Turf Topics.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IV, Issue 182, 18 January 1894, Page 8

Turf Topics.

By

Borderer.

One of Sir Modred’s sons, Ballarat, has become a champion steeplechaser in tlie United States. Impulse has been given 7.11 in the Anniversary Handicap which will be run at Band wick on the 26th inst. Navigator’s son, Miletos, was offered for sale at Sydney recently and passed in at 400 guineas. M.L.A. was withdrawn at half the price. Loyalty’s two-year-old brother has been named Bonnie Scotland by Mr S. H. Gollan, who has also conferred the title of Tireuse on the Nordenfeldt—Florence McCarthy two-year-old filly. It is the intention of the Dunedin Jockey Club to bring further charges against bookmakers for trespassing on the Forbury course. The cases will, it is stated, be carried to the Appeal Court in order to have them thoroughly tested. The starting machines are not giving too much satisfaction on the Australian side. One was tried at Aspen dale Park (Vic.) recently with the result that when the barrier was drawn up for a start several of the horses wheeled round and refused to go under it. Pegasus was shipped for Wellington on Friday last to fulfil his engagement in the Wellington Cup. H. Harrison went in charge of the Nelson colt, whose greatly improved condition should make him run well forward on the 22nd inst. The committee of the Takapuna Jockey Club have decided to allow bookmakers on their course on the 27th and 29th inst. on payment of five guineas per day. It is the intention of the Club to deal severely with layers of totalisator odds. Offenders in this direction will be permanently disqualified and warned off the course. ‘ Terlinga ’ writes that a case of abusive language will occupy the attention of the V.R.C. committee at its next meeting, Mr M. Considine, secretary of the associated registered clubs, having laid a complaint against Mr Morris Jacobs, the owner of Auster. The matter arose in connection with the Holmes appeal case, Mr Jacobs (it is said) attacking Mr Considine on the assumption that he was the cause of the appeal being dismissed.

There is some talk of the lonic case being taken to the Supreme Court. The action of the club in declining to return the money invested on the horse was strictly in accordance with the Rules of Racing, and however defective the latter may be in this particular matter, it is clear that the Taranaki Stewards had no option but to return the money. . I. T. Carlslake the well-know Australian owner and trainer laid a complaint against the Victorian starter, Mr Godfrey Watson, in connection with the race for the Joyful Handicap at the last Williamstown Races. Carlslake’s horse, Britomarte, ran second in the race to Rudolph, who had, according to his complaint to the Stewards, been unduly and favoured at the fall of the flag by the starter. The stewards found nothing to .support the charge, which was dismissed. Stromboli who won an A.J.C. Derby, a Sydney Cup and many minor events prior to his departure for the States appears to have fallen upon evil days. From a letter received by ‘ The Old ’Un ’ a well-known Sydney Referee writer, I learn that Stromboli, starting in a San Francisco Race of 500 dollars which was fought for by five horses, finished a very bad last. The letter containing the news runs :— ‘ He carried loylbs in a field of five horses, and started at the remunerative price of 50 to I for a win, 15 to 1 to run first or second, and 5 tor to run first, second or third. The horse looked well, and several Australians who had witnessed the son of Chester’s brilliant win in the Sydney Cup had a plunge on him. The field was pretty well bunched at the turn into the straight. Here the racing began, and poor Stromboli appeared to be quite outclassed; he finished last, and a very bad last at that. The time was imin. 421 sec. and the papers speak of it as a very slow race.’

Out of fifty-six horses nominated for the Wellington Cup only a dozen remain ! Mr Evett leaves to-day for the Wellington races. Marechai Neil has been turned out and will be spelled until the close of the Autumn season. An Adelaide racehorse is said to rejoice in the name of Cripticohuconsifenus ? Nominations for the Papakura Racing Club’s annual meeting close on Friday, February 23. Acceptances for the events of the opening day of the Takapuna Jockey Club’s Summer meeting are due to-morrow. The New Zealand bred mare Yarra, by Bundoora from Bribery, won the chief event at the Wedderburn Boxing Day Races. Scarpia, the winner of the Perth Cup (West Australia), is by Neckersgat—Tarpeia and won the same event last year. The trophy in connection with this year’s Wellington Cup is a massive silver punch-bowl with very handsome chasing. It stands 20 inches high and weighs 140 ozs. Since Langley the Devil was leased for the season for £3O by Wi Hutana the Martinborough native sportsman, he has won £l3O in prize money. As the horse is in excellent form further wins may be looked forward to by his lessor.

