Sport and Pastimes

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 12, 14 June 1913, Page 7

Sport and Pastimes

SPORTING.

RACING FIXTURES. June 18, 19-Hawke's Bay Jockey Club. June 25, 26-Napier Park Racing Club. July 3, 4,-Gisborne Racing Club. July 16, 19—Wellington Racing Club. DATES OF COMING EVENTS July 16—Wellington Steeplechase. June 18--Hawke'a Bay Steeplechase.

TURF TOPICS.

(By "Moturoa.")

The Hawke's Bay Jockey Clubs Winter meeting takes place at Hastings next Wednesday and Thursday, and is at present the chitf topic in the sporting world. Acceptances fell due last evening 'and no doubt many double-punters are now regretting their rashness. When the weights appeared, Dorando and Leolanter were rushed for the Steeplechase; Chief Marshal, Idealism, Goodwin Park, anil Nyland, for the Hawke's Bay Hurdles; and Blue Lake, Awahou, Leapuki, and Mumme,r for the Heretaunga HandiC? It was stated in Wanganui some days ; aeo that Dorando would not be sent across to Hastings, but would be: reserved for Trentham and Riccarton. Still, some punters seem to have money to burn judging by the way they are backing Mr. Gordon's 'chaser. Roosevelt, who was given a couple ot runs at Otaki, was clipped this week, and is now looking in great heart to commence his New Zealand Cup preparation. Some people are inclined to, scoff at mainy of the horses entered for the big Riccarton Handicap, but Albert Jackson was one of the many who had , the laugh on the critics when Roosevelt ran second to Lady Lucy in 1909. A . £3OO stake and a good second dividend is not to be scoffed at! The Southland steeplechaser, Lugeon, , who figures in the Gisborne Steeple, is , now owned in the latter district. She . is a good mare, and won severances in moderate company in the Soutii. , The principal winning owners at. i Ellcrslie were Mr. J. R. L. Stanford £7OO, Mr. Geo. Morris £7OO, the Hon. J. , D. Onnond £SOO, Mr. C. Gordon £395, , Mr. J. D. Kemp £350, -Mr. D. McLeod £350, Mr. J.' Williamson £320, and Mr. Jervis George £3OO. Taranaki owners did really well at the gathering. Jockey;ten. Nodder, who came a crop- ( per when' Patroness fell at Otaki, is now ] quite right again. The position in the jockeys' winning list has now reached an interesting stage. : Deeley, by his victory on Kakama at Auckland," and his two wins at Otaki, is level with C. Emmerson for the premiership. Each has ridden 56 winners, and A. Olliver (who scored twice at Ellerslie) is next with 49. Considering Otliver's weight, the Palperston horseman lias done well to get , so,, close to veightsV --.■*• Since being taken to 'Stralia, Julian has been jumping well, and reports say that the ex-Hawke's Bay horse will pick up a good stake shortly. They all win in their turn! Merrie Lad, Electrakoff, Midnight Sun, Broadsword, and Antoinette, are a quintette of New Zealand-bred horses who have won recently across the Tasman. The crack hurdle-horseman,. A. J. McFlynn, who is leading on the list of winners over sticks, met with a* bad smash when Icel fell with him at Ellerslie. Both collarbones were broken, and that practically means that the popular little chap will have to stand down for the rest of the season. Bravest, Donzel, and El Dorado, are j reported to be getting over the big fen-, ees at Hastings in good style, and [ should run well next week. Good judges j ■consider that Bravest will go better on | his own course than over strange coun-1 try. At Wanganui he struck one fence. very hard, but jumped well afterwards.! If Leolanter is taken across for the Hawke's Bay Steeple, he may be hard I to beat, and another that should improve on Wanganui running is that game t little fencer The Spaniard. After winning twice at Blenheim. Peroneal was much boomed for Otaki, but the increased weight and the fast pace set by the light-weights were too much for her. She will always be hard to beat if allowed to run along in front, but on this coast the pace is on from J the word "Go" in most mile-and-a-quar-1 ter evcntS | Mr. H. Speed tired of Tiwari .and ] made a present of the horse to Mr. Tom j Long. The latter went near landing a race at Otaki, and the latest is that Ti-1 wari figures in the New Zealand Cup. j Funny, isn't it? I Paritutu's lameness is situated in the! knee. The- local horse struck several fences heavily at Ellerslie, and one knee was very much enlarged when he was brought back. Mr. J. George hopes to have the old 'chaser on the job again at the Wellington meeting, and all going well, that Grand National is in for another "shake." Bon Ton and Bon Reve, who have been eating the oats of idleness for some months, will be put into work again shortly. The luck of the Chow! A Celestial held.the winning ticket on Midnight Sun in Tattersall's sweep on the Adelaide Cup. £SOOO is a wellee nice windfallee, whaffor? The "Highden" cast-off. Blakeney, won the Welter Handicap at Bendigo on May 28. The big son of Soult and Inamorata has done fairly well on the other side. While being exercised at Riccarton last week, Autumnus and Mcreedo collided, and both horses were put out of commission for a few days. Already they are booming Leonta for the Winter Cup, There is no doubt the long straight at Riccarton. would suit Mr-- Tpm Bristol's fast-finisher. The publication of the New Zealand Cup nominations has attracted little interest, and the writer has not seen a single J.''?tting,list.out. oa the race up to the present. A-very different .state. of affairs obtained a few years hack. The Egmont Racing Club has good j reason to feel pleased with the entries J received for the newly-established Eg- ] mont Stakes. The first race will be run | at the Summer Meeting in February next, and no less ttian 93 liorses have been entered. New Zealand Cup nominations number 79, and thesp figures have only been once topped during the past ten years. That was in 1900, when 8(> horses were entered. This year's Cup aspirants are. a fair lot and represent the principal stables in New Zealand. Mr. T. If. Lowrv has Bobrikoff, Labour Day, and St. Francis engaged; Mr. J. B. Reid has nominated Mowbray, Salzburg. Rinaldo, Ogier. and Martel; and Stead Bros, have a likely-looking quartette in Bon Ton. Bon Reve. Sanci. and Somniform. Sir Geo.. Clifford's popular colors may be carried "by Masterpiece, Quarantine', or Stevedore, and the Hon. J. D. Ormond's quota include Haskavne. An»lish, and King Mark. Mr. E. J. Watt has a good .record in recent years, and the best of Midnight Sun, Sea Pink, and Cheddar, ma'v be worthy to cam- the blue jacket. Other well-known pprformers engaged are: Vice-Admiral. Domino. Gold find"-. La Roina. Blcrlot, Byron, Bronze, and

