IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2949, 21 September 1910, Page 55

IN A NUTSHELL.

Federal (onoe always out in front) was Dover in the danger zone last week.

BusylarKl finished well after Retting alow away on the first day at Ashburton meeting. The Ashburton Trotting Club's meet in (j tp-kes place on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Tikitere looked a good deal lighter last week than when showing her best form last M-a?mi.

—Mr J. E. Henrys left for Sydney on Friday last in order to be present at the A.J.C. spring meeting. Queen of Spades showed her usual dash of speed at Ashburton. but faded out at the business end of her races.

Soldier's Chorus has not grown a great deal since last season, and ran disappointingly in his races last week. Flambeau, who ran at Ashburton last week, is a sister to Cross Battery. 4_t pro gent she looks a bit backward. California incurs a. "lb penult; for the

Cup by his win at Avondale on Saturday 1 , This brings his weight up to 8.2. The well-known mare Solution has pro* duced a colt to the English-bred horse Earlston, a son of Love Wisely. Paritutu, who got amongst the winners' at Avondale, had not previously scored fen? over a year. He was foaled in 1899. * * Los Angelos met with bad luck in both his races last week, and with a better ruft would have probably won on either day. ••'.' ( The American-bred horse Salvador, wb<j had two winners at the Avondale meetings , was sold a few months ago for 20 guineas. - Bookmakers will be charged 12 guinea* to bet in the paddock at Geraldine, and it fee of five guineas for the outside enclosure. Owners are reminded that nominations for the North Otago Jockey Club's spring meeting are due oa Thursday, the 22nd mat. Perm, the half-brother to Armlet aficl Tawhaki, displayed a good turn of speed' in his race last week, but failed to stay on.' The Cro-vn Derby engaged in various events at the A.J.C. spring meeting is no? identical with the New Zealand colt of that name. -f • The New mare Cross*Battery, now one of the matr-ras .at iftf,S. Green's Shipley Stud, has produced at colt to Positano. j Several Dunedin horses figured at AshV burton last week, but they failed to make <' good even though some, of them. . were strongly fancied. Nereid, the dam of Achilles, hup prOi» duced a colt to En Garde, the English'' bred son of St. Simon «tml the Musket mare Engagement. Nogi was unsuccessfully protested against after winning last week on the f ground that he had been handled by at ' disqualified person. [ d Windgun, who wen a double at Ashburton, was got by Royal Artillery out of Whirlwind, by Stepniak from the Dunedin. Cup winner Tempest. Several well-endowed races figure on th&l North Otago Jockey Club's spring programme, for which nominations are due on Thursday of this week. i The Alexandra Jockey Club have de- J cided to allot 225sovs in stakes for their next meeting. The amount is the same ae ;. that distributed last season. / f

Mossrnc-re, a half-brother by Westmete* to the well-kown 'chaser Ha-ydn. won & double at the Birehwood Hunt Club's annual steeplechase meeting. ! i Los Angelos figured on the Ashburtpn' cards as an aged horse. At the National meeting he was marked down as a six-year-old. He w|sa foaled in 1904.

—lt is expected that the Wellington sportsman, "Mr H. Whitney," will be represented at the D.J.C. spring meeting by Whatakura, Varna, and Ahuapi.

The Auckland Trotting Club gave away £4630 in stakes last season, or an increase) of £IO2O on the previous season. The gross profit amounted to £930 17s Bd. Mademoiselle Ixe, who finished third in ■) the Farewell at A3hburton. shows a bit of pace. She was got by Stepniak from Miss Dalrymp'.e, by Pilgrim's jr«ogi-ess. i The Southland Racing Club made a. •profit of £lO2-2 ITs 5d over their meetings! ' last season. Stakes wrrc incrensed frond . £1315 in ISO 7-8 to £2500 for laat year. < —Mr Abe Bailey, the Eolith African J millionaire and racehorsa owner, is expected ; to be among the over-sea visitors to Victoria for the Jubilee Melbourne Cup.

The speedy Manillas was amongst the " also started " in both his races at Ashburton, end did not show the speed he exhibited at the back end of last season.

