SPORTING NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6181, 17 May 1898, Page 3

SPORTING NOTES.

[By Castor in " Canterbury Times."! I learn iYi-m "Mazeppa" eoine particulars of fchfi history of St Switbin, who, as ' the sire ot' iforloolas and Giiulio, has recently attained considerable prominence in Australia. It appears that tlie son of Cadog.m wars, as I have always maintained, brod in Canterbury. "Mazeppa" fancied that he was foaled in Otago, but on mentioning the subject to tho Hon G. M'Lean, who formerly owned the horse, he ascertained Lha 1 ; Malice, with St Swithiii, a foal by her side, was purchased in 1885 by Mr M'Lean at the dispersal sale of Mr S. Nos worthy's .stud. St S within only started five times— in the Welcome Stakes, won by Silvermark, the Nursery Handicap, won by Sextant, the Dunedin Champagne Stakes, in which, he finished third to Gipsy King and Kimberly, in the following season in the. Middlepark Plate, won by Carbine, and as a four-year-old in a Selling Race. Afterwards he was exchanged for a trooper's horse, and eventually he. was shipped to Australia. I saw him rim only once, in the Middlepark Plate, and' the likeness of him which I carry in my mind is that of a long-legged ungainly animal, with no power r-nd very faulty letrs. The experiment tried by the Egmont Racing Club last week of holding a winter Hack Race iwoeiiug appears to have resulted successfully. One of the features of the meeting was the. display of ltubin in the principal race, the Hawera Cup. The son ol Tasman possesses a reputation for "shiftiness." "hut on this occasion he ran truly and won with a trifle to spare from j Stockade .and h'uby Twist, the latter of whom startud :i strong favourite. Rubin was ridden by Thomas, who lias occupied a position nu.iv or less in the background since he ro<U> Wolverine to victory in | the New Zealnud Cup and, later on, declined to take the mount on Glenloth in the Melbourne Cup. The defeat of the favourite was, I learn, a severe blow to his Wellington friends, by whom he was heavily supported. On the other hand, Rubin's victory was a surprise to his immediate connections. Stockade next day won tho Borough Plate, so there was some merit in Rubin's victory. The Hempie, a nvue by Natator from Norton's dam, ran conspicuously at the meeting. Oa the tirst day she finished a dead heat with Splinter lor the Telegraph Handicap, and on the -second she appropriated the principal event — the Opeke Handicap, I hear liatterhig accounts of Sinner, who won both open hurdle xaces; and KliuiM must be promising, as her first hppcaivmee over the small obstacles in the. Maiden Hurdle Race was' successful, and an hour or two later she finished second tc Sinner in the First Hurdle Tfo.ee. In the latter race King of the Downs met- with an acciden^;, and pulled up so lame that it is unlikely that he will race again for some time. Taplow, a :gelding by t'uriri from a daughter of Gipsy -King, -won the Maiden Plate, and Tho Don just defeated The Mayor, who got away badly, in the Waihi Handicap. The Mokoia -Plate, a weigh t-for-age race, went to Wai-iti, a five-year-old mare by The Australian; while Vibration annexed the Ngauiutu Handicap. Lady Helena defeated Tommy Atkins by a length in the Manaia Handicap, and protests against the first and second horses were dismissed. Mr S. Hordern has never been popular on the Australian turf,, and his determination to relinquish racing, although from a financial point of view a loss to the sport, will not be deplored by the larger section of the racing community. It is possible that he is an exceedingly unfortunate and much-maligned man. W hen he commenced racing, seven or eightyears ago, he knew very little concerning the intricacies of the business, and what he has since learned has been acquired in a school notorious for its shrewd&ess. Perhaps he has not learned sufficient, and has simply been made use of by people whose knowledge of racing is more extensive than his ; perhaps he and his associates have been the victims of misplaced suspicions. The fact remains, however, that they appear to have lost the confidence of the larger body of racing folk. The Australian Jockey Club has declared Mr Hordern and his trainer innocent of all complicity in the "pulling" of Gunbearer in a race at the Club's Autumn Meeting. At the same time it decided that the colt was " pulled," and in this unsatisfactory state the affair remains. The public and the critics alike profess to be dissatisned, and as Mr Hordern has decided to relinquish racing it may be assumed that he is not altogether pleased. In the "Australasian" of April 30 appears an article dealing with the methods of punishing inconsistent running adopted in New Zealand. The article criticises rather severely the custom in vogue here of depriving the connections of a disqualified horse of the stake and bets, which it describes as going to lengths quite unheard of in other parts of the world. It cites the instances of Lobo and Ned Kelly at the Dunedin Jockey Club's Autumn Meeting, and it characterises the former case as "rather too much of a good thing." ' Assuming," it says, "that stewards never uake a mistake and disqualify a horse wrongly, there is still the hardship to backers of the horse disqualified to be got over. No one would object if the only sufferers through bets going to the second horse were those associated with the horse, and responsible for his being stopped in a previous race. But it is impossible to discriminate between the innocent and the guilty. Under ordinary circumstances, when horses are at the post for a race, a man can back any one <7f them, and feel certain of his money, provided three things happen. In the first place his horse must win the race, then he must pass the scales all right, and, finally, he must not be disqualified on account of something which has happened in the race. In New Zealand it is different. You, must not back a horse about whose recent running there is any doubt, because if he should win there is the chance of. his being disqualified for inconsistent running. We must say we think this method of punishing a supposed 'byerunner " is just a little too advanced." I must admit that it has often seemed to me unjust to deprive the general public— who bet on the assumption that they are investing their money on a horse who possesses at least a chance in common with other competitors— of their winnings because they happen to support an animal whose connections are subsequently proved guilty of fraudulent practices. , I suggested last week that in Royal Footstep, Sir Blundel Maple probably possesses a better filly than Num Nicer. Since then an English mail has arrived bringing a copy of the "Sportsman,' in which in the " Special Commissioner's notes, I read the following:— Royal Footstep has wintered as well as her best friends could wish, and this great, grandlooking filly is just sufficiently forward to come to hand by the One Thousand Guineas dav. No finer specimen of the powerful Stockwell type of thoroughbred filly has been seeu on the turf for years, and it well be remembered that she boasts two crosses of the 'Hooton Emperor, two of his brother, Rataplan, and one of their half-brother, King Tom besides embodying the always successful combination of Hampton and Blair Athol. Nun Nicer has not done so well, for though apparently m the best of health and heart she looks i light and short of substance for tins time ofvear ' And vet,' said W. Waugn, sne oi year. Aim yev, amiss; and we can't get flesh on to hei.. Nim Nic«r is a beautiful fill* , J^THi bloodlike; and ifc ,

