Sporting News.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 313, 23 July 1896, Page 6

Sporting News.

By

REVIEWER.]

Beadonwell retires to the stud this season. Barnardo is doing good serviceable work at Riocarson. True Blue and Jeweller have been scratched P for the Melbourne Cup. ' ■ £ Culverin's two-year-old brother seems to have caught the eve of the Riccarton touts. I have to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of the Victorian Racing Calendar for July. Con Boyle is i ow reported to be training Mr A. W. Cave’s horses at Opaki, Masterton. ■■ Dart pulled up lame alter running in the Open Steeplechase at the V.R.C. National Meeting John Rae’s pair, Levanter and Kingswood will be taken to Riccarton next week. The former is very well. Tally-Ho has arrived back at Hastings. Iler injury was not serious, but I fancy the cold got into the wound. , Bookmakers and their assistants will not be ■ allowed on the course at the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting. Negotiations are in progress for the purchase, or lease, of Phaeton (Trenton— Sapphire) for the Auckland district. .' Dainty (by Ahua —Potero), formerly trained by Alf. Ellin'gham, is now a regular attendant at The Hutt Course. Owing to the continued indisposition - of Gipsy King,” his review of the N.Z. Cup handicaps is still held over. //j It is said Derringer was sold in England for ; : h'‘£soo. If this be true, what price such horses as < ; J 1 Hotchkiss and Cuirassier ? & Mr Walter Young, of Manaia (Hawera), has /.sold his rising three-year old gelding by Fore- ' i .runner —I alia Rookh to a local sport. O. Mr Grice has disposed of his half-share in ty'Hova, and the horse will remain in Davis’ stable. ®£Mr Grice has some property in the Waikato. The win of Waiuku in the Stewards’ Handicap '. ; >t Wellington would not suit the books of one or local sports, who had a little flutter on St. Kilda. * ' ® .1 -H. Harrison, who trained Dungan, the winner Wof the V.R.C. Grand National Steeplechase, was one time a compositor on the 'Melbourne ■ Apart from the “ commission,” local punters to be “ cottoning” on to Fabulist for the / N.Z. Cup more freely than they did when the l S,handicaps first appeared. i f'! Artist, Dungan, Woonooke, and Donald Mcare the favourites, in Sydney, for the Grand National Hurdle Race, with Joi Walter for the Steeplechase. Lord Vivian will be shipped to Sydney next S&eek, and will be placed in charge of W. Millar, -who is training the same owner’s other horses, <. Xlsculator and Sabretache at Randwick. Toreador is being consistently supported, in Sydney, for the Melbourne Cup, and is really yVCiecond favourite, the commissions in favour of 'Reka (Neckersgat —Lady I ovelace) causing the ‘ three-year old brother to Portsea to occupy the position of first favourite. Those high-class sires Seaton Delavel and St. ’ - Hippo are advertised in this issue to be at the Wince of breeders, at Sylvia Park. They will .be duly noticed next week, but a perusal of their < tabulated pedigree in the meantime shows where ;fe.the galloping blood comes in. / "X" The Ellerslie trainers have not been able to do like solid work lately, owing to the ingclement weather, most of the work being c0n- .... fined to half-pacing on the tan, although St. A Paul and Antares broke the monotony during the :. week by executing a good two-mile gallop. W ‘ ' But for a slight accident, the brown colt Reconstruction, by Cuirassier — Liquidation, purby Mr N. Dickey, would have been ■ brought down to Ellerslie this week to be placed under Mr Harry Harrison’s care. However, as i i soon as the colt gets right again he will be sent to the Harp of Erin stables. Backers of the favourite must have had a bad time of it at Wellington, although Rossall and Sir Agnes should not have escaped punters’ notice. Lotion and S< Kilda were the favourites in Auckland for the Parliamentary, while a few stray J pounds were invested on Waiuku and Kauri Gum, the latter being fancied on the strength of “ wires.” The New Zealand Turf Register—the racing man’s diary—will be published early in August. ' . I trust that the C.J.C. Grand National Meeting - will be included, as I have heard this wish ex?pressed several times. The racing season does not ... commence until September Ist, and, surely, it is |||6nly right that the year’s transactions should ' with the month of August. The annual expenditure of the British people on sport is thus computed ' by Pearson's Mag ai zine, by Mr G. Mason, as follows : —Horse racing, £10,818,000; hunting, £9,041,000; shooting, £5,700,000 ; angling, £3,500,000 ; cricket, £2,085,000; football, £1,750,000 ; miscellaneous, '£5,150,000; total, £38,044,000 or about £1 per head of the entire population. I don’t know how Mr Mason arrives at his-figures, but it is always safe to put horse-racing at the top. The Gisborne Racing Club have had a very satisfactory season, judging by their balancesheet, which shows a credit balance of £2lB 7s lid. At the meeting of the committee the matter of changing the date of the Spring Meeting, from the 9th November to Boxing Day, was left to the programme committee for consideration. The secretary was instructed to write and ascertain on what terms the Park Company would lease the Park for three years. I met a couple of sports from the “ other side” lately—both from different towns—and, strange to say, they each whispered, “ Maruea for the Caulfield Cup ! ” in my pink ear. I saw O’Trigger not long ago, and if they have many better-look- ■ ing horses—a racehorse from stem to stern to look at —in Australia; I fancy they are few and far between. O’Trigger is by Trenton — Barley (imp.) If he fails to win important races bn the flat, what a beauty he would be for hurdle racing.

