SPORTING

Southland Times, Issue 17454, 22 June 1915, Page 3

SPORTING

NOTES BY SIR MOORED.

Mr Gerald Stead’s horses The Pole, Tim Doolan and Sauci, now racing in Victoria, have won nearly SOOOsovs in stakes in New Zealand this season.

The name of Egypt has been claimed for the full brother to the crack two-year-old >p£ the season. Desert Rose. The Zealander Mr Spencer Gollan lias not altogether retired from racing in England where lie now resides. During the lust week in April The Bimkin carried the colours of the ex-Hawke s I’.av sportsman and dead-heated with tiie filly Flash of Steel in the Ely Plate. The Bimkin is a three-year—dd cek by Ladas —Blm, by Bill of Portland —Fuda. hy Maxim—Fair Nell-

Pommern. winner of tiie Two Thousand Guineas and Derby, was bred hv bis owner. Last year Poinmeru won the Imperial Produce Stakes a; Kemptou Park, and the Richmond Stakes at the Goodwood meeting. In the Craven Stakes, run at Newmarket a fortnight ago. Pommern was beaten hy Rossentiale. Polymelus. the sire of Pommern. was at tiie head of the winning sires’ list last season with the total of £29.(HIT. He is by Cyllene from Maid Marian, by Hampton from Quiver, by Tuxopholite. and bougiit and raced by Mr David Faber, who sold him it Newmarket in September. 1906, for 4200 guineas. Mr S. R. .loel being the new owner. For Mr Joe! lie won tiie Cambridgeshire Handicap. and in the following season the Princess of Wales’s Stakes. worth fISOO. so lie proved a rare bargain in double quick time At the stud Polyjrelus has had a rapidly successful career. In four years he lias become premier stallion, and now In- lias a. Two Thousand Guineas and Derby winner to start the present season with. Merry Agnes, the dam of Pemmcrn. is by St Hilaire, son of Bt. Simon and Distant Shore from Agnes Court, hy Hampton from Orphan Agues, by Speculum from Polly Agnes.

The expenses of the race meet ins held at Epsom (Victoria.* lust week in aid of the Belgian Belief Fund, were defrayed by one or two sportsmen. Messrs A. and G. Tye donated £2-"i> towards the trophies and expenses, and Mr .T. D. Heilly paid the balance of the expenses.

It is stated on good authority that in deference to tiie wishes of the militarv authorities the winter meeting of the Wellington K.G.. ti>'he held next month, will be a "dry" one.

The New Zealand horse Di Gama is Bow being trained at Caulfield by his owner. E. C, Davis. Meanwhile trainer J. O’Neill lias returned to Ntw Plymouth to get the Kokey—Tea Cup filly, a half-sister to Di Gama, purchased in Christchurch as a yearling in November last for 320 guineas.

•'Collectively speaking tsays a Gisborne writer* it is a long time since we have had a worse lot of horses in training than is the case at present. The best of the local lot appear to be those that have broken down at one time or another, and then been patched up. Taken on the whole the future is anything but bright in the racing line locally ” Surely the writer is adopting a despondent tone with regard to a district which has produced many winners of important •ertakes during recent years.

The tVellington correspondent of the K.Z. Sporting and Dramatic Review furnishes an instance of the smallness of a dividend returned by a straight-out winner, which may be found useful in the course of an argument which frequently crops up :—"The writer will remember being present at a race gathering held on the Porirua beach, on Boxing Day. December 26, ISS3. when the District Handicap of one mile and a half, in which there were only two starters, viz.. Mr Whitehouse’s b m Stella and Mr J. H. Prosser's blk g Dynamite, lined upat the starting post. The former won easily, but there was only ft' on the toialisator. and consequently Stella returned her solitary supporter IS shillings. which is probably the smallest dividend ever paid by a first horse in Xew Zealand. There have been instances where horses who have dead-heated for first place paid a smaller dividend than that attributed to Stella, but they are very rare indeed.

Mr J. O'Meara's Fashion Plate, a superior hurdler of the past, is being spoken of as likely to succeed in contests across country prior to the close of the season. The daughter of Fashion and a Natator mare is a hold fenoer and has a considerable amount of pace. She may race over the country at the Wellington K.C. Winter meeting.

A Sporting and Dramatic Review scribe remarks : “The double El Gallo and El Gallo was laid by one New Zealand penciller at £IOOO to 2. That amount Invested on the machine in Use first race and the proceeds played up on the next would not have brought in more than a twenty-fifth of that sum. Betting owners are always being told to wait for the day. and if they conform to the rules and conditions under whicii they nominate cannot help themselves lo tin- good things bookmakers sometimes offer them, under the fear of the penalty of being disqualified. They chui't all accept the conditions as binding, however, and we know of plenty of good punter-own-ers who do not hesitate to do a line ■with the pencillers.

The Great Northern double winner seems to have been another instance of the cheap horse turning our a lug stake winner. El Gallo was sent to tile sale ring by his breeder. Mr Vercue. where he was knocked down to Mr Graham at 2.1 guineas. The latter sold the son of Spalpeen and Lobelia for 2‘*o guineas and a further 100 guineas mit of tire first four wins. Lolrtia was raced by Mr Vercoe. but was a moderate and won only a few small races.

P. Jones, the Ellerslie trainer, must have found the mythical philosopher's stone. Two doubles at Takanuna and one each at Egmont and Ellerslie is by some people reckoned something over the odds for a trainer to capture lu one ■eason.

GOIP. AMERICAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP. (Times and Sydney Sun Services). LONDON. June 2". Received June 21. 5.45 p.m. J Travers, won the open golf championship of America. Gravers (holder.i was last year defeated by F. Ouirnet in the American amateur champion by 6 and a. The American open championship last year was won by Waite;- Hagin, with Chas. Evans, jun.. runner-up.)