IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

— Nominations are due on January 17 for the C.J.C. summer meeting. Apollyon and Balaclava have joined T. Cotton's stable at Riccarton. - — Nominations for the Tapanui annual meeting are- due on the 23xd inst. — The Wairio Jockey Club's meeting is to be held on Wednesday of this week. — Handicaps for the Gore Racing Club's summer meeting are due on the 14th inst. —.N emanations f ojr the Maniototo Jockey Club's annual meeting are due on January 24.

— Diamond Jubilee, the King's old racehoxse, iis standing at a fee. of 525 guineas in thb Argentine. I M-arked. reversals of form were a con1 spicuous feature of tiie SouthLand Racing j Club's meeting. ' — The Southland turf is m a bad state i of repair, and requires "top dressing' with a few disqualifications. — Black Friar looked well to the eye -when stripped at the recent Southland meetings, but ran oamaderably balow form. — Jack Ashore ran two good sterling races at ttie Inveroargill meeting, and both his) wins were scored after fighting- out solid 1 finishes. — Curiosity will have to have his manners mended, as there is a strong possibility that some clubs will be found refusing his entry ia the future. — Red' Morn won the Plying Handicap- at Irvercargitl in a moat conving manner, but ran very badly in the Final Handicap, in which she finished last. Sea King was made a strong favourite for ids race on the second day of the D.J.C. meeting, but he lost ground at -the start, and! i finished out of a place. — Nominations for the Dunedin Cup, of i 400sovs; Publicans' Handicap, of 200sovs; Jockey Chib Handicap, ct£ 250sovs; and Anniversary Handicap, of -175sovs, are due on January 17. — Bobadil, the son of Bill o Portland and. She I—a1 — a sister to Stepniak — was recently sold at 625 guineas. Bobadil was one of the best horses of his time, and has ired some good 1 stock. — Oie of -the best stallions in South America is Neapolis, who is a brother to Positano's dam. Recently nine yearlings by him averaged £1827, and 21 colts and fillies a-veraged £1190. —We have heard of a _galloper winning in a walk, but at Inveroargill Young Stanley's rider endeavoured to win a trot in a gallop. The stewards drew, his attention to the fact by imposing a fine of £5. . — The Manawatu Racing Club received £440 in fees from -the bookmakers who fielded during the thwse days of the meeting. The totalisator returns were £50,667, as against £54.008 handled last year. — Three of Canteen's stock were recently sold under the- hammer at the dispersal of Sir Rupert Clarke's stud. Two *by the grey record-holder were chestnuts, and the colour of the other wais not started. — Sir Rupert Clarke has disposed, of all his brood mares except La Carabine and Sweet Nell. This season La Carabine hag been mated with United States, and Sweet Nell with the New Zealandea- Canteen. Jolly Friar is one of the most disappointing horses that has ever been brought to Southland, and will continue to be co as long as he is allowed to run himself to a standstill in the early part of his races. Disappointment was a rod in pickle for the Shorts Handicap, and delivered tie goods safe and sound 1 . The element fef luck was not absent from the victory, as she stole ' about three lengths a* the rise of the barrier. ( — John Thompson, the champion jockey in Ireland, has for seven seasons headed the list of winning horsemen in that country. This year he rode 53 winners, and on figures stood out from aH of his opponents riding 'in those parts. Cross Battery was made a strong odds favourite -for the Final at the D.J.C, but although she looked to hold a winning chance right up to the business end, she declined to figiht when asked to make a. final effort. — The equivalent of 12£ millions in English money was the amount invested in the " pari-mutuel." or totalisaior, on French racecourses during the present year. Stakes competed fox during the season reached an aggregate of £600,000. — Amongst the winners at Wyndham was the shapely four-year-old filly Brown Belle, who was got by Stepniak from Bay Bell, a good performer in her day. Bay Bell wa.s by the" Musket horse Hiko, » son of the Traducex mare TJira. The Sea.ton T>eltwr&l mate Lady London looked somewhat big and eoftisfc. in condition when, she raced a± "Wingatni, fcnt l&e gallops she re'oeiveci there evidently brought her" on, a-na enabled! her to beat the moderate opposition she met at Pahneiston. — The Palkfl colt All Guna put up an attractive performance on the second day of the Dunedin summer meeting, and the manner in which he carried 9.1 home in 1.17 4-5 marks him down as- one likely to bring more grist to fche •m-iii before the season closes. Frank Wootton's riding record in England this year ig a decidedly satisfactory one to I the young Australian. At latest, he had a j total of 251 mounts for 34 wins, 30 seconds, I and 37 thirds. These figures place hizrf. amongst the. first 15 sucessful horsemen of the season. —Mr H. R. Denii9on's 3050-guinea yaariing j purchase, Orcus, brother to Poseidon, made ; | his first pubjio " appearance in the Nursery . j Handicap- «i Ranawick on Boxing Day. He 1 was iiddea by T. Cl«yfconv and starting

