Truf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 639, 16 April 1929, Page 12

Truf Notes

CONDUCTED BY "EARLY BIRD

Racing at Whangarei The autumn meeting of the Whangarei Racing Club is to be held at Whangarei on Thursday and Saturday. Hawke’s Bay Fixture The Hawke’s Bay Cup is to be run :iL Hastings on Friday, and the classic ! LB. Stakes, tU furlongs, is decided the i same day. On Saturday there is the ; important Ormond Gold Cup, weightl ur-age, one mile, in which most of our good horses are engaged. Jp a Couple In F. D. Jones’s estimation, Paquito improved 2st on the Australian trip, ;>nd gave every indication of developing into a high class handicap per- ; former. He is to be given an easy i time for a couple of months, and present intentions are to send him again with Limerick to Australia for the spring racing, the pair leaving toward the end of July. Spelling T. H. Gillett has given both The \ iscount and Leader a let up, and they are to be spelled for a couple of months. Judging by the promising form they displayed at the Easter meeting they should prove useful members of Gillett’s team during the new season While Count Cavour is also to be treated to a term in the paddock, it has not been decided definitely to retire him, as if he gives signs of standing further training, he will be brought in again In the spring. Sold Very Cheaply According to a report from Greymouth. Prince Ferouz was sold this week for the small sum of £2. Prince j Ferouz, by Demosthenes or Feramorz i 1 rom Cheloma. is now rising 11 yea t be was the first foal of the imported i English mare, who subsequently gave the itarf Falladeen. Nincompoop. Cheloid. Lady Seaborn and Chelone. Prince Ferouz has in his time won over 20 races, including the C.J.C., Riccarton Welter Handicap (4Uosovs), D.J.C. stewards’ Handicap, Waikouaiti Cup (300sovs). Greymouth Cup (350sovs) and Manawatu R.C. Cloverlea Nursery Handicap (40Usovs). Strephon and England Tn reference to Mr. S. Green's pro- ; posal to take Strephon to England, it j is stated that there are not a great ! many weight-for-age races in which ; Strephon could compete in England j next year, while at Randwick and I Flemington next spring there are half i a dozen which will jointly carry 'nearly £IO,OOO for first place. Five are at a mile and a-quarter or over, and, being a younger horse, it is reasonable to assume Strephon will improve much more than either Limerick or Winalot, who will be among his probable opponents next season, if he remains in Australia. Magna Charta as Hurdler The King John gelding Magna j Charta ran two sterling races at the j C.J.C. autumn meeting, and he is so ; well at present that it will not be long | before he is again led in a winner. This i winter lie is to be put to hurdling, 1 a,nd such a big fellow as he should do - well at this department of the game. At Riccarton last week he was sent over a couple of pony hurdles with Charlatan, and gave a very encouraging display. There is no reason why Magna Charta should not develop into a high-class jumper, for, besides having plenty of size, there is no doubt that he is a smart galloper on the fiat. ♦Landbird, a half-brother to Magna Charta, was a first-class hurdler, and among his successes was the Great. Northern Hurdles, an event he won in 1926.

