TURF GOSSIP.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1500, 23 January 1919, Page 16

TURF GOSSIP.

Bingham is to race at the Taranaki meeting on February 5 and 6. His owner placed him a bit too high at the A.R.C. summer meeting. Though h e galloped well before the meeting up to a mile and a-quarter, he was shod lightly. Some people before the A.R.C. summer meeting were suggesting that Karo resembled the great Lurline in many respects. R. J. Mason was associated with early successes of Lurline, and will probably have some luck with Karo. Prince Charleroi, it is said, caught a cold and hence did not start on the last day of the A.R.C. meeting in the Welcome Stakes. He was very' well when the meeting started, but met superior class opposition, but nothing gamer or so good of his inches. Empire was submitted to auction at the recent annual sale of two-year-olds and other stock in Auckland. Twenty guineas was the best bid, but did not lead to a sale. The son of General Latour was subsequently sold to a settler at an advance of sgns., and will remain in K. Heaton’s care till after the Takapuna J.C.’s summer meeting. The Waipa meeting is to take place on February 22, and this will fit in with others, leaving those owners who wish to go on to Rotorua a four days’ interval, and there will be three days later the Hamilton Racing Club’s meeting to engage attention. Te Aroha, Ohinemuri and the Thames meetings follow at intervals of a week thereafter. Mullingar, who unfortunately injured a foot before the Ellerslie meeting and was not started, is not yet doing anything of a solid order. He has, however, been entered for the Alison Cup and Takapuna Jockey Club Handicap, though not in the Takapuna Cup. He was in good form at Avondale when he beat Gazique, some thought somewhat luckily. The Feildlng Jockey Club did not return nominations when they were obliged to postpone their November meeting in order to take fresh ones for the day’s racing brought off on Saturday. In this they did the right thing, though it would probably have been more advantageous to themselves had they done so and called for fresh nominations. In that case they would likely have had larger fields. Uncle Ned’s win in the first Cup called after the Hon. E. Mitchelson will be long remembered, because it was won by a gelding bred at Coromandel by a lady fond of sport, who also bred a rattling good horse there in Royal Soult, besides others of lesser note. Mrs. Lindsay is referred to, and if there were more as fond of breeding horses and owning good ones Coromandel would be able to run a race meeting successfully. With so many good races at weight for age to be won in Australia, Desert Gold, being still there, could compete for them and then get back in good time, as she did last year, to run for the Awapuni Cup but to win that race again and not meet the best weight-for-age horses in the land would only be a repetition of what has been experienced before to-day in connection with important w.f.a. contests in the Dominion. Th e nominations received by the Takapuna Jockey Club for their coming three days’ meeting are very satisfactory, but only what could have been expected with so many horses in the province in work at the present time. There are fewer horses entered from outside provinces than were looked for, but there are so many meetings now engaging attention that they cannot be got conveniently to all meetings owners might feel disposed to send them to. After the four days’ campaign at Ellerslie quite a number of the Auckland horses looked to have lightened up considerably, and som e of the visitors were sore. It is understood (says an Invercargill writer) that the Southland R.C.’s starter, Mr. W. Norman, experienced the most serious trouble in his despatches at the local summer meeting from southern riders, a fact borne out by the lengthy fines list. The lads from Riccarton were particularly wrellbehaved and escaped trouble with the exception of one instance, when D. Cotton (Marsa) and E. Ludlow (Subterfuge) were fined £1 each for not keeping their proper places at the send-off for the Southland Handicap on the concluding day of the recent fixture.

Bon Reve, Sasanof, and Gloaming are the only three geldings that have won the Great Northern Derby since it was inaugurated in 1875. The English trainer A. Taylor had trained 13 winners of 29 races up to October 19, their value being £35,548. The Hon. G. Lambton had trained 14 winners of 23 races, worth £12,045. A reserve of 40,000 guineas was placed on The Panther, the two-year-old English crack when offered for sale at Newmarket in October. He is by Tracery from Countess. Crenides, winner of the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie on the second day of the A.R.C. summer meeting, has so far won 126550v5. in stakes, and 'the full-brother to Simonides promises to register further important successes for his owner, Mrs. M. A. Perry, of Hawke’s Bay. Mr. “G. Penfold’’ informed me at Ashhurst that Beloved and Wonder were both presents from friends (remarks “Sir Lancelot” in the “Evening Post”). Beloved, by Gazeley— Hinemahura (by Menchikoff — St. Amy, full-sister to Undecided), was bred in the Gisborne district. Wonder, by Campfire—Cecile, by Gold Reef—Puwerewere, was bred by Mr. F. S. Easton.

It has been suggested that it is possible, owing to a coal shortage, that special trains may not be run to the Trentham races. It is not so long ago since’ the Wellington R.C. offered to provide coal when the shortage of black diamonds was talked of. While being treated to swimming exercise in the Parramatta River, New South Wales, a racehorse was so severely bitten by a shark that he had to be destroyed.

The Wellington R.C. meeting will be engaging attention this week, and a really good one may be looked for. The fields should be excellent, and should special trains be run to Trentham, this will, of course, make a very great difference in the attendances, and the fact that there has been less racing during the season than heretofore should tend to bring about larger audiences than for some time past. Present indications are that some of the very best horses of all ages in commission in New Zealand will be carrying colours there, and the two-year-old races especially should have an interest for those who have and for those who have not seen the juveniles in action.

D. P. Moraghan, the well-known Ellerslie trainer, intends taking a trip to Australia, and it is needless to say that his many friends will wish him a good time while he is away and better health than he has had for some time past, the trip being taken in the hope that an improvement in that direction will be brought about. The horses the popular Ellerslieite has had under his care are being distributed to other stables. When he sold Loyal Arch, Moraghan quite expected her to win right away, and backed her for each of her engagements. As she won twice he profited to a fair amount thereby. The Rotorua Jockey Club’s next meeting, to be held on February 6, will be carried through on up-to-date lines. The racing track is now in capital order, and the totalisator house, hitherto inadequate, will accommodate a larger and more suitable totalisator for the increasing business. The club is one of the very few in New Zealand that find free stabling and straw for the horses of visiting owners, and this is a concession that is always very much appreciated, especially by those who have sent horses long distances to compete. That it *will not be long before the club have restored to them a second day’s racing may be fully expected. The Rotorua Jockey Club is one that deserves success and expects it, and that usually means that it is morf than half gained. The visiting horses at the A.R.C. summer and postponed spring meetings, which ran into four days of 32 events, which won outright were Karo, Surveyor, Lionskin, Mascot (2), Gloaming (2), Nanna, Solfanello, Macduff, Slipstitch. Sundance, Red Ribbon, Heathercote, Athens IL, Hetaua, and Silper Link, from outside the province; King Lupin, Ditto (2), and Queen Abbey from the Waikato, Waiuta from the Thames, Uncle Ned (2) from Avondale, leaving Loyal Arch (2), Spanner (2), Taiamai, All Talk and The Channel as the Ellers-lie-trained winners, the four lastnamed at the time of winning being the only ones owned by -Auckland owners. — --