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MUCH FASTER TIME IN AUSTRALIA Great Improvement Effected in Records at All Distances in Down Under land. BY F. L. McKENNDY. SAN FRANCISCO, Cul., November 20. As a companion piece to the interesting tabulations coving American race records now being published in Daily Racing Form, a study of times made in Australian racing is pertinent. There lias been a virr tual revolution in the last forty years in the sport in the southern hemisphere, principally due to the adoption of the American method of racing from end to end.- "Waiting" was all the order of the day in years gone by, with a brush through the last quarter to decide the contest. The, race courses also are: a factor in the change, immense strides having been made in the application of scientific principles in the building of tracks. Then advances have been made in training ways, to say nothing of the superiority of the modern rider over the old-timer. The racing revolution has transpired within the memory of men still active ia the sport. One of the Australian trainers, who is yet in harness despite his years, won the Trial Stakes, a mile and a quarter race in the year 1879 with Lowlander in 2:14. That was at the spring meeting of the Australian Jockey Club at Randwick, Sydney, N. S. W. In 1909 the same stakes was run in 2:11 ; in 1918 in 2:08 VI, and this year in ,2:07. It is hard to think horses of the olden days were as good as those now racing, when it is recalled that Chester, one of the best of his generation, did no better than 2:40 in a mile and a half stake race in 1879, .while in 1919 Poltrel, winner of this years Melbourne Cup, won the renewal of the race in 2:31. In passing it may be said that if there is any thoroughbred in the world that appears capable of giving Mau o War, Americas wonder horse, a real battle for honors, If by any possibility the meeting could bo brought about, that horse is Poitrel. In carrying the heavy burden of 140 pounds to victory in the good time .of 3:25?4 for the two miles the strapping chestnut son of St. Alwyne Poinard demonstrated once more that he is the nearly best thoroughbred that ever raced in Australia and full worthy to rank with the best of the world. GREENSTEADS FAST MILE. Tlie Australian mile record Is 1:37 and miles around 1:38 are common. A six-year-old called Greenstcad, with 132 pounds up, won a stake at a mile at the recent spring meeting of the Australian Jockey Club in 1:37. In 1909 the same fixture was won in 1:405J. Similar gain in speed is shown in races at a mile and a. quarter, mile and a half and other true testing distances. In the description of a stakes running several years ago an Australian characterizes the pace as being "a cracker all the way." The race was won by Cetigne, with Wolaroi second, Estland third and the noted mare Desert Gold just beaten out of a place. The time for the mile and a quarter was 2:04. When the stake was run in 1S79 it was won in 2:24, quite a bit different from the time hung up by Cetigne It was a big loss to Australian racing for the season now on that AVolaroi and Desert Gold could not face the starter on account of going unites. Aside from Poitrel and Kennaquliair, which is best over a long route, the three horses mentioned arc the best in the older division. The Sydney Handicap was won in 1879 in 2:4S, while nowadays the mile and a half of the stakes is run in 2:34 or better as a general thing. The sprints arc correspondingly faster, as is indicated by a stake known as The Shorts, a three-quarters dash, which was won in 1879 by a. horse called, The Chorister, by The Drummer, in 1:1S,. and this year by Elkin, by The Welkin, in 1:135. The fixing of a time limit in connection with some of the longer races has had a salutary effect in cutting down the amount of "loafing" in the early stages of stakes. Once in awhile the riders offend by taking tilings too easy and the owners t of the horses are the sufferers, as the purst Is materially reduced by 6lw timet
