SPORTING

Southland Times, Issue 18937, 10 May 1923, Page 3

SPORTING

NOTES BY SIR MODRED. Forbury Park T.C. Winter meeting opens to-day and extends over Saturday. Entries for the Dunedin J.C. Winter meeting close at 5 p.m. to-morrow (Friday). The stakes for the C.J.C. Grand National meeting in August will total up to £13,000. According to present arrangements the Egmont meeting should be brought to a conclusion to-day. The Victorian horse Purser carried 10.1 in the Glenhuntly Cup in which he proved •uccesaful a few days ago. Present indications point to the Southland flat racing contingent at the D.J.C. Winter meeting being smaller than usual. The Gore trainer, T. G. Pollock, will take Master Sandstone and Sunlit to Oamaru. The former is to undergo a spell in the near future. Australia's record two-vear-old winners: 1916-17, Th nee, £8.927; 1920-21. Furious.. £7,943; 1922-23, The Monk, £7,888, 1917-18 Outlook, £7,349. The Monk is by Absurd but the other three rank as descendants of The Welkin, sire of Gloaming. The Hawke’s Bay district is probably weaker in jumpers this season than for a long time. Kohu and Mountain Peer are the only representatives from the locality named in the Great Northern Hurdles, and Kohu and Oak Rose in the Great Northern Steeplechase.

The Wellington Post writer “Sir Lancelot" contributes some interesting particulars of the three New Zealand-bred mares recently despatched from Wellington to join Mr J. B. Reid’s new stud at Newmarket (England', the matrons referred to being as follows: —Kilcullen, by Kilbroney—Ester (imp*, by Bantry—Perspolis (own sister to Zinfandel, Ascot Gold Cup, etc., by Peraimmon. Kilrea, by Kilbroney—Arai-te-uru, by Idalia (dam of Sir Modred, Enid, etc. i. Gold Pippin, by Kilbroney—Orange Pippin, by William the Third —Field Sable, by Bend Or. All the mares are in foal to Archery to English time. Archery is by Tracery from Port Sunlight, by Sundridge from Wife of Rath (sister to Chaucer and half-sister to Swynford), by St. Simon.

Mr W. R. Kemball has apparently found ■the progeny of Kilboy profitable during the current season, particularly Kilns, which may account for the fact that he recently purchased the rising two-year-old by Kilboy—Hopeite. Mr Howard, of Gisborne bought the youngster at Hastings a few •days ago for 65 guineas and passed him on to Mr Kemball as stated at an enhanced price.

Lady Isinglass, the full sister to The Monk and Rational (reports “Glencoe” in the Dominion I has been handed to F. Carmont to train at Foxton. The filly, who is owned in the Thames district, has been broken in and is now doing pace work. Her trainer is very pleased with the way she «teps in her work and he thinks she will go as fast as her redoubtable relations.

The Canterbury Jockey Club will race next season on the following dates:—August 14. 16 and 18 (Grand National meeting) ; November 3,5, 7 and 10 (New Zealand Cup fixture) ; February 16 (Midsummer gathering’ ; April 21 and 22 (Easter meeting).

1116 luck of the racing game is proverbial. The Melbourne-owned two-year-old filly Columbia, by The Welkin—Orange Pippin, on being turned out for a spell broke a thigh and had to be destroyed. She cost Mr Miller 800 guineas as a yearling.

The well known Sydney trainers F. J. Marsden (Randwickl and W. Booth (Rosebill) are specially strong in yearlings, each having 17 in hand.

The jockeys L. H. Hewett, G. Lambert Jfad Herbert were in good form on the concluding day of the Bombay season—March 10. Lambert won on Stability, The Count, and the Australian-bred horse, Reciprocity; Herbert, on Grande Place and Golden J’ancy; and Hewett on Forfeit and Bahadur-ul-Mulk. both owned by the Maharajah of (Kolhapur.

In Melbourne recently N. Cowen and A. J. Dunignan, who kidnapped the well known Victorian bookmaker, Tobias Emanuel for the purpose of getting money from him—they demanded £soo—were found guilty •t the General Sessions and sentenced to 18 months each.

According to our American correspondent, the jockey, A. Johnson, who is only a youngster, earned about 75,000 dollars in iriding fees (equivalent to £15,000) last -season. It is said Johnson was also a good rwmner in bets. Earl Sande, inclusive of •wagers, is credited with having made about £25,000 yaat- year, and in fees alone C. Turner received £4OOO. From the foregoing, it is evident England is not the only country where a fashionable jockey can make a competence in a couple of years.

In view of the fact that New Zealanders are always interested in returns relating to operations of the totalisator in Australia, it may be pointed out that an estimate ■hows that at Randwick (N.S.W.) during the current season the average has been ■lightly over £4OOO a day greater than for the 17 days in the previous twelve months, and if that is maintained for the concluding three days of the season the turnover for the current turf year will be about £l,342,000 as against £1,261,633 15s, or an increase of nearly £70,000.

