IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

The Ashburton meeting takes place on Thursday and Friday of next week. The Hawke's Bay Club used a 10s totalizator for the first time at its recent meeting. California, is reported to have been lame when he went out to contest the Hawke's Bay Cup. ported to be doing good, useful work at Hastings. -rMr E: E. A. Oatley has sold the A.J.C. Doncaster Handicap winner Storey to • the Sultan of Johore. Audax did not seriously injure himself when he met with a mishap whilst being schooled last week. Northern critics hold the opinion that Bridge 'Was somewhat lucky to beat Kopu in the Hawke's Bay Cup. —The Hon. J. D. Ormond has pur-chased in England the chestnut horse Hymethies, by Cyllene—Sweet Balsam. — ■ Prior to Neil Gow defeating Lemfoerg in the Two Thousand Guineas, they were equal favourites for the Derby. Acceptances for the first day of the Ashburton County Racing Club's meeting are due on Friday of this week. Sir George M'Lean and Mr P. Miller have again been appointed to represent the Dunedin Jockey Club at the Racing Conference. Compass, the winner of the last Grand National Hurdle Race, is now. in work at Hawera, in preparation for the winter jumping events. Th§ Multiform —Otterden yearling has joined J. Scobie's stable at Bal'a.rat. This youngster is, of course, a sister to Formedon and Boniform. Formby gave an indifferent display in the Hawke's Bay Stakes, and no doubt the soft going would prove against the son of Birkenhead. Mere Mere, who was amongst the unplaced division at Hawke's Bay last week, is a sister to Kopu, who ran second in the Hawke's Bay Cup. Husbandman was scratched for his engagement in the Hawke's Bay Cup because the soft going was against his chance of running ap to form. Wimmera, who enrolled himself as a winner over hurdles at Hawke's Bay last week, is a brother td Boomemng and halfbrother to Kilindini. The Fcrbury Park Trotting Club will commence their final meeting of the season on Wednesday of this week, and the gathering will be concluded on Saturday next. There is a probability that the crack trotter Revenue will attempt to create a, new club record during the Forbury Park Trotting Club's meeting, which takes place this week. " Reports from Hawke s Bay state that the Hon. J. D. Ormond is likely to have four or five representatives in the hurdle and steeplechase events ftt the approaching winter meetings. The West Coast horses King Try and North Pole arrived at Ricoorton last week, dad will probably be raced at several meeting in Canterbury and Otago during the next few weeks. >-During the 21 days' racing in Calcutta

English horses ware moet to the fore, as they annexed 72 races, as compared with 59 won by Australians, two by American and two by Indian horses. ) —■ Handicaps are flue for the first day of the North Otago Jockey Club's meeting on May 14, and acceptances, together with' entries for the Trial Plate and The Shorts, are due on Thursday, May 19. ! A well-known old-time racecourse favourite in Irish Twist, by Ingomar from) Toriri, dropped dead a few days ago hear his owner's place, Taranaki. For some years the veteran has done duty as a hack. Excellent nominations have been received for the North Otago Jockey Club's winter meeting, to be held May 24, 25, and! the club appears to have every prospect of holding another of its successful gatherings. ; Trotting appears to be a favourite sport in Austria. Vienna has 45 race days, Budapest 24, Baden 23, Trieste 16, and Pressburg 6. The Vienna Trotting Club is giv- ■ ing £44,000 in prizes during the present year. i Mi John WTen, of Melbourne, has purchased the Sandgate Jockey Club's racecourse at Deagon, near Brisbane. He intends carrying on lacing there. There is a rumour about the possibility of Wren oomimeneing! racing operations near Hobart. I —They are not afraid to pay good money for a good harness horse in America. The other day Mir W. Savage gave £-5000 fear the pacer George Gano (2.2 f), who last year won £3OOO in. stakes. Mr Savage also owns that pacing marvel Pan Patch. Gold Seal, who was sent Home to run in the Liverpool National, broke down