IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2726, 13 June 1906, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

j — The Dunedin Jockey Club made a profit I of £612 over its winter meeting. — Thirty-three of the horses engaged in th© Xew Zealand Cup are quoted at 50'b to 1 or over. — Miss King and Kuroki, two well-known performers over hurdles, have been shipped to Sydney. — The English-bred horse Condor, by Gallinule — Tragedy (the dam of Birkenhead), is in the private sale list. — The gelcling Royalwood, who was taken across to Australia by the Messrs Robertson Bros., was recently sold out of their stable to an upcountry buyer. — The well-known horse Nonette was inc'uded amongst a shipment of horses which Mr E. T. Averson, of Palmerston North, sent tc Australia a couple of days ago. —At Chriatchorch Tattersall's on Saturday the trotting mare Flash was sold for £40, the pacing mare Sweet Nell for £34 10s, and the trotting gelding Kaffir Boy for £20. \ — Until the Carbine colt Spearmint landed tbe dtoub'e, English Derby and Grand Prix de Paris, no other horse had achieved the feat since Kisber brought it off in 1876. —An American writer reports that Tod Sloan, the one-time famous jockey, has just been before a, referee in supplementary proceedings in connection with a judgment against him for £800, and had to admit that he is broke. — During the senson which terminated with their recent winter gathering the Auckland Racing Club put £198,064 through the totalisator, as against last year's figures of £150,117, when the fie' der s plied their calling at Ellerslie. — The yearling colt by Sir Foote from Wigelmax, purchased for 1600gs at the late Sydney sales by Mr W. Leonard, will be known on the racecourse as Master Foote. This youngster is in W. S. Hickenbotham's stable at Fiemington. —It is reported that amongst the mares likely to be mated with Machine Gun during I the coming season are Emir's sister Birida ! and the Newmarket winner Pendant. The j progeny of Machine Gun and Pendant should be lesponsible for some record-breaking achievements in the sprinting line. I — Quotations on the New Zealand Cui> j show that Boomerang is installed favourite at 12's to 1, and nest m order come Paritutu, Makareff, Solution, Multifid, aud Gladstone. The ouesiders of the field are Balsam, Assegai. Ben Zene, La Torpedo, Royal Crown, and Tsitsihar, who are each quoted at 200's to 1. — Just before the last mail to hand left England last year's Derby winner, Cicero, gave indications that he still retains form by winning the Forty-sixth Newmarket Biennial Stakes, of £578, in a canter from a solitary opponent, a-ft-er cuttingj out *tli^ l^ e^ zi3il« ftn j. a-half of the Cesarewitch course in 2.32 4-5, with 10.0 on his back. — The sale of Convoy to Messrs J- Loughlin and R. Solomon has lapsed, as Mr J. Buckley intimated that he could not fulfil the condition of sale which stipulated that the horse should be del ; vered sound after the A.R.C. meeting. Convoy, it is understood, has since been sold to a northern buyer at something in the neighbourhood of a century —An exchange reports that W. Lane, the English jockey, who visited New Zealand a few months ago, is slowly reducing his weight by continual exercise, and can nort go to scale at 8.6. Some time will, however, elapse before he lides again Lane has been out of the saddle since he met with his severe accident at Lingtield in September, 1904. — The fact that the feirmg of a good winner or two does not always create a rush for a stallion's services is evidenced by the fact that the Australian-bred Kirkham, the sir© of Liverpool Grand National winner Kirkland, is advertised to stand at 9gs. Another Aus-tralian-bred horse m Nobleman (son of Australian Peer) is booked to stand at the same figure. — Tbe totalisator i 9 frequently regarded as being an unrivalled means of a gamble for making profits, but it is not in the same street a 9 the Toulette tables of Monte Carlo, where a. profit of £1,440,800 was garnered for the Beacon of 1904-5. Of the amount £70,000 went to the Prince of Monaco, and M. Blanc, who is well known as the owner of Flying Fox, also holds , large interests in tbe company. — The English Derby in 1881 fell to the Americans with Iroquois, when a good dea l of money was won over him. On that memorable occasion a great feat of telegraphy was performed between England and America. , As soon as Archer, who rode Mr P. Lorillard's : colt, passed the post the result was cabled to New York, and before Archer had reached the weighing scales the news was posted outside the New York Herald office. — The annual meeting of the Dunedin , Jockey Club will be held on July 9, and nominations for office close on the 25th inst. The retiring members' of the committee are Messrs G. B. Bullcck t W t J. Coughlan^ J.