It is reported down Napier way that Brooklet is still in the paddock. , In Japan the wealthy classes regard it as bad form to ride a horse tasier than a walk. Perhaps it would be dangerous for them to go faster. The first day of the Wellington Steeplechase Meeting appears to have been very successful, and Mr Evett (the club’s handicapper for the first day) has received a congiatulatory tetegram. I have to acknowledge, with thanks to Mr Hurren, 89 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, receipt of a copy of Centaur's.lndex, giving the performances of all the horses engaged in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, also lists of entries of such races as the Caulfield Guineas, A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies (w.f a. scale) and lists of winners of the principal Australian races. As Centaur's Index is published at the reasonable price of one shilling, it should meet with a ready sale.

The most exhaustive, capable, and impartial criticism of the New Zealand Cup handicap that T have yet perused is from the pen of the veteran “Mazeppa” (Otago Witness). He has not rambled through the compilation and given it ns his opinion that the handicap is a good one. A lot of people don’t know a reasonably good handicap ft om a bad one, but perhaps they cannot be blamed for “ not knowing,” as they say in “ The Mikado,” because probably they have not seen any racing outside their own village. One cannot handicap from paper accounts of meetings altogether, because the newspaper proprietors cannot afford the space to say exactly how each horse performed in a race. But even this mode of arriving at an equitable adjustment is better than ignoring form altogether. Once more Mr Carnell, who, s'range to say, represents a sporting district —Napier—has succeeded in obtaining another nasty jar for the totalisator In moving the second reading of the Abolition of the Totalisator Bill, he—of all men in parliament —was able, on a division, to get a majority of nine in favour of abolishing the machine. Some silly arguments were brought forward in support of doing away with the totalisator, one of the most idiotic being from Sir Robert Stout, who says that the sweeping away of the machine would decrease the number of race meetings held in the colony. All the race clubs that were refused totalisator permits during the present season have each held meetings, besides a number of mushroom, “spieler” race meetings. It is a pity these alleged learned men do hot make some enquiries about subjects they are not conversant with, before expressing an opinion. I presume Sir Robert Stout does not want to be accused of trying to work off a falsehood. The sporting members may be sufficiently interested in the retention of the totalisator to be on hand when the Bill comes on for its third reading, and so talk it out/ but as the racing clubs not bestirred themselves, it seems hardly likely that members of parliament are likely to worry themselves about it. When members of racing clubs have to make good deficits and overdrafts in connection with clubs to which they belong, they may then feel interested. Last week we were blocked for space, and I was not able to do justice to the blood stock advertised by Mr John Cotter, of Ashurst, Manawatu The young stock offered by him deserve more than a passing notice, as they are likely in the near future to perform creditably on our race tracks. The colt by Forester—N ectarine is a lengthy, bigboned chestnut, taking very much after his sire in conformation, which is considerable recommendation. Although Forester did not prove himself a stayer while engaged carrying the siken jacket, there is no reason why his progeny should not stay. Even his son, King’s Bowman, generally acknowledged as a sprinter, surprised race goers by winning the Woodville Handicap, of one mile and a quarter, from a good field. The colt under notice comes from a rare good mare, Nectarine, herself one of the fastest sprinters about Melbourne during her racing career. She has already produced a winner—her first foal—Calmarine, by Calma, and if this Forester colt is not a galloper, especially over sprint distances, his looks belie