TALK OF THE DAY.

BY MAZEPPA.

*}}* Attention is directed to a sale of Ameri-can-bred trotting stallions to take place in Auckland on September 8. Details ara set forth in our Auckland letter. These horses are standard-bred, and as they arrived in nice time for the covering season they should readily find purchasers.

*%* Mr Andrew Boattie, of Clyde, announces that bis stallion Marmion will this season travel the Dunsfcan, Lauder, Cromwell, and Blackstone Hill cVstricts. This horse is by Sir Garnet from Flower Girl. He is s>x ye?.r3 of age, therefore in his prime, and another recommendation is that he has taken four first •pv'izcs in the show ring. Sir Garnet we knew as a stylish racer, and a good specimen of the Yattendcii family. He is sire of that really useful horse Wolseley, winner of the Anniversary Handicap at Dunedin last season.

*** Congratulations to Secretary Wood, of South Canterbury, oh the fine list of nominations he has secured for the Spring meeting of his club, to be held on the 13th and 14lh of next month. For the whole batch of handicaps the total is 192, as against 150 for the same number of races a year ago, and the increase is ascribable not to a rush of second-raters as candidates for the minor and short-distance events, but to an all-round swelling of numbers, noticeable chiefly in the Cup and the leading handicaps on the second day, the nominations for these events being 19 and 27 this year, as against 12 and 16 last year, while the presence of quality ig shown by the fact that the Cup candidates include 10 that have paid up for the

There is every prospect of a good meeting, and I am glad to see Dunedin fairly represented in the nomination?. '

*#* Provided Mr Dowses handicaps are up to the mark — and on this point I feel no fear, as friend Geocdie has atnple stores of knowledge in reserve and tbc wit to use them— we should sea some interesting trials at the Otago Hunt Club meeting on the Bth of next month./ Eight of the New Zealand Cup acceptors are engaged in the Kensington Handicap, besides half a dozen others, anyone of whom may win under favourable cond'tions ; and there is a capital representation of sprinters in the Shorts. I did expect to find a few more jumpers engaged, but there is the satisfaction of klßwing that if owners have been thrifty in undertaking liabilities there is tbe compensating assurance that the hor-es they have nominated are able to jump and also to race. Mr Sydney James will, I believe, have the pleasure of pre- j sonling a pleasant day's amusement on the Bth i if the weather is fine. The handicaps are due to-morrow. I

* # * The Tinwald Harriers' Club held a race meeting last week, the gatheringbeing arranged by Mr Buckley, master of the hounds, as a compliment to the farmers who had allowed the club to use their land for hunting purposes during the season. Six events were got off in the presence of a fair representation of settlers, and the rue was fairish fields, there being altogether 46 starters,- among them a few horses tfaat have aspired (o honours on metropolitan courses— as, for instance, Chance, Kilmarnook, Cheshunt, Justice, and Patch. The last-named, who wa* purchased by Mr Grigg after winning the Bracelet ou the second day of the National meeting, finished second in the Farmers' Handicap, being beaten by Manila, who once in Dnnedin was by mistake backed for a race at Ashburton and paid a thumping dividend. Justice won her race, the Welter Steeplechase, and Chance got home in the Welter Handicap on the flat, while Mr Dalton'a Cromwell won the Farmers' Hack Hurdles, Miss O'Reilly's Village Maid the Ladies' Bracelet, and Mr Claridge's Will-if-I-can the Light-weight Steeplechase. The sport proved to-be interesting.

*#* Sydenham, th^ most populous suburb of Chrhtchurch, ha 9 been the theatre of a little discussion as between Tho Church and The Turf, and the latter has the best of it in tho meantime. A proposal waa made to the borough council by the Lancaster Park Amateur Trotting Club to rent Sydenham Park for four dayi in each year for trotting purposes. Rent to the amount of £200 was <o be paid in advanco, this money to be applied in forming a track and erecting a stand, and the negotiations were ripening fa>>t when a petition against the sehemo made its appearance at the council table. It was supported by a deputation representing the protestors. The Rfcy. W. G. Par&ousou, who acted as spokesman,, is roporte.L as presenting his argument in a plain common-sense manner. This might have been expected. Tho reverend gentleman was for years clergyman of a South Dunedin church and he was never known to be offeusivo towatda racing men. Two of his professional brethren who accompanied him on the deputation were not, however, so particular. They characterised trotting as a degrading sport. And one of the councillors who supported the petition, a Mr Taylor— not our old friend Martin, we may be sure — went one bcttec in invective, saying that trotting was a blackguardly sport from beginning to end. Notwithstanding these opinions the council quietly shelved tho question, by eight votes to four.

