THE WORLD OF SPORT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9919, 6 August 1910, Page 5

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

SPORTING. ' [ Manfflus is among the horses at Riccarton showing signs of unsoundness. I Monday' marked the opening of a new Itacing season in New Zealand, i Eurus and Northern Star are at present Buffering from an attack of influenza, i Stone Ginger showed symptoms or 'Bess while working at Riccarton on Monday. Paisano look 3 well and ba3 made a of friends since he put in an appearance I Lovell will be sent to Sydney at the close of the Grand National m'eeting. Mr Spencer Gollan's Tmpapa. who won ;'the Eden Handicap, one mile and a halt, at Linfield, England, in June, is a five-year-old ■by Collar—Tiroillerie. . The stallion Hymettus. by Cyllene—Sweet 'Balsam, imported by tho Hon J. D. Ormond, n-rrived in Wellington from London by the Eimutaka on Friday. ' I No further attempt will be made to train the Australian horse Calaverito, by Grafton w-Golddust. He cost 2100 guineas as a yearling, but would not stand training. The formation of a Sporting League in ITew Zealand is now being freely advocated.. The suggestion ia due, of course, to tueactivity of the opponents of racing and betting. | In West Australia special attention is demoted to apprentice riders, and they are encouraged alike by officials and owners. At arecent goldfields carnival they • won 231 of j the '36 races decided. A treble event was brought off in connection with the victory of Lemberg in the English Derby, as it was won' for yie first time by the owner (Mr Fame), the trainer (A. Taylor) and the jockey • (B. Dillon). According to latest advices from Australia, there are signs, presumably from operation in the betting market, that Master Soult, Lady Lucy ajid Milan are likely visitors to .Victoria for the Melbourne Cup meeting. The English horse. Dean Swift, has established a great record for consistency in connection with the Trial Stakes, the opening -event at tho Ascot meeting, having twice finished first and three times second in the last five years. I At the last meeting of the Societe d Encouragement in Pari?, the question of racing plates was definitely fixed by a prohibition of any kind of shoes showing the slighttest protuberance or having any edge not perfectly rounded off. Th'e penalties for the Australian Hurdle Handicap and Steeplechase only apply m 4he . cases of winners over two miles and a quarter or more. This practically means thai there are no penalties, and horses can keep on winning without any increase of Weight. . , _ , Tie American jockey, D. Maher, was 111 good form on the second day \of the Ascot June Meeting, when he rode four winners Bayardo in the Gold Cup, Lemberg in the £t James's Palace Stakes, Mustapha in the, JToriy-seventlx New Bionni&l Stakes, and Bunder in the Forty-eightSi Biennial Stakes. Last Call, a three-year-old colt by the Melbourne Cup winner, The Victory,-won a selling race at Gatwick, England, a few weeks «go, and was bought in for 610 guineas. At the same meeting the Australian-bred horse, Tangaroa-, by Grafton—Waihine, finished third, carrying top-weight, lOst 2lh, in the Uaaior Welter Plate.

Palette, ■who won the principal event at the Townsville (Queensland) meeting last Imonth, was racing- in England last year, her [winning record including three selling races. iShe is by Velasquez—Drip, and was im- ' '.ported to Queensland a few, months ago by [Mr .J. S. Love, who; also brought out the stallion Marbla Arch, now owned in Auckland. '' • ' The opinions expressed; about Red Macjgregor's jumping abilities ere very varied, I and in Auckland it ib freely stated that the ! Great Northern winner has no chance of !6uccessfully negotiating the country at Ric;cart»n. The poor quality of hi* jumping is 'put down by his rider, Windsor, to the faot that he must not be bustled at his fences, End whenever he has fallen it Has always •been when ridden by a stranger. The Australian cross-country jockey, F. pßurn, has declined Baron Kothschild's ofier : a retainer of £IOO0_for a season in Ausbut has stated his willingness to accept [double that Burn baa recently | built stables, *and has set up as a. trainer in (Victoria, where he can also claim valuable riding engagements, so that ho does not ' feel disposed to leave Australia without receiving substantial inducement. . English papers state that an interesting experiment in reference to starting was tried lin Francs recently,- and met with such suo- \ jcess that it may mean, so it is said, the rei euscitation of the flag. The gata was only (used as a means of bringing the horses up ;leval to a certain position. "When this had jbeen accomplished by the assistant starter 'the signal was given by the starter, who '.stood some paoea in advance with his flag. | . There is more money to be won with jumpers in France than in any other country.in the world, o fact that is further con/firmed by the reference by a Continental I correspondent to the steeplechaser Dandolo, 'who broke one of his legs while running in e, race at Enghein a few weeks ago, and had to be destroyed: Among Dandolo's wins were ■the Grand Steeplechase of Paris (twice)/ and in 1 jumping r*ces during his career no less m sum than £21,800 was credited him. People who imagine that King George V. Is going to be a mere figurehead make a very great mistake. His Majesty is already showing a strong hand, has made somo unexpected changes in connection with the Coiirt and its recent customs, and. has 1 hinted that there •will be other alterations. A high official has openly stated that the King is ' not : at proBent inclined to take < any very material interest In horse-racing, but that he will attend the most important meetings later on. intimate of his Majesty has declared that George V. finds more enjoyment in a first'claes football match or athletic meeting than Is a horse race.

