Sporting,

Tout 1 Joteb by " Vigilant." Tlio Beaßou of 1837-8 1b oji its last leg« and flat-racing will soon give way to stcople chasing. S»nco ray last notes appeared, tli» Island Bay Autumn Meeting, the Taranaki Anniversary Meotin?, the Oamaru Autumn Meeting, and the North Canterbury Autumn Meeting, have been added to the things ol the past. 'Ihb Inland Bay Meeting, though poorly attended, was, I am glad to hear, a Bnanoial as well as a racing success, thr balance being abont iJIOO on the right side Mr. Butler's Marlborough seems to have a lilting for this coarse. At the Summer moeting he appropriated the principal event, and this timo, although he miesod the Autnmn Handicap, ha won the Flying and the To Aro Handicap liko a racehorse. He is a little bnll-dog this hod of St. George and Farewell, for he ran his third race a» well as his first, and although he baß dono a very heavy season's woik he looked as fresh and lively as a kitten. A great number, among thorn Mr. Butler, are of opinion that if Marlborough bad kept with Escapade for the drat mile in the big nice, he would have beaten Mr. Keith's gelding. lam not of this opinion. Esoapade there is no doubt, whon in tho humour, is a wonderfully fast hone, and can stay a bit as well, as he proved by leaving his field at tho finish after they had all but caught him in the straight. That he is not to to depended op, judging from his wretched running at Now_ Plymouth since, is equally dear. It will be observed that after cutting out the mile and a half in 2.40 at Island Bay (or 2 37}, as Mr. Kohn made it), ho gots beaten by Wanda at Now Plymouthin2.sl. Of course, in the latter rice ho had hie weight-f or-age, 9at , up, and it is just posßiblo he is a horse that cannot carry weight, but making all possible allowance*, tho form is very contradiotory. Mr. Keith must have about won tho Te Aro Handioap with Dudu bad he pulled her out for it,_ but he was afraid of the hard ground " cooking" her for New Plymouth. The stewards, it appears, were satisfied with Gillott's explanation of his ridiug of Fabrication in tio Local Handicap. All I can say on the Babjoot is that thoso who lost their money are anything but satisfied. Giriri I oonfoss puzzloH me altogether. She looked well and Sailed up bettor a good deal than she usually oes, and yet hor form was fully a stone bilow what she Hhowod us last season, and 97en at the beginning of this. Although I did not hack Cupid, I was not surprised to soo him win, as be has more than once abowod that he can raco, and on the present oocaiion he was as nicely handiovpped as his owner could wish. Old Kangaroo must have lost a lot of his pane, or ho Hiiroly would have been noarer at the finish than he was. In tho Hnrdle Race Orion t uml Gentry again ran a gcod second, si that tho genial Fred's antumn visit to Wellington has not been quite so profitable as his summer visit was, when he won two out of three races on Jim. Promotion's win was a surprise to many who did not know tho horse, but those who did kept him on the right side, which was the reason that he did not pay a very large dividend. Now that we have seen him viotorioui over good-olass horses, I suppose we shall not again see him figuring in haok rnqes, in which ho has been a perfeot mine of wealth to his owner, Mr. Powell. The Gem aftor disappointing her adherents in four or five raoeß, flopped up "at last in the Consolation Handioap, in which' she paid those who stuck to her right right through the substantial dividend of £8 3s. I must say I myself thought the handioap a good thing for Wakatipu, who, as it turned out, could gat no nearer than second place. The Napier mare, Mias Dargon, instead of boing slipped for tho Flying and Te Aro Handicaps, as most people expected to sod, was scratched for the former in order to _cop her fresh for the big money. Her party, by this polioy, I think, sacrificed tho substanoe to aim at the shadow. A good deal has been said about Mr. Pollock's starting. Now, without constituting myself that gentleman's apologist, I must say that, in my opinion, the starts— in tho Flying nnd the Autumn Handicaps wore more the result of bad luok than bad management. "When tho flag fell in both cases the horses were pretty well together, but direotly tho raoea began, the competitors spread a great deal— tho result, I believe, of unpreparedness on tho part of onepr two of the" jockoys. Mr. Follook was certainly not so successful ai he was at the last meeting. •.