MEDIOCRITY OF THE TURF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3, 26 January 1899, Page 4

MEDIOCRITY OF THE TURF.

Lord Durham, whose famous speech on " Turf Topics " at a dinner of the Gimciack Club eleven or twelve years ago, produced

such a, sensation in sporting circles at Home, has again been indulging in some frank om- . lr.ents on English racing. Oh this occasion he did not attack the morality of the turf, but deplored the "mediocrity" of its surroundings, and although his remarks were addressed to an exclusive audience they artcapable of very -wide, application, and will not be without interest to our local sportsmen. The past racing season^ he said, had been remarkable for moderate horses, moderate riding, moderate racing and nw derate handicapping. He thought that sines Stockwell died and Hermit became fashionable racing men had been gradually diminishing the stoutness of their horsos, and most students of breeding would admit that the horses of the present day were more distinguished for softness, speed, excitability and irritability than for stoutness and soundness of constitution. As tj moderate riding, that was largely the fault of ownei's and trainers, who almost invariably instructedSHheir jockeys to " get oil well " and then "wait for someone else t-j make the running. Lord Durham was glad to see the American jockey Sloan in the Old Countiy, as he had set the English jockeys' an example; of independence and' taught them not to pull their horses about in a race and waste their energies by constantly changing their position.: with xegard to handicapping, Lord Durban, thought the English handicappers wer. lacking in system and method. There wer at least two ways of ; gauging. a horse 's merits. One was to accept the very wor.-t form lie had ever shown as his true form. The other was, to accept his best form. Bu. if the handicapper made use* of these tvvt ■very dissimilar methods in the same hand:cap it was bound to be a bad one. Some would have their horses unduly favourtd, while others would have them harshly treated. Hi& Lordship had something U. say about the general ethics of the turf, but it was not of a v«ry startling character. It dealt rather with the ruffiunisin outside the inner .circle than the blackguardism within, and consequently was less, interesting than his previous disclosures. He announced, however, that the Jockey Club was organising a force of special racecourse police, drawn froia the Army Reserve, ithat .would- be entrusted with the maintenance of order and the -protection of the public from the army of swindlers that infest the turf.