Sporting Review. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1892. THE HAWKE’S BAY MEETING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 86, 17 March 1892, Page 5

Sporting Review. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1892. THE HAWKE’S BAY MEETING.

[By

Wire.]

(from our own correspondent.)

Napier, March 16. Although things in town are very quiet for a race week there is considerable speculation as to the probable result of the principal events to be run at the Jockey Club s meeting on Thursday. Crown Jewel is generally fancied, as also are some of the local mares (all the Hawke’s Bay reps, are mares), while Morion has his followers, Crackshot his admirers, and The Dreamer his backers. There is no general concensus of opinion prevalent in regard to this race. Kotuku is said to be remarkably well, also Thame and Krina, all of whom are privately trained. I prefer Kotuku of those named, but I think the grey daughter of Musket will go down before Retina, a strong fancy of mine, who, however, is thought to have no show, although she has been backed in Wellington. Kulnine will not start, and I think Whisper, Fraternite, La Petite Fille, Huerfana, and Dolosa will not see the post. No) ton and Commotion do not start in the Hurdles, and Whakawatea, who threatens to go wrong, has not accepted for the Juvenile Stakes, and will probably be scratched for the Railway Stakes, for which he has been coupled with every horse in the Cup. North Atlantic is not as well as he ought to be, and my opinion is that Mr. Douglas’ filly Ua will put down both he and St. Katherine. The Hurdles ought to go to one of the visiting horses General Gordon probably or Hiamoe. Couranto was bad when he returned from Wanganui, and I don’t think he is at all well. A number of the cognoscenti mention the grey horse Caloola and wink the other eye, but I don’t think he will win. The following are my tips :— Hawke’s Bay Cup. Retina 1 Kotuku 2 Thame • 3 Railway Stakes. Ranee Nuna I Heather Bell 2 Torpedo 3 Nursery Handicap. Ua 1 North Atlantic 2 St. Katherine 3 First Hurdles. General Gordon 1 Hiamoe 2 Couranto 3 Autumn Handicap. Ranee Nuna 1 Dreamland 2 Bay Bell 3 High-Weight Handicap. Musketeer 1 Kapu 2 Zaccho 3 Trial Handicap. Como 1 Prairie Grass 2 Silvermine • 3 Alf. Woods, who .has been training Hinemoa and Kathleen for the Maoris, has handed them back to their owners. Betting on the Cup is brisk. Crown Jewel and Morion, ioo to 25 ; Cynisca and Crackshot, foo to 20; Thame, Kotuku, and Retina, 100 to 18 ; The Dreamer, 100 to 15; Lochness, Pearl Powder, Krina and Pani, 100 to 10; Torpedo, Seraph and Whisper, 100 to 8; Maid of Lome, 100 to b. The Forerunner—Forest Queen colt has been named Harmony. Bert Newman has added Charybidis (a jumper), the Taranaki mare Lasswade (by Daniel O’Connell), and the racing pony Riverside to his string. The latter will be sent across to Australia shortly. Private watches made the Wanganui Cup Race 3 m i n ssec —not 3min 6sec, which was the official time. Brown Duke, who won the Bracelet six years ago at Hastings, has an easy life of it at Waipawa. He is in J. Layor’s charge, but the Maoris are not racing him, and I think the old fellow has had his day. Fraternite, my fancy for the Wanganui Cup, bolted after two furlongs had been traversed, and kept command of his rider for nearly a mile and a half. When it

