CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 55

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By Fjhtz.

I We have experienced another week of fine weather, but we have now had too much of it. and everyone would, I think, welcome a change in the direction of a. downpour. Farmers and trainers alike are crying but for rain, which would do a loci of good to the crops as well as to the>' training tracks. The latter are very hard! at present, and anything but favourable for horses which are under the slightest siis* picion in the matter of soundness. The Hororata Racing Club's meeting wa» held on Thursday, when the conditional were very favourable. Rain threatened inj the afternoon, but beyond a couple of very* light showers none fell. From a financial! point of view the meeting was very* successful. The totalisator investments* amounted to £1645 103, a decrease of £1^ compared with last year's figures, but th«» club also received a substantial addition to the revenue in license fees from the book-i makers, of whom six were betting inside* and four outside. The racing was vexii interesting, but it was not profitable Of backers, as the favourites went down vrittri monotonous regularity, the result beiny that the bookmakers had * great day.. Racing commenced with the Farmers' Plate/ Handicap, for which there were eigixj etarters. Cerise and Blue, Ambuscade, and/ The Malt3ter were responsible for the pace* to the home turn, where the first-named; drew out. A little further on, however, he had to respond to a vigorous challenge from Silent Member, who beat him horn» by half a length. Portland finished fast,, and just beat Ambuscade for third place. The field for the Bangor Plate Handicap was limited to .a quartet, and the betting 1 market underwent several changes. Mythical lost' her place soon after the start, andf Whirlwind and Farley Grove made the running to the straight, where Hilarity. shot up with a good run and beat Farleyi Grove home by a length, with Whirlwindi a length away, third, a similar distance in/ front of Mythical. The Hororata- Cur* attracted a field of six, -but there was little interest in the contest, as Helianthes mad© all her own running and won easily by ai length and a-half from Contender, who. was tivo lengths in front of Zetland, with? Sant Rosaleer beaten by half a head for third position. Helianthes, who was bred! by her owner, Mr H. A. Knight, is a four-year-old by Finland — Clytie, a. mare* that traces back to Waterwitoh, who hag given the turf many fine performers. So. far Helianthes has. been a -bit of a disappointment, but it is on the cards thati she will yet prove a useful 6fcake : earn«rl. Contender, -who finished second, added? another to the many unsatisfactory per*, formances for .which, be has been responsible since he has been quartered aft' Riocarton. There* is a growing impression' that he is no* genuine, and he certainly gave .the impression that he was not puttingi much heart into hia work in last week's race. There were 10 starters for the Flying Hack Handicap. Fanny Free and Sea Dog showed the way round the turn, followed by Ganton and Portland. Once in the etraight, .however, Fanny Free drew out and won by a length fio:n Port lan), who was another length in Lout vi Gamon,

with Ambuscade close up. Fanny Free ie » four-year-old by Sant Ilario— Doily Muggins, and she ie therefore a half-sister to Kaikomako. She has a good turn of speed, but I do not think she will ever distinguish herself save in moderate company. Sea Dog, who was made the medium of a big commission away from the course, ie a four-year-old gelding by Castashore — Gladys, a gTey mare that injured herself in a hunters' steeplechase a few y-ears ago". Sea Dog can go fast, and he may develop into a good performer over obstacles. There were eight starters for the Glendore Trot- Handicap. Woodleigh led for a mile, followed by Royal Chid, whan My Mistake took charge. A litt'e further on Boss Irvington, who lost a lot of ground in -the early part of the race, joined Woodleigh and Royal Child, but broke badly, anJ My Mistake won easily by el/nt lengths Lfom Woodleigb, with ■Royal Child eight lengths further back. Seven lined up for the Welter Handicap. Tessera and Truthful made the running for absut two furlongs, .vhen Truthful dropped back, and Zetland joined Tessera in the lead. When the straight wae reache J Farley Grove put in her ?laim, and she •eventually" beat Zetland by a length, with Tessera a length further back, just in front of Ruapehu There were five starters for the Haldon Stakes Handicap, and, despite his heavy burden of 10.7 (including 12ib penalty for his 4\vo victories, at Timaru), Silkweb was a warm favourite. Cerise and Blue and