SPORTS & PASTIMES

Waikato Times, Volume 90, Issue 14052, 3 May 1919, Page 9

SPORTS & PASTIMES

| SPORTING. Lady .Middleton has scored five wins in her last live starts. M . Emerson, the well-known lliccarton horseman, is due to arrive home by the Kia Ora next week, after four years’ active service. In Western Australia some time back F, O’Brien was disqualified for life by the stipendiary stewards on tile ground that he was associated with the alleged doping of Epsilon, who ran third in the Murray -Mile. On appeal i to the W.A.T.C. (Perth) Committee. O Brien’s disqualification was removed. It was unfortunate for the very huge section of investors that Gloaming met with mishap at the tapes and was turned completely over at the North Island Challenge Stakes at Wellington on Thursday. Deelcy had the ■ mount on Gloaming, who was backed I down to a very short price. I Afterglow won the New Zealand St. I Eager Stakes very decidedly at Welling- | ton. Deelcy steered the Demosthenes —Sunglow filly ..to victory in the time of 3min, which is a record for the race. The, New Zealand-owned Impediment recently finished second three times in Australia. The events were the St. Kilda Cup, Mooney Valley Eight Hours’ Handicap, and the Geelong Cup _ The greatest steeplechaser in tin; United States at the present time is The Brook, a six-year-old bay gelding by Troutbcck out of Hattie,-- by Kendal out of Skarte, by Silvester out of Albatross, by Buccaneer. Mr C. Shaw, of Tauwhare, the owner pf Bonnie Jean, has a handsome-look-ing six-year-old brown gelding by Spalpeen—Jean, and a half-brother to the Well-known Bed McGregor. He had his first introduction to the busy city ways quite_ recently, and his appearance won high plaudits from competent critics. It is said that Mr Shawrefused a very tempting offer for a' splendid type of the cross-country equine. At the Queensland Turf Hub's Easter meeting King o’ Malt won the Flying Handicap, leading all the way. He shifted out over the last furlong, and interfered with Had-I-Wist. As a result, he was disqualified from first honours by the stew-ards without tiny protest being entered, and placed second. Broomstick, at £3OO, commands a higher fee than any other stallion in America. Even at this figure his list for this year filled early, as also did that of Sweep at £IOO. For the past couple of years two-year-olds sired by the latter have been remarkably successful. The fact that Sasanoff can be relied on to perform well over any- distance sets him out as a remarkable gelding. Few first-class horses in either New Zealand or Australia have the record that Sasanoff claims, and which was further stamped in a business-like manner by his latest success in the Thompson Handicap. His winning money to date is a tidy sum. The mile on Thursday was cut out in 1.38, which is a record for the race and the course.

Eternal, a two-year-old, was first in the 1918 winning list of American horses, his totals being £11,227. Next to him came the three-year-olds, Johren and Exterminator, with £9831 and £7230 respectively. Of the eleven principal winners, five were two-year-olds, and four three-year-olds. Among the 32 horses with £2OOO or over to their credit were ten two-year-olds, and nine three-year-olds. Eternal won six of the eight races he started in. The l»»(Js in Victoria have rendered the Williamstown racecourse untenable for at least six months. Practically the whole of the buildings were demolished, and the track was torn by the torrents from end to end. It may liave been a judgment, but it was very hard on the club. Though the prohibition or racing in New South Wales is State-wide, various country bodies have made application to the authorities to hold meetings by reason of their great distance from the metropolis. The answer has been in the negative all along the line, so that the latest move, by tht Southern Districts Racing Association, to endeavour to get the ban confined to a radius of 200 miles from Sydney, is not likely to fare much better. Evidently the Bolsheviks are vandals in sport as in social life. It is cabled that racing has been abolished in Hungary, and that the racecourse at Buda Pest has been converted into a \egetable garden. Themporarily, let us hope (says a Sydney writer), for the people without their sport must be an unhealthy sort of people, possessing no outlet, physically, and morally. Looking through the names of our warships which appear in the newlyissued Navy Lists for the first time for four years (says a writer in the London Express), I was struck by one or two that seemed familiar in another connection. Rock Sand and Spearmint were the first two that I noticed, and by searching carefully I found six others that are famous racehorses— Ladas, Bend Or, Ormonde, Sceptre, Sir Bevys, and Ard Patrick. I have heard of a First Lord who consulted Lemprier's Classical Dictionary when called on to name new ships, but this imust surely be the first time that the great minds of the Admiralty have turned for inspiration to Ruff's Guide to the Turf.