TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3016, 3 January 1912, Page 53

TALK OF THE DAY.

By Sentinel,

THE DUNEDIN - SUMMER MEETING. Tho weather conditions did not look particularly promising- for tho Wingatui summer meeting, but fortunately the Dunedin Jockey Club caught a lull when their programme came up for decision, and both cards were got oft under fairly pleasant circumstances. Tho weather on hand both before and after the meeting would have spelt disaster if it happened along on tho race days; but tho club’s lucky star kept the antagonistic weather at'bay, although there is not much doubt that the threatening aspect of the sky deterred many from journeying out to the course. Under tho circumstances the success achieved must bo considered very satisfactory. Tho track on (ho first day was deep and greasy, and the state of the going completely killed tho chances of several horses who could not act on tho ground. No one could back a horse under such track conditions with any confidence, and consequently betting must have been comparatively modest to what it would have been if the horses were racing on top of the ground. A few are inclined to pass bad going over with the remark that it is the same for the lot, but such ground (completely anchored some horses, particularly when they are required to act under a bit of weight. And under the circumstances the club was fairly fortunate in getting fair-sized fields and good betting. Tho mn up the rise from tho far turn to the straight troubled quite a number of horses, and Rose Noble in

particular was one who appeared to bo travelling fairly well until reaching that part of the track; but Wilson was hard at his horse before turning for home. The Medallion horse’s disappointing display was no doubt responsible tor the pen being pronVptly put til-rough his name for his second day engagement. The course had dried up a good deal when the second card came tip for decision, but it was rather sticky going in patches, and clearly troubled some of the runners just as much as the sloppy ground in evidence on the first day. Still, despite the bad going, the sport was of an interesting nature, although form was upset on several occasions. The solid pace set by Routine and True Knight in the Mosgiel Handicap did not give the others any chance to loiter, and the Sir Lancelot mare recorded a fairly meritorious win in running her race from end to end. She appeared to bo galloping on at the finish, and under a light weight would probably make a good show over a longer course. The chief event on tho second day was unfortunately robbed of its interest by an unfortunate start, which completely settled tile chances of half the field. Medallist won nicely at the finish, but ho was perhaps lucky in the fact that the strong opposition represented by Soldiers’ Chorus and The Cornet was put out of action at the rise of the barrier, whilst Routine, who made such a bold show when winning on the first day, W'as also hopelessly left. The unfortunate start war? doubly regrettable, because it was a good betting race, and the totalisator sugge ted that an interesting contest might have been witnessed if the field had 'left the mark in line. Of course, the most regrettable part of the affair was that speculators did not get a run for their money, and this, coming on too of tho fact that other well-backed horses also went down through bad luck and bad horsemanship, would not tend to elevate the spirits of those who indulge in a modest plunge on the favourite. However, the racing public take matters philosophically as a rule, and regard such things as tho fortune of war. Such disasters also tend to steady those who think there is easy money to be made on the turf, and remind them of the old saw about tho glorious uncertainty of racing. Viewed in this light, tho mishap may be regarded as a blessing in disguise.

