NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 361, 24 June 1897, Page 7

NOTES.

Robert Lindsley, of St. Louis, a well-known driver of fast horses, says too many trainers try to get eondition first and speed afterwards. He says the reverse of this should be practised. Get speed first, and, when you get that, then get condition. Condition is worth nothing without speed. He believes in sharp, short brushes, right along from the start. This jogging along at the same old gait does not develop anything but condition', and not good condition at that, as such condition cannot carry a fast gait far. This is the same system that was practised by Gov. Stanford on all the Electioneers. He says many breeders of horses that ought to have made almost phenomenal speed in their stock have been jogged to death. If they had been rushed short distances at the very top of their speed, they would have developed gaits that would have surprised people. As this is the beginning of the training season, it is well to consider these suggestions Mr Lindsley says by no means carry the clip far enough to tire the horse. Let him feel like running away all the time, but on the trot or pace instead of the gallop. Of course, he says, shoeing is everything. The horse must be pei'ectly balanced, so as to go smooth and frictionless.

Clint Nanny, south-west of Hanford, lost, a few weeks ago, one of the largest, if not the largest, young horse 'a four-year-old gelding) in the United States 'He died from barbed wire cuts. He was measured after he was dead and his height was justone-half inch less than 19 hands. The tallest horse west of the Mississippi river has heretoore been one whose height was 181 hands, owned y a party at Plymouth, Neb. b

For racing in single-harness contests, Gentry and Robert J. have specially-fitted bikes weighing 271 b each, and they have one old-style highwheel sulky which takes one back to the campaigns prior to 1892. It weighs 381bs, and will be used when Gentry and Robert J. take a shy at Johnston’s mark of 2.061, next summer.—Breeder and Horseman.

News from Chicago is to the effect that the fast pacing stallion, Joe Patchen, 2.3, brought 15,000d015. at the Splan and Newgrass sale on May 4, and was bought by C. W. Marks of Chicago. Another message states that he was bought by James A. Murphy, the owner of Star Pointer. Some Americans think Joe Patchen has as much pace as John R. Gentry, Robert J., or any of the free-for-all brigade, and that he has as good a chance of reaching the 2min record as any of the other Yankee fliers. The fact that the much-talked-of Tewksbury stable is to be seen for the first time in public at Charter Oak Park on Independence Day promises (states the Spirit of the Times) to attract a record-breaking crowd to the old Hartford course for the Fourth of July meeting. So much has been published about John R. Gentry and Robert J., and the magnificent style in which they are being equipped for the campaign, that everybody is waiting for the time to arrive when the outfit will be on view. Hundreds of strangers have visited Fleetwood Park to see the costly campaigning paraphernalia of the pacing kings. When the entire outfit is unloaded in Hartford from the private palace car in which the horsts are to travel, and is placed on view in- the tents

at Charter Oak Park, thousands will pass through the gates to see and admire the display. A. J. Welch expects that the Independence Day attendance will not fall short of 25,000. Prospects point to a great race between the pacing cracks. Gentry and Robert J. are in splendid form at Fleetwoo I Park, and encouraging reports come from Baltimore and New Haven concerning the condition of Star Pointer and Frank Agan.

Here is a little calculation as to relative positions in a race calculated by the records : — If the five pacing kings were to start in a race at a mile, with each horse in condition to equal his best public record, where would they be at the finish ? When John R. Gentry reached the wire in 2.00|, Robert J., 2.01|, would be a little more than 44ft behind him ; Star Pointer, 2.02|, would be about 87ft up the stretch ; Joe Patchen, 2.03, would be 107 ft to the rear, and Frank Agan would be a trifle less than 140 ft from the wire when Gentry crossed the finish line. In other words, Gentry would beat Robert J. by about four lengths, Star Pointer about nine lengths, Joe Patchen about eleven lengths, and Frank Agan about fourteen lengths. The king of harness horses moved 43.81 feet per second when he paced the world s record at 2.00|. If Trainer E. R Bowne can drive him just about three inches further each second Gentry will make a record of 2min. The twominute horse must cover 44ft per second. If Gentry should be able to pace a foot per second faster than he paced last year, he would set the world’s record at Thus a slight lengthening or quickening of his stride is all that is needed to enable him to do the trick. In order

to cover a mile in 2min, Robert J. must move a little more than six inches per second faster than than he has been able to do; Star Pointer almost a foot per second, Joe Patchen a little more than a foot per second, and Frank Agan about sixteen inches per second. This system is not infallible, however, as it must be borne in mind that John R. Gentry’s record was not. made in a race. — American Breeder and' Sportsman. There are numerous cures for gads, cracked heels, etc., but the best one I have ever tried, says an experienced trainer, is : —“ Take one ounce of pulverised alum,half-ounce tannin, one drachm carbolic acid and one quart soft water, mix, a- I **! dampen the heels every night and morning.” It is also a splendid remedy for hopple galls, as it heals and toughens. Globe, the celebrated trotting horse, owned by A. Fenneman, died at Baltimore early in May. This horse holds a world’s record. He was four-, teen years old. He had a single mark of 2.14 J, double mark 2.12, and Ed. Geers drove him, Belle Hamlin, and Justina to the present world’s record three abreast, of 2.14, at Cleveland, July, 1891. Nearly a thousand horses have died near Hutchinson, Kansas, this winter from blind staggers, or something much resembling that disease The animals droop, refuse to eat, and seem to have no idea of distance. They will throw their heads against the stalls, and in getting their mouths into their feed boxes, will strike their teeth violently against the bottom of the box. A post mortem examination shows that the brain has turned to a mass of corruption. Very few recover under treatment. Impure food is supposed to be the cause of the trouble. The Breeder.