IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

— Nominations for the Ashburton County Racing Club's meeting doE© on Saturday, the 29th inst. . „ — There are 253 horses training at Randwick, aJid they should keep the touts fairly busy during the season. 1 —Frederick, a brother to the famous Fritz, was sola by auction last week at the Christchuxch yards at 40gs. I The well-known rider and trainer, Mr A Pringle. was married on Friday last to Miss Ivy Chain, of Dunedin. - Canteen, the New Zealand record-holder over two miles, is advertised to stand at . his owner's stud at a fee of 20gs. —In the season of 1900-1 the Dunedm Jocbey Chil save away £5615 in prize-money. This season the amount is to be £8470. — The Auckland pony Kilderkin got beat a head at Victoria Park (Sydney) on August 5 in the Bank Handicap, of lOOsovs. —Of the 16 starters for the Australian Steeplechase, run at Caulfield-, only five finished. The pace settled all the others. — A omplimentary ticket for the Ashbuc*

ion County Racing Club's spring meeting is toiand. and acknowledged with thanks. — Dora Giey, the sister to Achilles", has been retired to the stud;. During her racing career she iailed to achieve any notable success. — The WangAnui Jockey Club's programme for the season is to hand, and acknowledged with %uaks. The' club will hang up £7400 for their three meetings. — Mir J. Sinclair Thomson, who has been ail active member of tike Dunedin, Jockey Club, has tendered his resignation as a steward! owing to his leaving for England. — The- Moamlicher gelding Mango has been purchased bg a SoutMsxid owner, and another to go south is the Phaeton gelding Helios, ■who -will probably do harness work in. the future. — The Melbourne trainer, Mr A. Skirving, ■who secured Hyll at the Yaldhuist sale, also purchased Clanchattan for 200gs, and Jboth horses passed through this w*ek on the way to their, new home. — The Gore " Racing Club made » profit of '£803" 19s over last season's operations. kd& there is, it is understood, a • prospect of the -stakes being substantially increased for the present season.. — MuitifOTm, ' Golden Slipper, Otterden, Isolt, .Sans P-e-ur,- -Saucer, and Royal- Phones ■were -shipped to Sydney by the Moeraki, ■which- -also took across -Pretty Maid. Kancy Stair,- ttahiß, and AntiUerie. •i-The ©unedin- Jockey -Club haa made «n increase ■of 920sovs to their/ prize-list, and this, with the lOOOsovd add>ed to- last season's programme, makes .the subtantial addition of &97Qeovs within two years,- — Among the races run at a" recent Gat■wick "(England) meeting was the Home-bred Three-year-old Cup, of lOOOsovb, ior horses T>red by thei* owners and (remaining their property up to th© time of starting. —In advertising Aurum. for the coming season it is announced thai the owner undertakes to keep and care for mares free of charge for 12 months, but will charge 50gs for' the ioal'. Kb foal, no charge for service or keep. ' —It has been decided to instil at Elem-ing-fcon posts bearing the name of each bookmaker nelding during the day. The idea has been in use at Kensington Park for some time, and is much appreciated^ particularly on a busy day. — Leonardo, ■who was stoutly supported for the final event a<t the C.J.C. National, ■was -a runner in the Hunters' Hurdles at -the Waimate hunt meeting, but -be was 'easily defeated by "Butterfly; who also won another race during the day. —Mr W. Bass's .£55,000 two-year-old filly. hj Cylhuie— Sceptre, made her first public appearance ta the Fullbourna Stakes at Newmarket -on Jury 3. She had been well treated, and wa? strongly fancied, but she ran in place. — The D.J.C. spring meeting has usually been regarded as almost a purely local gathering, but this year's programme carriesaaf inereaije- -of, 465eovs over last year's pxizelisfc. and' this should have the effect of ettiaoting. an, increased number of visiting horses. — The . trotting, horse. . Advocate, who received a nasty iaAl when competing at the New: Zealand Metropolitam Trotting Club meeting, is now quite- recovered from, tjje effects of the . mishap. Advocate is a brother to Advance, and started a warm favourite for in* race 'in which hef fell. — The thoroughbred horse Hemlock is advertised for private sal*. Hemlock was a winner on the turf, and is a good-looking sort, standing about' 16 hands. He is six years old, and was sab by imported Padlock from Kate Oaigny— Pilgrim's Progress, from Kate Dalrymple (imp.), by Childeric. — The Stepniak — Arline horse Ivanoff was sold by auction in Christohurch last weelf at 50gs, and Nancy Stair,, who showed jgood form in the middle of last season, was sold to a Sydney buyer »b lOOgs. Other horses * to - change hands wsere Rose Noble at llOgs. Mango at 70gs, Pretty Maid at 150gs, and Master Leslie at 