AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 147, 24 June 1930, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY

MUNRO IN GERMANY. Received Juno 23, 9.50 p.m. BERLIN, June 22. The Australian jockey, J. Munro, won the Hamburg Union Club Cup on Herr Oppenheim’s Walzertraum.

NOTES AND COMMENTS

By “Kestrel.”

The annual meeting of the EgmontWanganui Hunt Club to morrow will hold the attention of followers of the racing game in this section of the Dominion? There wil] be a representative attendance from this end of the distTOn Friday and Saturday the Napier Park winter meeting will be held. The acceptances are due to-night. Ashburton and Waipa meetings will also be held on Saturday. Wellington Weights. Handicaps for the opening day of the Wellington Racing Club’s winter meeting, together with those for the winter Hurdles (third day) appear this morning. Acceptances are due next Monday. Manawatu Meeting. The winter meeting of the Manawatu Racing Club, a decided innovation so far as Palmerston North is concerned, will be held on July 31 and August 2. Nominations will close on July 4 (Friday of next week). Flying Swift. Judging by all accounts, the Wan-ganui-owned and trained Flying Swift was one of the unlucky runners at Hastings. On Friday, in the Woodlands Steeplechase, Flying Swift was the favourite. He was last at one stage but ran up to the leaders and was with Timi Pouru at the last fence. Here, however, he ran off and thus his supporters lost interest in. the finish, in which two outsiders, HilMllus and Timi Pouru, carrying 11 and 13 tickets respectively, took part, paying royal dividends. On Saturday Flying Swift finished in third place in; the June Steeplechase, but he was a-.long way back. Perhaps the promising son of Swift F.ight will make amends in the near future, so he should dropped for his two failures. Mall Tampered With. Among the applications for positions in the South end police were two from.

Scotland, in the same envelope. One theory is that it was tampered with, and the rest taken out.

Llyn Du’s Good Price. When the Awapuni-trained Llyn Du got home in a close finish in the Final Handicap on Saturday the price was a good one. Llyn Du won the Oroua Hack Cup at Feilding on Easter Monday but those who had waited for the Kilbroney gelding to win again must have got tired of waiting, judged by the price obtained. At Feilding it was about a quarter of a century, while it was a double-figure one at Hastings. Best Friend.

At no stage of the race for the Winter Handicap at Hastings on Friday was the. favourite, Best Friend, in danger of getting beaten, for he was always on the bit and won as he liked. With Gray in the saddle the price was short, and his display caused Best Friend to be confidently supported again on Saturday. Best friend put up another solid performance and duly landed. The best has not been seen of this Feilding-trained horse. Lacking.

The opinion expressed a couple of months ago that the winter season would be a rather lean one for hurdlers and ’chasers is being borne out as the cross-country campaign proceeds. A glance through the list of handicaps for the Trenthain meeting must convince anyone that a the present time the ’chasers and hurdlers in commission are lacking in quality. Winning Jockeys.

The state of affairs among the leading division for the jockeys’ premiership has now assumed an interesting aspect. A. E. Ellis is in a position where he threatens serious opposition to H. Gray, who holds the leading place. Ellis rode five winners at Timaru, in addition to which he was on the runner-up several times. Now Ellis has piloted 63 winners for the season, while Gray has lifted his tally to 66 as a result of having two winning rides at Hastings. From now on the race between the pair will engage the attention of keen followers of racing.

Tribute to Wanganui Secretary. In the Taranaki Daily News “Paritutu” pays a tribute to the late Mr W. Hall, secretary of the Wanganui Jockey Club. “Taranaki sportsman,” he said, ‘‘ held Mr Hall in high regard. Of brisk manner, he was a man of wonderful personality, immediately striking the most casual observer as a gentleman—cheerful, obliging and withal imperturbable in the greatest rush of business, having a word for everybody and treating all with courtesy and dispatch. He had a wonderful memory for faces and was never at a loss to greet by name even the most obscure horseowner, trainer or jockey. When he did a thing he did it thoroughly, and the present high position held by the Wanganui Jockey Club is a monument to his ability and industry.”

Administration Expenses. The annual report of the New Zealand Racing Conference, to be presented at the meeting of delegates next month, reveals the fact that the income and expenditure account does not differ greatly from those of previous years. For the conference office in salaries and general expenses on the expenditure side the account shows £1667 9s 4d, the stipendiary stewards’ account is £4225 15s lid, and racecourse inspectors £4211 12s 3d. For the two last-named the levy on the racing clubs and New Zealand Trotting Conference amounted to £9752 Is 6d. The sum of £379 10s was received for registration of colours and £221 5s for registration of names. The accident fund provided claims amounting to £5240 19s 3d from May 31, 1929 to May 31, 1930. Accident fees collected amounted to £3785 Ils, trainers’, jockeys’ and apprentice jockeys’ licence fees were £1294 10s, and commission on jockeys’ and apprentice jockeys’ riding fees was £l3BB 11s 6d. The sum of £12911 16s 6d was received from racing and hunt clubs in apprentices’ fees. Of this £5625 16s was credited to employers and £7286 0s 6d to the apprentices.

