SPORT AND PASTIME. The Turf,

[Br Locuiel.] * RACING FIXTURES. , June 3, 8, and 11 — Auckland R.C. Great Northern Steeplechase Meeting. June 22 and 23 — Hawkcs Bay J.O. Winter. Juno 28 and 29— Napier Park R.C. Winter. July 7 and B— Qisborno R.C. Steeple* chase. ' July 13 and 14— Wellington Winter Meeting. August 16, 18, and 20— Canterbury Grand National Mooting. Investors had a rather difficult task in picking winners at the first day's races of the Otaki meeting. Only in two events out of the seven on the programme did the favourites get home. Shrapnel Shell's rnnniug in the Otaki Cup yesterday was disappointing, particularly after his recent display at Wauganui. The Son-of-a-Gun gelding was heavily supported ou the machine, but he was only prominent in the first stages of the raco. He was withdrawn from tho Rangiuru Handicap later in the day. Waimoo's victory in the big event came as a surprise to many. Tho son of Sompus was looking particularly well, nnd when he onoo got his head ho made it dear that he was , not taking many chances. For some distance he nan on even terms with Capulet, eventually finishing a fairly easy winner. Regulation made a good race for third place. Good Intent never appeared at all conspicuous throughout the race. In two of the iracesi — tho Flying Handicap and Birthday Welter — at tho Otaki Meeting yesterday, the fields were unusually large. Sixteen sported silk in tho' former, and fifteen in tho latter. Both events furnished interesting finu»hes. In fact, so cloge were the placed' horses in the Flying that the public was a long time in doubt as to which hod run into second place, and there were calls for both Tomantngi and Scrapkon Jack (nob by -any means a euphonious-sounding nnmo). Tho Judge's verdict, howevor, went in favour of Mr. Thomson's inaio.

Pnrkshot, who won tho race, is owned by Mr. F. Stohr, of Ntvw riymoulh, and i> by Sylvia Park out of Armshot. The golding is well set up, and run gamely. He sUii'ted again in the Birthday Ilandic&p, with 9.3 on his back, buL was unable to jjel a situation, lnglewood, wiio paid a bit; dividend in the Couolly Ilundicwp a.t Wauganui, belongs to the same owner, and is by the same eire n.s l'arkshot. Yesterday lnglewood compe4.c<l in the Cup, but only managed to get into fourth place. The Quesser fenced well at Otaki yesteiJay. Ho looked in good condition, and his miming furnished ample proof I hat he was. The Dauber and Valkyrie wore, also in good jumping form. Kepleto was expectod to account for the Maugiuru Handicap at OUkki yesterday. He got away wo 11, but did not at any part of the race look dangerous. Narcotic* sWeoping finish aroused the enthusiasm of the spectators. Lindsay judged his time well, and just at tho dintanco gavo the Letuo gelding a cull. Tho latter' responded, Hplendidly, and won an exciting race with something in ; hand. Gliola, who won Uio Maiden av«nt, wan something of a surprise packet. Tho chanccß of Alhol Biose, ; tho top weight, were greatly fancied, ] and he was made a warm favourite. Ho . however, had to bo content with running ; second to Ohola. The natives seemed to. ] have got the filly's strength, and great , was their rejoicing when she passed the • post at the head of the field. , A high compliment was paid Mr. Q. , G. Stead, Chairman of tho Canterbury Jockey Club, at the annual meeting just j held. Mr. F. H. Pyno, in proposing a | vote of thanks, said that it was necessnry to bo on the committee in order to \ have tho faintest idea of the valuable work that had been done for tho club i by the Chairman during the past year — (applause) — and ho was perfectly certain that had it not been for Mr. btead the affairs of the club w.ould not have been ; carried on as successfully aa they had i been. (Hear, hear.) He sincerely hoped that the vote would not bo a more i formal one, but that it jvould bo put on record what a great debt of gratitude tho club was under to Mr. Stead. Tn