Mills, J. Sinclair Thomson, and J, Gow. Now that the D.J.Q, are entering easy water there should be no trouble in filling 1 offices on the committee, as no doubt many will take a hand at the wheel in fine weather who wouldn't get up on the bridge when the storms of adversity are blowing hard 1 . — From accounts to hand, the Kalgoorli* Racing Club netted during- the year the handsome sum of £12,222 -3s 9d. The commiaion from the tctalisators at the anniversary, spring, and summer meetings amounted to £13,109 5s lOd, but the expenses attached; to working the machine totted up to £2442 Ss 9d, while the tote tax took out £581 8s 4i, and in bookmakers' fees the club received £2187 10s. The K.R.C. paid £8081 in stakes, £1217 12s Id in the purchase of water, gave £550 in charities, and spent £1098 in improvements to the course. — Amongst the winners at the Epsom, spring meeting, Held in April, was a four-year-old named Gallinago, a son of Gallinule, who ran a mile in 1.33 and created a new track record. The mile record for England stands at lmin 30 4-ssec, which was put up on * "straight mile." Other times put up in the Old Country over the same distance at 1.32 1-5 and! 1.33 1-5, whilst Salvator ran a mile in America in 1.35 J. Charles Stuart ran a mile last season at Raadwick in 1.38, but the effort has a-parently settled him, as up to date he has proved a failure this season. — A subscription in aid of ie widow and orphans of the late S. Fergus, •he wellknown and popular horseman, who was killed at the recent Auckland meeting, has been started in Wellington, and Auckland. Should, anyone feil disposed to contribute from, this end of the island the .writer will be pleased to take charge and forward anything -which: may be sent in. Poor Fergus was as game a horseman as ever sat in. a saddle, but cross-country riding is not, sad to say, a very lucrative business, and , a little practical sympathy means a lot. ~ ~ — The London Sportsman reports that there has just been despatched from Thames Ditton a bronze statue of the King's Derby winner, Persimmon, which H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has had executed by Captain Adrian Jones as a gift for his Majesty. The statue, which has been cast at the Thames Ditton foundry by Mr A. B. Burton, is just over life size, and when mounted on a grauite pedestal ia to be. erected in the grounds of Sandringham. The figure is extremely lifelike, and Captain Jones's work has been well reproduced in bronze. — A great deal of doubt has always existed a3 to the breeding of Queen Bee, the dam. of Slow Tom and others. The Wellington writer "Advance" recently' stated that she is by Cheviot (Traducer — IdaJia), brother to Sir Modred, July, and Id&lium, from Brenda (by Traducer — Fanny), a- black mare that competed successfully in hurdle events in the Ashbxirton district. Bealey (by Aprexnont) was a half-sister to Slow Tom and Ability, and Billy (by Perkiu Warbeck), who won * lot of races in Howke's Bay, was similarly related. Some of the family came up to the ifawera district some few years back, where . Brenda. produced a brown gelding to Howitzer. Sporting Life (full sister to Billy) had a bay gelding by Howitzer and » filly by Foul Shot, which were submitted at auction at Hawer*. — What is the "sport" coming to when it creates such rules as axe embodied in the following p»r which appeared in the Sports of the Times:— "This year finds the jockey* secluded within quarters during the racing' hours, thus cutting any communication with ' the outside world. Their v»Tete have beeu carefully scanned on application, and are uniformed in khaki, so that none can receive, or give, any information without great chances of being seen by the irgus-eyed official watchers. Club-house speculation has been curbed and localised io a tremendous extent. Heavy bettors have been warned their actions are not desirable, new positions nave been, created, and officials apointed to further all reforms, and tho changes aiming at convenience to the owner, trainer, and the general public are manifold. Racing in the East was jjever — absolutely never — on a better plane." — The well-known sporting writer, the "Special Commissioner," in mentioning th«t CornstaUc, a