IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

The Oamaru Trotting Club hold a meeti- ' ing on June 9. _,.,«,. • The Ashburton Trotting Club hold. a. meeting en June 16 and 17. The last seven furlongs of the Timaru Cup was run in lmin 23 2-Ssec. Nominations for the North Otago Jockey Club are due on Thursday, April S 3. Cronstadt is being treated to a spell, and was not taken to tha Timaru meeting. Poseidon has been thrown out of training, and has probably said good-bye to the turf. The New Zealand-bred Star shoot has rejoined the active brigade in D. J. Price's string at Caulfield. . Acceptances for the first dajy of the Fcrbury Park Trotting Club's meeting- are due on the 30th inst. Husbandman, Countermine, and Broadsword will carry Sir G. Clifford's colours at the Hawke's Bay meeting. "When Dan Patch set out in Auckland to make an assault on time he raced' without bobbles and without a pacemaker. Oiyoi started favourite in the Timaru Cup and Tikitere was sent out favourite for the principal event on the second day. Cute changed ownership a few days a<*o, and ran in the nomination of Mr "VVm. Hastie at the South Canterbury meeting. The writer was informed that Oiyoi fell lame after running in the Tinraru Cup; j hence the reason of his absence on the : second day of the meeting. The French steeplechase rider F. Pia.rfrement receives a retaining' fee of £IOOO, in addition to 10 per cent, on all wins, fromt his chief patron, M. Veil-Picard'. ! Tho well-known English owner, Mr 1 Charles James Merry, who died on December 14 last, aged 52 years, left personal esitate in the United Kingdom! valued a.t £263.630. Australian exchanges state that Mr T. H. Dowry has purchased from Mr C. D. Macdonald the four-year-old mare Aurarius, bv Maltster—Aurous, by Wallace—Aura. The disqualification for two months inflicted on R. Wooton will prevent tha* accomplished horsemen riding in the Ono and Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and Oaks. • - __ Very satisfactory nominations have beent received for the Ashburton meeting, and' amongst those engaged at the gathering are Lupulite, Obsono, Ngawera, and Soldier's Chcras. Freak, a four-year-old bay gelding, and brother to Outlander, was amongst the runners at Timaru last week, and on each occasion he finished close to the placed division. Formby claims an engagement m the next A.J.C. Derby, and it is rumoured that there is a chance of his being - sent over to measure strides with the Australian three-year-olds. The English-bred niai'e Perolina, by Persimmon —La Carolina, who has provecfi ■a disappointement on New Zealand courses, has run her last race, and will be retired' to the stud. The Auckland Racing Club will givei £5490 in prizes at the big steeplechase meeting in June. The Grand National Steeplechase is worth £IOOO and the Grand National Hurdles £750. —ln England this season Sainfoin is doing stttd duty at a fee of 19gs. Sainfoin not only won a Derby himself, but sired Rock Sand, winner of the Two Thousand, Derby, and St. Leger. The Nov/ Zealand cross-country rider J. W. M'Gregcir, who rode Bullworth to victory at Randwick. is to. act as first horseman to Mr E. Mianifold, the well-known Victorian sportsman. The V/aimate Racing Club intend enlarging its grand stand, shifting the judge's box half a chain further up the stra.ight,_ and moving the totalisator housa further' back from the course. —A Press Association message states that Lothaii' has been scratched for the Longlands Hack Hurdles, and Swarthmoor for all engagements at the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club's autumn meeting. his accident at the Riverton meeting asi to be able to leave the hospital, but some little time will elapse before he will be able to return to his business. Point-to-point meetings will be held by the South Canterbury Hunt Club on June .), by the "Waimate Hunt Club en June 16, and on July 28 by the South Canterbury Hunt Club, which will hold l a aecond ■rathering.