without a quotation in a field: of 11, finished as far back as seventh.

— Embrasure, a winner at Wyndham, is a big, upstanding three-year-old gelding of attractive- appearance. He was got by Battlefield (Artillery — Miss Kate), from a Seaward mare. Sea-ward was a son ot Hilarious (the winner c& the first C. J. C. Welcome Stakes), and a brother to Primrose, the dam of Rosebloom.

—At last week's meeting of the D.J.C, at Wingatui, the sum of £1740 was paid in stakes. The principal prize-winning owners are:— James Jeffs £220, W. T. and L. C. Hazlett £180, T. Sliennan £170, R. G-. Hudson ■6170, Hon. G. M'Lean £160, C. W. Reid £120, W. J. Taggart £115, S. E. Cooper £105, T. Tansey £100.

— The Wellington Racing Club has decided to charge bookmakers £20 per day inEide and £10 outside at {lie coming summer meeting. Separate enclosures behind the grand stand v.-ill bo provided, and bookmakers are to cease betting at the same time as the totalisalor does. "Applications for licenses close at i p.m. on the 17th inst. — Some Australian owners are cultivating a tasie for brevity in naming their racehorses. A few recent efforts in nomencla^ ture are Tv, Eo, Oi, 10, and O — names which for shoxtiiess will take a- little beatit'g; but there is too much of the "owe" about theni, and their names are consequently suggestive of bad luck. — According to -the Rules of Racing, Eons should have carried a penalty, or at least was liable to carry one. in the Flying Handicap at the S.R.C. meeting, as he was claimed to be the winner of t<he Flying Handicap at Wnydham, and consequently ne was racing at Invercargili without a chance of getting the stakes in the event of a success being registered. — The well-known and prominent Victorian trainer, Mt Ike Foulefoam, was amongst the arrivals in Dunedin 'by this week's boat from Melbourne. Mr Foulsham, who is accompanied by Mrs Foulsham, is not at present enjoying the best of health, "but it is to be hoped a sojourn in our bracing climate will send 'him baok to Australia ccmpletely restored to health..

— The Southland Racing Club should extend the inside rails on their straight to the hexm© turn, if not further, as at present there is a post at the bend which looks" very dangerous. On one or two occasions when the fields were running in close order at the turn and each endeavouring to save ground, it looked as if someone would either get crowebsd on to it or else have to run inside.

— Sonia won her race at Wyndham in 1 good style, and on her running there, wad made a strong favourite at Invercargill, where she had 9.2 in the Summer Hack Handicap. She began well, and with Cooeei in attendance ran the first two furlongs in/ 25^sec, but another furlong at this pace found her dropping back, until she was. finally in the extreme rear when, the post was reached.

— The Tuapeka County Jockey dub has practically issued an invitation, to bookmakers to absent themselves from the Lawrence meeting by stating : " Bookmakers will bo licensed to bet on. payment of a fee of £20, and bookmakers' clerks at £10 each." No one is likely to pay such exorbitant charges, and as .the local fielders appear to be only half alive to their own. interests, the welkin may not ring at La-vrpence.

