TURF TOPICS

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1505, 27 February 1919, Page 21

TURF TOPICS

Hamilton Racing Club’s meeting Saturday and Monday.

Rotorua races, and a good welcome, on Wednesday.

Lady Olwyn, a Soult mare, is still a maiden, and likely to remain a nonwinner, some people think. * * * *

The running of Croesus in the Jackson Stakes at Wanganui proved that he was none the worse for his fall in the Egmont Stakes.

Fortune smiles on some owners, but the owner of Tigritiya cannot be one of them. She is running up a big score of seconds.

The three - year - old filly Cherry Mart, by Birkenhead —Martia, who has proved a distinct disappointment to the Highden stable, is to be retired to the stud.

Trainer George Price, of Awapuni, who has received his discharge from a hospital ship, will, it is understood, resume his duties at the Highden stable on March 1.

F. E. Jones was asked to ride Rorke’s Drift in the Dunedin Cup, but had to decline, as he trains John Barleycorn, who was also a starter in the race.

When Afterglow scored in the Egmont Cup it made B. Deeley’s second success in the event named. His first was on the Auckland-owned Ngapuka, 10 years previous.

The original intention of the Southland Racing Club of adding an extra furlong to the Invercargill track has been abandoned in favour of one which will provide a circumference of a mile and a-quarter.

An Australian sportsman has recently been negotiating for the purchase of the Highden representative Nystad. winner of the last two C.J.C. Great Easter Handicaps, but has been unsuccessful in his efforts to secure the four-year-old son of Finland.

Since purchasing Wild Night for 200 guineas from Sir George Clifford, Mr. W. Stone resold the gelding at 400 guineas to Mr. R. Sutherland, owner of Cattach, and the three-year-old son of Antagonist will remain in H. G. Coker’s charge.

The Hon. A. Von Doussa, M.L.C., has been secretary to Adelaide Tattersail’s Club for 44 years, and is still guiding its destinies. The Onkaparinga Racing Club has held a oneday meeting on Easter Monday for over forty years, and continues its £lOOO Great Eastern Steeplechase.

Sweet Tipperary, who acted as run-ner-up to Speedwell Mac in the Okaiawa Hurdles on the concluding day of the Egmont R.C.’s autumn meeting, gave a display which promises well for her future prospects in hurdle events. But for a faulty jump at the last hurdle she may have reversed places with the winner, and the speedy daughter of King’s Guest should not be long in crediting her owners, the Messrs. Dwan Bros., with a long overdue win.

It was at first stated that Dusky Eve’s 2min. 59sec. for the fourteen furlongs in the Wanganui Cup was a world’s record, but later this was qualified to an Australasian record. The fastest time previous recorded for one mile and three-quarters in Australasia was that established by Scoutmaster at Randwick in October, 1915, when he completed the distance in 3min.

Gloaming, who won the Jackson Stakes without being extended, owing to his marked superiority over the other three starters, registered Imin. 13 l-ssec. for the six furlongs. The record for the event is held by the speedy Ermengarde (dam of the-Wel-lesley Stakes winner Ermine), who in 1912 ran the distance in lmin. 13sec.

It may not be generally known (says a Palmerston North writer) that Mr. E. Short, who has been for some weeks in a bad state of health, was six months ago kicked by a horse on the head, the injury causing a bit of bone to touch the brain. It is expected that an operation will remove the' present danger to Mr. Short’s health, and his friends express confidence as to his final recovery.

When the last mail left England no provision had been made in the fixtures for the Liverpool Grand National. The grandstands at Aintree were said to be full of shells, and the military had not made any move to get them out. The fences had all been overhauled and put in order, and it is said a lot of New Zealand and Australian sports, amongst others, were longing to see the race.

It is reported that W. Sharp, the well-known Ellerslie trainer, will be shifting his quarters to the country district of Gordonton, to train a few horses for a client who has a farm in that locality. This trainer has not been having any good luck for a considerable time past—indeed, it has been the other way—and a change of quarters might not prove amiss. Gordonton is situated in the Waikato, 11 miles from Hamilton, inland from Taupiri.

Mr. H. Chisholm, the Sydney auctioneer, who was present at the Dunedin Jockey Club’s meeting on Cup Day, stated that he was sorry to see Mr. W. T. Hazlett secure Sprig of Erin at the Elderslie Stud dispersal sale, as he would very much have liked to have bought the Irish-bred matron for Australia. The wellknown New South Wales bloodstock salesman also said that of all the foals he saw at Elderslie he had no hesitation in placing the baby daughter of Kilbroney and Sprig of Erin first in order of merit of the fillies. He described her as a beautiful youngster.

The old Karamu homestead near Hastings, the property of the late Hon. J. D. Ormond’s family, was on Sunday destroyed by fire. It was by no means a pretentious house, but was one of the oldest-established ones in the vicinity, and since it was built great fur and other tree plantations had grown up, hiding it from view. It stood about half a mile back from the main road, and the avenue leading thereto passed the private training ground where so many winners were turned out, and through rich land on which they were bred. The training stables on the opposite side of the avenue are only a few chains away, and the fire apparently did not spread to them.

