SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 201, 4 May 1912, Page 7

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. May 8, 9—Egmont R.C. Winter meeting. May 9, 10—Ashburton R.C. Winter meetI in gI May 23, 24—Wanganui J.G. Winter meeting. TURF TOPICS. (By "Moturoa.") Races at Hawera on Wednesday. Wanganui weights are due to-day. Silva shaped badly at Hastings each day. Weights for the chief events at the A.R.C. Great Northern meeting should appear on Monday. Obligant was the hottest of hot things on Wednesday, and the dividend was hardly worth collecting. A Palmerston scribe reports that Nyland has made a good recovery from his i recent mishap, but'whether he will race again is problematical. It is hard to say whether ill-luck ; dogs Seaman, or his pilot, Frank Lind. The combination registered two more seconds at Hastings this week. Kilosteri has left the Highden stable and in future will carry the colors of an Ashhurst sportsman. The pace was a cracker in the Hawke's Bay Cup and in the straight Los Angelos simply smothered a crowd of dead-weary horses, Canterbury horses won the chief handicap each day at the Hawke's Bay meeting. After an inglorious display in the Cup, Masterpiece came out and made no race of the Bourke Memorial Stakes. Youngsters by Multifid are well spoken of in Hawke's Bay, and Trainer J. Griffiths is handling a nice two-year-j old filly by this sire out of the dam of Blue Ribbon and Paritutu. Hard spring racing seems to have absolutely settled the one-time brilliant colt Miscount. In the Hawke's Bay Cup the bearer of the cerise jacket was little fancied and ran a poor race. Since the New Zealand Cup meeting the colt has shown no form at all. When will punters wake up to the fact that Bnotle is a smart sprinter? After winning at Wanganui, Ellerslie. and Hastings, beating good horses in good time at each place, one marvels at i the dividends the Karamca horse is allowed to pay. Byron lias changed hands twice lately, and on Wednesday landed a good stake for Mr. J. Harle.' It was stated that , Mr. Greenwood quitted the horse at 150 guineas—a special line in bargains. Is Dogger Bank a greatly improved horse, or did somebody know something on Wednesday? The" Auckland horse was wired all over the colony as a "stone moral," and the short price he ; paid suggested • that there was just a i possibility that not all of his opponent* were very anxious that day. As expected, Bon Ton made good on Wednesday, and the son of Boniform went one better by defeating Brown Owl and Prince Soult in the Hawke's Bay Stakes the next day. Since W. Young started riding for Messrs. Stead Bros. ' their luck has changed for the better. land the recent successes of Los Angelos ; and Bon Ton in big events must have - ; been particularly gratifying to the Can- : ) terbury sportsmen. I Died at Pukekohe last week, the wellknown sportsman, Mr. James Roulston. During his 30 j'ears' connection with the . Turf he always "played the game," and his colors were always popular when carried to victory by Record Reign and many other good performers. The worm has turned! From the United States we have heard nothing for years but the banning of horse-racing, and it is pleasant news to hear that the "sports" have combined to some purpose, as the recent elections show. Members pledged to allow racing where the sport is demanded have bpen rchmmi :•> many places, and the anti-racing "•ticket" is just about as plaved out as a "busted" {tote ticket. iAn exchange reports that the wellknown Palmerston sportsman, Mr. D. Buick, M.P.. lias decided to relinquish (horse-racing, and his horses will be disj posed of shortly. During the last, few years horses bearing his colors have had little luck, and racing must have cost him a heap of money. Lady , Medallist and Gunboat, both winners 'of the Marlborough Cup, dfcf big things afterwards, and it is expected that Sinapis will turn out something above the average. Mention of Gunboat reminds me that the ex-New Zealander, after being sold for 1100 guineas at Sydney, was taken back and put on the active list at Caulfield. India is sup- j posed to be his ultimate destination, but his new owner 'hopes to get a return ! for his money in Austvlia before ship-) ping him to the land of the rajahs. | Jockey W. Young, who steered Los Angelos to victory in the Hawke's Bay Cup this week, won last year on Fort William and in 1900 on '"angimoana. Carbine and his descendants have certainly left their mark on the Australian Jockey Club Plate records. The old horse himself (remarks a Sydney scribe) won it three times, his daughter (La Carabine) scored twice, his son (Amberite) once, and his grandsons. Emir and Trafalgar, once and thrice respectively. The New Zealand-bred Sunburnt was offered for sale at Sydney recently, but the auctioneer could not get a buyer above 320 guineas, at which figure the horse was passed in. Autumnus has now been turned out for a well-earned rest. The speedy son of Treadmill has had -x particularly heavy season, and a very uceessful one at that. His winnings in r takes amount to £3070, which easily top? Multiform's record of £2500. Apparently Sir Geo Clifford has taken up the late G. G. Stead's successful running and the squire of Stoneyhurst promises to break all records for the season. Pleiades' task in the Steeplechase at Avondale was made easy bv the queer mishap which stopped more than half the field at the first obstacle. Mildura was leading when he slipped and fell ; _Ben I Johnson did not rise an inch; and the pair brought down two other horses and cut out a couple more. Pleiades was fortunate enough to dodge the scramble and the rest is ancient history. ! Taskmaster is reported to "be galloping in his best form again, and will probably play a hand in the big winter flat handicaps. Gladiole has raced consistently this season and always appears to be "on the job." Her victory in the concluding event at Hastings, on Thursday, stamps her as a speedy mare, the six furlongs 1 being run in Imin 14 3-ssec.. Sir Tristram is now nine years of age, having won the Hawke's Bay Stakes as a two-year-old away back in 1905. He was amongst the runners in the Burke Memorial Stakes, but was beaten out of a place at the finish. Looking through the long list of winners of the Hawke's Bay Stakes one sees a mighty array of New Zealand's best horses. Bloodshot, Multiform. Cruciform, Royal Artillery, Achilles, Elevation, and Bobrikoff landed the Stakes, and it can be said, without fear of contradiction, that an indifferent horse has never won it. ; Pass your eyes down the list of the ■ twelve highest-priced yearlings over J bought out of all Australian sale rings. \ and you will see that not one of them : returned their purchase money bv stakes ! won on the Turf. Still, the fact remains ; that there are any amount of moneyed .people who are willing to gamble over

yearlings, and at the recent Sydney sales 493 yearlings brought thb huge total of 68,899 guineas. No doubt there are a few bargains concealed in'that lot, but the vast majority are doomed to prove expensive failures. Hope springs eternal in the gambler's breast, and the chances of picking out a top-notcher and incidentally a fortune lures the crowd on to pay ridiculous prices for all sorts of animals. Things must be good when there is so much "money to burn."