THE TROTTING TRACKS.

Otago Witness, Volume 1851, Issue 3809, 15 March 1927, Page 60

THE TROTTING TRACKS.

By Adonis. lyolting at Wyndham on Wednesday. , he card for the Waimate meeting on Thursday carries two events for pacers. Excellent nominations have been received for the Timaru meeting on March 26. Spring Chimes can be ticked off to enters high-class company. .Lingfield is at the top of her form, and a win for her is not far ahead. Arctotis is a promising young trotter that will be seen, on metropolitan tracks later on. Vitalis is still speedy, but his legs aro not too sound. s Cocoa is no champion, and for him to be a winner the field will not need to be a very strong one. More than one trainer would like to have Desert Star in his stable. The Centralowned chestnut is a bonny pacer and a great stayer. The southern mentor A. M'Lellan has Quickmatch pacing well, and the Harold Rothschild gelding is shaping like an early winner. The Gore-owned Perfectation has pace a-plenty, but as yet has not learned how to control it. She was one of the field of four that went to the post for the last Trottincr Stakes at Fortuity. The Great Bingen gelding Sea Hawk has a fine turn of speed, and is niceiy placed in the Novice at Wyndham. He is highly strung, but age should have a steadying effect. Sunstorm was whispered about for a race at Invercargill, but .he lifted badly just after the start. He is in at Wyndham. Mac’s Lady would break the heart of the Sphinx. In her work at Forbury she reels off slick miles, but with the colours up she can seldom be persuaded to go away with the rest of the field. Dawson Bingen won both the mile saddle heats at Invercargill very easily. He is credited with being able to step much faster than the winning times recorded against him. If the support accorded Brentwood at Invercargill was justified he should be one of the hardest to beat at Waimate. • Storm Bell is a sweet pacer, and she won her two races at Invercargill so well as to suggest that she will trouble better class fields later on. Vasiliki did not get away well at Invercargill. but showed a lot of pace when he did hit his hobbles. He likes it best in saddle, and is nicely placed at Wyndham. Nelson McElwyn can step a merry mile and a-half, but is fidgety at the post, and liable to give away more than his handicap. The southern mentor A. MT.ellan has sufficient horses in his stable to hold a trotting meeting of his own. They are all winners, too. When the touch of winter softens the trotting tracks Macaranda will be worth following. The deeper the going the better he likes it. W. J. Tomkinson has moulded Ebzear into a real trotter, and by next season she promises to be on a tight mark. She has already proved a great bargain for owner, Mr G. J. Barton. Nelson Derby has probably run his last race. The present intention is to put him to the stud in the Otago and Southland districts. Author Jinks is going to prove a great advertisement for Author Dillon. Highclass company for him in a season or two!

Wattle Patch is trained up Central way, being from the stable that sheltered that good old free-Jegged battler Darkest. Wattle Patch is a six-year-old by Bon Patch. Mirella is not at home over two miles. She likes it best up to a mile and a-half. ■Scottish Maid will not be friendless if she sports silk at Waimate on Thursday. Neither of the two fields is a strong one. IN A NUTSHELL. It is estimated that there are 10,000 bookmakers in England. - Several youngsters by Nassau will be offered at the Sydney bloodstock sales. Sheik is again in regular work at Addington P. Riddle’s charge. Nominations for the Beaument and Tuapcka meetings are due on March 23. Nominations are due on March 25 for the Southland Racing Club’s meeting. Birkenella is reported to be getting into good shape for the cross-country meetings. Acceptances for the first day of the Oamaru Racing Club’s meeting are due today. The Newmarket Handicap winner Gothic cost ISOOgns when sold as a yearling in England. A sister to Windbag is amongst the’ yearlings to be sold in Sydney at tEe Easter sales. Heroic has won about 39,90050 vs in stakes, and _ with success at the A.J.C. autumn meeting may top Gloaming’s record of 43,10050v5. The death is reported of James Lawson, who was for many years a prominent trainer in Southland. Nominations for the three-day programme to be got off by the Riverton Racing Club are due on March 25. Nominations are due Friday next fpr the C.J.C. Great Easter Handican and Great Autumn Handicap. Footfall, Centrepiece, Count Cavour, and Countersign have all been shaping well in their work at Riccarton. Desmosthenes was never a prolific foalgetter, and is represented by only three yearlings at the Sydney sales. As a result of an injury to one of his eyes earlier in the season, it is said that Boomerday may not race again. The imported horse Pantheon cost 2400gns in England, and has won over 10,000sovs in stakes in Australia. The value to the winner of the Australian Cup was £2465, against £2865 when Pilliewinkie won last year. lhe Vincent Jockey Club has sown their track down in grass, and the improvement in the going should help to popularise the meeting.