Acceptances for the first day of tha Hunedin Jockey Club's spring meeting are due on Friday, September 30. Entries- for the Trial Plate close at Ih-a ?ame. tj.m-e. Sea King appears to have beneficed con- (, siderably by his spell, and the manner in? which he won last week suggests he will repeat the performance at a later date. i Passion wa3 mad* favourite for tha Coldstream Welter, but after ranging alongside Windgun in the straight, eh* failed to come on, and was beaten in the run t»the post. , / J and ran a good race in the Ashburton/ J Handicap, but {ailed to concede Gib to Base Noble, who usually runs his beat racer* on the track. '!f Crown Derby is a nice eort of a colt, but is inclined to shut up if he does not get * clear run. He is built on better lines than < his brother Cymbiform. and not quite »o much on the leg. The Auckland Trctting Cir.b could ?<tve r-ecertly «old the piece of land they bought in February last at a profit of. over aLOOfertv-s. It comprise* 135 ft acre*/' and cost £U4S Is Id. . j

—Mr H. Piper lias been appointed starter to the South Canterbury Jockey Club. Mr Piper acted for the club some few years ago, but latterly has been missing from the Tiniaru gatherings. _ —An interesting fact in connection withi the Donoaster St. Leger is that Join o" Gaunt, sire of this year's winner, i* a son) of Isinglass and La Fleche, who won the ev«nt in successive years.

f.'x. Janek, the leading local jockey in Austria, stated, while under cxamiiuiticn last trcntb. that during the 3909 season his income totalled £17.000. Very few British* jockevs have an income like this. . Field •Cun has been sold by Mr J. Grig<r to a Rirerton owner. The Hotchkiss" gelding has not been too sound of late, but if he standi? up to some work he should pay his way down south,. The light-weight rider H. Paul received! a shaking uo when Full of Trumps fell with! him at Aahburton. but nothing serious occurred, although it was deemed .advisable to send the lx>y to the local hospital. ']

—J. K. Shepherd. . an English steeplechase jockey, arrived by the. Atbenic laeV wtoak. He intends trying his luck in the , Dominion, and, as he can ride at 9st 4lb, should, not be long out of the saddle. Scotch Plaid and Lady' Orizoin mad* the pace a cracker in the Spring Handicap, anil- < ran themselves out before getting to the end of the journey. The Benzoin mare, however, made amends by winning the following 1 day. Stallions command big fees in England. The subscription of Spearmint (by Carbine) is full at 250?5, that of Radium at 200 gs. and The While Knight *t £l4B. J So far these horses are untried at the stud. r-

Stayboy put up a couple of good race* at Ashburton, but failed to get amongst winners. On the second day Its landed ovar;» thn last fence with Tyrant, but in a, goodi finish the latter outstayed the Dun*din; horsa. •'

The last three New Zealand Cups run; for have been won successively by four-' year-old horses. Polymorphous, Boanerges.* Tapknrafiter, Ingoda. Bridge, Merxiwa. andf Cullinan included th© four-year-olds in tha forthcoming rn-ee. Old Medallist is evidently getting back to form, and put up a couple of good races last week. Jn the Tinwald Handicap _ he* reallv .finished, or apoeared to finish, third-, but the judge thought otherwise, and gara. the olace to Gunboat. Mr " Middleton Melrose." whose colours have lj«en fairly prominent on K"ew Zealand.

racecourses during the past few years, left J last week for Sydney, and took with him : the horse.? Truganini, Advantage, Magneto. ' and Mountain Queen. A good judge of racing who went to the . post to see the starting for the bulk of the race 3 at Ashburton last week remarked [ that ho saw less crowding and cutting in the starts than is usually the case at North Island meetings. i;cording to a North Island exchange Provocation is again training, and is regarded as a possible starter at the C.J.C spring meeting. Tribulation, the three-year-old brother to Provocation, is also said to be training on well. Coroniform, who won at Ashburton last ] week, could have been bought some little j time back at SOsovs. He appears to be ; improving, and the Multiform—Helen Faucit I breeding attached to his name suggests future in store. - J Large fields and interesting sport was > quite "the order of the day at the Ashburton i meeting, and the fact that so many horse 3 j are in commission promises well for the Dunedin Jockey Club's spring meeting which takes place early next month. Doncaster Corporation made a profit on last year's race meetings of £16,202, of which £II.SOO has been transferred to the borough .fund, £3859 expended on the erection of anew fourth stand and enclosure, and £236 j towardsi making a. new course. The " man in the box " at Ashburton last week did not give complete satisfaction ] in his work, even though he had the assistance at times of one of the stewards. Mr R. O, Duncan, who usually officiates, is at present on a visit to Australia. The stallions Downshire (Ayrshire—Sea Down) and Varco (Marco —Vera), together with four mares, arrived at Wellington from England on Friday last. Two of the marcs were imported by Mr J. F. Buchanan, and . the balance by Mr J B. Reid. Tawhaki is to be worked on the Mosgiel Park plough track, as Wingatui is at times a bit too hard f-:r him. At Ashburton last week he looked a bit on the big side, and the sporting of bandages suggested thai , hard jjoing is not in his favour.