THE STARTING QUESTION. Ti» fiasco which occurred at the start of the principal pace on the second clay at Wingatui should hedp to convince racing stewards that it is high time they took a more decisive stand in regard to the latitude -which is invariably allowed unruly horses at the barrier —in fact, up to the present racing clubs have unquestionably been somewhat, lax in their treatment of this important matter. It is, of course, imperative that each horse should get a fairopportunity to win a race; but it is far from reasonable that one horse should be allowed to wreck the chances of half a field. At present starters are far too diffident about wedding the authority they are supposed to hold but never use, and stewards seem to look on without grasping the real significance of the situation, which allows a half-broken, mouthless brute to hold up ft start in order to give it a “fair ohanoe ” to get away on even terms {generally ending in favour of the cause of tire trouble) with the rest of the field. Nothing oould be more disheartening to owners and the racing publifc to find horses which they own and support hopelessly put outlof court by the undue consideration given horses the nominations of which should either bo refused or granted little consideration when they do reach tiro post. JNo one is particularly sorry when fractious horses are left- at the post, as punters know they are “ backing a double ” when they support such animals. In the ca&e of the St. Andrew’s Handicap, it is quite clear that the primary cause of the trouble was the fractiousnesa displayed by Routine. \N hilst she was playing up the others were standing at tho post in a coldish breeze, and consequently it was not astonishing that some of them refused to jump off the mark with their usual promptness. Both The Cornet and Soldiers’ Chorus are good beginners, but here we find them absolutely left. The writer closely watched the horses at the i>ost, and the field was fairly well in line when the barrier rose; but whether some of the riders were taken by surprise when Routine finally condescended to come near tho barrier, or whether the horses had got a bit chilled through waiting, could only be gathered by someone standing near the starter. It is understood that when Routine jumped she cut across some of the others, and so blocked them from getting a clear run. It is said that Soldiers' Chorus absolutely stuck his toes in and refused to leave, and the reason is very probably more due to being kept waiting at tho post than to any innate ungenerousness on the part of the son of Martian. The writer is very positive that all our clubs show far too much consideration to fractious horses They should not bo allowed (when notoriously bad) to draw for places, nor should they be allowed to attempt to line up with the others. Fractious horses should be held tail on to the barrier (about three or four lengths back), and when the rest of the field is in line turned round and a start made, providing the general lino is fair. No further consideration should be allowed, and this would perhaj>3 teach trainers to school their horses to better manners and riders to study the art of acquiring good hands. At present Mr 11. Piper is continually found usurping tho functions of tho trainer. He is frequently amongst tho field teaching riders to leave their mounts alone, to hold them straight, without hangimr on to their heads,, to keep them un to’ the barrier without needlessly stirring thorn up, and do other things that should not require attention at the starting-port. At present wo are far below the standard existing in Australia, because both trainers and riders are not fully alive to their business. On ton of this, perhaps, an indifferent starter comes along, and the result is chaosTIIE CORIOLANUS COUP. Though there is now probably 10 times the volume of betting throughout the year than til ore was 30 years ago, nothing like so much money is invested on the Summer and Tatters ail’s Cups as there used to be. In fact, ante-post betting on those events is annually becoming le.-.s. The Midsummer Handicaps have lost caste with the hotting public, as the Standish and Bagot Handicaps did long since with the Melbourneites. I was one of a little band of commissioners turned on to back a Standish_ and Bagot double —Mozart and Oakleigh—in 1833, and some £15.000 was turned into headquarters; but that (says “ Milroy ”) did not represent the full strength o( tho market, as the