Emperador. ' Taranaki is poorly represented, the chances of Royal Arms and Invader being nothing to get excited about. Last season, which was a record one, no less than £14,854,670 was invested on the pari-mutuel (or totalisator) in France. Eight per cent, is deducted before dividends are paid. Last year, i therefore, the amount thus deducted was, roughly, £1,200,000, half of which is devoted to the relief of poor rates, to charities, providing water supply in isolated villages, and in assisting agricultural societies. Last year the Dannevirke Racing Club made a profit of about £IOOO. It is expected tnat after proposed improvements in the course are completed the revenue will be considerably increased. The Auckland scribe, "Whalebone," has computed that the winnings of Carbine's progeny in Great Britain, France, South Africa and other countries since he left Australia, now amount to about £120,000. In 1906, when Spearmint won the English Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris, the winnings of Carbine's descendants in England and France amounted to £26,056, a very substantial total indeed. When men.sit down to talk over Great ..Northern contests the race, ctflß96 is always bpurid l to. xome up, for, as the say-: iing/goes, it Was haromer ahd'tohgs right home; from the. distance - two brilliant horsemen and a brace of highclass equines. The Dauphin gelding Donald McKinnon, was the one to be made' favorite that year, and that in itself constitutes a bit of interesting history; but it does not extend to including the bay gelding in the stirring finish which eventuated, for. hq baulked at the water the first time found, and his backers had the distasteful little fact early before thenf that they had lost their money. Levanter and Liberator, who each had the services of fine horsemen in, J. Rae and F. Holmes respectively, were the pair to en-, gage in the stirring finish. The two horses in question leaped the last hurdle together, and, racing stride for stride and head to head, fought it out, Levanter gaining the judge's verdict by a nose. The "protest" flag went up shortly after the horses came back to the paddock, an objection being lodged against Levanter being declared the-winner on the grounds that his rider had interfered with Liberator at the last hurdle; but this was disallowed by the stewards. Though Levanter got the race the honors of the contest were clearly on the side of Liberator, for he was conceding his bay rival no less than 2st 91b. The winter of 1896 saw the last of Liberator at Ellerslie, but those who have a recollection of the black son of Betrayer and Diana can be depended upon to keep him in memory for years to come, for he still holds the racord as the best all-round horse that has figured on the New Zealand turf.—Exchange. ': Commenting upon the "Derby sweep J craze", at Home, the London Mail savs: 1 "There is little doubt that the .'Derby j Sweepstakes' are creating a very gr.eat 1 interest. Thcv undoubtedly afford the 'e men in business an opportunity of a harmless'gamble with the possibility of securing a big .sum of money if he is successful. The belted earl, the politician, the lawyer, the manufacturer, the mining magnate, have their gamble either in one of the crowded 'gaming-houses' of the West End, or at Monte Carlo or Cannes, or some other place.on the Riyi-, era. A little gamble is not denied to him. These privileges are denied the ,;'reat mass of the public, but now for a few shillings the man in the street has the possible chance of making thousands. No wonder he should be attracted by the I opportunity. Naturally, abuses are apt to creep in where large sums are at stake, but the public can now have the ■ opportunity of finding out those that j are reliable and avoiding those which j i are not if they only exercise the proper i ' caution." [ According to "'Goodwood," one of the I questions discussed by the conference of ! racing representatives held recently at I the V.R.C. office was the wholesale fines [ inflicted by stipendiary stewards at (W i recent meeting at San'down Park. For' ! various minor offences the owners, trainers or jockeys were fined in the aggregate the amount of £32. It was mentioned that in many cases the persons fined had been given no opportunity of explanation, ami were una ware that they had been fined until they saw the announcement in the press. Not a single [ fine (or none was announced at any rate) [was inflicted at the Williamstown meet-i | ing. Another question discussed at the | conference, and one which is likely to be j given some attention at the adjourned | conference, was the standing -of local | committeemen at enquiries by stipenj diary stewards. Some of the delegates I contended that the committeemen of the I courses at which enquiries were held were entitled to have a copy supplied to them of the stipendiary stewards' report', to the \ .R.C. Committee, and also t"6 be supplied with information as to the manner in which each of the- three sti' pendiary stewards voted at such enquiries.