Two assumed racing names have been registered at the A.R.C. offices, viz.: C. E. Woodburn and J. Cartwright. There are several other gentlemen who race under a nom de . course who will require to make similar registration. My tip for the Wellington Cup is Pegasus 1, St. Katherine 2, Rosefeldt 3. The Wellington representative of the Review selects Pegasus 1, Prime Warden 2, St. Katherine 3. The Napier correspondent of the Review writes that Despised, who was bought by Mr. Hands, the owner of Flukem, is said to have become the property of George Heaps, and that the ultimate destination of Cap-a-pie’s son is Napier. . Impulse has returned from Sydney after his unsuccessful efforts to foot it with the Australian fliers. Messrs S. Bradley and George Cutts’, his owner and trainer, returned by the some boat as the St. Leger—Aida gelding. Our Napier correspondent wires that Mr Walte r Wood, who trains for the Hon. J. D. Ormond’ was badly kicked in the face the other day by a young horse to whom he was giving physic. Mr Wood’s face was badly disfigured, but fortunately his eyes escaped injury. The Castor—Moilena filly which Mr Dan McLeod purchased at the Wellington Park sale for 4Ogns, is,to be sent to Donald McKinnon s place and turned out until she is a three-year-old. The Hotchkiss—Pungawerawera colt which Mr McLeod paid 325gns for, has been lodged in George Wright’s stable. The election of a delegate to represent the Country and Suburban Clubs at the next Metropolitan Conference resulted in the return of Mr E. W. Alison, who secured 21 votes out, of a total of 49. Mr Nolan came next with 16 and Mr Barton polled a dozen votes. The other two gentlemen nominated Messrs Wynyard and King withdrew in favour of Mr Alison.

Stepniak’s half-brother Mahaki has followed up his initial victory scored at Poverty Bay in good style. The way he put down the Muskapeer— Ladybird mare Lottie in the Maude Memorial Stakes at Gisborne shows that this son of Ingomar is rapidly improving, and now that he has started he may be expected to develop into a valuable racer.

The nominations for the two principal events of the Hawke’s Bay Autumn meeting, viz. : the H.B. Cup, one mile and three quarters, and the Railway Stakes Handicap, six furlongs, will be found in another column. A fairly good list of names have been received —twenty-eight having entered for the Cup and twenty-nine for the six furlong sprint.

The weight allotted Norina in the Calliope Handicap to be raced for at Takapuna is held by the majority of turfites to be under the filly’s capabilities. Stepfeldt’s people have shown their opinion of the matter by withdrawing their candidate. Personally I consider Norina at 8.8 as near a certainty as can be obtained. If the Nordenteldt —Rosarina filly be well on the day and a fair start is given her I fail to see what can stop her. The New Zealand Mail says that C. Watson, the jockey who was thrown . from Caloola when that horse fell and broke his neck in the Hurdle Race at the Rangitikei meeting, is now lying at the Rangitikei Hotel, where he is slowly recovering. Dr Bennet is in constant attendance on him and expresses his opinion that the patient is in no danger though it may be some time before he recovers. (The telegraph brought the news of Watson’s death yesterday). Mr Devonshire’s thoroughbred stallion Treason, who had to be destroyed last week owing to paralysis in his hind quarters, was (writes the N.Z. Mail) by the great Traducer. He was very successful as a stud horse, and the best samples of his stock are those owned and trained by Mr I. Freeth at the Hutt. Revolution, Rebellion, Violence and Revolt, are all by Treason, and are all good performers. Last year Treason stood thirteenth on the list of winning sires in New Zealand.

The results of the second day of the Swimming Carnival are as follows :—Novel Race, 1 ooyds — E. Thomas, Bsec, 1 ; J. Percival, 2sec, 2; A Fagan, scr, 3. Won by about a yard. Time, 1 min 32sec. Plunge (time limit fiosec) —J. Tooher 1, G. F. Pasley 2. Distance, 47 feet 9 inches. Akarana Handicap, 300yds —M. Scott, scr, 1; P. H. Upton, issec, 2 ; C. Hughes, 3. Won by a yard after a splendid race. Time, smin I3|sec. 100yds Championship of New Zealand. —T. Meadham, N.S.W., 1; A. Holmes,N.S.W., 2 ; C. Hellings, N.S.W., 3. Meadham just won. Time, imin losec. College Handicap, 100yds.— P. T. Upton, scr, and N. Whyte, ssec, swam a dead heat. In the run off Upton won by a foot. R. Keenan, jsec, was third. Time, imin zqjsec. 75yds Handicap.—Murphy 1, Lindberg 2, Bailey 3. Won by naif a yard. Time, 62sec. Back Race, 50yds.—T. Thomas 1, J. A. McLeod 2, G. E. Farmer 3. Won easily. 440yds Championship of N.Z.—W. J. Gormley 1, C. Hellings 2, H. Hoey 3. Time, 6min 25|sec.

