TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3147, 8 July 1914, Page 49

TALK OF THE DAY.

Ex Sentinel.

THE WELLINGTON MEETING. Tho Wellington Racing Club have every reason to feel highly gratified at tho excellent acceptances received in connection with the first day of their winter meeting, and it only requires favourable weather to make a very successful gathering an assured thing. The field winch has paid up for tho Wellington Steeplechase contains several of the best ’chasers in training, and in botii quality and numbers would be quite as good as one c-ould espect Jo see lace the starter for a Grand National. Glcnmore, Paritutu, and three or four others of lesser note are the only withdrawals Rom tho race, and if the present field should go to the post it will lonu one of the most interesting events ever decided between tho flags at Trentham. A solid stake of lOOOsovs is attached tb the event, and it will be interesting to note if the race provides such a good sporting event as it at present looks on paper. Peary, The Spaniard, Bercola, and Jackman fotm .a quartet that it would be a pleasure to see race over fences, and, with several others thrown in to ’add further zest and interact, the club can bo considered fortunate to bo able to place each an attractive event before their patrons. La Rcina and Glenfiunan arc tho most notable withdrawals from the Parliamentary Handicap, and it is a matter of mild surprise to tind the latter missing, as reports from Riecarton credit the gelding with shaping .veil in hie work. The withdrawal of sum as Player, Kihneny, Morning, and Goodwin Park reduces the interest in the Winter Hurdles, and although there is still ample material left to furnish a good race, still one cannot but regret that tho best goods are not to be seen in public on that occasion. Morning is engaged in a hack flat race, and Cheddar figures amongst tho acceptors for the Victoria Hurdles. Royal Arms is booked to make his debut over the “small sticks” in the VV inter Hurdles, and if he has acquired any proficiency at tho business his presence in the field should help to make matters interesting. Still, it is tho lot of few to win the first time out over hurdles, as a couple of faulty jumps will generally discount pace to no small extent. Taken all round, the card for w the opening of the meeting roads of a rather attractive nature, and should go a good wav to build Trentham into prominence as * the natural hub of racing in the Dominion. D.J.C. AFFAIRS. It stands as a self-evident fact that the unusually strong demand for seats on the committee of the 'Dunedin Jocßey Club marks a much keener interest in the affairs of the club than has been the case in the past. It is very pleasing indeed to note tliat such is the case, 'because if tiicre is only a scintilla of suspicion abroad that any stagnation exists in the control of affairs _ the growing demand for office should effectually dispel any tendency of those at present in charge to wear the leaden boots which move too slowly on the road of progress. It is jndisputaoly a that considerable progress has been made in connection with racing at Wingatui. Accommodation has been added to again and again, stakes have grown season alter season, and those who can conjure up a mental picture of the Wingatui of 10 years ago and that of to-day must grant a fair measure of praise to those who have navigated the club to its present position. There is, however, no denying the fact that the progress recorded has savoured just a little too much of the tortoise and not enough of the hare, and it is on this account that some supporters ot the club are desirous of seeing a little new blood infused into the old body in order to stimulate its vitality. Anyone who cares to study programmes issued by other clubs holding fixtures in Otago, Southland, and South Canterbury must be struck with the fact that our metropolitan meetings, apart from the Dunedin Cup fixture, stand in danger of being strongly rivalled, if not perhaps overshadowed, by the stakes' given at the semri-metropojitan” meetings. Compare, for instance, our Birthday Handicap, of 400-sovs, the Mosgiel Handicap, of 3Oosovs, the Provincial Handicap, of 250sovs. -with the North Otago Oup, of 4Oosovs, the Oamaru Cup, of SOObovs; or tho value of our steeplechase event, in comparison with the stakes hung up at Riecarton, and speak lowly in a small whisper of the 65Cteovs added to tho Invercargill Cup and the SOOsovs attached to the Southland Cup, and ask if it reflects to the credit of the Metropolitan club. Everyone is, of course, anxious that racing should progress by loans and bounds in North Otago, Southland, and, generally speaking, on every track south of the Waitaki; but at the same time it is clearly up to the metropolitan body to dominate the position by leading tho way all the time and every time. Our so-called off meetings should be at least as good as Or better than any held in connection with the semi-metropolitan meetings. In fact, there should bo no .“off” meetings at Wingatui. There is, however, no desire to stress or labour the comparison, but merely draw attention to a general idea that is abroad. Compare the territory which the D.J.C. has to work and draw its natrons from with that of any other club in the district, and there is only room for one conclusion. It is true that the Dunedin Jockey Club was compelled by force of circumstances to go warily and ‘caut'ouslv in tho matter of finance owing to the heavy expenditure it is under to build un the Wingatui Racecourse and its attendant programmes. A couple of unlucky mcet'Ugs (and not a few have occurred at Wingatui) would in all probability have sent the club back and administered a blow from which it would take some time +o recover. That is all read ly granted, and with thanks to those who have held the purse-strings; but now the time seems opportune, if not over-ripe, to launch out and make bolder efforts to recover the prestige ■which-Dunedin meoi’lngs enjoyed in the good old days, when thev attracted horses from as far north as Auckland, and our chief events were contested by the best in the land.