*** This matter is in itself a trumpery one, and, being disposed of, there is no call to discuss the special questions raised. But it is a matter ot concern to tt.o spoiling world at large that attacks of this sor6 should be perpetually made upon racing. r X hey are unfair, because their basis is misrepresentation. They are unwise, because they invite reprisals in kind, and some day we may find the weapons now employed against racing used to the confusion of the inventors. Does anyone quarrel with me for saying that the attacks on racing are founded on misrepresentation ? If so, I refer for justification to the recent impertyient attacks upon Lord Rosebery and to the perpetually recurring denunciations of local Jeremiahs. It is the common practice of those who denounce the turf to use the language of exaggeration, and to drag in by the heels, for illustrative purposes, tales which have no application to existing arrangements ; hence it is fhat for the most part horsoy men let the vain ragings pass harmlessly over their heads, doubliul whether it is themselves or the people- in tho next country who are being fired at. And a'l tho while our friends the clergymen arc probably wondering why their assau'ts have no effect. I will tell them how this is. It is because they don't know what they are up to. Thfty have an idea that there is an enemy to be fought, and they sally forth to meet him, but for lack of proper guidance as to facts they fail to locate the i'oe, and rush into a valley inhabited by ghosts. If the clergy will take tho trouble to get a fair idea of the position, and come and lend a hand to attack whftt evil still remains in connection with horse-racing, they will bo made welcome, and I can promise them that a thorough and exhaustive search into the verities will convince them that the game is neither degrading nor blackguardly. Degraded men and blackguards there are, more's tho pity, among those who patronise horse-racing. Do no such persons go to the churches ? If not, why nob ? Has the Church forgotten that the servants of the king who made a marriage for his son, when sent forth for guests, gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good?

*#* Megaphone, who is to be introduced to New Zealand as a stud horse, is a boy hors ? bred in Queensland in 1887, got by New bold from Sound, by imported The Drummer from Beatrice, by imported Pitsford from Lucretia, by St. John. Here the pedigree runs out, as Lucretia is not a Stud Book marc, her dam being unknown. On the other side of the table we have imported Kelpie a? a sire of ISfewboJd, and Dora as his dam. Dora is by Sir Hercules from Old Dora, by Bury's Camel from Annette, by imported Toss. It is a stout pedigree that Megaphone shows, and if prejudiced in some respects by the blank at the foot of the table, there is ample amends in the fact that the horae himself is a great performer. It may bs said of him as Napoleon remarked of himself, " I am my own ancestry." Some of the most useful horses ever seen in New Zealand have had a defect in regard to pedigree. Templeton was a case in point ; likewise Guy Fawkes and Fishhook and that great family from which Gossip and Calumny and Slanderer and Gipsy King and Manton sprang. The American*, sticklera as they are for unspotted purity of lineage, would turn up their noses at Megaphone. New Zealand wjill welcome him and count his deeds and his conformation the more valuable warranty. I speak of his conformation in the belief that he i 9 a flne^looking upstanding horse, as always dcI jctibed.'^ As to his pfcrjormafices, &&$ we un»