Heroic’s list is reported to be full for two seasons at 250 guineas. A proved horse does not receive so much in this country. Epilogue, the winner of this year’s V.R.C. St. Leger. is a grandson of Marie Legraye. who is also the second dam of Songbird.

The principal events at the next Forbury Park meeting will carry stakes of 700sovs for a 4.32 class. There will also be a 2.15 class on the programme. It is feared that the promising two-year-old Callanmore is developing trouble in the respiratory organs. He ranks as a halfbrother to Piuthair and Clarinda. Spearfclt started third favourite when he won the Australian Cup. He is the first horse to win the Melbourne Cup and Australian Cup in the same season. The New Zealand-bred pony King Tut (King Lupin—Miss Advance) was amongst the winners at a meeting recently held at Kensington Park. T. Green contiiities to ride with remarkable success and promises to develop into one of the leading horsemen in New Zealand if he does not run to weight. H. M'Sweeney’s disqualification of one year would automatically expire in May next, but the Taranaki District Committee has decided to remit the balance of the term.

The two-year-old Excess, who was amongst the runners at Napier Park last week, is a youngster by Kilbroney from Fulsome, the sister to Humbug and Epitaph. According to accounts and opinions of the field that contested the V.R.C. St. Jx?ger Limerick will not have particularly strong opposition against him in the A.J.C. St. Leger. 'lhe Umaru Trotting Club’s programme appears to have attracted a record nomination list, and there is more than ample material engaged to make the meeting highly sucessful. D. J. Price broke a spell of bad luck bv winning with a two-year-old at a recent Mentone meeting. The youngster was backed from tens to threes, so that the stable evidently had a win. Cosmetic is reported to have furnished out nicely since she joined S. J. Reid’s stable at Trentham. She has a rare turn of speed, and should show improved form when next seen in publie. A rider at a recent Warwick Farm meeting was fined 2sovs for excessive use of his spurs. The simplest remedy for that sold; of thing is to have all spurs examined before "being used. To encourage stallion owners to nominate for the proposed Sires’ Produce Stakes, which is to replace the New Zealand Trotting Stakes, a portion of the stake should go to the nominator of the sire of the winner. The 1700-guinea yearling sold at the Melbourne bloodstock sales was got by Woorak from Golden Beauty, by All Black from Mistral, by Havoc from Aura, and so is closely related to Desert Gold on the dam’s side. Egotism, who ranks as the dam of Autobiography. contributed to the loss of Ben Deelcy’s license. She unseated him twice when going out for a race at Trentham, and finally another rider had to be procured. If the Waimate meeting did not clash' with the Wellington autumn meeting Ric-carton-trained horses in Assurance, Front Rank, Sayanora, Countersign, and Paper Boy might possibly have been raced at the first-named meeting instead of at Trentham. Mr H. Payne, who has decided to take up his residei j in New Zealand, is a well-known rider over fences and hurdles in Australia, where he’was associated in the saddle with Les Paddington. Palbi, Bard of Avon, and other good performers. _ The Victoria Amateur Turf Club decided not to hold steeplechases during December. January, and February, as the ground is too dangerous for jockeys.

Jockeys and trainers oppose the decision, declaring there is no undue danger in the summer months.