It is anticipated that Taraire. Grand Denver and Pedro Pronto will command the largest following in the Prince of Wales Handicap (2m. i at Forburj Park to-day. In the Flying Handicap Marvin Mac may be a warm first selection, while Dunedin ites will follow Norma Dillon and Southlanders may elect to go for Downcast.

The well-known New Zealand crosscountry rider, Stan Reid, is contributing a series of articles on his riding experiences to a Melbourne newspaper. The New Zealand jockey has been in the Commonwealth for some time, and has met with considerable success in the saddle. Referring to some of his experiences in New Zealand, Reid writes as follows: —“One incident I remember vividly was in regard to the intelligence of two racehorses. It occurred in New Zealand some years ago. I was riding Bon Reve in a steeplechase at Wellington when he fell at the last fence along with a horse named .Slight of Hand. Now neither horse had previously fallen in • a race, and evidently the experience was very strange to them—if not to us, the riders.

Alan McDonald was on Sleight of Hand.' and when he hit the earth he was about twenty ‘ yards away from me. Both horses began neighing when they got to their feet* and, strange to say, Bon Reve trotted over to where I was nn the ground and Sleight of Hand did the same to McDonald. The horses stood still near us, and one could really believe that they did so out of sympathy. That is an incident I will long remember. I had a great fondness for Bon Reve. You see, he was purchased by his owner for £2B in a ‘pound’ after he had broken down. That man put him to jumping, and I rode him in his races. Well, he won £3OOO in stakes when I was on him, so he was a good friend to me. Bon Reve was the same type of horse as Sir Prim—a splendid jumper and a good stayer. As a three-year-old be ran a dead heat for first in the Stewards' Handicap, won the Derby, the Canterbury Cup, and the Stead Memorial Cup, all within a space of a week. I had often heard of a horse in a hurdle race having made a jump at an obstacle, and, taking off too far, landing on the take-off •ide <4 the hurdle. Really, I did not think

it was feasible until one afternoon at the ! Riccarton course, Christchurch, it happened to. a horse I was riding. Ido not want it to occur again, as the horse, whose name was Otarara, crashed into the hurdle with his chest and threw me heavily. One can get a nasty fall in that way —I know j that much. Before concluding, I would | like to refer to an incident that occurred ! at Amberley, New Zealand. I had the mount ; on a mare named Fairy Finn, and, having j difficulty in getting down to the weight, i I rode her in a lib saddle. At the first hurdle one of the stirrup leathers broke. ; I went through the r&ce with one knee held | up to the height of the one in the stirrup. ! I won, but paid for the expert- I ence, the strain of holding my leg in j that position caused a contraction of the ■ muscles, and I could not walk for some j time after the race. I was somewhat * ■green' in those days, but now I know j the best plan in such a situation is to • take the other foot out of the iron— ‘ one can keep balance much better , then.”

