SPORTING NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7788, 20 August 1903, Page 4

SPORTING NOTES.

I » _ Charleston, by Havoc, is showing good form in Victoria. Catherine 'Gordon, promissa to develop into a good 'hurdler shortly. Marmont, the hero of thi3 winter's campaign in Victoria, is to be given a rest. At tihe sale of the late Ccclonel M'Calmont's stud, thirty-six itfis' brought 36,000g-s. '. Bright Beauty, Xotho3 and F. J. A. arc each quoted at 20 to 1 for the Oaulfield Cup. Tupara., the brother to Battleaxe, shaped I well. in the Maiden Huidle Race last week. Grand Rspids, ia- half-brother, by Gipsy Grand, io Scvlla, shaped well in the "Winter .Cup. " From the Xotlh Island comes news of the death of King's Bowman, by Forester — Princess Royal. Last season,, in England, Galcpin, bis sons and grandsons, sired nha winners of 335 races, valued at £13G,257. Miss Button has won the First Hunters' Hurdlo Race at the Grand National meeting two. years in Eiiccession. At a recent sale in England, a yeailiug filly by Donovan, from a- half-sister to Sceptre, brought 130 guineas. Emir is favourite for the Victorian Derby at 6 !to 4, for tho Melbourne Cup at 8 io J, and for the double at 14 to 1. At the annual sale of Mr J. B. Haggin, the well-known American breeder, 203 yearlings were sold at an average of £230. ' Messrs Clark and Robinson, owners of The Victory, headed i'he winning owners' l&t in Australia, last season with £6950. Jones, (ho winner ol the Victoria- Amateur Turf Club's Challenge Cup, is a New Zealandbred hunter, by Flintlock— Quiz. At the sale of the late Colonel M' Calm or it's stud, three yearlings by Pa'lrcn realised 155 guineas, 105 guineas and 50 guineas. Pilgrim's Progress headed the 2ist of winning s;re>3 in Australia, for 3-ust sf-asqn with foi'i-y-four races, valued at £12,239 10s. Zealous ran very pr-or'y in the Maiden Hurdle Race last week, but put- up a- good porfcrma-ncy in xhe Final Hurdle Race 1 . I The motion proposed at the annual meeting of the Victoria- Racing Club io reduce the racing dates w?.s referred to a committee. ! It- is stated that but for getting into trouble in France, Tod Sloan was certain to have been granted a. license to- ride in England. Awahuri wiM 'be sent to Sydney on Friday, to run; in t'h-s jumping erects at the. Australian Jockey Club's meeting npxfc moftitih. if. H. Hewi'tc, the well-known jockey, leaves far Sydney to-morrow, (o ride Cruoifcrm and Orloff in their engagements at Raadwick next me nth. Betting on 'tho Molbsume Cup is dull. Emir is favourite at 8 to 1, Strata Florida, Abundance, Sojourner and Bewitcher being at 20 to 1. The smalles-l; jockey <oi note xiding in the Eastern States "of America, is Roscoe Coleman-, who is thirteen years of age, and weighs 33 fc 121 b. Members of the Victoria Racing Club have been asked by the Chairman of the club to assis'b in. every way the passage of the Totalis,-, tor Bill. At Wellington Park this season seventeen mi:rc3 are in foal to Hotchkiss, sixteen to Phoebus Apollo, seven to Menschikoff and one to Sea-ton Delavaj. ■Evening looks >Kke making a firsit-class performer -over hurdles before long. She shaped well in two of (her naces last week, but in the third was never prominent. At the Newmarket First July Meeting, ' the Melboiisr.'a, Cup warner Clean Sweep finis-lied fotiri'h. in^ a mile and a half race. The son cf Zalini'ki i-3 now very- infirm. ' Mr F. Madden, <a> strong opponent of the tota,lisator, -has lost his seat on the committee of the Victoria Racing Club, all the members of which arc now -favourable to the machines T'ho hunting mare Gladys broke her pelvis on Wednesday. It is not known how v the accident happened, but it is anticipated that her racing caresr is finished, though it is believed tho mare's life will be saved. Previous winners of the Giand National Hurdle race- that competed last week wctc Haydn, Ums'opogna-3 . and Defiance. Haydn was the only previous Grand National Steepleehasß winner that 'took part in the