SPORTING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 227, 7 January 1911, Page 7

SPORTING

RACING FIXTURES. Jan. 21, 23, and 25—Wellington R.C. Summer. Jan. 21 and 22—Foxton R.C. Annual. Feb. 1 and 2—Pahiatua R.C. Annual. Feb. 15 and 10—Taranaki J.C- Autumn. TURF TOPICS. (By "Moturoa.") Punters are now spelling. Mississippi is troubled with "the slows." The Taranaki Cup will be "run next month. Rawinia is a slippery bit of goods up to six furlongs. Reported that 500 guineas failed to buy Red Lupin. The Auckland Cup winner, Waimangupaid a false price in the Grandstand Handicap on Tuesday. Paul and Smilax were the only double ■winners at Stratford.' With the exception of Danube and Delegate, rank outsiders won on the concluding day at Ellerslie. The Bar Vons are liow a thing of the past as far as Taranaki is concerned. Wonder will Parliament change its mind next year? One neddy at Stratford refused to trot because he couldn't hear the meat bouncing in the cart behind him. Fact! Orton upset a hot pot in Culprit in the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie, but it •was a close thing—the judge said half a head. The programme for the Taranaki Jockey Club's autumn |Cup) meeting is advertised j n this issux Hinekorangi was taken down to Bulls for one race—the Telegraph Handicap—and well backed, hut did not finish in the first half-dozen. The wires were ticking Mahara for the Hack Scurry on Tuesday, but the moral had to be content with second place to Seaweed, who won all the way in the good time of 49- 3-ssec. First Mate was very dirty at the post on Tuesday, and the few cuts Coleman gave him only aoured him more. He Tan in the rear all the way. Judging by the remarks passed after the trotting Tace at Stratford, that tame and dreary affair will disappear from next year's programme. This was the only dull patch on two days of interesting racing. Sandy Paul ran a fifty per cent, tetter norse on the second day of the meeting, and some of the wise men of tlit. turf were watching nothing else in the final event. The chestnut looked well gone at the bend, but made up a lot of ground in the last. furlong, and just snatched second dividend for his supporters. Backers of Shining Star on Tuesday realised the difference between hack and open company. The son of Daystar led all the way in the Midhirst Hack Handicap, and his backers would not hear of defeat when he tackled the big race on the second day. When the field ran out . of the straight, Shining Star got all the worst of the bumping, and that seemea to take the steam out of him. He finished "absolutely." There will be a lot of bookmakers out of work when the end of the month rolls round. On January 2nd there were no less than 45 of the loud-voiced fraternity licensed at Ellerslie. Stratford had ten, Tauherenikau nine, Hastings eight, Waikanae ditto, and Bulls the same. It is impossible to record the probable number of bookmakers who were operating away from "the coarse.

