THE TROTTING TRACK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7687, 23 April 1903, Page 1

THE TROTTING TRACK.

BXES ON HORSE AND SULKY. ■ (By DIRECTOR.) Hrhe New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting mealing was continued on WedMday, April .15, ir*' fine weather. : attendance, though not to be with tha.6 of tha first <2ay, H; very satisfactory,, and tile totalisa- ■ turri^visr was £6714, against £6076 10s the corresponding day. of last year's Racing started, with the Maiden Hndicap, for which Verity was a very favourite. Backers made a good start, had the race jni hand after naif the jhad been covered. The time rejros very fast, especially when it that the winner was only round in the last lap. Electioneer was the only one to trouble the winand it was rather hard lines for his to run up against tuch a hot a maiden race-; Probably on the of Verity's iform, Velvet was made ■ourite for the Spreydoi* Handicap, but H. was also staunchly supported. At H end of half a mile, Blithechild went to H front, with Little Albert in close attendand the pair held the lead for the H)le of the journey. A lap from home EL was within, three lengthy of Little who in. turn was three lengths beBlithebhild. ' Rounding the last turn, Larry 11. left his feet, and extinhis chance, and third place was by Bushman. Blithechild trotted very all through the race, and Little also went well, but, as usual, found too good for him. Velvet was a great She started skipping when left the mark, and could never be into settle down. The Sydenham Hanprovided one of the. best saddle races eeeh in Canterbury. George L. left Hprk well, and soon had a commanding his nearest attendants at the end of a being Rexie and Vanity, with Lillian Bellman closing up fast. Half a lap the finish, Rexie caught George L., little further on Rexie and Vanity Be*£aji then put. in a big. run, and and Rexie aleo settling down again -'finish resulted. Bellman gob on with George L. in the straight and by » p«ck, Vanity, a length away, a similar distance in front of Rexie. L. trotted a fine. race, and finished strongly: The unlucky horses were and Rexie, either of whom could won easily but for breaking. The haiiwas very .severe on Verity" and in the Ladies' Bracelet, the being penalised 27sec and the latter Blii^liectilA wsm fluratched, but Ver-

ity ran a fine race, finishing close up to the leaders in fast time, and she is evidently a mare destined to win some good races. Paradise, on, the 'limit, went off well and was never caught, winning by ten lengths from Reality, who trotted very steadily all through. Verice made a big effort from a back mark, and Gentle Child was also prominent. Beautiful Bells .performed very disappointingly, and up to date she has altogether failed to justify her nigh lineage. The Addington Handicap resulted in a fine race. Collector, Velox, St Simon, Victory 11. and Boldrewood were bunched soon after the start, and raced in company for some time. . The positions of theleaders changed several times during the race, and a lap from home the chance of Viqtory 11. looked very bright. An accident to his sulky, however, threw him out of the contest," and St Simon and Boldrewood had a royal battle over the last half mile. Boldrewood drew up to St Simon in the back stretch, but Mr Buckland's representative fairly outstayed him, and won. by a length.. Two lengths away came. Velox,;. with Collector, finishing at a great ba.t y a. similar distance further off. Candidate showed more pace than anything else in' the race, and if be had gone kindly, he would probably have won easily. As it was, he broke up badly' several time's. The win of St Simon was very popular,' the horse, his driver and owner coining in for a hearty reception: : : ) .Ea|[s^celi.l Handicap, Rexie compensated Mckers" for her previous defeat by scoring an easy win. .She took the lead afc tneend of half a mile. Lillian . D.' closed on her at the end of a mile, but broke, and after that Rexie was never ; troubled. Lillian (D. put up a good per--formanco in , getting second', place, . but George L. had. evidently not recovered, from his earlier, efforts, and was never ' dangerous. In the Dash. Handicap i Coney went off well, and' soon had a good j lead.* -Nellie Moore, however,, wen toff at a ■■ great bat,' and ; gradually overhauled the ! leader. A good finish seemed in prospect, ' but nearing. the post Nellie Moore lost her feet, and Coney won comfortably. On her recent showing Nellie Moore is one of the fastest horses at present in training, but is very unreliable. Booby was favourite for tjhiß race, ;but he would not settle down, and his wild careering about the track in the early stages of the race probably affected, the chances of more than one of the .other competitors. The Elect rio Handicap was responsible for a. great performance- by Valour. Leaving the mark in great stylo, he, cut his opponents down one by one, ani- when half the distance- had been covered he was lying third to Sweet Marie and Explanation. Still keeping up his great run he caught the leaders in, the; straight. Near the post, however, he l-efb his. feet, and Explanation won by a narrow margin from Sweet Marie, who came a-gaiu, and bteab Valour for second place. It subsequently transpired "that Explanation's rider hit- VaiouV earths head with his whip. Aai inquiry was. held into the circumstances, but it was decided not to interfere with the judge's placing. The run by Valour will not soon be forgotten. It was one of the most brilliant efforts ever in saddle in. Canterbury.