Sylvaner, by Ayr Laddie —Lady Grafton, ] ■who w-co. a two-year-aid race at Randwick this month, is a full brother to Grafton Laddie, who was purchased as a- yearling , three years ago by Messrs L. C. and W. T. Hazlett. j —.A Sydney exschange (states that Mr ' E. J. Watt's reason for disposing of the ! San Francisco—De Aar colt; at a 'loss a | few days after he had purchased him was j that one of his legs looked as if it would I give trouble -■—■Bay Lupin hooked a couple of fences in the first day's hurdles at Tima.ru, but nevertheless ran a good third. On fcfca j second day he ran prominently in the : •early stages, but finally finished at the i tail of the field. Some of the horses racing at Timaru last week were fitter than a casual glance at them suggested. What appears to be an early approaching winter is lengthening the coats of horses, and gave a horse or two a softish appearance. Mr R. C. Hannah, of Victoria, recently imported from America a trotting i stallion named W. W. Estill, by Redchute | from Cap and Bells. As a five-year-old he had a 2min 21Jsec record, and his own j brother, Sonata, 2min 12sec. The Western Australian owner, Mr J. Nicholas; intends making a trip to India with' a team of horses, including Nueifera (whom he' purchased for 3Oogs), Trouble, Phonograph, Al, and Hatteras. W. H Ross will accompany him to do the riding. —A printer's error in the S.C.J.C. racebook returned one of the horses as being got "by "Lady Ra&slyn." Some printers are. good sports, but there is one who fails to distinguish between a lord and a lady: Busyland showed slight traces of bleeding at the nose after her race on the first day at Timaru. On the second day she got badly away, and afterwards made up a lot of ground, EO that her mishap of the previous afternoon was evidently not a eerious affair. The profit on the Rivertom annual meeting amounted to 600sovs. The SouthlandRacing Club made in the neighbourhood of £260 over their autumn meeting, and last week's racing at Timaru will put about 409sovs into the coffers of the South Canter- j bury Jockey Club. / Simonian, a noted tborughbred stallion, by St. Simon, died at France early last mor.th. At the sale in 1896 of the late Colonel North's stud Simonian was purchased by M. Paul Aumont for SSOOgs, and he produced winners of about £130,000 in stakes on French courses. After his attractive win at Waimate it -was not astonishing to find St. Aidan .£, •wetl-backed chance in the Washdyke Welter, inn last week. He bsgan fairly well, but peon lost place, and was never again in the clanger zone. However, he may make arrends before the season closes. Prior to winning on the second day of the Timaru meeting Manchester was purchased by Mr F. Nelligan at 150sov- and consequently he has made a good biTa-ain. Manchester, who is a good cut of a gelding, "will join D. Moragban's stable at Riccarton, and will be schooled over fences. Two or three horses running at Timaru had pilots aboard who evidently forget to ■weigh anchor when the word was given to j set ©ail. Consequently there was a little bit of dragging and tacking that did not I expedite their way to the post. In fact. it was a case of more "whoa" than "way." Castillo, was well backed for the Hack iace decided on the first day of the Timia.ru meeting, but the bast she could do was to finish a fair third to Manchester and Merri- . beck. Castilla is a real swallow-catcher j in private, and perhaps will get amongst j the winners when she has had more racing ' experience. j Southern Cross put in a good but re- : markably late run in hi" first, race last •week, and was travelling faster than the placed hoise« as the leaders raced past the post. On the second day he was quiekiy made favourite, and held that position up to the Tise of the barrier, but failed to gain •& place. The Ellerslie jockev, C. Brow<i, received a communication lately from the Indian ■agent, Mr R. G. Baldock, offering him a yearly retainer of £7OO to go to India to ride the horses owned by Mr Gordonhas Khatou. The engagement is to begin in July, and it is probable that Brown will the offer. Fisticuff made a bold show in the early part of his races at Timaru. but at the business end he failed to fight on. and finished just outside the places. He is, however, a big overgrown three-year-old, and was meeting much older and more seasoned horses at practically even terms, so it is Hot wisa to condemn him too hastily. Some of the time records hung out at Timaru last week read fast, but everything was in favour of the horses' attempt to split the atmosphere in a hurry. The going •was good find firm*, and there was an rntire absence of wind resistance. Hence the reason that some of the racers ap■oeareß to have donned their seven-league ••jjppots. , —From a list compiled in Victoria it. is j*=thered that of 61 b.orses who cost from ICOOgB upwards as yearlings only 15 won . an stakes more than their purchase money. Of the others 22 never returned a shilling, though they represented an outlay of 29.000g5. while four others wen less than £IOO each, and another nine failed to win a lareeT sum than £275. The nominations received for the Wangamii Jockey Club's whiter meeting totalled 394. The horses engaged in the Wanganui Steeplechase are Moccasin, Jack Pot, Hydrant, Kaurca. Lingerer, El Dorado, Lovell, Ray Lupin, Waione, Ruemac, Sir Lethe, Oryx, Tilson. Antony, Senorita, Garrison. Audax, Pharos, Needlework, Corona, Bullworth, and