TURF TOPICS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1539, 23 October 1919, Page 18

TURF TOPICS.

Now that the tracks are getting harder G'uanaco, on whom good money was lost in the winter, should not be long in getting on the winning list (says the “N.Z. Times”). Mr. J. B. Reid, whose horses at present in training are to be sold by auction during N.Z. Cup week, has been visiting England and America, and it was in the United States that he cabled his decision that the horses in question were to come under the hammer. Mr. Reid left America for New Zealand on the 6th inst., and is expected back in the Dominion about the 26th inst. Answering a question at Christchurch as to whether he considered the use of spurs on racehorses cruel, Mr. H. S. S. Kyle, M.R.C.V.S., said that the whip and the spur used judiciously and at the right time were just as necessary as a walking-stick to a man out walking, to prevent him from slipping. He knew that many racehorse owners would not allow their “boys” to use spurs. The days of electric batteries were practically over, though there were black sheep in the racing game as well as in other sports.

On the last occasion when a Forbury Park spring meeting extended over two days- the club gave £2300 in stakes, This year’s spring programme will carry £3560 in stakes. The principal race on the first day is worth 500, and is for horses that can do 4min. 40sec. for two miles. The chief attraction on the concluding day is the Forbury Park Cup, endowed with £6OO. It is for horses that can do 4min. 38sec. for two miles.