant, however, were not amongst the lucky ones, and they laid £1500 of their book. Of this amount £700 goes to Blenheim, £300 to Hastings, £250 to Inglewood, and. the balance goes in various other directions in small pa-roela. *

— Pipi's win on Saturday was a very popular victory, and the spectators started cheering as soon as the old gelding landed safely over the last obstacle. It was a well-merited and considerably overdue win for both horse and rider; but Carr would probably be prevented from thinking of his lack of luck in the past as he and his gallant old mount ran .the gauntlet of cheering spectators which lined the "way to the winning post.

■ — The imported jockey Nolan did not get much of a chance to distinguish himself when he made his debut before a. New Zealand poblic. His mount was Golden Knight, who ran considerably below what might have been expected, on form, and some of the wiseacres quickly attributed the poor display of the horse to indifferent horsemanship ; but subsequent events proved the error of that opinion.

— The Vincent Jockey Club are out with their programme for the club's annual meeting, which is to take place on January 1 and 2. The principal events on the programme are the New Year Trot, of 70sovs, two miles; fthe Matakanui Handicap, of (JOsove, seven furlongs; the V.J.C. Handicap, of 60sova, one mile and a-quaa-ter. The nominations for these events close on September 1.6.

— Some splendid racing was witnessed during the National meeting, but the number of falls which took place in the cross-country events robbed these races of a good deal of their interest. In fact, the horses competing for the big prize-money in the Steeplechase in many cases gave very poor displays of jumping, and some of those who did succeed in siirmounting the obstacles were anything but safe to ride.

— 3. Scobie-, the well-known BalWat trainer, ia having * metallic circuit telephony installed at his stables. Tlhis instrument, which is the first in the Ball ar at district, einsures secrecy of conversation in regard l to inquiries from Melbourne and elsewhere as to the progress horses are making in their training. Sorao tinia ago unpleasantness was created because of the leakage of important stable information, hence tihe steps which Soobie has now taken.

— The action of the C.J.C. ia dispensing with the double machine was a common topio of conversation amongst the sports at Riccarton last week, and various reasons were given for the why and wherefore ol not giving punters the opportunity of making a lot of money for a little investment through the "legalised channel." Tho real reason is probably because the -double machine locked rip too much money, and cvi tailed the investments on the straight-out totalisator.

— Creusot, the winner of the National Hurdles, is a big upstanding gelding, and reminds one of Goldspur. His great ragged frame and plebeian appearance do not suggest that he possesses good blood in his veiuSj but jieverilieless he comes of a aplen-

