Racing and Trotting

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17014, 12 April 1923, Page 2

Racing and Trotting

Note* by

FIXTURES. , April 12-14—New Brighton Trotting Club. April 12-14—Wellington Racing Club. April 18. 19— Manawatu Racing Club. April 19—Ellesmere Trotting Club. April 20-21—South Canterbury Jockey Club. . April 21-24—Auckland Trotting Club. April 26—Methven Trotting Club. April 27-28 —Hawke's Bay Jockey Club. April 28 —A m her ley Racing Club -May 3-6—Forbury Park Trotting Club. May 4-6 —Marlborough Racing Club. Ma.v 9-10—Egniont Racing Club. -May 11-12—Ashburton County Macing Club. June 2-I—Canterbury Park Trotting Club. NOM INATTONS. April 12—Methven Trotting Club April 13—Amberley Racing Cltib. April 18—Marlborough Racing Club. April 20—Eginont. Racing Club April _3—Ashburton County Racing Club. -May 4—Forbury Par# Trotting Club, (New Zealand Trotting Stakes. 1924). •May 10—Canterbury Park Trotting- Club. HANDICAPS. April 17—Methven Trotting Club. April 20—Forbury Park Trotting Club. April 20—Hawke'a Bay Jockey Club. April 28—Amberley Racing Club. April 23—Marlborough Raring Club. April 28—Ashburton County Racing Club. April 30—Eginont Racing Club. May 21—Canterbury 'Park Trotting Club. ACCEPTANCES. April 13— Manawatu Racing Club. April 13—-Auckland Trotting Club. April II Ellesmere Trotting Club. • April ’6—South Canterbury Jockey Club. \ April 20 —Mcthver Trotting Club. April 24 —Hawke's Bay Jockey Club. Ai ril 25—Amberley Racing Club. April 27—Forbury Tark Trotting Club. May 4—Ashburton County Ra-cing Club. May 4—Eginont Racing Club. May fra —Canterbury Park Trottjng Club.

"Argus.”

When Ireland’s crack jockey, C. Aylin, died from injuries received 1 in a steeplechase at the end of December, a fund was started for his widow and children. In the first fortnight after the appeal was made £2141 was subscribed. of which £660 came from patron's of R. M. Walker’s stable. The trainer named has undertaken the cost of educating two of the deceased jockey’s children. An Auckland writer states that Mr A. Drown, the owner of Shellshock, protested against Keystone, the winner of the Manawaru Hurdle Handicap at the Te Aroha meeting, on a question of ownership. The commit te of the ‘Te Arolia meeting met on three occasions and has now .disqualified Keystone for both hurdle races won by him. The owner of the horse has a . certain time in which to appeal to the District Committee aaginst the T: Aroha verdict, but if this is upheld first moneys will go to the owners ol Conoglen and Shellshock.

J he American stallion .Logan Pointer is having a most successful season with his progeny, as they have won £15,657 to date. No less than forty-six horses have won money and the following is t .“® J ist: —A cron £I9OO, Logamvooil £1699, Kogan Chief £1695, Onyx £1325, Bonny Logan £ll4O 10s, Sal J ointer £1065, Countryman £950. Chi hie Pointer £BOO. Latona £702 10s! Enid £450, Proud Logan £374, Her Ladyship £315, Brown Chequer £296. Lenglen £2BO. Swift Pointer £265, Ladv Joan £250. Promenade £2OO Becky Logan £145, Vera Logan £l4o’. Sir Logan £133. Nell Pointer £132 10s Nipper £l3O. Loganton £l3O, Choubra £l2o, Perfect Pointer £llO, PointaAze,zion £95, Merce Pointer £<s, Willie Logan £7O, Houdini £65, Phil Smith £6O. Florence l a Badie £54 Marge Pointer £4B, Kai Kai £47 10s! Edwin Harwin £45, Logan Lad £45. Irish W hispers £35. Wild Pointer £3O Lucy Pointer £25, Saint’s Bell £22 au £2O. Pose Pointer £2O, Albert Logan £ls, Logan’s Drive £ls Guiding Star £lO. Lady Logan £lO.

