THE TURF.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume I, Issue 13, 25 October 1890, Page 2

THE TURF.

[by

OLD TURFITE.]

The Victorian Derby comes off next Saturday,, and a more difficult race to pick the winner of I have not known for a long time. The three-year-olds this season are an exceptionally good lot, but their running has been a good deal in and out. During the winter Titan—the sensational gelding of last year —was the favourite at 2 to 1. In the A.J.C. Derby he made a disgraceful exhibition of himself —Gibraltar, Gatling and Whimberel running a tremendous race, the former just winning. Gibraltar is an extraordinarily fine colt, but there is a suspicion that his legs are none of the soundest, and if the ground becomes hard he may not be able to act over it, even if he does not crack up. In the Second Foal Stakes he gave Gatling ylbs. and beat him, after a dead heat. This proves him to be a colt above the average. Gatling labours under the suspicion of not being one of the games!. Whimberel, after making all the running and being interfered with, was only just beaten by the two. He afterwards came out and won the Wycombe Stakes easily from a good field, and then started for the Randwick Plate of three miles, but Melos easily disposed of him, and this is not to be wondered at. The next race he competed in was the Gaulfield Guineas, in which Titan also performed, but neither of them were prominent in the race, Annesley, Beverley and Prelude (with a 71b. penalty) being the first three. Titan, since then, is reported to have done some splendid gallops at Flemington, and if such is the case he must either be a rogue or he was not wanted at Caulfield. In either case, if he should happen to win, there ought to be an inquiry held. Gresford has run a fair horse, but I think he is more adapted for handicaps. Taking the running of the above named horses I think we must put down Gibraltar as the best. The Admiral, an early favourite of mine, won the Caulfield Stakes easily. At that time he was not up to the mark, as he had been suffering from teething, and had not done as well as his trainer desired, still he cut down the field easily — in which Megaphone started first favourite —and must be coupled with Gibraltar, and these two are, I think, the best three-year-olds that have appeared this season. Now we come to what may be called the dark division, as not having performed this year. Among these may be put down Correze, Magic Circle and Highlander, and perhaps three or four more, so the field will in all probability number about fifteen or sixteen, one of the largest ever known. The forfeits are only declared on the day before the race, so we at a distance are placed at a great disadvantage. Some months ago when the Sporting Review first appeared, and Titan was a hot favourite, I recommended my readers to back The Admiral, as I considered him the best of the lot for the V.R.C. Derby. He is how quoted at 6 to 4, so those that did it have none the worst of it. Gibraltar pulled me through the A.J.C. Derby in the face of the mighty Titan, but at the same time Whimberel and Gatling were alongside of him. Annesley and Beverley comfortably disposed of Titan and others in the Caulfield Guineas, while Enuc ran third in the Caulfield Cup, so it will be peen that the field this year will be a particularly strong one, and therefore a difficult

race to pick the winner of. I never like to desert my original pick, unless I have good reason to do so. In this case I see none, so I shall select THE ADMIRAL Correze and Whimberel, reserving to myself the privilege of making a final selection on the morning of the race, as in the meantime I may receive some valuable information.

The accounts of the races held at Caulfield last Saturday —with the exception of the Caulfield Cup—are very meagre, and as far as I can see do not bear on any future events, so I shall only give a short epitome of the minor races. The Maiden Plate brought ten to the post, and resulted in an easy win of three lengths for Acushla, 4yrs ; Nihilist, 3yrs., second ;. Peggy; 4yrs., third ; neither of the former were mentioned in the betting. Submission, Bst.» won the Nursery Handicap, while Doncaster appropiated the Selling Race—The Bud being second and Postmaster third.. The Caulfield Cup was the next on the card. This was the principal race of the day, and created great interest. Twenty-six out of the original thirtythree acceptors faced the starter, and the result ■was a head victory for Vengeance, syrs., 6st. 131 b.; Loyalstone, 4yrs., 7st. ilb., second; Enuc, 3yrs., 6st. 71b., being third two lengths away; Tarcoola a fair fourth ; Bothwell fifth ; Jebusite sixth ; Richelieu, Sir William, Little Bernie and Pygmallidn next; Loyalist and Ivy being the last two. Time zmin. 38secs., the fastest on record. The betting at start was 7 to 1 Bothwell, 8 to i Pygmallion, io to 1 Loyalstone, Singapore, and Little Bernie, 12 to 1 Churchill, Jebusite and The Serf, 15 to 1 .Leopold, Vengeance and Enuc, 20 to 1 Sir William and Tarcoola, 33 to 1 Tourbillion, and' 100 to 1 the others. For the Open Handicap Steeplechase thirteen started, Acrobat, lost, zlb. —the favourite —winning by a short head ; Prosper, 11st. Bib., second; Vulture, lost, gib., third. The Windsor Handicap brought out the fine field of twenty-seven starters, resulting in a win for Redfearn’s Newton, 6st. 71b.; Old Investigator, 4yrs, 6st. 81b., second; Elsie, third.