— The writer ii-as heard that tote-bettors were not entirely absent from.' the -outside enclosure .at . the D.J.C. meeting. Now that some bookmakers . are prepared to pay a heavy fee,, a.. little extra vigilance on th<j part -of the club's officials is only fair "to thelicensed fielders, and a-t the same time assists to safeguard the club's interests. It may l>e said that the bettors referred to -were not recognised, .but. amateurs '.in the line. — Tsie ancient Hypnotist is apparently enjoying a fresh lease of life, as he now gallops with the dash and fire of a youngster. JPxioT to winning at the Lake County meeting, and more recently at Invercargill, where -he dead-heated with Cuirosettia, an interval of something like five years had elapsed before he troubled the judge to put his number <m top. He was got by Perkin Warbeck II in 1894, sad evidently that tribe inherit a castairon constitution.

— Notus n^on the principal event at Wyndham after an interesting race with. Luresome, and followed up that success by scoring nicely in the chief item on tie first day) of the Invercargill card. On the second day, however, he could only finish a- fair third; and three solid races on, three consecutive days, with a. bit of travelling thrown in, was evidently a bit too much for him. Luresoine, however, went on 3 better, as after running! in each of NW,us'a races, she came out and, won. the Final Handicap. — The writer recently acquired at a small price the "History of Newmarket," which: was published in .three volumes. It is practically a history of the beginning of racing in England. When racing in the home of the thoroughbred was in its babyhood' (according to the -book mentioned above) it was the custom to give horses jn training good old ale and -bread in order to assist in getting them; .fit. . Nowadays, if ale is used to any great extent by trainers, it is the latter that wanis .the bread, and not the! horse Jockeys are in the same box. ■ — Blacklock, to whom the great excellence of the Galbpin tribe is generally and probably erroneously ascribed, was an immense bay horse with a fiddle head of enormous size, which earned for him, the sobriquet of the "Bishop Burton Monstrosity." He was foaled in 1814. His breeder purchased. Blacklock's dam in 1810 for .£3. He was a great racehorse, and a successful sire, but though he left Brutandorf, Buzzard, Laurel, Malek, Tranby, Warlaby. Velocipede, Young Bla-cklook, and Voltaire behind, all with the exception, of Voltaire are dead in the direct line.

— Seven bookmakers paid 7 & fee of .£l2 10s for the privilege of betting the first day of the Southland Racing Club's meeting. Only three of the fielders who had 1 operated on th© first day ca-m-e up with the fee for the second day, and a newcomer made a quartet which Sid business on the seoond card of the- meeting. Those who fielded on the first day had all the worst of the deal. The winner was, of course, the horse which carried the money; but on -the second- day there was a triumph of outsiders, and more than one alleged good thing {aileS *o eaicfc 4te- face's ey« as a. winder- , — The pony Luresc-me has run some fajr 'y good races since she was brought couth. At Wingatui she was one of the bunch which finished close to Red. and Bla-ck in the Farewell Handicap. She also ran well at Wyndham ana on the first day of the Southland Racing Crab's meeting. She was never prominent in the- Southland Handicap, but cam* out and won tke Final Handicap m good! style, albeit Bhe was all out at the finish. She is a little lady of high degree, and! waa go* by Seaton Delaval from liissaduru, by Bill of Portland from Cooya, by Nordenfeldt from Radiance, by Firework,*, the ow horse that enjoys the peculiar honour of having won two Victorian Derbies. _oofujat liebendarff in " Boree-br.eectmg Recoltectionß," aays:— " What would become of fihe usefuiitess of our cavalry horses without a continuance of -crosses with stallions of pure blood— i.e., th© Sharouglibifia, tns3. x

for stoutness and chosen on account of their proper excellent qualities, so as to , constantly renew "the necessary steel in the breed. . . , The thoroughbred is in a much lesser degree the prod'uee of any particular locality titan the cart-fiorse, or even the h.alfbred; it is rather one of an artificial nature, better able to withstand external influences and capable of being transplanted in all parts of the globe. I assert that in the thoroughbred the power of resistance to local and climatic influences is infinitely higher -ban in Jie half bred."