A northern exchange reports that Coroglen was in a vorv bad wav after the Brighton Hurdle Race, and'it is understood another horse jumped on him, severing one of the' ligaments. He is at present under veterinary treatment bv Dr Ring, but there is very httle chance that he will race a wain this season. Tho issuing of an unofficial race card tor the first day of the Auckland Hacuig Club’s autumn meeting gave the authorities some cause for concern After the Champagne Stakes complaints were frequent at the office owing to the imitation book having placed the wrong number against Queen March, the winner, and the, officials were hard' put to it to explain the position to angry purchasers of the ln future, however (says •whalebone”), racegoers would do well to note that all official books hear the monogram of the club and the name of the secretary.

When Eurythmic ascended to championship honours it was freely published that Mr P. A. Connellv had selected the chestnut a, a veariing on behalf of Mr Lee Steere. The Bloodstock Hreeuers’ Review (England), however, has a new story to tell regarding the purchase of the champion. Here it is:—“There is one man who must look upon Eurythmic’s splendid record with rather a wiry face We rejor to Mr A. E. Coekram the West Australian sportsman, who has paid a prolonged visit to England this year. He attended the Sydney yearling sales when Eurythmic was offered, and selected two youngsters bv Eudorus intending to buy one of them came at his price. One was Wildun the other Eurythmic, Wiklun was the first to he offered. Mr Coekram bought him for 420 gs. and at once eased him to Mr T. Saunders, \ who happened to be standing by. Piesently up came Mr Lee Steere, another West Australian. who asked Mr Coekram to let him have Wildun. Mr Coekram explained that ho had already leased the colt, and recommended Mr Steere to buy Eurythmic. Mr Rtee-e went away to see the latter, and after a while came back to sa,- he much preferred Wildun. Mr Coekram then tol.d Mr Steere that if he would give him £IOO in the event of Wildun’s winning the principal two-year-old race at Perth, and * further £IOO if the colt won the A..V.C Derby, be would let him have the colt, and compensate the lessee. Mr Steere declined the proposal and proceeded to buy Eurythmic for 310 gs. Tf Mr Steere had taken Wildun Mr Coekram would have bought Eurythmic. Wildnn iron four Ireland’s inteunnl troubles were costly to horse-owners in that country last rear. Pome meetings had to he abandoned, and the falling-off in the /amount distributed in fiat races was £13.688. There was also a decrease in nip amount for jumpers. ( onsiclerinc* Ireland was in „ state of civil war pram tic-ally throughout Inst year. owners wore* fortunate in having .so nnnli racing provided for them." ’lho prominent English trainer. P p Gilpin, in an article on jockeys in a London paper, has a lot' to sav relativo to F. Woo. t ton's marked ability as a ruler, and pny« tribute to tlie latter’s father as a trainer of iookeys. He writes; ‘ Not only did Wootton senior tiain liis two sons, but be was answerahle for the training of the brotliers Huxley, most capable and successful jockeys: tho bov Dirk who i„ , I<nv ridino- over country, and also Victor f?mvth. one of the best.’’ .After dicussing all th« prominent iookevs. Mr Gilpin said Fred Archer and George Fordl*ani would in Irs opinion, ajway; stand out a< tin* beet. Ho referred to the jockeys of tlm Present day a*, follows: "To-day it seems to me wo are better ~ff for flat race jockeys than we have been for some years, whereas a year or two ago iv« \v~r > very slv>v‘ of first-class men. ' AVe.liave now nine or ten w]»-> are all good enmigh if t>*» 1) -<rsn is lil.-ow'-o Dmo-dmo 1,0.. d the list and I.JI <’ 0 l?e , Vo fnvL, lontime Fndoubtcrllv a good iordc°v fife •""'•b °*-'S'S + ed bv l,i w-i-.dil:. wh : *J. e*.d 1 s him G. go fc, K v..,]e :• t 7st 7»’ "'it hour, wastiiv- This. of f .n, r vivos him an einmio-'s • - 11 11 over h ; - f-mfreros. ft n°r«'its him to ride ;• "'•eat deal more often than mo t f'annblo «)•» {,nv COP’SO. 1,0 uartionJarlv shines at Pnanm, where lie stands out by himself.”