The general entries for the V.R.C. Meeting at Flemington far exceed persons of any preceding year, and for those on the spot there will be some interesting racing, but to New Zealanders the only races that any notice is taken of on the first day are the Melbourne Stakes and the V.R.C. Derby. The former generally gives a line for the Melbourne Cup. This year there are no less than twenty-eight entries, including most of the cracks. Tf Mr. Wallace relies on Megaphone instead of Carbine, I shall expect to see him go down before Melos, but it is folly touching a race of this description, as you do not know —nor can even form an idea of — what is likely to start until the numbers go up.

As is always the case after the Caulfield Meeting, the betting on the Melbourne Cup has undergone great changes. The two favourites —Carbine and Melos —have receded in price, while the placed horses in the Caulfield Cup have come into a prominent position, as well as Chaldean (who was thought to have a good chance of annexing the Caulfield Cup, but was struck out; and at the time it was announced that he was to be reserved for this race). Gresford has been genuinely backed to win some thousands, but the others remain aa they were. The final forfeit has to be declared next Tuesday; if not paid the owners are liable for the 45 sovs., so the natural consequence is that there will be a great weeding out. This will give me a fair chancee to write my notes in next issue, and also enable those who follow my selections plenty of time to get their money on. I shall not go fully into the Cup this week. Carbine has all along been the great public fancy, but I am not one of his admirers for this race. Without doubt he is one of the most brilliant horses that we have seen for a long time, but it is asking him to do too much when he has to give such lumps of weight away to everything in the race, and I am surprised at Mr. Wallace, who is spoken of as a genuine sportsman, asking him to do it. He cannot at this juncture scratch him, unless he breaks down or goes amiss. Cuirassier is Auckland’s great fancy, but I never could and never will have him for a race of this description. He carries as much, if not more, money than any

horse in the race. His owners have backed him to win a large stake, and are considered astute, but this I fail to see, for if Cuirassier is good enough to win, why did they rush him into the market before the bookmakers had field money, and take 1000 to 40. If they had waited and given the commission to a clever party they could easily have got ten or fifteen points longer odds. When I first reviewed the Melbourne Cup I selected the following tenMelos, Singapore, Tantallon, Matador, The Admiral, Dunkeld, Gresford, Gatling, Whimberel and Forty Winks —not a bad selection I flatter myself, as, with the exception of Matador and Gresford (who have been struck out), and Forty Winks, they are all in the betting. Melos is an undeniably good horse, and will take a good deal of beating, but I am afraid that at the finish one of the lighter-weighted division will just come and do him. However, he is worth backing for a place. Singapore disappointed me in the Caulfield Cup, so I shall pass him by. Tantallon has been backed, and it would not surprise me in the least to find him the selected one of Hickenbotham’s stable on Cup day. The Admiral has all along been one of mv greatest fancies, and I think he is very likely to pull off the double. There has been a good deal of “ finessing” about Dunkeld, and until I can learn something about him I shall leave him alone. The public know as much of Gatling and Whimberel as I do at the present time, but I think the former does not like it when the pinch comes, and the latter is getting too much of it so early in the year. At the time of writing I prefer the chances of The Admiral and Tantallon, with Melos for a place, but when I get the acceptances and information from Australia I will go thoroughly through the acceptors, and I may have reason to alter my opinion, but I think that at the present price The Admiral will will afford good hedging money.

