RACING AND TROTTING

Southland Times, Issue 23229, 18 June 1937, Page 10

RACING AND TROTTING

News —Prospects—Results

I ■ ~ Racing June 17. 19—Hawke's Bay J.C. June 19—Greymouth J.C. June 19—Opotiki J C. ’ June 26—Ashburton County KC. June 26—Dannevirke Hunt Club. July 3—Manawatu K.C July 3—Oamaru J.CJuly 6. 8. 10—Wellington H.C. July 17—Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. July 17—Walmt.te Hunt Club July 24—Rangitlkl Hunt Club. July 24—South Canterbury Hunt Club. July 29. 31—Poverty Bay I.C. July 31—Christchurch Hunt Club. frottlng June 19. 23—Auckland T.C. (By THE CURRAGH) The Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting opens tomorrow. The Hawke’s Bay, Opotiki and Greymouth Jockey Clubs will hold meetings tomorrow. The local horses which raced at the Dunedin meeting are now having an easy time of it. Tudor carried 12.1 into second place in the Winter Steeplechase at Auckland, a sterling performance The Pink Coat—Tray Bond filly in T. E. Pankhurst’s team has done well of late and is a very promising sort. Corban took part in the meet of the Birchwood hounds at the Turi and is reported to have lumped very well. At Addington last Saturday, no fewer than .24 horses were scratched from their engagements. War Buoy and Gamble are in work at Yaldhurst in anticipation of the August meeting at Addington. Lord Vai’s supporters declare he was a good thing beaten on the final day at Ellerslie, it being alleged that his rider was over-confident. C. Eastwood, who has been attached to a Fordell stable for some time, has decided to settle again at Riccarton, and was on the tracks on Monday. Clarion Call’s next appearance will he made at Trentham in July, after which it is intended to take him to Riccarton for the National meeting. M. McCarten continues to win on two-year-olds in Sydney and some critics there declare that he is the greatest rider of youngsters ever seen in the Commonwealth.' Waitaka, who has been entered for the Ashburton meeting, is a stranger to the South Island. He is owned by Mr W. Hosking, of the Auckland province and was brought south recently by J. S. Shaw Double Shot came through his strenuous racing at Wingatui in good order and moved freely when doing easy pace work yesterday. It was intended to race Western Song at the Oamaru meeting, but he went lame after working a few mornings ago and will probably now be turned out for a spell. Milford has finished racing for the season and will now be given a holiday. He had a particularly good season under R. McLellan, who worked a big improvement in his manners. The grass tracks at Invercargill could not be used yesterday owing to a very heavy frost. The sand track was used by a few for easy pacing. There is very little work being done at Invercargill at present, most of the horses having gone into retirement for the winter. The balance-sheet to be presented to the Racing Conference shows that the expenditure for the year ended May 31 exceeds the income by £660 3/1. Polar Star is an interesting entrant for the steeplechase at Ashburton. He has been schooled over hurdles and shaped fairly well. An easy going customer, he may do well over the big timber. _ * The imported mare Fantine, who is owned in Wellington, but had been in the hands of R. B. Berry was recently transferred to J. Henderson’s stable at Oamaru, but, as she showed no likelihood of improvement, she is to be mated with David McElwyn. Answer to correspondent, “Mac”: Native Chief was bred and owned in Southland by Mr J. Duffy, but did his early racing in the north. He was trained in Southland in 1930 by B. Rushton. He raced here in 1930 and 1933. He started at the Winton meeting on November 19, 1930, and raced in B. Rushton’s colours. There was a good deal of merit in Sky Pilot’s second win at Ellerslie. He was checked when Tea Chat blundered in the first round, and later his rider lost an iron, but the Riccarton gelding won comfortably by over two lengths. The veteran Valpeen gave polished exhibitions of jumping at Ellerslie, and although he has apparently lost a lot of his old dash his fencing ability should once more make him a force to be reckoned with in a Grand National. Wykemist and Dozie, who cleared out from the only other starter in the Park Steeplechase at Napier, raced neck and neck for the last six furlongs. Wykemist nearly jolted his rider off at the second last jump, but had hishead in front at the last and was beaten only by inches. Dozie’s rider saved ground by cutting the corners, otherwise Wykemist would have won.

Day Comet came back into the limelight as a result of the recent racing in Auckland province. He is sire of Irish Comet (Great Northern and Winter Steeplechases), Sky Pilot (a double winner at Ellerslie), and Allegretto.

The disappointing grey pacer Racketeer has had several changes of stables since he first came from the West Coast with a reputation for speed and stamina, and he is now under D. Motz at New Brighton. Racketeer has yet to win a race in Canterbury.

