IN A NUTSHELL

Otago Witness, Issue 2882, 16 June 1909, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL

— The membership roll of the South Canterbury Jockey Club totals 203. — Positano covered 33 mares last season, and 32 are considered, sure in foal. — Nominations for the Wellington Steeplechase meeting are due on Monday, June 21. — The Vienna Trotting Club will give 200,000d0l in stakes for 35 days' racing during 1909. S*at>reezs, -wKo -otoxt the Oats anj Si. Leger in 1888, has, says " The Special Commissioner," just died at Lord Rosebery's stud. — Paritutu is reported to haye seriously broken down, and is not likely to be seen on the tracks gain for some considerable time. — Signor is reported to have recovered from the effects of his accident at Flemington. — The yearling daughter of the world's champion trotter Lou Dillon has been named Gretcben B. — The pacing stallion Norval (Black Child — Norval, imp.) has been sold to an Australian buyer. —It is reported that a patron of D. J. Price's stable has purchased a three-year-old brother to Pink 'Un. — Artillerie, who has been spelling for 6omo time, is to be put into commission again at Randwick. — Nomin-aiion-s are due on the 25th inst. for the principal races to be decided at the C.J.C. National meeting. — A new starting machine, a Now Zealand invention, is to be tried in Melbourne. It works by electricity, and is highly spoken of. — Volcano carried a gocd deal of money in the- Oamaru Cup. but he v/as in trouble right through the race, and did not act up to expectations. — The Vancleye horse Quincey gave a splendid exhibition of trotting at the inaugural meeting of the oam aru Trotting Club, but failed to gain a win. — The well-known trotting horse Velox, v.'ho raced with considerable success both in New Zealand and Australia, has been sold to a Philippine Island owner. — llatariki, a five-year-old half-sister ., by Bellman to the crack mate ilyopotis, was amongst the runners at Oamaru, but failed to rwa into the money-winning brigade. — Acrobat was well backed for his race at Oamaru, but he broke up several times in xhe race, and as he loses a lot of ground at each mix his chance was soon hopeless. — Advices fiom the north state that M'Kinnon, the jockey who was inju:ed through Irish falling in the Winter Steeples at Auckland, has succumbed to his injuries. — A Napier t«lfgram states that the Vi'oll-known s-ire Morriw-ee, owned by Mr E. J. Watt, va-s destroyed yesterday on account of paralysis which set in a fortnight f-.RO. — Aud-ax, who v&zit wrong prior to the Wanganui Jockey Club's meeting, is said to be now fully recc-vered, and will probably be seen competing at the Trenthain and Eiccarton meetings. — The inaugural meeting of the Oamaru Trotting Club proved a very successful gathering, and the general result suggests i that theTe is an excellent prospect of futuresuccess being achieved on the same course. — Master Patchen has developed into a fine cut of a horse and has greatly improved in appearance during the past year. He won the Ladies' Bracelet last week | without apparently going to his speed Vmit. — The ' King Harold niare Lady Cherry F.howed a good turn of speed at Oamaru last w-eek, but failed! to maintain her best

gait throughout her races. If kept level Lady Cherry should be able to step out a fairly good mile. — Gladiator, the three-year-old halfbrother by Wildwood to Dan Patch (2.10), was amongst the runners at Oamaru last week, but finished in the rack. The colt looks a very likely sort, andl in good time will probably get amongst the winners. — The American-bred three-year-old gelding Hillside 111, who is owned 'by Mar H. P. "Wnitney, is credited with running threequaxters of a mile in lmin 9 l-ssec when he won the Crawford Plate at Newmarket, England, last month. He was ric&den by F. Wootton. — A Calcutta paper has it that all purchasing orders in Australia, have been cancelled by Indian racing owners owing to the big prices asked and the dearth of good horses. Judging by the purchase of Aborigine New Zealand is not barred by wouldbe buyers. — Piecework, the winner of the Oamaru Cup, is a good cut of a. gelding, who apparently can step to a better