As usual great interest was taken in the Caulfield Cup, which resulted in a great surprise for many of the would-be cognoscenti. Twenty-four of the original thirty-two acceptors took part, Marvel and Whimberel being the only ones of any note that were struck out. The result was disastrous to backers in general, and the books as usual must have had a good time of it, as many of the early favourites did not even accept, while those which started ran nowhere. Those of my readers who followed this paper (and I am sorry to say there were only a few) had no cause to regret it. I do not want to be egotistical, but when I first reviewed the Caulfield Cup I selected the following four Singapore and Dunkeld of the top weights; Little Bernie of the middle division: and Vengeance of the turned-loose ones. At that time Vengeance was at a very long price, and each week I persistently pointed out to my readers the reason why I so much fancied him. In the last edition before the race,! summed up in this way“ As it is impossible to back them all I will select the three following: —Vengeance, Ivy, and Singapore, and I do not think I shall be far off the winner? I finished “ Alpha and Omega.” Singapore’s running I cannot account for. Ivy is, I think, an uncertain animal, as she certainly did not run up to her training form. Little Bernie I discarded at the last moment, as I was pretty well certain that he had the “ pencil fever ” and was being milked, and I think from the way he ran in the race I was not far out. On Saturday evening, as usual, a very large concourse of people assembled round the principal sporting rendezvous awaiting the arrival of the result of the Caulfield Cup. When it was announced there were not many cheerful faces, as but few had backed the winner. The bookmakers, however,. were jubilant, as they had nearly, if not quite, skinned the lamb. Noticeable among the disappointed ones were the sporting writers (?) of the daily papers; not because they had lost their little half sovereign, but because of my “luck” —as they called it —in naming the winner. I might here state for the instruction of these boys that it is not all luck to pick winners. They will have to know something about racing and work up all handicaps, and at the same time get reliable information regarding the doings of the different horses, and then it might be possible for them to pick a winner. But so long as they continue using scissors and patchwork, and making haphazard selections—the favourite

generally—l should say it would be a big slice of luck if at any time they should accidently happen to drop on a winner.

The acceptances and final payments for the New Zealand Cup, C.J.C. Derby, C.J.C. Oaks, and Canterbury Cup were made on Friday, 17th. For the C.J.C. Derby only five remain in—Medallion, St. Andrew, Freedom, Crackshot and Diadem. Medallion, after his running in Napier, if it was true (but for one moment I do not believe it was), can have no chance. Mr. Stead has scratched him for the New Zealand Cup, but has paid up for this race and the Canterbury Cup. This policy I must confess. I do not ,understand, for if he has a chance in either of these he must have had in the other. My opinion is that he is waiting for some of the Australian events next autumn. St. Andrew won the Hawke’s Bay Guineas, and is a splen-didly-bred colt. The racing public, as well as some writers, have the idea that he cannot stay. Not having seen him run, I can form no opinion myself. Taking his breeding into consideration, the only weak point I can find is Lord Lyon. He was a lucky horse to win the three classic races, as he was a long way off a good one, and was fortunate in coming in a bad year. His stud career was a miserable failure. Marigold, the dam of Doncaster, was a non-stayer, but then Doncaster was an undoubted stayer. With so much staying blood in his veins, I fail to see why St. Andrew should not get over two miles with the best of them. Crackshot is in everyone’s mouth as being the best colt of his year and certain to win the double. I never liked old Pungawerewere, and shall have nothing to do with him. Freedom is a colt that I have heard a great deal about, but lately the only information I have had is that he is doing well. As D. O’Brien is in Australia, I think that Bob Ray is too good a general to have paid up for him in all three events unless he was a better colt than the public believe. However, I shall have another chance of writing next Saturday, so I will only remark that my preference is for Freedom and St. Andrew. The Canterbury Cup has only six left in, and as it is greatly dependent on the running in the Cup and Derby, I will only remark that if Medallion crops up the winner there will be a rumpus. Twelve are left in the New Zealand Cup, but want of space prevents me going through them until next week. I will only remark that in substituting St. Andrew for Medallion I shall not be far off the winner.

Ir having come to my knowledge that several of the readers of the Sporting Review were misled by taking another correspondent’s tips on the Caulfield Cup as mine. I beg to inform those who have the confidence to follow my advice, that I am not so presumptuous as some sporting writers as to attempt to place horses for a race. I simply try and point out the horses that I think have the best chance, and that they will in future find them in capital letters at the end of the article, in the order that I prefer them, but in no instance will I attempt to place them.