30gs. — I am sure that many horses racing today are condemned as rogues not because they deliberately refuse to gallop (as some few unquestionably do), but because (says an English writer) they are physically deficient, and this same deficiency is not stpparemt, though the horse may eeenn outwardly in the best of health. — South America has been a liberal purchaFer of blood stock in tihe Old' World. Within the last year or so Diamond Jubilee, j Val dOr, Jardy, and Cylenme. a quartet j ■whose sale urice were in the neighbourhood of 30,000g5, have found their way there; and the Laifcest mail to hand from England brings word that Polar Star has been sold et IB,oooes to go to the same, country. —^JDhe English jockey, G. Stern, who is the leading horseman in France, has for the second, time won three Derbys.. .In 1904 he won, the- French Derby on Ajax. and the German. and Austrian Derbys on Con Amore. This season he was up on Quintette, which isao. a d-e-ad heat with Sea. Sick for the French . Derby, and rode Intrygan* and Sieger, winners of the Austrian. and German Derby respectively. — A .constant attendance at* the Gore Racing 4 Club's meetings for several seasons past hVs easily convinced the' wr Her that the club has been one of the' un'luckiest in tbe South Island as far as "getting good ■weather^ for their gatherings is concerned. Still, their finances are in » prosperous condition, and, wrtli the -weather in their favour, the club should be found doing better in the future than has been the case in the past. — Owners of hurdlers should note the fact tbat the D.J.C. spring programme has two jumping' events carrying lOOsovs each in prize-money, and also tbat the North Otago Jockey Club's spring fixture wili have two j hurdle events of a similar value. These races should furnish an excellent chance for owners to give their horaes a race or two over the small sticks before talcing them up io the New Zealand Cvup meeting to compete in similar events at Riccarton. — The well-known trotting stallion Boldrewood, who holds a two-mile record of 4.41, was shipped to Melbourne by his new owner. Mi W. L. Tredrea, by this week's boat. It is quite on &he cards that Mr jPceadrea- will race the General Tracey horse against Emulator, or any other stallion exhibited at the forthcoming Melbourne show." Boldrewood was accompanied by the brood mares Kitty G. and My Lady, the latter of whom has a foal at foot by Rothschild. -^<The Win-ton Trotting Club held their annual meeting recently, and the balance sheet presented showed that the total receipts had bsen fis6 16s 3d, whilst the amount of expenditure left a credit balance of £32 2a 6d. A donation of ISbovs had been received from the Wintton Jockey Club since the balance sheet had been drawn up, and after refunding a loan of £35 made by tbe president (Mr J. Looney), a balance of £13 10s remained in hand as a nucleus for this season's operations. — The attention of the stewards of the English Jockey Club has been called to the fact that shoes having a sharp flange round the outer edge of the shoe, to prevent slipping, have been used on horses running in races. The stewards have given notice

thai they consider such shoes^ and those known as American toe-clipped shoes, very dangerous to other competitors, and direct that horses running in. them shall be disqualified, and the trainer responsible reported to them. — On the second day of the Oaulfield crosscountry meeting a colt named Kerli-e, by Stepndak from: Melodious, th© dam of Wallace, finished third in -the St. Aubin Welter, of seven furlongs. Melodious was sent to Oamaru to visit Stepniak in 1903, but sine© then—no returns of progeny are to be found: in either the New Zealand: Stud Book or in the Australian. Stud Book. It is to be hoped tba.<b this will be rectified in future issues, -as such a notable producer as Melodious- is entitled to have her name kept to the front. —In an article on horse-breeding in theLive Stock Journal (England). Sir Walter Giibey says : — " We must look the situation fairly in the face, and acknowledge that the recent rapid decline of breeding is principally due to the increased motor traffic. We cannot get away from this, and we cannot hope that the competition of the motor car will decrease as time goes on. This being the case, we are forced to recognise that the assistance for which we ask is artificial support for an industry which circumstances have made no- longer self-suppprting. ' — In , America, as Hambletonian is spoken of as the ''father of all champions," so Green Mountain Maid, the- dam of is spoken pf as "the mother of all trotters." This mare was never broken to harness, and her success as a producer, no doubt, lias a deal to do with the belief of many breeders of trotters in the United! Spates