mark than the 5.7 he recorded last week. He was got' by Prince Imperial -from JPatchwork, a mat* by Berlin from The Imp, by Burlington, the thoroughbred son of Albany. — Wickliffo's win at Oamaru last week was not altogether devoid of lusk, as Pearl Wood, a four-year-old by "Wildwood — Pearl Marie, looked to have a good 'chance of winning when in the dead hadfwa\y "up the straight. A break, however, put Pearl "Wood out of court, ' and Wickliffe went past, to score a win. — The' Hothschild blood was in winning vein at the Oamaru Trotting Club's meet- . ing, and the results furnished further evidence that the Wood is breeding on,- and has a high prospective as well as a present-day value. Amongst the "winners during the day was Lucky Mount, by Algona, a son of Aknont, and two other sons of Rothschild in Ngapara and Geo. M. Patchen also sired winners. —Mr Huntly Walker, the well-known Lancashire sportsman and president ' of ■ the Blackpool Automobile- Clttb, is* said to have won £18.000 in two nights' play at Monte Carlo. In an interview, Mir Walker, who played in maximums, said that he had been going to Monte Carlo for the past 15 years, and that was the first time he had ever won. Had he won twioe as mud. the bank would still be largely indebted to him. — The newly-formed trotting track at Oamaru promises to be fast when it is in thorough working order. It is five furlongs and 6Syds in circumference, and would be greatly improved by having the turn out of the straight thrown up in order to ease what looks to be a fairly sharp bend. The club had a good surface on their track last week, and are deserving of congratulation on the amount of work they achieved in a short space of time. — The American plan oi reserving; a »place for jockeys works satisfactorily at Richmond and Ascot. From the time racing commences until the last event is decided (says an exchange) all the jockeys were isolated from the public, and mounted their charges as they were led to them in the weighing enclosure. Stipendiary supe; sion is very strict, and this accounts for the close and exciting finishes which. Mr Fred l Row invariably has to adjudicate upon. — The annual meeting of the South Canterbury Jockey Club is to be held on Friday, June 18. The balance sheet shows a profit of £624 18s Id after nearly dESOO had been spent on permanent improvements and the prize-list increased by £560 on the previous yeai. Since 1907 the amount given away in stakes has "increased from £1040 to £2430 for the season just concluded. During the last six years nearly £3000 has been expended in improvements on the course. — The Oamaru Trotting Club had not the stake-gathering totaliswtor at their inaugural meeting last week, but a regiment of fielders providedl a market fox those anxious to back their fancy. No less than 16 bookmakers lined up in the paddock, and two were operating in the outside enclosure. As far as could be seen the prices .on offer were fairly liberal, and although some wellbacketi horses went down the fielders, with two or tiure-e -exc-eptions, axe ain-cleTS'fcoocl fco have had a- losing day. — The career of the English horse Hallaton on tbe turf has been an extraordinary one isays an English writer), for he never carried, a saddle until last year, when he was a six-year-old, and now he is one of the 'fastest sprinters in training. He was backed to win. a small fortune in the Great Surrey Handicap, of 500sovs, on April 20, and the coup was landed in impressive style. Hallaton is by Blankney — Mascotte, and was ridden by F. Wootton. The gelding carried 8.10, got the five furlongs in 58 3-ssec. — There is a wialfl-fcnown story of am umpire in a cricket match who, when appealed to for a catch at the wicket, replied: " Nojfc out; and 1 I bet you a dollar we win ! " This yarn, no doubt (says the Blade) is the basis of the tale told of the. racing judge who put up the number of what everyone in the crowd • thought was the second horse, and upon being asked by how much the alleged winner had scored, answered promptly, " A neck ; and it's the first bet I've -won this meeting." — Breeders were somewhat diffident about mating their mares with Aurum last season owing to so many