iour-year-old son of Trenton and Glare (dam of Flair), was being retired to the stud, consequent on going wrong, says that he is as good-looking a. horse as man could wish to see, but the bad luck which seems to attach to all Trenton's sona in England has "doiie him in" just when .he prospect seemed bright. Mr Henning has freely used his Trenton horse, Foundling, this season, having put six of his best mares to him. Foundling was another victim to bad luck, and he nnd Cornstalk are a geed deal like one another. So bad, however, has boon Mr Henning'a luck that an attack of influenza which visited his stable laa November left all his old horses except Airship hors de combat. Rough Croix and the rest have become more or less affected in their wind, and Nottingham, a grand-looking son of Galliuulo and River Trent (sister in blood to Wakeful), is now a baa roarer. — The following will interest your readers, and I think (says & correspondent of oho London Sportsman) is worthy of a place in your valuable paper. Swag, a brown mare, 17 years old, by Mac-heath out of Booty, which I sold at ik« last Horse Show sales in. Dublin. covered by Sir Hugo, to Mr Cotton for exportation to Queensland, was insured by him with Messrs Dtlgety and Co., 96 Bishopsgate street Within, London, who have forwarded rue the following letter:— "lt may be interesting to you to know that the in-foal inaxc Swag, which I insured through you and brought out with me in s.s. Moravian, slipped four filly foals — three chestnuts and one brown — 10 days after arrival here. As your risk expired the Oay she arrived safely here, I can unfortunately make no claim under the policy. She foaled six weeks before her time, and I am if raid testing so often with the Mallein .teat [four times) in Sydney may have had sdmethinp to do with it. but this is only a surmise." The mare slipped twins twice while F had her in 1900 and 1905, and had dead foais in 1893. 1894, and 1898, which I think was a, »ood dead due to her excitability. I think the ?ase is a record one. — Carrots are often looked on as & kino* af delicate food for sick horees. If a horse ii out of sorts and off its feed, refusing vlmost everything and eating with the greatest indifference, and carrots are offered, they are saten at once with much appreciation. They belp to Testore the appetite and give condition to the horse. In these respects carrots ire invaluable, and may well be looked on as »afe correctives. But their usefulness extends beyond the period of sickness and depression, and horses in health may receive them frequently as a good food to maintain. :ondition and activity. When first given their . affect is a little laxative, but that is- desired) in many cases, and once given regular, Ihey ict as qualifying food. They aTe an ex:ellent food for itchy horses and a-11 in bad >oat, as they are cooing to the blood and jiva a gloss to the hair. Horses of all ogea [nay receive them, ' including even the roungest backward foals or the oldest arid trail. Cajgrots should not be looked on as Here additions to other or ordinary foods, • but .substitutes for them, as they are quite :apable of acting as a Teal food. They are )ft«n given whole, but I prefer them pulped md mixed with the -corn and chaff, or the atter only. n Most of us are aware by this time ,£saj»

tho . "Special Commissioner" of the London Sportsman) that Multiform has proved an extraordinarily successful stallion, in New Zealand, and that hia sons had gone over to Australia from that colony and defeated all th? best Australian form with . the greatest ease. It is interesting, however, to have a. few more details, such as ax& given in a recent letter fron> Mr G. G. Stead, of Christchurch, N.Z. : — "I have only jusfc returned from Auckland, and consequently am pressed for time, but I may mention that Mitltifid, by Multiform, won the Great Northern Derby in Auckland; Cuneiform, by Multiform, won the Royal Stakes, and Nightfall, by Multiform, won the Auckland Plate. I -was recently asked by an Australian buyer if I would take 10,000gs for Multiform, but my reply was that the horse was not for sale. I doubt if any sire is worth 10,000g3< in this country; but as I am breeding for pleasure, and not for