meeting. Tho dates of H-he North Otago Joe-key Ciub hava been fixed "lor Oct. 21 and' 22, in lieu of the 'September dates formerly chosen. The change" bscasne necessary owing to the recent heavy weather having interfered somewhat with training operations in the southern districts. ' An electric clock for timing races was recently . worked for the first time at Hurst Park, England. It was constructed by Mr F. Hyams, at one time a jeweller in Dunedin, but who is now in business in London, where ho makes a specialty of New Zealand greenstone orjaranientai The trial was very satisfactory. As maiilters at present stand, disqualified persons, or whose on the forfeit list 1 , are aniy debaared from the saddling paddock at race meetings, -other than those at Randwick, held under (Australian Jockey Club rules, but a:fc the annual meeting of the Australian Jockey Club Mr Kncx intends moving an. alteration to the rule, whereby rac? clubs will huve power to exclude such individuals from any part of tlrei* racecourse. An American paper remarks that it Is worthy of not© that John E. Madden 6old the first threa horses in the recent Brooklyn Handicap—lrish Lad, Gunfiro and Heno. Last year he sold Irish Lad to Herman B. Duryea and Harry Payne Whitney for £4000 aad part of any stake ;'he subsequently won a* <a, two-year-old. Late .in. ihe<r two-year-old career, he sold Gunfire to W. C. Whitney for £2000. Two year.? ago he sold Heno to Clarence Mackay for £4000. AM of the colts have, sustained all that he said about them. As soon as a jockey shows any form in America he is pretty certain. 1 to be snapped up by one of tho big racing stables'. The jeekey C. Gray, who, through an accident to Bullir.an, had tho mount on M'Chesney in a race at Harlem (Chicago), -and received £1600 for winning, was little known at tho commencement of this season, but. has done so well since that ho is now reckoned one of 'the best. Subsequent to his success on M'Chesney he was secured by an owner named Drake at a retaining fee of £2400 for the year. Acting on the suggestion of Mr J. E. Henrys, b-andioapper, and .tallowing out the system adopted by ihe Feilding Jockey Club, the MiasterUm Racing Club foas adopted the following pena.'.t-iss:— "T'he winner of any flat race after, declaration of weights to carry a penalty of 101 b, and of every additional- race a further penal .y of 6lbf Horses handicapped at Bst lOlb or over to carry only half the above penalties." "The winner of any h'uidle race after the declaration of weights to carry a penalty of 101 bin the bundle races, and for every sddiaooal race 7lb extra." An. odd discovery in horse feeding has been made in Argentina in. the recsn't campaign of t : ho Government against the revolutionist's. So many horses fell' ill in consequence- of the bad reads fi.nd. heavy transp'Ori.a.idcn • that the veterinarians did not know what t<> do about it. To supply them wihh food that would g-ive theni greater endurance, one of them maae ;he experiment -cS adding a litfclo sugar to the rations. It has' been so successful that two ounces -of sugar ckcly 'are given to every horse. Tho horses last longer and do more work, and some which .'had become- useless had even gained strength'- and capacity for work. For some time past grave coniplaims have been made of the. practice of persons batting outsid-a the precincts of , the : Brisbain-a racecourse, -amd accepting money from children of a tender *gei. A few weeks back the police took action ; but once again, were their efforts to.rput dewn: illegal 'gambling frusii«dtsd: The •defendant', who cond-jcled his own case, made i tha ingenious defence Wiat the occurrence took place on a private place— -an aHotnicint of -land*— t-a occupy which the owner had not given him permission, and ho was thus a trespasser. TJi-is- proved fai-al, nnd the Mcgis--tr*le had up option but to dismies the ca3«, An Adelaide writer says too much talking went on, 1 in some of the rsces at' Broken Hill. A jockey who was leading in one event called out to the boy oh' the h-srse following- him: " -Can't you smother up behind in<??"