and did not go to the post for the cross-country j Blue Ribbon. Mr G. P. Donnelly has since : presented the horse to Major-general Bab- • ington, who cabled over offering to buy him. Gold Medallist gained another King's premium at the awards made at Home last month. Sci far none of his stock have distinguished themselves on the' English turf, I but it is somewhat difficult for an unfashionable sire to make a name for himself owing to the lack of opportunity. Mr A. F. Douglas has recently placed | a couple of very promising youngsters in J. Cameron's hands—namely, a yearling gelding by St. Ambrose from Maude, the dam of M'ahutonga and Kopu, and a two-' year-eld gelding by Torpedo from' Oarneli-an, j a member of the Chrysolite tribe. Kopu, who ran second to Bridge in the Hawke's Bay Cup, is evidently coming i back to the form which distinguished him, j in the spring of his three-year-old. season, j when he defeated Aborigine and Gold Laco I in the Hawke's Bay Guineas. Kopu is a j half-brother, by San Fran, to Mahutonga. • Mr B. J. Watt denies the report that he purchased several yearlings a-t" the Sydney sales, and left them with D. J. Price to train. The Hawke's Bay sportsman intends to do some racing in Australia later on, and will send Maori King and others of his team over to P. Raynor at Randwick during the winter. j Up to the present George Price has turned out 14 winners for " Mr Highden" i this season, who collectively have earned ! about £3203.' This is a performance which. : has probably never been approached by any trainer during his first season, and (says ! " Sir Bedevere ") Price is deserving of every compliment. The American division in England opened the flat racing season auspiciously. On the day that the season began at Lincoln Mr H. P. Whitney furnished the winner of the Batthyany Plate in Bobbin 11, an American-bred horse, by Medler from Handspun, who carried 8.4 and was ridden by J. H. Martin. j Applications are invited for the position 1 of haixlicapper to the West Coast Racing Clubs for the season. 1910-11. The remuneration' is 200 guineas for the 16 days. The following are the clubs concerned:—Reef ton Jockey Club, Greyniouth Jockey Club, Hokitika Racing Club, W«stport Jockey I Club, and Kumara Racing Club. The property that Mr B. Allen has j acquired for the purposes of a stud farm j on the Hunter River, South Wales, comprises 1500 acres, witn a large river frontage. Mr Allen already has the stallion Caiman and 24 mares located there, and he intends to import more mares and probably a. high-class stallion from England. i The Australian steeplechaser Wcolloomcolc'O, by Definition—Farthingale, arrived in Wellington last week, and may be seen racing at the Wanganui Jockey Club's winter meeting this month. Woolloomco'.oo can muster a fair amount of pace on the flat, as he won at Moereneld in August, 1909, over 10 furlongs, in 2min lOJsec. Moifaa was as good a horse as we have ever seen win a "National," strange-looking boas,t ( though he was. Certainly nothing ever | jumped more perfectly, and it is a thousand pities that he became unsound in his wind after being sold to the King, for he was just the sort to have defied handioappers and to have won again. The committee of the Victoria Racing Club has decided not to alter the vital conditions of the Champion Stakes. They discussed the matter for about three hours *fs 1 their recent meeting, to see if some means could not be devised, whereby a fiasco such, as the last race for the Champion Stakes 1 produced would be prevented, and decided , that it was improbable there would be a. repetition of it. | The donation of racing trophies is growing in popularity, and the latest to "come into the field is Mr J. M-esrs, of Princes street, who is giving a. handsome silver-. I mounted riding whip to £he jockey winning" the most races at the Dunedin Jockey Club's winter meeting. Next season the same gentleman intends giving a gold-mounted whip I to the jockey riding the greatest number of winners at Win.gatui. ! —The Victorian sportsman Mr H. A. Cume is intent on giving the yearling halfi brother by Birkenhead) io Maniccoto an I