tho course of his reply Mr. Stead said ! it would bo a mistake if it were to go forth that ho was Uio only, member of tho committee that had worked in the interests of the club, for he had never in ; his lifo worked with more . enthusiastic colleagues than those who had been working with him, at any rate during the last twenty years, and pai-ticularly during tho last twelve months, whon tho recent largo improvements were being car- i ried out. Entries for the New Zealand Cup closo on Monday evening. It is reported that Mr. Stead intends to send a team of horses to Australia in tho spring. A southern writer, who is in a position to know, says the rumour is somewhat prc«inturo. Mr. Stead has j throb colt* — Rubia, Golden Knight, and Carcault-^-engaged in the Australian ' Jockey Clubs meeting, but tho form t shown by the»o up to tho present is not r sufficient, it is said, to make tho owner look upon the trip ns a certainty. According to a Ohristchurch pnper, Mr. ' James Jofts, owner of Pelrovna, lias \ written to tho Canterbury Jockey Olub, 5 formally claiming tho Make* in the Criterion Handicap, won by Bagpipes last November, on the ground that tho appeal • judges in the Gtadnomo case decided that ] P. D. Jones — who wa^ on Itaguipeit — m*«s r not qualified to rido. It will oc evident tliat a ca«o somewhat similar to the ' Gladsome business will shortly conic be- j fore tho official tribunal. ' Rostflhoot was under offer to an Auckland owner for 400 guineas, with hio r Wanganui and Auckland engagements, t with tho contingency that in tho event ' of hin winning either the Century Hur- ' die Roeo or Great Northern Hurdlo Race * £100 should bo paid out of each. The < offer was nob accepted. ! The committee of tho Nelson Jockey Club, in its annual report, presented at I the meeting held this week, congratulated ' tho membow on the satisfactory financial ' position of the club. The committee had ' groat difficulty in gotting suitable dates < for tho race meeting, and for the fiivt i time an earlier dato than April waft tried, < and as far as nominations and acceptances | were concerned, was a great success, the i sum of £196 lx>ing taken, as agninst £156 for tho 1903 meeting. There was a I very slight falling off in tho attendance, i caused no doubt by tlie meeting being 1 hold so soon after tho Christmim holi- t days. Although the stakes wore incrcoa- < cd by £50, the Club showed a fair profit ' on the year's transactions. Members i would be pleased to learn that the small 1 sum of £10 10s only was outstanding on i account of nominations and acceptances, i The club had now on fixed deposit £400, j and £51 17s 4d to current account, tho < total aasots bbing £497 18s 6d. The following is tho list of winning owners at tho recent Wanganui Meeting : ( Messrs. M'Manemtn and Daviea, £350: , Mr. E. J. Watt, £250; Mr. J. F. Stohr, £250; Mr. Thos. Scotf, £170; Mr. W. , Smart', £140; Mr. A. J. Kidd, £!l2b; , Mr. Hikaka, £110; Dr. T. L. Paget, , £105; Mr. William Davieii, £90; Mr7J ' Horlo, £80; Mr. R. C4oo«eman, £75; Mr. > John Green, £70; Mr. 11. Jeffrey, £60; Messrs. Davidson and Elliot, £40; Mr. Wire Topena, £35; Mr. Sanniel Brown, £30; Messrs. Diron and Welch, £20; Mr. W. L. Thomson, £20; Mr. Ross Allan, £15; Mr. O. George, £15; Mr. F. Armstrong, £16; Mr. R. M'Miken, £15; Mr. F. H. Lambert, £10; Mr. Walter G. Jones, £10; Mr. Georgo Chamberlain, £10. ' Somo interesting facts illustrating the growth of the Canterbury Jockey Club were given by the Chairman (Mr/ G. G. Stead) at tho annual meeting. Mombors were aware, he said, that tho November Meeting would complete the tho jiibileo of tho club. The club was formed in November, 1854, and held its first raco nkoting in March, 1855, when the stakes totalled £175. Since that time tho amount of stakes paid had, roughly speaking, doubled every seven years, until they amounted in the last year to a total of £20,250, and the Commktoo contemplated increasing