—In con&equien-cs of the- great rivalry once existing between th© sportsmen of die South, of England and their brethren in the north, many famous ma.tch.es were run. between horses bred and owned by the rival factions, and it was usual for both sides ho bet enormous sums on their respective champions. Early in the"last century, before the decision of one of these great struggles, which was won by old Merlin, "the south country gentlem-eu intimated to- those of Jhe north that they would bet them gold whilst gold they 'had, and! then they might sell- their land." beveral gentlemen having ihereby entirely ruined their fortunes, a law was passed! by Parliament against the recovery of any bet exceeding £10. Subsequently legal' claims for betting were repealed altogether. — Th© skeleton of Txenton, fche'wel'-kntfwa racehorse, and sire of many good winners, who died in England, has been presented' to the National Museum of Victoria by the ' International Horse Agency of London* •through Mr H. Byron Moore, secretary "of the Victorian Racing Club. Although in at much, dilapidated condition when received, the , skeletoA ha* since bsen completely' re- ■■ storedf "by the mu&sum articulator, Mr 1). F. Moore, and (says an exchange) is now oi • exhibition in, tb* main entrance hall, where it is attracting a deal of attention. In addition to winning several important events in) New Zealand as a two and three-year-old, Trenton ran third 1 in the Melbourne Cup of 1885 to Sheet Anchor and Grace Darting, - and second in the fallowing year to Arsenal. — A good finish was witnessed in ftfe " S.R.C. Gladstone Hack 'Handicap, in whichl Cuirosettia and Hypnotist de&d-He&ted. Th ." pair were facing on terms at three furlongs from home, but the lanky Cuirosettia, diet not negotiate the home turn so handily m his opponent, who shaved a dangerous-look-ing post at the bottom of the straight and! gained nearly a length. Curr-osettia was tip. again 100 yds from home. - Both riders got 'to work in ■earnest a little later, end in at punishing battle the pair raced past the post to register a dead heat. Roe rode ibse> ' best finish the writer 7 aas seen him exhibifi for many a day, and Cox, who w*s up on old Hypnotist, verified the opinion that vjiafil expressed here some time ago, to the effect) that he is one of the best- horsemen, hereabouts.