Kiatere. J. Chevalley, a once prominent crosscountry rider, who was disqualified for two years in February' of hM year, has applied l to the committee of the West Australian j Turf Club for a re-hearing of the case. '■ When Chevalley was originally dealt with there was no board of appeal in existence, but there is now, .and his application has been referred to the stipendiary stewards. During the S.C.J.C. meeting Mr R. O. Duncan had more than one close finish to ! measure, and his decisions were accepted ! •without question, although people at various angles of the post may have thought the margins were different to the official verdict. The writer witnessed the finish of each race from a point almost immediately behind and ovei looking the judge's box. and saw nothing to blame in the judicial findings. Octave won both her races at Timaru in convincing style-, and when in good shape there is no doubt she is very useful over a short course. She has never been tried .over a bit of ground, but may be found doinsr well- in that direction before she- emits ■ the turf. Octave is a fine big mare, showing a- lot of power and quality. She was <rrt by Oblipndo (imp.) from Oi'atorze, by ; JvTe!son, from Tres Deuce, by Traducer. j The present racing season is on the wane, and the few important meetings which are to Jv» held in the South Island consist 0 j sj,.. - Ihii-v Park Trotting Club's meeting, "hrist-church. RG. meeting, the Ashburt-:-" Countv Racing Club's -meeting, tfee South. Canterbury Trotting Club's meet-

ing, the Oamaru Trotting Club's meeting, the North Otago J.C. meeting, and the D.J.C. winter meeting. The management of the South Cant&r- - bury meeting was right up-to-date, and j tha ordinary work carried out in a com- ' mendable manner. In this respect it a ! only fair to say that tha secretary, Mr '• C. S. Fraaer, had valuable ! camp in his two sons, who lent valuable : assistance in expediting the business of the meeting. The honorary officials- were also on the alert to make matters run smoothly. "Terlinga," of the Australasian, says: I " Pendil must be a very big-hearted little chap. Bobadil's son looked weary before the '■ race on the third day of the A.J.C. meet- | ing, but after getting a good beating in I that he came out at three miles, in the ' A.J.C. Plate, brought Prince Foote to the whip, and beat Trafalgar. Have we ever had a better 15-handa one racing? Mind, thi limit is 15 hands. Pendil can go under ■ the standard at that without any fixing." The well-known trainer Free Holmes left ] last week for a trip to America. He will i probably return with a horse or two if he j finds anything suitable during his travels. ! In recent years Holmes has been more i identified with sport as rider and driver 1 in light harness racing, but in his younger ■ days he was a very capable rider between | the flags. - He won the Grand National Hurdle's and Steeplechase on Liberator, and ! also the Great Northern Steeplechase .and ■Grand National Hurdles on the same horse. ment in. the Addington track has. resulted in horsea putting up records that could not '. be accomplished en the old course, and incidentally, it has landed handicappers in a i bit of a quandary. It is safe to say, for j instance, that Ribbon.wood could have stepped i 2min ssee on the existing- six-furlong track, . and horses with gocd marks against them-; I but who have uot raced on the improved | course, hold a good deal in their favour I when they are handicapped against recent | performers. All the available tickets were sold out on ! tha first day of the Timaru meeting, and j this reminds one of the story of an un- ! desirable who endeavoured to gain adniit- : tance to a course. He boldly approached I the gate (early in order to avoid the crush), j but was accosted by a detective, who said: ■ "You ca.n't get in." "What?" replied the j prohibited party-; " y.ou are not full up ! already?" This is the first time the writer ever heard of an " overflow" from a race meeting. Writing in an English paper regarding the death of the famous stallion- Minting Mr R. C. Vyner says that when the decision was arrived at to chloroform' the horse, who j was utterly played out, it needed three times : as much as the veterinary surgeon antici- ! pated to produce ohe desired result, but i before death came the horse received a ; final flicker of his pristine energiesi, trotted , out with all the energy and astion of a four-year-old, Looked round as if in full j enjoyment of life, whinnied at prospects in I general, and then quietly died. I The Southland Racing Club- intend ! starting almost immediately with important I improvements on their course, which when j completed should make the southern track j a more attractive racing rendezvous than ! formerly. A new grand stand is to be | erected, and the building at present in use ' -will be made over to the patrons of the outside enclosure. The general improvement scheme will cost about SOOOsovs, and the lay-out of the appointments will be modelled on these at Riccarton. Silkweb's win in the Autumn Handicap - furnished a good tip for Waiju jn the S-ea-I down Welter, as the Southland horse was ; travelling bettei than the first-named when ; the pair had raced a mile in the Timaru ' Cup. In fact, Waiju would in all probaI bility have won the mile race on the second , dav if he had been sent to the post, as : Silkweb just sor'atchred 1 heme. Neither of ! the pair had a chance on ohe