public had been busy before we began. A Melbourne man tells me there is nothing doing now in the double event line over there, and there is not much to be had in Sydney on the ViUiers Stakes and Summer Cup, or for the Carrington Stakes and Tattersali’s Cup. There was a time when it was possible to win big stakes on these races. A smart Melbourne coterie laid themes! ves out to win the double in 188 1 with Coriolanus, a Champion Stakes winner, who was in well under Bst, and Dcfoie doing any betting ttrey quietly secured Tom Hales to ride. Before tho horse left Melbourne all the double money was mopped up; then came the straig.nt-out business, and they wagered as if it were a one-horse race. Tire instruction given Hales was to win by a bead or nock, in order that they coufd do some more betting on Tabtersali’s Cup. Tom said he obeyed instructions, and won by half a neck, but the judge, the late William Dargin, said he didn’t, by giving tho race to Sloth, a decision that greatly enriched Harry Payten and a largo following of Goulburn sports. Coriolanus won Tattoreall’s Cup as he liked, but the big bettors behind him had a poor market to work on. About 15 months later this party, which had J. D. Robertson at the head, pulled off one of the biggest gambling coups in tho history of the Australian ring. This was with Coronet, the Tasmanian-bred son of St. Albans, when he won the Newmarket Handicap. They had him bottled up hot and strong on a private track near Melbourne. The Newmarket was a big betting race that year, and some of the early !vi s cured by the commissioners were at about 33 to 1; but at the finish Coronet was favourite, and carried Sam Cracknell to victory. He then became a hot favourite for the Australian Cup. Ho started at about even money, but jinked his back in the race. Somebody was commi.so rat ire with Duncan Robertson at his loss. Ho replied nonchalantly, “ Oh. I didn’t lose much. I only put £IO.OOO at 6 to 4. The bally books wouldn’t bet.” Poor “Dunk” died penniless. NUTBOURNE. “At the Windsor meeting (writes Mr Corbett) a horse called Nutbourne won the Ivor Nursery, starting first favourite. He is of a very different class to the animal of the same name that played such a sensational part in connection with the Derby in 1860, which was the heaviest betting Derby- wo ever knew. The animal in question belonged to Mr Wyatt, a miller at Emsworth, who bred him. Ho was a fine raoing-like colt, that won his engagements In such style at two years of ago that he was one of tho winter favouites for the Derby. He won the Findon Stakes at Goodwood, giving 51b to Thunderbolt, whom ho beat by a neck, whilst Thormaniby, at even weights, was a head behind. Ho did so well between that time and the Derby that he came to a short price in tho betting. There being a general impression that the American horse Umpire, who was backed to win such an enormous stake, was an old ’un, it became a question as to which owner should object to him, and Mr Wyatt was induced to ‘bell the cat.’ Previous to tho race he objected to Umpire on the score of age. On being called upon by the stewards to substantiate the charge, he withdrew his objection, and afterwards wrote a letter of apology. Poor Mr Wyatt. Some years later he was found dead in his own millstream. Many thought that Nutbourne was winning the Derby when ho jumped tho road after passing Tattenharn Corner and broke down. On this Derby the American, Mr Ten Broock, had such an enormous sum at stake that someone made him a big bet at good odds that ho would not whistle ‘God save the Queen’ when the horses were passing the winning post. This he won without an effort, and a firmer-nerved or more unemotional man we never came across. The late Duke of Devonshire was not in tho habit of getting excited, bat he was not able to light a cigarette while the field was at the post when his »horse, Jjieudonne, was the favourite. % Nutbourno’s breakdown was complete, and h-Q never ran again. lliu objection that Mr Wyatt lodged against Umpire had previously been made and disposed of. His mouth was examined, and Baron do Rothschild and Mr Henry Savile found that ho was the right age. Ho cer-. rninlv looked an old ’un, but not older than' Gladiate-ur. There was no real reason to doubt to age of either.’ bourne is not without interest to Australians, in as much as ho was tho sire of Coooanut, who was imported in the early seventies, an<i was tho <i ( ain of ITvso such smashers as Navigator and i rident, both great Derby winners. She was also the dam of-Copra, who in turn produced four really first-class horses in Cumoola, Gobbitty Cocos, and Coil, while Seashore, a winner of tho New Zealand Cup, was a grandson of Coooanut. INBREEDING. When the late.. Hop. E. K Cox paid £IOOO for Yattcndon his friends held that it was not wise to give .such a big’ll figure for a stud horse in this country with its limited market, but Mr Cox know what he was doing, and not only did ho make his stud u success financially, but improved the blood stock of the country to a wonderful extent (says the Sydney Mail). He was well aware at the time he bought Yattendon that there were few, if any, mares in the country that suited tho &reat eon of Sir Hercules. Yattendon was undoubtedly a son of his father, whom ho favoured in every way. This fact was so evident that Mr'Cox determined to breed from him, exactly as he would have done from Sir Hercules himself. He was one of tho few men then in tho colony that know Sir Hercules and .Stockwell were of the same family and were, practically, brothers in blood. With this in his mind, he went to England to buy Stock well mares for his Sir Hercules horse, butfound on arrival that it was as difficult to get sound mares by the emperor of stallions or his best .sons as it was to buy the Crown jewels; but ho was patient, and bought the blood he wanted at the yearling sales. . Ho also got some of it on Ids return to Australia by buying mares that hud been imported by another gentleman. From the purchased material he bred tho bast horses of his time, and owned at- his death tho most valuable collection of thoroughbreds in all Australia. Ho bred Chester and his brothers out of a Stockwell mare; Grand Flaneur out of a mare by St. Albans, eon of Stockwell; Croswick, out of a mare by Blair Athol, son of Stockwell; and Sweet William, out of a Stockwell mare. Good racehorses these whose inbreeding neither affected their ’speed nor their power of transmitting it to their progeny. The late Hon. James White, of Kirkham, followed the lines laid down by Mr Cox. In Chester