that it is a> I great thing to have a royaJJy-bred undeveloped dam in a pedigree. Her greait son, Elec- . tioneer, was also an. undeveloped horse, h* never having been trained, but he got Major Delmar (lniin 59Jsec) and 14 others with records from 2min 3£sec to 2min lOsec, all fair and square trotters. — What has come over Tattersall's ring? There seems to have been an even greater falling off in the attendance of its members at Newmarket than there was at Newbury, and the same has" been noticed elsewihere. A place next the rails has always been regarded as the most coveted pitch by the | layers of odds ; but at many meetings some ! of the biggest business is transacted by men who seldom go near the rails, and, are content with a place in the middle of the ring. Can it b© that tihe gentlemen who frequent the- club enclosures and "bet over the rails" are no longer so ready with their money as they used to be? — The Sporting Times. — A gentleman in Oamaru has a couple 1 of four-year-olds which he is prepared to sell or lease. One is a bxown gelding by Finland from Quiver, by Stepniralc from th© Australian mate Aspen-leaf, by Larpent from As:pen, a. -vshma&r of tyro Kewmariet Handica>ps. The ottier i 3 a chestnut filly by Obliga-do from Luiciana. by St. Leger from ' Katipo, by Tregeagile II from Pungawerewere, Dunediu Cup winner, and dam of Crackshot. S>t. James t Osculator, Tranter, Tetford, Krupp, <and Brigadier, and granddam or Starsbcot. Both horses are in good condition and ready to go into work. For further particulars apply box 128, P.O^ Oamswru. — The breeding and development of the modern racehorse axe indeed a lottery ; and though we may pursue certain well-defined lines, neither the exercise of the utmost patienos, care, and thought, nor the lavish, expenditure of money can necessarily comm'»nd a success. The wheel of fortune can never" be controlled in this matter. On the face of it tlie practice of buying yearlings bred from the most fashionable sires and out of winning mares seems the right oma to adopt, no matter what the expense, and . this niust always be so. At the eaane time, it is certain in ihe future as it has been in the past that the story of luck in breeding will be illumined by amazing happenings on the racecourse. — Fry's Mag-azine, July. — The Melbourne Argus stales that Cruciform, which waa purchased by Mr A. Yuille at th© Stead dispersal sale, was secured for Mr J. V. Smith, of the Bundoora- Stud, where Wallace and imported Challenger axe located. Mr Smith received: a cable message from New Zealand asking if he wished to sell Cruciform at a profit, but he cabled in reply that he would not sell at any price. Two of the other mares purchased by Mr Yuille. Problem a-nd Rattler, were secured on beha/lf of Mr S. Green;, of the Shipley Stud, Warrnambcol. Ottexden, another of Mr Yuille's purchases, was, it is understood. Secure-d for Mr Wm. Brown (of New South Wales),' who also secured (through Mr John ; Mac Donald) the stallion Multiform. — The value of xa oiled track was shown at tha Agricultural Ground. Sydney, last week (says the Sydney Mail of the 12th inst.), when the Royal Society was enabled to bring off its trotting and pacing competitions, notwithstanding that loin of rain had fallen during the previous fortnight or les3. If the track had been drained on the lower side the going would have bean perfect, as immediately be'.ow the surface was quite dry. New Zealand tracks cut up very badly in wet weather, and » wealthy club like th-e New Zealand- Metropolitan Trotting Club might well consider the advisablene=s of oiling their track. In diry weather there is j a total absence of duet, and the heaviest ' rain fails to penerate the surface. Had the New Zealand people seen our horses racing on a dry track after 15in of rain had fallen, they would lose no tim-e in following suit. — The Australian buckjumper is a product of hereditary rebellion and inferior methods , of horse-breaking. There are horses bred of i buck-jumping stock which can never hs I trusted, although their latent powers of ■ getting rid of their riders may never befully exploited. There are other horses of •shifty manners and vile tempers which may do everything in their power to make things unpleasant for those who have to deal with them, and yet they may never be able to "buck." Bucking is a fine art, a. talent which in a few notable cases approaches genius; but, owing to better methods of handling and breaking horses in the bush, ; the buckjumper is gradually becoming extinot, a-nd. possibly, in three years such a thing will be unheard of as a bucking horse — 1 Will H. Ogiivie. in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 1 — Although the Australian-bred g&lding All i Fours won the champion high jump at 7ft, and