opportunity to mature properly before callI ing upon him to race, and (says an exchange)' he may not b? seen out under silk as a youngster. The sum. paid for Mankpoto'si young relative was 700 gs, and some keen judges were, it is said, in the competition that ensued for his possession. ~~ T:he last Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase was somewhat of a fiasco. There were no fewer than 25 runners', and yet beyond the placed horses, as announced by cable—Jenkinstown, Jerry M., and Odoronly Carsel and Fetter's Pride finished. But this poor result could hardly be laid at tha door of the performers, for the race was run in a snowstorm, which made it difficult for the cotirse to bs distinguished. There was a trophy attached to this year s Hawke's Bay Cup, won. by Bridge, and it was won by Mr E. J. Watt.'who presented it to the club. The trophy' should be inscribed: " Presented to Mr E, J. Watt. From himself to himself. For winning the HawWs Bay Cup, 1910. Here's to the Bridge that carried us over." H. Can- fe slowly but surely 'recovering from the effects of his fall at" Riverton, and although bandaged and laced up about the body, manages to get about. He speaks in terms of high praise of thekind attention which he received at the Riverton Hois

pital. where everything was clone to make bis s?ay as pleasant as possible in addition to 'pulling him together after a fall which Carr states loosened every bene in his body. —At a recent meeting of the Nelson Jockey Chib mention was made of the fact that the Government tax for the April meeting bad amounted to £143. The opinion was expressed that the extra taxation would have the effect of closing down many small clubs unless a reduction was made. In view of the loss made on the meeting, it was resolved to place the matter before the Minister of Internal Affairs, and ask for a rebate en the taxes. Satanella, the dam of Mon Ami, has produced some good horses in her time, and the most notable of them are: St. Clements (who could show a great burst of epeed over a short course), St. Paul, and St. TXrsula. Mon Ami figures in the Stud Book as Mon Aime, and a slight knowledge of French suggests that the latter is the correct name. In any case, it is a decided misnomer to call a member of the Slander family " Mon Ami J' "Javelin," in writing in the Melbourne Leader in support of his contention that the weights for the Melbourne Cup are declared altogether too early, has compiled a table showing the number of entries for the race- and the starters for the. last "five years. It is** as follows:—• —Melbourne Cup.— " Horses, 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. Tl. Entered ... ... 143 163 174 199 225 904 Started *• .; 27 21 19 22. 26 115 Scratched .. 116 142 155 177 199 78S Horse-owners are reminded that nominations for the Dunedin Jockey Club's winter meeting are due on Friday, May 13. The club has put -forth a liberally endowed programme, and a special feature has been made of a desire to cater for jumpers by the inclusion of a hurdle race and a steeplechase on each day's card. ■ The chief event ia to be the Birthday Handicap, of 300sovs, and the Tradesmen's Handicap, of 200sovs. On the second day the Provincial Handicap carries a 200sovs stake, and it is backed up by the Wairongoa Handicap of 130sovs. Bridge, who enrolled himself as a winner of the Hawke's Bay Cup last week, it will be remembered, made a bcM bid for "victory in the Great Autumn won by Outlander. He is an attractively-bred three-year-old, and was got by The Possible (Nordenfeldlfc —Realisation) from Scotia, by St. George—Fair Nell, by Apremomt from Idalia,. the dam of Sir Modred. The Possible is a half-brother to Maxim, and such a well-bred horse as Bridge may be found taking honours on the turf, as he xa only in his second season, and apparently training on. A very successful sale of light harness horses was held at Ashburton on Saturday on behalf of Mr J. C. N. Grigg. Amongst the chief sales effected were: —B c by Princo Imperial—Patchwork, to Mr F. McDonald, 43gs; Colonel Tracey, to Mr J. M'Donald, 5-lgs; Imperial Grand, to Mr W. Stewar.t, 35g3; colt by Quinccy—Gentle Zaphyr, to Mr C. D. Hudson, 45gs; b fby Prince Imperial—Patchwork, to Mr Hampton,. 