sale, I do not care to consider a proposal to part with a horse that has given me so much satisfaction. Although Multiform was only put to 10 mares four years ago, he got Noctuiform, Sungod, Isolt, Multifid, and Cuneiform in one season. Multifid •won the G-reat Northern Derby last week m record time. I doubt if- any other sire has ever got five sfach winners out of 10 mares 'n "one season in this colony." , — Writing about horses likety io be seen out in America daring the present year, Will F. -Pond has • the following in the Sports of the Times concerning the champion, Sysonhy: — "Of the last year' good horses Sysonby has furnished tremendously, and is * gigantic bulk of muscle, with practically no fat. If he runs up io his muscle, and there is no -reason why he should not, he will, be a- phenomenal horse Ibis year. I say thU year because 1905 was comparatively easy for him. There was little of any account against him, and he simply had the same horses to baafc time and again. This year he is" under different surroundings, and wi!i meet more good horses with weight off, instead of practically even terms, which means a tremendous lot more, no matter how good a horse is. There are thousands who are longing to see Sysonby enter the stretch with some good game horse at his- girths, co weighted as to mske the champion run a really championship race from start to finish, something he has never been aeked to date. I throw his Futurity race out entirely, because I consider he was badly ridden, was -twice taken across the course, and, even if he did 'stop' in the final furlong (and I am not sure* he did so), if my eyes saw correctly what happened down the chute, I am not surprised at his stopping. It now remains to be seen -what he will Ho when challenged by a good horse after travelling a mile and a furlong."

— I was asked the other day to account for tha diminution in the numbers of our bloodstock during the last 10 or more <years. The reason is not far to seek, and it is that the export of mr.rea is constantly increasing, and. the number- of bloodstock breeders shows a slight tendeno to- decrease. ■ That is io burn 1 the candle both ways. The French buyers have been especially active in the last two. -or three years, and. (says an English writer), thanks almost entirely to Flying Fox, they have begun- to trench, badly on our own international .bloodstock market. There is no reason, however, for serious apprehension on thai score. All experience teaches that they or any- other foreign or colonial breeder have to come back here for reinforcements if they want to keep their «tock up to the mark. That, however, in no- way justifies us in letting the home stock go down. Every effort shotted be made to keep on improving it. On -thi mere question of numbers I should take no serious objection, for many of our studs have no doubt been overstocked, and quality rather than quantity should be aimed at. but there is the fear, amounting to a certainty, that quality has been depleted even more than quantity by the recent exports of our mares-. A stallion or two, no matter how good, may be let go and never missed; "but it is impossible that we should perpetually sell the best class of mares to M. Edmund Blanc and others without coming perilously near to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. If these gentlemen simply diminished the number of ovr brood mares by taking an average sample of them, good, bad. and indifferent, no particu'ar harm would be done, but. according to their lights, they take the best, and our only safety lies in the fact that their lights are not infrequently of the lucus a non lucendc order, and thus one has seen not a few specious flat-catchers 4aken abroad at high prices. But what now remains to be done? To my mind, breeders should lay themselves out to get young brood mares together as wel< as to produce yearlings. By all means surcply the foreign demand, but tc do thai saiely more attention should be paid to keeping up our stock of brood mares, so that- what the foreigners take may not diminish the capital value -of those still kept at house. There is, I suppose, a peculiar glamour about the sales of yearlings, though it leads to endless disappointments.