Silkweb were smartest away, and they Jed in company to the straight. Here Whirlwind joined in, and Silkweb faltering a little further on, Whirlwind won by a length fr&m Cerise and Blue, with Silkweb a -similar distance away, third. The day's sport was brought to a olose with the Second Trot Handicap, for which there were nine starters. Boss Irvington went off nicely, and soon opened up a big gap. Haif a mile from home he broke badly, ■but Holmes, after pulling him up to a standstill, got him going again. He still had . a good lead from. Imperial Polly at ♦lie entrance to the straight, where he agaiu left his feet, and hie chance was gene, Imperial Polly winning by 10 lengths from Major Hopetoun, who came up thte straight on a break and beat Royal Child | by 10 lengths for second place. j Whirlwind, who was among the winners | at the Hororata meeting last week, may be described as a well-preserved veteran. She was bred at Elderslie, being by Stepniak — Tempest, and as a yearling she .was purchased by Mr J. F. Buchanan, for .whom she did good service for several seasons. She was then retired to the stud, but her first two foal«, Turmoil and Wifliwaw, proved unlucky animals, and Mr , Buchanan disposed of Whirlwind. Now at j the -igo of 11 years— she was foaled in I 1897 — we find her as lively as a two-year- ! old, and etill busy winning races. Na-utiform was galloped on while taking part- in the Juvenile Plate at Riccarton last month, and I understand he had to be eased in his ivork. He is doing all jight now, and h-" 1 should be in nice order for the Gieat Northern Foal Stakes on Boxing Day. At the .same time, his cooreetions would- have been better pleas-vJ. naturally, if his preparation had not been ; interrupted. It is a pity that Provocation i v. ill nos be at Ellerelie to join issue with Nautiforin in the principal two-year-old events at the- Auckland v Racing Club's meeting. Two more foal? have put in an appearance at the Grasslea Siud, Culverin, by Son of a Gun — Roseneath. and Nance O'Neil, by Apremont from Clarence's dam, having each produced a filly to Terrapin. Both mares will be mated with Boniform. Instances of twin foals are not often re corded, and it is is still more rare to find them survive and thrive. The latest cate ia that of the Prince Imperial mare, Cocoa- ! nut, a well-known performer on local , trotting tracks who , has foaled twins — a , colt and a filly — to Rothschild. Both foals are healthy and are doing well. One of them is of good size, and has been left j with it? dam, but the other, which is on , the small side, is being reared by hand. Excellent nominations have been received for the Pluraptor Park Trotting Club's meeting, which promises to be one of the hesr evjr held by the club. Most of the races have filled well, and the principal <>vcn:s have attracted some of our be^t performers. :\mong the horses claiming engagements at the Plumpton Park Trotting Club's .meeting is Mr R. O. Duncan's colt King Cole, by Ribbon-wcod. He has been under the care of D. J. Price in- Australia for some time, but he ie expected to arrhe~ from Melbourne this week. Price is al*-o on his way back to Xew Zealand, where he will remain for a short lime, and ho will pilot King Cole id his cji^agements at Plumpton Park. Forfeits were due on Friday for three of the Canterbury Jockey Club's race* — iho Middle Park Plate, Champangne .Stake-, and Challenge Stakes, — and the lists make vurv interesting reading, as they furnish evidence that we are likely to witness tome interesting contests at Riccarton before the season h over. The Middle Park Plato rarely draws a large field, but there :* reason to anticipate a better race than usual this season. The two-year-oids enjfaged include three of this season's cracks, so Nautiform, Broadsword, and Ely6ian, in addition to quite a number of others that fn»y later on prove high-class performers. To oppose the younger division we may have several speedy three-year-olds, among whom may be noted Armlet, Sunglow, Gipsy Belle, and Husbandman. The Champagne Stakes list includes Nautiform, j Provocation, Expansion, Broadsword, Kil■winning, and'Cornsiadt, all of whom have ' good form to recommend them, jvhile ] among those without special credentials on | t>he tracks are several well-bred youngsters j of whom good things are predicted later j on. Aa is usually ?.he case, the best of the ] two-year-old 6 figure in the Challenge , Stakes, in vhich race the older di\ ision is alto represented, though not so strongly ao in some years. , Ths Aehburton Trotting' C'lub'e summer meeting will bo hekl on Wednesday ancV I Thur«day i and from prpsent indications it i looks like proving a very sut-co-oful fixture, j A special attraction will bo pro\ided in the attempt by Dunbar to roduce th-j Australasian record for two miles, which is at I pre3*nt held by Ribbonwoo<!. Later in ihe j week— <m Saturday — a start will be made : with ihe Chrisfcchurch Racing Clud's moot- j ing, at which there is every promise of big- ! fields and good eporc. j At the monthly committee meeting of the ! Canterbury Jockey Club held on Tuesday the programmes of the Westland Racing C2ab and Amuri Turf Club were approved. Tha 31arlborough Racing Club reported that

