TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3099, 6 August 1913, Page 49

TALK OF THE DAY.

By Sentinel.

THE NATIONAL MEETING. The Canterbury Jockey Club’s Grand National meeting will take place next week, and although more than one horse that claims engagement in the principal events is eaid to be labouring under the suspicion of unsoundntsa, still there seems every indication of good fields and good sport being on hand to carry on the reputation of the fixture as the most popular gathering on the racing calendar. In both the National Steeples and National Hurdles the fields carry a fair number of horses of proved merit, and some of the newcomers arc not without credentials whicli make them worthy of support. There is a possibility that a payment due on Friday next may weed out one or two, but the near future will settle all doubts oir that point, and the final work will probably convey the best idea as to possible winners. The gallant old Paritutu holds pride of place at the top of the National Steeples, and as ho is reported to be in excellent shape must be given a good chance. Ho won with 10 2 in 1911, when his win was in a great measure due to the vigorous and determined horsemanship of Rangi Thompson to mark a, head victory over Corazon, who was g;ving away 29ib. I/ast year Paritutu ran a fairly close second with 11.2, and now has an additional Tib to shoulder. On that occasion he gave Glonmore 14ib, The Spaniard 231 b, and Hautere gave away Tib. It will bo seen that The Spaniard is called upon to make an improvement of 141 b, whilst Hautere gains a concession of a similar poundage. Glonmore has to improve Tib to bo upsides with the Castor gelding. On that occasion Hautere did not complete the course, and The Spaniard was far from the fighting line at the finish Glonmore fin 'slu'd fifth under his 10.2, and as he is now asked to carry an increased burden of 12!b it does not appear to help the' - chance of one who is not regarded as a particularly sound stayer. Hautere gave a much better display on the final day of ihe meeting, and as time works wonders. The Spaniard and Nedra, who were not regarded as National horses 12 months ago, may have developed form which entitles them to the support they have received for the coming event: but too much weight should not be attached to wins in weak company. The Native won last year s National Hurdles in very convincing style, and latterly his form suggests a National Steeple chance not lightly passed over. Ho is reported, however, to he likely to forfeit his engagement in favour of that in the National Hurdles; but should he go to the post must proved very dangerous. Bercola has displayed a lot of pace over hurdles, and has latterly won heaps of friends by his displays over country. He won the Great Northern with 9.13 by four lengths from Dorando 9.13, who beat Paritutu 11.10 for second place. Bercola goes up 181 b. and meets Dorando on on’v”slb worse terms apart from running at a higher scale of weights, whilst Paitutu meets the first-named at 19!b better terms. Evidently Dorando ha? been regarded with respect. Hautere had 31.4 in the Great Northern, ar.d now meets Rercola on 221 b better terms. Glonmore carried 11.3 at Auckland, and The Native ran under 11.0. Kauroa beat The Native at Sib on the second day of the Wanganui meeting, but since the latter’s form over big fences is said to show a marked improvement. Gold Pin and others will help to make the race interesting, but the winner will probably come from among the top-weights, which are covered with a. range of 111 b between Paritutu and Dorando. It serins a fin'd of very fair quality, and it will bo n disappointment if an excellent race is not provided. Coronetted is much in the public eye as the prime pick for the National Hurdles; but there is some dangerous opposition in the shape of Marton 'who has scored two decisive wins) and others engaged; but this race will not be, run until next Thursday, and by th r -n considerably more light will probably be shed on the matter. The Native has 71b more to carry than last year, and -would be very dangerous if set for the race; so also would The Rover, who. however. is regarded as a doubtful starter, a.s a result of his fall at Trcnthom. Bercola galloped 3min 48 2-ssee under 10,8 At the last Great Autumn meeting, but th£> feet of hi.m being in the Steeples does not win one to bis chance, ns horses are seldom found so versatile a? to win over both big fences and hurdles. Coronetted was giving 231 b to TVacou in the Trial Hurdles, run at the last National meeting, and now comes in at ?01b better terms. Beacon carted him off his logs in that race, but the Goronet gelding gave a much improved disp'ay when ho won the Sydenham Hurdles from Paisano. Waterworks, and eo. Some of those, who read to have chances are best left alone •until the last moment, and among the tail