No definite information is available as to the total amount of profit that will be divided between the eight Auckland provincial one-day country clubs interested in the pooling scheme, but, taking Mr Robert Wynward’s estimate of what can be expected as a result of the Opotiki meeting, held on the Taka-puna Jockey Club’s course as a guide, there may be between £IO.OOO and £12.000 to be cut up. This will be 1 a great help to each of the clubs concerned. It i.s unusual to read of one trainer having a ra<se all to himself, but that happened at Tenby, England, in January. There were seventeen entries for the Victory Hurdle Race, but there were only four runners, all being trained by D. Harrison. P. Broun has established something of a riding record in classic races in Australia this season. He has accomplished the unique feat of winning the A.J.C. Derby, Victoria Derby and Victoria St Jaeger on three different colts, lie scored on -Rivoli in the A.J.C. Derby, on Whittier in the Victoria Derby and on C’aserta in the St Leger on Saturday. Brown has relinquished his intention of proceeding to England to ride. It is to be hoped Mr E. A. Connolly is not going to make a habit of winning the Newmarket Handicap, writes * Touchstone” in the “ Australasian.” No doubt the bookmakers particularly will hope so, while, on The other hand, the racegoing public will not mind in the least, for when Mr Ooffnollv reckons be bos a “good' thing” ho picclaims his belief from the house tops, so to speak. And as Mr Conroily’s “ good things ” have a knack of materialising, the bookmakers naturally get hurt—in their feelings and pockets .alike. Last year Mr Connolly made no secret of the fact that he thought Rostrum unbeatable in the Newmarket Handicap, and the black I-.crse duly won. Then followed life owner’s declaration that Rostrum and Fleuristo would run first and second in the A.J.C. Epsom Handicap, an.l the prophecy again proved a reliable one. “ Sunburst can’t lost the Standish,” he *told all Lis and acquaintances, and Sunburst won. Great tipping. And whei: Air Connolly predicted another sure win for Sunburst in the Newmarket Handicap, and kept on backing his opinion with good money, there was nothing to do but follow the tip, and this the public did to such good purpose that—as forecasted last week in these columns— Sunburst started at exactly the same price as Rostrum did last year. Mr Connolly lias dealt the ringmen many bard blows in the past. If lie keeps on as lie has been doing in the last season or two lie will not leave them a feather to fly with. ENGLISH NOTES. (Special to the “Star.”) LONDON, February 22. Grand National horses have been very much in the limelight during the past week. There have been several excellent trials, in public, that is if races over park and provincial courses can bo regarded as tests for the far severe task set at Aintrce. At any rate, they are good enough to show how fit a candidate is or what are his jumping possibilities or the extent of his stamina. You have to take something on trust, naturally, when considering the big steeplechase, but the minor affairs serve a useful purpose. For instance, take the case of Libretto, an Irish horse, brought over to the stables of Percy A\ liitaker, who is responsible for the training of Arravale, with a view to being prepared for the Grand National. Few people in this country, I imagine, had ever heard of the hors© before avd certainly his name in the list of entries would have meant nothing to them. Now, as the result of an outing at Hurst Park, they are very much wiser, for Libretto won in quite a convincing way. Among his opponents were Ha'lston, 1 Trentino, Taffytus, and Sergeant Murphy, all of whom hold the Liverpool liability, as well as Day dawn, something of a’champion over courses in the London district They went a good, strong gallop from end to end. on turf that must have been fairly sticky, and those, that escaped accident must have had quite enough of it even before the three miles had been completed. Old Sergeant was chiefly responsible for the merry pace and his jumping was that of the finished practitioner. except for a tendency to swerve across a fence before taking off. He did this rather hadlv once, but he was so far in front at the time as to avoid creating trouble for others. Trentino, ever a: rather impetuous sort, was with him in the last mile or so, but Daydawn got much too close to the plain fence after the water and he came down, giving Frank Morgan, his jockey, a nasty fall. Morgan, by the way. is engaged 'to rule Gerald L. in the National and lie hopes to be fully recovered by then. Libretto, most ably ridden throughout-' by Tony Kseott, was noticed to be going well always and between the last two fences lie had moyad up to the leaders. Fiom then onwards, bv means of long raking strides, lie bad the race won. Sergeant Murphy was second best, hut this place was conceded to Trentino. Taffytus jumped perfectly, and. always a plodder, lie was not far behind the placed horses and his display was quite good enough, bearing in mind hi* proved pretensions to jump the Aintrce line of country. Libretto lias the minimum weight of lOst in. the Grand National, which, it is -aid now. he was backed to win at long odds some time ago. He is a tall, lanky, flac-sided chestnut horse, standing seventeen hands. A keen critic could fault him in many directions. I'm- example, his middle-piece •runs u}) light and lie i-, long in the back. His hocks are away from him and generally lie has a most unfurnished and linor.'possessing look. Yet. lie jumps in such a way as to give the idea- that he will negotiate the Aintrce fences all right. His owner. Air Smith Cochran, is an A metrical!. I may add in reference to this Hurst Park race that Halston. who is in Hubert Gore’s s'.able, performed in dismal fashion. It was at Leicester that Gerald L. enhanced bis reputation by winning hifourth steeplechase of the season. Here ridden by Lauc Morgan, who also had the mount when the nuie-vear-old scor cd so fluently at Sundown' a few weeks hack, he got home easily by throe lengths from Souther’. Gleam (in re i oipt of IHlb) with the Grand National .• mdidates. Square Dance (giving lib) and' Drifter (receiving 271 b) outside the first three. It should be noted that in the National Square Dance is set to concede Gerald L. 41b, and the latter in