first day, and j a mile appeared to be about as far as they ! could go in fair company. Waiju is, however, ' a bit of a handful for a feather-weight rider, and judging by the 'manner in which he strides out takes a bit of steadying. j —■ The two hurdle events on the South Canterbury programme attracted good fields, j and provided fine spectacular races. Eleven : started each time, and on the first day | Antony just beat Stone Ginger, and the i pair were closely attended by Bay Lupin. ! Southern. Cross, and Nova. On the second day Stone Ginger looked to have a gocd winning chance after larding over the last fei.ee, but in the last bit Nova shot out and won by three Lengths, whilst those following him hGime finished in close order. After the race Nova had to undergo a protest, lodged en the ground of alleged inconsistent running, which was dismissed after consideration by the stewards. A table in Ruff's Guide, showing the value of stakes won on the flat in England last year, reveals the fact that 512 handicaps for three-year-olds and upwards or • three-year-olds only, amounted in the aggregate to £146,707; 153. selling handicaps for threej year-olds and upwards, to £21,554; 177 j selling races (other than handicaps), except- : ing these -for two-year-olds only, to £24,548; 320 weight-for-age races for three-year-olds " and three-year-olds and upwards, to £155,975 ; 15s; 13. ditto for all ages or two and three-year-olds, to £4804; while 487 races confined j to two-year-olds amounted in value to | £143,744 10s, the grand total coming out at 1662 races worth £497,333 ss. j —A correspondent in .the February number of Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pasj times is convinced that Ireland is the hap- | piest hunting ground in the United KingI dom for equine treasures. He feels safe i in his assumption that almost any Irish i horse bred in a hunting country will develop into a. clever and brilliant fencer. It is in the blood, and the horses really require very little tuition to become safe and highcouraged hunters. In the western district ] the impress of the old Connemara pony is ! still to be found in the many soundly con- ! stituted animals that are frequently to b 3 picked up. The Irish farmer believes in b!ood before all things, and not even the poorest of them would think of securing .offspring from, mares that are not well bred. 1 —The first race on the S.C.J.C. card uni earthed a smart sprinter in a four-year-cld colt named Manillas, a son of Form.osan, who practically gave his opponents no quarter after he once got balanced in his stride. and ran six furlongs comfortably in lmdn 15 2-ssec. On the second day, when carrying an increase of 2Slb, be was beat half a length by Manchester, who won the eightetone hack race, and defeated M'anilluis at a concession of 3lb. When the pair met on the second day Ih'> race was practically made a dvVl by a. faulty start, and the others in the race were hopelessly Left. Both Manillus and Manchester should pay their way in the future when the opposition is not too strong. They are two goodlooking sorts, commanding a fair turn of speed. . has made in England during the past 70 years the Pink 'Un has the following interesting item:—"ln 1840 the stewards of the Jockey Club concerned themselves only with the administrations at Newmarket, but gave their advice at other places if asked

for. There were then only about 1300 horses in all, whereas in 1909 there were 3850, which ran for a little aver 2000 contested races of the total value of, roughly speaking, half a million sterling. In 1840 there was a tremendous field to draw upon for stewards; but now that is not the ca.se, and a steward of the Jockey Club has to work almost as hard as a judge of the High. Court. There are now not more than 60 members of the Jockey Club, as against the 74 in 1840, when' there was not half the amount of racing op a. quarter the amount of work that now attaches to the stewardship." On the morning of the second day .at Timaru the writer was one of a small pairty driven out by Mir J. Howie to view a rising two-year-old colt got by Deerstalker out of Bagpipes. H«s is a. v.ell-grcwrt ytungster, chestnut in colour, and 3pcrting a big white ■star and two vhite hind fetlocks. He is batter built in front than some of hi 3 tribe, and apart from a slightly faulty hock looks all over a real good sort. On breeding lines ihe colt appeals to one, as his sire was got by Clanranald from Weathereye, by Maxim* from Galatea, by Apremcnt. His dam, Bagpipes, is a daughter of Gipsy Grand and "Reel, by Medallion from Pibroch, the producer of that good colt and promising sire Menschikcft". The writer took the liberty of suggesting that a colt by Deerstalker from Bagpipes could be appropriately named as The Gillies—or, if the aire's name was spelt with an " a" in the first syllabic, what about 'Caipet : Knight? Post on the subject of glanders in England a correspondent says:—"The present London County Council has made gallant efforts to cope with the glander? evil, but it i's not reassuring to read that from January 1, 1908, to November 30,. 