of his mare* proving barren in England the previous year. Naturally those mated with Turn last season are' being watch-ad with a good' deal o! interest, and Mr O'Keefe states that the majority of them are believed to be in foal. Mr O'Keefe sent Mary to him last year, but (says the Australasian) after _ one service decided not to send her to him again, as he was desirous of racing- her again. She, however is now heavily in foal to him. — " It is sai<3) to be a fatal thing for any commissioner from India to let it b© known that he is- out to buy for a patron in the ' land of rice and x-ajahs,' for if he does the seller at once puts on 50 per cent, to the price that ha meant to ask, it baing the erroneous superstition that anyone from India must be full of money. If only our friends in Australia realised the stagnation in business of all sorts, including the horse market, th-ey would 1 not (?ays an Indian paper) adopt a policy calculated to frighten the shy purchaser away. In India at the present moment horses are almost unsaleable owing to the state of financial depression." — The death occurred in America recently of the stallion Sir Dixon, who headed the winning sires' list in America in 1901 with a total of £41.000. During the last 15 years his offspring have oaptured stakes to the value of £208,000. Kilmarnock 11, whc- won the Alexandra Plate at Ascot in 1901, was one of his sons. He was also the sire of Blue Girl, Blues, Running Water, Butterflies, and Agile, all .big stake winners in Am-erica. His destruction was necessitated by an accident which befell him while he wa3 romping in his paddock; he fell and broke his hip. Bred in 1885, Sir Dixon was by imported Billet, son of Voltigeur. — A field of 23 coloured on the card for the Parkside Handicap, which formed tha concluding item at tne O.T.C. inaugural meeting. The scratching pen reduced the field to 15. and of this lot a two-year-old filly in Lucky Mount, xidaen by J. Brankin, .

was quickly established an odds-on favourite. The odds were never in jeopardy, as hopping out at a clip which carried her well clear of her field in half a furlong, Lucky Mount won easily by eight lengths after registering Grnin 41 2-ssec. All going well, Lucky Mount will not be- long before she makes a substantial reduction on her Oamaru record. She was got by Algona (a son of Aknont and Sally Bush that does not figure in the Stud Book) out of Lucky Ciss, a daughter of Specification. — Touching on the poor support accorded by the British Government to the horsebreeding industry, the- London Sportsman, says: "Other Governments have for years and years made horse breeding an affair of State, so that in all circumstances their armies will have horses in, plenty, whereas under present conditions our army would within 20 years have practically none; and it must be borne in mind that in time of need other countries would have no surplus stock which we could "buy, as in the Boer war. All this is so manifest that it is difficult to understand how even, a fad-ridden. Government like the present can remain in office and let the question of horsebreeding just drift. Eaoh year brings us nearer to an irremediable catastrophe." - — Sportsmen will regret to hear that tha injuries sustained by Albury -whilst running in the Wingatui Steeplechase were far more serious than originally believed, and uhat ihe gelding died during the early part of *"lasi week. It is surmised that Albury strained himself internally when he failed to clear the water-jump, and consequently the horsa' must have possessed a great deal of courage to go over three more fences before declining to rise at -the- sod wall. Albury was' a particularly fine type of ( a weight-carrying hunter, and has demonstrated by his wins over short courses this season that he was not deficient in paoe. Albury earned a great deal of kudos by his splendid fencing in" the last Grand National Steeplechase, in which he was in the first flight throughout th« race. — " Inquirer " is informed that Manton ran second to Carbine in the D.J.C. Champagne Stakes. Mr P. Butler also ran Adulation* who finished third, and Artillery, running in, the then familiar green and white