TURF TOPICS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1457, 28 March 1918, Page 10

TURF TOPICS.

Almo will be winning a race shortly for his new owner.

Both Parisian Diamond and Bradamante, who ran a dead-heat at the Wairarapa, are by Charlemagne 11. * * * *

Beltane, in his new ownership, won the Kyneton Cup in Victoria, beating Lucky Bean by half a head. * ❖ * *

When Tressida was brought to Auck’and no rider had been secured for that mare for the A R.G. Easter.

The Penury gelding Want outclassed the jumpers he met at the Rangitikei meeting.

Desert Gold put up a mile track record of Imin. 42sec. at Randwick last week.

Biplane registered a six-furlong track gallop at Riccarton in Imin. 14 3-ssec. last week.

The Canterbury Jockey Club wib likely have big fields for both their Great Easter and Great Autumn Handicaps this year.

Mr. Roy Seccdmbe, good with, dog and gun and a good sport, is still o,n active service in France in the Army Service Corps.

The fees charged for training horses in New Zealand have been higher than they are now, but not for a very long time.

The New Zealand-bred Fireworks was, after the Steeplechase at Flemington recently, presented to R. E. Amson by Mr. Leslie Stuart.

The tote turnover at the Rangitikei meeting was a record one, with a big margin to the good over last year.

A very troublesome customer at the post is Turangipito, who got his name on the winning list at Rangitikei last week.

Up. to the end of last week nothing in the shape of a really brilliant gallop, had been registered at Ellerslie.

Sir Wallace, a horse much talked about twelve months ago, has 7.1 in the Feilding Cup, and is in receipt of 391 b. from Client, the top weight, s’: # ❖ *

There was some good racing at the Rangitikei meeting, and quite- a number of the horses looked useful enough to make jumpers of. .

Nobleman is to be turned out for a spell. He has been pretty well taxed of late, and his running at Bulls was a lot below his best form.

Readers are again reminded that the clearing sale of the Ascot Stud takes place on Tuesday next, commencing at 11 a.m.

The death occurred recently in Australia of F. Martineer, who won the A.J.C. Derby of 1865 on Clove, with which mare J. Chaafe was associated as trainer.

The Auckland Racing Club are paying more for the services of their handicapper than was formerly paid when there were more days of racing.

Bunting’s scratching lor the Sydney Cup may not mean that he has failed to stand; indeed, his chance in the Doncaster was thought to be fairly good a short while back.

Colorado managed to win a welter flat race at Rangitikei, and is a decidedly useful horse both on the flat and over the sticks. One day he will perhaps made a ’chaser.

Arlington, the topweight in the Brighton Hurdle Race at Ellerslie on Saturday was withdrawn. Co’orado. Harbour Light and Sir Fisher are set to give him weight at Feilding.

Menelaus has been set to meet Client, the Wanganui Cup and Wanganui Stakes winner, on 111 b. better terms than they met in the Wanganui Cup.

The New Zealand crack mare De serf Gold is being put down amongst many racegoers in Australia as a non-stayer, and that, too, after lasting long enough to cause Wallace Isinglass to put up a record weight-for-age go over two miles at Flemington.

The hurdler Plymouth, who won at Rosehill on Saturday week, was bought a few months ago by his present owner for 30gns., when Mr. G. Stead tired of him.

There will not be far short of the usual number of visiting horses at Ellerslie headquarters for the Easter meeting of the A.R.C. by the time all have arrived to take part.

The catalogues for the sale of the Ascot Stud will be available on application to the auctioneers, the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company.

Farriers are surely getting very well paid just now for their work in connection with racing stables. It is many years since anything like the same charges were made in Auckland.

The scratching of Fiery Cross for his Great Easter and Great Autumn engagements leaves us to suppose that all is not right with the Auckland Cup winner.

Estland and Finmark were Mr. T. H. Lowry’s representatives to arrive on Saturday from Woodville Bridges, who is looking after them, has them Iqoking well.

Parisian Diamond dead-heated with Bradamante in the Wangaimoana Handicap on the opening day of the Wairarapa R.C.’s recent meeting. A week later at the Rangitikei meeting, which was held at Bulls on the 20th and 21st inst., he registered a double victory, proving that Napier Park form twelve days earlier was all wrong.

That good horse Bisogne..when he raced at Ellerslie last, in January, 1917, represented top-class form, and though he has not raced since last May is likely to appear at the A R.C. autumn meeting.

It is understood that H. Gray may ride’ Parisian Diamond in the A.R.C. Easter Handicap, and not Royal Irish, as has been given out, and was his intention, but a rider for the lastnamed has to be found.

Croesus received 10.5 in the Mangahone Stakes at Feilding, probably a record weight for that event. The weights had to be on a high scale. Others that have performed well this season have substantial imposts.