1909, nearly £33,000 was spent in compensation for slaughtered animals, which indicates a most unsatisfactory state of affairs, and, moreover, it must be remembered that they apply to London alone, leaving the rest of the country out of consideration. The Public Control Committee state in their report to the council that the spread of glanders has been largely due to the failure of horseowners to take adequate measures for the protection of their houses, and to the neglect of one of the most important precautions advocated by the council —namely, the malleiring of ail newly-purchased horses, which has led to the reintroduction of glanders into stables from which it had been previously eradicated." The Timaru Cup provided a very interesting race. After the field had settled down Silkweb and Waiju were at the head of affairs, and made the pace a cracker as they raced along the back. This pair, however, had settled themselves at the home turn, and Tikitere and Oiyoi were at the h?ad of affairs as the horses raced past the distance past. A hundred yards from home Oiyoi looked all over a winner, but R. King in the lest bit outrode the rider on. the Hermosa- gelding, and made a dead heat as ihey flashed past the post. Reviewing the race, it appears that Oiyoi should have won,, as in the early part he was running outside two horses for a considerable distance, but he was well placed when once the field landed In the straight. The little bit of ground lost in the early part no doubt did not help Oiyoi, who finally was not so vigorously .ridden as Tikitere. Outlander ran a fair ri.ee far about nine furlongs, but Waiju and- Silkweb ware never dangerous in the straight, and White Cockade ran considerably below his recent form at Ricoprtcn. talo a leaf out of Dr C. E. Thomas's book, who as president of the S.C.J.C. made a statement to the press ream that the starting on the second day of the meeting was due in a sense to the faulty working of the barrier. No doubt the rubber springs had become somewhat perished, and consequently did not work with a desirable expediency when they were released. Onlookers see most of the gam© (perhaps), and are entitled to theii opinion. At times, however, people are unjustifiably blamed, and it was at least a good sporting idea for the club to take part of the blame. On moire than one occasion happenings at a meeting have been allowed to go forth, and the public, judging on the surface, get an erroneous idea of what is the real cause of the trouble. In every press room a notice board should be placed, and on it all club announcements should be officially posted. The sporting press and the public would be still entitled to their opinion, but the other side of the question 13 also entitled to ventilation. My Lawyer was quite the hero of the South Canterbury meeting in getting away with three races during the two days, and' had he been ridden by a more experienced pilot be would in all probability have beaten Silkweb in the niile race on the second day. M|jr Lawyer dropped in behind Silweb at the start, and remained there for a couple of furlongs: but was then supplanted by Outlander At the turn the Dunedin, horse was running last, and had to make his run on the outside "of two horses, but still he had Silkweb under the whip to .be*! him. by a short, length. My Lawyei always showed brilliancy, but became affected in the respiratory organs as a twe-yeair-old. He, 'however, appears to be improving with age, and the mildness of the air, together with the entire absence of wind at Tiinaru, was greatly in his favour. Roaring is generally incurable, and it is perhaps the mild atmosphere rather than anything which accounted for the greatly-improved form of the horse. Blackstone.. the sire of My Lawyer, was a pronounced roarer, and so was his grandsire, whilst he also gets a " roaring" strain through his darn. The once famous American jockey Tod Sloan applied to the Commissioniaire de la Societe d'Encouragement, France, for a renewal of his jockey's license, and was informed that, although there existed no objection on their part, it was impossible to accede to his request until he had been granted one by the stewards of the English Jockey Club. Commenting on this, "Vigilant," London Sportsman, said he always understood that the boot was on the other leg. and that but for the French veto his license in England would have been restored long since. In the circumstances Sloan would appear to be between two stools, but, no matter which leg wears the boot, surely the time has arrived when the means to earn his livelihood might with grace and justice be restored to him Ten years have elapsed since, as a consequence of having backed Codoman heavily for the Cambridgeshire, in which he was beaten by Berril!, the little American phenomenon has stood down. No doubt his offence was grave, but not criminal, inasmuch as it was his own mount he was backing, and the loss of what should have been toe most useful years of his life is indeed heavy penance.' Richard Marsh, the King's trainer, says that riding and training have never been the same since the Americans came over about 1899, and unsettled everything. The butcher-boy-crcuch-on-the-withers style of riding is, lie thinks, the curse of racing at the present time. It has resulted in bad riding, foul riding, and in laming more horses than ever was the oase before the Americans came over. " ii, is all a mis-