We were somewhat surprised to read in an exchange that Croesus should not have started in the Egmont Stakes. Surely no one could seriously urge that so useful a sprinter, whose owner had paid for the privilege of running him, should have been pulled out. It might, of course, have been Gloaming’s bad luck to fall and interfere with Desert Gold, and Croesus would then have won. There are so many points of view.

For the first time since he went amiss last October Biplane revisited Randwick yesterday morning (says the Sydney “Sun” of February 9). His appearance was the subject of much favourable comment. Naturally little will be expected of him for some time, seeing that his confinement on board steamer interfered with his preparation considerably, and he was only asked to canter slowly round the cinders. But despite the fact that he had been cramped up in a small stall for nearly a fortnight on the Moeraki, he moved freely enough in this exercise.

Last year it was given out in the papers that a cable had been sent asking Mr. T. H. Lowry to start Desert Gold in the Awapuni Cup, and he had replied that he would do so if she had a good trip home and the weather was favourable. It has been stated that she might not have gone to New Plymouth, -where she won the Taranaki Stakes, had not the Taranaki Jockey Club made a special request to her owner. Sometimes clubs take a good deal for granted, and the public and pressmen make the same mistake, in assuming that horses will start, without any definite information.

The nominations taken for the Hamilton R.C.’s meeting, to be decided on Saturday, March 1, and Monday, March 3, were very satisfactory, and must have come up to the most sanguine expectations of the secretary and members of the executive committee who framed such a liberal two days’ programme, the most valuable put forward by any country club in the Auckland province. The bill-of-fare., indeed, is a most excellent one, and if a country club can launch out in this way is it not to be wondered at why some other clubs are not so ready with their funds for the purpose of providing good stakes. The owners within the province recognised the liberality of the club and the reasonable charges made for nominations and acceptances, and from outside there was also a good response.

A letter from a passenger on board the Manuka while in quarantine with Mr. W. R. Kemball’s horses was received during the week. All the horses arrived without a scratch, and the trip from a weather point of view was perfect all the way. There were no swollen legs. Each horse -was taken out of its box and led round the hatchway on a sawdust track, and thus got a bit of exercise each day. When the quarantine ground was reached the Manuka ran abreast of the Moeraki, on which Biplane was awaiting the time to go ashore. The passengers cheered the new arrivals. Three concerts were given in aid of the sailors, and many passed the time in fishing and playing quoits. Quite a lot of vessels were held up in the same nook in the harbour. The passengers on these boats derived some amusement from seeing the passengers on the ferry steamers passing in the harbour wearing masks, so soon to be made compulsory in each of their own individual cases.

Mr. E. J. Watt is on a visit to New Zealand from Australia.

Bingham has been sold to Mr. J. Goodwin, of Hawera, by Mr. I. Hardley for 250sovs.

Miss Ellice was one of the good things punters sorted out for the Waipa meeting. * ♦ ■> ♦

One race at Wanganui seemed to knock Depredation out, as he finished last in the Wanganui Stakes.

Mr. J. B. Reid still owns Punka, who is expected to go to Australia ere long.

Mr. “Dick” Hannon is without a representative at Rotorua ! ! And after winning so many Cups there. Even the Maoris will be surprised.

The horses Spanner. Thrace. Hineamaru, Canzonet, and Mistress Biddy, under Gilchrist’s tuition, are to be taken to the Hamilton meeting.

A resolution of sympathy was passed by the committee of the A.R.C. to the Hon. E. Mitchelson, their president, at the death of his brother, Richard.

The appointment of Mr. W. R. Holmes to the position of manager of the totalisators for the Auckland R.C. was generally looked for in wellinformed circles.

Defunct Caiman, the American horse who held the mile record in England, is occasionally represented in Australia by winners at country meetings.

The Melbourne and New Zealand Cup winner, Sasanof, who, since fulfilling engagements at the Auckland Racing Club’s summer meeting, has been treated to a spell from racing, is regarded as a certain starter at the Wellington Racing Club’s autumnmeeting, when the son of Martian will contest the Trentham Gold Cup (two miles). Gloaming and Desert Gold are mentioned as likely starters in this event. The Trentham Gold Cup was inaugurated by the Wellington Club in 1914, when Merry Rose proved the winner. Other successful horses in the important twomile weight-for-age event have been: 1915, Warstep; 1916, Eligible; 1917, Kilboy. Last year the race was not held.

Desert Gold’s trainer, F. Davis, finding that it was no use taking on Gloaming at Wanganui at weight for age after he had proved capable of carrying a 71b. penalty and beating the mare, advised her owner, Mr. T. H. Lowry, to reserve her for the Awapuni Gold Cup and the Trentham Gold Cup. Killowen was sent along to represent the stable, and managed to get third money, and also third money in the Wanganui Guineas, but he was not at his best, being on the gross side. Croesus was also his master at w.f.a., and at the standard weights fixed for the classic race had to give 51b. to Gloaming and Afterglow. At weight for age the imposts in October would have been: Killowen 7.12, Gloaming 7.9, Afterglow 7.7. In February, 8.5, 8.2 and 8.2 respectively. It really made no difference to the placings so far as Gloaming was concerned, and Afterglow had the measure of Killowen also, but had the weights been fixed for a race in the autumn the conditions would have been a little more favourable to the colt, as he would have been 21b. nearer in weight to each of his opponents. Sometimes a pound or two matters a great deal.