In the Pukenui Welter Handicap at Bulls, Sardinia, by Provocation, giving 2st. to the winner, Warmth, and 291 b. to the runner-up, Skedaddle, started a big outsider and finished a good third in a fiekl of 16.

For thirteen years the Rangitikei Cup has been run over a mile and aquarter. The time registered by Kiltless, who won that event last week, was the slowest since Tangimoana won in 1908, and has only taken longer on three occasions. The oourse was in splendid order, but heavy rain about 11 o’clock made the track slower than usual.

The nominations taken for the Avondale Jockey Club’s autumn meeting are up to date in number and in the class of horses engaged. Mr. J. L. Henrys will get the weights out after the A.R.C. Easter meeting.

Stone Ginger, who won the Southland Steeplechase, is well on in his fourteenth year. He is the veteran jumper of the South, while Marton is one o: the oldest in the North Island —that is, of horses with pretentions to steeplechasing form.

Stands on the Marton, Ohinemurf and Alexandra Park courses and on the Auckland show grounds, and those of bowling and sports clubs in different parts of the North Island, suf-, fered as a result of the recent cyclone.

It looked as if J. O’Shea had a good chance- ol getting up to H. Gray on the winning list of horsemen for this season, but the last-named has gone right away again, and has had a great run during the present month. He is getting the mounts all right.

Marguerite, who won the Rangitikei Cup in 1907, holds the record for the race of 2min. 6% sec., but a good mare like she was rarely gets into a race so well as she did on that occasion. The course has been much improved since.

Parisian Diamond and Red Ribbon have been the two most fancied candidates for the A.R.C. Easter Handicap since the appearance of the weights, and they are the only pair that have earned penalties and are still in a position from which they are not likely to be driven.

A returned soldier stated a few weeks back that what struck him most in connection with the handicapping of horses about Auckland was the way that Tatterley had come down in weight since he had been away. * , ' * , There were several of the gets of defunct St. Paul racing at the Rangitikei meeting and two of them got very near the money on the first day. Self Alliance, who finished second to All Over and had Mr. Bull’s All Red gelding trying, paid a rattling good dividend for second place.

An army of men under the generalship of Mr. J. Rowe, president of the Auckland Trotting Club, have been busy ever since the recent storm restoring the stands and buildings at Alexandra Park to as near their formore condition as possible. Everything will be in order for the coming meetings to be held there next month. Much of the work was finished within a few days of the trouble occurring.

Opening 1-2-3, or place totalisators, on New South Wales courses, is only another way of adding to the dissatisfaction existing in connection with totalisator business generally over there. The clubs must surely be looking for more’ fractions —and trouble. The more dividends there are the greater the carving up of the punters.

At the recent Sydney-suburban Kensington (pony) meeting £11,300 went through the machines; at Rosehill, where some of the best horses in training in Sydney were raced, £9BOO. The meaning of this is that the dollars go on the machine and the quids go somewhere else —and always will. —“Bulletin.” * * * * Alter seeing Croesus win over six furlongs at Napier Park, carrying 9.13, with Parisian Diamond (8.1) out of a place in the same race, how many would be prepared to support Croesus to beat the same horse at the same weights if the race had to be run again, after the form Parisian Diamond has shown since? * * * * The wind on Saturday was for a time of a threatening nature, and some people were looking for further trouble, which, however, did not come. On Saturday night and on Sunday there was nothing to suggest a return to bad weather conditions. Sunday was, indeed, a perfect day. Sunday was, indeed, a perfect day, and was followed by another on Monday, though Mr. Wragge tells us we must be prepared for squalls.

It has been suggested that those who have to pay out dividends on the totalisator do not like it when horses dead-heat for second place, as it necessitates more work in distributing the money. They never think—or, we should say, they do not all think —how it pays the clubs and their employers. Some workers would prefer paying out every time to just a few investors, but it pays the clubs and proprietors best when the dividends are small and the fractions are most numerous.

There are many racegoers who will remember Johnny Cullen, whose verses on sport were occasionally given prominence in Auckland. A returned soldier met him in England some time back on his way to France to return to the trenches, where he has been doing his bit since very early in the war. Jack Cullen is past the age, but was amongst the volunteers, and has been wounded since he went away.

Jack Stilton, who was with the late Geo. Wright when he had amongst others under his charge those good mare's Hilda and Cissy, and, later, St. Hippo, Armilia, Acone and Stepfeldt, is looking after that good horse All Red at Hunterville and speaks of him as a horse of fine disposition—■one,, indeed, to be proud of. All Red, who had forty mates last year, has been well represented on the turf this year.

From stamp duty on betting tickets, bookmakers’ fees and proportion of bookmakers’ licenses, carriage of racegoers by trains and trams, racecourse fees, and from the tote, the New South Wales Government received £107,697, of which amount the totalisator provided £23,814. This was for the first half of the financial year. No estimate of revenue from income tax paid by bookmakers and proprietary race clubs could be given when the returns were asked for.