' take," he told an interviewer, ' to think that Sloan was a jockey of this sort. He had perfect hands, the best head I have ever known a jockey to possess, and he was certainly one of the best I have ever known. If he made the running he did [ it at his own pace—he was such a wonderful judge of pace. You didn't see him! ! bucketing a horee along from start to finish, • and doing everything possible to break its | legs and its heart. I believe in the old ! English seat and the long leathers, and if ! a jockey wishes to ride short let him also ride with his head. If he wants to make the running let him do it so that he waits 1 in front. Maher is a good jockey, because he rides with his head, and all- those English jockeys who immediately adopted the Yankee crouch did so believing that they l were doing all that was necessary to imitate Sloan and! Maher. Then they thought that it was only necessary to come belter skelter from, pillar to post. They forgot those other qualities that made Sloan the great jockey be was." An English writer has compiled a table showing how the principal races of the ' world were distributed- among the Bruca- | Lowe families during last season. It is as follows: Family. Horse. Ra«s Won. I 1. . Chulo Grand Prix de Vichy. Lady Like German Oaks. 2. .. Arnfried German Derby. Mystificateur Grand Prix Ambrosien Milan.. Marabou Hungarian Leger. j 3. •* Retort Viceroy's Cup, Cal- ! cutta. 4. .. Disco Hungarian Trial. i 5. .. Minora English Derby. Prince Foote Aust. Derbies, Legers. 8. .. Aveline Austrian Oaks. , Sweep American Futurity, ; 9. ,* Stixenstein Austrian Derby. ' 'MRj.net Russian Derby. 10. .. Bayardo Eng. St. Leger. I Perola English Oaks. I Lemberg Middle Park Plate. 16. •• Union French Oaks. i Forever Grand Prix, Berlin. 17. ;._.) Negofol French Derby. ■ Aveu Prix Royal Oak. 20. .. Scberano Brazilian Derby. 21. .. Stossvogel Grand Prix H-nbcurg. I j an old heath-keeper at Newmarket remarked I to us (writes Mr John Corlett) as the most j extraordinary thing in his recollection. When ] we come to think of it, has any man new j living ever • seen 3ix dukes in a waggon? j The explanation of this great sight is that : early in the'"nineteenth century the Duke j of Grafton ct Duke of Rutland —we forget which—used at Newmarket to have an ordinary agricultural waggon drawn on the course, and this was used as a perambulating grand stand. It was furnished with chairs for the use of the friends of the owner, and the six dukes seen by our friend were probably Grafton, Rutland, Beaufort, Bedford, Leeds, and Portland. Old Martin Starling . well remembered the dashing Colonel •Mellish coming on the heath with his creamcoloured horses and outriders in scarlet, and that was going back a' few years earlier The difficulty in repeating the spectacle would be to find on Newmarket Heath six dukes to put in the waggon. As a matter of fact, we are uncommonly short of dukes. Of those whose colours we have seen personally, St. Albans, Newcastle, Bedford, Beaufort, and Hamilton no longer run j horses, and of the remainder it is rare. j indeed, to see on a racecourse the Dukes ; of Portland, Westminster, Richmond, Devonj shire, and Montroso. That, we fear, completes the tale. There is, in fact, not :o j be found one righteous "duke faithful to j Newmarket and a constant attendant there. Mr H. Lunn, once well known in the racing world as the trainer of such horses as Ahua, KuKne. Clanranald, Social Pest, ■ Clarence, and other more or less notible j racers, made his debut as a sta.rter -t the : South Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting last week. On the first day he effected some excellent dispatches, but on the second the results were not nearly so happy, and, in ' point of fact, some were bad indeed. In the I Teinuka Handidcap* Miss Dorie, Clanmena, and Freak rau the course from a breakj away, and this, of course, settled their chance ir the actual race. In the ' second attempt Windward and Aunt Sally ' were left and took no further part in the race. In the next race Busyland and Redmond were hopelessly left, and hi the Hack Handicap the start effected made the race . a duel between Manillus and Manchester, as Opfimeform got cut foui or five lengths . after the pair named. Merriebeck was later j still, and Oblong and Otakeo were left stand- | ing at the post. Some excuse was tendered ! on behalf of the starter by Dr C. E. . Thomas, the president of the club, who I stated the barriers were working baldly. I In several races the tapes were carried j away, and when Manchester won he car- ! tied them right through the race, and was : only -released of the lines after he had i passed the post. (Not a word was said ; about the winner carrj'ing overweight.) However, coming back to serious matters, Mr : Lunn appeared to be more unluoky than incompetent, and-although one or two of his ! starts on the second day were bad, stilt ' the writer is not going to condemn a man for errors made at a debut, because they | may be subsequently missing. | I went out to Newmarket to buy Tradition. , He found that his jockey, M. O'Brien, and j P. T. Heywood were determined to have ; Tradition, so he had to console himself with i Carbine That (says " Terlinga ") was luck : if you like. Tradition never won a race. ! Carbine won 56 times for Mr Wallace, and ; was sold for 13,000 guineas! As a yearling ! Carbine might have been bought by Mr T. \ Chirnside or Mr W. Pearson—l forget which. j Both gentlemen were training with the i Dakins, and the late Northland Goold at- ! tended the Svlvia Park sale on January 4, ■ 18S7, to buy. Mr F. F. Dakin had marked i the e-.lt by Musket from Mersey as one to i get, but Mr Goold was so frightened of j his forelegs that he would not bid at all, I and Dan O'Brien got him for 620 guineas, •j In