Cap and Jacket

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 41, 29 June 1907, Page 15

Cap and Jacket

By Boz,

Master Delaval entered for Melbourne Cup. Wellington Steeplechase weights are due on July 6th. King Paul has been nominated for the V.R.C. G.N. Hurdles. Pink'un was sold last week to Mr Rankin, Sydney, for £600. The Racing Conference opens at Wellington on July 21st Golden Cairn has been sent to Stony hurst for a twelve month's spell. Apologue and Leonator have been running disappointingly at Sydney lately. Australian chaser Bellis goes to England after the Victorian Grand Nationals. The English crack steeplechase mare, Cinders, has completely broken down. Irish let a big crowd of backers down when he fell in Hawke's Bay Steeplechase. Poseidon will be seen out again at Randwick in the Spring. He is now in active work. Asteroid's name was omitted from the telegraphed list of entrants for the C.J.C. G.N. Steeplechase. Harvest, who showed signs of lameness after winning the D.J.C. Birthday Handicap, is now moving freely. Phaetonitis is now in charge of his old mentor, D. Moraghan, who is to prepare him for the Grand National Meeting. Merriwai, whose going amiss prevented him from taking part at the Hawke's Bay Meeting, has been entered for Wellington events. Reduction, who was recently taken to Sydney, was disposed of there, the purchaser being an ex-New Zealander, now a Sydney hotelkeeper. An enquiry into th<? running of Lion Heart at Canterbury Park (Sydney) last week resulted in the exoneration of all concerned with the horse. Solution is top weight in the A.J.C. Epsom Handicap with 9st. 91b, and Poseidon heads the list for the Metropolitan with the same weight. Under the dates to be recommended to the Racing Conference, the Avondale Jockey Club will open the forthcoming season in Auckland in October. A Wellington writer says there is no certainty that Elevation will be specially prepared for the New Zealand Cup, his owner having expressed the opinion that many valuable young horses have been ruined by a severe Cup preparation. The committee of tiie Australian Jockey Club would appear tp have a "cleaning up." Receatly the ban of disqualification was removed from a whole crowd of participants in poiiy racing. There were .concerned 75 owners, 13 trainers, 45 jockeys, and 97 horses. The handicaps of New Zealand horses engaged in Epsom and Metropolitan Handicaps were cabled this week as follows :- — Epsom Handicap, Maniapoto and MatriGo tga, 9st. 21b each ; Pink'un, Bst. 131'/ >. Apologue } Bst. 101 b ; Cross Battery, Bst. 71b ; Subterranean; Bst. 31b • Leonator, 7st; 121 b j Contender, 7st. 111 b. Metropolitan ... Handicap : Maniapoto and Mahuton'ga,- 9sfc ; Putty, Bst. 111 b ; Apologue .and Bink'un, Bst. 71b ; Cross Battery, Bst. 41b ; Subterranean, Bst. 21b,

Auckland Racing Club made a profit of. £2600 over their Winter, Meeting. ' i '".'. Exmoor is in active service again and will probably rut: at "Wellington next month. The second day's events of the Napier Park Winter Meeting are run to-day (Thursday). Stronghold has been showing signs of lameness and has been eased in his work in consequence. Advices received at Gisborne last week show that Mahutonga is unlike* ly to be fit until the Spring. Dunedin Jockey Club recommend the incoming committee to increase next season's stakes by £1000. Gravitation, the two-year-old brother of Elevation, is now being handled with a vie-R to next season's events. Achilles' sister, Dora Grey, who since her arrival at Sydney has been on the sick list with an affection of the lungs, is now nearly recovered. Phaetonitis is back in his old quarters at Riccarton under his last year's mentor, D. Moraghan. He is reported to be in good buckle and to be moving well. Irish Was particularly unlucky at Hawkers Bay, and practically took no part' in the settlement of the Steeplechase, the double in the first round bringing him down. He started a strong favourite. Aqua Ro.gia's effort on the opening day of the Hawke's Bay Meeting was not a very pronounced one. She led for about lj miles but succumbed when Pushful, the ultimate winner, took charge, and finished out of a place. There are only twenty- two entries for the Grand National Steeplechase, but disappointment in regard to the poor entry for the cross-country event is out-weighed by the splendid entry of fifty-nine for the Grand National Hurdle Race. Amongst Auckland entries for O.J.C. Grand National events are those of Kiatere, Tnniskillen, Haydn and Kanaka for the Steeplechase ; and Uranium, Cuiragno, Kiatere, Ben Johnson, Landlock, Cavalry, Aqua Regia. Nestator, and Irish for the Hurdles. The following are 1 he leading lines of New Zealand Cup business at Christcburch : — 1500 to 58, Sir Tristram ; 1200 to 55, Apa ; 1000 to 25. St. Joe : 700 to 45, Elevation ; 600 to 36, Seal Rork ; 600 to 24, Master Delaval ; 500 to 20, Armistice ; 500 to 10, Maniapoto. The dates of Auckland fixtures approved by the A.R.C. and to be recommended to the Conference are : A.R.C, November 9, 13. 16. December 26, 28. January 1, 2, April 18, 20, 21. May 30. June 3 and 6. Avondale J.C., October 5, 9, 12 April 29 and May 2. Takapuna J.C, November 30. December 4, January 25, 29, May 23 and 25. Tod Sloan appears to have run through a gamut of sporting life that at anyrate shows adaptability for a jockey. When the unkind hand of authority barred him from race riding be entered the billiard saloon and glided out of that into vaudeville, and from vaudeville performer became racing editor. He is now back to horse exercise, and is living in the hope of_ some day being reinstated as a rider. Osteoporosis, or, more familiarly, " bone disease," which was for some time prevalent in Cape Colony, and to which the .Australiar horse Largent and the New Zealand horse King Log were victims, is now thought to be dying out. The disease was peculiar, drying up the oil and moisture in the bones, thus rendering them brittle and liable to snap at any moment. The oldest steeplechase of which any record -is to be had took place in Ireland in the year 1752, and consisted of a run over four and a-half miles* of country "from the Church of Butteyant, County Cork, .to the Church of St. Leger," between a Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Edmund Blake. •The first, instance of an English' chase was an eight-mile run in the year 1792 in the County of Lancashire. — Exchange.