he had a horse by a son of Sir Herculesout. of a Stock well mare, a horse bred in such a "way that he was out of a mare by an almost full brother to his (Chester’s) graaidsire. Mr White achieved success that has never yet fallen to the lot of any other Australian or English breeder. He went, to England in 1881 and purchased several marcs for Chester. They were: —) Episode, by See Saw out of a mare by Blair Athol (son of Stock well); Rusk, by Brown Bread out ot a Stockwell mare La Princess;, jy Cathedral cut of a Stockwell mare; ..ady Vivian, by Strathconan out of a Stockwell • mare ; Lily Hawthorn, by Knight of the Crescent out of a mare by Kettledrum, a son of Steokwell’s brother Rataplan; Moonstone, by Blair Athol; Fhillina, by Bonnyficld out of ai mare by Lord Lyon, son of Stockwell; Princess Maud, by Adventurer out of a Stockwell mare; and Trafalgar, by Blair Atholfrom a sister to Musket. The only failure out of this lot was Lily Hawthorn,' who, strictly on breeding, should have been one of the best of them. Since then her blood oamo out well in, Sporn, Niphetos, Kuringai, Soprano. Episode threw an excellent sbayef in Chesterman and a good mare in Escapade to the lord of the harem, and to him La Princess produced Cranbrook. Having a double cross of Touch*" stone in her. Lady Vivian was sent all the way to New Zealand for Musket, who also had a double oroes of the great son., of Camel, and the flying Volley was the result, of their union. The old mare never 'went' to Choater J but to his son Abcrcorn she threw Vivian and Vigorous. Moonstone had two trimmers in Uralla and Oarlyon to Chester, and Phillina’e two foals by the old horse were Philip Augustus and Paraphrase. Princess Maud threw Acme to Chester, and Trafalgar was the dam of Dreadnought, a groat horse. Mr White was also very partial to Maribyrnong mares, and but of them he bred some flna. horses by Chester, nofcablvStromboli. Maribyrnon<T was by Fisherman out of Rose • 'do Florence, by Flying Dutchman, who belonged to the same family as Stockwell and Sir Hercules. Rose de Florence’s second dam "was StockweU’s grandam. However, Mr White’s greatest, success was Abercorn, who was out of a. Tocal-bred more - .'. She was by Goldsbrough out of Brown Duchess, by Whalebone, a half-brother to Sir Eteroules. Brown Duchose nan back to Otisina, by Livcrnool (by Tramp, who belonged to Stockwell’s family) out of Otis, who also belonged to the same family ad Stockwell and Sir Hercules. To Chester this mare bi-ed Abercorn and Spice—the former the greatest racehorse ever foaled in Australia, and the latter was an exceptionally good fillv. Thus we had Mr E. K. Cox laying it down that Yattendon road to success lay through Stockwell, and Mr White with one of the two best exponents of the Sir Hercules—Stockwell cross (Chester), followed as cloeoly as he could in the footsteps of the Fernhill studte' master. With Abercorn at the head pf . affairs the Kirkham stud was carried on, 1 but. unfortunately, the majority of the voung mares there were by Chester, oi? Martini Henry a half-brother to Abercorn a maternal grandsire. Therefore, the chances, of Chester’s greatest son were small. Hi»only big hits wore out of Copra, a mare bv Robinson Crusoe, who was a grandson of Fisherman out of a Stockwell mare. TVovectilc an son of Chcsw-r* His dam was by Musket, a member of tha_. same family as 'Sir Hercules- Stockwell.