. News by the last English mail states that fche Frenoh Grand National Steeplechase, 'run at > Paris on June 18, was won by the (English horse Jerry M. The London !" Sportsman " Bays the victory of Mr Afishe-lion-Smith'a colours was well received, and ithere was loud cheering, from the public while the stewards crowded round the owner and his friends to express their j satisfaction at tie success of an English [horse. It was recalled that Jerry M. had ) run sacond for the Taoe twelve months ago, f»nd though he made some compensation by fwinning the Prix des Drags on the following 1 'Friday, it .was felt to be quite in accordance with the fitness of things that he should score in the tier steeplechase this season. 1 It ia proposed to alter the English rales ion the subject of dead heats, and the stewards of the English Jockey Club had a mo-, 'tion to come up at their July meeting to make them wad as follows:—"(1) Every Jiorse running a dead-heat for first place »hall be deemed the winner of the race until the dead-heat is run off or the owners agree to divide, and, if the owners agree to .divide, each horse which divides shall be deemed a winner of the race, and liable to »ny penalty for the full amount he would cave received if he had won; but if any on© bf the horses running a dead-heat be a two-'year-old, the dead-heat shall not be run off, Wnd the owners shall divide, in which case each horse shall only he liable to a penalty for half the amount he would have received 'if .he had won. (2) A dead-heat for the first ■place shall be run off on the same day, at a :lime to be appointed by the stewards, unless 'the owners agree, to divide. The other horses ■shall be deemed to have been beaten, but Hhey shall bo entitled to their places (if any) '*» if the race had been finally determined the ifirst time." . ■ 1 The "fashionable jockey of the present 'day ia as different from _ his predecessor of fifty years ago as light is from dark (says »n English exchange). Then the professional riders did) not ape the exquisite dandy, nor (did. they keep a valet or a motor-car. A '.veteran like John Osborne, as representing 1 fthe old school, contrasts curiously with the Wnodern or "up-to-date" jockey. Formerly, even, a successful artist of the profession fwould, after riding several winners during 'the afternoon, have to do up his horse in the evening just like an ordinary stable lad. iThe luxurious "young gentleman" of the period would now turn up his nose in horfor at the mere suggestion of such a thing. 'I have more than once mentioned" in this Wltunn that Maher has received a retainer of between £4OOO and £SOOO to ride Neil Gow .(alone. This must be the biggest sum ever ijpaid a jockey. It is recorded that in the days of Mr Greville someone offered the 'great Flatman £SO for a year for a third claim on hi 3 services. Mr Greville in the 'most indignant way, exclaimed to the owner Jn question, "Fifty pounds a year for third 'claim 1 Do you want to ruin my jockey!" i The following . occurrence at Louisville (America) should be of some interest as bearing on the walk-up method oi starting:— /"The closing race at Louisville on May 24 (xras attended by an unusually noisy demonstration, directed against the starter for 'despatching the field in ragged order, with Ithe favourite, Elizabethan, practically left at the post. Starter Milton was inclined to lay !the blame for the poor send-ofi to Sticker ihaving bumped into and almost knocked (Elizabethan down, but the public thought Jiim at fault, and voiced their displeasure. 'Horsemen and critics here are tired of the 'present starting method, and unhesitatingly pronounce the walk-up start, without the use :«f assistants' whips, a fiat failure, and are 'clamouring for a return of the style that permits the starter to use his own discretion to get tho beat results." Mr James Hilton, the starter referred to, subsequently tendered his resignation, pointing out in so Hoing that at the commencement of the Wting he Jrad informed the stewards that ;lt was only to oblige them that he would 'continue to perform the duties of starter, it jfceiag impossible to effect good starts with

TOPICS OF THE TIME.

the walk-up system unless he was allowed to employ the methods he considered would achieve the best results.

