Sporting Review AND LICENSED VICTUALLERS’ GAZETTE. with which is incorporated the weekly standard. Thursday, July 9, 1896 SPORTING NEWS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VI, Issue 311, 9 July 1896, Page 4

Sporting Review AND LICENSED VICTUALLERS’ GAZETTE. with which is incorporated the weekly standard. Thursday, July 9, 1896 SPORTING NEWS.

Eby

REVIEWER.]

The late Colonel North’s stud realised £340,000. Old Scot Free is to be raced again next season. Vivian has been scratched for the Melbourne Cup. Mornington Cannon, the crack English jockey, is 23 yea' s of age. In proportion to its size, the horse has a smaller stomach than any other quadruped. Chaos’ handicap, which was omitted from the New Zealand Cup list tcleg aphed to Auckland, is 7.11. At the Ballaret Miners’ Meeting, L.L., 10.3, by Haere (now at Manaia), won the Flying Handicap. The famous English mare La Fleche, the property of the late Baron Hirsch, has been sold for 12,600 guineas. Joi, 11.2 (J. E. Brewer), won the Steeplechase, two miles and a quarter, at the Sandown (Melb.) Park June Meeting. Galant, 7.4, by St. Leger—Vivandiere, a halfbrother to Three Star, won the Sandown (Melb.) Park Handicap, one mile, on 30th June. Taranaki (by Albury—Axiom), who was much fancied for the last Melbourne Cup, is to be put over hurdles. That’s the way to make these oatgrinders pay. The Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Referee says : —“Wallace was the favourite for the Melbourne Cup before the weights appeared, but backers won’t look at him now.”

Reka, a full brother to Poitsea, is said to be one of the most promising colts at Randwick. The amount Fabulist was backed for during the week was £2,000. The “ Commissioner” got in at a fairly low figure. The weights for the First Hack Handicap, at the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting, did not come to hand with the handicaps for the other races. The sire of Emmalea, winner of last year’s V.R.C. National Hurdle Race, is twenty-nine years of age, and therefore the oldest stallion in Australia. The handicaps for the first day’s racing at the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting appear in another column, also the nominations for the second day’s racing. On June 30th Buzzi, winner of the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdles, beat Black Flag in a two-mile gallop. Vet at Flemington Buzzi starts at 33 to 1 and Black Flag nearly favourite. Gipsy Grand was scratched for the N.Z. Cup on Tuesday morning. Just wbat sensible people evpected the owners would do. The horse was certainly not handicapped on actual performances. At the sale of Mr J. B. Haggin’s yearlings, the highest-priced youngster was a colt by Sir Modred from Oran, who brought £BOO, while next to him came a colt by Maxim from Parthenia, who changed hands at £6BO. It is reported that a man working on the Auckland wharves drew Black Flag in Tattersail’s sweep on the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race. Another starter has also, it is stated, been drawn by an Aucklander. .r"In the V.R.C. Grand National Steeplechase on Saturday there will probably be three starters from one stable, viz., Dondi, Romance, and Walter. They will be ridden respectively by A. Williams, Barbour, and J. Smith. The Chinese of Wellington are allowed to carry on lotteries, and boys and girls are employed to sell the tickets. Surely it would be preferable to allow “ Tattersall” to run a lottery {i.e., a consultation sweep) in this colony, than permit a lot of Chows to illegally carry on such a business. Fabulist, it is reported, has been backed for a fair amount during the week for the New Zealand Cup. A major portion has been obtained, I fancy, for “ crushing ” purposes. Aucklanders always stick to the local horses, consequently it is good business to have parcels of hedging money on hand. On page 11 this week there are some very important items affecting punters. They will also find the Melbourne Cup handicaps corrected from the Australian papers. Many errors occurred in the transmission of these from Melbourne. The Caulfield Cup handicaps have also been corrected. The Spring meeting of the Washington Jockey Club ended at Bennings, Saturday, May 2, after racing thirteen days. There were 66 rnces, including a walk over and a dead heat, which was run off. The horses that ran in the 66 races numbered in all 136, they running for 31,150d015. The first woman to obtain a diploma from the Veterinary College of Toronto, Canada, is Miss Edith Oakey. She is at present practising at Sandeval, Ohio, a rich grazing country, where she has every opportunity of perfecting herself in her special branch, which is the diseases of milch cows. She has been most successful, and has in her employ three men, who relieve her of much of the manual labour. The Master Horseshoers’ Protective Aseo-ia-tion, of Oregon, U.S.A., has secured the passage of a Bill through the Oregon Legislature making all horseshoers pass an examination of a board composed of three veterinary surgeons and two horseshoers as to their knowledge of the horse’s hoof, and to show that they are qualified to be practical horseshoers, i.e., able to take a bar of steel iron and turn it into a shoe, which will show that they are fit to be master horseshoers and run a shop properly. “ Frank Burton, who it ‘hustling’ round the world minus money and plus any quantity of assurance and cuteness, has arrived in Sydney, (says the Sydney Referee). He has to complete the" circuit of the globe in a period of eighteen months ; has so far put in seven months without, spending a copper, and has got as far as Sydney. He next makes for Hongkong. It looks as if he would fulfil his contract.” We might add we know a few “young chaps ” in New Zealand who travel all the year round, without paying any travelling expenses. • ’V My conf ere, “ Gipsy King,” will have something to say about the handicaps for the “Three Cups” in our next issue. The lists cabled across to A uckland for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups ■were delightfully mixed up in transmission, but they have since been checked with Australian files. The New Zealand Cup handicaps telegraphed to Auckland, my conf ere also thinks have been mutilated in transmission, and he prefers to wait and check the list with that published in Christchurch. If the list is correct, some glaring inaccuracies—apart from the error in placing Gipsy Grand topweight—are noticeable in the compilation. Mr S. R. Kennedy has sent, amongst of ers the following notice of motion to the secretary of the Australian Jockey Club : —“That in the opinion of this Club it is desirable that a hurdle race and a steeplechase be included in the programme of the A. J.C. to be called the Australian Jockey Club Grand National Hurdle and Stef pie* chase ; that in the opinion of this club no steeplechase should be included in the programme during December, January,and February months; that in the opinion of this club it is absolutely necessary that a stipendiary steward be appointed to attend all race meetings, and report to the committee of the A. J.C. any case of suspicious running, foul riding, or malpractices of any kind.”