The meeting was brought to a close on Saturday in fine weather, there being- again a large attendance. Speculation was brisk, £6814 passing through the totaMsator. The total for 'the meeting -was £19,506, as compared! with £11,326 10s on the two days of last year's meeting. Some very interesting racing was witnessed 1 . In the Open Handicap Daphne had the race in hand all the way. The two. back-markers, Verity and Valmond, made a great effort, but could not quite overtake the pony. One or two of the' other* starter's did not appear to be in a great hurry. The Ladies' Bracelet was robbed of interest very early, Ashcat going to the front and never giving anything else a chance. Coooanut and Broncho Bill had a great battle for second place. First one and' then the other had a slight advantage, Cocoanut finally gaining tho verdict by the narrowest of. margins. The New Zealand Handicap was a fine race to watch. Victory 11. went off in fronts and led all the way, but ho never had a big enough lead to make the race look a good thing. Velox and' The Heir were his nearest attendants for the greater part of the journey. Candidate started off well, and went kindly all through the Tace. For some time, however, he was racing on the outside of Velox : and The Heir, and the effort to keep his place round the turns eventually proved too much for him, as he fell back half -a lap from home. The Needle was very- slow off the mark, and at the end of a couple of furlongs he was' apparently beaten off. On settling down, howeyer, he showed great speed, and gra-dually-making up his lost ground'; he; had run into ; fifth place, half a dozen lengths behind) the leader, when the last lap was started. From this point he made a good run, but, though he cut down Candidate, Veloi and Boldwwood, he could not get on terms with Victory 11. It was unfortunate for backers of The Needle that he did not leave the mark well, : or tie winner would have had to register a much better performance to gain first place. Iv the Advance Handlicap ' Vjva went to the front very early, and it became merely a question of her going kindly, to secure the verdict. * She skipped badly u onoe or twice, and »teered a' very erratic course. /.'but t

though Mr Buckland had a very rough ride, he- tept his anare together ' sufficiently to enable her to -win by fifty yards from Mies Bank.' Little Albert -was in a good place most of the -way, but Harold 0. and Frederick gradually overhauled him, the three flashing past the post almost in a line. Viva is probably* capable of a lot of improvement yet. 'Like many more of the j Vancieve tribe, she is of an excitable ter- i p<?ra.ment, but she has also got her fair J share, of the family speed. In the Autumn Handicap Wild Rose, George L. and Vanity li-eld command in t;be early stages, but at the "end <?f a mile Bexie cut them, down j and went out by herself and won easily. ( At this .point li'ichu had closed up a lot, and. a '•little further on he ran into third place, behind Vanity. The latter, however, finished strongly, and Fichu .had to be content with third place. Carrie D. ! ran well for a mile, and Bellman was al?o going strongly in the early part of the race., till lie spoilt his chance by breaking. Van Dieman shaped well for a trtme £ but Sydney's form was very disappointing. In the, Progressive .Handicap Onward soon made his way to the front, and' -was never afterwards caught. Black Child began slowly, but was going at a great bat in the last mile, and, cutting down everything else in great style, he got within two j lengths of Onward at the finish. Sir Hector, made up his ground very fast', but tired in the last round, as the result of his e^rly^ exertions: ' Vefax and Collector* both trotted in fine style, the latter, as usual, -going great guns at- the finish. Phoßnix ran a good race, though he !had none the best of the Juck. (Felony never looked dangerous, and 'her Tunning was the subject of an inquiry 'by the stewards, the matter being reported to them, by the stipendiary steward, Mr W. Roliitt. "The grounds of the complaint -were that iFelony had not been trying to win, and that the driver, D. J. Price, had pulledoutto let two horses, Onward and -Black Child, up on the' inside. After hearing evidence, the stewards d&cidedrthat D. J. Price and the mare Felony should be disqualified- for six months. Notice of appeal against the decision nvas immediately lodged by Price. Explanation put up a good performance in the Telegraph Handicap. Leaving the mark smartljv he soon had a big lead. Michael Malone also started well, but broke up. Half a mile from home Velox and Faithful had caught Vascoe, and the trio then set in pursuit of Carrie D, who -was lying second, and Explanation. Vasco^s stuck to his work well, and gradually dropped Valour and Faithful., He caught Carrie D soon after entering the straight, and .just beat the latter home. Holmes rode a fine race on Vascoe, and to this fact, as much as anythingj the horse's position at the finish was due. The meeting was brought to a close •with the. Final- Handicap. All Day and Elector were out by themselves at the end of a furlong, and in the straight (Elector took' the lead. Passing the judge's box .Boldrewood ran into third place, and soon afterwards passed All Day. He then set out in pursuit of Elector, but the latter., finishing up strongly, held his place to the end, and won by two lengths. The time registered by Boktrewood was about 2min 18sec, and ifc -wftis hard luck, to get beaten after such* a fine effort. Elector trotted a genuine, race. . The improvement which has Seen effected since the beginning of the sea- j son in the son of Electioneer reflects the greatest' credit on Piper. Velox whipped round at blxe post and took no parti in the race. This robbed the Tace of some interest, as the pony is such, a "brilliant miler that he must have been dangerous had Ihe got away. The great American trotter, Cresoeus, is out of Mabel, who only cost £50, and was niated with. Robert M'Gregor when that horse had arrived at old age. 'As a foal, Cresceus was weakly and insignificant, and when, as a yearling, hi© gashed his throat so bao. y that his windpipe was exposed, his owner ordered that he should be killed. The groom neglected to. carry out the orid?r at.t he time, however, and it was subsequently repealed. Cresoeus' has always been -owned, trained and driven by the same man, George W.- Ketc'hum, and com- j menoed his racing career as a three-year-old. He now retires to the sfcud with the stallion record of 2inin 2Jsec.