turn ha's to give only 141 bto Drifter. He should thus hold both Pf these safely. Gerald L.,_ as 1 have remarked before in these notes, has never been so well as he Is at . present, ami his prospects of winning at Aintree are undeniable. He has dropped in the market from 20 to 1 to 15 to 1 ami, this rate is likely to contract consider' a bly. The most significant trial of all was that at Newbury, though it was a great disappointment that Forewarned, who stood as the Graml National favourite. could not he produced to run. Everyone wanted so much to see him in this particular test but be was sent back to bis training quarters at \Y rough ton, as a result of being pricked in the process of having racing plates fixed for his ordinary ueek-a-day shoes. The “vet” was called in and advised that the horse should be withdrawn from the race. It was a most vexatious occurrence indeed. I-am sure, to all concerned. Still, the steeplechase turned out to be most interesting and instructive, resulting as it did in a great finish between Arravale and Old Tay Bridge, the lor met* prevailing only by a neck. Turkey Buzzard was i moderate third, while the American horse Duettiste, who started favourite. came to grief two fences from home, after having knocked some ol the steam out of himself by a mistake about a mile before reaching the fence which finally put him out of the race. Arravale was ridden by Air Harry Brown, as Air Percy AYbitaker bad to undergo a slight operation Sn London. Otherwise the trainer would have had the mount as usual. Air Brown will pilot Drifter in the National. On Arravale his tactics were made clear from the outset. He intended to Vie well up and so was either first or second until Hie last phase came to be entered upon. Up. to that point, the bottom weight,- Lamport, had been bis close companion, and when this one faded out of it. Captain Ben net on Old Tay Bridge loomed up. The big chestnut horse had always been handy and look-

ed to have a big chance between the last two fences. He hit the final one rather hard, but the fence rather than the horse seemed to suffer, as ho was able to start the run-in a length to the good. He kept up that advantage for some strides when suddenly he tired and Arravale crept up to his girths. Both, the amateur jockeys rode splendidly, and it was Arravale’s quicker strides that enabled him to claim a neck victory as they went past the judge. An fine finish it was in every way. and proved the pluck and stamina of both horses. Turkey Buzzard was waited with too long and then set going too-suddenly. w ith the result that he b eea m o unba lan red. It should be stated that Arravale has tiie substantial advantage of 101 b in the weights over Oh! Tay Bridge and Turkey Buzzard at Liverpool, compared with what was carried at Newbury, and it is not surprising, therefore, that he should have immediately jumped into favouritism for the Grand National—a position, as a matter of fact, which lie only lost a couple of weeks ago through failing in a two and a half miles ’chase at Kempton Park. Arravale was the original favourite ja-ncl it is quite likely now he will remain so until the day of the race. News about tho Lincolnshire Handi cap is very scarce. Soldeunis beads the betting market as I write and then come Roman Batchelor and Port Royal, following Monarch. Pschology George Drake and Royal Alarm. iY-r haps the last named may turn out tho most genuine candidate in the end. though that is merely a personal idea.