After missing three times when the j shekels have been put in, ST. Bill man- f aged to win in the Welter at Bulls on ' the second day. Ilis party staked heavily, and their money was never in doubt. ■ Amongst the "also ran" division was the -i aged mare Daisy Paul, who must be t getting very ancient these day*." That old age is no bar tfj success in the case of some horses, applied to the veteran Lord Soult at the Rangitikei n meeting. In the Clifton Handicap the „ bay gelding led all the way, and easily J accounted for the favorite, Equitas, in n lmin 15 4-ssec for the six furlongs. \ Small fields faced the starter each day t at Bulls. The Rangitikei Cup was con- a tested by a poor field of five, Merri- r vonia scampenng home on her own. One j race drew two runners, two only saw a s trio under silk, and in another race four horses lined up. Still, the public punted ' merrily, and the tote returns showed a c smaller shrinkage than one would \ imagine from the poorness of the fields. ( Highden's display in the Cup at Ash- , hurst was decidedly disappointing. The i { locally trained horse moved sluggishly, ] and was never within striking "distance \ of the leaders. Probably he is feeling < the effects of so much racing on hard 1 tracks, and a few weeks' spell would < put him right again. Vi, and the hack, • Merry Frank, raced together until with- , in a few chains of the winning post, , where Goodwin Park came through and split the pair, Vi winning by a bare length. • The Karamu stable claimed a winner at Hastings on Monday in the shape of the racy-looking filly Kithara, a 3-year-old daughter of Birkenhead and Guitar. The filly accounted for eleven others in the Maiden, winning by three lengths, and covering the five and a-half fur- '■ longs in lmin 9sec. Sinn Fein was beaten a long way from home in the Midhirst Handicap (one mile) on the first day at Stratford, but in the six furlong race the following Iday he ran a good race and was right up amongst the leaders' until well in the straight. He tired badly in the run home, but the son of San Fran is hardly tuncd-up yet, and when quite ready may reward Mr. O'Driscoll with a win. The "white jacket with green 6tars" was up on triers all the time at Stratford, and the luck was running | k»rd against their success. Fast times were all the go at the Taranaki J.C. meeting, and many expressed the opinion that the watchholder was at fault. Subsequently the course was measured, and found to be aliout a chain and a-half short in the mile. The timekeeper is herewith discharged without a stain on his character! Smilax won a double at Stratford in workmanlike style, and the bay gelding strikes one as a really good sort. By Obligado from Convolvulus, he is bred on good lines, and he should be a good winner for Mr. Hicks. There is no doubt Obligado is getting some well-set up gallopers, and Orton, who "downed" Culprit, Dearest, Peirene, l-'ormbv, Countermine and Glad Tidings at Eilerslie this week is a good advertisement for the young sire. Our wonderful racehorse nomenclature again. At the New Year meeting neddies struggled to win races under such queer names as these: Bogey, Divorce, Operation, The Dunce, Boney, Scotch, Singlet, Pip, and Balmy Breeze. It is not only the breeze that is "balmy" these days. That paying proposition, Rosegrove, ran off with both hurdle races at the Hawke's Bay meeting. Miss Mischief has failed so wretchedly of late that it is no wonder that the public stood aghast when the daughter of Treadmill made common hacks of Bridge, Waimangu, Sedition, Birkdalg, and Co. in the Auckland Racing Club's Handicap. The Canterbury filly quickft rushed to the front and" sailed along merrily half-a-dozen lengths clear of ani

thing, winning, pulling up, .by the same distance. The twelve furlongs were thrown behind in the sashing time of 2min 33 3-asec, so it is no wonder that the crowd passed heated remarks. It was after the Trot. A terribly respectable Inglewood purveyor of racy E cheese (and other groceries) was discoloring the atmosphere with lurid cusswords. "Whose funeral is it?" I asked 5 him. He cast his arm about my neck, and implored me to comenavadrink. He told me he felt bad about it. Pearlie 0 Maid had paid such-and-such a dividend, and he had missed it. Heavens, it was v a harrowing spectacle! "I've just come j round from the paddock," he explained a sadly. "I went round there to say ~ things to myself, but there isn't a vacant jspace. All Inglewood is there kicking s itself for being such a blamed fool!" t And we went round and wept into our r beer. t Golden Eagle probably ran her last t race at Stratford. She is in foal to Lord ( Grafton. I Winning jockeys at Stratford were:— v Coleman, Pine, and Monk, two wins , a each; B. Olliver, F. Holmes, Trask, Bar-1 s low, Kemp, Jackson, Raynor, and Mat- t thews, one each. Mr. Clout won both ( the races restricted to gentlemen riders, -y Principal winning owners were:—Mr. t S. Pitt £l5O, Mrs. Miscal £OS, J. Fore- c man £9O, "R. Narelle" £BS, J. Smith a £BS, R. Hicks £BO, T. F. Goddard £7O, i W. Lovett £OS, G. F. Bonnor £OS, J. George £GO, D. J. Goodwin £55, Mrs. Muir £45, M. Jowski £4O, and J. Dodunski £35. Tom Loates, who died only a few weeks ago, occasionally got a "leg up" I when the late King was racing. In 1894 Loates was engaged to ride Florizel 11. in the St. James' Palace Stakes. The J race was the last one of the afternoon, ' yet practically everyone stopped to watch it, and the cheering was tremendous when Florizel 11. romped in first. The once ' celebrated jockey Tod Sloan altogether * rode three winners in the Royal colors, * . his first being Nunsuch in the Old Cam- '• bridgeshire in 1898. In addition'to pro- ' fessional jockeys, several amateur riders have at one time or another been privileged to wear the Royal colors. The first of these was Captain Hope Johnstone, i who 30 years ago rode Leonidas JI. in a , steeplechase at Aldershot, and he used to say he would never forget that awful . day, for it was the wettest he had ever , known for a race meeting. That famous, . [ sportsman, the late Major "Roddy" Owen, f , rode in, and won, a couple of steeple- l '_ chases on horses owned by Royalty; but { poor Roddy's life was cut short T)y . cholera while he was on active service in the East in the summer of 1890. Another amateur who must be mentioned is . 1 Mr. E. P. Wilson, who in 1890 wore the J Royal colors in the Grand National. He f was unsuccessful then, but since that . time the late King twice realised his

