TURF TOPICS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1241, 29 January 1914, Page 12

TURF TOPICS.

The Foxton Racing Club celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last week. Beldame continues, to improve steadily. She is getting more solid. Hector Gray, Berry, and several southern riders will be present ac tne Taaapuna meeting this week. r,os Angeios is coming down in the weignts, and if he stands training snouid win a race soon.

Autumnus may get better towards tne autumn, but he is one of the most disappointing of good-iooking norses racing.

Captain Webb; was represented by two winners at Gore in Miss Kellerman and Golden Webb. Blue Garment has not been on the tracks tor some time. No doubt the rest wul do the gelding good. Waimangu, one of Soult’s finest sons, has bidden farewell to the race track, W. Tpxer having leased the horse for stud purposes. Zeus, one of Mr. Greenwood’s castoiis, and Byron, another, both ran wen at Wellington. Monglow, by Treadmill, who, was bred by Mr. Greenwood from the highpriced bunglow, sister to Boniform, won a bbsovs hack race at Gore. Sylvia Park has come out as the sire of a trotter called Alexandra park, a double winner at Petone last Friday. Prince Soult, who was not presented at Trentham, was particularly well Handicapped there for one of the events.

For the Dunedin Cup there are twenty-three nominations, some of the horses being also engaged in the Wanganui Cup. Nominations for the Wanganui Cup are not as large numerically as could Have been expected, but most of the good horses are engaged.

Mr. G. D. Greenwood’s Counsel was sold during the progreses of the Wellington meeting, and goes to Australia.

Martius defeated Emperador at a dinerence of four pounds over a mile in the nrst weight-for-age race at xientn,am, and Emperador’s owner complained at that gelding being set to meet Martius on four pounds worse terms over the same distance next day.

Our King can give a taste of his great speed and weight-carrying ability, but distance settles him, though he got six furlongs at Foxton with success and won a double there. Mr. A. R. Durrant, owner of Sinapis, nominated that mare’for the Sydney Cup out of curiosity to see how the handicapper would treat her. Mr. Durrant is a non-betting owner. Probably Midnight Sun would do better -if he were given a course of treatment that some trotting horses get. A light season at the stud might benefit him.

Stepniak died at the age cf twentyone years. His full sister Stepfeldt is still alive at the age of twentythree, and produced at twenty-one Reputation, who is probably the best two-year-old in the Dominion, to-day. J. Willamson’s pair of juveniles Graduate and Lady Penury are on the improve and usually do all their track work in company. Tatterley and Midnight Sun were shipped to Sydney on Friday last from Wellington to H. Raynor. Tatterley should win a race or two in Australia, and the Oakleigh Handicap may be his mission, amongst other engagements. Selection’s half-sister is spelling at present, having run intoi a wire fence. The filly will probably be taken to the South Auckland meeting next month.

Walter Percival will be at the Takapuna meeting, and can go to scale ac t>.7. The lad should get plenty ox riding with the light-weight division. An owner, who some time ago won a good stake with a horse, was approached by several sporting acquaintances from his district and received a hint that he should “turn it on.’ He did not take the hint, however, but suggested that his friends should smoke.

The two New Zealand-bred mares, Goodwin Sands and Lucille, both won recently in New South Wales. The former scored at a suburban meeting and the latter at a country fixture ac inverell. A number of two-year-olds that have been racing at the Metropolitan meetings this season want a spell off. A good deal too much has been asked of a number of them if they are wanted for next season’s spring engagements. No fewer than seven of the yearlings sold on account of the Waikanae Stud were purchased by clients of J. Lowe, the well-known Trentham trainer. The Messrs. Riddiford bought six and Mr. Frank Armstrong one. Taimanupo has not been in his generous moods of late on, the tracks. Last week, both on the tan track and also on the course proper, he seemed determined not to show the watch holders anything that would be likely to cause them to make an onslaught on the totalisator. He just went his own gait, and would not be bustled.

To such an extent is it possible to back a horse in Sydney with the bookmakers that a lady speculator has won nearly £30,000 over an exNew Zealand mare which has won four races lately, each time at remunerative odds. To win that sum over the best of good things in New Zealand from the totalisator would be quite impossible.

D. Monaghan is having a treat of outs at the present time. Both Tragedy King and Tact had to be eased up in the busy time, and to make matters much worse the valuable filly Mon Emma died recently, riowever, Dame Fortune may spare this deserving owner-trainer some of her favours at the Takapuna J.C. gathering, and perhaps smile on the iortunes of the Prince and Soultikoff..

Kakama, who looks lovely to the eye, on Thursday did not seem to strike out in her usual free and graceful style, and it took her 2 min 5 sec to run round the course proper. On Saturday, however, she responded much better, and galloped the circuit, easing up at the end, in 2 min 2 sec —a very great improvement.

Adherent (syrs), one of the youngest steeplechasers that has won in the Dominion, is in steady work again at headquarters, and will probably be sent to New South Wales later on, when the owner, Mr. George Dunnett, becomes settled. The reason Postillion was not raced on the concluding day of the Wellington meeteing was bcause he slipped on the tan while at exercise in the morning, and it was thought he might have injured himself thereby, though there was nothing to indicate that he had done so. There will be one or two more sales of thoroughbred yearlings before the present racing season closes. The result of the sales so far this season has been to show that there is a demand for anything pretty choice. Old-time prices are, however, not realised, for the reason that so many breeders are breeding for themselves, and that colts and fillies, promising as well as did the Muskets, Nordenfeldts, St. Legers, Castors, Seaton Delavals, and Stepniaks, are not to be met with in any numbers. Usually two or three, stand out from the rest in appearance and sell well, and the prices for the rest are out of proportion. Mr. Bidwill, of the Wairarapa, is a good sportsman who encourages the classic races, and has occasionally missed good chances of winning handicap events in order to race his horses in the fixed-weight races, for which they have not always been of quite good enough class. It was pleasing to see Reputation, Vocation and Imagination each racing so well at Trentham. It is very probable that the Wairarapa sportsman will send Reputation over to, Sydney for the Spring meeting of the Australian J.C. to compete in the Derby as he did that colt’s brilliant half-brother, Provocation, who was not seen at his best on Australian, soil, though he displayed great brilliancy there. Provocation is a very nice horse, and his achievements will be fresh in the memories of racegoers. His yearling; are very highly spoken of. Mr. W. E. Bidwill’s cheque from the Wellington R.C. fell a little short of £lOOO.