SPORTING NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8455, 25 October 1905, Page 1

SPORTING NEWS.

FAR AND NEAR. (By THE POSSIBLE.) So far as can be judged by the racing that has already taken place, the two-year-old events at Riccarton (Should provide interesting contests. For some time the Birkcnhead colt Zimmerman has been heralded as a high-class colt, and his defeat at Hastings by Mungista was excused on the ground that the heavy .going did not suit him. A week , later Zimmerman defeated King Billy at Napier Park, but he had a big pull in the weights, so that the performance does not make iiim a. champion. Coming on to Wellington, Zimmenna-n again failed, but as at Hastings the going will probably be blamed for his defeat. There i 6 just a suspicion as to the oolt's soundness, but if he is all light in. this respect he should find Riccarton firm . enough for him next •week. Mungista's winning foorm at Hastings was discounted by her poor display at Wellington, last week, and it does not look at present as if she would be quite in the first flight. Cantor, a jftable mate of Zimmerman, is a winner that is well spoken of, but the highpriced Moscow has so far proved a disappointment. Kirriemuir, who won the Wellington Stakes, is a filly of great promise. She has -not been in hand so long as most of her opponents, and as the Reason ha 6 been unfavourable «o far she should be oapable of some improvement yet. Under the circumstances, therefore, she may prove the best of the lot that have raced this season. Iva-noff made a fair, isitart at Wellington, and he should prove capable of holding his own with most of his age at Riccarton. Two others that 'have already ,r«oed in the Otago fillies, Afer and Lady Landon, may ak) play a prominent part, though from what I oan hear of them I fancy they will be foupd a little . behind the best, of the Riocarton juveniles. Mr Stead has a well-bred pair in Seal Rock (Sam Francisco—Miss 1 Gladys) and Huascar (Hotchkiss— St Elyn), but report credits them with being below the usual Yaldhurst standard. There are a few more promising youngsters among those entered, biit'at present I would .take Kirriemuir and Zimmerman as likely to prove the best of their age at the approaching meeting. Not long ago the committee of the Victoria Racing" Club announced its decision to discontinue the practice of decorating the Derby winner on the lawn. Some futher light is now thrown on the subject. Mr Wren, in a letter to the " Age" dealing with the refusal of the Victoria Racing Club to accept his nominations for certain events, asked :-»- --" Should my horse Pius win — and there are more unlikely eventualities than that — will the ceremony be observed aa usual, or will 1 the Victoria Raoing Club authorities explain to her Excellency the wife of the Governor-General that, as the owner of the winner had not been allowed to- start any of his horses whose nominations had been accepted for another race that remained unchallenged for. five months, the ceremony will be dispensed with, for fear of it evoking a possible expression of public sympathy with the owner, such as was recently shown at the meeeting of the Melbourne Hunt Club?" Mr Moore, the secretary of the Victoria Racing Club, on being shown the letter, referred to the fractiounees shown by Sylvanite last year when being decorated , with the blue ribbon, and his subsequent bolting, and said that the committee, in consequence of that incident, passed a resolution a few days afterwards as follows — " That the Derby ribbon shall not be put round the horse's neck in future, but shall be handed to the winner." TEe Melbourne "Age," in referring to the matter, had the following: — "The curious feature in connection with this official communique is that it has been bottled up by the Victoria Racing Club committee for just eleven months — for what reason it is impossible to conceive — and everyone, of course, will be struck by the singular coincidence that the decision in regard to this interesting new departure from Derby traditions is revealed just at the moment when the dreadful possibility is brought before the eyfc of the committee in cold print. Is it any wonder that the Star Chamber methods of the committee are the subject of adverse criticism by Press and public alike?" Brief particulars aro to hand regarding the .result of the Doncaster St Lezer. The field consisted of Challacombe, by St Serf— Lady Chancellor; Polymelus, by Cyllene— Maid Marian; Oherry Lass, by Isinglass — Black Cherry; Nimay,by Bocage- or Chester-field---Veneration; Magon, by Bocage— Overdue ; Llangibby, by Wildfowler— Concussion; Monarda, by Florizel 11.-— Lady Loverule : and. Royal Ward, by Prisoner — The Hmpress Maude. Cherry Lass was a strong favourite at 6 dx> 4 on. lihe quotations about the others baing 5 to 2 against Llangibby, 10 to 1 Polymelus, 100 to .6 Challacombe, 50 to * Nimay, 06 to 1 Monarda, 100 to 1 Magob; and 200 to 1 Royal Ward. Magon' made tb' pace from Royal Ward, Cherry Lass and • Polymelu*. Then Ohemr Lass took commaaid, but coilepsedwhen challenged by Challaoombe and Polymelus, the former drawing away at the finish, and winning . eassly by. tferee length^ -with. Cherry