be found to have made regulation improvement since her two-year-oJd days, but J am half inclined to fear that she" has seen her best season in her first. I hope I iuaj be wrong. No one can anticipate the condition and development of high-strung fillies. Many there have been — Achievement was a case in pomt — who, though apparently fallen away altogether &8 early three-year-olds, nevertheless took to doing really well again later on. Others, such as Sunshine, Lady Elizabeth, Omladina and sc forth never fulfilled their early promise. Be the case of Nun Nicer as it j may, I must certainly advise my readers i that the prospects of Roynl Footstep seem ,to me a great deal more rosy." The , " Special Commissioner's " remarks were , partially incorrect, because Nun Nicer 1 proved herself capable of winning the One Thousand Guineas. But the very fact that she won indicates that her efcable companion did not start, and if Royal Footstep is really as good as she is presumed to be, she should win the Oaks. Disraeli, the winner of the Two Thousand Guineas, is reported to be a very bloodlike colt. He stands 15h 2^in, which, by the way, was the height of Macaroni,' and, I suppose, many more good performers. Many horses have their little idiosyncracies, and Disraeli's takes the form of a cat, for whom he displays a great liking. The cat goes to sleep on his back, and so long as he is there the colfc is perfectly contented. When Disraeli makes the journey to Epsom to run in the Derby the cat will go with him, and no doubt if Mr Johnston's colt should triumph, his little friend will appropriate a share of the kudos which attaches to such an important victory. Writing on English subjects reminds me that my assumption that the horse who followed Newhaven home in the March Stakes might be Bridegroom 11., not, Bridegroom, was correct. From the spring edition of "Ruff's Guide," which arrived on Saturday, I learn that the latter was not entered for the race, while the American-bred three-year-old war The elder Bridegroom was among .the nominations for the Kempton Park Jubilee Stakes decided on Saturday, and although he ran well he was beaten by Dinna Forget. This defeat probably cost Mrs Langtry, who generally backs her horses freely, a considerable sum, and as it followed immediately after Merman's display in the Chester Cup, must have been extremely unpalatable to the "Jersey. Lily." Bridegroom's defeat naturally recalls attention to the fact that the horse's withdrawal from the race last year occasioned much comment and was tliG.ittdireetfcause of his former owner's retirement from the turf. Diana Forget, who defeated Mr Jersey's representative on Saturday, is a six-year-old horse by Loved One from Barometer, and is the property of Mr Reid Walker. Last year he won enly one of the eight j races in which he started, and his victory I was achieved •in quite an unimportant event. Bridegroom is by Sweetheart from Goldsmith Maid, while Minstrel, who finished third, is by Minting from Poem, and belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. Although Merman failed to win the Chester Cup, he led for the greater portion of the distance, and finished fourth. He conceded 20lb to the winner, Up Guards, who is a younger brother to Count Schomberg, possibly , the best handicap horse in England in races run over long distances. Like big elder relative, Up may be improving Considerably fig lie grows older, and later on we may find that Merman was set an impossible task. But the Australian-bred horse ought to have beaten The Bush. When the pair met in the Cesarewitch, Merman, with 121 b the best of the weights, defeated The Rus>h by a neck. In the Chester Cup the former, it is true, received only 81b, but having in the meanwhile lived in England for another six months, he should, I consider, have improved more than his opponent. However, perhaps the son of Grand Flaneur was either not at his best on the day, A I met with some ill-fortune during the race™ At any rate, until further particulars are ] available, it will be advisable not to pay too much attention to his defeat.