Just before the last files left England five men were proceeded against on a charge of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers, and with forging addresses on . letters, with intent to defraud. It came out in evidence that the men had strnck an ingenious method of " finding " winners. It was to get an accommodation address in the road in which the bookmaker lived. A letter was posted in the morning to this; accommodation address and received there in the afternoon, the envelope thus being stamped with tho date stamp, which the bookmaker was to accept as showing the honesty of the transaction. On its arrivaJ at the accommodation address tho lightly sealed envelope was carefully opened, the Blip it contained was taken out, and another one substituted, on which was written the name of a winning horse, which had been obtained'' from an evening newspaper. The pencil address was then erased and the bookmaker's address written on in ink. Two of the prisoners went along the street -and overtook the postman who was delivering letters. , One jostled past him and the other would drop a letter on the pavement. The man who jostled past would look round and say, "Look here, postman, you have dropped a letter." The postman innocently picked it up and delivered it to the bookmaker.

Owners sometimes experience a tantalising run of ill-luck on tho turf, and the London " Sporting Lifegives as an instance the case of Sir Martin, an American horse, now in England, where he won the Coronation Cup at Epsom this season. Previous to that race he was kicked by another opponent. The "Sporting Life" says:—"lt had almost begun to appear as though some' malign influence was at work to prevent Mr Win an s from reaping the just reward of_ his enterprise and pluck in bringing Sir Martin to this country; In the first place, he had no chance in the Derby to show'of what, he was capable, for, as everyone knows, he fell "when making the descent at Tottenham. Corner; and in the Cambridgeshire he was distinctly unfortunate in running up against Christmas Daisy, that horse completely taking the field off their legs in startling fashion. This season, too, when victory in the Jubilee Handicap Eeemed quite within his grasp, the. dread news of the King's death came, causing tlie abandonment of the race. Thus it was high time that Fortune's face was turned in the other direction, but now that Sir Martin has, in the most convincing manner, demonstrated himself to be, if not actually the best of his year, right at the top of the first. class, all earlier disappointments will be forgotten." TROTTING. F. Holmes returned to Riccarton on Friday, after a holiday trip to America. While there he arranged for the purchase of a well-bred mare, Jenny Mac, for Mr A.' J.' Lawrence. She has a foal by Star Pointer, 1.69J, ! the first horse to get below two minuteSj and I understand Holmes will keep this foal for himself. Before being shipped to New Zealand the mare will be mated with the pacing stallion, Jim Logan, who has a record of 2min s£sec. The trotting stock of Canterbury should therefore be considerably strengthened as the result of Holmes's visit to the homo of the trotting horse. Breeders of trotting horses in Canterbury will be interested to learn that two more Ainerican-bred stallions will be at their_ disposal this season. One of them is Marvin Wilkes (record 2.125), by Don Marvin—Nora S. This horse, who is owned by the Allendale Stock Farim combines the Nutwood, Belmont, George Wilkes and Electioneer strains, and he is described by competent judges as an exceptionally fine-looking animal. The second stallion is Lou Dobl6, by Kinney Lou— Marguerite. He has not done any racing, but is said to be a fine, stamp of a stallion, arid as he is still young, having been foaled in 1906, there is plenty of time yet for him to take a fast record to give him a name with breeders.

Kibble, who put Up an Australian two-year-old record at the New South Wales Trotting _ Club's meeting last month, by covering a mile in 2min 25fsec, is by Ribbonwood, - his dam, Amiable, being by Tuxedo—Miss Harold, by Childe Harold. Ribble is a full-brother to Ribbonwood Junior, who took-a record of 2min 28£ sec as a two-year-old.

