SPORTING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11594, 12 January 1916, Page 5

SPORTING.

RAdd AND TROTTING. HOUS BY "ARGBi* FIXTURES. January 33—Ta.paimi Eacing Club. I&uuary 18, 14-—Whangarsi Racing Club. Jaiurarv 19—Wairio Jockey Club. January 20, 22, 24—Wellington Eacine CiUD. January 22—Northern "Wairoa Racing CVab. January 22, 24—Foxtom Jockey Club. January 35, 27—"Wain* Countv Racine ■■Uod. January 20, 20— Takapuna Jockey Club. January 23, 29—Forbury Park Trotttng UuD. February 2, 3—Egmont Racing Club. February 3, s—Giaborne Racing Club. February 5— Canterbury Jockey Club.

The trainers at Riecarton are now milking: ready for the Wellington Kacing dab's meeting., which will be hem next week, and which looks like» extracting a strong contingent otJ ou%s from tSis quarter. Tho Canterbury Jockey Club's summer *£ follow, and then there will }». * n ®*° <lt» for the south to assist at the mm edin Cup fixture.

W. H- Thomson has again taken tip St. Ewe and tho two-year-old: tilly rrcmena, by Count Ewe has had a rest for V° «Ww-S lollowitig a slight tiushap when she was returning from tho Methver, meeting, and she looks bright and well.

T H Gillett is back at Riecarton after" doing the. West Coast meefangj and has British Rose and Curatoi under his charge- *

Scotch Melody, who broke down at the Southland meeting will not be raced again. . Sho will t,6 ,™ 1 H, 1 , k till the next season, when she will taso up sted life.

It has been found necessary by FJD. Tones to treat Madrid to a spell. Ibo filly nulled «P;lj™ d working recently, and it wa> tound sho had thrown a splmt.

The three-year-old colt San Sebastian, b"v San Francisco-Bravo Heait, i on the easy list at present a> *re suit- of severe injuries to one ot ms logs, caused by an accident in tho stable.

The hurdler. Kilmony, .who. has had a rwb in Ihe paddock for a few month,, H, acain been put into active work by F efcistoas., fie is not carrying much condition, but otherwise he * n nice order and he may pay In* way m ?urse races at the autumn and winter meetings.

F.-P. Jones has just taken in hand the three-year-old Majestikoft, by I>eMajestic .purchased b> Mr P. Delargey at Mr Barrel latt« son's Meadowhank sale in Aot, eraser.

TbA Calibre gelding, Rorke's Drift, who ts one of tie belt performers m Southland, had ,to he J? m the accident to his knee in the nudd e of December, and had onb "** ™ Jn the heavy going rlid' not annear to be able to shape «on, nd n thS a a good first on the dav. he never looked dangeious in any* part of the race.

-Comet," of.the is responsible for the *f°WTs the autumn mooting of the Southland Eacing Club thirty pokeys were engaged, that meeting not clashing with ar-v other, and owners were able to get horsemen to ride the U the recent summer meeting onl> sixteen jockeys were engaged, andownors complained that owing to lack ot horsemen who could ride at the required weights they could not start their horses. When there were only two meetings held at New \ ear tnne in Ota-o-viz., Invercargill and "Vincent -the shortage of suitable hdrsemen was bad enough, but now Oamaru races at the, same time the shortage is vorj much worse. t

Soldier's Chorus, who has been at tho stud in Southland this season has had a very fair season in view of the lact that it is certain he will ho raced ae;ain, as he has now been certified as perfectlv sound. Any successes gamed by this courageous horse in tne future will be very popular, says a writer in the "Southland Times, as it is well known that a sportsman who will be interested in such success recently departed hence for the region of shot and shell. A yearling by Soldier's Chorus changed hands the other day for £IOO, and this points to the fact that the day of valuable classic races for two and three-year-olds bred in the province is fast coming, although .so far, with the exception of the Winton Guineas, these races have not been very successful.

Tho dead-heat between a French and an English horse, the latter owned by Lord Derby, was an appropriate finish to the last Newmarket (England) meeting in this year of war. The Allies could not be separated. The horses from Prance have not done well during'then* visit to England, and most ' of them have now returned to their home stables, which indicates that tho French authorities are hoping to start • racing again as soon as possible.

The passing of the top hat would probably be termed a more appropriate topic for the dress and-fashion column than that devoted to racing. Never-, theless, says the Auckland writer, \ " Phaeton," I am tempted to refer to the pronounced disappearance from our racecourses of what was once described by. a great Englishman as "the! insignia oi respectability." In viewing the scene at Bllerslie on New Year's Day from the top tower on tho main grandstand, when excitement was at . its highest, it may be imagined that many thoughts came into my mind, for T have witnessed the running of every Derby at Ellerslio since Venus Transit carried Mr W. Walters's rose and white • stripes to victory in 1878. As I sat ' there T found myself endeavouring to find a man wearing a top hat, which ~ was so prominent a feature of headwear in the old days. I couldn't sight a . fiinglo one. What a change trom vuo old time! Henry Redwood, still affectionately remembered as the Father •, of the Now Zealand Turf, always wore a top hat, as did also his close friend, the ruddy-faced, fair-haired William ' Walters; and Colonel Fraser, James Watt, Robert Graham, John Sangster M'Farlane, Joseph Bennett and Matthew Edgar were also counted as strong champions of the bell-topper. Samuel Morrin (who could ever forget him?), though tall of stature, never looked so well,"! used to think, a? when he put on the top hat and wore the green opat of the Pakuranga Hunt Club on ft race day. Then there was John "Kirkwood—to have found him in anything but a. top hat would have been quite a surprise packet. William Perrival, who was the first A.R.C secretary,' aJid who continued to act for an extended period in that capacity, was on© of the stanncbest supporters

of the tall hat, despite the fact that on quite a number of occasions lively spirits at the end of a day's racing were- wont to "crown " him, and pronounced damage had to be repaired as a result. And the knights of the book and pencil—they furnished in themselves quite a strong tall hat contingent, and all carried the stamp of first quality. Alfred Drake, George Belcher, William Weston, John Gardiner and John Harris, who were the

principal men Laying tho odds in tho old days, all stood out prominently in attractive headgear on race days, and some of their number held the book arid pencil iti gloved hands. Our racecourses havo witnessed many changes, and tho disappearance of the top hat, so noticeable, is r>robably one to bo regarded as permanent, so far, at least, as horso owners aro concerned.

