Turf Notes

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, Issue 17690, 2 July 1927, Page 13

Turf Notes

THE CALENDAR, * Julv 2 —Ashburton County R.C. - July 12, 14, 16—Wellington R.C. July 21 —Waimate District Hunt Club. July 2 3—South Canterbury Hunt Club. July 28, 30—Gisborne R.C. July 3 o—Christchurch Hunt Club. Aug. 9, 11, 13 —C.J.C. (Grand National). Trotting. Aug. 6, 10, 12—Metropolitan T.C. Ashburton winter meeting to-day.

There will be no racing or trotting meeting's in the Dominion next week.

According to Northern writers Beau Cavalier is a certain visitor to Trentliam and if he does at all well at the Wellington meeting he is to go oil to Riccarton.

It is reported that Soldier’s Hope has been purchased by an Australian buyer, and is to be shipped to Melbourne by the next boat leaving Bluff for that port.

C. Gieseler, with twenty-eight winners to his credit, heads the list of winning trainers to date, E. George (twenty-seven and a-half) and Fred. Shaw (twenty-three) being next on the list.

The apprentice, T. Green, still heads the list of winning horsemen, with forty-six winning rides. R. McTavish (forty-four and a-half) and R. Reed and B. H. Morris each forty-one and a-half, are next.

Mr M. Wells has nominated Wedding March and Town Hall for the Wellington meeting, but the notorious Memsahib has not been engaged. The lease of Wedding March from R. Hannon to Mr Wells does not expire until July 31.

D, Withers, with thirty winning efforts to his credit, now heads the list of Avinning drivers aud riders in the Dominion trotting statistics, and M„ B. Edwards, Avith tw r enty-flve wins and a dead heat, the list of Avinning trainers.

OAVing to a mix-up in connection Avith the boats running to Australia, R. J'. Mason and F. D. Jones have had their plans someAvhat upset. It seems iioav that neither will leave till the last AVeek in July or early in August. Mason Avill have only Agrion and Philippic to represent his stable on the trip. Jones has not yet definitely decided upon the composition of his team.

W. J. Tomkinson is generally successful at Alexandra Park, and the public have formed such an opinion of the trainer and his candidates, that anything bearing the Tomkinson stamp at Auckland is solidly supported. At the gathering just concluded the southerner had Elnear, Napland, Holly Boy, Bell Harold, Direct Wjood and Richore engaged, hut all failed to return a dividend. The Tomkinson colours Avere produced on ten occasions during the fixture, and the large sum of £8589 was invested on the chances of his representatives. It was a costly deal for followers of the stable.

This season the racing clubs of New Zealand have provided £4 35,319 in stake money for 1755 races. Added to this sum is £11,832 for 86 trotting events on racing club’s programmes, and £4248 15s in trophies. The total prize money, including thq A r alue of trophies, Avas £451,399 15s. During the period covered £5,138,842 Avas invested on the totalisator on the racing eA r ents, and £143,226 on the trotting events oif racing clubs’ programmes.

In discussing the Flying Handicap at Randwick last Saturday week, a Sydney exchange says-: “It was not an interesting finish. Shortly after the field was on the way White Fang was rushed to the front, and there he remained, winning in the easiest possible manner by five lengths, and running the six furlongs in the exceptionally fast time of 1.111, which is only half a second outside Calmest’s Randwick record.” Great AVinners. “Iroquois,” in “Smith’s Weekly,” reviews the best individual seasons of Windbag, Poseidon, Eurythmic, Gloaming, Heroic and Carbine, and he sets them out in the following order:—

Windbag, in 1925 (three and four years), £25,791. Heroic, in 1923-24 (two and three years), £21,829. Eurythmic, in 1920-21 (four years), £21,096. Poseidon, in 1906-07 (three years), £16,294. Carbine, in 1890-91 (five years), £15,4 36. Gloaming, in 1918-19 (three years), £12,176. Referring to the earlier years, when stakes were not so big as in Windbag, Heroic and Gloaming’s time, “Iroquis” says: “Compared with the opportunities of to-day, Carbine, racing thirtyseven years' ago, and Poseidon, twenty years ago, were at a disadvantage in the matter of stakes. Carbine’s Melbourne Cup was worth £IO,OOO, its present value, but in the same season nine other w|ns brought the total for the whole season to only £15,4 36. That was his best season, at five years. If the races he won had been up t'o their present standard in stakes, his total for the year would have been nearer £30,000. Poseidon’s earnings as a three-yegr-old would have been' increased by a vast amount, too, if stakes had been as they are now. His Melbourne Cup was worth only £63(16, compared with Windbag’s £10,415. For his A.J.C. Derby he got £1789, compared with Rampion’s £6945 last season, while his first Caulfield Cup win yielded only £3OOO, compared with the £SOOO Manfred got for his win last October. Weight-for-age races and Legers, toq, were about half, or even less, what they are to-day. “In the circumstances Poseidon’s £16,294 for a single season as a three-year-old was a triumph that has few equals in turf history. In fact, he must have been one of the outstanding three-year-olds of Australian racing to achieve what he did at that ag<*

“Thus Windbag’s record of £25,791 stands supreme, but some earlier rivals to fame might have surpassed his great feat if the stake:: had given them fair value. Others were unlucky in missing golden opportunities, such as Gloaming and Heroic.

“Some day, no doubt, a colt ..will arise who will prove unbeaten at perhaps two, three and four years. It has been done before, when stakes were poor. If the Melbourne Cup is included in his three-year-old season, he will eclipse Windbag’s wonderful year. He will knodk other records kite high, too, for it is not difficult to imagine that any horse good enough for all his two and three-year-old classics, the Melbourne Cup, and the weight-for-age races of Caulfield, Fleniington and Randwick will not only pass Gloaming’s £43,100 in stakes, but will go soaring over the £50,000. Some day, somewhere, some lucky owner is going to get such a horse.”