hoops,' finis&ed third to Gipsy King and Springston in the Dunedrn Cup. Manton won the Hopeful Stakes on the third day of the meeting, which was made memorable- owing to the Forbury Handicap being run twice. On -.hs first occasion Cinderella won, and on ohesecond Silvermark, ridden by D. J. Price, beat St. Clair, T. Buddicombe up, by a nose ' in a great finish. Carbine made his debut in the Hopeful Stakes, run at the Tattersall's Club /meeting held in December. .His next race wa-s the Middle Paxk Plate, run on January 2. . —At times the late Mr Fred. Swindells (writes Mr Corl-ott in the Sporting Times) appears to have had luck on his sid* to assist his good judgment. Until within a very short time of the race for the Two Thousand Guineas of 1856 Lord Derby's colt by 0"lando, out of Canezou, had scarcely been neard of. Mr Swindells having a commission to work, wired one of his- agents to put a large sum on a certain key number. The agent aaw that the number was the Orlando colt, and to the astonishment of Mr _ 'Swindells, who"" "had not heard of him. either, received a reply of the bat that had been taken. In looking down the Hat he had wired 24, whereas it should have been 25. No. 24, about wham this big bet had been accidentally taken, a few days later won John Scottfs trial, was named Fazzoletto, started at 5 to 1, and won tha Two Thousand. — The £500 Trotting Handicap promoted by Mr J. Wren attracted a big etttry of high-class horses, a large number hailing from New South Wales and New Zealand. Nominations closed on April 29, but late entries will be received on payment of £25. The first acceptance of £5 is due on July 1, and the final payment of £7 to be at the scales. The following are- the original entries —viz.: Daisy (Vie), Mount Palm (N.Z.), Oster Lad (Vie), Ribbonite (N.S.W.), C.W. (N.S.W.), Yb.il Roy (N.S.W.), Lovie (Vie), Hollis H. CVie.l, Austerlit* (Vie), Skam* (Vie), Mil Whips (Vie), Sir Harold (Vie), , Dixie Alto (Vie), Lady Ljghtfoot (VicA Birthmark (Vie), King Cole (N.Z.), Sal Tasker (N.Z.), Marie NareUe (N.Z.), Dexter (N.S.W.), Berlinwood (Tas.), Huon Hue (N S.W.), Agesemos (N.Z.), Boldrewood (Vie), Peggy Whips (Vie), Bentree (Vie), Philos (Vie), President (N.S.W.), Mswiritions (Vie), Emulator (Vie), Hal Zoloch (Vie). — This country is liberally represented in the list of nominations for the principal events to be decided in Australia next spring. In the Melbourne Cup "New Zealand brrd horses which have been engaged include ' Bobrikoff, Downfall, Snowshoes, Idyll, Nobel, Delaware, Ngaruhoe. Seddon, Pink 'TJn, Saltaare, Motoa, St. Felix, All Red, California, Ikon, Master Soult, Aborigine, Artillerie, Golden Slipper, Don Ham-nibel, Maranui. and Waipuna. New' ZeaJandem are also froely engaged in the Caulfield Cup, Epsom Handicap. Toorak Handicap, Wifiiamstown Cup, and Metropolitan Handicap, and, coming to - a closer date, the names of Pilot, Wainu, -3201 us Lion Heart, Golden Cairn, Maui, Stair-ohoot, /Phretontis, Kiatere, TJp-to-da-te, and Ataahua figure amongst those engaged in the jumping events to be decided at Flem-ing-ton and Caulfield during July and August next. ' — Although 19 mares were mated with theSt. Simon horse En Garde (who is coming to Australia) in 1906. his comparatively low fee of 18 guineas did not cawe him to re-* ceive much natron age in 1907. as only seven foals are credited to him in 1908. Under the circumstances the Cobham Stud pay not bave been pxactly sorry to part with him; but with file opportunities he will receive out here (says the Sydiiey Referee) it is on the cards for him to make a very successful pire. Touching on En Garde's sale, a London writer remarks: "St. Simon blood 'is asked for all over the world, but already they a.^e finding out ita drawback?, and 'he Au«tralians ascribe to it --each Httl» trouble as they have in gate-starting. As between a St. Simon horse like Bill of Portland. Vowever, and En Garde there is a vaet difference, for the former was always very excitable, while the latter the reverse." — The annual meeting of the Riccarton. Trainers* Association was held last week, Mr H. E. Cutts presiding over a larg« attendance of members. TTie annual renort «tated that the member.