• ¦ Until Tamora showed her form at the Auckland meeting at Easter Dudu looked to have a "soft" thing in tho Tarauaki Jockey Club Handicap, but when Mr Wright's mare ran np seoond in the Easta Handicap and followed this up by beating ¦ Silence, Sextant and a good field in tho Antumn Handicap, it was patent that wiji,. only Cst 101b, including hor 31bs penalty, f ,', ( onght to beat a 3-year-old who wa-j ' i ceding hor 161hs and the year. As I have oeei. t asked by several what Tfttnora's three-year-old, doings were, I append them :— Tamora .started 21 times last season and soored six ' wins, viz., the Maiden Plate at Onehunga, the Maiden Plato at Otahnhu Summer, and the Maiden Plate at Otahuhu Autumn Meetins; (a singular 1 reoord this), the Stewards' Handioap at the Auokland Autumn Meeting (in which she beat Cinderella, Turquoise, and other good, ones, and paid a dividend of .£22 19s). the Autumn Handioap at Takapuna, and the Holonsvjlle Cup- Handicap. Tho Flying Stakes at New Plymouth, which .many people expeotod to see fall to Escapade, proved another good thing for Cinderella. I hear that Dan Twohill, her owner( is also part owner of Tamora. If this is so, Dan must be having a good time of it at present. At the Elesmere mooting on Tuesday last I notice the Hurdlo Rnoe was won by Mr. E. S. B. Boll's Forest King, by Totara—TComoriko, who paid the nice dividend «/ £] .1'" I presume the winner is our old friend Forest King, once the property of Mr. J. Leopold, in whose name ho won several hurdlo races last season. > I record with regret the faot that Alox, Suthorland, one of the few really good jockeys in New Zealand, is about to 'leave tho colony, and try his fortunes in the land of the Stars and Stripes. Throughout a rnoin? career of nearly twenty years Sutherland has been so intimately connected with the principal North Island stables that his departure may be fittingly mode the occasion of a brief review of his performances in the pigskin. He served his apprenticeship with the veteran owner and breeder, Mr. W. Walters, of Auckland, whose service ho entered in 1869 at tho age of 14. Profiting by the able tuition of H. Frenoh, who was his employer's head man, ho soon beoame the light-woight of the stable, and one of his earliest mounts was on Yatterina (ainco famous as the dam of Matchlock and Kingfish), then a 3-yoar-old. In 1871 ho went to Sydnoy, and took service with Mr. Lamont, for one of whoso partners, Mr. Bassett,' ho won tho first race rnn on the Hawkesbury course— the Trial Stakes — with The Prophet. Aftor remaining in Australia three months he came baok to Auckland, and was at onoeengagodby Mr. Walters fo' ride Yatterina in the race whioh at that time correspbndod to the present Auckland Cup, which he won, after a slashing finish, by a short head from the famous mare Calumny. ¦ He was then for some time in the jjervioe of Messrs. Bedwood and Watt at Kohimarama, and in the triumphs of those good animals Hatred, Kakapo, and Batter his name often orops up. On Hatred ho rode a capital second to Castaway in tho Wellington Cnp. In 1874 he took Culumny to Melbourne from Auoklaud— Lurline and Papapa at same time going there from Christohuroh. Three months later he brought baok Papapa, bnt returned at onoe to Sydney, where for nearly a year he was in the employ of Mr. Fennolly, on leaving whom he settled down as a trainer on his own aooonnt in New England. Again taking to riding, we next -hear pf him in the servioe of the Hon. Joßhua .Peter Bell, of Brißbane, for whom he won the Queensland Derby on Whisker. During the next ,few years, his employers were Mr. Bnndook, of the Clarence, and Mr. T. H. Smith, the breeder of Sunlight, Janitor, and other good ones, and Mr. Brown, for whom he rode a whole lot of winners. His ' greatest success about this time was when he had charge of The Barber for Mr. Brown. With this horse he won ten races.out of 14, including the Hawkesbury Handicap of 1880, for whioh Falmouth wa9 a great favourite. On The Barber, in 1881, he ran fonrth in the Sydney Cup, won by Progress. Soon after this he returned to New Zealand, and as he oould still scale well under 7st 71b, and was now favourably known as a 000 l and determined rider, he was at once in good request. His career sinoe that time has been uniformly ' successful, and having - high character for reliableness and integrity, he has seldom had to stand down at tho best meetings. Dnring 1884-5 and 1885-6 Mr. J. Marshall had the first oall on 'his services. For this 'gentleman in 1884-5 be rode Thunderbolt throughout his invincible 2-year-old carcor, and Neoklace in several races. But his greatest triumphs were in 1865-6, in which joar. he was returned at tho head of the 1 winning jookeys of New Zealand. Among his victories that season were the Dunedin Jockey Club Handioap and Forbury Handioap with Neoklaoe, the Tarauaki Jockey Club Handicap with Victoria (he had won this race the year before with Turquoise), the Wellington JBaoing Club Handicap on Pasha, the Bailway Stakes and Tradesmen's Handioap at Napier with Neoklaoe, Ac., -to. It was this season, too, that on Necklace, who had never before been known as a stayer, ho.stretobed the neok of the mighty Nelson ip tho Dunedin Cup, whioh race fie would probably have added to his list of victories hod he not been dosed in on at tho finish by the winner so palpably that ho urgently asked Mr. Marshall to enter a protest. For Mr. Tanored, "Mr. Bate," Mr. T. H. Hill, Mr. Hoskins, and numerous other owners, Sutherland has ridden successfully. Although now a man of BJ, he c»n still go to scale at abont 7st 91b, whioh weight he is likely to remain at. With great strength for his size he unites "good hands" and a thorough knowledge of pace, while in a set-to at a oloso finish his energy and dash are quite first-class. His numorons friond* in New Zealand and Australia will join with me in wishing him prosperity in his now sphere. The Hon. E. Mitchelson seems destined to have bad luok with his horsos. Egcutoheon whioh was brought over from Australia on purpose to rnn in the Northern St. Leger had to be struck but a day or two before the race, having «one amiss. The well- known racing mare Viotona broke her fetlock Joint while doing a gallop with Bangle at Ellerslie, on the 30th. ult. The aooident will, of course, necessitate her retirement from racing. The third and final forfeit, was deolared just before the last mail left England, for the Eolipse Stakes, which is to be run at Sandown Park next July, and every horse now left in will havd to pay 110 guineas. The race bids fait to be ono of the most interesting of the year, and it will no doubt exoite extensive speculation. Among the possible starters are Merry Hampton (101b ex.). Juggler (71b ex.). Enterprise (71b ex.), Florentine (71b ex.), Hazlehatch (71b ex.), Tho Baron (71b ex.), Martley (4lb ex.), Estafette. Disappointment, Nina (41b extra), Bhoda, Kilwarline (101b extra), Jfiiridgpord (71b ex.), HeMse (71b ex.), Her Majesty (41b ex.), Krakatoa (41b ex.), Love in Idleness, Ossory (41b ex.), and Orbit (41b ex.) Several animals are left in betides the above, whioh oan have no possible chance under any oiroumstanoes. The prospects of threo-fourtha of the probable competitors

will have been protty well discounted by the time that Ascot is over, but there ought to bo a largo field, as it simply moans taking £10,000 to llOgs against winning, and ,£SOO to UOfrs against being fiocond, and tho stake is p.p. Tho Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase winner Playfair belongs to Mr. E. W. Baird. He carried the lenient import of lOit 111). Hp is by Rippondon, out of a halfbrod mare by Rattlebones — Drayton. In February last year tho horse was bought by his present owner for 560 guineas, at Tatterstill s. Frigate, the second horee, was only occasionally quoted when the laat mail left ; bnt Ballot Box, who ran third, was being backed at 100 to 9. Trenton has been purchased for Mr. Andrew Town. Our Amerioan cousins do everything in a 'big way, bnt I donbt (says " Augur," in tho Australasian) if anything will come of the latest " gag," which is that Mr. Jerome is going to make a mile and a half straightaway track, over which be will run an annual race of 25,000 dollars. The grand stand is to be 1000 ft long, movable on wheels, and for the great race it will be filled at the 'starting post and drawn by looomotives to the finishing post, thns enabling the spectators to see the entire race from start to finish. This must bo a Yankee joke. The Australian hr.rulo - racer Sultan changed hnnds previor.s to starting at Hnrlingham Park yesterday. It is said he goes to New Zealand^