Sporting Review. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1890. THE SPORTING REVIEW

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume I, Issue 21, 20 December 1890, Page 3

Sporting Review. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1890. THE SPORTING REVIEW

Will be published next week on WEDNESDAY, 24th inst. This issue will contain all the latest information, and tips for the races on Boxing Day. All advertisements for insertion in this issue must be in not later than 11 o’clock a.m. on Wednesday.

It has finally been decided to sell the Sylvia Park Stud on January sth. After that date this celebrated Stud, that has produced such winners as Martini-Henri, Nordenfeldt, and the champion Carbine, will be dispersed ; but few of the animals, we are afraid, will remain in Auckland. The consequence will be that Wellington Park will become the leading breeding establishment in Auckland. This Stud has turned out many good animals, but it is a question, if not increased by purchases from Sylvia Park or elsewhere, whether it is of sufficient size to attract Australian buyers. For years past the yearlings have brought good prices, but it must be borne in mind that the Sylvia Park sale has always been the attraction for Australian buyers, who will not come over unless there are a large number of young ones to select from. Our opinion is, that unless so increased, the dispersal of the Sylvia Park Stud will be a serious loss, not only to Mr. Morrin, but to Auckland and all New Zealand, as there are very few buyers in this Colony that will give long prices for yearlings —therefore, if there is no competition, prices are sure to rule low. The consequence will be that some clever sportsman will come over and be sure to pick up the bargains —perhaps another Martini-Henri or a Carbine for one-fourth of their value. There have been several attempts made to keep the Sylvia Park Stud in Auckland. The first was made by Colonel Carre, but he set about forming a company to take it over in a wrong manner, and the public soon saw through it,

therefore he failed in his project. Major George then proposed to put down £3,500 if four other gentlemen would join him. This on the face of it was a very doubtful thing, as there are few racing men in Auckland that could put their hands on as many hundreds, let alone thousands. The real offer that should have been accepted came from a Sydney syndicate, who offered £15,000 cash down. This should not have been refused, as one of the conditions was that the Stud should remain in Auckland. We are decidedly of the opinion that Major George, the sole attorney for the Bank, was wrong in not accepting it, as, though it might have been less than the Bank required, he should have remembered the amount of foreign capital that would have been circulated in Auckland, whereby the Bank would have profited However, this is a thing of the past, so we must look at what the sale is likely to produce, also which of the cracks are likely to remain in New Zealand. We sincerely hope that Mr. Morrin will see his way to secure some of the gems, so as to increase the Wellington Park Stud to. some thirty or forty mares. If he does this his stud alone will draw plenty of buyers from all parts of the Colonies, and Auckland will still retain its reputation for breeding the thoroughbred. The great topic of the day is what will Nordenfeldt bring and what will be his destination. It is our opinion that he will not bring more than £3,000, and that he will remain in Auckland. This is merely conjecture., but we fail to see where the competition will come from unless the Americans step in, as the majority of the Australian studmasters have plenty of the Musket blood. There will be more competition for the mares and foals than anything else, and we are afraid that most of the best ones will cross the water. Mersey, dam of Carbine, with a colt foal by Nordenfeldt, and served by him again, is the Queen of the Harem. It is reported that. £2,000 has been offered for her, but we doubt if she will fetch that price, though there should be a warm contest for her between Messrs. Wilson and Wallace, let alone others who are sure to go for her, as her foal is a good-looking one and closely related to Carbine. Onyx has been unfortunately mated to Ingomar, and is now served by Hotchkiss, while poor old Sylvia has seen her day, but it is to be hoped that she will fall into good hands. Her filly foal is by Ingomar, therefore not likely to bring much. Nelly Moore is another that will fetch a good price, and she may be booked to Mr. Wilson. Florence Macarthy is a valuable mare in herself, and, though served by Nordenfeldt, she has a filly at foot by Ingomar that will detract from her value, therefore I should not be surprised to see her go to Napier. It is hard to tell what purchasers there will be for the others. The yearlings are not so numerous as in former years, but there are some choice ones. The colt out of Nelly Moore, also the one out of My Idea, are well worth looking after, also the one out of Florence Macarthy. Unfortunately there are no yearlings either out of Mersey (Carbine’s dam) or Onyx (Nordenfeldt’s dam), which will deteriorate the sale. However, taking all things into consideration, they should bring a good average. After the sale it is to be feared that Sylvia Park will revert to a dairy farm, unless some unforeseen person or syndicate come to the rescue.