56gs; Jeanie Warbeck, to Mr M. Dawson, 97as; Patchwork, to Mr A. J. Lawrence, 62gs; Rose, 102Jgs, and Brown Empress, tsOgs, to Mr H. F. Nicoll. A case of considerable interest to racegoers was decided in New South -Wales recently when a man named Evans was charged with using an instrument for the purpose of gaming in a public place. The case was tint Evans attended the Burrangong picnic races and was running a spin-rring-jenny, otherwise known as "Yankee sweat," in the members' enclosure. The defence was that the races, although held on a registered course, were private, and only members and guests allowed on the ground. The case was dismissed, the magistrate holding that the course was not a public place in the meaning of the act. Sir George Clifford has made an important purchase in buying San Francisco, who was sold at the dispersal sale of the Sylvia Park Stud ->t 1500 guineas. San Francisco sired Elevation, Downfall, Seal Hock, and Crucinella—a bunch of good performers, but he has not been a great success during the short period of atud work done in Australia. The new sire for the Canterbury sportsman's stud is a brother to St. Frusquin, who ran Persimmon to a bead in the Derby, and subsequently has proved a very successful sire. Sir George Clifford has a lot of high-class mares, and soma of them should suit the son of St. Simon.

Directoire, the twoyear-old filly who carried Mr G D. Greenwood's colours to the front at Hawke's Bay, is one of the first winners got by that good horse Wairiki, who was a great horse on the turf, and gives promise of being successful at the stud. Directoire's dam, Queen Anne, was got by S.t .Leger from Anna, by Musket from Florin, by Traducer— Rupee, so that the .filly... under . notice is bred .on winning lines, and as a number of • her relations possessed both speed and stamina, she may be found developing into a stayer. She hag a -double- strain of Traducer, as Wairiki is out of a granddaughter of the famous sire of Sir Modred and other great horses.

Bridge is a brother to Grand Slam', who has been racing with a great lack if success during the past couple of seasons. A 3 a three-year-old Grand Slam won the Hawke's Bay Guineas (beating Zimmerman amengst others), ran third in the C.J.C Derby to Zimmerman, ran a dead heat with Buccleugh over a mile in the President's Handicap at Manawatu, and has other winning ferm to his credit. Grand Slam did" not win either as a fouryear - old or five - year - old, and has again been unsuccessful this season, and evidently the secret of getting him to race has been lost, although perhaps it may have been easy to discover at one time. A. circular" has been sent from the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs dealing ■with the necessity of punctuality being strictly observed with regard to closing of totalisators at the notified time for the starting of each race. At the meeting of the stewards of the Wairarapa Racing Club held recently this circular was discussed, and comment was made on the fact that there wa3 no provision in " The Gaming Act, 1908," to make bookmakers comply with similar conditions. It was decided that the Minister be written to drawing his attention to the somewhat anomalous position, and pointing out that in commn fairness bookmakers should also be made fcci comply with the spirit of the act in this regard. ' ■ It is-with great regret the writer records the sad death of W. J. Taggart, who died on Monday from an attack of typhoid fever. "Jack," as he was popularly called, was well liked by a large circle of friends end acquaintances, and in his bluff, hearty way was quite a personage in the racing world As is well known, he was a son of the Slate Mr "W. J. Taggart, who was in the early clays "a leading offic.'al of the Dunedin Jockey Club and remained so until his death, which took place some few years ago. Poor Tagscart's death is doubly sad. wife and child are also down with cypnoid an J in a morions condition. It is undearBtood that his remains will be brought to