<>hit> numbered <33. Reference was made to the matters which! had been considered by the committee during fhe met year. The balance sheet showed that the year closed with a credit of £5 2b. The following committee waa elected: — Messrs A. Cutts. G. " Munray-Aynsley, W. M'Donald, D. Roberts, H. Thomson, P. M'frrath, an R. Derrett. Votes of thanks were parsed to the committee and! secretary of the Canterbury Jockey Club ana tfc» caretaker of the racecourse (Mr D. C. Mitchell)' for th« manner in which they had! assisted the association during the past year. Special mention was made of the work of the secretary (Mr A. Cutts) since the «*sooia.ti»n -was formed, and a presentation^ was made to him in reo-srnition of his services. — "Vigilant," of the London Sportsmaa»

Bays that ore of the best foals lie has ssen j this year is a bay filly by Spearmint from Lord Derby's Altcar. Tho mare is now on a visit to ti^ Australian Cup winner Great Scot, who was selected because he is so closely inbred to the best Blair Athol line through Prince Charlie, and comes of "the same immediate- family __in female descent as St. Simon. " Vigilant"' remarks: — "I belieTe Lord Derby has' laid himself out with fair prospects to breed a Derby winner- No on© in my time has seen such a horse as Prince Charlie, and there is no waadei that Great Scot has caught the mantle, clothing, head-collar — or whatever you call it — of tho glorious Prince of the T.Y.C., for the Prince Charlie • class of stock is coming, and Mx Apcaa: would not part with Ms horse for all the gold under the sun. JEhat seems ooi extravagant statement, but he likes his horse, and na has abundance of money. Therefore why on earth should he sell it?" — Says "Whalebone" in. the Auckland Star: "The closing of the Harp of Erin Hotel will cause considerable inconvenience to visiting racing men, for the well-known hostelry has long been the leading accommodation house for those attending t&e Auckland Racing Club's meetings, and to 'say tee closing of the house came as a. &hock_ is but to put it mildly. It will be some fcrme yet before the new - season commences in Auckland, but vlie- authorities -will Lave to bestir themselves to make-arrang-aments for the housing of visitors during their meetings, for the lack of suitaible accommodation may have the effect of keeping numbers of ' southerners- away, especially in the sunutter , time, where there are several strong counter attractions nearer hom-e. In this connection, . I would suggest to the Auckland Racing j Club that they consider the advisability of j •erecting boxes, etc., after the style adopted ] by' tlie Wellington Club. The recentlyacquired property in Green Lan« would meie an ideal spot for such, a scheme, and. the investment would, I think, eventually, be a profitable one. Probably the pl^k, will give tie question their early attention." — "When the lea<ddng racing clubs fixed the i license fee to be paid by bookmakers for the right lo bet on racecourses at £20 per day there was a pretty shrill outcry from the pencillers' camp, writes " Phaeton," and it i was a poculaar opinion in other quarters j that the -fee- named was on the stiff side. There may be a silent grumble still, but the point forcibly demonstrated is that the knights of the book atnd pencil roll up in strong force to - pay the fee demanded, and 1 in no place in the Dominion they in ! stronger force numerically than in Auckland. A compilation of the various sums paid by the pencillers to the Auckland 1 Racing Club for the right to bet at the 13 days' racing held at Ellerslie extendng from November last to June & runs out to no less than £8169. There is undoubtedly much room for reflection in the figures quoted, and to those who have been in touch with the racing situation in Auckland for an extended period -when the pencillers came into the paddcrk and were allowed to pursue their calling by •the mare purchase of a te-n shilling paddock ticket— th« situation brings out in pointed form that times have chasageS^, and it can be appropriately added t&at men and customs have changed with them. Cheaply-bought horses have of late years secured; a number of important races. The recent