■ * it had disqualified Mr Malley and his horse, ■ Dane, for six months. The Canterbury ■ Jockey Club Committee did not consider : the punishment adequate, and increased the ■ term to 12 months. Gentlemen riders' certificates were granted to T. W Gordon and ! G. T. Smith ; trainers' licenses to E. A. Dowell, H. Kennedy, A. G. Miskin, and P. M'Grath ; and jockeys' licenses to E. , Price, P. Quain, E. Scouliar. and S. Watson. The applications for jockeys' licenses from C. L. Hart. W. Hntchinson, and A Q. Wilsor were refused. The next meeting of the committe« will be held on January 12. A monthly meeting of the New Zealand • Trotting Association wa6 held on Wcdn-ss-1 day ; pre=ent — Mes-is P. Selig (president.), ,C. S. Howell, W. Hayward, E. Clarkson, i W. G- Garrard, A. L. Myers, and R. O. Duncan. A letter was read from the South Canterbury Trotting Club stating that the trustee* if the 'limara racecourse had granted the club permission to u&« the course for a meeting on January 21, and the club therefore asked that ; ts application , for registration should bo granted. The request was granted, as was a similar ap- , plication from the Xorth Otago Trotting ' Club, which had been granted permission to ! use the North Otago Club"* course. It waa decided U vote £10 10s to the fund which 1 was being raised for the widow of the late M. E. Albaugh. It was resolved to remove I the disqualification incurred by the horses which took part in an unregistered trotting- ! event at the Poverty Bay agricultural show. j Programmes as pa**ed by the executive j were approved. a« well a* several others j which had since come to hand. It was decided to have a list prepared showing the clubs which gavo less than £100 per day in stakes, and to inform such clubs that this amount was considered the miminium which should be distributed. Messrs Duncan and Howell were appointed a committee to examine the balance sheets of all non-totali-iator clubs, with a view to reporting to the conference. Licence? as recommended by the Licensing- Committee were granted". That of R. Jopi was granted with a caution, and those of John Butler (Ahaura), James G.iskin, •Hid H. E. Barnes were refused. It having been stated that the j questions asked in the application forme i for licenses were often carelessly and in- . acurately answered, the committee desired to inform the applicants that future cases in which misstatements were proved would bo severely dealt with. On the recommendation of the Licensing Committee, a further grant of £4 in addition to a sum to cover medical expenses, was made to J. C. Paget; and a grant of £10, in addition to a sum to cover hospital fees, to T. David-son. ! Several improvements have recently been I effected at Riccarron. The most im- ; portant consists of the erection of a fenc9 on th? outside of the cour-e proper, down the straight from th* haH-mile post to the entrance to the carriage paddock. Truthful shaped well in a schooling ta«k on Saturday. - Lapland was schooled over the small ■hurdle?. After refusing repeatedly his rider dismounted and succeeded in getting the horse to clear the obstacle on the leael" • Roberts will try and secure' a companion I before «ehooling him again, and with company he- will probably do better, as he can jumj all right .when *o inclined. Lady Lochiel (by Formo^an — Miss Lochiel), in Moraghan's stable, is a much improved animal, and «he may develop into a stake-earner before long. M'Aulay has had an addition to his team in a small but shapely mare by Gorton. Lady Disdain is lookinc very well, and has been responsible for ~-x>,ue* satisfactory gallops of late. The English-bred filly Ormolu, by O,mo —Hey Presto, is unlikely to fulfil "her engagement at th<s Christchurch Racing Club's meeting. She is still in the Middle Park Plate and Challenge Stakes, in each of which she i s entitled to a maiden allowance, ai:d her owners, Messrs W. G. and O. L. Stead, have decided that it would be unwise to risk forfeiting- this concession in case the- filly should prove worth considering- for races of this description. Up to the present, however. Ormolu has not dono much work. «> that it may be some time yet before much is known of her ability as a galloper.