! Dunedin and buried with, others ,of the family who have predeceased him. Kohinoor, who won the NurseryHandicap at Hawke's Bay. has established a reputation for the possession of brilliancy. He ran third in the Welcome Stakes to I Danube and Madam Madcap, and later, at I the same meeting, won the Electric Plate, in which he was folio wad- home by Naumai, Penates, Armlet, Formby, and others. Now he has wound up the season by winning with 8.13 over five furlongs in lmin 2 4-o.sec, and evidently without being fully extended. Kohinoor was bred by Mr T. .H. Lowry, and got by Royal Fusilier from Bijou, by Medallion from Sapphire (dam of Bluefire and grand-dani of Cuneiform), and thus I belongs to a speedy tribt en the dam's ! side. Royal Fusilier was got by Hotchkiss !• from Janet, by Castor from Cissy, the I sister to Trenton. I The " Lincoln Date Book ' states' that : races have been held on the Carholme sinco 1771; before, them they were held on the Lincoln Heath. In April, 1617, " there was : a great horse race on the Heath for a cup, ! where his Majesty (King James the First) | was present, and stood or a scaffold the | citie had caused to be set up, and. withal! ' caused the race a quarter of a mile long to be rated and corded with rope and hoopea 'cm both, sides, whereby the people were kept ; out "and the barses that ronned were seen faire." The fifth -clause in a code, 1715, wa*:- "If anye of the matched horses- or I their riders chaunce to fall in anye of theS four's heats,' the rest of the ridera shall" '' stays in their places where they were at . the • tyme of the fall until! the rider so I fallen have his foote in the stirrope again." j '■ —The four-year-old filly Aurarious, whom Mr T. H. Lowry purchased during his reoenfc visit to Australia, landed in Hastings! on j Thursday night. She is by Maltster from ! Aurous, by Wallace from Aura, the dam of Aurum, Aux'aria, etc., and was acquired for | stud purposes. Up to the present M/r \ Lowry has not decided upon a. mate for her, ] but it is not improbable she niay visit Royal Fusilier. Talking of Royal Fusilier, I Mr Lowry informed me (says "Sir Bedevere") that the Hotchkiss horse once showed him the fastest mile in private he had ' ever seen. Only two of his stock have i raced up to the present—namely, War Song and Kohinoor. Bach of these colts can go I fast, and as Aurous is shock full of st-ay-j ing blood, she might throw something good i to Royal Fusilier. The Orari Sports Club held a successful meeting on Friday last at the Geraldine : Racecourse. In the Japanese Handicap the : St. Clements gelding Otakio defeated Castilla in SOs-ec by three-parts of « lemgtn. : Castilla came out later and won the FareI well Handicap, in which Otakio finished I second, and the Multiform —Helen Faucit ! colt Coroniform third, whilst the unplaced division included Claymore, Stepenfeldt, and Lady Dirk. Nightlight won the Orari i Handicap, one mile, by a length from j Stepenfeldt; and Lady Dirk captured the Flying Handicap. There were three trotting events on the programee, and these were won by Majestic, Pom Pom, and Gladiator. The kst-named is a half-brother, by Wildwood, to Dan P'atch, who was successful in a match against time at Auckland last j week. Gladiator won in 4-min 16aec. | —By failing to win the Hawke's Bay i Stakes on Thursday, Formby missed the opI portunity of placing to his owner's credit the largest amount ever won by a two-year-old in New Zealand. The record is held by Multiform, who during tho season of 1896-97 ' won the large sum of £2761 13s, which total I would probably have ba-en considerably | largar had it not been for the fact that be ran second three times to his stable companion Gold Medallist, who- wis a most brilliant two-year-old, and during the season won £1921 in stake money, being suoce-ss- ; ful in all six races he started in. Formby's | total (says an exchange) for the present ■ season amounts to £2615, and had he prej vailed in the Hawke's Bay Stakes it would j have brought his total up to £2940. Other j winners of the same age of over £2009 are: Menschikofi £2555, Provocation £2500. Fleet--1 foot £2375, Glenculloch £2IBO, and Bluefire | £2087.

