Turf Topics

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1484, 3 October 1918, Page 20

Turf Topics

The Marton Jockey Club has decided to vote its totalisator fractions at the recent spring meeting to the copper trail at Marton.

Nominations for the Fourteenth Feilding Stakes must be somewhere in the region of a record. They will appear in due course.

The nominations taken for the Wellington and Masterton spring meetings are exceptionally good for all events. j

The Takapuna Jockey Club’s annual meeting, originally fixed for la.st Friday, was postponed until Wednesday jof this week.

The nominations received by the Avondale J.C. for the Avondale Stakes and Avondale Guineas are record ones.

Imported Lucullus has more representatives in the 1919 Avondale Stakes and 1920 Avondale Guineas than in the two preceding corresponding events.

There are over sixty two-year-olds engaged at the Wellington meeting. There- are over thirty left in the Wellesley Stakes and forty-three have been nominated for the Taita Handicap.

Lord Multifid, who stood two seasons in the Waikato, is represented in the Avondale Stakes (1919) and Guineas (1920) by seven of his gets. Mr. R. Hannon having entered half a dozen of his. This brilliant horse is now in Taranaki.

The weather has been splendid for training operations at Ellerslie during the past week or two, and the tracks are in capital order, and from now on horses engaged at the coming meetings will be getting through a fair amount of strong work. The stud horse Conqueror arrived in Gisborne on September 17 to take up stud duty there, arid will be located at the Patutahi Hotel stables. The son of Medallion is in charge of his owner, Mr. H. D. Irwin, who reports all going on satisfactorily with this old favourite.

No fewer than 14 two-year-olds remain in the McLean Stakes, to be run on the opening day of the Dunedin J.C.’s spring meeting, and as 12 of these are nominated for the Dominion Handicap on the second day it is evident that their keeping in the McLean Stakes is not an oversight. Mr. Bert Coyle has been re-appoint-ed handicapper to the Avondale Jockey Club. It will be remembered that he was appointed before he was called up in the ballot, and had to go into camp, and then the late Mr. J. L. Henrys was elected in his stead. The five-year-old gelding by Elysian from Miss Nelson, in training at Ellerslie, got badly gored hy a cow a year or two back, otherwise would have been given a trial earlier in life. Mr. Wilson, who owns him, used him as a stock horse for a time, and jumped him before sending him to Ellerslie. He stands all 16 hands. The finish of the gallop at Randwick in which Gloaming finished with his head in front of Biplane, and in which Wolaroi and Dick Meagher were worsted, was photographed, and tile suggestion was offered in the “Mail” tjiat Biplane could have come right away. The picture conveys the impression that he was an easy second.

The two-year-old colts by Autumnus —Aema and Autumnus —Rene in A. Goodman’s stable have been taken south by that mentor with a view of ' fulfilling engagements at the Kurow (to be held this Thursday) and Dunedin fixtures. The former of the pair, who has had the appellation of Russet bestowed upon him, is stated to be a certain starter in the McLean Stakes (four furlongs).

It is significant that Mr. T. H. Lowry has nominated Killowen, Kilhope and Finmark for the Wellington Champion Plate, and that the names of Biplane, Gloaming and Almoner also appear in the list. There is an entry of twenty-three. Client, Menelaus, Sasanof, and Parisian Diamond represent. the best handicap horses. Bonnie Maid. Snub, Form Up. Rose Pink. Long Range, Mangamahoe, Teka, Active, 80-Peep and Tigritiya are other entrants.

The A.J.C. spring meeting starts on Saturday.

The stewards of the Taranaki Jockey Club have raised the stake for the Taranaki Cup to 600sovs. What price will Gloaming start at in the A.J.C. Derby, and, again, what price Woorawa ?

The committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club at its last meeting decided to donate £lOO to the Red Cross Copper Trail.

In connection with the spring meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club, which takes place on October 11 and 12, Messrs. T. Elliott, W. J. Gore, A. C. Hanlon, S. S. Myers and J. Smith have been appointed a Judicial Committee.

H. Gray has accepted engagements at the Kurow and Dunedin meetings. At Dunedin his mounts will include Nantville (Sanquhar—Nantes) in the McLean Stakes, and Scornful (Bonny Glen —Lady Disdain) in the Guineas. A two-year-old colt by Bezonian— Philomel, the property of Mr. G. Seifert, the Manawatu sportsman, recently broke a leg and was destroyed. The youngster was bred at the Waikanae Stud, and was a full-brother to the Trentham-trained Philomela.