—By th© s.s. Gracchus,, wliic-h. recently sailed from. Melbourne, Messrs Krcrouse, Madden, and M'Kinnon shipped! a valuable consignment of houses to Madras. Besides 230 remounts (including 135 cavalry , horses and 10 Stud Book chargers); the consignment included eight ■thoroughbred stallions (in la Stud Book). They sure:— Roller, by Pilgrim's Progress from. Tragedienne; Regard, by Graf ton from Car©; Simon, by Haut Brion from Nineveh; Port Arthur, Tjy Firelock' from Riplet; Ontario, by, Oerv-aese from America; Vindicator,' by Carlyon from' Nemesis; Arajoel, by Russky (imp.) from Cora; Lord' Bernie, by Little "Bernie from Chastity. ''For the past 11- years Messrs Krcrouse, Madd-en, and "M'Kinnon have . bought eight stallions^ each year for the Government of India. ' ' ~* —In Tiis new work, "A Staff Officer' 3 Scrap Book" (vol. II), General Sir Jan. Hamilton tells the following curious anecdote: — Tp a quarry not far from Fenahan some Japanese soldiers ikad found a. horse-aban-doned by the Russians. It had f»llen-down! a considerable height, and was quite insensible. Its body was not yet cold, however, and a Chinaman passing by declared that if there was any life- in it at all h« would make it get up. He waa allowed s> make his experiment, and, producing bis knife, he cut something out of the corner of eacE of the animal's eyes. He a*en gave the horse a good kick, and it immediately stood upj The Japanese veterinary officer says that the Chinaman bad 1 not injured any vital part of the eye.' To make Ais yam complete, it should have read, that the horse was requested to rise per invitation of m*good kick aforesaid, and? when doing '<• murmured "Eye. eye, sir." —It is chronicled that in ihe rejgn or. Edwin the Great, AD. 631, "The English fiSTWn to saddle horses." The earbesmention of "running hoarses" refers So ihose sent to England in the ninth century by Hugh, the founder of the ff^.^fl,^. Capet in France, as a, present -to. Bang AtneietanT whose sister, Ethelswitha., .he '«f*Jfi' siroiis of marrying. In liam tlie Conqueror, Roger de-Belleame, Bart of Sfcrewsbuiy, imported several st*llions from Spain, and Fitz-Stephen a mon f.°| Canterbury, and secretary to the celebrated Archbishop A'Beckett, in the reign of Henry 11, refers to some rough and ready races »t Smoofhfi&ld (Smitbfield), in which .lie jbekies, inspired- with thoughts of applause, and in the hope af victory, clap spurs, ih-o willing horses, brandish their Whips, and cheer them with their cries." — The following, from the London, Pini 'Tin, is decidedly good, whether it » «» or not:-" What does it .meaa-this walking over 5 ?" asked a non-racing man of th« owner of Billy the Verger, who kindly explained matters to him. "It is a new f orm j racing," he said, "in which the horsea walk and any of them breakmg into a canter are put out of the race. Billy die Verger "a very good walker, and if you -will only ook yol will see the letters wvo, to hianTine for several -good states, notmthstandins that tfhere were several entnea jo each, race" "And do you mean to say that you get £100 for that?" rejoined the questioner, witb. bis mouth, wide open. Most assuredly." was the reply. "Well, ffid ihe man <l 1 have.* horse that my wife rides on ihe sands that can w«lk five and six miles an hour." "The very »mm*ll'exclaimed Mt Dobell. "Write to Weatherby's, and ask for a list of races that horses walk over for, anS enter him." Messrs "Weathearby will now understand the letter lhat puzzled

An animal whom the halo of romance h«,s always surrounded to a great extent is Flying Childers. The tale chat he onca ran a mile in a minute 1 lias been" Jold. for so many years that it eventually- passed-,im-contradicted. In the minds of many youthful sportsmen, the "flyer" is depicteol as having won. all sorts of races,. *afl performed deeds of dexring do that entitled him tlo be placed first in Hie ranks of- equine oelebrifies. When his performanceß are calmly, reviewed, Flying CMlders doea not seena such a " crack" »» we have been led to believe. On April 26, 1791, he defeated , the Duke of Bolton's Speedwell in a, match for 500 guineas a> side; each- to -carry 8.5; distance, four miles. At Newmarket he again, proved successful on October 22, 172% Mating Lord Drogheda's Chanter, 12 years old; lO&t etch, six muea, 1000 guineas * side. la three other mttdbea b& received forfeit, aoa