doubtedly first class. His first win was in the Tyro Stakes at the Brisbane Hunt- Club meeting after a dead heat with Eleanor, to whom ho was conceding 291b, nnd before bis two-year-old season was oub Megaphone had coma to tho very front rank by wins that included the Queenoland Champagne Stakes and a* couple of sires' produce stakes, besides giving Greygown weight and a beating at a mile a-quarter and winding up the season with a peculiarly meritorious success in a handicap tti tb.3 same distance with 9.12 on his back ! As a three-year-old Mr Brown's horse won the Hawkesbury Handicap, divided Carbine and Cuirassier in tho A.J.C. Craven Plate, won the Plying Stakes, Royal Park Stakes, and Canterbury Plato at Flemington, and in the autumn captured the Loch Plate. Then, as a four-year-old he defeated Melos, the Champion winner, in the Randwick Plate. Out of his 43 starts he has been placed no fewer than. 31 times, and since attaining his third year he has always gone for the most select company. A horse of this sort is worth importing to our colony. His blood, too, is of a strain that; will cross with lots of our mares. The Kelpie in- . fusion, to which wo are indebted for Norton, is none too plentiful, and we can stand us mucb - as is likely to come of The Drummer cross especially since Bluefire has walked to tho ■ front. She is a granddaughter of The Drum- i met.

*** An account of a race meeting held al Teheran nnder the auspices of the Persian Jockey Club is supplied to a Home paper. The cord contained five events, says the writer, and in each race from ten to a dozen horses competed, moit of them being. Arabs and Turcomans. Tho second race was 10 miles long, tha third eight miles, the fourth six milos, and the last four miles. The winning horses covered thi distances in 22min 51sec, 18min 17see, 13mig 29sec, and Bmiu 53sec respectively. The firsb anp most important raca was the Persian Derby, run over a course 11 miles seven furlongs in length. Great interest had beea excited in ail circles from the day when it became known that an English official bad entered one of his torses for the race, and had secured the services of a trainer and jockey hailiug from Newmarket. The Teherau racecourse is almost a' complete circle in shape. Ifc is enclosed by two mud walls in place of pests and rails. Nob a" blade of grass or a scrap of turf relieves the hard, in some places shingly, character of the ground. Boys between 12 and 14 years of age are usually employed a? rittora by tho Persians.' In this Derby the custom was followed, and tho English jockey in spick-and-span new regulation attire miglt "well ba excused for looking down with ineffable contempt upon his loosetrousered and baggy-tunicked brethren in the paddock. Our horso was much fancied by all the members of the European community, ghd they had backed him heavily, but he was hopelessly beaten and pulled up soon after completing the seventh mile. In the final struggle a desperate set-to between a small Arab and a magnificent bJack Turcoman resulted in tha victory of the former by a short head. Time. 26rain 19sec, which was certainly a very credit^ able performance. How the Persians laughed at us! Oto of them said: "The English do not understand horses. If they wish to race, let them get a Persian to train and ridefo£ them." Others graciously remarked: "Do* not be vexed. The fame man cannot do all ' things well. The English can ride in ships, l though they are unGttcd for horsebick." -l

*** A coup!e of valuable states were- in« eluded in the programme presented at San-" down Park at the end of June, and, as will be seen by the report, tho favourite went down in each case. Dr Talmage, the defeated one in the British Dominion Stakes, cams through the ordeal undisgraced, as, though carrying a heavy penalty, he found only one to beat him. The other feilow, Canning, was tile first to col* lapse in the mile and a furlong handicap. The Newmarket Handicap meeting followed, and here on the first day backers did well by select^ , ing ;Ktrkconell for the old-pstablished July ; Stakes, which has been" won in past years by \ such fleet horses as Buccaneer, Achievement, f Hannah, Bal Gal, Kermesso, Macheath, Queen Adelaide, Enterprise, Friar's Balsam, and ' Donovan. '.The .form of Kirkconell at Ascot pointed to this colfc as good goods, end he gavo , no chances away, setting a sound pace from tho' <. jump off and winning all the way. On the' third day of'the meeting the valuable Princess , of Wales's Stakes, run for the first time, came f up for dicision. There mre only seven, f starters, but cl«ss was very highly represented.' - We have already heard of the result by cable — ' viz., that Isinglass won and Ladas met his^rsfc defeat, being placed third. What we did nofc know until now was how tho cracks met in respect to weight. Ittranspires that IsiDglasshad. V 10.3 and Ladas 9.5. The latter was a strong f favourite at nearly 2to 1 on. Ravonsbury, who, ' had shown such smart form at Ascot, was next' in demand at 8 to 1, while at a slight extension 1 " of price Isinglass received considerable sup- . port. The last-named was making a first show since his defeat in the Lancashire Plate by 1 Eaeburn last November, this race having been 1 chosen for him in preference to waiting for the j Eclipse Stakes. The contest was watched with j the greatest interest, and, to the surprise of ' the backers of the favourite (who was reckoned ' by his trainer to have come on since tbe Derby), " he was badly beaten 150 yards from home by-! both Isinglass and Bullingdon. The lattec tackled Mr M'Calmont's colt in the most reso- 1 ") lute fashion, and it was only by a head that , the valuable stake went to Bedford Cott^ge.'j Based by Watts when his chance was extin-'; guished, Ladas finished third, three lengths from Bullingdon. If the display of Lord Rose-j bery's colfc came somewhat as a surprise, the battle between the first and second was worthy ■ " of the occasion, and the Princess of Wales's I Stakes was inaugurated by a very notable con*' ] test. The Bunbury Mile, over which the race .' was run, was covered by Isinglass in lmin , 48§sec.