him. The Dauphin gelding from Caller Herrin’, in appearance and colour is not unlike Donald McKinnon, the crosscountry horse, and when he has furnished will, I think, be much the same stamp of horse. This is a recommendation, as we don’t see them built like Donald McKinnon every day’ Caller Herrin’ as a winner producer has been very successful, and Banner (by Escutcheon) and Gold Cup (by Ascot) are so well known on'the race track, and both have proved so speedy, that it is unnecessary for me to say the colt under notice promises to be as good as either. What should make these two rising three-year olds (geldings) more valuable, is their engagements for the Taranaki Hack Derby, Taratahi-Carterton Guineas, and Ashurst Guineas, which are run at Christmas time, so that there is time to prepare them for either of the events chosen. The gelding by Somnus— Entangle is also a useful sort, and is engaged in the Ashurst Guineas. A wonderfully consistent performer was Exile during his sojourn on the race-track, and gameness was his forte. He comes from a rare good family, Le Loup, his sire, being one of the best racehorses of his day, while his dam, Maggie May, is by Elswick (imp.), who has left us with many good winner-producing mares. Mr Longfellow, who advertises Exile for sale or lease for stud purposes, does so simply because he has too many horses on hand, and has no use for a stallion. Exile is one of those neat-turned, mediumsized horses that always do a good season, and I fancy Waikato breeders could not go far wrong with this game horse. The price asked for the purchase is like giving the horse away, but as his owner has no use for a stillion, he has put a low figure on the handsome chestnut so as to tempt would-be purchasers. Exile, during his turf career, started 69 times, was placed first 24 times, second 11 times, and third 12 times; 47 times placed in all, a wonderfully good record, that shows be must have good bone to stand all that battering. We shall b? pleased to answer all enquiries, re Exile’s price, etc., which are addressed to this office. • • »

The stallion Grafton, purchased by a Victorian sportsman at the dispersal of the late Baron Hirsch’s stud, was foale t in 1882, and was got by -Galopin (sire of St. Simon) from Miss Middlewick, by Scottish Chief —Violet, by Thormanby- —Woodbine, by Stockwell — Honeysuckle (sister to Newminster). Donald McKinnon and Tiritea have been shipped to Australia to fulfil their engagements at the Caulfield Grand National Steeplechase Meeting, which is decided on August Ist and Bth. The handicaps for the Hurdle Race and Steeplechase —in which the Now Zealanders are engaged —will be found in our “ Handicaps” column. In looking over the Horse Review, says a correspondent to the Otago Witness, I. notice that a well-known authority on the subject, Mr C. W. Williams, states that lie has proved that a stallion out of training sires better stock than one doing any sort of work. “ All the vitality of the horse,” says Mr Williams, “is lost when he is keyed up; much of it is lost even when he is given hardening drives on the road.” The Review goes on to say that although Mr Williams does not claim to have made a discovery, yet he has demonstrated that a sire cannot be a great racehorse and a great sire all in one year. This opinion should be remembered by New Zealand breeders.

In this issue we give apicture of the handsome monument erected to the memory of the late George Hammond, who was so seriously injured during the progress of the lastEgmont Cup race, when his mount, Anita, fell with him, that he died an hour or so after the accident. The deceased jockey was so universally respected, especially in the Auckland district, where he was well known, that it was decided amongst his many friends to erect a suitable headstone over his grave. The order for ■ this was entrusted to Mr W. Parkinson, a local sculptor, and he has finished his work in an artistic manner,'and to the general satisfaction of the subscribers. Mr W. S. Greenwood, who was one of the principal workers in connection with the subscription lists, and his friends who so ably assisted, have every reason to be proud of the result of their labours.