the wall jump at 6ft Gin, on one of ] the opening days of the recent International 1 horse show at Olympic London, he did 1 not 1 maintain his form throughout. In the high i jump on the concluding flay he -failed at 6ft 2in, and was also rnplaced in another 1 jumping event. St. Hubert II and Reveur each cleared 6ft Bin in the high jump, but '. failed at 7ft. However, the former was declared tha winner on points. The total at- 1 tendance at the show during the 10 days ' was officially estimated at over 300.000, and, '. though the expenses were very heavy, a '. profit resulted. Most of this, according to 1 a London paper,, is to be devoted to the '. encouragement of horse-breeding, and to this end tha directors are- arranging to offer gold i cup 3at all the principal colonial and foreign < shows. < — There is not and never oan be such a thing as perfection in starting, for the simple 1

reason that torses differ and jockeys differ, but w© are very strongly of fhe opinion (says "The Asian") that the large proportion of bad Btarts on English courses are due to causes quite beyond and outside th© control of the starter. The difficulty arising from variety of equine temper amen* wiH" always remain, and in less degree, because pressure can be brought to bear for correction, from variety of human temperament. So long as jockeyship lasts so long will the starter have to deal with, tine obedient, the over-eager, the reckless,, and the otmning; he can never hope to "grind down their bones to a. pale unanimity," but aa matters now stand he largely bears the blame which is rightly due to the fashion of riding which converts what might bo a fa-irly orderly field into a, chaos of boys helpless to control their mounts as crows to control wind-tossed boughs. There lies the evil that crie3 for remedy. • — Th© act passed in New York Legislature si little while back prohibiting gambling on racecourses will not. after all, put an end to betting. It may have the effect of stopping cash speculation, btfct book betting is likely to take its place. A test case under the new act was tried last month, and a man, who was arrested on a charge of verbal betting at ISheepshea-d Bay. was acquitted, the court holding that no crime had been committed. Ftcbi this it would appear as if the anti-betting party are not to be treated to a walk-over, a-nd that it may be unnecessary for Mr Keene anJd other big owners to do their future racing" in England. It must be added that,, a» against the fact of the new act failing to prevent credit betting at the traefes, cne of the- district 'attorneys points out that it does not permit th© payment -of wagers anywhere else at » later time, and "bhait if such payments were made .they very likely would foa taken cognisance of by the officers, and prosecutions follow. — They don't .like the standing start in America. The following is from the pen of an American writer: — The "punishment was fitting to tie- crime," to vary the quotation slightly, when the Whitney colt Eoyal Tourist was beaten for the historic Carlton Stakes, which seemed a gift for him. There was one bad-behaved horse, a perfect brute, at the barrier, Chapultepec, nearly always "left." After twisting, turning, plunging, and rearing for 15 minutes, with the hot favourite standing like a lamb. Chapultepec suddenly plunged forward to the tapes. Tihe starter yelled "Go,"- jweesed the button, and Chapul'tepec was off six lengths to the good, nothing behind him having the ghost of a chance. As Mar Whitney had always been one of the strongest supporters of the idiotic system of bringing excitable thoroughbreds to the barrier, and then asking them to stand still in line before starting them, the "punislmieiit fits the crime." I won&e-r if it will change his views at all? For 200 years we have bsen training the thoroughbred to run, now we ask it to cantor to the post, com* to a standstill, and again "run." What, utter absurdity! j — A good cause is often damaged by excess of fervour, and tbe/re- was just * trace of this in some of the speeches dtelivered at the Pan-Anglican Conference discussion on | gambling and: , speculation. There was ai good deal of truth in the observations made by Mr KiLlik. of the London Stock Exchange, who pointed out that the dement of speculation entered almost inevitably into | every business transaction. When th* nianu- j faclurer buys a large or small quantity of raw material he generally does so in. the expectation that there may be a rise or a. fall of price. He speculates or gambles onhis knowledge. It is much the same in dealing with securities, and though it is easy to define certain transactions as a gamble, it is not equally easy to draw a line between fair business- and pure speculation. Neither is it very easy to distingiiish