Lass a similar distance behind Polymelus. The time, 3min 5 2-osec, constitutes a record. Tho Cesarewitch Stakes is theprin- j cipal long distance handicap decided in England in the autumn. In conjunction with the Cambridgeshire Stakes it was at one time responsible for a lot of double-event betting, and even now, though betting is on the decrease, it is «till a source of considerable speculation. Hammerkop, the winner of this year's race, runs in the same ownership as Pretty Polly. She was a good performer as a two-year-old, winning (four races. The following season she ; started favourite for the Oaks, but was easily beat-en by Our Lassie, two races going down, to her credit during 1 the year. Last season she again ran I prominently in a number of races, but I only won two, these being the Great Yorkshire Handicap, run over the St Leger course,^ and the King's Plate at Derby, about? two miles. In all her races she showed herself to be a good stayer, and her victory last week would, therefore, cause no surprise. Merry Andrew, who finished second, is another horse with excellent staying credentials, his successful efforts ladt season including the Ascot Stakes, a two mil© handicap, which he won in 3min 22 2-usec. Wargrave has been one of Carbine's most solid performers in England, particularly over long courses. He would probably be well supported for last week's race, as he had proved himself quite, capable of covering the distance by winning it last year. The Middle Park Plate, which was decided at the, Newmarket Second October Meeting last week, is the leading English two-year-old race. It was established in 1866, and it has been won by many high-class horses, among those enrolled on the list of winners being Melton. Minting, Friar's Balsam, Donovan, Signon'na, Gouverneur, Orcne, Isinglass, Ladas, St Frnsquin, Galtee More, Caiman, Pretty Polly and Jardy. Caiman, who has just been imported to Australia for breeding purposes, by Mr W. M'Culloch, the former owner of Pilgrim's Progress, defeated Flying Fox when he secured this race in 1898. Flair, last week's winner, was successful- in the Imperial Produce Plate at .Kempton Park a week earlier, a performance which earned her the maximum penalty in the Middle Park Plate. She had an easy time during the early part of this season, but it is evident that she is quite one of the best of the year. Admirable Oriohton, who finished second, is a half-brother to Pretty Polly.. He showed high-class form in his earlier races, and at latest mail advices he and Black Arrow was considered the best colts of the season. Since then,_ however, Black Arrow has disgraced himself by a poor display in the Champagne Stakes at Doncasteir, and Admirable Crichto is probably now regarded as the crack among the colts. Gingal, who has been running well this season, is a son. of Carbine, Tor whom 1400 guineas^ was paid as a yearling. The three placed horses are all engaged in next year's Derby. . w ■ In glancing over the names figuring in the pedigree of Zimmerman I had not to proceed far (says the Auckland writer "Phaeton") before discovering one round which an important incident hangs, for it was due to an unexpected defeat that his grand-dam Soli-tude-suffered when two years' old, that led to the abolition in Australia of declarations to win. . It was in the Normanby Stakes, a race for two-year-olds, run at Flemington on New Year's Day, 1882, that Mr Ettie De Mestre claimed a double string to his bow with Solitude and Navigator., and he declared to win with the first-named. The late T. Hales had the mount on Solitude, and a lad named J. Riley was put up on Navigator. The betting in favour of Solitude was of a heavy chary acter, and she eventually went out a hot favourite at 5 to 2, while her stable-mate was not considered by the stable followers. To the chagrin of Mr De Mestre and the stable followers, however, Riley dashed up with Navigator at the business end of the trip, and in an exciting finish the black son of Robinson Crusoe scored by half a head over his heavilybacked stable-mate. It may be imagined that the backers of • Solitude let themselves go. A statement waa freely made at the time that certain smart people were apprised of the stable secret that Navigator was the better of the pair, and that Riley, the rider of Navigator, was encouraged to assist them to get out of a bad book, for which they would have been liable had Solitude won. Nothing was ever proved; but the Victoria . Racing Club, shortly after the race, took action, with the result that the rule bearing on declarations to win was abolished. The luck of racing, and the impossibility of ordering things- with the least degree of certainty, is well ilustrated in some remarks by "Rapier," in a recent issue of the " Sporting and Dramatic News," who writes : — " One thing we had all regarded as certainearly in the year was that the Kingsclere two-year-olds were going to do great things. Superbly bred, and many of them better than merely, good-look-ing, how could they fail? Pipistrello, own brother to Flying Fox, John Porter was of opinion would equal the achievements of his great relation. Then there was Crown Gem, own sister to Sceptre and Culzean, a daughter of Ayrshire and Miss Gunning, whom Porter preferred to all 1 the fillies, and for whom he anticipated a career of. triumph. Green Dale, brother to Darley Dale and Simon Dale, was expected to, prove best of the three; and if Quair, a daughter of Orme and Memoir, did not race, how was one to set about breeding winners? There were six-and-twenty of them in all ; sixteen have not run, and of the other ten,' one, Bokaal, daughter of St Serf and Kissing Cup, succeeded in winning a selling race worth £102 at Liverpool. Another, Zarifer (Eager — Sarabanda), ran third to Light o' Day, beaten, however, six lengths. The remainder have been out, but none of them has ever got into the first three — and we are on .ihe verge of September. "What the forfeits of this lot come to I have not endeavoured to calculate, though it would be interesting if one had time to ascertain the amount of entries, training expenses, ebe. Many readers will be aware from experience how these things add up- and on the credit side, as already stated, is to be eet juat £102 ! Pipis-

trello, for itistanoe, was in the Prince of Wales' Stakes at Goodwood, 200 soys each subscription. What, I wonder, would a speculative person have offered for the winnings of the twenty-six up to and, of course, including Goodwood?"