Mr B. S. Irwin has purchased the estate owned by the late Mr H. V. Fulton, and may go in for breeding on a small scale. The estate runs to over 100 acres, and Mr Irwin would make a very welcome addition to our somewhat limited list of bloodstock breeders.

Op a,, who won the Napier Cup run last week, is out of a sister to Orloff, who won the Dunedin Cup, New Zealand Derby, Welcome Stakes, and Champagne Stakes. Orloff met with an accident when taken across to r.ace at Randwick. First Acre is a half-brother to Opa. It is reported that all the races at the Kaikoura T.C’s. annual meeting were run over a longer journey than stipulated on the programme, the pegs having been moved back from 24 to 48 yards, resulting in the times being much slower than have been recorded in the past. Lady Ideal, who got amongst recent winners in the north, is a smart sprinter. She had the bad luck to bump across Ruffles at the last Wellington winter meeting in the Petone Handicap run over five furlongs. Ruffles was regarded by those who knew him best as unbeatable. The Newmarket further demonstrated that weight will stop the best, and that it pays the punters to be guided by past results of any big handicap. Most of us (says. “Pilot”) could see nothing bur Heroic (10.3) and Valicare (9.13) in it, and neither was ever really dangerous. A half brother by The Welkin to Bonnie Winkie sold at 225gns when under the hammer at the recent bloodstock sales in Melbourne. Top price for one of The Welkin’s stock was 650gns, paid for a colt from Flowery Speech, a marc imported to New Zealand by Mr J. B. Reid. If good fields mean good sport there should’ be some interesting racing at the "Wyndham Trotting Club’s annual meeting, to be held on March 16. Excellent acceptances were received for every event on the card, and it promises to be a successful gathering of light harness sports. It is reported that Mr Otway Falkiner was anxious to buy Footfall when on a visit to New Zealand. The writer endeavoured to get a price on Footfall when he raced as a three-year-old, but Mr C. G. Dalgety declined to name a figure. Footfall was once on offer at 1500gns, and would have been cheap at the price. A correspondent of a Melbourne sporting paper suggests that, prior to the conclusion of their turf careers, a match should be arranged between Heroic and Manfred. It is suggested that the match should take place during the Duke of York’s visit to Melbourne, and that the horses be sent away from a moving start.

The Demosthenes gelding Kalakaua has made a very promising start over hurdles. One of his best performances on the flat was a second to Askari in the Feilding Cup run last season. Kalakaua seemed to 'be a bit too ambitiously placed iflien racing on the flat, but has sufficient size, speed, and stamina to develop into a good jumper. Horoscope, who captured the Farewell Handicap at Flemington (Vic.), was bred by Mr W. G. Stead, at Flaxmere. He is a four-year-old son of Absurd and Lady Ball, by Demosthenes—Sunlight, by Birkenhead —Bonheur. Horoscope was a failure last season, as out of eight efforts he finished outside of a place upon each attempt. The straight six at Flemington, with its tan crossings, is apt to puzzle some horses, and~ prior to the V.R.C. autumn meeting Newmarket candidates were allowed to gallop on the course. Valicare ran six furlongs in 1.144 with her shoes on and under a good weight. She consequently came into great favour for the big sprint. It is possible that Stormy. Sir Rosebery, and Breezy may be taken to Australia. /Sir Rosebery may be found in the field for the Oukaparinga Steeplechase of 3000 sovs, which ranks as the I’ichest stake given for jumpers in Australia. Stormy won four races on his last trip to Australia. Breezy is a mare by Swift Flight from Gipsy Martian. The Newmarket Handicap winner Gothic is a son of the defunct Tracery, and, foaled in England in 1923, he was imported to Australia the following year. His dam, Sundrilla (late Torpedera) was bred in France in 1915, imported tCf the Argentine in 1916 (where she had produce), and thenco to England in 1922. Before being sent to England she was served by Tracery, and the resultant progeny of that mating is Gothic. ■ Some expensive juveniles carried silk at Flemington during the autumn meeting. Among them was Avant Courier (brother to Valicare). for whom the record yearling price of 5500gns was paid. He finished third in a nursery handicap, won by the Paper Money youngster The Wensum. Sion (a 4100gns yearling) was third in the Ascot Vale Stakes. Glengariff, a 3800gns yearling, won her first race in Sydney recently. The double “tote” is in general use at South African meetings, and occasionally there are some excellent dividends. At the Eastern District Sporting Club’s meeting at Johannesburg on January 29 there were only two tickets on the winning double, and each lucky backer received £6OO for £l. For the first leg there were 12 runners, and the winner started at 12 to 1; while for the second there were 18 runners, and the winner’s price was 7 to 1. In. the State of New York last year six clubs held 163 days’ racing, the prize money totalling a little over £446,000. The annual report of the State’s Racing Commission says the thrce-year-olds were'* unusually good, and the two-year-olds, as a whole, above the average. Mention is made of th© fact that the 627 yearlings sold by auction at Saratoga Springs averaged £607, and that is not surprising, as New York is not the only State where" valuable stakes can be won. Kentucky and Maryland aro others of note. In England in 1926 the stake-money distributed was £700,153, or a little over £15.000 less than the previous year. Scotland advanced from £30,724 in 1925 to £37,148 last year, and Ireland dropped from £71,325 to £70,839. The number of horses which ran in the three countries was 4643, against 4690 a year earlier. There were more races over a mile than in 1925, and the number of races of five furlongs and under six furlongs decreased from 656 to 627. The stake-money referred to is that for flat-racing only. The largest entry ever made for a race in America is that for the Futurity (for