closed his turf career. Considering the way " in -which his name has been handed down to posterity, neither of these, performances strikes one aa being sufficient to have kept his memory green in turf annals. —Of Touchstone, whose blood courses strongly in so many Australian horses, especially those of Musket descent, "The Druid" •wrote: — "He was in every way a very peculiar horse. His near fore ankle never was good, and at the first Ascot Cup it hadalmost risen to the dignity of a ' l«g.' He had. very fleshy ligs, and turned his hocks out. so much and went so wide behind that} a barrel might have been placed between, his hind legs when he was galloping. He ■went "with a perfectly straight knee, and waa altogether c very strange goer. Neither distance or the state of the ground made any difference to him, but at exercise he was lazy, and could hardly be* kicked along. In, height he stood 15.2 as near as possible. The roots of his ears were" the only coarseparts about him. He, equired fine riding, «s-" he -would instantly swerve if his jockey raised the whip. He got his stock in almost «very form, and they were mostly browns. Surplice was* the finest and biggest of them, Orlando being the most beautiful/ Carbine, ■whose racecoursa peculiarities in many respect^ are identical with Touchstone's, isl very inbred 1 to that horse. — When Bruce Lowe's "Figure System" ■was first published it met with a mixed reception. It had many opponents, becaUEe a lot of breeders" held that it was absurd' " to lay down any hard-and-fast rules- for breeding horses. Bruce Lowe never claimed that it was a -^lew principle on which to breed! "blood stock. He claimed that the figures -,merely x served to at once identify the families brought into a pedigree. He did! nothing more than separate the good strains from the bad, and classified them according 1 to .their racing worth. Because a horse claims a No. 1 it does not necessarily follow that the horse is going to be a success on! the racecourse (says- an exchange), but coming as he does from the family which has produced the greatest number of winners, ho has, the chances being equal, a better, prospect of being a success than one tracing to ai family whose winners during the past hundred "years could. b» counted on the fingerd of the hands. NaturaEy, Mor Allison, as editor of Bruce- Lowe's work, recognised, its virtues; but one of the first men to realise the value of .the figurea was Count Lehndofff, fcha -director of the Royal German. Stud, Gianditz. Colonel Hall Walker, who heads the list^ ofi ■winning owners in England this season, ia a, keen adherent to the Bruce Lowe system, " and has published several works on the subject. — A tale of a smart trainer comes from the north.: — Art a-musing story reaches me < (says "The Judge") from the Thames. One of our Auckland trainers, who attended the summer meeting at the mining township, ■was leading about a horse which he. con-•idexed-a moral for the next event.- Being called «w*y for a few .minutes, neddy was lef fcin-ehaige of a. youth, who calmly allowed! the animal to be shod. In the meantime the tramer and his friends had a plunge, on the torse, only to find him figure among .the "al^o sf»rteds:" Now, that trainer doesn t make many mistakes- of that sort, and he 1 3wuL to put up with a certain amount of chaff "aa well as the loss of much golden "ouf." Presently when the horse had cooled) down, the- trainer led up the gee-gee to be shod. "But 1 shod him h*lf an hour ago,' said tiie man of anvils. "What rot!" said) the .trainer; "why, he's only just run, and! you couldn't have. "I can't help that, said the blacksmith ; "I'm sure I shod him. Whereupon the trainer lifted up the horses feet, only to- find heavy shoes. "And to think I wasted 15 of the best on ft horse which ■was-~ anchored like that," remarked the trainer, "to -say nothing of putting my pals on to the good thing." History does not if cord -what waa said 1 to the boy, but it may lave accounted, for the red glare in the sky down that way. Yet horEeshoe3 are supposed! to bring -good-luck. Captain Dennis O'Kelly>, but for oworng the famous -Eclipse, would in all probability have been long since foigotten. This, however, was not the only bit of luck ths captain had during his turf career. Amongst the animals he owned at one time was an old brood 1 mare, then, tor several seasons "barren. Having been mor© than. UEeful in lier time, this dame passe was allowed the^ iun of th« paddocks, and by some means "contrived to enter an enclosure which a stallion waa then ocupying. When attention was first attracted to. the elderly raatxon's appearance the idea was ridiculed that sha -was in foal. Time, however, proved this to be the ease, and in daie course a healthy •colt was the result of that unanticipated xinion. At that time the dam? was in her thirty-sixth year, but -ISils di 3 not prevent The* Pretender, 1 - asr the-, colt was called, from becoming a more than aseful animal. The O'Kelly was a particularly lucky raan_ in his __ liorse speculations. Another stery -is told *bout the luck he had with an 0165 zruure called the Tartar mare, dam }f Mercury, Juprter, Volunteer, and Queen Msb. This maie was foaled about the year 1751, and when 20 years old the Duke of Boiton sold her as useless for one guinea. The purchaser re-sold hex "for five guineas, and *the five-guinea man. sold her t& the O'Kelly for 100 guineas, and" thought he had; madfe a- wonderful deal, "but O'Kelly made £30.000 out of the stock -the old mare threw aftei shei had turned ier twentieth yeaar. j