•a*);. The special commissioner of the Sports* man, commenting on this result, says that Ladas looked well before the race, and no one! breathed a suspicion of his not being fit till the struggle was over. And he was sound when' pulled up after the race. I must say, observes this writer, that while watching the race Ladas never looked to me like a winner. At no period of the race was he travelling with his 1 accustomed dash. Long before they reachedthe foot of the hill I assured my friends that he was beaten, and he fainted away to* nothing all the way up the hill, or rather, I should say^ never made the semblance of an effort. Isinglass, meanwhile, with the whip goinghard,' was struggling on and on, but Bullingdoh came up the hill as if he fully relished the task, and" he would certainly have won had the race bee» ) a stride or two further. I understand he wa! somewhat interfered with. Raeburn was almost tailed off. The time was lmin 48$ sec, and there are good polo ponies who could do iij faster. Now, consider this thing dispassiofi^ ately. The despised Bullingdon very nearly, wins ; Raeburn, who is certainly well and i£( form, is, to George Dawson's amazement, la'sfc^ of all. fcadas, -the ti&defeajtfd, xsver_reaUy

makes a show. Whafc does ii mean P Why, that the race was about a* falsely ran as is possible, and tbe time is a true test in this case. The record time for a mile is lmin 35£6 ec, j and tbe distance has often been done in less !hnu liom iQtcc in ih;s counfciy. Some people j thought they ran fast to-day. In point of tact, tbey ran dead Blow, and whenever such a thing happens with horses of various cal'bres of spctd and stamina, a false result is certain, llimul be added in favour of Isinglass that such an indomitable stayer, lacking a trifle of dash, would have been better served by- a true run race. As to Ladat, I advise my readers on no account to drop him because of this defeat. A week or two's rest and he will likely enough be himself again, and for my part Ido not hesitate to say right here, as our American friends phrase it, that I fully expect him to win the Leger.

*** Several fore : gn bidders were at ths ringside at the break-up sale of her Majesty's stud on July 1, and on the %hole very good prices were obtained. The yearlings realised 5640g5, showing an average of 201£g-?, while the total for the 76 lots disposed of wai 23,070g5, top figure beiDg obtained for Wedlock (the dam of Best Man), who, with a colt foal by St. Simon, was taken by B»ron de Hirsch for 4600g5. Sanda (the dan: of the Derby winner, Sainfoin), with^a colt foal by Bend Or, was knocked down for 2000gs to Sir J. Miller, and Sir J. Blu'ndell Maple gave just half thai; sum for Recovery, a!so with a colt foal by Bend Or. Of the yearlings, the filly by Bend Or out of Lucienoes became the property of Mr Arthur -James at 1050gs, and the stallion Hambledon went to Sir W. Tkrockmort'.u for 220gs.