came to racing at the finish he had to watch the proceedings from the rear. . Black Rose, the Canterbury Derby winner, is located at Waipukurau still. His list is full every year, but no good mares have been sent to him since he has been in the district. Ten of his progeny, got before he came here, among them Rosa Bonheur and Fairchild, have all proved winners. , __ r The warning off of three metallicians by the Wanganui Club for laying totalisator odds is, I think, the commencement of a crusade against bookmakers all over the colony. The clubs intend to guard the interests of the totalisator, from which they derive a revenue, and wil not stand interference from men who also endeavour to derive an income from that kind of business. There is of course no harm in the fraternity laying tote prices so long as they pay up, which they have had to dp lately with a regularity which, to them, must be annoying, but the club’s have a monopoly, and exercise their functions when an endeavour is being made to break it down. Curious to relate, though, there were a number of metallicians laying tote figures at Wanganui, and only three warned off during the pleasure of the club. Fusilade (Musket—Wai-iti) is the lord of the harem at Mr. W. Rathbone’s stud farm, situated a few miles from Waipawa, and the New Zealand Cup winner looked in a splendid state of health when I visited the establishment the other day. He has covered twenty mares — all belonging to Mr. Rathbone, who has gone to considerable expenses lately in selecting suitable matrons for his stud and purchasing animals to carry his colours on the racecourse. There are twentyone loose boxes in a spacious enclosed yard, beside harness and feed rooms, all of which are a mode of cleanness and quite a pleasure to inspect. A cottage hard by is tenanted by the employees, and there is no mistake but these quarters are very comfortable, thenmeals being cooked by a lady kept for the purpose. Lne brood mares have splendid paddocks to romp about in. There are a great many of them, the principal being Mignon, who has a foal by Somnus, Radiance and Flutter, both of whom have also fine-looking foals by the same sire, Bird Helen, and others. All the mares mentioned have been covered by Fusilade. Mr. R.athbone has a fine lot of youngsters. The first one I noticed was a nice-looking two-year-old Guineas colt by Dauphin Erycina, and then a filly, who is half-sister to the late steeplechaser Sentinel, being by Sword Dance (the sire of Thame and Tulloch) out of Duchess. This filly has already been given the name of Archeress. A yearling by St. Leger—Le Orient looked a promising youngster. He is out of the same dam as Francotte, the Southern animal, who at Dunedin some time ago showed such a speedy turn of foot, but who is now on the retired list. I was very much struck with the Apremont —Flatterer filly—a beautiful chestnut, who looked every inch a racer, and showed plenty of quality. She should turn out a very speedy mare, and shows it already in fact, lor she leads her companions a merry dance round the paddock every day, when they have a gallop just for fun. They will have plenty of it before they grow much older. A filly who looked the image of Merganser (Nordenfeldt—Albatross) next trotted up to have a look at us, and on inquiring if she was any relation to that mare, was informed that she was a full sister. Mr. Rathbone paid a good price for this youngster, who is similarly marked to her relative, whose success on the turf, when she is fit, will, lam sure, have to be chronicled. A haltbrother to Patchwork was running about in the shape ot a Nordenfeldt—Patch colt, who may yet be heard oi. One of the biggest two-year-olds I have seen is the Cadogan—Athole filly, who boasts of relationship to Dunkeld and Heather Bell. She was taken up recently, but is again in the paddock owing to an enlargement of the bone. Owing to a severe accident which occurred m Auckland after Mr. Morrin’s sale, the JohnnyFaulkner —Tasmania filly is very backward in condition. She got cut about terribly, and why they shipped her to Napier in her bad condition instead of keeping her for a few months until she got well is a mystery to me. Her leg is still far from being healed up, but is now fast doing so under the care of Mr. J. Laing, who has charge of the establishment, and who very courteously showed me round. The other young bloods in the crowd were a nice-looking two-year-old by Nordenfeldt Aconite, two yearlings by Stoneyhurst —Waimakariri, and Stoneyhurst — Mignon, respectively, and a two-year-old of handsome appearance by St. George Charm. All the youngsters, with the one exception that I have mentioned, are growing well, and are well looked after. They are fed morning and night in the stable, and turned out into a paddock in the day time. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon they run up from the end of the paddock to the stable as regularly as clockwork— they seem to know the time to a second, and are all assembled outside the gale as the clock strikes four. I happened to be there at that hour on the afternoon of my visit, and it was a treat to watch them galloping up —the Apremont —Flutter colt leading ; the gate was opened as they arrived there, and in they marched to their respective compartments for their feeds. Mr. Rathbone has a racing track near the stables, but I might mention that his racing string is located at Hastings, where they are in charge of Andy Robinson. King George, though, is at Maher’s, at Waipukurau. Maher has had the colt since he come here, and Mr. Rathbone left him in his hands.

Maid of Lome, by Lord of the Isles—Marie Antoinette, looked in good trim when I saw her the other day, but I think a short spell would do the half-sister to Silence good. A full sister to Kulnine named Whimsical occupied an adjoining box. This lady should greatly improve with age. Chatelaine, by Albany—Trinket, js another whom Mr. Gaisford expects to win a race with in the not far distant future. Jeannie Deans was out in the paddock. Rowley has charge of the quartette, and has won a few good races for his employer lately by the manner in which he has sent Maid of Lome to the post. Mr. Gaisford, who is manager for Lord Henry Russell, is at present on a visit to the old country. J. Maher has the string under his charge in splendid condition just now. He always turns out his horses well, and picks up a good number of turf crumbs from one end

of the year to the other. Dreamland, by Cadogan Siesta, half-sister to the flying Day Dream, looked very pink, as also did the "Waipawa Handicap winner Seraph, by Albany—Helena. Couranto, by Patriarch Quickstep, had just returned from Wanganui, where he was reckoned to have a moral over the first day’s hurdles, with all his weight. However, there was something the matter with him, for he would not jump, so Redmond says. He did not baulk at the last hurdle, as reported, but ran through it. He jumped splendidly before he went away, was in beautiful trim, and as round as an apple. When he came back there was no life in him ; he looked to have come down a great deal, and appeared .to be a different animal altogether. Maher cannot make out what has happened to him. It was stated he was lame, but no signs of lameness can be discovered about him. He will probably be treated to a spell. Somnambulist, by Somnus —Nil Desperandum, who has given us a taste of his quality on several occasions, locks the picture of health. He is, without doubt, a fine stamp of a hurdle horse. A two-year-old, by Foul Play out of Miss Dargon, occupied an end box. She is a little lady of good’appearance, and shows racing qualities. King George, by St. George—Strenua, looked well. This horse should win a race or two if given a show by the handicappers. An animal rejoicing in the name of Fifty Bob (no connection with the Chinaman’s horse Seventy Bob, which was provocative of so much amusement at the last Town and Suburban races) will probably be seen in hack company at an early date. He comes off one of the stations, and is said to be out of Neophyte, being consequently half-brother to the Wellington Steeplechase winner Echo. Avis, the erst Poverty Bay horse, by Emir Bey—Mavis, a recent addition to Maher’s string, was out in the paddock when I visited the stable. I notice this animal is entered at Wellington.

jack Griffiths, whose stables are located at Waipawa, has Caloola (a grey horse who can cover ground when in motion), Oringi, an aged jumper by The Painter, Deceiver, a young horse, who wants a spell, and a hack called Florrie.