An . attempt to lower Emulator's." mile trotting, record of 2min 18 4-ssec was- to be made at tLe Australian Trotting Association's lapt meeting on the Richmond (Victoria) . ra<KCourse by Mr John Robertson's imported American trotting stallion Owyhee, by Chos. Derby— lda Wood ; but owing to- a. mishap occurring which rend'ereA t»i.e'stallioa slightly lanie the attempt had! to be abandoned. Owyhee struck one of his forelegs whilst familiarising himself •with the course just before starting on his mission, and the laT^a concourse of ,trot-« ting enthusiasts present; -were keenly disappointed. During his brief career on the track Ribbonwood has been responsible for many fine performances, and; eactt time !he 'has bettered h.is previous figures the thought has occurred to most people that lie must siiwly hard now reached the limit }ci his speed. Hi 3 latest 1 performances, < howeyer, suggest that the little Wack horse has still something in reserve. -At the February meeting of the New. Zealand (Metropolitan Trotting <Jlub he set up new figures for o. mile, covering the , distance in 2min 11 2-ssec This lemainedj the record till the third heat of the match with 'Fritz, when Ribbonwood covered -the .distance; in 2min lOsec, and it .Tras ■ believed that he

had reached high -water mark. Last Saturday, however, Ribbonwood made a successful attempt to beat that time. Paced by a galloper, and driven by D. J. .Price, he stepped a mile, without the sign of a mistake, in 2miii 9s€C, the first half-mile taking lmin 4sec. Even then it is doubtful ]f he was seen all out. He appeared to toe going well within 'himself, and I feel confident that we" will one day see the little champion cut a lump off this time, which a few years ago would have been regarded as phenomenal for a colonial liorse. It is understood that the last has 'been seen ot Ribbonwood on the track, for some time at any rate, as it is intended to give him aseason at the stud. With his great record he should not lack opportunities for earning fame in his new sphere. > I understand tnat Coral Hue, winner ot the Juvenile Stakes, was sold for £150 last •week, but so far I have not heard the name of his new owner. ' I regret to learn that the well-known trotting* mare Tracy Belle, dam. of Sir Hector, died at Ashburton last week. At the time v of 'her death she was in foal to Finland, her owner having decided to try ail experiment by breeding her to a thoroughbred sire. . Victor-v 51. charged hands last week, Mr A.' W. Rutherford, M.H.R., giving £100 for the son of General Tracy. Ijb is Mr Rutherford's intention to use him as a trap horse, for which" he should be well suited. The stewards of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club cautioned a driver last Saturday for speaking to someone on the track. Surely it is time that stewards took a firmer stand in this matter. The rule bearing on the subject has been in operation for some time, and if a few fines were imposed there might bo a better chance of riders and drivers complying with

it. Mr J. Pettie has dispo?«-d of Lady Retford, FaifcHul and Twinkle, and has had inquiries for several more of his hor-ses. The :Xe-w Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club professes to make an effort to keep bookmakers off its grounds. At every meeting, however, they are present in large numbers, and when prominent, officials of the club ar© found betting -with them the exact position is hard to understand. Mr J. A. Buckland has sold Franz, the lull-brother to Fritz, to Mr C. H. Gorton, the owner of Valmond. When he return? borne Mr Buckland will take Fritz and Valour with him. The remainder of the team which 4 he brought over will be left in the care of C Piper. With the exception of Viva, they are all for sale, but in the event of new owners not being found for them, they will be raced for Mr Buckland by Piper. In the match between Almont and Lightfoot, run at Melbourne on Easter Saturday, the New Zealand-bred ptallion proved the 'winner, covering the two miles in 4min 36sec. These figures suggest that a twomile rase between Almont and Ribbonwood would not be quite one-sided, and if the pair should ever meet, a great race would be assured. ■ Some talk which took place after the Addington Handicap, run at the New Zealand ■ Metropolitan Trotting. Club's meeting last week, resulted in a, match being made between Sfc Simon, the winner of the race, and Victory 11., who was thrown out of the contest by an accident. The match, which was for £5100 a side, two miles level, was to have been run on Monday. The disqualification of D. J. Price on Saturday deprived Victory 11. of his regular driver, and his owner, Mr V. Harris, declined to go on under the circumstances, so that the match fell through.