of the field the most dangerous may prove to be Watchohain, Loch Mabin, and bt. Kevin. The Winter Cup reads a fairly open race,- and the winner seems rather difficult to locate, unless one takes a blind fancy or holds special information from a reliable source. Fit and well Vice-Admiral would be very dangerous, and Crown Pearl proved himself an excellent welter horse when he gave Query 71b and a beating m the August Handicap, run at last year s meeting, and followed it up by winning the Selwyn under 10.9. _ It requires a lairly solid horse to score in a Winter Cup, and when the going is anything like soft the big burdens tell a tale. \\ inning form hold by such as Awahou, Kilrain, Oxenhope. Mummer naturally attracts one, it is of fairly recent date; but Sea King, Glen fin nan,' Query, Pilgrim’s Way, Buff Gauntlet, and St. Aidan, if in form, ought to prevent the stake from going north without* a good fight for supremacy. AMONGST THE WINNERS. Although the horses running under the blue ana gold chequers ran somewhat unluckily m tiie early pare ot the past season, still tuey made good towards me end and placed Sir George Clifford at the head ot winning owners in ttie lust compiled by ‘■Pencagraph,” the turf statistician of the Weekly Press. During the recently-closed racing year the Chokebore stable horses turned out by the veteran Edward Cutis and his two aidcs-dc-camp, 11. and A. Cults, to carry the colours, gathered ±115005 10s. this reads a very fair total in face of the misfortune which saw several of the team beaten by narrow margins in big-muney events. Masterpiece was short-headed by Midnight Sun in the New Zealand Cup, and ran a good third in the Great Autumn when acting under a penalty lor winning the Sockourn. Htatherbr.ie put in a third in the Stewards; Brown Owl was third in the Derby and Gold Cup; and Autunmus, who with ordinary luck might have been a good winner in the spring, only struck winning form towards the end of the year. “All’s well that ends well,” and the excellent total falling to the colours must bo deemed very satisfactory. The total is over £4OOO less than the sum with which Sir George Clifford topped the tree in the season 1911-12, and marks the second occasion on which the colours have won over £6ooo a somewhat rare event in this country. Up to 1900-1 the blue and gold chequers did not bring much grist to the mill since they wore first unfurled in the early eighties. Prior to the latter date, however, their owner raced in a far more modest manner than what has been the case in recent years. Success, no doubt, well warranted expansion. Stonyhurst was the first notable winner, and he led out by winning the Welcome Stakes of 1884, and afterwards won the Champagne Stakes, Derby, and Canterbury Cup. The winning list of owners first published in 1892-3, and from that date up to 1896-7, Sir George Clifford's name was twice missing from the record of success. Up to 1890 ho won under £SOOO in stakes, and topped his first £IOOO in the following, season. When Clanranald became “lord of the harem” at Sir George’s u new era* commenced, and since then the bearers of the colours have always captured a fairly good share of tiie spoils of racing. During the past 13 seasons his horses have won over £BO,OOO in stakes, and since 1892-3 some tiling approaching £36,000 has been annexed by horses from his stable, and one must say- also his stud, as only on very rare occasions has Sir George raced anything outside of his own breeding. In the last 12 season the stable Has missed gathering less than £SOOO on two occasions only, and since 1807 8 the consecutive totals read; £7295. £6757, £7774. £6937, £12,030, and £BOOS. The grand total won by the blue and gold chequers now closely rivals the amount captured during the last 16 years that the late Mr G. G. Stead’s horses carried the yellow jacket and black can, which brought in about £IOO,OOO in stakes during the period named. Sir George Clifford and the late Mr Stead have been the only two owners that have won over £12,000 in stakes during any one season in New Zealand, and the last-named is the only owner who has won over £IO,OOO onthree occasions. The Messrs W. G. and G. L. Stead arc next on the list to Sir Gtorge Clifford, with £7287. Mr T. 11. Dowry won £5970, Air F. Hall £5850. Mr E. j; Watt £5475, Mr J. B. Reid £3830, and the Hon. J. D. Ormond, who won over £BOOO in the season of 1906-7 and 1907-8, drops to £2750. Close on 30 owners have won between lOOOsovs and the £2720 won by Mr W. Xidd, who is eighth on the list. There are, however, many crumbs missed bv the lucky stables, as about 400 owners have won totals ranging from £2OOO down to £75. A PIONEER SPORTSMAN, ihe death of Air James Hazieit removes one of the pioneer sportsmen, who in the early days lent valuable assistance towards making Otago second to none us it racing province of the Dominion, and their passing away becomes doubly regrettable, because the flow of time lias found hardly any men of similar calibre coming forward and attempting to fill the vacant places. Perhaps the future will help to fill the void they have left in our local snorting world ; but since the- day when Forbury Park was deserted by the Dunedin Jockey Club, our ranks of owners—who raced on a fairly liberal scale —has been painfully small. Prior to joining the late Air John Stephenson in a racing partnership, Air Janies llazlett raced horses in his own colours, but it was after the amalgamation of forces that both sportsmen became best known to the racingworld, and saw their colours identified with some of the best performers ever seen in the Dominion. In Lurline’s Dunedin Cup, run in 1874, Mi- James Ilazictt’s Atlas, ridden bp S. Waddell, finished third, being separated from the winner by Tempeiton. At the same meeting Mr llazlett won a race with a mare named Taffrail, and another running in the same ownership was a mare named Brunette. It was a long spell from that time up to 1592, when Occident won the Dunedin Cup after running into a place thrice previously, before Mr llazlett had his name identified with a Cup winner. Buck, however, came in a lump, as the following year the stable won again with Tempest, and four years later another success in the race was scored with Gipsy Grand, who was one of the best three-year-olds the writer has ever seen. Gipsy Grand won his Dunedin Cup in a canter by 20 lengths—a margin probably never identified with an important race on the flat in this country. With Hippomonos the stable won the first C. J.C. Great Easter, and the Challenge Stakes was also captured at the same meeting by the aid of tho St. Lcger gelding. The Great Autumn was won by Captain Webster, and other good winners for tho stable wore Taiaroa