Should Link, who visited Leontine last season, prove not to be in foal, about which there is a doubt, it is her owner’s intention to place her under her old trainer, Fred Collins, to be prepared for hurdle racing. Jockey Mike Bergen (says an American exchange) made his appearance in the saddle on Thursday decidedly under the influence of liquor. The judges promptly took him off and suspended him. Later in the week he was reinstated after signing a pledge to keep sober for one year. “ Carbine,” of the Dunedin Budget; concludes, because I wrote “ down South,” with reference to an advertisement “ that horses would be broken —not broked —to saddle and harness, and that trotters and racers would be trained,” that I referred to Otago. Not quite so far South ! This advertisement still appears, but I must be excused from making too pointed a reference to this “ Training” advertisement. The New York Turf, Field, and Farm says : — Wheu a racing judge assumes to instruct jockeys how they shall ride a horse in a race, and denies an owner or trainer this immemorial privilege, he is treading on very dangerous ground and interfering with personal liberty to an extent which the rules specifying his duties and powers will not warrant. The following paragraph from an exchange is worthy of comment : — “ Col. Jack Chinn didn’t like the ride that Willie Ham put up on Nana in the second race at Newport on April 14, and he called him up about it. Ham stated that he had ridden according to the instructions of the owner. Then Crimm, the owner, was sent for. He said that he had told him to lay back and make his run in the stretch Colonel Chinn told him this wouldn’t do. Crimm told him he was a new man in the business, and didn’t understand it. ‘ Send your jockeys to me, '“and I’ll instruct them if you don’t know how,’ said Colonel Chinn. Then, turning to Ham, he said : ‘ When you leave the post ride like you’re going for a doctor, and when you see me, ride like you hadn’t found him, and were still looking for him. Then I’ll know you are playing cards. Another thing: When you are behind don’t be afraid to pull your whip. When I see the bat playing to and fro I know that you are trying to win. Don’t be afraid to use it.”’ All this sounds Very much like one of the usual concocted Yankee yarns. I hardly think Colonel Chinn would give such idiotic advice. ■ The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, which was in session at Richmond, Va., on Wednesday, April 29th, handed down its decision upon the anti-pool-selling law, passed by the last Legislature, declaring the law to be constitutional. The case came up on a writ of habeas corpus, sworn out by the counsel of R. M. Lacey, who, in order to make a test case, transmitted bets on races to Wheeling, W. Va. The accused was discharged from the custody of the court, on the grounds that he should have been tried by the Magistrate. In their written decision, the Judge and Vice-President of the Court say : —“ We are of opinion that on account of the insufficiency of the title of the act under consideration, poolselling is the only form of bet or wager that is made punishable; that there is no repeal by implication, but the two acts of March sth, 1896, are in full force, except as hereinbefore stated, and that the act under which the warrant was issued is not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.” The decision was a great surprise to the race-track men, who felt confident that the law would be declared unconstitutional. Preparations had already been made for the re-opening of the St. Asaph and Alexander Island tracks. That the law has been declared valid will be hailed as good news by all who have the welfare of racing at heart, for the continuous racing at the tracks in question had brought the sport into disrepute, and if it had been allowed to continue would have destroyed all chances of its being placed on a firm footing in the State. — Spirit of the Times.