RIVERTON RACING CLUB,

MEETING OF MEMBERS. An important meeting of members of the above was held in the Town Hall on Tuesday, Maj- 1 (reports the Western Star) when nearly fifty responded to the invitation to be present. The president (Dr Gordon• was in the chair. The chairman in opening said: One cannot help but feel keen regret that accommodation for the public, who so largely patronise our meetings, is so very inadequate, and can only hope that this general meeting of members called together to consider the advisability of improvements in this direction will give it their earnest and favourable consideration. Race clubs with but one meeting of one or two days each year are having a very bad time at present, and far from being able to carry out improvements are actually finding it difficult to make both ends meet; indeed some of them are likely to go to the wall. Our Club, however, is in a particularly happy position, its property being freehold and its finances sound. The property is worth some £5OOO as a farming proposition. During the last 5 years a sum approximating £5OOO has been spent on various improvements, among which might be mentioned the owners,’ trainers.’ and members,' stand, addition to caretakers dwelling, laying down of new steeplechase course—entailing big work of filling in two gullies, increasing frontage to inside enclosure and altering race track, fencing property, draining and plantations, purchase of new property. We have £5OO invested or on deposit, and £350 from our Easter meeting. Allowing for upkeep, it can be shown from the above that during the last five years we have averaged some £5OO or £6OO per annum on permanent improvements, and this should give you an indication of what the Club is capable of doing. point out, too, that the weather for our meetings during the last three years has been most unfavourable, wet and stormy, but in spite of this we have each time come out with a profit, where one might reasonably have expected a loss. In view of this I feel confident that this Club will prosper. We have not reached anything like our zenith, and, as was shown in 1920, there is no reason why the Club, given good weather conditions, should not make a profit of £2OOO or £3OOO. The appointments for public use we see in the case of clubs doing business about equal to ours, says Gore and Winton, put us to shame, and I feel that if we do not buck up and progress we will be failing in our duties as trustees for the public. I mention tentatively two schemes of improvements: —(1) Going on with the plan adopted after the war, which then would have cost £12,000, or more, and was postponed on that account or (21 improving the present stand by removing roof, extending seats 50 feet, and covering with modern roof. With regard to No. 1, this might now cost, say £lO,OOO, but I am absolutely op[>osed to jeopardising the Club’s strong position, and, unless the members are prepared to do the financing—and I hardly think this is possible, some modified scheme must be adopted. No. 2 scheme might run into £3OOO. You will understand these are merely suggestions to give you a lead, and later on you will have the opportunity, if you affirm the necessity for improvements, of saying what form they should take. The treasurer will now give you the financial statement, items of expenditure, etc., after which I shall ask you to proceed as follows : (li Affirmation or rejection of need of improvements. (2) If above be affirmed, to put forward some scheme or schemes ©f improvement, estimates of which to be secured, and the whole laid before another general meeting. If the scheme is adopted the general meeting will decide on the method of finance. The treasurer said that since 1918 the Club has spent £4481 in permanent improvements, purchase of land, donations, and other necessary expenditure. They commenced with £520 on fixed deposit. At the present time they had £5OO in war loan. The stock account had shown for three years a profit of £l5l. During the five years stakes had been raised from £2300 to £3750. For the five years an average profit of over £5OO had been shown. Mr T. B. Mclntyre said he was agreed that a scheme of improvements was a step in the right direction, but could not approve of an exj>enditure of, say £3OOO, on the old stand, when it would, at the most, give an extension of life of six or eight years at- the utmost, and then wipe it out. At the end of that time their money w r ould !>e gone and the building too. It would be far better if they invested it in a modest portion of a new building. Had they the accommodation of, say Gore or the Southland A. and P. Association’s stand, that would be insufficient to give shelter to the racegoers who patronised the Riverton meeting. Then there was the promise of a reduction in taxation, which would assist them in their scheme. Mr Robert McNeill said he would be sorry to see any money spent on the old stand, which was a wooden building. In his opinion, the racing man cared very little about grandstand accommodation. One had only to visit such courses as Wingatui, Riccarton or Trentham to see how futile it would be to endeavour to house the great gatherings on those courses. He would be pleased to see any expenditure effected on a new building. Mr T. Trail said it may be that the cost of building would be considerably less than when the Club received estimates for their £lO,OOO scheme. He would favour getting an architect’s estimates of the two schemes mentioned. Mr C. de Clifford said it was evident that some scheme of improvements was necessary, and he had much pleasure in moving: “That this meeting affirms the necessity of going on with some scheme of improvements for public accommodation at the Course.”—This was seconded by Mr F. Trail and carried by a three-fifths majority. Mr.R. McNeill then moved: That the committee be instructed to procure information to lay before members at a later meeting as to what extent the sum of £3OOO I would go in the way of extending the life i and accommodation of the present grand j stand, or £4OOO in the way of building a i permanent structure, part of a larger scheme. This was seconded bj' Mr Buddle and carried unanimously. Mr E. J. Stevens asked what percentage would be forthcoming for the money necessary to carry out the scheme. —The chairman said the financial arrangements would be decided by members at the next meeting. ASHBURTON RACES POSTPONED. (Per United Press Association). ASHBURTON. May 9. The Ashburton races have been postponed owing to the weather till Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19.

GOLF

AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP. (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, May 8. In the amateur golf championship, Withers beat Sidney Fry 5 up and 4 to play Ouimet and Williams, who were regarded as the most dangerous of the Americans, -are still undefeated. INVERCARGILL LADIES’ CLUB The following is the draw for the Silver Button: — Miss Tucker v Mrs Jones. Mrs Pottinger v Mrs Carr. Mrs Handyside v Miss Forbes. Miss Oughton v Mrs Mitchell. Mrs Henderson v Mrs Haggitt. a Miss Lillicrap v Miss Haggitt. Mrs Ferguson v Mrs Cruickshank.

ROWING

INTER-STATE CONFERENCE PERTH, May 9. (Received May 9, 7.10 p.m.) The inter-State rowing conference appointed a committee to draft a constitution for the board to control Australian and New Zealand representation at the Olympic Games, and other international fixtures. It is understood’that an additional argument advanced against permitting New Zealand to compete the inter-State contests was the difficulty of accommodating more than six crews on some rivers.

CRICKET

ENGLISH COUNTY RESULTS. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, May 8. The principal County cricket results are: —Yorkshire 93 and 83 for 1 wicket beat Glamorgan 63 and 112. R. Kilner took six wickets for 26. Lancashire 239 and 163, beat Oxford University 226 and 119. Hall, the South African representative bowler, playing for Lancashire, under birth qualifications, took 6 wickets for 23.

Surrey 91 and 216 for 2 wickets (declared) beat Somerset 140 and 157.