E LECTIONEERIN G

There is more than usual canvassing going on in connection with the election for seats on the committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club, and those interested are ‘‘tipping” the likely winners. It seems a foregone conclusion that Mr A. C. Hanlon and Mr J. Smith are certainties; and to those members anxious to see them retained in office a reminder is given that the club onco_, lost a valuable committeeman because everyone thought everyone else would vote for him, with the result that when the votes were counted they- found a good man minus a seat. The members of the club are quite as competent as the writer, perhaps more so, to sum up the merits and claims of the gentlemen standing for office, and anything' said hero may not wield, any influence at the poll. The temptation, however, cannot be resisted of saying that in the writer’s opinion it would be beneficial to the interests of the club if more horse-owners wore on the committee. There ar<? some, it is true, and it is somewhat strange that their horses do not make a great deal of use of Wingatui as far as training operations are concerned. It must not, of course, be taken that the writer is impertinent enough to suggest that a horse-owner should not have his horse trained where and how he likes, but- the point to be made is that more, interest would bo taken oh the tracks if more committee-owned horses were Habitually trained on the course. It is for this reason that attention is drawn to the fact that amongst the candidates for office is Mr W. H. "L. Christie, a gentleman interested in a fairly largo team of horses, under the control of his brother, who works his charges on our tracks. Mr Christie’s participation in the sport and training operations is not of a superficial nature, lie is frequently on the scene during traintug operations, when they become interesting. prior to each meeting. Ho can find sufficient leisure from business to witness racing at Riecarton. Timaru. Ashburton. Waimate. Oamaru, Gore. Invercargill, and elsewhere, besides attending at Wingatui; and if sucij interest continued in even a much smaller degree; the fact suggests that he would be a valuable man to assist the club in its affairs. It may he taken for granted that Mr Christie would endeavour to improve and keep as perfect as possible the Wingatui tracks, in order to make trainers more anxious to use them, and so build up the interest in our meot’.ngs by the training which precedes our fixtures on the racing calendar. It is not in the slightest degree known if Mr Christie is particularly anxious for office. It is to be hoped that he is, as it seems a natural conclusion that a horse-owner and lover of racing is the right man for a seat on the committee. There are four seat's, and it would give a general satisfaction if one of them fell to his share of the votes, and if by chance a scat should not bs obtained it is to be hoped that, like King Bruce’s spider, ho will try again. A DISASTROUS DERBY. Of course, there is no end of discussion about the Derby, one of the most unsatisfactory races ever run for that event, and wiseacres arc trying to demonstrate from the fact that the winner traces to a native American source that stud book purity is unnecessary. It is true (says the. ‘‘Special Commissioner ” of thobSportsman) that .The Medley mare from whom Durbar II descends cannot be connected with tho English Stud Book; but since her time a number of crosses of the best blood ■ have been put in, and Durbar II occupies a similar position to- Shogun, Clorane, or any of the famous “H. 8,” horses dealt with in Miss Prior’s excellent stud, book, which has just been published. As a matter of fact, it is not strictly correct that Wanda, the great grand-dam of Durbar 11, has not been recognised in the English Stud Book, for two mares out of her are actually registered in it—Wantage Bello and another, —whom for the moment I forget. Under the new' regulation, however, no further branches of this family would be admitted, and Durbar II himself would be ineligible. That he is a very useful, staying colt is undeniable, but he is by no means a high-class Derby winner, and in anything like a docent race Kennymore and Brakespear would, assuredly have beaten him. The American blood in Durbar II is somewhat remote, for not only is he by Rabelais, but his dam is by the beautifullly bred Meddler, his grand-dam by Hanover, and his third dam by that groat French horse, Mortemer, who ran with immense credit to himself in this country. As to Kennymore, it remains only to hope that he has not had his temper permanently ruined. He was quiet enough for about seven minutes at the start, and then was upset by being kicked on one of his hocks, and. by the clamour o.f the utterly inconsiderate crowd. That under normal conditions ho would have won the race easily I firmly believe; but the Derby, under the shadow of the Calcutta Sweepstake, bids fair to be utterly ruined, so many horses being started without having been trained for the race, or even schooled at the gate. The tendency must be towards always increasing fields, unless the conditions of the sweep bo altered, and we might find 50 or 60 runners going to the posh in the near future. TROTTING UNDER SADDLE. An interesting American movement back to saddle-racing is .reported by Breeder and Sportsman. The subject is sure to appeal to a army of followers of the trotting game in this country. More than ICO years ago, says the journal, the Norfolk trotters were raced in England, ridden by professional jockeys, while, after trotting was transplanted in this country, racing was confined to events under saddle until tho growth of tho fashion of driving trotters on the road, and the later development of the sulky and light waggon caused a revolution in the sport that has led to the present-day style of conducting our meetings The regulation way of racing trotters to sulky is perfectly to us who have attended harness meetings regularly for years, but it is no easy task to induce outsiders, those who are not on intimate terms with the horse, to become members of our flock. Fewer of the young men to-day are familiar with trotting horses than was the case 10 years ago, and unless we devise some way of attracting the rising generation to our favourite sport, it is bound to languish so far as attendance is concerned. There' are now more forms of outdoor sport* to interest young men than was the ease in the olden days, which makes it doubly perplexing in devising a scheme whereby they might be attracted to the scenes of harness racing. Races under saddle, wo believe, would prove drawing cards of considerable value to those promoting trotting meetings, while at the same time they should offer a means of handicapping horses that should

work to perfection once such events became general. Uhlan (1.58), the world’s champion trotter, is now one of C. K. G Killing’s saddle horses, having been retired last fall from the harness turf, after having secured about all the records that a trotter could possibly obtain. It is to be hoped that his owner will sec fit to show the thousands of his admirers how fast a record lie is. capable of setting for trotters under saddle. The example would tend to interest other owners of harness .horses in such performances, and might be the means of eventually loading to a series of saddle races being arranged along the line of the Grand Circuit. There could be no prettier sight on a harness course than a race between six or ciglit good trotters, under saddle, -with their riders dressed in colours, riding breeches, and boots. Let us hope at any rate that before the close of the coming season we will experience the novelty of seeing a race of this nature.