The Grounds Committee of the South Canterbury Jcckey Club have been author-., ised to proceed with several improvements on their course, including further improvements to the plough track, grand stand extension, and double parade rings.

One could not enthuse about the limiting of the New Zealand Cup candidates that raced at the Ashbi.rton meeting. Excuses cculd be made for some of them, but their form was not calculated to send one to "the market and back their chance.

—lt is reported that- Advocate continues to carry him?clf very well at Ellerslie. The son of Hotchkiss is getting tl rough a good Cup preparation, and it is worthy of not* that Advocate sail second to All Red in the Auckland Cup last reason. Wellington advices state that Diabolo is the ruling favourite for the, N.Z. Cup, and show that Los Angeles has receded a ocupie of points since the previous week's quotations. Ingoda, Formeden, Vice Admiral, and Polymorphus rank next to the favourite. The Australian-bred Ayr Laddie gelding Kilts, who has been off the scene for some time, was amongst. <Ahe runners at Ashburton. He has grown into a fine upstanding sort, and may possibly be found reproducing the speed he displayed as a two-year-old.

' The totali.sator returns at Ashburton showed a considerable shrinkage on the amount registered at last year's meeting. One reason for tho shortage consisted in the fact that a well-laden spacial train missed the first race on the opening day.

Gold Braid, who was recently warned off Riccarton for bad behaviour at the post, stood like a perfectly-mannered horse when at. the barrier for Ins races at Ashburton. The half-brother to Aurum and Golden Slipper has a rigid neck, and consequently is not too handy in his steering department. The substantial prize money attached to the " A3tot Thousand" is well split up. and if some of the runners don't " bring Lome the bacon." they can at least «ave their bacon. The winner receives £7OO, peeDnd. .£l5O, third £75. fourth £'so, and fifth £25.

Miss Winsome, the winner of the AvonSale Stakes, was got by Soult from Winsome by Cuirassier from Winnie (darn of Record Reign), by Kingfisher. Winnie is a shortpedigreed mare, and peters out to an Arab .mare, but has proved herself a good producer. —At the conclusion of the Ashburton" County Handicap the silver cup, presented , by Mr H. Friedlander. was handed over by j Mrs John Grigg to Mr H. A. Knight, who I was acting for Mr F. H. Pyne, the owner ,of Rose Noble. Mr Pvne is at present in I England. '. *'„ B "- "°w shall I know that I have won?" a lady who was making her first bet at Ellerslie said to the genteel penciller. and his answer was worthy of him.: "You will feel a gentle spirit impelling yon to come to me and ask mo for your money," was his reply. —At the conclusion of the Avondale Jockey Club's spring meeting, the Auckland •horseman B. Deeloy will leave for Sydney to ride Sunburnt and other horses at Randwick. Dccley may come back to the Dominion in time to ride Advocate in the New Zealand Cup. "Now," s-aid Lord Marcus Bef^sford

earnestly, to the foreign buyer who had i Perrier in view, " this horse is the very thing you want, and I may tell you confi- : dentially that he would have won the Derbyonly—eh— at a most critical part of the race six others passed him." Kopu has come to a short price for the New Zealand Cup. It will be remembered that as a three-year-old he won the Hawke's Bay Guineas in lmin 41 2-osec, and defeated Aborigine by a head. Others in the field were Gold Lace. St. Aidan, Nobel, Chanteuse. and Remission.