Aussie Not Travelling Latest advices from Te Awarnutu indicate that Aussie will not make j the trip to Hastings for the Ormond I Gold Gup on Saturday. However. ; owner-trainer G. Paul will take Pa- I patu to contest the Hawke’s Bay Cup. More Youngsters By the Ulimaroa from Sydney this morning there arrived a big batch of yearlings, purchased by New Zealand sportsmen at the recent Randwick sales. Hunter Sold Terehu, the Awapuni gelding, who has produced some striking performances in point-to-point contests, having won the Manawatu, Takapau and Hawke’s Bay point-to-point steeplechase events in the 1927-8 season, has been sold to a South Island sportsman, the price being quoted at £2OO. Terehu has followed the Manawatu Hounds for the past three seasons, but his reputation extends much further afield. His former connections have secured Hillation (Provocation—Hill Lass) from Mr. C, F. Vallance, the well-known IVairarapa owner. This aged gelding was one of Mrs. A. McDonald’s string at Awapuni, but in future he will be found following the hounds locally. Whangarei Notes Trainer W. Stone arrived at Whangarei on Saturday with Schorr and The Begum. Both are looking well. George Reid was another week-end arrival with Lucy Rose and Glen Star. Work at tne Kensington racecourse during the week has been interesting. Welcome Home showed to advantage over a fast half-mile. McTavish is the probable rider for this horse in the race for local competitors at the approaching meeting, and good support will not be lacking. Exalted put on condition during his enforced spell, but is striding along in good style now. Nankin Blue is looking well. In a fast spin with Just Quietly one morning the latter took the lead and. kept it, showing that he is well forward. Sunny Morn is in fairly promisingcondition, looking fresh and bright, but may need a race before reaching his best. Michael, who will contest the hurdles each day, jumps well and has lair pace, hut is still to come solid. Gazerin and Blue Bonnet went well over five furlongs. The former went, the better and is not likely to be paying the price in the district race that she paid when she won at Kawakawa. Just Quietly is still going well in his schooling. He will be ridden in the hurdle events by McGregor. Creation has plenty of condition and is sprinting well. He may require a race before he arrives at his best. North Boy, by Some Boy 11., from a Gluten mare, has been doing nicely in his essays on the track of late. This horse has not been in* long, still he has plenty of pace. He is owned by MrMaria, of Kaitaia. Marton in Winter Entries for the Marton Jockey Club’s winter meeting are due to close at 9 o’clock to-night. The experiment to b© tried by the club in holding a winter fixture is a bold one. well worthy of support from the racing fraternity. Leading Sires The “N.Z. Referee” statistician, compiling figures up to and inclusive of 3rd inst., puts Paper Money at the head of the winning sires’ list with £17,717, the result of 64 wins and 187 minor placings. After him come Day Comet, £13,541, Lucullus, £12,837. and Lord Quex, £12,733. There is then a drop to Solferino. Chief Ruler and Acre all in the £ 9,000's with only a difference of a few pounds between them. As a sire of “classic” and w.f.a. winners Lord Quex is on top with 7 firsts and 10 placings, yielding an aggregate of £4,200. Under this classification Paper Money comes next with £3,250, then Chief Ruler £3,1.25 and Catmint £3,050. All these are. of course, exclusively New Zealand figures. Distance Racing

Those who have the welfare of racing at heart look to the metropolitan clubs to do their part in encouraging a better class of racehorse. The Epsom Turf Club took a bold step in that direction when it placed upon its February programme a mile and a-half purse corresponding to New Zealand trial stakes events. So successful was the innovation that the club repeated the experiment at its last meeting a. week ago. Owners responded with an acceptance of 21, and of these 18 went to the post. A large crowd saw a splendid race, in which the hurdle horse Quick Deal outstay r ed Malinche and Glynylln. Scoffers will probably say that the field that contested the race was weak, and that the value of the event, from the point of view of producing more stayers, was open to question. The obvious reply to that would be. that purse company is often the stepping-stone to much better things, says the “Australasian.” It. was in moderate company, at a “down-tihe-line” meeting, that, the brilliant colt Strephon first gave a taste of his quality. It only requires other suburban clubs to follow the example of the Epsom Club for better-class horses to bo produced, for the present regrettable dearth of stayers to be overcome. England's Totalisators

Thus a caustic London critic on the efforts to install the totalisator on English racecourses: Now if the Duce in Rome or General Primo de Rivera were members of the board, one or the other for certain would tell their colleagues that, though they profess to appreciate the difficulties, they are making no real attempt to grapple with them. Mussolini would say (assuming that the tote were part of the creed of Fascism) that there must be no more starting price betting in the country and that all betting must be confined to racecourses. The Spanish dictator would abolish bookmakers with no less compunction that he would scrap regiments of artilery. He would also close down two-thirds of the racecourses in the country, all. of course, minor ones. Thus there would be secured centralisation of racing and a totalisator without competition from bookmakers and made to be the recipient of a far vaster volume of betting than it could ever be concerned with under existing,conditions. Then there would be hope for the “tote” here. On the Schooling List A racing man has been forbidden alcohol by his doctor. He has now christened his medical man. “The Teetotalisator.” Embarrassing The film world has a. jargon all its own. For instance, a small floodlight is a “baby,” and the covering screen to subdue its glare is a “silk.” During the making of a big picture at Hollywood a mob of husky young stevedores was imported to take part in a crowd scene in which there were many ladies present. Suddenly the producer’s voice boomed out to his staff. “Now then. boys, tear the silks •off them babies!” And they say that for a short time considerable consternation prevailed.