ambition of carrying off the greatest ! steeplechase of the year. The colors of) i the late King were rather handsome, the body of the jacket being of purple satin with gold braid; the sleeves were scarlet, and the cap black velvet with a heavy gold fringe. Those who have been privileged to wear these colors have not esI teemed the honor lightly. The late John ' Jones, father of the jockey who so regularly rode for the late King Edward, 1 always afterwards kept the jacket and cap on view under a glass case in his dressing-room. The elder Jones was a ' steeplechase rider, and rode for King Ed- [ ward (then Prince of Wales) in the | Grand National some 30 years ago; but his horse, the Scot, failed to win. One of the best betting races in England is the Cesarewitch, or "The Witch," I as it is termed by the leading bookI I makers. The Earl of Glasgow, an eccen--11 trie nobleman with a particularly violent temper, was a leading figure at the Ce- ; sarewitch of (SO or 70 years ago, and when big betting was on 'the Earl never let 1 money stop him. The story is told that, while backing his horse Groper for the. '• Derby, Sir George Bentinck strolled into B Tattersahs and intimated he was ready a to back his horse for any amount that was forthcoming. "I'll lay you a wager," 1 said the Earl of Glasgow. "Xo doubt ? you will," said the great Dictator of the :i Turf, "but when I bet I want to lay to e good money." "Well" was the crushing y reply, "I'll lay you £30,000 to £IO,OOO, 1 and' keep on at that as long as you are willing." That was a trifle more than V the great Sir George cared to keep on ai., !" so he quietly backed out of the room, '" muttering something about the folly of c high and reckless wagers. "Well, you a set the game," returned the Earl of Glasr gow, "so I thought I'd give you a chance d to run it out." It was the Earl of Glasa gow who, while staying at the Newrqard ket Hotel, threw an impertinent waiter 5 - out of a first-floor window. The man '• was badly bruised, and, in fact, he had 8 a leg broken; but when the worried landh lord approached the Earl on this mate ter, my Lord of Glasgow simply said: S "Oh, that's all right. Just put him in d the bill!" And into the bill the poor d fellow went, body, boots and breeches, <> for men like the hot-tempered old Earl •■ of Glasgow seldom allowed anything to *> step between themselves and their little d bit *>f pleasantry, •e __________ j

BILIOUS ATTACKS CURED. Sufferers from bilious attacks should read this remarkable letter from Mr. Donald Coutts, of Condah, Vic.:—"l have been a continuous sufferer from headache and bilious vomiting attacks for 25 years. During that time I have been treated by doctors, besides using all sorts of medicines that proved useless. Being almost afraid I could never be cured, I tried Chamberlain's Tablets, and can assure you that they completely cured me, and I feel like a new man. I can conscientiously recommend them to all who suffer from stomach and liver troubles."