winner of the Lincolnshire Handicap was once sold for 46gs. Bendigo, one of tlie most popular horses of modern times, wes not thought to -be worth more th«n 70gs as a two-year^old — ihe was afterwards sold for 850gs; whilst Little Wonder, winner of the Derby in 1&40, only cost Mr Robertson 65gs. Delaunay, .who won over £6000 in stakes for Mr P. P. Gilpin, before being sold to a French dealer for £7500, passed into that gentleman' 3 hands for 55gs; Kate, winner of the On© Thousand Guin-aas in 1852, was disposed of as a two-year-old for 50**s; Rover, whose son, St. Gatien, was sold for £15,000, made 50ga when he came into the market; Father Blind, dual winner of the Great Metropolitan Stakes, cost his owner £40, and Daadlock, dam of Isinglass, was secured by Captain Machell for £20. Ypsiltenti, winner of tho Jubilee Stakes on two occasions; Carabine, who- carried off •the Cheater Cup and Manchester November Hsmdicap; Chaleureux, a Cffisarewitch hero; and Black Sand, also- a winner of the longdistance r*ce at Newmarket, were all bought out of selling races, whilst that wonderful mare-, Virago, was at one time a selling " plater " herself. — None will negative a proposition _ that if all horses now on th& turf were _ ridden at exercise from yearling status till the autumn of their three-year-old ' career, or even later, before- seeing a starting-post the average British thoroughbred would be probably sounder and finer than it is. But, conceding this (says th& Field), it is also commercially obvious tba-t turf legislation to this effect would at onoe Teduce the number of racehorses by more than some 50 per cent. ; fewer would, be bred, the demand would fall off, and, the numbers being thus reduced, the field from) which to find' end select cracks for stud purposes would be seriously diminished. We gain by extra numbers as » result of two-year-old racing more than ye lose by damage to books immature samples in early life. Bacing is a commerce ; capital is . locked: up in it. If statute compelled capital to be locked up an extra year before* being marketed much investment in that line would: b« discouraged. The extra year of txt&ing 1 bill, plus interest on capital, would deter too many of the speculators in blood stock, whose speculations axe a main cause of thoroughbred production. Hence, to limit early utilisation of the stock-in-trade would apparently have the effect of depreciating the breed by . reducing demand, and with that the supply of the commodity. —An American writer cays the Thoroughbred Record' of that country contains announcements of 24 sires foaled in the British Isles He then continues as follows: "It was most certainly a misfortune when Meddler, by St. Gatien cut of Busybody, •was 'allowed to leave England; and in course of time we may bo made to realise- that the departure of Rock Sand was a still |^r«sa±er misfortune. If I w-er-e €o a.£tem"»t to do justice to the career of Meddler I should want a full column, of space at the very least. He has twice headed the li.st of winning stallions in America — in 1904 with a total of £44,500. and in 1906 with a score of £29,200. His fiisj» Anierican home was in Massachusetts, where his surroundings were uncongenial and his opportunities limited.. But all this was chaafred when lie passed into the possession of the late Mr William C. Whitney, who/ gave nearly £10,000 for him a* -auction. After Mr Whitney's death h» was acquired by Mr Cktrence H. Mackay for 51,000d01, or " jus* ov«r £10,000. WhaA fee he- new commands I cannot say; the v o.(Jv«rtis«Jnienfc -does not state, the figure.Rock S«nd, for whom -Mr August BeLmoni gay« £2S,O00", is at that gentleman's stud near Lexington. This year ibis fee is £300, and *t that his 'book' is full. Glanein? further down " the list one comes across the names of Fatherless ('by Isonomy), winner of the G-reat Metropolitan; Baldu" (by Sheen), winner of the Ascot Stakes; Mazagaai (by Bend Or), -winner of the GootFVood and JocJesv Club (Tups : and Sciatil-

» lant (by Sheen), winner of the Cesarewiich. ' Other successful sires in th« States are the Eaton-bred Ben Strome, by Bend Or; Voter, by Friar's Balsam p Sain, by St. Serf in the list in 1907).