Jimmy Cotton has been riding in cross-country events for over twenty-two years. At the Nashville (Tennesse) Spring Meeting, it rained for six days, still the racing went on merrily, the horses galloping through the mud for a whole week. Eleusinian, 3yrs (Robinson Crusoe—Eleusis), in the same stable as Auraria, has been backed in Adelaide for £lO,OOO in doubles with Principle and Broken Hill for the Derby and Melbourne Cup. The American racehorse owner has his trials and tribulations like owmers in other parts of the world, but the latest thing in horse-nobbling has been sprung on the ’Murkan owner recently. “ The excitement which attended the gigantic swindle engineered by ‘ Little Pete’ and his associates at the Bay District track, San Francisco (says the Spirit of the Times'), has hardly had a chance to subside when another attempt to defraud the betting public has come to light. In the last race at Bay District on Tuesday, April 28, Frank Phillips’ speedy mare Marjorie was heavily pl.,yed all over the ring. She was in the pink of condition in the morning, but in taking her warming-up gallop she showed signs of having been ‘ doped.’ The officials in the stand were notified of her condition, all bets were declared off, and Marjorie was scratched. Her owner had a veterinary surgeon examine her, and it was discovered that a fine silken sponge had been skilfully inserted in her nostrils and had seriously interfered with the filly’s breathing. It was remembered that Decision, a favourite, who had finished last on Friday, had acted in a similar manner. Decision was brought out, and after much trouble the veterinary succeeded in removing a sponge from that animal’s nostrils. The disclosures have created quite a sensation, and doubtless a searching investigation will be made.”

Countless are the stories that are being told just now of Colonel North’s wealth and munificence, but a large proportion of them are, at the best, probably exaggerations. His steward has made public a very characteristic incident, that occurred on the last morning of his life. A letter arrived addressed to Colonel North from some impecunious artist who had three pictures for sale. He asked the Colonel to give him £5 for them. After reading the letter, Colonel North told his steward to take the pictures. “ The fiver may do tlie poor fellow some good ; it won’t hurt me.” To bis native town the Colonel made a gift of Kirkstall Abbpy and some adjoining ground, and was rewarded with the freedom of the borough, an honour which he much appreciated. “ Dear ‘ Reviewer’—Could the totalisator offer a jockey money to pull a horse in a race? ” and there the question ends. The inquisitive one, I fancy, is hinting at a certain transaction over the North New Zealand Grand National Meeting. Of course the jockey received more Lan the owner would have given him, even had the latter been as liberal minded as the late Baron Kirsch or Colonel North, but I may say the “ machine” could not, under similar circumstances, offer anything. The belief is common that there arc more owners “ taken down ” by jockeys in New Zealand than in any other country in the world, but some of the stories one hears, from those who profess to know, are too improbable to be true. To the best of my knowledge, any mokes I have raced have always been honestly ridden, so that I have no cause to complain, although, at the same time, I could prove in several instances where other owners have been victimised. People who go racing don’t know they are alive till they invest in a couple of alleged racehorses. With this sport it is not the onlooker that sees all the game.

The Gisborne Park Steeplechase meeting takes place to-day. Acceptances will be found in another column. St. Kilda will be taken to Wellington next week—at least, that is the intention of his trainer at present. The cases for breaches of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, which were set down for hearing at Auckland on Monday, have by consent been adjourned until next Monday, 13th inst., owing to counsel for defendants being engaged at the Supreme Court. I have to draw the attention of owners and breeders to a nice prize of 500 sovs, to be run for at the Hawke’s Bay Autumn Meeting next year. The prize, or race, is the Hawke’s Bay Stakes of six and ?■ half, furlong?. for two and three-year-olds—at present yearlings and two-year-olds. 'The nominations for this important event close on Tuesday, the 28th July. The death was announced, on Saturday, 27th June, of Mr William Blackler, of Fulham Park, Adelaide, the home of the famous stallion Richmond (by Maribyrnong), and where The Admiral, Broken Hill, Port Admiral, Thunder Queen, and several other noted winners first saw the light. Thunderbolt (Musket — Locket) has been at Fulham Park for many years. Mr Blacker was much esteemed in business and sporting circles in South Australia and Victoria (to which colony he used frequently to pay a visit). Tom Hales, the well-known jockey, is a son-in-law of the late Mr Blacker.