* # * Messrs TatteriaU proceeded nrxt day to j the disposal of the Sefton Sturl, ths property of ■ thelateMr 4< AbiDgton"Baire!. Spirited bidding ; was the rule, and the total r. suit was 42,355g5. Mr M'Calmont had offered 10,000gs forthe yearling*, and they made 11,770g5, so it was a case of somewhat close valuing. The highest price reached wan 4100gs, given by Sir J. Miller for Roquebrune, a yearling by St. Simon from St. Marguerite, while at 31C0gs the mare Shall We Remember (by Clairvaux or Isonomy out of §onsie Queen) was taken for Prince Louis Esterhazy. Hyeres, another brood mate from the same choice collection, went to Count Lehndorff for 2300g5, and Captain Machell gave 2000gs for St. Marguerite. Among the brood mares sent up by the executors of the late Mr Baird, Busybody was knocked down to Mr T. Castle for 3500gs and 'Buperba went into the same hands for 1750g5. On the next day, when the Dnke of Devonshire's and Baron de Hirsch's consignments were auctioned, there wae a lull in the demand. Of the Duke of Devonshire's lot, Oatlands, the recent Ascot winner, realised the highest price, and at 1650gs became the property of M. Max Lebiudr, while Lord Penrhyn gave 820gs for Theseus. Sixteen of the H« ather Stud yearlings changed hands at an average of 168Jgs. Towaids this result the sale of the filly by Hampton out of Shadow to Mr Wallace Johnstone at lOOOgs materially contributed. During the subsequent days of the ? ales nine of theUlankney yearlings were deposed of for a total of 2700g5, tbe highest prica being given for a brown filly by GaJopin out of Dee, purchased by Mr W. Jarvis for 830gs ; of the 16 yearlings from* the Yardley Stud, the highest pride w»s bbtained for the colt by Miguel out of Lena, taken by Mr Wallace Jobnstone for 4T.O&S *, Sir John Kc^c gave 2200gs for' the colt by Hampton' out of Merry Duchess ; and 1250gi were paid by Baron de Hirsch fi r Turnham, a coltby'Hampton out of Riverse.

*»* Subsequent to the recent racing carnival at Christchurch a man named George Moison was charged before the magistrate with having stolen £2 Is 6d, the property of Philip Ryan. The prosecutor, a farmer, told the court that at t'je trotting meeting he saw accused layiug totalisator odds, and gave him 2t 6d to put on Kolpi, receiving at the time a ticket with the name Hudson on the back. The horse won and" paid a dividend of £16 13s. After the raca ! prosecutor went to accused for his dividend, but j accused told him " to go to some place under I tbe ground." Tee police testified that defendant was at the races as alleged and laying , odds, snd when arrested he had a bag contain- ] ing tickets similar to tho one produced by ■ Ryan. Defendant's name was not Hudson He ! had been previously convicted of larceny. The ! defence set up was that the defendant was I acting as clerk for another man at tbo'meetinjr, and further, that as iw never held the £2 Is 6d, he could not be charged with theft. Mr Bishop, the magistrate, said thab under the Criminal i Code Act accused was technically guilty of ■ stealing the amount mentioned in ihe charge- > sheet. The theft was mean and contemptible, ! and accused would be sentenced to four months' | imprisonment with hard labour. j