Totalizator investments for the official year amount to £3,756,357 10/-, plus £143,514 10/- on trotting events decided at race meetings. Trophies to the value of £3320 10/- for racing and £5B 15/- for trotting were added to stakes. In connection with racing there was a distribution of stakes amounting to £297,960 and £12,108 for trotting events connected , with race programmes.

The well-known gelding The Tiger met with an untimely end at a meet of the Taranaki Hunt. The pack had been called off, and followers were taking the last fence of the afternoon.

The Tiger swerved when in the air and fell heavily when landing. At first it was thought he was winded, but closer examination revealed an injury to the spine and paralysis of the hindquarters. He was therefore destroyed. Swordsman, the Auckland trotter, has earned a bad reputation because of his breaking in races, but according to latest reports he is trotting more solidly than ever before, and he may have to be reckoned with in the Stewards’ Handicap on Saturday. Swordsman has a lot of speed, but in races where steadiness of gait is the main consideration he is not the ideal racehorse. At Riccarton on Tuesday after Bull Throttle (E. J. Jennings) had jumped the two pony hurdles well, he was joined by Conception (G. Linton) for a turn over the two hurdles in the straight. Full Throttle went over them in good style. Conception blundered at the second, losing her rider. She was taken out again and went over four safely, at a slow pace. The very promising Southlandowned three-year-old, Coherto, failed to win a race at the winter meetings in Canterbux-y. He showed up well for a mile and a-quarter in the All Age Stakes at Ashburton on April 10, but subsequently lost all form. A good spell will probably put the gelding m condition for tne big events that will be decided in Southland at Christmas (says The Christchurch Star-Sun). The'Australian-bred trotting gelding, Carl, has been purchased by the Addington trainer, J. Siebel. Carl won the trotters’ division in the Australian Derby for three-year-olds, and the ability he showed attracted the attention of owners. Among those interested was the late W. J. Tomkinson, and eventually Mr G. J. Barton purchased the gelding. In private, Carl has shown a lot of speed and he can stay. If age helps him to gain confidence, he should prove a good investment for his new owner. Several remits are listed for next month’s Racing Conference that seek to make conditions in apprentice races more like real racing. In such races the riders are prohibited the use of whip or spur. It has long been doubted whether this is in the interests of the boys, particularly as such races are meant to provide contests in which apprentices can better gain confidence under actual racing conditions. The Executive Committee’s and Hawke s Bay District Committee’s remits propose to delete the prohibition altogether, and the Manawatu Racing

Club’s and Canterbury Jockey Club’s remits go half the distance and propose to delete the prohibition against i the use of a whip, while still forbidding | the use of spurs. Pelmet has been in steady work for the last few weeks, and is coming to hand satisfactorily after her long spell from activity (says The Press, Christchurch). She is an interesting entrant for the open event, the Maronan Handicap, at Ashburton. Others nominated for the meeting who have not been seen in public for some time include Sir Hugh, Happy Night, Colombo, Solwit, Hostage, Tunneller, Tea Um, Spearmarch, and Carfex, while young horses booked to make their debut include Elegy, and Locknit, who have both been showing encouraging track form. The former is by Posterity from Desmaris and Lockit is a brother to Miracle. In replying to the toast of his health at a sporting gathering in Auckland, the Minister of Internal Affairs asked if any racing man could expound to him the basis on which permits had been and were being issued. He undertook to say that none could do so, because racing had grown, “like Topsy.” The time had arrived when the basis would have to be reviewed. The sport should not, in his opinion, be confined to the centres of population, and he was keen to re-establish the breeding of light horses so that farmers and their sons could breed, school and ride them. Mr Parry said that a law, passed in 1914, which had remained a dead letter, gave the Government all the statutory powers it needed to develop horse breeding, and he advised: “Push for all you’re worth; you won’t get aid unless you do.” The Adams Memorial Handicap, to be decided at the Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting on Saturday, promises to provide a great race, and another meeting between Stirling Lady and Nervie’s Last will be awaited with interest. In the final race at Ashburton Stirling Lady, receiving 24 yards from the Auckland pacer, was in front for the greater part of the way and scored a decisive win. Nervie’s Last is not generally regarded as a two-miler, but (says an exchange) in Saturday’s race he will receive 12 yards from his Ashburton victor. In some of the charts that are so regularly issued before meetings the name of Stirling Lady does not appear in the list of acceptors for the Adams Memorial, but the Methven mare is likely to take a very active part in the finish. Nervie’s Last is an unhoppled pacer, a good-man-nered racehorse, and a rare fighter in a hard finish.