' did family, as he was got by Torpedo, a son of Musket and the Fisherman mare Fanny Fisher, out cf ittgyptilla, a daughter of litgomar and Onyx, tho dam of A'ordenfekH. Creusot's dam is a half-sister to Notdenfeldt. — When the field which was saddled up to contest the Grand National Hurdles deployed into the arena to commence the equine drama, Kcmeo undoubtedly looked th-e hero of the caste, but unlike the usual play hero, who triumphantly emerges from all sorts of troubles, he met disaster before the play was half over. It was a case of "Wherefore art thou Borneo?" but poor Romeo was hors de combat, and waiting for the friendly bullet which sent him to the happy hunting grounds where all good horses go when they die. — One of the sights of the Riccarton National meeting was the manner in which C. O'Neill Tod Sloaned over hurdles and big country. He rides almost as short as any flat rider, and it looked 10 to 1 on that he would be shifted if a horse struck or peeked on landing; but it seems O'Neill can stick to a horse like a monkey to a nut. It appears to the writer, however, that the seat must tire a horss racing over fences, as in addition to extra power being required to f enable the animal to rise at a jump, it must I make the jar of landing more severe than when the rider balances behind the withers. — The form displayed by Golden Knight, the aristocratically-bred son of Wallace and Aura, was one of the great disappointments of the National week. In the Winter Cup he' was slow off the mark, but showed a bit of pace by running up to his field after trailing off several lengths in the first three or four furlongs. He had three different riders on him, but his showings with each were about on a par, and the only excuse that can be advanced is that he was not forward enough to race or else he is a rogue. Gold«n Knight has now more polish on him than when raced last spring, but he appears on the big side in condition, and he may redeem his character in the future, as his recent form was too bad to be true. —Mr Stead's representatives in Australia are apparently putting in some solid work on the track, judging from, the following paragraph taken from the Sydney Telegraph of the 11th mst. : — "HoTses trained by the New Zealander E. Mason invariably put up 1 something good when wanted, but they have so frequently done it that no one- was surprised when Nightfall ran once round the tan yesterday in 2min 15sec. She swung along at an even pace, reaching the mile post in Imin 46sec, and cutting out the mile and a-quarter in 2min llsec — a very fine performance. Sungod and Noctuiform did not equal that rate of speed, but they were equal to cutting o\it 10 furlongs in capital style, the last niile occupying Imin 48sec. and both shaped well. Isolt was not put against the watch, but was treated to a working gallop." —An open-air meeting was held in England recently by the National Sporting League, which was formed to oppose Lord Davey's Betting Bill. In his speech, Mr J. Marshall, the organiser of the league, aaid: "According to Lord Davey, there were something like 30,000 bookmakers in England, who carried on the business of street bookmaking. Mr Marshall would take Lord Davey's words as to the figures, and here, surely, was a source of substantial revenue for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Supposing much the same system as held -with iegaid to the Stock Exchange were allowable within the sphere of bookmalring — namely, the registration of certain offices for the carrying on of a certain profession, this would do away with street-getting. Over and above this, he would propose the absolute legalisation of bookmaking, with an annual registration fee upon each of these 30,000 bookmakers, the fees to amount to a sum of something like £50. — A Sydney scribe thus refers to the Ya,ldhurst team at present at Randwick : —Nightfall, who is tibo principal performier ol the party, is littla changed since she was here last year. Noctuiform is a three*yeair-old brother to Nightfall, and a better sort than, hi® brilliant sister, being very strong and short on top, with no end of length tinderneath. He is also Sx chestnut, with a narrow blaze down the face. Sungod is a half-brother to Martian, who outstayed even Lord Oadogan at Randwick. Sungod is a. very low-set brandycoloured bay, with black-painted tops. He 39 Martian over again in ail except perhaps width On looks Isolt is the pick of the parly She is a lengthy whole-bay filly, with most perfect shoulders and a splendid length of style, but id a tiifle light in the back ribs. 3solt has never raced or been away from home before entering upon the trip to Sydney, but! she behaved 1 herself as became th.9 lady she looks, and even set hier more experienced mates an example in- dsportuaent both on and off' thei boat. — There was a difference of opinion as to how Phaetontis would have fared in the final tussle with Inniskillen if the penultimate fence ia the Steeplechase had not proved fatal to the Phaethon gelding's chance. When the field was reduced to four, running in fairly close order, it was easy to note how each of the quartet was travelling, and Phaetontis appeared to be travelling just is well as Inniskillen. Both horses were pulling, but the latter does not travel' as kindly as the former, and it was noted that Pfaaetontis ran up to the leader whilst still under a pull, and judging by the manner in which the winner finished Phaetontis would probably have beaten him had he stood up. This idea also is based on how Phaetontis shaped in a gallop with Inniskilkn on the Saturday before the meeting, and in the writer's estimation Mr Buckley was unlucky in not capturing the first National he sought to capture. Mr Buckley stated he would as soon win a National as a New Zealand Cup; but, like a good sport, he expressed himself as being more sorry for Moraghan's sake than for his own. — The idea that fabulous sums can be won in bets en the racecourses in England would appear to be all moonshine^ — that is if a writer in the Sketch can be accepted as an authority. Ha says: — "According to rumour, the ring is in «■ bad wav, and ever since the lamented deaths cf Messrs Fry, Ben Coo-per, Alec. Harris, anrl Eowson the market has been unsiable. Tlierc is a fine opening 111 Tatteis&U's ring for young men with money and brains to lay tho, field. The fact of the maHer is, many of th© bookmakers trading at the present time have become far too o.ld to do their 'work correctly. They have no nerve, and are afraid to field properly. The outcome of this ia often a bad book, -when, if they tried to lay against every horse in the raoe, they would often stand on velvet. The layers to-day are too eseily influenced by winks and nods 1 , which, wihen thioj" conic to be analysed l , aa?e quite meaningless. The bookmaker, to succeed, should assume that ■every horse in the race lias same sort of s, chance of beating even a hot favourite. Many of the fossilised layers begin by offering the odds bar one, and they continue singing the same tune right up to the end of the chapter " — Beau Seaton looked the beau-ideal of a perfectly conditioned horse -when going out for his races last week. When he finished second to Exmoor he was mad© plenty of use of, but after be returned to the weighing enclosure he would not have blown a mist on a looking glass. His stable companion, Master Alix, also looked well, but lighter than the

critics cared to see him. The Stepniak gelding showed a lot of pace in the Winter Cup, but stopped badly after going six furlongs. Iv his race 011 the last day he was badly handled, or he would have been either first or second. At the barrier he was twisting and turning in a way which suggested it was odds on him getting left, and after leaving the mark with the last two or three horses, he -vras raced round on the outside of the field, of winch he had almost taken command before heads were straightened for home. That is to say, although running over a lot of ground, lip gave the first liorses off the mark about five lengths' start in four furlongs, and in doing so tried to win his race at the home turn, where the winning post is not, and lost it opposite the judge's box, •where the winning verdict ha.s to be registered.