two-year-olds) to be run at Belmont Park (New York) in July, 1929. It is, of course, for this year’s produce, and, in addition to the 2082 mares nominated in New York in January, nominations were expected from England, Ireland, France, and Germany. The added money is £5OOO, but it is expected’ that entry fees, forfeits, and sweepstakes will increase the total value to at least £20,000, of which the winner will get about £16,000. There are 267 owners represented, H. P. Whitney leading with 101 nominations. An Auckland scribe expresses surprise at the fact of a mare being raced after she had produced a foal. It will be remembered that Celerity produced a couple of foals in this country before she .won some good races in Victoria. Rubina, the dam of (Machine Gun, produced Vandal, who ran third in the New Zealand Cup, and subsequently raced for two or three seasons before being finally retired to the stud. Titania was another good performer - who raced on after having a foal. During her racing career she produced a piebald pony, but there was no trace of the mesalliance in her subsequent foals. H. P. Whitney was the most successful owner in America last year. He raced 58 horses, and of those 49 won, Croyden, with eight, scoring most wins. Mr Whitney’s total in prize money was approximately £81,230 (not dollars), and even that fell short of the stable’s 1923 total of £07,800, nearly half of which was won by Zev. With the exception of two, Mr Whitney bred all his last year’s winners, and an American paper in stressing the value of American blood states that not one of Mr Whitney’s 49 is eligible for admission to the English Stud Book. The biggest earner was Macaw, whose six races carried £9210. He is by Peter Pan, a son of Commando. The following clipping from the Evening News of India will interest the Sydney friends of W. Barnett and L. H. Hewitt: —“We are promised race for the - Bombay jockeys’ championship this year. At the moment Barnett is in front with 12 successes. Then comes Clarke with 11 winners, and Behsman and Hoyt are close behind with 10 and 9 firsts respectively. Byramjee and Hewitt are running level among the trainers, each having saddled 11 winners up to date.” Hewitt was an instantaneous success as a trainer, and though Barnett has been riding many years he is evidently as good as at any previous time in his career.

At a dinner given by the Tenby (England) Racecourse Executive to owners, trainers, and jockeys on January 12, Mr Hugh Peel stated that national bunt sport was in a healthy condition. In November and December there were 2700 starters at 27 meetings, and this clearly proved there was an increasing interest being taken in what is undoubtedly the national sport, and also indicated that the bets tax had not crippled racing, as some people prophesied. Instead of the sport diminishing it was extending, and he instanced the Wincanton course, which has recently been laid out by Lord Stalbridge, and mentioned that there, was a new course in process of construction at Taunton.

