TURF TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 9 June 1931, Page 3

TURF TOPICS

HOPES FOR GRAND NATIONALS. CARINTHIA AND WILTSHIRE WELL (By “Moturoa.”) Master Lu; the winner of the Great Northern Steeplechase, was bought for £35. * # # # A. Gilmer was to have ridden Master Lu on Saturday, but he was hurt when High Pitch fell in the Great Northern Hurdles, and J. H. Mcßae was given a last-minute mount. • * • ♦ Spalpiko was made too much use of in the Great Northern Steeplechase and on the hill the second time he was 20 lengths clear of the field. Consequently he was left without a finishing effort. . ■* # * * Master Lu may never rise to the heights of New Zealand’s greatest steeplechasers, but nevertheless he is a clever jumper and stays on well? At all events lie should be heard o'f ’ again this winter. ' *#' # « Taranaki owners should bear in mind the ’nominations for practically every classic race in lhe Dominion close on Friday night. * « * * It is reported from Hawke’s Bay that Goshawk has taken kindly to his school--ing over hurdles. He handles the heavy going well and would seem to be just the type to make a good class hurdler. *#i * # On the opening day of the Auckland meeting King Ford drew the extreme outside of a big field, but on Saturday he drew the ace. Jumping out brilliantly he was never in danger of defeat and paid a false price after his recent good form. » '• ♦ • • Carinthia has finished on strongly in all his races at Ellerslie and will strip a very fit horse for the GrafnL National Hurdles. He won the race last year and promises to go close to repeating the performance this year. .•♦• ’ • . That great ’chaser Wiltshire was far too gross at Te Awamutu to show his true form, but his racing at Ellerslie will bring him along nicely. He should be at his best in.August,.and. it should not be beyond him to register his third success in,the Grand National >Steeples. # « • During the/running of tne' last race at Dunedin on Thursday. Topere fell and his rider, L. J. Ellis, broke a leg above the knee and also received a cut on his temple. A dog caused the. crash. Ellis’ two wins on The Smuggler and Salrno Salar gave him a total of 57 successes for . the season, and he was second to Hector Gray on the championship list. The accident will keep him out of the saddle for some time, although the fracture is not a bad one, Ellis was riding at the top of his form. , Stork Dead. Stork (Hallowmas^ —White Crane) sustained injuries necessitating his death at Awakino recently. Stork, 'who was doing stud work in the district, was a good winner for the late Mr. Newton King, for whom h® won the Taranaki,- Egmont; ’ Mitchelson, Stratford and Opunake Cups, and many other good races. His stake-eafnings totalled £7247 Ns? •In • spite- of his limited opportunities, -there are some fine youngsters by this sire, being broken in at Awakino. Profitable.

Prince Lu (Lucullus —Elysian-Grace-ful- mare) has proved a profitable speculation for his present owner, Mr. A. Conbrough. He was bought for £250 and has won £3340 in stakes. Unfortunately for the .bettors .Prince Lu is not as honest as he is able, and he has not been a good horse to follow. - A Change.

A welcome change from the general order of things is the report that the Dunedin Jockey Club made a,profit of £lOOO on the first day of its winter meeting and £lOO bn the second day. This margin was made possible only by a drastic reduction of stakes and general expenses and other clubs must toe the same line if■ they- are to- keep going.' . , • Bookings for Nightmarch.

In keeping with the times, the Melbourne and New Zealand'Cup' "winner Nightmarch will gq to the stud, at the low figure of 50 guineas. Under normal conditions his performances would entitle him to claim several times that amount. Several high-class mares have been booked to him. at Orari, and it seems extremely unlikely that an endeavour will be made to traiti him again. . promising.

Aladdin, the winner of -both the June and Greenfield Hurdles at the Dunedin meeting, had his first' race over hurdles at South Canterbury/a few weeks ago, and showed some promise, though he was not in the picture at the finish. Ho is a well-bred: young horse, claiming close relationship to a number of high-class performers. He is by .’Hunting Soncr from Etoile d’Or, a sister, to Perle de Leon, by Polydamon from Perle . d’Or, a sister to Golden Slipper, by Multiform from Aura. Aladdin did his early training under the care of F. Christmas at Riccarton, and has been wiven plenty of time to develop, and it will occasion no surprise if he reaches good class as a jumper., . He is bred on similar lines to Anchor, the ruling favourite for the A.J.C. Hurdles. Bobrikoff Still Alive. No doubt it will' surprise many throughout the Dominion to learn that that one-time champion, Bobrikoff, is still in the land of the living, running out on Mr. T. H. .liowry’s estate at Okawa (says the Hawke’s Bay Tribune). The Finland I—Gossip 1 —Gossip- black geld-in-r is now in his 28th year, and is still able to career around the paddock when the humour becomes him. His owner, Mr. Lowry, when questioned as. to the best horse he .ever owned or raced, without hesitation will answer “Bobrikoff,” and when one considers the great horses the Squire of Okawa has raced, (including Desert Gold) little more need be said. In New Zealand, he won all of the most important races, and when taken to Australia •to comj rte against their then champion, Prince Foote, returned, home with- • honours even. Had “Old Bob” not suffered from muscular trouble, which prevented him getting off the mark - with the others, goodness knows what he would have done on the Turf! Racegoers of a couple of decades ago will remember his phenomenal runs at the end of. a race, and one in particular, at Napier Park, when he entered the straight in a six furlong race at least a hundred yards in the°rear, and then finished in front. This race is oft-times repeated when discussing some horse’s great run at the end of a race. There is a little romance in connection with the ownership of Bobrikqff in .the early stages of his career. Put up for auction with many other yearlings in Christchurch, he fell under’the hamrfier to Mr. E., J. Watt, who had him sent up to his Longlands Stud, where he ran. out for some months, to be later brought in with a draft and submitted to auction in Hastings, but that day no bid was made for the black rising two-year-old, who was entered, without reserve, and a £2O

note would have bought him. He was later brought in again from Longlands, and one day Mr. Watt, meeting F. Davis, told him heh ad a decent sort of a horse in the making, and if Davis cared for him he could purchase him and pay the amount when the horse won a race. The price was not hard aud Davis, who was then private trainer to Mr. T. H. Lowry, accepted the terms a- received the Finland—Goesip gelding into his hands. It was not long ere Fr'-’. discovered that he had a rare galloper, and persuaded Mr. Lowry to purchase- the gelding, aud that is hov;; Mr Lowry came to own Bobrikoff. — /