sharply bstween the <ba>rmLess custom of giving a stimulus to one's pastimes by a, paltry monetary stake and the act of gambling — using that word in a strict sense. But we know (say 3an English paper) that the man who- whets ibis appetite with * glass of wine or beer is not a drunkard, though it would be -as reasonable t o apply that description to him as to call the player for nominal stakes at bridge a gambler. — In England for some time past the idea has obtained that the Government should give increased encouragement to horse-breed-ing,- more especially in view of the army need?. The Government has now promulgated a plan which, it is believed (says an exchange), will give general satisfaction. It is proposed to register stallions, maares, and their offspring, the aim being to secure the annual breeding of 15,000 foals. Besides the covering fee, the owner of the stallion will be entitled to a fee for every registered mare found, in foal to a registered stallion. Less wealthy owners of mares may possibly be 'assisted by the payment of the whole or part of the fee. The Army Council will make arrangements to inspect the produce of registered animals at three years, to purchase the young stock apiproved. said to pay towards the keep of the horses until they are -taken over by the Remount Department. The other stock will be reported to the Board of Agriculture for registration. The scheme will be carried out with the assistance and advice of a consultative committee. It is understood that the Government aid will ba £30,000 a year. Lord Carrington. in announcing the action to be taken by th& Government, said it wss proposed to have a census of all the horses in the country. — The Newmarket yearling sales were concluded before, the mail left England. Sixteen cf the lot were disposed of at 500gs and upwards. The list is given below of the big prices;, and it may be said that seven of the yearlings are by sons of St. Simon — namely. Desmond, Persimmon, St Frusquin (2), William the Third, Diamond Jubilee, and St. Serf. The list is as under : Br c by Desmond, — Calumet, by GaMinule (Mx R. Mills). 2400<rs; b c by GftllinuJe— Burgonet, by Morion (Mr W. Cooper). 2000gs; b c by Bock Sand— Full Cry. by Flying Fox (i£r W. Cooper). 1300gs; br c by Persimmon — Talma, by Juggler (Mr B. Mills), ISOOgs; b f by St. Frusquin— Miss Snooks, by Ayrshire (Mr it. Mills), 1250g5 ; b c by Count Schomberg — Claque, by Maa-deri" (Lord C. Montagu), 1200gs; eh f by GaJlinuJe — Word of Honour, by Saraband (Mir E Dresden), llOOgs; b f by Martagon — TJlrique, by St. Fru&quin (Mr R. Mills), 910gs; eh c by Cyllene — Revencula, by Ravensbury (Captain Herbert), 900gs; br i by^St. Frusquin — Rambling Katie, by Hajtnpton (llr W. Cooper), BGogs; b f by Mauvezin — CaHata, by Marcion (Mr Lamb). 780gs ; be by William €he Third I—Galingale.1 — Galingale. by Minting (Mr Dresden), 710gs; b c by Diamond Jubilee — Snocd. by Barcaldine (Mr F. Foy). 680gs ; br f by St. Serf — Ferelith, by Anrphion (Mr R. Sherwood), 600gs ; b c by Marco — Yara, by St. Angelo (Mr R. Wootton), 570gs; eh c by Ian — Tathwell Lassie, by Salisbury (Mr R. Mills), 510gs. —In Australia the greatest producer in the early drays of our trotting — and I "cannot call to mina (pays "Rothschild") a mare to equal her in the latter days — was Whisper. Whisper was a brown mare, foaled in 1883, by Ajax (724) from a mare by Maccaroni,

owned by Mr Frani Hill. In the eighties mares with any trotting blood at all in theii pedigrees were not to be had in Australia; and Mr E. R. Deane, a great trotting enthusiast of Springfield, Goulburn, borrowed Mr Frank Hill's mare to breed her to Ajax In these day 3Mr Hill's mare would noi exactly be considered a top-notch mare tc breed from, she being by Maccaroni, a thoroughbred, out of a xnaTe known as "Hoyt's trotting mare." "Hoyt's trotting mare" was also by a tshoroug-hbred, but sh« had the reputation of being a fast mare foi those times. Whisper was purchased bj Ijp J. A. Buckland, then of Wonbobbie, Warren, and in 1869 she started a remarkable stud career. Her first foal by Vancleve was Hush, 2min «25sec; the next Wonbobbie, Qmin 30see ; the next Bark, 2min 25sec ; the next Reply, 2min 82sec; next Answer, 2min 21sec. In 189* she was bred to St. Louis, and produced What, who did a tria] in 2min 12sec. The following year she went back to Vancleve, the result Valour, holdan« records of 2min 16seo for a mile and 4min 48sec for two miles. Then she went to Burlington ByB v and produced Ben Hur, 2min 19seo, and a visit to Valiant produced \eracity. one mil© 2min 28sec, two miles smm ssec. Among the last consignment of trotters sent by Mr Buckland: to New Zealand to race i 3i 3 Alpha, a two-year-old filly by imported California from Hugh,- the first of Whisper's foals.