The Alexandra Jockey Club have decided to hold their annua! race meeting on | December 22. This date was considered, j more suitable for owners who may be cleI eirotis of attending the Dunedin meeting, as well as net to bring the local races too

close to the Cromwell meeting. The thorouglibred horse Blackstone (son of Graiton) haa been brought back to Dunedin, and will travel the season in the Taieri district. Whilst in training Blackstone was bred to a couple of mares, and the produce. My Lawyer and Adjudge, furnish excellent credentials as to the horse's merits as a sire. —lt transpires that the owner of Roosevelt and John overlooked the date of the first acceptance for the New Zealand Cup. which explains the defection of the two geldings from the race. The bad liick is accentuated by the fact that the owner of

the hemes had backed his horses for the x<»ce.

MarlLst. the winner of the Trial Plate at Aehburton, is a half-brother by Martian to Outlander. Martian may be claimed as & better staying sire than Finland, and possibly Ma. - V*t nay -e foun<'. doing bettor •work over i rfistanci of ground than h'A who captumd the last Great Autumn.

M'mdic ia one of the mystery hora»s of Rand wick. The New ?efcla&d« has evidently be-ga backed to win the Epsom, but hxs

not put up anv watch-smashing gallops to please the touts. It is somatimes overlooked that all horses do not require to be hunted out in their work morning after morning.

—At Manchester (England) last month Mr Lionel Kobinson's three-year-old gelding Last Call won the August Handicap, of SeOeovs. Last Call is by the Melbourne Cup winner The Victory, from Coo-ee, and prior to his receut success ran second to Gwynford (St. Leger winner) in the Liverpool Summer Cup.

There are only three sons of St. Simon at the stud in New Zen land, ,;nd one of them is Sarto. who is standing at the Warrington Stud. It is always desirable to return to the fountain head, or get as rear to it as possible, and breeders should note the fact if they have mares calculated to nick with the St. Simon strain.

pletely ruined if the ancient sport of racing were seriously curtailed," is the burden of a petition to the House of Representatives signed by the licensed trainers of racehorses all over the Dominion, who claim that their position should be considered when gaming legislation is before the House.

—ln referring to some of the track work at Randwick. a Sydney paper reported that the New Zealand colt Sunburnt was also out galloping, but did not make fast time, though he made a good deal of noise. Whether the whistling was caused by superfluous fat or throat weakness, it is yet too early to judge. He is one of the acceptors for the A.J.C. Derby.

The attention of owners is directed to the "Winton Jockey Club's programme, which contains several liberally-endowed events, with a collective prize-list of 1300sovs. The Winton Cup of 150sovs, Memorial Stakes Handicap of 120sovs, and tho Hokonui Trot of lOOsove are the chiei events, and two hurdle races of 75sovs are included amongst ;i comprehensive list catering for the various

clashes of horse?. Owing !<> Mr J. R. Mackenzie having' sold out at Poootunoa. the stallion Pallas will stand at Kelso and travel to 0 ore. Mares railed to Kelao care of Wright. • Stephenson, and Co. will receive prompt attention. Padflocking will be provided at Kelso. M'r Mackenzie has also the .trotting stallion Tuxedo Chief (imp.), who will stand at "The Ranch," Clinton. The plesi of a Caulfield punter that ho missed backing the winner in the first race because it took him an hour and 15 minutes i to get from Melbourne to Caulfield by train | was dismissed with scant notice by Vic- • toria railway officials, who gave the sports- , man "no chance" of getting the £a he threatened to demand from the comsnissionfTS as compensation. The Martian—Cruciform filly Lilly i White, who cost 850 guineas as a yearling, ! was amongst the runners at Ashburton last ! week. She Icoked in bad shape, and did net J fill the eve as being ready to race. The i filly has grown very little since a yearling, 'and-has an enlarged pastern that may not | help her to train on, so that her value may ', not be discovered until she goes b.ack to the . paddock. Acrostic, the half-brother by Multiform I to Solution, is cast on plainish lines, and ' does not resemble his brilliant relation. On I the first day at Ashburton he got hung ! up in the barier, and did not leave the ! mark. On the second day he failed to get i out of the nick. The colt, however, looks I u trifle backward, and his races last week | mav help to wake him up. and make him worth the TOOgs he cost as a yearling. —Mr T. Cahill (president of the Alexandra. Jockey Club) stated at the annual meeting of the club that country clubs were ! in rather a peculiar position, owing to the ! proposed reduction of totalisatov permits. He | was afraid that if the matter was left to i the Racing Conference the country clubs J would be wiped out. as the aim of the metropolitan clubs was to centralise racing in the interests of the larger clubs. —lt is somewhat rare to sec a horse sporting a white stocking in front when it is the only one he possesses. Los Angeles exhibits a stocking up to the off fore knee, and Spearmint, held to be a real champion by those who knew him, has a similar marking up to the near fore knee. Some superstitious folk may give Los Ange'.o; a Cuv> chance on account of being ' in the same hosiery fashion as the Derby