The Wellington Racing Club took nominations for their spring meeting on Friday, and, like the Masterton Club, received a capital response from owners. The Wellington meeting comes rather close to the New’ Zealand Cup meeting as it finishes on October 28, thus leaving just a week for the North Island horses to travel on to Riccarton and race, and for the southern horses that may have travelled from as far south as Otago to Wellington to get back over Cook Strait to the headquarters of racing in Canterbury to start on their three days’ racing campaign there. Some horses are real good travellers, but others get unsettled by strenuous racing away from home. This was shown by the appearance of quite a number that journeyed south from' Auck'and in August and last month. As a rule horses appear to do their best well on in the spring or summer months. The entry lists for both the Wellington and Masterton meetings are such as will provide followers of 'orm with plenty of food for delectation. It is quite evident that owners are keen on making the most of the spring events offering to get their horses into form for the important races ahead. It can be taken for granted that there will be good entries for the Poverty Bay, North Can-terbury-Oxford J.C. and WaverleyWaitotara Racing Club meetings, w’hich precede those of the Avondale J.C., Auckland R.C. and Canterbury Jockey Club, at each o F which larger prizes await owners. The outlook for all these meetings is exceedingly good. Over three-fourths of the horses engaged in the New Zealand Cup are entered at the Wellington and Masterton meetings.

Gloaming, who retains his position as favourite for the A.J.CI Derby, to be run on Saturday, also claims engagements in the Clibborn Stakes and Grantham Stakes. Much disappointment is expressed at the fact that he was not entered for the weight-for-age events at the meeting, as the phenomenal burst of speed he displayed in the Chelmsford Stakes would have made matters extremely interesting for the crack division, especially in the Craven Plate, in which race Biplane and Desert Gold are engaged.

Plastic (Formative —Lady Celia), who scored his first win on the concluding day of the Ashburton meeting, was one of four lots donated by the late Mr. G'. P. Donnelly for the Wounded Soldiers’ Fund. He was purchased by Mr. H. Friedlander for 105 guineas. Mr. Friedlander also gave that amount for a Demosthenes —Lady Delaval gelding, and handed it back to be resold for the fund. Karo was secured at the same sale for 90 guineas.

On the morning of September 17 the best gallops of the morning at Victoria Park, Epsom, were registered by Desert Gold (seven furlongs in Imin. 32%5ec.), Kilmoon and Al-

moner (six in Imin. 19%sec.), George Graves (five in Imin. 6sec.), Finmark (who defeated Estland over seven in Imin. 33%5ec.), and Biplane (six in a fraction under Imin. 20sec). Desert Gold ran the last three furlongs in her gallop in 38%sec.. Biplane has on occasions proved a bit too headstrong for his pilot in work. Deeley’s arrival was looked for to do the riding of that horse.

Neither Desert Gold nor Estland have been entered for the Wellington meeting. It would seem probable that after the A.J.C. spring meeting there is a chance of some of Messrs. Lowry. Greenwood and G. Stead’s three-year-olds returning to the Dominion for the classic and w,f a, races at the spring and summer meetings. The fact that entries have been made for so many of the three-year-olds at present campaigning in Australia may influence the further payments and entries to be made for three-year-olds in the Dominion. There is a prospect of a fairly large number being leT in the Great Northern Guineas after the 18th October from present indications, and presumably there will be a fair number in the C.J.C. Derby. A good deal depends upon the resu’t of the battles to be fought by the New Zealanders at Randwick during this week and next how owners will split up their “orces. They take a bit of placing.

“The utter defeat of the Turkish Palestine Army wou’d not have been possible but for General Allenby’s bold use of cavalry in the role of mounted troops, who most admirably performed their part in this extremely important battle which will probably take a leading place in military text-books.” This is an extract from

a report from the Palestine front. More recent operations show that cavalry and mounted troops have done great work since, and it is pleasing to know that New Zealand horsemen have taken a foremost place, The iNew Zealand horses have a great name on the battlefields, as they have had on the racecourse. Some that have gone quite blind with the heat glare and dus* are still carrying ~"»1diers.