Voitre and Hatch. Though the Awapuni lightweight K. Voitre has accompanied J. T. Jamieson on his Australian trip and will do the lightweight riding for the team, he will link up again with R. E. Hatch at Awapuui on his return from Australia. The young horseman has proved himself to be a highly-proficient rider, and it speaks volumes for R. E. Hatch in that he has turned out two apprentices of the standard of T. Green and K. Voitre in recent years. Hatch has now to produce J. M* Dowell, who is apprenticed to him at the present time—a youngster who appears to have all the qualifications of a top-notch horseman. A Chance Mount

It is a remarkable feature of the racing game that chance plays such a great part in various phases—breeding, buying and racing. Chance has led to fortune for some connected with the sport. In such a manner was the veteran Australian trainer Ike Foulsham introduced to racing. The late Mr J. Cook was responsible for his starli, for Mr Cook had a pony at a meeting in New South Wales, and. as every lightweight rider was engaged, he went in search of a likely youngster. Licences or permits were not necessary at the meeting. Mr Cook found Foulsham who had never ridden in a race, but who stated that he could ride, so he took the risk and gave him the mount. Foulsham tucked the bottoms of his trousers inside his socks, jumped his mount away smartly, and won easily. That was the beginning of a career which has included many riding and many training successes. Foulsham began to train horses 55 years ago, and he still wins races. Among his wins as a trainer have been two Melbourne Cups. Well Bagged. Famous explorer: "Onmy last hunting trip I bagged two immense elephants.” Flapper: “How thrilling! Did you have much trouble getting them into the bags t ’ * Havering. Havering was very consistent at the Ellerslie meeting and it is stated that he will be reserved for the Winter Cup at Bjccarton. He is just the sort for the Riccarton mile, for he can carry weight well and can handle himself on a yielding track. In addition to winning the Visitors’ Handicap at Ellerslie a fortnight ago, Havering won the Seafield Handicap at the Wanganui spring meeting and the Epsom Handicap at the Ellerslie spring fixture. Lindsay Gordon’s Leap. The famous Canal Turn o n the Grand National Steeplchase course at Aintree, with its sharp turn, is a severe test for the riders. The rising generation of horsemen, however, are perhaps not aware that there is a monument erected to commemorate a great leap

made by Adam Lindsay Gordon on the banks of the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier (Victoria). At this spot on the Macdonell Bay Road there was a run of 20ft. on a macadamised road to a stiff iron-bark • post and rail fence 4ft. Sin. high on the take-off side. The ground available on the landing side was only 10ft. and then there was a precipitous drop to the lake 250 ft. below . The feat was rendered extremely dangerous owing to the small space available on the landing side, out the horse stopped in a stride. Gordon’s daring leap rang through Australia from end to end. He was in his young day a very daring amateur steeplechase rider and had often ridden over the Flemington and Ballarat steeplechase courses with success. He was an amateur in the strictest sense of the term and neither directly nor indirectly, it is claimed, received payment. Lost Irons.

Striking corroboration of the views on the “monkey seat” expressed in these columns by Mr H. H. Jackson, of Brunswick, is contained in a statement made by that well-known writer “Rapier” in the London Sporting and Dramatic. In the Grand National Steeplechase Grakle’s rider, K. Piggott, lost an iron and gradually became unshipped, falling some distance after the fence had been jumped. “These lost irons, probably so fatal, too, in the case of Sir Lindsay, who finished third, are endorsement,” writes “Rapier,” “of what I have repeatedly written here that jockeys riding 1 short’ cannot possibly have that margin of safety for helping a horse when he makes a mistake at the big fences, especially with the very steep drops.” Bad Luck. How a winning horse can lose through no. fault of its own was given striking evidence at a recent meeting at Warwick (England). The Lady Kitty colt was winning but swerved when he heard the whip used on the Smolensk! filly letting the filly up to win on the post. Of course, it may be argued that he would have flinched had the whip been used on him, thus branding him chickenhearted. However, the Smolensk filly got one from the jockey, while the Lady Kitty colt got one unjustly from the judge. “Tote” in England. According to a British Official Wireless message from London, since January 1, £1,250,000 worth of betting has been handled by the totalisator, which has now been installed by the Racecourse Betting Control Board, or is in course of construction, on 74 racecourses in England.. The board claims that the chief purpose of the totalisator, namely, to attract more people to the races, has been achieved. During 113 racing days this year, in 63 meetings, the attendances were greater by an

average of 39 per cent, than those of last year. Edgar Wallace’s Debut. Mr Edgar Wallace and the two wellknown jockeys—Steve Donoghue and Michael Beary—made their stage debuts on Saturday night (says a Londonpaper). Mr Wallace asked the two jockeys if they would, as a joke, walk on as part of the crowd in the Ascot scene of “The Calendar” —revived at the Lyceum Theatre. They consented—on condition that the author joined them! So with the large audience in complete ignorance, Mr Wallace, disguised by a largo grey moustache, and Mr Donoghue and Mr Beary in jockeys’ habit, all solemnly walked on and did their bit, Two-Year-Olds’ Triumph. At Hastings on Saturday the Trial Plate was a triumph for the two-year-olds, three of that age filling the places. Ganpat, the winner, is a fine big gelding by Lord Quex, from Queen Lizzie, dam of Tioga. Vandyke, the second horse, is a brother to Paleta and a neat galloper who will improve more than the winner. He was making his first public appearance. Acmil is a Light BoreMillinery filly who owed her place to condition. The winner returned a good price for in the big field betting took i; wide range. Satrap As a Hurdler. The black gelding Satrap, w r ho was a really good three-year-old in New Zealand, winning the New Zealand St. Leger and the Great Northern St. Legor, made his first appearance as a hurdler at Canterbury Park, Sydney, on Juno 7. For nearly a mile and a-half he did so well that, though a failure on tho flat since his arrival in Australia, it is considered that he may develop into a useful juniper. He is far from perfect yet in that respect, but his showing was good enough to raise the hopes of his trainer, N. McKenna, who is racing him on lease.