- He wa3 told he could not, aw, instead of smothering up behind the other, the rider ' iaippe»!'ed to came on: -and wou the 1 -race. Ilad-thc'winni'.ig rider folio-wed the advice- tendered^ he would j probably have been an unlhapny rasp, to-day. Jockeya who talk in a race Bhorild remember lUiat they forgeit to moderate their -voices, and when a dozen people have heard thc-m-t it is useless to go to the stewards and make a denial. Since Arnold and 1 Co. absconded, the- Americp.n authorities are doing their best 4o settle fch.? -ether turf investment companies, and recently a couple of leading men in one of -these ■affairs were charged with kirceny. Attorneys for the defence contended that the case should bs dismissed on the ground that no evidence had been introduced to show that the •defendants were guilty of larceny. Tho judge suu tained^this plea, on the ground' that the defendants were in the same relaiion with iho3e who deposited money with them as the depositors and manners of a baiik. The money was given to the promoters to be invested with (full knowledge of the way it was to be ifl- . vested, and tlis risk ;to bo ruu. a.t a. couniiy meeting some . year 3 «go, at which '•there was v. capital finish for the fct-Vace, par.y £eclir.:j ran high, snd as the home stretch was entered the favourite — a local mare, of course — was running neck and neck I with a visitor. The crowdl surged and -swayed j in its enthusiasm to such an extent 'that just as -the winning post was. reached the little structure which constituted the judge's box i was overturned. It w>33 a close finish indeed; "but to the unprejudiced it seemed that in last two ..strides the favourite was beaten.. The excitement '. was intenae, and loud was the cheering when the judge gave hi.? decision. "The mare has it." he said; "but, by the; Lord Harry!" he added, turning to -the members of , the crowd neai him, "ye only just turned me over in. time I" Some day, no doubt, we shall have tho totalhator, but it will take time, says "Marti'nd'a.lo" "in tho Sydney "Town and Country Journal." Hod anyone ever iritroduded what miph-t h* termed a 'liberal Bill into Pwli«<-

merit, it might have been passed long sine*. ■ What we want is a Bill that, while legalising the machine, will not prevent the bookmaker doing business in a legitimate way. If such were done, then the greatest opposition to the machine would bo withdrawn. In every part where ib has 'been tried the machine is a, success. In France it i 3 popular witn all classes. This ia shown ■by the vaa v sum passed through upon every great race, lor instanco, over £160,000 is stated to have been taken by the mutuels on the Grand Prix day in Paris, and of this sum over £66,000 was taken in ithe big race. It is evident thait the mutuels- becoming daily more popular with the Frenchman, and their absolute fairness is ensuring them an increasing clientele every day. Many of .the giants of the English turf have been obliged to back their judgment by betting heavily on their own horses in order to meet the expenses of the stud. The great statesman, the Fourteenth Earl of Derby, was go brilliant in his horsemanship that he managed out of 243 horses to produce 54 winners and gain £94,000 m prizes, which cleared all training expenses for twsn'ty-Qne years. On the other hand*, the Fifth Earl of Jersey, the owner -of Boy Middleton, scored countless triumphs, but at a los 3in stabie expenses a 1 one of £400,000. When Lord Falniouth cold his stud in 1884 the horses fetched HO.OOOgs; added to which he had won £300,000 in stakes; 'but his largest bet throughout his racing career wns the> £ium of sixpence, los>t to Mrs Scott, the wife of his trainer. He paid up his loss in a sixpenny piece, new from, the mint, and set in diamonds. During a turf career of fifty years Lord Palraerston was seldom known to bet, taking his pleasure with hcrsss as a relief from politics.