spite of his doubtful-lcoking legs Car- ■ bine lasted for four seasons. At that sale Mr Chirnside gave 1100 guineas for the Sylvia filly, 1010 guineas for the Onyy filly, and Mr Pearson got the Leila colt for 510 guineas. None of them were any good as* racehorses. There is -a terrible lot of luck in buying yearlings. I have heard James Scobie say that the only really good judge of a horse he ever knew was Mr G-eorgei Gla.sscock. Still, Scobie cannot be bad himself. He and T. Payten have picked gcod yearlirgs again and again, but this season Scobie, Earnshaw, and Payten have all been without a good young one. Scobie gave 1000 guineas for Vigilante last year, and up to now he has no more pace than a good . steeplechaser. However, Emir, HJautvillers, ■ Alawa, Sweet Nell, F.J.A., Sylvanite, and Maltster are a nice little l lot to set against Scobie's failures, One chapter of " Thormanby's " collection of " Sporting Stories " is devoted to the lawyer sportsmen, and from it we quote two humorous anecdotes. The first is concerned with B_aron Martin, the most devoted of all English judges to the pleasure of the turf. He had a " holy horror" pf. racing " pro-

phets," and whenever one of the fraternityhappened to appear before hiin he let hinr know in pretty strong language his opinion. of these who sold " straight tips " to fools. After be had become very deaf he was trying a racing case. One of the counsel, named Stammers, was a solemn, sententious person, who seldom made a speech without a scriptural quotation. In addressing the jury he had got as far- as "The prophet says," when the judge interposed, " Don't trouble the jury, Mr Stammers, about the prophets; there is not one of them who would not sell his father for sixpenuyworthl of half-pence." " But, my lord," said Stam> mers in a subdued tone, "I was about to quote the prophet Jeremiah." "Don't tell me," said the baron. " I have no doubt your friend, Mr Myers, is just as bad as the! rest of them." The second story has to da with Lord Chancellor Westbury and his son, Dick Bethell, who were shooting in Sussex ; with the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Alexander' ] Cockburn. Cockburn noticed after the first I beat that the Bethells were shooting wildly, so he told the keeper to put the pair close together, as there was a gocd deal of ground) game in the covert. Presently from the [ Bethel] corner came a yell of pain. The keeper had been shot in ' the leg. Cockburn hurried up from another part of the wood, and Westbury at onoe began to lecture hinn on the need of care, and the danger of beginning field sports late in life, For his. own part, he explained, he had been educated to them from boyhood. Cockburn was too polite to protest, but he subsequently; asked the keeper which of them—Lord Westbury or his son—had' shot him. " Which, Sir Alexander?" replied the keeper. " Both* damn 'em!" A rather interesting press controversy has just taken place on the question of the* make and shape of racehorses. It referred more particularly to light-waisted horses and their capacity for staying and carrying weight. Exception was taken in the first' instance to the slackness behind the saddlet of some of the present-day. horses, and Mr F. W. Purchas, one time owner of Portsea, Patron, and other gocd animals, has had! much to say on the subject. He points out how a horse can. be light-waisted and yet well set as regards back ribs, and instances . cases where horses apparently very light behind the saddle were first-class stayers and weight-carriers. No dcubt (says "Martindale") many of the old-time theories on this subject have received some awkward knocks, of late years. Many instances ;£in be cited, especially amongst jumpers. Bell-is, for example, was both a good stayer and weightcarrier, v but he was rather much on the leg, and fell away behind the girth. The greyhound type of horses need not necessarily be regarded as light-waisted, as they are often well ribbed and have excellent/ loins like the canine breed. Some of the horses of two or three decades back were very much of this 3tamp, and a. special' example amongst the old-timers was that slashing mare My Dream that Jas. Wilson, sen., used to train. A more incdern specimen, perhaps, was the gam© Lord Cardigan, with a tendency to lightness behind, who-' proved himself a true stayer and a real l weight-carrier considering his sise—though' I'm inclined to think he measured bigger than he looked. Results generally seem to support the contention that provided the horses have the driving power from behind, the question of light or full waist dees not count for so very much unless exceptional weight has to be carried' over a distance, while a gcod depth of chest, allowing for plenty of lung space, will mors than compensate in the matter of staying for deficiency behind the saddle. Though, of course, strong coupling as well is naturally preferable. With two Victorians—Pendil and Trafalgar—and the <New Zealander Bobrikofl opposing Prince Foote- in the A..J.C. Plate, there was ample material for a very interesting contest. There were not wanting people who thought that Prince Foote was getting; enough of it, and despite the report that Bobrikoff would find the distance beyond! him. that plain-looking black gelding had! troops of followers. B/ut, unfortunately, Bobrikoff was hardly given a fair chance to appear at his best. Perhaps from fear that he would run himself out too quickly