The following are the nominations for seats on the New Zealand Trotting Association for the ensuing year : North Island, Messrs J. H. Pollock and Ci> F. Mark; South Island, Messrs E. Clarkson. W. H. Denton, R. 0. Duncan, W. G. Garrard, W. Hay ward, C. S. Howell, A. L. Myers, H. F. Nicoll and P. Selig. The two North Island are elected unopposed, but a ballot will, be necessary to elect seven South Island , members.

The committee of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club hasr decided toj hold over tlie question of appointing a new time-keeper until after the August meeting. . AQUATIC. On the eighteenth of this month Richard Arnst of New Zealand; champion sculler of the world, and Ernest Barry, of England, who aspires to the title, will meet on the Zambesi for another world's champion contest. From now onwards the eyes of the sporting world will be turned towards Africa, and although the contest will probably not claim anything like the attention bestowed on the Jeffries-Johnson dispute, everybody will look forward eagerly to the result of the race. On this occasion two white men are °- o ing to struggle for supremacy on a Slack man's soil. I have frequently been asked the reason "why such an outlandish place as the Zambesi should have been chosen for the race." The Zambesi is not such an outlandish place as some people imagine. New Zealanders, or at least a good many of them, have little idea of Africa beyond the fact that it is where the Boor war took place, and that men go there to shoot lions., In reality the country near and around the course for the coming championship, under the guidanco of the 1 British South Africa Company, is only just beginning to' wake up to its tremendous possibilities. The Zambesi is becoming a popular tourist resort, and is world-famous for its falls and beautiful scenery. South Africa, as is well known, has produced several wealthy men, and these men, with their interests in the country that made them, have promoted the race as a means to an end. And that end is to draw the attention oi the whole world to on© of Africa's beauty spots. It has been well done, well managed, andall through the sport and the race have never been made subservient to any ulterior motive. In any case, it has been agreed that the loser shall be entitled to another race on tho Thames. No better way of advertising the country could have been found, while at the same time the best interests of the sport have been preserved. There will be Tittle opportunity of hearing how the contestants progress in their training, but both men were in good form when they arrived at Cape Town, and it should be merely a question of keeping lit and maintaining their best form. t

Writing to a Perth friend, Rufe Nay lor, the one-time pedestrian promoter of Australia, who is now in South Africa, says that the prospective ArnstBarry sculling match is creating a great deal of excitement and .speculation in Africa. Many people there like the Englishman's chances. Naylor concludes: "I am going to see the match, and have already laid £IOO to £9O that Arnst will win." Interviewed at Durban (Natal) by The Latest," Champion Dick Arnst said he expected to win, but did not care to hold his opponent too cheap, as, in common with George Towns, he considered the English champion a worthy foeman to meet for the title. If possible, he hopes to get the date of the race deferred a week, and the proposed rules under which the race is to be rowed must be substituted for the championship rules and conditions. He felt fit, but hf-d let down a little in the voyage over, but had plenty of exercise on board, and by the time he reaches Livingstone to start training he will want a lot of hard work to got hh weight down.

