TROTTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3828, 26 July 1927, Page 57

TROTTING.

FIXTURES. August G, 10, 12. —Metropolitan T.C. ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. Sweepstake (Invercargill)—Cameo is a <-ix-year-old gelding by Great Audubon from Aliss Florrie C. At the Invercargill meeting he ran second to Chimcr. TRACK TALK.

By

Adonis.

EARLY AND EXTREAIE SPEED. Considering the shoit time he was bleeding trotters, Henry J. Schlesinger, o( Alilwaukee, made a remarkable record in the matter of producing early and extreme speed (-ays a New York writer). His first

top-notch two-year-old came to the turf in 1920 and he is now credited with KJ of thein- Captain Schlesinger a couple of! yars ago sold his stock farm in Kentucky and ii-Ost c( his trotting stack to W. AL \\ right, ol Chicago, and transferred his horso-brecc’i-ig activities to the runners. If the degree of success which attended his. efforts with the harness horse is continue*!! in the new field the next few years should fin.l him near the top among the breeders of winning two-year-old thoroughbreds. Moccasin 2.09 i, and Petrol 2.1'0, two juveniles by Bclwin 2.06 J, gave Captain Schlesinger his first prominence seven years ago as a breeder of two-year-old trotters. Only about half a dozen top-notchers of this age earned fa.-t records the following year, and none from the Schlesinger farm was among them. But in 1922 it was represented by Brandy-wine 2.10, winner of the Horse Review Futurity in competition with such cracks as Jan e Revere 2.0&L The Senator 2.06 J, and Thompson Dillon 2.C9J. And besides this Futurity’ winner Conclave 2.10, and Crawford 2.093, were credited to the Wisconsin breeder. The campaign of 1925 added none to the list, but in 1924 Alargot 2.093. Poppy 2.063, and Sumatra 2.07 A made up for it by winning the Horse Review Futurity, the Rainy Day Sweepstakes, and other important Grand Circuit races. Charm 2.09 z, and Station Belle 2.07 i. two fillies that accounted for both divisions of the 15,000 dollars Rainy Day Sweepstakes and beat everything of their age except the invincible Peter Maltby 2.06 J, broup'bt further prestige io their breeder in 1925, before he sold their sire and their dams to Wright. Captain Schlesinger thus bred 10 top-notch two-year-olds in six years, and every one of them earned a record of 2.10 or better at that age. To show how exceptional has been the success of Schlesinger, Look, and Coxe, it is interesting anil perhaps not offensive to compare their records with that of the great nursery of trotters established by L. A 7. Harkness at Walnut Hall Farm, in Kentucky. Three or four stallions and more than 100 brood marcs compose this stud, which produced the then, champion two-year-old trotter Native Bello 2.073, s ° long ago as 1909, and seven years later the other champion, The Real Lady 2.o’i. Apart from these sensational fillies only Native Spirit and Bondella (1914), Ammunition 2.11 i (1920), and Guy Hall 2.10 i (1921) have so far gained records fast enough to distinguish them as top-notch two-year-olds. Right here it is pertinent to remark that Walnut Hall Farm sells its entire crop of yearlings by auction every year, leaving their development to the 30 or 40 different owners who buy them at the sale, and who turn them over to almost as many different trainers to de-« velop and drive. Th© colts that have given! Coxe, Look, and Schlesinger their outstands ing success as breeders were, on the other hand, almost without exception retained by their breeders, who put them in tho hands of such experts as Joseph L. Serrill, Ben White, Walter Cox, and Thomas W., Murphy, who have few equals and qp superiors in handling baby trotters. Tho striking contrast in the results obtained can hardly be accounted for on any other hypothesis than that much of the success of the three small breeders must bo attributed to their superior management of tho colts, as distinguished from that of tho average buyer of the Walnut Hull year-' lings.

AN APPRECIATED CHANGE. A recent addition to Rule 273 of tho Rules of Trotting prohibits a handicapper from altering the class attached to any race, and the first race to be so affected is the Stewards’ Handicap, to be run on tho opening day qf the New Zealand Aletropolitan Trotting Club's meeting next month. The race is for straight-oub trotters and the class is 4.44, but not. one of the field of 12 has failed to step well inside that gait. Ingle Bingen, Audobcll, Great Bell, and ’Frisco Bean are handicapped on 36yds, or a 4.41 mark. As a norther writer says, under the old rule these horses would have appeared on scratch, and tlie remainder of the adjustments set out accordingly. Thus it would appear that horses which had previously been handicapped on 4.41 had in electrical fashion been let out to 4.44. Jhe position was a false one, for instead of these horses being assessed at 4.44, the handicapper hail adopted the principle of making the class 4.41. The result was that when subsequent' handicaps appeared, many critics maintained that absurdities existed in connection with handicapping, directing attention to horses being on scratch in a 4.44 class on one occasion, and on 4.41 on another. The addition to ihc rule will be appreciated by the owners and the public, and nrobably by the handicappers. I OAAIARU TROTTING CLUB. The annual report of the Oamaru Tinting Club states, inter alia:—“As in previous years, the club's race meetings proved successful, both from a sporting and financial point of view. The Labour Day gathering was attended by the customary large attendance usually recorded at this fixture, while the winter meeting attracted a record number of acceptances, ami, m addition, the receipts from gates, totalisator. and other sources of revenue constituted a further record so far as the winter meetings were concerned. The erection of new buildings on the Oamaru racecourse reserve is being rapidly pushed ahead, and the committee anticipates that the next October gathering will be the last meeting to be held on the present grounds. The committee regrets to report the death of Mr J. J. Henderson, a member of the committee for many ycars.He was one of the most I respected members of the community, ami a general i'lvourite with all. By his death North Otago lost the services of one who

SHORTER SKIRTS. Alon take as much interest in the fashions these days as the ladies, and most of them (the men. we mean) will be interested to know that fashion bulletins predict even shorter skirts! “ Well,” said one prominent business man, “ I'm in favour of it. If tho women want to be comfortable, let them.” “ Well.'’ said a friend, “their comfort costs a bit ol money. My comfort costs me only Sd per oz loose. It’s Bears’ Smoking Tobacco, and it's cool ami comforting. Also in handy packets—loz 9d, 2oz Is 6d.~ -Ad\ t.

could be called a sportsman and a man. During the year Mr. W. K. Dooley resigned from his seat on the committee, after occupying the position for many years, and Mr J. O’Connor was elected to fill the vacancy. To fill the vacancy caused by Mr Heuderson’s death, Mr D. Clark. Totara, was elected. In accordance with the rules of the club, the following members of the committee retire, but are eligible for re-election: —Mr Al. J. Hannon, P. C. Hjorring, D. Clark, F. G. Taverner, S. Dalgliosh, J. O’Brien, and J. Eadie.”