*+* The American mail brings tidings of the death of Maxim, the New Zealand-bred stallion purchased by Mr J. B. Haggiu, of California. The horse got cast in his box and hurt his back, snd as the result of the injuries thereby received he died in the first week in July. He was a celebrated racehorse, and bade fair to become a valuable sire — the exceedingly satisfactory prices realised by his first crop of American-bred yearlings were shown in a very recent isfue— and it is becoming ;o briefly outline his career. His dam, Realisation, bred in England, was bought from th« Messrs Finlay, ,of Victoria, when she had Wapiti as a foal by her side. Nelson was the foal's.chum ; he and his dam also became Major George's property. Realisation shortly became the property of the* Stud Company, .and to Mu?ket, then the lord of the harem at Sylvia Park, sfce produced Maxim in 1884. At tbe sale in January 1886 this youngster was knocked down to the Hon. W. Robinson, on behalf of Mr -Stead, for 220gs. Six other yeirlings brougat a better price at the sa'e, top figure of 850gs being given by the Hoh. W. Robinson on his own account for tho Musket — Onyx colt. _We may reckon Maxim one of th<s cheapest yearlings ever quitted by the Auckland Company. But in those days he did not show over well in the riDg, and when brought to Christchurch there were many who did not like him at first. His first race was in the Middle Park Plate, oa tha day that Derwenter and Patrician ran their dead heat in ihe Midsummer Handicap. Maxim had a 51b allowance, and, ridden by Jackson, he won in a canter from Gipsy Kiog, Fair Nell, then a three-year-o'.d, being placed third. On the following day Maxim gave Gipsy King 31b in the Nursery Handicap and won just as he liked, though in fairness to Gipsy King it must te stated that he had broken away and galloped a couple of furlongs before the flag fell. Maxim wou. however, with a considerable amount in hand,- and tho form was so good that Mr Stead shipped iiim to Melbourne, where he had a go against Abercom in the Sires' ProducQ*"Stakes, and was beaten a head, but cot on his merits, for ho had a Jong passage across, and was much above himself when stripped to do battle against the Kirkham crick. In the autumn Maxim w*s racing again at Christchurch, where he captured the Chjampagnejrom Sextant, GipsjJEing, and

two others in lmm 15see, and was beaten a length by Sextant in the Challenge Stakes, the winner having a pull of 51b in the weight*. I have heard it claimed th»t Maxim was beaten in this race because he got a bad stark ; but this is not correct. A reliable report which is in front of me as 1 writesays : " Fair Nell was well on her legs when the flag dropped, and for a few strides v.t.s in f-ont with Sextant, but Maxim at on c joind O'Brien's colt, and the filly fell back Going round the top uirn s'axirn held a slight advantage, but the colts were on level terms as they swept into the straight. Sextant drew away two furlongs from home_, and having the favourite in trouble at the distance, won comfortably by two lengths."

*#* This reads like a fair go, and I do belief that on the day of the race Sextant was the better colt of the pair, though the trial was not conclusive, inasmuch as the day was a wet ! one. Sextant, it will be remembered, was at his best pretty well as fast as they are made. We may allow the result to stand as it is without excuse or apology for Mr Stead's colt. It was no disgrace to be beaten by a colt that \ cut the colonial record at four furlongs. In his three-year-old season Maxim began by .cantering home in fronb of his opponents in the Hawke's Bay Guineas. The oites ho met were Lady Florin, Bangle, Waterfall, and Orator. ! He nude his own pace, was never fully ex- ! tended, and won by three lengths from Lady Florin. Being saddled up on the same day for the Flying Stakes, Mr Stead's colt had to show what ha wai made of. He carried 8.2, and the other starters were Bangle (3yrs, 7 11), Pearl (6yrs, 9.2), Forester (4yrs, 8.2). Turquoise (aged, 8.6), aad Wirsper (3jrs, 8.8). BaDg!e was first away, having a good lead of Peari, while Maxim got off last but one. Bangle led till reaching the straight, but Maxim, making up bis lost ground in a wonderful manner, had her in trouble at about tbe distance, and •ventually won easily by three lengths. That is a mild account of the rare. lam told that the start was a terribly bid one, so much so tbat nobody expected ta see Maxim have any say in the finish. On the following day he wou the Spring Handicap, for which he was weighted at 7.13, with the greatest ease. In the C.J.C. Derby he won easily by tbrecquarters of a length from Gipsy King and fairly had his revenge on Sextant, the last-named colt finishing third ; and Maxim's last race was in the Canterbury Cup. Only two started, himEelf and Nelion, the latter conceding 281b. The report in my books reads thus : "AJaxim on the inside, with Nelson at his quarlers, made the running ab a tremendous pace for the first mile. Approaching Ford's, Brown moved on Nelson and he got a little nearer the colt, but the latter at once divw away again, and was a length clesr ts they swept into ths straight. Nelson was now under the whip, but he could never catch the leader, who ran home the easiest of winners by three-quarters of a length."