Probably no officials have been more discussed since their appointment than tho stipendiary stewards, and, though all reasonable men only expect them to be human, still there is no denying j the fact that the paid official has hard-j ly been tho success anticipated, writes "Whalebone" in tho. . Auckland "Star." Crooked running is, and always will, be hard to detect, for apart from tho clever manner in which some artists of the pigskin can deceive the onlooker as to the horse's capabilities, thero are such.a number of loopholes of escape open that the difficulty of sheeting homo the offence is at times insurmountable.' There is another question, however, that should be easily overcome, and that is tho question of interference. At the recent summer meeting of tho Auckland Racing Club thei'o were numerous eases, and several wore adjudicated' on and riders cautioned. In each of these inquiries the evidence taken was principally that of tho riders concerned, and it is in this connection that I wish to draw attention. As is well known, there are petty jealousies amongsi v jockeys, just the same as there are in other walks of life, and it is i.ot ah.va.vs advisable to take the statements of one boy as against the other, without a- liberal discount. Perhaps sporting writers in their wanderings hear things ' that wculd not by any chance come under the notice of the stipendiary stewards for ohviou,- reasons, but it is common to hear boys, after the race, make tho statement that someone interfered with them, and they would get even. Probably half the time it is only idle talk, but still it shows to a largo extent the feeling that sometimes exists, and this is one of the most importaut abuses for th© stipendiaries to stamp out. In each event started from the six-furlong post at Ellerslic, there was interference, and in the Grandstand Handicap run from the mile and a quarter post on tho concluding day, ib was most prominent. There were inquiries in some of the former events, hut although representations were made to the right, quarter as to the happenings in the last-named event no decisive action was taken. In this race Mullingar, Jack Delaval and St Elmn all suffered, and the last-named pair are now in a bad way as result. The remedy, to my way of thinking, is an easy one. At present the stipendiary stewards usually view the racing from a space set apart for them on the stewards' stand, and no doubt they get a good view of some of the horses. It is, however, T contend, a physical impossibility for any man to tell what is going on in a race, viewing it from the stand, unless the offence is a particularly glaring one. Even then, although it is easy to see the horsa interfered /with, and perhaps the horse that caused the interference, it is not so easy to say whether the interference was accidental or otherwise. Suppose the boys concerned are very friendly, it is only natural that one will try to shield the' other, and the position is just as bad as tho one trying to get even on tho other. To get at the root of the evil the stipendiaries want to get closer to the racing, and until they take-up positions at various vantage points round the course, according to the race run, so long will the present unsatisfactory state of affairs occur, and tho danger to life and limb continue.

TARANAKI JOCKEY CLUB. • [Per Press Association.] . ... NEW PLYMOUTH, January 11. .. After tha declaration of the second forfeits the following horses remain in tha

SECOND TARANAKI STAKES, of 500 fov»; sis furlongs—Avon Park, Spain, Kang.H«o, Bisogne, Maid o' Gowrie, Christine, Jjoyal Arch, Treadfire, Bensonian—Snowsleli. filly, colt, Kilbroney— Shawno colt, Advance—Pkemie colt, Martian —Ukraine colt, Pararoa, Greenstreet, Bimeter, Emperador, All Black—Anrarius colt, Pinland—Warscare colt, All Black—Aurarins filly, Tete-a-Tete, Good Hope, "Wrestler, Battle Eve, Flying Start, Probation, Bonny Dream.

CHATHAM ISLAND RACES. [From Oub Correspondent.] WAITASTGI, January 3. Tho meeting of tho Chatham Island Jockey Club took place on December 28. The day was sultry and showery. There,, was a good attendance, and the racing was very good, although there were no largo fields. "Following are the results: HURDLE RACE, of 8 sovs, second 3 govs; two miles—F. JTClurg's "Wait-a-while 1, S. Clark's Dick 2. MAIDEN PLATE, of 6 sovs, second 2 sovs: one mile—C. Wiahart's Damsel 1, Ko Remi's Black and Tan 2. ' CHATHAM ISLAND CTJP. of 20 sovs. second 5 sovs; two miles—George Tuta's Moana 1, C. Wishart's Lady Firth 2. LADIES' PURSE, of 9 soys, second 3 govs; one mile and a half—C. "Wishart's Lady Firth 1, G. Tuta's Gee Whiz 2. WAITANGI PLATE, of 6 sovs. second 2 sovs; Bix furlongs—C. Wishart'a Damsel 1, G. Tuta's 3loana 2. JOCKEY CLUB HANDICAP, of 10 sovs, second 2* sovs; one mile and a quarter—G. Tuta's Moana 1, C. "Wishart's Damsel 2. HACK RACE, of H sov, second i sen-; one mile and a quarter—P. Pomare's Nightfall 1, H. Grenald's Te Ararua 2. The clulT had .'contributed £lO to the Wounded Soldiers' Fund.