• Mr W. Percival is confined to his house with an inflamed eye. Crazy Kate and Rabelais left for the North Shore yesterday for the purpose of being schooled over the Takapuna Steeplechase course. Major George departs for Wellington tomorrow by the Mahinapua to attend the Weilington races. Mr. H. H. Hayr leaves by the same boat. The first, meeting of the Auckland Coursing Club will be held on the Avondale Plumpton on April 25th and 28th. Two stakes, viz. : an unlimited Maiden and an unlimited All-aged will be run off. The annual meeting of the club will be held on February 16th. The Summer meeting of the Otahuhu Trotting Club will be held at Potter’s Paddock on Saturday next. Good acceptances have been received and there is every prospect of a good day’s racing being experienced. Mr E. Halstead yesterday declared the following additional handicap for the Otahuhu meeting. Selling Handicap Trot, one mile.—lke scratch, Billie scratch. The Broker scratch, Tinker Bs, Maud S. Bs, Sailor Boy Bs, Blueskin ios, Chili i2s, Gwendoline 14s, Mickey Jarvis 14s, Lizzie 14s, Pulvil 14s.

The betting market.—Wellington Cup : 4 to 1 against Pegasus, 5 to 1 against Clanranald, 5 to 1 against Prime Warden, 7 to. 1 against Rosefeldt. 8 to 1 against St. Katherine, 8 to 1 against Vogengang, 10 to 1 against North Atlantic, 10 to 15 to 1 others. Newmarket Handicap and Australian Cup : 100 to 1 the field.

Writing of the Challenge Stakes suit the Australasian comments as follows : — ‘ Where Mr Stead and Sir George Clifford, who are the authors of the race won by Loyalty, laid their club open to having the conditions of their race made the subject of a dispute, was in adopting phraseology of an ambiguous nature and not shutting the door against any misconstruction of their meaning in the simple way adopted in the conditions of the race (the Eclipse Stakes and Lancashire Plate) which they took as their pattern.’

The position of handicapper to the Wairarapa Club for the autumn season has been given to Mr A. King of Wellington. Mr J. E. Henry was the handicapper for the last meeting of the club, but that gentleman fell into hot water through being absent from the meeting. As he had to make the handicaps for the second day’s races the club authorities were naturally greatly incensed and then and there decided to appoint a new weight adjuster. Mr King is well-known in connection with the Wellington district handicapping and will be found an excellent successor to Mr Henry.

An exchange says that at the San Simeon sale of thoroughbred stock held at San Francisco, U.S.A., on 29th November, the chestnut mare Paloma (half-sister to Candour), by The Drummer from Canary, by Lapidist from Rosalie, by Peter Wilkins, brought the highest price— 7500d01. Paloma was bred at the Tocal stud. The chestnut horse Delmar, by Somnus (the sire of The Dreamer), from Maid of the Hills, by The Drummer, brought looodol; ch m Gertrude, by Somnus from Geraldine (dam of Oxide, Moorhouse, and Gerald), by Yattendon, was secured for i6oodol; b m Berna, by Cheviot from Sweet Peggy, fetched 650d0l ; and b m Borus, by Darebin from Sophietina (imp.), by Brown Bread, was knocked down for sqodol.

I clip the following from the same source :— ‘ To give your readers some idea of the loose way they conduct racing here, the president (‘ King Williams ’ he is called) sold his string of horses to-day because the papers had commented on the lenient treatment of his horses in handicaps. He got up in the auction box and made a speech to the effect that so far from being let in lightly, he had on three occasions gone through the handicaps before being declared, aid had made the handicapper raise the weight on his own horses each time because he considered them too “ well in.” On the same principle it was presumed that he pulled the weight off when they thought it a bar to his winning. Up to the present the Undine stable has strangely enough won the most money, notwithstanding his disinterested efforts to weight himself out of races.’

Californians appear to hold curious ideas of what constitutes a stiff hurdle race as will be gathered from the following paragraph sent to the Sydney Evening News by that journal’s correspondent in San Francisco :— ‘ Cascade started in a hurdle race (IJ mile), stiff rails with brush on top. At the first jump the old horse came a terrible purler ; indeed he never rose to it as his forearm well above the knee was very much bruised, and resulted in an enlargement right up to the shoulder so that he will not be in work until January if then.’ This ‘ difficult’ race took 3min 22|seo. How does this compare with Little Tom’s win in the Ellerslie Pony Hurdle Race in which the winner cantered home and then cut out the mile and a half in 2min 26sec ! In the next paragraph the same writer remarks that ‘ there can be no question about the speed of the Californian horses, and it is the commonest occurrence for second-class horses to run the six furlongs in Imin 12sec to Imin 13sec. Flambeau carried 1251 b and ran here a fortnight ago in Imin 12fseo ; Prize, 3yrs, 1041 b, in Imin 12|sec.’ This to say the least, reads rather strangely after a mile and a half hurdle race taking 3min