* # * After this Maxim was handicapped at 8.7 for the Auckland Cup, in which Nelson had 9.12 and Necklace 8.10, but he did not proceed to the filial payment, and in fact never started at the meeting, though he went up. Mr Stead bought Sextant, who had been taken up by Mr O'Brien. As a matter of fact Maxim raced no more. He retired with the following figure record to his credit :— Ten starts, eight wins, and two seconds, winning in staVes £2482. The cause of his retirement was not unsoundness, but iha impossibility of keepiog him from hurting himjelf. He used to overreach with his hind feet »i;d cut his forelegs. They tried a pair of boo's without effect, and if he had galloped much more he would have knocked himself right oui;. To save thia he was withdrawn and subsequently used as a stallion for a limited number of mares. Bluefire is one of his get. My recollection cf Maxim isthatofabeautifulbrightbay with extraordinary muscular development and a very reachy stride. When in tip-top condition he was a picture. Towards the close of his term in New Zealand he grew darker in colour, and when shipped for San Francisco in January 1892, after being bought at 4000gs, he had a dapple in his coat an*l was almost a brown. The purchase was effected through the Hon. G. M'Lean, who secured the bargain for Mr Haggin only just in time, *s I understand an advance of £500 could have been procured from au Australian owner.

*** The colt referred tj abore as the one for whi'h tho Hoa. W. Robinson paid tho top pricj of 850gs at the sale whtraat he bought Maxim for Mr S.ead at 22Cgs was afw-rwards named Enfilade. This colt Lever raced in "this colony. Being tikon to Australia he rau unplaced m the A J.C Derby won by Abcrcorn, was also unplaced behind Niagara and Abcrcorn when they ran a dead heat in tbe Second Foal Stakes, ■was uDplaced in Australian Peer's Derby at Melbourne, and won the Anniversary Handicap at, Caulfield in January, carrying 7.8 and beating Mozart 8.10. This was bis solitary win during the season, and it was worth £495. Four or five others disposed of at the same sale also brought better prices than that at which Maxim was knocked down. One of these was Escutcheon, who brought 475rs and likewise made his first appea*ance as a racer en Australian turf. He ran through his two-year-old season with only one via— viz., in the Criterion Stakes at the Flcmiugtou Summer meeting, and missed all the good things for which he tried in the following season, but came to something like form later on and earned his oat* even if he did nob distinguish himself. Another of the yearlings quitted that day at Auckland was that arch deceiver Whakawai, who fell to Mr G. Wright's bid of 300gs and raced in Australia, at intervals, to his six-Year-old season, witho t winning anything more than a- maiden plate. They were two pretty fair gee- gees behind him on that particular occasion — Pakeha and Jebusite — but as to Whakawai, well, of all the " wasters" we have had he was about the worsfc. Formo, sold at 235g5, was one of the ethers that beat Maxim for price, and so did Too Soon, who went to Mr Lyon's bid of 355g5. The printed report I have states that the Anteros— Moonlight filly was on the sime day sold to Mr Proffifct at 500gs, but that is probably a misprint. Anyway, at whatever figure she was .sold, Maramatahi (that's her name) was not much of 3 pick-up. And it may be concluded thab if the vendors had been ble=sed with the gift of prophecy they would have taken the 600g9 refused that day for Martini's sister Engagement. Buying yearlings is a risk, isn't ib ?

*»* A move of some importance has been made in the New Zealand Cup betting market since last week's report, Saracen having been supported pretty freely all over the colony, in a :ra ncr that seems to denote a stable commisi>'o~i, at prices ranging from 100 to 5 upwards. }b is .hard to guess how much was obtained, but about £1500 in Dunedin and £1000 in Wellington I am sure of, and the total will probably bp over £4000. This move completely knocks oat theyarn that was in circulation a few days ago to the effect that Saracen w«b going to Australia, His best price is now 100 to 8, Weatmer«, P«gasu3, Dilemma, and Impulsehave been sup-

potted for small amounts at long odds, and there are signs of an inquiry for Leontine. Ay Revoir, however, is not affected by these marketings ; indeed he is firmer than ever, and I make him out to he first favourite. Yesterday's prices in Dunedin were as follow : —