winner. Apollodoris. who is advertised to stand at Warrington Stud this season, was a particularly game little boree in his racing davs. Breeders who fancy him should not hesitete to use the son of Brisa under the impression thai he lacks size. Small stallions not infrequently throw big stock, but apart from that. Apollodoris should be just the horse to breed to with the object of getting high-class ponies suitable for Australian racing. —At the annua! meeting of the Alexandra Jockey Club (he advisability of reducing the amount of nomination money in each event v,las discussed at some length, it being the general oninion that, if the nomination feo was smaller larger nominations would be received. Finally, a recommendation imm made to the Programme Committee to go into the matter with a view to reducing same, and submit to another meeting with tho rjrogramme as drafted. Horses for courses! Rose Noble has won five races in the last two years, and three of them have been gathered at Ashburton. Rose Noble is troubled with rather bad feet, and the going has to be in his favour before he will fnllv extend himself. It is interestine to note, by the way. that the son of Medallion won at Ashburton in Mr Pyne's colours, owing to the person who bought the horse at auction last month failing to complete the sale. Seddon, the disappointing fuTl brother to Wairiki. ran his last race in Australia at the recent Kalgoorlie meeting, and he is probably ere this or. the way to his nsw It me at Singapore. In referring to the Soult gelding' " Tcrlinga," of the Australr.sian. says —"Seddon must have been able, to gallo;> in private when Fonlsharu had him. As a matter of fact. I believe he was fried .to be just about the same thing as loleire before the spring meeting of 1907. Pri?ice Foote continues a strong order for the Caulfield Cup, being three points shorter than Hoax and Conge d'Eslire. The latter has hardened considerably since last week. Business in connection with the Melbourne Cud is quiet. Some of the pencillers have Trafalgar a pronounced favourite, while others are offering the same price about either him, Ccmedy King, or Prince Foote. Duke Foote is still somewhat easy, though at a slightly shorter price than Alawa

A- -writer in an Auckland paper has figured it out that taking the 55 events each valued at 200sovs or over, which were decided at tlie A.K.C. meetings last season, an investment of £1 on the favourite would haTe made a profit of la 6d. Of the 55 favourites 18 finished first, and on 11 occasions occupied second place. In totting up the dividend it is found that for an investment of ill on each event a backer would have received Jt'ss is 6d, or at the end of

the season he would have shown a profit of eighteenpence. - —ln referring i.o Jame 3 Barden s retirement frcm the ranks of jockeys a Melbourne writer ssya —"So James Barden retires from the saddle after all without winning the Melbourne Cup. It was one of the dreani9 of his lite, but it is not to ba realised now. Most of the other great flat race events of the year fell to Barden's share from time to time, but the Melbourne Cup always dodged him. The nearest Barden got to the great race was on Lord Cardigan, when the gallant little Pcsiiano horse ran second to Acra=ia.