Bobrikoff was ridden a waiting race behind, in third place, but as be pulled very hard foi the greater part of the distance he probably did himself more harm than if he had been kept well in hand and allowed! to sail along at his own pace. Nearly & mile had been run (says a Sydney writer) before there was much pace en, but thet second mile was covered in lmin 46isec, and the last in lmin 39fsec. There is no reason;! to suppose that Prince Foote would not have beaten Bobrikoff in any circumstances, but it is quite fair to think that if he had been allowed to run hi 3 own race Bobri-, koff would have made some sort of a fight' from the home turn instead of cutting; the inglorious figure he did, and collapsing like a pricked bladder. Prince Foote, who at' the post sweated freely, again proved himself a glutton, and a col? possessed of re-' markable determination. Trafalgar was nagging at him for nearly two miles and aquarter, and when the three-year-cld had!' finished with the Victoria chestnut BobrikofF' dropped into his place. But Prince Foote beat him off, and was then popularly sup-'; posed to have done with the opposition, for in a winning connection Pendil wast not seriously considered. But the unex- ; pected happened again, and' Pendil, with at run that seemed to be phenomenal, because Prince Foote had begun to slow down, drew level with the favourite a little more than' a furlong from home. But Pendil get no further, for Prince Foote quickly asserted! his superiority, and soon placed a gap between them. The finish was remindful of that for the Cumberland Stakes oil the third day. Half-way down the rails in that race Trafalgar seemed to be going as well as Prince Foote until the latter was brought to realise his . responsibility, and he them forged out, and the two races would appear to indicate that Prinoe Foote is inclined! to loaf. A. 9 the race was run a long way inside the limit, the club will pay the full amount of the stake. It was a very fast race, for- though Emir won the A.J.C. Plata ■in smin 24J-sec, The T ictor3' in smin 2-ssec, and Lord Cardigan ir> smin 2GJsec, the oinin 27sec made by Carbine in IS9O, and again in 1891, was the fastest until The Victory lowered it in 1903. Prince Foote's. victory was very popular, as it well deserved t»""l be, and Mr Baron's colt was quite the hero of the meeting. There is no branch of sport, oir business if one cares to style it so, in which so many mistakes are made as in connection! with horse-racing, and yet it thrives. Usually, shrewd men have been known to give thousands of pounds for yearlings that did not return a penny in the pound. The same men have refused t,o buy well-known performers Jor a small percentage of the amount given for horses of which the purchaser knew no mere than could be gathered from* a personal inspection during the brief interval that the animal was' standing in she sale ring. Its galloping ability had to bo taken on trust, as had also 'its ability; even to stand training. Many of the purchases made at the recent sales of year-* lings were by gentlemen who paid their

hundreds oi guineas with the slender prospect but strong hope that they might have got a horse good enough to tin the Dertly, -not so much because of its value in sovereigns as for the honour of winning the blue, riband of the turf. . But with many others yearlings were bought as so many money-making machines, and, therefore as pure speculations. And yet (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) every one of these -purchasers had the opportunity to treat for Storey, who afterwards won the Doncwrter Handicap, and declined to buy, though the horse was for eale at 750 gs Storey s form at Rosehill gave him a chance second to none of winning the rich mile race at GRandwick, butjSecause he was announced as bein." for sale not one of all those who ■are ever on the lookout fox a winner—and rthey included those who gave 1500 gs each lor Sequarious and Moldavia—thought that well-known performer worth taking. This seems tc show a lacl- of judgment somewhere, a fortune being missed for a small outlay. The fact of the horse being for sale cm the eve of the Doncaster Handicap aeemied tc laise a doubt about the horse s •soundness, and still the same people literally fell over one another some days later (to give many more hundreds far youngsters •whose ability to win a race of any kind ■has yet to be proved. But one flatteringfeature of the yearling sales that stands out •..prominently is the number of good sportsmen ' who figured as buyers. Some names rthafin former years were associatedwith such' functions are" missing from the list ot purchasers: many expensive disappointments lad probably disgusted them, if, indeed, they did net go further, but despite having ■,'mrohased costly failures previously Messrs 'A. Wynne and"K. S. Macleod"• were sportsmen enough to come again. Mr W. b. .White is also too good a sportsman to tire .■because Golden Slipper cost him. dearly, *nd he bought anything that he fancied, ■while it was satisfactory to see such patrons of the sport as Messrs Adrian Knox, 1. Longwortb, J. L. Currie, H. A Cume. E E, A. Oatley, T. B. Dangar, H Bean, »' M. Hawker, J. Allison, J. M Master, ■• A Mansfield," R. Crawford, H. B. Deni.gon H. Patterson, and some others buying yearlings, because it ensures that the right .people take a deep interest in the national pastime, and will, it is hoped, be found racing next seasor.