BY "MULTIFORM."

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12257, 3 July 1909, Page 8

BY "MULTIFORM."

Only two more meetings, Gisborne and to conclude tho racing reason of 1008-09.

Roosevelt is enjoying a well-earned spell in view of being prepared for the New Zealand C/iip.

Word from the South states that ; there are'gruv.e .dmibtvof the Wellington Cup winncV Blue Ribbon being got ready in timo for the: New Zealand Cup.' ' : . . '

The Epsnm! Handicap candidate, Gravitatirm, ili^s utff^fTunaiely gone wrong, but his injniT is not a serious one, ana he may be right again in time to join Provocation and Co. when they set out for Sydney in August.

Visitors who wore present at the recent Napier meeiings speak enthusiastically of Andrew Mack as a hack hurdler. The1. Morriw-ee gelding is a bit green a* yet,i but with more schooling and racing should prove ureful.

The recent' Report of B Taek Reynard's triumph in-/his init'al contest on the Australian turf is remindful that ho first saw tils light at Wailii. Bred by Mr. A J. ft'orwls-m (Alfred) and sold by him while running at fcot with his dam, Brassolis, for; a mere song, was only one of tho, .many unlucky in c'dents attending his. career as a breeder of racing stock. .

Tho mishap, to Ataahna is a bit of bad litck for D. J.,Price, for the son of Mahaki had :beon solidly supported for tho V.R.C./National Hurdles, and was confidently expected to run forward in that event". A number fo Aucklandera supported Ataahna in doubles w'th Kaitere for tho Steep'coha^e, and had thodouble event come off a fair amnint of }>,old would have been, transferred to the Dominion.

King Edward's trainer, R;ehard Marsh, rode in eleven Liverpool Grand .Nationals, and only once got a place, that being when he finished third on Thornfiekl in 1882. An English exchange Pays that at the commencement of hh cur ci' as a trainer, Marsh, like many'another good man, was hard put to it for money, and in order to get the wherewithal to back one of his horses for a Maiden Hurdle Race, sent a friend up to T-ondon to pawn his (Marsh's) watsh. The. nm.rnnt Advanced —£15—went on at 7 to 1, and the hors9 won. Subsequently Marsh won the first Grand Hurdle' Raco at Auteuil on tl>a same horse; Jackal, who was then sold for £2,000." i

Thn St. Leger l)or.?e Melwood wns destroyed la.st week on Mr. T. Duncan's Otairi station, Plnntorville. having had a lex broken. Tho littfe hoivc was of beautifully symmetrical prcport:ons. His last a-miearance with the colours up was in the Anniversary Handicap at the Trentham summer meotrng last year, which was his .solitary appearance during that reason. Melwood acted as runner-un to Tovtnlla in the New Zealand Cud in 1901, in the colours of tho Trentham mentor "W. Davics, for whom he won a number of races. More than one writer hns referred to Melwood as being a half-bmther to tho^e two groat hurdlers, Record Reign and St. S'mon. This is erroneous,- as they were from Winnie, while Me 1 wood's dam was Ladybird.

Says "'Oh-erver" in th™ Hawora /■Star :—"Thr^e who witnessed Lnigerer falling back in tho far rear during the race, for tho Manawapou Hurdle nt tho Egmonfc winter meeting would scarcely feol impressed concerning hi* further chances in racing. Yet the need son of Apromont has since proved himself to bo anything but a back edition, and placed £370 tq his stible's credit by his dtjal succe~.se- at Nap'er Park-. Commencing his racing career at two years old, thp> ehe'-tnut gp-!d:r>g has frequently chnn.eod hands, and Irs debit balance must have proved a severe itnm to his nrevious connections. 'Lingerer's dam, Taihoa, was r, daughter of the oxAnstralinn ernck handicap.hor~e Malna, wlio t-ogother with .other noteworthy performances nlaced the Melbourne Cup and V.R.CGnmd National Hurdles to his credit." •

Two excellent suggestions of a practically tisoful character emanating from

Mr. W. H. Wanklyn, secretary of the Canterbury Jockey Club, will, it is stated, be adopted next season. One is in the direction of entering into arrangements with the clubs that issue book programmes tr> have a certain number of them bound, so as to make one complete volume. This publication will bo a great convenience to owners and newspaper writers, for when issued about August next it will contain the complete- prognmmes of the Auckland, Canterbury, Duncdin, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Wanganui and Wellington Clubs, all of which clubs will have the usual number of seperate copies for distribution. Another agreement Mr. Wanklyn came tr> with the c!ul;s that have clars races is that the entries for such events thall close on the first Friday in September. The enries wi 1 then bo issued in book form, and each nomination will bo indexed under tho name of the dam,-thereby making it a simple matter to look up all tho engagements of any horso.