In a reference to Spearfelt, winner of the Melbourne and Australian Cups, who had to be brought up by hand for a period in his foalhood, Mr A. B. Paterson, writing in the Sydney Sportsman, remarked: “Stunted as a foal, the brown son of Spearhead took a very long time to thicken out and come to his full development, but the iron constitution of the Musket family stood to him, and he has now grown into one of the most shapely and stoutly-built horses on the turf, which is another argument against stuffing and pampering yearlings in order to sell them for big prices. Here is a youngster that had the world against him from the start, and yet he has grown into a racehorse good enough to win the highest honours. It is not unusual to hear some jockey or other spoken of as “close” with his money. Better that than too free. There is no difficulty in recalling jockeys who ran into a lot of money and were “good fellows” in their successful days. When their lean days came no one wanted them, and all they could do was to look back with regret to when they threw their money away. The English jockey Maidment was one of the latter. In the late ’sixties and the early ’seventies Maidment was one of England’s nftst-sought-after jockeys. He won many important races, but, never saving anything when he had the opportunity, was glad of assistance from several quarters before he died recently in his eighty-third year.

Some time ago Concliff created a most favourable impression at Epping when he ran a mile and a-half in 3min 21sec (2nrin 14see to the mile). He was nominated for various events at Auckland, and the handicapper treated Concliff reasonably well, as he was handicapped on 4min 32sec (2min 16sec to the mile) for two miles, and 2min 47Jsec (2min 14scc to the mile) for a mile and a-quarter. As Epping is not as fast as the New Zealand metropolitan tracks (says a Sydney writer), it does appear as if the New South Wales representative has not been harshly treated. It has invariably proved that horses from Australia when taken to New Zealand improve on their times registered at home. Concliff was purchased a couple of months ago by a patron of W. J. Tomkinson’s stable. The stewards of the Western India Turf Club (Bombay) are of opinion that owners should not leave too much to their trainers, and for a long time past the following notice has appeared in that body’s Racing Calendar:—“lt has come to the notice of the stewards that numerous owners of racehorses take little or no interest in the management of their horses, and leave themselves entirely in the hands of their trainers. In the interest of clean racing, the stewards considerit essential _ that owners must interest themselves in ■.♦ the management q.f all horses owned or partly owned by them, and they hereby warn all owners that in the event of any case of neglect of this duty coming to their notice they will refuse to accept entries from such persons. For the above reasons the stewards 'have, already decided not to accept the entries of certain persons.” •_ This year there will be a poor field both in respect of quality and quantity for our St. Leger. As usual, there may be one or two started more with a view to second or third. money than any belief they possess a winning chance. This is my reason (says “Pilot”) for writing that St. Leger fields emphasise the luck of buying and racing. Despite the large number of year-

lings offered annually in Sydney and Melbourne—it passes the 1000 mark this autumn—St. Leger fields are generally small, with not more than two possessing a winning chance, and occasionally the absence of the undoubted best three-year-old of the season gives a classic win to another several pounds its "inferior. Lucky indeed is the yearling buyer who gets something that develops into a first-class threc-year-old, and luckier still if it goes through without some ailment causing it 4° miss some race that might have been a certainty. In America, racehorses’ ages date from January 1, and some clubs lose no time in putting on two-year-old races. There was one at Tijuana on New Year’s Day, the distance being a quarter of a mile. There were 13 starters, and a colt named Proctor Hug won in 23 2-ssec. As his totalisator dividend was at the rate of a shade over even monev, his galloping ability was no secret. In the third week of the meeting the distance was extended to three furlongs. Nine races were run at the shorter distance, and of these two each were won by Proctor Hug and Some Fashion, and three by Romance. The fastest time was 23sec. At NewOrleans, two-year-old racing commenced on January 1 at three furlongs, nine races being at that distance in the opening three weeks of the fixture. There were eight different winners, only one youngster scoring more than once. The best time was 35 2-ssec.