Bloodshot, who subsequently rail second in the Melbourne Cup, won the first Hawke's Bay Stakes, and in the second the race fell to the great Multiform, who 16 months previously had been purchased by his owner for the small sum of 240gs—i.e., if (says Sir Bedevere) my memory is not at fault. On the book Multiform was the best erf his sex that ever scored in the Hawke's Bay Stakes, as Cruciform was the queen of hers. Personally, however, I shall always regard' Royal Artillery's performance in winning as a three-year-old under 9.2, in the record time of lmin 20sec—he was timed to run the last six furlongs in lmin 12 3-ssec —as the best I ever saw in .connection with the race. Foi five days previously Royal Artillery had not been out of a walk, for his joints were so dicky that Mason simply dare not risk galloping him. ' And yet he just paralysed the opposition and won in a jog in the time already stated. To give an idea of the 30 formidable obstacles that have to be encompassed in the English Grand National at Aintree,- it may be mentioned (says an exchange) that Valentine's Brook includes a fence 4ft Gin high, with' a breast rail in front 2ft high close to the fence, a deep drop on the other side, and a more or less dry ditch sft wide. And yet the 4J miles (minus 21 yards), together with the negotiation of 30 fences, en an average only occupy the steeplechaser rather less than 10 minutes. They are fairly bustling minutes, however. The" fastest time in which the " National " has been won is to the credit of Huntsman, who, 49 years ago, beat a field of 12 opponents in 9mm 30sec. True, the distance of the Grand National has varied during the last 45 years or more. In 1862, Huntsman's year, the distance given was " about four miles." Over the modern course Ascetic's Silver won in 9min 34 2-ssec, and Erernou in 9m in 47 l-ssec. The. time registered by Wimmera in the Hack Hurdfcs at Hastings on Thursday makes Mr horse appear more than useful, though to be sure the field that finished behind him contained nothing very formidable. At the commencement of the race there was a long run to the first hurdle, and the Merriwee gelding soon had a businesslike lead. Approaching the first fence, Telford apparently thought that his mount would not sight the jump, so he checked him by standing up ■ and running the bit through his mouth. This had the desired effect (says "Giencoe"), and the jump was negotiated safely if not artistically. Opposite the stand Haurangi was. with him, and both horses jumped together, the maiden candidate showing up well. From this out lie jumped all his fences well, albeit a trifle too carefully, but this blemish will be cured by racing, and there is every probability of the brown horse turning out "as good as his .admirers claim. Owing to the lengthy detention pi the Arahura 'at Grevmouth last week (says a West Coast paper), King Try and several other horses that had accepted for the Nelson meeting did not leave Greymout-h. King Try has had a remarkable record _ on the West Coast, having had seven starts and seven wins,, and in every case, althoujrh^acV

ditional weight was added to each event, lie won with, the greatest ease. At N'aleon, before coming to the Coast, the horse was not regarded with muoh favour. He was offered to a Westport resident for £ls, but the latter stated he. would add a few pounds and buy a better horse. He added the few pounds, and bought what he considered a batter horse, but has not yet had a win with it. When King Try arrived at Westport he was offered, with two Westport engagements, to a local resident for £6O, but declined. He was finally bought at Greyinouth, after the first day's races, for £175 and half the siake if he won on the second day. King Try won, and also the next three races in which he competed. The frontispiece to " Horses in Training " this year is A. J. Joyner, and froni the short biography of thait prbrninent American trainer given in the bock the following story is taken: —" Early in my career I worked hard for four years, craring which I saved 1200 dollars. I had a filly which I tried good enough to bet. on. I decided to hunt a soft spot, and put all my hard-earned money on the filly. I selected an easy race, and engaged the bast jockey riding at the time. The day came. I kept in the background until it was time for the horses to gc to the post. Then I quietly slid'.into the grandstand, .calculating- that, as the filly wis at- 6 to 1, I should. win over' 7000. dollars, and speculating what I should do with the rhaney. The race •Was run, and my filly finished last I knew t-hera was something