A< cording to “ Sentinel’s” Hack Racing Statislics, up to date, for the Taranaki Metropolitan district — including the Waverley - Waitotara meeting, which belongs to the Wanganui Metro- •• politan district —Crimson Streak is at the top of the list with £137, Dummy coming next with £135. The pony Clayton was at the head of the Taranaki list last season with £207 against his name. “ Sentinel” has also compiled a lot of other racing statistics, giving particulars of the totalisator inves’ments, &c., in the district. I have to remind friend “ Sentinel” that the racing season 1896-7 does not commence until the Ist September, not Ist August. ~ ... , Mr D. H. Hill, who purchased Escutcheon from Mr Frank Bell, who took the sire of Westmere to Australia, and was owner of Sheet Anchor when the latter was doing stud duty, is about to dispose of his stud by auction,Escutcheon being amongst the number to be catalogued. When Westmere was a two-year-old efforts were made (as usual with Wanganui breeders) to buy him back again for the district, but the price asked was prohibitive. But I don’t think the son of Musket and Rosette would take so well there now, as with one or two exceptions his stock are too small for all-round North Island racing, especially in the southern part of the island. The handicaps for the first day’s racing at the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting haye made their appearance, but, from a casual glance, the production does not, appear to be the correct thing. Kulnine should not be asked to give weight to Tiritea, who has in the past won more of recent years than any other horse important steeplechases in New Zealand, while Kulnine has yet to earn distinction in that line. For a first appearance over big country, 12.6 is - not a fair weight. If Hopeful has been handicapped at 11.0 on his hurdle performances, surely The Plug (10.10) is entitled to give Glengarry more than 211); Glengarry is as slow as an old man when competing out of his class, and, both standing up, he hasn’t the ghost of a show of beating The Plug. Then again Austral (10.3) is not within 21bs of Timothy, who has a Wellington Steeplechase to his credit, and also recent ‘ form, which would permit of- Austral going into the 9st division. Dromedary (10.0) is nicely L handicapped, so is Canard at 9.11, but why should the latter have to concede 41bs to Narrate (9.7), who has better performances over hurdles, and as neither have done anything over big country, there should be no difference in the 3 handicap between these two.

-Sydney - Truth says “ the handicaps - for -the Melbourne Cup would disgrace a Chinaman. There is certainly room for complaint, but I think Mr Dakin is more capable than a Chinaman ! ■lf anything, the best handicap of the “ Three Cups,” as far as my opinion goes, is Mr Vowles’ Caulfield Cup handicap. The new photography, or electropathy, as it has been proposed to call it, is not, as we have already remarked (says the Stock Journal} without „some promise in regard to the diseases of live stock. At present, however, it is little more than a thing of promise. It will not as yet reveal disease of the navicular bone in a horse’s foot, or a minute fracture of the tibia, to say nothing of demonstrating glanderous deposits in the lungs, or calculi in the intestines. On first information of the discovery it was too readily assumed that it would do all this and more. But expectation has not been realised, nor is it likely to be, for some time to come at least, judging from the very blurred condition of the photographs of bones in the living hand, and other specimens. One gentleman, at a recent meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, threw great doubts on the possibilities of obtaining pictures of the interior of the brain; and another, to test the effect of the new light on bacteria, tried its power on the germs of diphtheria, but the microbes survived, after a prolonged attack, without apparent injury Without exaggeration, if anyone had known, or was prepared to back his opinion or judgment, or whatever one may like to term it, that Gipsy Grand would be top weight in the N.Z. Cup, he could have lifted £5OO from the local bookmakers and others , who had been studying out a handicap for the three colts, Euroclydon, Gipsy Grand, and Fabulist. Two to 01 e was on offer that Euroclydon would have to give Gipsy Grand at least two pounds. Ido not remember having heard of so many wagers before in connection with the N.Z. Cup and the weight cer’ain horses would be allotted. It is hard to understand why there should have been two different opinions as to what horse should have been top weight, if • performances count for anything in founding a handicap. Apart from the betting, the popular opinion is that the handicapper did Messrs. Stephenson and Hazlett an injustice in asking their horse to give Euroclydon weight. The public performances of the latter are of much higher merit than those of Gipsy Grand. Personally, I think Gipsy Grand a better horse than Euroclydon, but handicapping on private fancy will get a handicapper into trouble quicker than any other method of arriving at a conclusion.