In connection with a growl in Melbourne that some trainers are using dangerous plates, I have heard similar complaints in Sydney (writes “Pilot”). Cajole, who made a reappearance at Moorficld recently, had to be eased up for a few weeks owing to a cut sustained in a race, and her stable companion, Bairn, is still wearing a bandage on one of her hind legs, owing to a similar happening in the Challenge Stakes at Randwick. At Canterbury Park Melia was so severely cut through being galloped on that her racing career ended a little sooner than her owner intended. An ordinary plate will, of course, inflict a nasty wound if it strikes with anything like full force, but when cuts are almost razor-like there is the suggestion that someone is taking the risk of using plates that closely approach one or other of the makes barred by the- Australian Jockey Club, and displayed for every one to see in the paddock. Evidently Concliffe is all the good horse Australian writers claimed, and in the Waipa Handicap he was responsible for an attractive performance. He soon made up most of his handicap, and (says the Auckland Star), with three furlongs to go was waiting n the leaders. However, at the Lome turn he appeared to be completely boxed in on the fence, and his backers could not have held out much hope for him. Rockburn was just, in front of him with .Anselm on the outside, while Goldman loomed up and Concliffe was surrounded. There was no chance of pulling out and going round, but with half a furlong to go J. Shaw had to hit Rockburn -with the whip to try and keep Anselm off. This caused Rockburn to swerve out, not very much, but just enough to allow Tompkinson, who was driving in a narrow sulky, to shove Concliffe through. Onge he got that run he had his field beaten, and though he won by less than a length, it might easily hate been more.

Back in 1888 the late Tom Payton won the Newmarket Handicap for Mr James White with the three-year-old colt Cranbrook. The distance (six furlongs) was covered in 1.144, and the people wondered at the exhibition of speed. To-day (says the Globe) we find a son of Tom Paten training a mare that proved capable of going over the same ground as Cranbrook in an ordinary gallop, with shoes on, in two and a-half seconds better time. What is in store in the way of speed for the generations to come in the next 40 years no man can tell. If anyone had suggested to Tom Payten before his death that there would be qj. flyer in the next decade equal to beating Cranbrook’s record by two and a-half seconds, it would have caused him to smile broadly. No doubt he foresaw that speed must increase as time went on, but he could have hardly anticipated the coming of a phenomenon like Valicare. Bailey Payten, her trainer, is very proud of the bonny little mare, and he is happiest when she is in sight. After his long absence from Australia E. De Mestre, who has made his mark in England as a trainer, could not help being favourably impressed by the way racing is carried out in Sydney, especially at Randwick. However, he also noted that the element of luck enters into results to a much greater extent than. in England. Anyone who has seen racing in that country must admit it is so. The longest straight run home at any of the five “ horse ” courses in the Sydney area is a few yards over two furlongs, and (says “Pilot”) there are no races on straight tracks. In England practically every course has a straight track, ranging from five furlongs up to a mile — Newmarket has a mile and a-quarter—and in the longer races there is generally a straight run home of from three and ahalf to five furlongs. Therefore a little bad luck before reaching the straight does not tend to settle a horse’s chance in the same manner as in Sydney. On English courses it is rarely possible to make much excuse for a beaten horse or jockey. There are various ways of assuring the defeat of a horse, and one that appeals to some owners and trainers is to put qp an inexperienced lad and tell him to do bis best. They are quite aware (says ‘ Pilot”) it will approach a miracle if the horse flukes home, and it is very difficult for the stewards to interfere. The trainer can claim he is quite justified in giving an apprentice in his stable a chance. Before he can ride in a race an apprentice must bo passed as capable by a steward, and then the trainer cannot well be told he must not give him a mount. The stewards are quite as well aware as the trainer that the inexperienced rider is being put up principally with a view to lessening the horse’s chance of success, but cannot take the owner or trainer to task unless the boy deliberately does something wrong during the running of. the race. Although some owners and trainers growl if handicappers do not make allowance for defeat in the circumstances referred to. such failures do not deserve the least consideration; in fact, to meet such an insult to his intelligence, any handicapper would be justified in allotting a horse a pound or two extra, just to.’ convey to the owner and trainer his opinion of their all-too-palpable monkey