wrong. I went into the paddock to interview my jockey,' and there' I found him so drunk, he was staggering. That jockey finally died from drink, while the filly turned' out the best of her year, and she won eight of the 11 races in which she subsequently ran. I then and there resolved never again to wager any large amount." —lt appears that quite a number of country racehorse owners in Victoria have a great dislike to the stipendiary stewards, and a'strong set is being made against them in some districts. At one Gippsland ing recently the owners so resented the presence of a V.R.C. stipendiary steward that most of them scratched their horses, and there were no less than three walks, over. In other districts something similar has taken place, though not on quite such a pronounced scale, but there appears .o be a, general desire to shunt these inquisitiveofficials as much as possible. Some of the other kind of cases of shunting on country courses are of a most glaring character, and if the V.R.C. authorities are wise and the country clubs' management equally wise, they will extend the_ stipendiary system as much as possible. if the actions of some owners -are questioned in any way they simply scratch their horses. It may even be desirable that the V.R.C. should .pass a law requiring satisfactory reasons being given for ~ all scratchings at any meetings under liability of severe punishment. Something cf the kind (says an Australian paper) will have to be done to prevent small country o'wners carrying on any petty system of boycott unless they are permitted to do as they please. Such a condition of things would be simply intolerable. —ln the good old clays in Sydney one of the beat sportsmen -in the land was a jovial Irish priest who 'owned, raced, and sometimes rode some of the finest horses running in N.S.W. Whenever he want to Randwick he was togged out in a tweed suit, and invariably smoked a good cigar, but for all that was rather fearful of being recognised. Not that he cared a straw for himself, but he had no wish to hurt the susceptibilities of his nook. By way of showing the sterling goodness of this priest, I may mention (says the Sydney writer "Boondi") that his horse was first favourite and a "dead oert" for a big prize up north in a town near his own diocese. And nothing was more certain than that he would land the stake, for his horse had been wound up to concert pitch, when woTd_ was flashed along that a very pqor parishioner of the priest lay dyirg, and had begged to have Father B. with him to administer the last rites of his church. There was only one way to do this, for the dying man's house was a long way off—throw the fine horse _ (a 6 to 1 on favourite) out of training and ride him at top pace all night. Father B. never hesitated a moment; he didn't even call his groom, but, saddling up the first favourite himself, he sent him along at toip speed for 10 hours in the darkness, and got to the • dying man's bedside "gst in time. There %vere true men in those days! And brave horses, too, for the good priest's flyer was beaten for the Cup two days fcfter by a bare neck onlyl Among the well-known English judges of hc-rses who do not attach a great deal of importance to measurement below the knee is the "Special Commissioner." In mentioning that Mr James Buchanan has among his choicest ornaments at Lavington Park the cannon and shank bones of Epsom Lad (a son of Ladas) he says:—"Epsom Had would not have measured, well, below the kiiee—as ordinary ideas go,—but his bone was so hard and clean and solid that it polished like ivory, and like ivory it now appears iD those candlesticks. I often wonder when people will get clear of the fetish of. measurement, which is, at least, mere nonsense, for not two men whom I ever met measured horses for bone even approximately alike. I have even known one man make it close on 9in below the knee, while another, dealing with the same animal, has assessed it as 7|in. Of course, the real trouble is that the man interested in a big measurement does not take it immediately below the knee, but a bit lower, where, maybe, he is assisted by a bowed tendon, and in any case the circumference is somewhat larger; but even when correctly taken measurements are merely superficial, and do not in any sense indicate the quality of the bone, which is the most important factor. A gazelle has bone like pin stems, but it is of a quality which can stand extraordinary shocks. In the same way Epsom Lad's bane was the right stuff, and many cannon bones which I have seen, twice the size, but spongy and chalky and porous, were the wrong."