tho total in the coming* year to something like £23,000. It was proposwd to use special efforts to make tho Jubilee Meeting in Novembor particularly attractive. Tho outgoing Committco had drafted a piogramnio for tho Novembor Meeting, which they recommended to tho new Committee, and ■which made provision for an increase of about £1500 in stakes, or say from £10,250, which was distributed last November, to nearly £12,000 for tbo coming November. The St. Frusqutn — Lady Loverulo colt, St. Amant, hns added to his laurels by winning tho Englinh Derby. The win, judging from tho brief cablo messago published, was an easy ono, and came some* tfliat as a surprise. It was expected from the betting prices sent out prior to tho race that tho French sportsman, M. Edmond Blanc, had a strong claim on the race with Gouvornaut, ono of the first of Flying Fox's, got, but anticipations have not been roali*>cd, and tho great prize has been won by Mr. Leopold do Rothschild's representative. St. Anmnt is evidently remarkably swift, for ho ran the mile in tho Two Thousand Guineas, which he won in a canter, in lmin 38 2-ssec, but he is a hone that does not seem to tnke too kindly to racing. In tho Newmarket Biennial Stakes, run on tho 12th April, ho is reported to have run nil right for six furlongs, by which time «11 his opponents, except ITis Majesty, were beaten, but when asked to go out and tncklo Lord Derby's coll he declined. What St. Amant did instead was to open his mouth. »nA made for ih» lee of the

jockey on His M.ijtisty. For the last inrlong his one aim, according to a writoi in tho London iSportfunan, bcemcd to be 1 to t.iice a piece out o£ t,lio jockey's thigh. After his exhibition on that occasion, it . was decided to put bluikeis on him in the' Two Thousand Guinciis. The present is tho first time Mr. Leopold do Rothschild has won tho Dei by. Last year Sir J. Antler's colt Rock Sand, by Sainfoin, furninhed tho winner, out of tseven stail«is, and in the year before Afd Patrick, by St. Floiian, and owned by Mr. W. C. Whitney, passed the winning post in front of suvenlcei; other competitors. Other winners in reoent years have been Volodyovski, Diamoud Jubileo, Flying Fox, Jedddh, Gultee M<>ro, Persimmon, Sir Visto, l*adus, ißingliuM, ISir lingo, Common, Raanfoin, Donovan, Ayrshire, Merry Hampton, Ormonde, Motion and llaivfslor. Some good prices' were realised nt the sole of the ntcing stud of tho late Sir J. Blundoll Mup'.o, held 1 at Now market on 13th and 14th April, tho total amount realised befog 36,425 ruinous for 50 home*. Tim U>]> prico. 4600 gunie.'is, was given by Capthin Forester, for the stoutly bred filly Queen's Holiday, by R-oyal Hampton from Cimiez, by St. ■ Simon. Mr. AY. T. Robinhon secured tho , three-year-old colt Nowi»boy, by Common, from Qarmaino, by Barcaldine for 3500 guinea*), and tho Inroe-year-okl fi'.ly Nun Superior, by Persimmon from Priestess, by Hermit, went to tho bid of Mr. G. Fojjer for 3100 guineas. Mr. F. Lambton gave 1900 guineas for tho live-year- ; old ihorse Nabob, by tho Fiench horse ' lie Saucy from tho Galopin mare Nighlan ; Mr. S. B. Jool got the three-your-old filly Divorco Court, by Common or Hawkawick from tho Hermit nwre Schism, for 600 guineas ; Mr. C. Perkins I paid 1000 guineas for the two-year-old oolto Tho Tsar, by Royal Hampton from thn Doncastcr mure Kosarkin ; and dso gave 1050 guineas for tho two-year-old half-brother to Nun Superior ; tho fivo-yenr-old inaro Simony, by Common from Simons Bay, by St. <feimon, brought 2500 guineas, the bid of Lord Charles Monla- ' guc ; Count Lohndorf paid 980 guineas for tho four-year-old Girton Girl, by Royal Hampton fr»m Lady Wrangler; tho two-ywu'-old fi'.ly by Royal Hampton from Galloping Lass brought 1400 guineas, the bid of Mr. William Bass ; and Mr. Leopold de Rollischind (the owner of this year's Derby winner) tjot the five-year-old gelding Bo\wrv, by Common from Rosamondo, for 900 guineas.