Whatever was the cause of Arnst's statement regarding tlie rules is not known here, but it is evident that ho has been questioned as to conditions, of that the Thames conditions have been brought under his notice. It was generally understood, before Arnst left that he was going to row under the conditions which ho has been used to ever since he started rowing." There are several small differences between the two sets of rules, but they are, with the, exception of one clause, insignificant. The clause which Arnst takes objection to is probably that which allows the scullers' trainers to follow them in cutters and coach them all the way. In the old championship conditions there is not such rule, and the scullers have to row their own race all through. Looked at with a critical eye, it is only right that a man. should row the race himself. As all scullers know, it is not merely a case of breaking away from the start, and rowing your hardest till the course is finished. There is as much, if not more head work required in sculling as in any other sport, and there have been instances in racing where the best man has not always won, because he did not husband his strength and nurse himself as the other man did, with the result that he rowed himself out, and was unable to reply when challenged by his opponent over the last part of the course. Consequently, it will readily be seen that when a sculler merely does what he is told, like the engines of a boat obey the engineer, a good deal of credit of winning a race would b,e due to the coach. Arnst has never had any of this attention, and has always exercised the art of using his own judgment. In the circumstances, Arnst is perfectly justified in refusing to allow coaching, and on insisting upon Barry rowing his own race. BOXING. Exceptional interest was taken in the match between Arthur Douglas and Frank Thorn, who met for the fifth time on Saturday, July 16, at the Brisbane Stadium (say.s the "Referee "). Big prices of admission were charged, thus showing that Brisbaneites are quite prepared to attend good fixtures. Arthur Douglas was first to step through the ropes, at ten minutes to nine, and the crowd was not kept waiting for the Victorian, Thorn appearing a few moments/ later. Spectators were treated to a fine display of boxing, and. a.t several stages of the contest the pace was very fast. In the nineteenth round Thorn went -to the boards from a right, but the Victorian was up instanter. The twentieth round, Thorn rallied and forced the pace, but Douglas "was just as willing to mix it, through the final round the crowd wero screeching with excitement. When quietness was restored, Referee Flanagan held up Douglas's right hand in token of victory, and a groat cheer went up, though there were some, as is usual at all boxing fixtures, who disagreed with the referee's finding. James F. Morris, who styles himself ex-feather-weight champion of New Zealand,' writes to tho Referee,'' and talks freely:—"Kindly allow me space, per medium of you r valuable paper, to challenge any feather-weight boxer in the dominion. I have had a challenge out for some months, but have not yet had any response, despite the fact that Wenand has indulged in a lot of paper talk. I saw some time ago in the ' Referee' that lie could, get no one to fight him, whereupon I immediately challenged him or any other boxer for £SO aside; but they have, all been dumb. Now, as Billy Elliott has gone over your side and. captured the championship, I think it is time wo unearthed a New Zealand champion, so I, myself, lay claim to the title, and am prepared to defend it against all comers, Elliot included." Ebenezer ("Abe") Hicken, at one time one of the cleverest ana gamest pugilists who entered the ring in Australia, died on July 19 in Melbourne Hospital, aged seventy-nine. Most of his battles wero fought against great odds in height and weight, and few he lost. He was champion of Australia till beaten by Larry Foley in Sydney. His wife predeceased him by a fortnight, and Hicken broke up immediately after her death. He died from cerebral haemorrhage. At one time Hicken was a prosperous hotelkeeper. He died an old age pensioner. Jim Driscoll, the English featherweight champion, in company with Badger Brian, who went out as trainer, arrived at Cardiff from America on June 13. A tremendous reception was given him on his arrival at Cardiff, and it was with difficulty that he got away in a taxi-cab. The champion looked fairly fit, but it appears that he is suffering from malaria. Asked his intentions as to returning to America, Jim stated' that he had. not ■formed any plans, and could not say whether he" would return after he had recovered his health. Except for .the statement that ho had been far from his usual self since ho left Liverpool, Jim could not be drawn to say anything further. The; attack of malaria has left,him in a very weak state, and ho intends to take a much-needed rest. At the Liverpool Arena on June 16 a contest was decided between Tom Thomas, the middle-weight champion, and Fred Drummond (Lambeth) for a purse of £2OO. Drummond was knocked out in the second round.

Joe Jeannette defeated Jim. Smith, a now-comer from Westchester, on July 3 in the main bout of ten rounds at the National Sporting Club of America, New York. 4 The negro's margin of victory, however, was not groat. For one with as little experience as Smith, the Westchester boxer made a mighty good showing. Jeannette did not box as fast as he has been seen to do, and he will have to do a whole lot better to last ■ against Ketchell, if that match takes place asi announced, says a New York exchange. The negro evidently thought that he had soft picking, for he did not appear to be in top-notch condition. Most of the crowd felt that Smith would last three or four rounds at the most against his more experienced antagonist, who had much the advantage of reach and weight. It was a surprise, therefore, when Smith not only stayed to the end, but was giving Jeannette just about as much as he received in the last four rounds. Smith lacked judgment of distance, else he might, have done a lot of damage. The few punches that he did land slowed the negro down appreciably. Jeannette was the better boxer and cleverer ring general, and his ability to land cleanly the majority of punches was what gave him the victory on points. As far as the condition of the men looked at the end; one was • just about as badly punished as tho other. Jeannette landed enough blows on Smith's jaw to put out any ordinary man, but the Westchester boy was very rugged, and was able to take punishment in fine style. There was a lot of clinching to the bout, and at close range Jeannette used his experience to far greater advantage. Smith had a good advantage in. the second, eighth and last, while the seventh and ninth were fairly even. The negro had all the better of the other rounds. Smith is a farmer's boy who has gone into the boxing game purely for the love of it, and already shows great promise.