HAWKE’S BAY.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1306, 6 May 1915, Page 12

HAWKE’S BAY.

Golden Sky Changes Hands —The Hawke’s Bay Stakes —Desert Gold’s Meritorious Performance —Vi Purchased by Gisborne Sportsman — Multigarde’s Double Success.

(From Our Napier Correspondent.)

NAPIER, Monday. J. Hennah left Hastings for Sydney on Thursday. He expects to be absent from the Dominion lor about three months. Previous to his departure he got rid of Golden Sky to W. Kirk, of Hastings, for 30sovs. If the daughter of San Fran and Fairy Gold can /be patched up the price paid was not out of reason. Golden Sky suffers from a trouble in her front joints, for which she was fired when a two-year-old. The combination, Deeley and Croesus, suffered their first defeat in the Hawke’s Bay Stakes on Saturday. Though silenced, the son of Royal Fusilier was not disgraced, for the flying filly Desert G'old made the pace a cracker from the send-off, and as Croesus had to be kept moving to keep in touch with her it took the steam out of him with his load of 9.10 aboard. He had also to succumb to Dribble, who got to him in the last few strides. Desert Gold was not doing her best at the finish, and then put up Imin. 21sec. for the six and a-half furlongs, her time for the trip being only a second behind the record put up by Royal Artillery in 1902. Desert Gold’s success in the event makes the second score to Mr. T. H. Lowry in the Stakes, for champion Bobrikoff got the award seven years ago. She was bred by her owner, who also bred her half-brother (by Royal Fusilier) Croesus. Mr. Lowry also, owns a rising two-year-old half-brother to Desert Gold and a yearling half-sister by Finland. Aurarius, who produced the above pack, was mated with All Black again last season.

The night before the Hawke’s Bay meeting Vi was purchased by the Gisborne sport who unfurls his racing banner under the name of “Mr. L. Furr,” and in her attempts in the hurdle races on each afternoon ran in that sportsman’s interests. She is now trained by H. Hickey, who also purchased on behalf of “Mr. Furr,” from E. Kemp, the hack hurdler Hurakia.

The Englishbred horse Heather Mixture (St. Seri —Sprig of Heather) was seen out at Hastings in tire Maiden Hack Race on Friday, but he looked too burly to be able to do himself justice.

It is not often that three of a family are seen out in one event, but such was the case last week at the Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club’s meeting in the Poukawa Hack Handicap, when the two sisters Munje and Alces and the brother to the pair, Cervulus, were stripped for battle. The last-named carried off the stake, returning his backers a two-'figure dividend, the best of the meeting, while he also showed that he was no commoner next day, when he again triumphed, scoring comfortably in the Okawa Hack Handicap. Cervulus was a bare two to one chance in his last victory. Another double-event winner also gave her followers the pleasure of collecting a double-figure dividend. This was Multigarde, but her big price was returned not in her first but in her second attempt, the Scurry Hack, for when she won the Maiden Hack on Friday from sixteen others she was a trifle better than a level money chance.

Three, who bolted in with the twb baby events, is a classy colt of fine proportions, and that he has pace can be gathered from the fact that with 9.6 up he ran the five furlongs in the Nursery Handicap on Saturday in Imin. l%sec., and then was not, all out at the conclusion of the argument. In both of his essays he made all his own running, never giving the opposing forces a look in. With a stone less aboard in the Nursery Handicap on Friday he cut out the trip in half a second less than was the case in the Juvenile Handicap, and consequently those anxious to have a bet on him in the latter event had to lay odds on.

Ashley Reed was severely injured when Pearlform came to grief with him in the Scurry Hack. He was brought in after the mishap in an unconscious condition, and the doctor who e cammed him stated that he had sustained a fracture at the base of the skull. He is now still unconscious, and in a very bad way.

Backers of the first favourites at Hastings last week would have just got out of the struggle with a bit

to spare, for had a ticket been taken put on each prime selection ,a profit of £1 7s. would have resulted.

Diavolo has been sent to Marlborough, and he will form one of the contestants at the Marlborough Racing Club’s autumn fixture this week.

J. Gibb, an old-time cross-country jockey, who rode over the jumps throughout the eighties and early nineties, was present at Randwick on the four days of the A.J.C. meeting. Gibb was a contemporary of the late Tommy Corrigan, R. Batty, Sam Floyd, and the present Randwick trainer P. Nolan. Gibb has many interesting reminiscences of jumping races in Sydney in the days when steeplechasing was a more popular sport than it is In New South Wales to-day.

Many of the passed-in lots at the blood stock sales in Sydney, writes “Milroy” in the “Mail,” have since been sold privately, and at the time of this writing the return for all classes sold at the autumn dispersal amounts to £99,986. Messrs. William Inglis and Son disposed of yearlings and mixed stock for £i61,601, and Messrs. H. Chisholm and Co.'s made 38,385. The correct yearling figures to date are: —Messrs. William Inglis and Son, £49,013; and Messrs. H. Chisholm and Co., £25,914. Total, £74,927 for yearlings alone, and the balance is made up with mixed stock.