During the currency of the Ashburton meeting it was rumoured that the bookmakers may still be found retaining their legal status a'ftei the gaming proposals have been thrashed out in the House. Now the latest from Wellington is that both the totalisator and bookmaker question may bs referred to a referendum. The only thing that seems clear is that the Government, like the man in the song, " Dunno where 'e are" on the matter. Evidently the Government prefer to let the people decide what the people pay the Government to decide; also that the Government cannot take a decisive stand on any important mutter. The following is "from the Edinburgh. Evening Dispatch :—-" Scotland cannot boast of one reallv first-class meeting in the year. How is this? Are there not spontng men enough in Scotland to ensure the success of a good meetingV Avt this year was opened wi+h a. great, flourish of trumpets and on acccunt of its importance three days were set apart for it. And what is the result'' Out of three davs' racing there has only been one event with eight runners, and sporting men know what that means. Surely an effort might be made to ensure one really outstanding meeting in the year for Scotland." Perhaps the reason why racing does not flourish in some parts of the Dominion can be found in the above. Pilgrim's Way. who made a winning debut on the second day at Ashburton, is one .of the best green performers seen amongst the hack class for some little time. He hung out at the turn, but even then came on to win nicely in 48 3-ssec under 9.0, \\<hich is fairly smart even for Ashburton. The colt favours his sire a good deal in colour and markings, but is a good deal more on the leg. He has a smallish and rather too pretty head for a colt, and some hold him to be a- bit light in the hone; but it is evidently quality that tells, and not quantity. If quantity were the sole merit we would have elephants winning all the races and running half-miles in about nothing.* Pilgrim's Way was got by Pilgrim's Progress from Nautiloid. by Musketry from Nautilus, by T'raducer frcm Waterwitch, by Camden from Mermaid. Tyrant won both hurdle events at Ashburton last week. His owner (Mr A. Henderson) sold him cheaply some time ago to Mir Taylor, of Rangiora, but subsequently repurchased him, and prior to the second day of the Ashburton meeting Mr Henderson offered him to Mr Tayloi once more, though this time for £2OO, without mui.ihg a deal. Tyrant is a good cut of a grey, and evidently has more than a little courage, as he answers to a call at a finish. On the second day at Ashburton he put in a jump which would have settled most horses, but although he sprawled over the fence through taking eff too soon, he went on'with the game, and ultimately won after a good finish with Stayboy. Tyrant was got by the Government stallion Tyranny, a grand son of Rosicrucian, who sired Pulchra, the dam, of St. Clair, and grand dam of Multiform, Uniform, and g.g. dam of Cruciform »nd Formo»an. Tyranny is probably the only horse in tail male descent from Hopicrucian that has been . brought to New Zealand.

Somo of the punters at the- first day of the Ashburlon meeting had a grievance. In the Trial Plate 22 horseß coloured on the card, bait the totalisator could only accommodate the names of 20, and four of the field were coupled in pairs. Perm (No. 19) and Martist (No. 20) became No. 19 on the machine, and tv.«o others became No. 30. Some backer* a%sked for No. 20. under the impression that they were supporting Martist; and hence the trouble. When Martist was coupled with Perm the totalisator officials should not have issued his individual number, unless the bracketing had been distinctly marked in the race book. Clubs should avoid as much as possible the coupling of horses, as it is distinctly unfair to the owners and backers. If possible numbers on the machine ren-derc-d vacant by scratching should be utilised in preference to coupling'. Up to the .season of 1903-4 the rule on this point read that each horse must have a number on the totalisaor corresponding with his individual number on the book, but in recent years provision has been made for bracketing.

As you are no doubt aware, said the chairman of the Auckland Trotting Club in 1 his annual address, we had the good fortune during the past season to attract the world's grass track champion to our autumn meet- i ing. and the enterprise of his owners (the ; Allendale Stock Farm) was rewarded by their j collecting the substantial purse offered. Your | club is now in the rather unique position of j having the mile world's grass track record for its course, and I fee! assured that, had I circumstances been more favourable, Dan Patch would still further have reduced the < record and established an Australasian re- j cord for any class of track. While on this subject 1 may say there have been a few carping spirit" who did not consider that the club should hold up such purses. In answer j to those who hold that view, it is only ne- i cessary to point out what tool* place in ! the home of the trotter. America, where j trotting was made the national sport b> the | putting up of just, such purses. I think I | can safely say that your committee will con- I tinue its progressive policy in this respect I and again hold up a good purse for the same or a longer distance. an English authority says: 'There have been several instances in turf history of | two great rivals constantly meeting, the pair fttanding out far above their rivals. Such, I for instance, was the case- with Volfigeur j and The Flying Dutchman in the middle of | the last century. Such aiSo was. the case with Carbine and Abercorn in Australia 2) years ago. There have been few more : notable instancf9 than that of Bend Or and I Robert, the Devil. Bend Or (F. Archer) and | Robert the Devil f'Rossiter) finished in the '. Derby of 1890 in the order written Tliev next met in the St. Leger. Robert the Devil (T. Cannon) proving victorious. Bend Or I was again the mount of Archer. In th<v j Great Foal Stakes in the following month Robert the Devil again beat Bend Or, the jockeys being the same as last. In the Champion Stakes at the Newmarket second October meeting. Robert the Devil was again j the victor over Bend Or, Rossiter being on I the former and Fordham on the latter. In | the following year they were the only run- i ners in the Epsom Gold Cup. to which there i were 29 subscribers. Bend Or (F. Archer in ! the saddle) on this occasion was returned j the winner by a neck, while Robert the Devil (T. Cannon l started favourite. This I was the last time they met." '