The meeting last Saturday at Avondale has again shown the want of a stipendiary steward, owing to the incapability of the stewards or the Committee of the country meetings to take cognizance of suspicious running. Several cases of this kind occurred at Avondale, but the race that was especially brought under our notice was the Steeplechase, in which the stewards disqualified the first and second, giving the race to the third. A great number of persons have interviewed us on the subject, and their evidence is decidedly conflicting, but they all agree that the course was very badly marked out, the flags not being larger than a ladies’ pocket handkerchief, and the stuff they were made of was of a very inferior quality. Just before the start there was a heavy shower of rain and no wind, the consequence was that they clung to the post, and were difficult to be seen. Now with regard to the actual race. From the evidence we have heard it appears

that on the last round Silvio and Fishmonger just ran inside one of these indistinct posts, gaining nothing by it, in fact, making the next jump more difficult. They passed the winningpost in the order named. Williamson, the trainer of the third horse, who is always on the win, tie, or wrangle tactics, objected to the two for going the wrong course, and the stewards having heard evidence and inspected the course awarded the race to Hurricane, who came in a long way after the leaders. Now comes the absurdity of the case. The stewards never inquired into the question had Hurricane gone the proper course. The weight of evidence brought before us decidedly proves that Hurricane did not jump the last hurdle, therefore did not go the proper course, so is also disqualified. Arguing the point with one of the leading stewards he coolly said that supposing the caretaker had removed the hurdle, that was not Hurricane’s fault, therefore he was entitled to the race, at the same time admitting that the stewards did not investigate whether Hurricane had gone the right course or not. This argument is rotten from the bottom, and shows incompetence in racing matters. Having carefully reviewed the evidence on both sides we are of opinion that the decision of the stewards was wrong, and that the race should either have been run over again or declared null arid. void. We are prepared to back our opinion on English precedents, and are only surprised that the public did not make a greater disturbance than they did.

The Auckland Summer Meeting, 1890 and 1891, promises to be one of the best that has been held in Auckland, not only in the number of acceptances and entries, but in the quality of the horses. Never have there been so many good ones accept for the Derby. It has generally been a one-horse race, but this year we have such horses as Medallion, the crack two-year-old of last season and the winner of the 0. J.C. Derby; Crackshot, the winner of the Canterbury Cup; and St. Andrew, who won the Hawke’s Bay Guineas. But there are also Major George’s horses, Reprisal and Vendetta, and with Leolantis, the winner of the Auckland Guineas, the race should be an interesting one. Fourteen have accepted for the Auckland Cup, including the above cracks, and also such animals as Hilda,' Cissy, Strephon, Dudu, etc., so this must prove an interesting race. Judging from the prices the bookmakers both North and South are offering it must be a hard matter to pick the winner. The number which paid up for the Great Northern Foal Stakes is not satisfactory, as the race is virtually between two, but the general entries for the other races make amends for this shortcoming. We are, however, afraid that this meeting will be greatly indebted to its success on account of the great sale that will take place at Sylvia Park. Many racehorse owners have brought up their horses in the hope of not only paying their expenses, but also having a little in hand to invest at the different yearling sales. It is to be hoped that the Auckland Racing Club Committee will see their way to issue programmes in future so as to make it worth distant owners’ while to bring their horses up. At the same time we recommend them to alter some of the conditions regarding certain stakes, such as the Musket Stakes, which will take a clever man to calculate the weights the different horses have to carry.