SPORTING NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, 16 March 1922, Page 6

SPORTING NOTES.

The Opunake meeting will be held to-morrow. Hastie seems to be thrown into the Hack Hurdles and Active and Interest have a good chance in the Presidents Handicap; Egmont Park in the Cup or it may be Passin ’ Through. Big Push looks likely for the Electric

Ij Handicap with Loved Cue and Hor handy. The St. Patrick’ Handicap may go to Income, thougl Irapuka will be close. Voluble am Velociform must run well in the Wei ter. Cross Fire and Ardath may las longest in the Farewell Handicap. A trainer’s license was recent]' granted in Invercargill to Georg' Hope, who was a crack hurdle horse man in the early 90’s, and rode Mu tiny twice to victory in the Grant National Steeplechase. The old-time custom of walking horses over twenty-five miles to the Opunake fixture was never favoured by trainers. So in these days of motor traction many owners are availing themselves of the service and are sending their horses per niotorloiry, which to-day is cheaper in some respects than train travelling. Pouma, which got into a wire fence a couple of months ago, has made a quick recovery, and will race at Opunake. Simonides’ brother, Crenides, which went to India a couple of vears ago recently ran second to Misri Lai “in the Macpherson Cup, of 15,000 rs Crenides was paying a big price to win. Halcyon struck a fence hard when competing in the hurdles at Wanganui and will not be seen at the Opunake meeting. H. Gray arrived in England on February 27, all well. This will give him plenty of time to got into form before the sea-son opens. The N.Z. Trotting Association has decided to hold an inquiry into the nfenagement of the recent meeting of the Inangahua Trotting Club, 'the stipendiary steward’s_report being unfavourable, while the ,club put in an ?xpl a nation. L. H. Hewitt, well-known in this Dornin.on, is at present riding in Inlia. “Tod” recently won a double on Archer and Bathurst- for a “Mr S.R.” Orpheus, which Heitor Gray sn.-s . s t ! lp ,'y orl <l’s host, racehorse, is to 1 ir. h his racing career this season ’

and goes to the stud next season at a. fee of 198 guineas.

At the autumn meeting of the Wellington Racing Club, the Silver stream Hack Handicap will be confined to apprentice riders only, with a special provision that the riders are not to carry a whip or use spur©. The luck of the sale ring is once agaiin strikingly exemplified in the case of the full brothers Nivelle and Euryithmic. In the autumn of 1917 — the year preceding that in which Eurythmic went into the ring as a yearling—Nivelle was offered for sale at a like age, and he fell to the bid of Mr J. Moore for 375gns. Nivelle was quite an inferior sort, and at the end of his five-year-old career had only won a couple of small handicaps in the back-blocks. Compare that with the mighty . deeds of his full brother Eurythmic, who was secured for an outlay of 310gns. Coalition is getting through a lot of work at Trentham, and may be asked to carry silk at the Wellington meeting. The steeplechase horse Gay Boy was recently sold in Napier by auction for 60gns to Mr C. J. Stevens. Merman is now racing in Australia in the nomination of Mr P. Arasia. Another start has been macTe by Mr C. Coleman with the educating of Blue Cross as a hurdler. The display wa,s satisfactory. The steeplechase horse Peneton, who has been off the scene for 'some time, has been doing steady work on a. farm in the- Waikato .district. He has now gone to have his preparation finished off for forthcoming events.