cunning. It would be flattering to call it intelligence. There has never been a long and continuous outcry against the Betting Tax in England, and it has been freely predicted that it would ruin racing and breeding. Mr R. M’Neill, M.P., Financial Secretary to the Treasury, does not think so, and in a recent speech said: —“The machinery for collecting the tax is working perfectly smoothly, and, I am informed, a good deal more smoothly than we actually anticipated at the outset. The agitation against the tax comes from the bookmakers. and from what are known as professional backers. They are not the people upon whom depends either the success of racing or the industry of horse breeding, but they are people who” tell us that the result of the tax will be that there will be another bet made. All I can say is that if that prophecy comes true we shall go down in history as the .greatest moral reforming Government of any age.” (Laughter and cheers.)' Mr M’Neill said he certainly regarded bettting at the degree it was carried on as a widespread folly, and to many people it was more than a folly—it was a vice. “Therefore,” he said, “even if it were to have the effect foretold, we should certainly have plenty of supporters in the country, and we should have no reason to be ashamed. But I do not believe a word of it, and neither do you?* Mr W. M G. Singer, a member of the Knghsh Jockey Club, is at present on a vsit to Australia, and, of course, was interviewed on the subject of English racing. In reply to a question concerning Coronach, Mr Singer said he was a good horse b " t ,| Us answer suggested ho was doubtful whether he was a champion. He evidently holds a high opinion of Solario. Mr Singer does not believe the betting tax will produce anything like the revenue anticipated, but says it was not affecting attendances when he left England ; in fact, Newbury, in which he is interested, showed as compared with last winter. Mr Singer pointed out that French horseshad won handicaps in England because they were leniently treated, and not because of the deterioration of the English thoroughbred. Massine was the only French winner of an English weight-for-age race of recent years, and the year he took the Ascot Gold Cup Inkerman was about the. good stayer they had in England. It was almost at the last moment his owner, decided he should be a runner, and A. Taylor really did not have an opportunity of getting him fit. I might add that another reason why the older French horses should beat English horses in July is that they have more opportunities for running in long races prior to that month. Mr Singer mentioned that the Jockey Club had asked several of the clubs to put distance races on their programmes, and this is expected to have a good effect upon England’s stayers. Last week the writer ran across an old friend in Bob Dent, who has not been met for years. He has dropped out of an active participation in racing, but once was one of our leading trainers. In the old Forbury Park days he handled a team, and it seems but yesterday that the writer rode with him after training operations to the Bay View Hotel, and looked through the stable. The Bay View Hotel stables in those days were associated with “Jem”Smith, Frank Parker, and Sid Parkes. The “Jem” Smith of those days is now the Sir Joynton J. Smith, one of the magnates of Sydney. Bob Dent removed. a false impression from the writer’s mind. It was thought that Dent took Maxim to California, but that is not the case. The horse he took over was July, a full-brother to Si» Modred, who had been particularly successful at Mr J. B. Haggin’s immense stuffy but was getting into the sere and yellov# leaf. Sir Modred was replaced by his own brother, who got several good winners, but did not prove anything like the success or his more famous relative. It was “Jimmy’' Webster who took Maxim to California on the selection made by Sir George M’Lean, and Mr J. B. Haggin was so pleased that he sent out Del Paso as a present to •the Warrington stud. Mr J. B. Haggin also made an offer of 2000sovs for a season of the Musket—Pulchra horse St. Clair, but Sir George M’Lean did not feel inclined to fall in with the proposition. Sir* Georgs told Mr Haggin that St. Clair was a small horse, but the famous American studmaster replied: “I don’t care how small he is— I want his blood.” Many years have elapsed since then, and the Musket bkxxf is again coming to the front.