ABOUT HORSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 September 1939, Page 11

ABOUT HORSES

WOTAN’S SISTER AT WORK. Wotan’s three-year-old sister Kriemhild is in work at Wanganui. As a two-year-old she filled a place once in four starts. She was a close third to Fils de Vaals and Mountain Fox over five furlongs at Taranaki. Bere Regis, the three-year-old sister to Viking, does not appear to have grown up a great deal since racing as a two-year-old. She has, however, rounded up and furnished nicely during the winter. The Irish Lancer—Quickform two-year-old filly has been named Irish Colleen. The Paper Money mare Repudiation, recently sold by Mr J. Richardson, of Dunedin, has been booked to go to Defoe this season. The Iliad—Countersign filly Counter Lunch is now being trained at Riccarton. Pin Money ris-now under a lease to Mr B. T. Bennett, who won the New Zealand Cup with Halberdier in 1902. Last year’s New Zealand Cup was won by Arctic King, with The Buzzer, Milford, and Willie Win filling the minor placings. In the nominations for this year’s race Arctic King and Willie Win are again engaged. Sly Fox, who started favourite in last year’s race, has also been engaged again in this year's race. It is reported that .J. H. Jefferd’s Ngatarawa team now numbers 13, with one four-year-o l ld, six of three years, and as many two-year-olds in training. Rakahanga, the veteran of the stable, is a useful sprinter. Indian Sun, Baran, Regale, Serenata, Areas and Harina are the three-year-olds, and they impress as a most likely contin-

gent to win first-class races. Indore, ; one of the most forward of the two-year-olds, is a very smart galloper, and as reputed recently to have equalled the three-furlong Ngatarawa track record, held by Epitaph since 1922. She is the district’s sole representative in the Wanganui Debutante Stakes. Mrs M. Steinberg, of Auckland, has decided to have all of her horses trained at and the Riccarton trainer, C.' C. McCarthy, who has had Fidelis, Konneta, Wapaugh and Soap Box in his stable for some weeks, has received instruction to ship them north by a direct steamer from Lyttelton to Auckland, leaving next week. Of the quartet, the most likely-winner during the "season is the Bulandshar filly Konneta, who has not been hurried by McCarthy, and will not require much more racing to get her back to her good form of last season. Peacock is now being trained at Riccarton by B. H. Brodie, and is to be taken to the Greymouth meeting next week. Peacock has always displayed a turn of speed, and the West Coast track should .suit him. The half-brother, by Beau Pere, to High Caste, who is being trained at Ellerslie by R. S. Bagby, has had the name Royal Descent claimed for him. Royal Descent is furnishing into a commanding colt, and in appearance compares more than favourably with others of his age. Up to the present his work has been of an easy nature. SPORT OF KINGS OVERSEAS PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE. Lady Barclay-Harvey, the wife of the new South Australian Governor, lost no time in becoming actively associated with racing. Less than a week after her arrival in Adelaide she purchased from Mr Sidney D. Reid the two-year-old Waxwings, and the youngster ran in her colours in the Fulham Park Plate, the first two-year-old race of the season, which was run at the Adelaide Grand National meetring at Victoria Park on August 19. Waxwings failed to win by inches, as he finished brilliantly, and was only a short head behind Willow Dene as they flashed past the post.. As Willow Dene was favourite, his success was naturally popular, but there would have been great enthusiasm had Waxwings been returned the winner. It was the original intention of Lady Barclay-Harvey to bring some horses from England to race, but she has since decided that it would be far better to make a few purchases of Australianbred horses.

There was very heavy support forthcoming last week for Tempest for the Caulfield Cup, and he has become the first line favourite. Tempest was also coupled with Defaulter, High Caste and Mosaic in the Melbourne Cup. It is interesting to note that all of these three horses are Dominion bred. Defaulter rules as a strong fancy for the Melbourne Cup, but if High Caste,, who is bred to stay, was set for the race he would give the son of Defoe a heap of trouble. The reason for the opinion rests on the fact that a good three-year-old can generally beat an older horse over two miles at such a margin of weights.