(on whom Stuart Waddell terminated h’.s career in the saddle with a win). Captain Cook, Evcrtou Lad, Outpost, Hyacinth, Forbury, Marlin, Huguenot, Manner, V iscouut, Abercrombie, Lustre. La Hose, and many others that carried the colours with more or loss distinction. The stable was rather partial to Australian and Tasmanianbred horses, and some of their best winners wore purchased outside of Now Zealand, among them being Gipsy Grand, Occident, Captain Webster, and Captain Cook. Three of the best horses over sheltered by the stable had highly-promising careers cut short by acciden is when they were m winning vein, and these were Gipsy Grand Outpost, and Hyacinth. The late M James Hazlett was elected to the committee of the DunediQ Jockey Club in 187/, anc* filled the presidential chair of the club in 1883, and ' for many years occupied the office of vice-president. Some little time ago Mr Hazlett was elected a life member of the Dunedin Jockey Club, and after a brief spell from office was an active steward of the* club at the time of his death. D.J.C. PROGRAMME. The Dunedin Jockey Club's programme for next season has been drafted, and in addition to showing a substantial increase of prize money —going over lOOOsovs. some notable alterations and improvements have been made in other directions at the spring meeting. The Trial Plate is shifted to the second dav, and its place is taken by the Guineas, of 25Dsovs, and the inclusion of the new race will see the first day s card of the fixture carrying the Mosgiel Handicap, of 300sovs; the Dunedin Stakes, of 300sovs. in addition to the first-named event. On the second day the chief events will show stakes of 200sovs and ISOsovs. and the increase should make an excellent programme calculated to meet with the approval of owners. The summer meeting gets benefited to the extent of 80~ovs, and at the Dunedin Cup meeting the Champagne Stakes goes to ZOOeovs. the Dunedin Cun to lOOOsovs, and the Publicans’ Handicap to 350sovs. The last-named is to be shifted on the card, and will become the third last race of the day, instead of the concluding event. On the second day the Railway Plate has boon struck out and altered to the Hazlett Memorial, of 250sovs (an increase of lOOsovs). and instead of being for two-year-olds and upwards, over five furlongs, at w.f.a.. it is altered to a race for three year-olds and upwards, over seven furlongs, at w'oight-for-age; and the City Handicap, for two-year-olds, goes up to 150?ovs, and now becomes a, race more in keeping w th the Champagne Stakes and Hopeful Handicap (for two-year-olds), run on the final day of the fixture. The Dunedin Jockey Chib Handicap remains at SOOsovs and the Anniversary at SOOsovs. At the winter mooting, which has proved such a success in recent years, the Otago Steeples goes up to 350sovs and the Wirgntni to ?.50sovs. The first day’s Hurdles will be 175sovs. making it. the rehest run up to date at Wiiuratu and that of the second dav goes 'un to 150«ovs. The Birthday Handicap stands at. 400sovs. and the Provincial at 250-ovs. Minor additions increase the prize money attached to the Welters, and in addition to ihe financial aspect of the programme the club has made a most important improvement in abandon : nar the system of fixed penalties, and in future winners after declaration of weights will ho liable to a re-bandieap. The total amount of stakes to be given during the season will be 12.355g0v5.