The report presented at the annual meeting of the Alexandra Jockey Club, held recently, stated, ' inter alia, that the last race meeting was one of the most successful and at the same time best-conducted meetings in Central Otago, owners and visitors alike expressing satisfaction at the management. The meeting resulted in a profit of £3O, and the sum of £1177 was passed through the totalisator, being the largest amount recorded for many years. Reference was made to the departure of the former secretary (Mr Ryan) and Mr Nieper (vicepresident), both gentlemen receiving tokens of recognition for services rendered. Eulogistic reference was also made to the services rendered by the present secretary. The report concluded by stating that the prospects of the club bore a bright outlook for the future. The balance sheet showed a credit balance of £2B lis 7d, and with additional revenue and subscriptions yet to come in, which were considered good, there would be a credit balance of something like £33. The principal items .on the balance sheet were: —Receipts: Privileges, £26 183 6(1; gate proceeds, £2l 16s 6d; revenue, £125 9s; subscriptions, £7l 4s 6d; nominations and acceptances, £B9 ss. Expenditure: Stakes. £225; totalisator commission. £25; Government tax, £l7 13s Id; advertising, £l9 10s lOd.

The following story was told by a policeman at an Irish race meeting to " Bird'seye," one of the writers for the Irish paper Sport:—"l was," commenced the man in blue, " stationed in a certain town in Kerry during the worst days of the land agitation, and a big political meeting was announced. One of the precautions• to preserve law and order adopted by the authorities was to order the closing of all public-houses in the town. I wa3 placed on diity at the back door of a public-house, with strict instructions to allow nobody in, but the head (the inspector) never said a word about letting! tho drink out, and I had a pain in my arms from handing out the gallons. There was a line of willing hands, Jike you would see at a country fire passing the buckets of water along, but no fire ever took thequerrcning of the thirst of that Kerry crowd. Of course, I had to impose a tax, and the collecting of it was a big job, but I managed it." "Did you get promotion?" he was asked. "Did I get promotion?" he replied with a smile. "It wasn't promotion I was thinking of at the e»d of the day; it was locomotion. It's a wonder I was nbt had up for ' bumping and boring' on the march back to the barracks. I have no great love for Danny Miner a.fter his oerformance the other day, but I wouldn't like him to ever hiave a head like mine was the day aftei those public-houses were closed."

—■ A few weeks ago Ml Horatio Bottomley, M.P.. merle certain proposals in the English House of Commons for new taxation, including the taxation of racing stakes, the State licensing of racecourses, the licensing of bookmakers, and the taxing of betting transactions. When asked by an interviewer what his object was in making these proposals, and what he expected to accomplish supposing they were adopted, he replied, '' My object is twofold. First, I wish this country to follow the example of France and Germany, and secure a large revenuu for the State, and secondly, I desire to place racing and betting upon a more satisfactory baeis than is at present, the case. Look what France does. At present it derives several millions sterling a year, of which the poor and the hospitals get a large proportion, end a- substantial sum goes to the encouragement of horse-breeding. The result is that legitimate betting transactions are looked upon in thet country as nothing to be ashamed of, although, owing- to the existence of the parimutuels. the State has so far declined to legalise bookmakers, preferring to keep the business in its own bands." Asked whether there was any hostility to racing in hifl proposals, his reply was, " I am not in any way hostile to the interests of racing," and he went en to add, " In the next jumping season I hepe to have my colours well to the fore, end to introduce next year a. considerable number of young horses from my own stud farm, the progeny of my old favourites —Wargrave (a son of Carbine), Hawfinch, and Le Blizon."