Mr H. Jenkins, secretary of the Kensington Club (Sydney), which is mentioned as one of the clubs to be closed in the metropolitan area, has stated that his club was in a better position to become non-proprietary than any club in Sydney. The shareholders had agreed to do so last March, and the constitution for-a non-proprietary body had been prepared. It had not been submitted to the Government committee as until disclosures of that body’s intention were made it had not secured a matter of urgency. The proposal to close the Kensington course would be a hardship on trainers, of whom there were about 100 preparing horses on the track. Randwick appeared to be overcrowded, and if the Ascot Club was closed as well there would be considerable congestion on the remaining tracks. Kensington Club maintained at its own expense the playing area in the centre of the track. It represented the only area available exclusively for women’s sport. In his comments on English racing. Meyrick -Good recently stated that more odds-on chances have been defeated this season than at any previous time in his recollection. That laying odds on is a costly business has been brought home to many backers. The Melbourne man who dreamt that Wotan won the 1936 Melbourne Cup, and profited thereby, has backed Lochlee and Ruckman for the two cups this season for £lOO.OOO. These two horses are stablemates. It is not recorded that this year's wager was the result of another dream. According to Melbourne reports Catalogue has been the medium of straight-out support for both the Caulfield and the Melbourne Cup, and has also been taken in doubles for fairly substantial amounts. Catalogue has 8.13 at Caulfield and 9.0 in the Melbourne Cup. •

Lorenzo Del Riccio, the photo-finish attache at Hollywood Park racecourse, near Los Angeles, promises a new and improved camera for the next racing season. He is taking steps to eliminate the final fault of all “photo-finish" cameras now in use —the “hiding” of one horse by another in “nose and nod” finishes. For instance, if two horses come to wire together or separated only by inches, often the outside horse has his head up on the nod and the inside horse the nod down/ Consequently, the nose of the inside horse is out of sight.,’ This might be overcome by using a second camera on the inside of the track, but this still would not overcome the difficulty should three horses “blanket” on the wire, with the inside horse shaded from view from both inside and outside. Mr Del Riccio will solve both ! problems with an overhead camera, ! suspended from a pulley arrangement i across the track. The overhead camera will take pictures automatically and will then be drawn up to the photographic room for the development of the negatives. Of course, use of the overhead camera would not be necessary except in rare instances, but its installation will finally and forever make the camera absolutely fool-proof., The early parts.of races are invari-, 'ably run much faster than the final furlongs in America. When Cravat recently won the Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct (New York) and did nine furlongs in 1.48 1-5, he ran the first' quarter-mile in 22 4-5, and the half in 45 4-5.' The last five furlongs took 1.2 3-5, which was low by comparison with the first half-mile. There is a lot of money in being a successful jockey in England, but there is also a deal of hard work. In the first fourteen weeks of the current season G. Richards had 370 mounts, which, excluding Sundays, meant an average of nearly four and a half a day for that; period. Thanks to motor cars and aeroplanes, travelling has been made much easier for English jockeys than a few’ years ago, but they still have a strenu-' ous time. In that respect Sydney and Melbourne jockeys are much better off. A trip of a hundred miles or over to any meeting is unusual for them, whereas English riders think nothing of it on the morning of a meeting. Richards was riot the only jockey who exceeded 300 mounts up to June 25, others being M. Beary and E. Smith.

The death occurred in England recently of the famous veterinary surgeon, Sir Frederick Hobday. He qualified in 1892, and for nine years until 1937 was principal and dean of the Royal Veterinary College, which he made one of the most scientifically-eq-uipped institutions of its kind in the world. It was in 1933 he was knighted.

In England women owners of hurdlers and steeplechasers are numerous, and an American paper says steeplechasing in New York this season is largely a Whitney affair, with Mrs Gwladys Whitney’s jumpers 'taking up where Mrs Payne Whiney’s Greentree stable leaves off. Between them the ladies named have had almost a monopoly of steeplechase winners. In Australia women owners of flat racers are: increasing greatly, but they do not interest themselves greatly in jumpers.

In concluding his riding experiences; in a Melbourne paper H. J. Morgan, one of the best of his day over jumps, imparts the following information:— “Perhaps it is out of place for an old- 1 stager like me to give advice to those of the present clay, but I profited by a. tip from an old-timer about riding horses at fences and it still applies. The Warrnambool trainer and former rider, Ned Grace, had hundreds of rides over the stiffest of country with fewer than a dozen falls. Grace is a scholar and a thinker. Present-day riders could well put some of his precepts into practice. He claimed that 100 yards or more before coming to a'fence he could, as a result of long practice, calculate with certainty if his horse would come to the fence at theright distance for a safe take-off. —lf. the horse was not likely to arrive at. the fence at the most favourable dis-, tance for the jump Grace would swing him in, or down, the fence so that he would jump at a safe distance. When asked what he would do when riding in a packed field that did not permit such tactics. Grace said that a sharp dig of the spurs at the point when the rider thought it safe to take off generally resulted in a prodigious leap that carried horse and rider to safety. As Grace went scathless throughout a long career, there must be something in what he had to say. If cross-country riders take notice of the foregoing keep to the rails, and never ride a horse on the turn unless he has the race well in hand, they will find themselves getting friendly with the judge.”