TURF TOPICS.

X peculiar betting dispute — in which a well-known Tasmanian sportsman and a prominent Melbourne commission agent are foneerned — has lately engaged the attention of the Victorian Club Committee. It appears (says an exchange) that the foftun&te drawer of Wakeful in Tattersall'a consultation on the Sydney Cup, after generously laying portion of his anticipated winnings to the stable, telegraphed to the commission agent, whom he believed to be at Randwick, authorising him to lay £500 against "Wakeful. The agent, however, was in Melbourne at the time, but the telegram was opened by a relative of his, who promptly replied that he had " taken £500 to £45 Wakeful." He signed this telegram with his own name, and not that of the agent to whom the original message had been addressed. The agent, and not the relative, made the claim after Wakeful had won the Cup, but th© holder of the winning ticket refused to acknowledge the demand for the £500, his contention apparently being that his telegram was a private message to the agent in question, and he had no business with any third party. As the agent was not at Randwick, the instructions, he contends, were null and void. He further justifies his position on the ground that had Wakeful not won he fails to see how he could, in the circumstances, have successfully established a claim against the agent for the £45. Eventually the dispute was referred to the Victorian Club Committee for settlement. The sweep winner applied for permission to be represented at the inquiry by counsel, and as this was refused he declined to submit himself to the I jurisdiction of the committee. The dispute, however, was investigated, and it was decided that the commission agent was entitled to the £500. The winner of the sweep has since left for his home in Tasmania without heeding the finding of the committee, and the commission agent now talks j of taking legal proceedings to recover the amount involved. Further developments will be awaited with interest. The celebrated stallion The Bard died on March 14, at the Lormoy Stud (France). The son of Petrarch- and Magdalen was bought for 10,000gs in 1887 by the late M. Henri Say for breeding purposes. At the death of M. Say his family elected to continue the slud, and bred for the market, where the produce of The Bard always fetched | good prices, as he hae oired some of the beet ! performers who have won names for themselves in the annals of the French turf. He was the sire of Monsieur Amedee, and his offspring credited him last year with close on £28,000. His loss will be severely felt among breeders. His death was very sudden, for there was apparently nothing the matter with him on the previous day. He was taken ill, and the veterinary -who was sent for did all he could to save him. At the post-mor-tem examination the cause of death was found to be a twisted bowel. The Bard was a sterling good horse when racing in England, and as a two-year-old won all the 16 events in which he took part. He would have won the Derby but for being contejnI poraneous with such- a " smasher "as the unI beaten Ormonde, and, as it was, he ran that celebrity to a length and a-half for the Blue Ribbon of the turf. As a three-year-old he carried off some good stakes, among them the Doncasrter Cup, and he was also allowed to walk over for the Goodwood Cup. Mr Sievicr, the owner of Soeptre, is a^man that has played mnny parts. Itw as ho j (writes " Milroy ") who first introduced cash betting into the reserves at Morphettville, Flemington, and Randwiok, and made more ! enemies for so doing than a auccessful politician would make in a lifetime. His system of wagering soon won many imitators, and it quickly numbered the days of the old " over-round " brigade, who could not stand up against such odds as young men of the Sievier typo could lay and live at, so they went under one by one, and to this day they lay their misfortunes at Sievier's door in language more forcible than elegant. In his Australian bookmaking career Mr Sievier was looked \rpon as a plucky daredevil, but not a fool by any means, as many a smarty found to his cost. He left early in tho nineties for good, after falling into disgrace with the Victorian Club. The committee of that institution took it upon themselves to punish Sievier for thrashing Lord Deerhurst in a Bourke-strcet hotel. The rule they brought to bear in this case is not clearly known. Anyhow, they dealt with Sievier, who at onoe shook Australian dust from his feet and returned to England, and since j then his career is thus tersely given in , M.A.P. :— "Mr Robert Sievier, who has! created quit^ a sensation in turf circles by purchasing thoroughbreds at fabulous prices, has had a somewhat adventurous career. As a young man, he went to South Africa, and pprved with a corps of mounted infantry throughout the Zulu .war. From South Africa he went to Australia, where ho remained for some yeans, and on his return to England married in 1892, under somewhat romantic circumstances, Lady Mabel Bruce, sri-ter of the Marquis of Ailesbury. After his marriage Mr Sievier set up as a gentleman turf nccountant in Bennett street, St James', under the pseudonym of 'Mr Punch,' with a branch office at Brighton. This venture, however, was not a success, so Mr Sievier abandoned it for another form of bookmakinp:, and in 1895 published a novel called ' A Generation,' which enjoyed a considerable, if ephemeral, popularity. Soon after this matters improved, and Mr Sievier returned to the turf, with such satisfactory results that he is now the owner of a crowd of thoroughbreds that are the envy of many a more wealthy man. Mr Sievier, who is, by the way, extremely good-looking, is very popular both on the turf and^ society, and Ls familiarly known as ' Bob.' " A sporting constable in one of the suburbs called upon a trainer of his acquaintance one Saturday morning (there was a racs meeting on in the afternoon) and (says " Javelin in the Melbourne Leader) apologised for having to execute a distress warrant on a judgment for £2 15s. "Why not pay it and have done with the thing?" 6aid the limb of the law. " Look here, old chap," | answered the trainer, " I want every beau I can rake up to put on my horse for the Jumpers' Flat Race to-day. I'm. sure to get a good price, and he could fall down and win. Hold it over till Monday like a good fellow — and have a pound or two on this yourself; it's picking up money." _As expected, the ruling passion asserted itself in the " copper." who, handing ovpt £3, eaid, " Put that on for mo at as good a price as you can get.' J The horse opened at Bto 1, and being made the. medium of a. big plunge by a specially informed (!) heavy punter, started favourite, got away badly, and finished second, being ridden one of the cleverest " byes " ever seen. The stable return was £50 from " the bag," second money jfa fl™».\ fcom. Jjifcjttakft.. .aadjib& JaßhhvJjl SSu., .

which, after satisfying the judgment on Monday, left another " dollar " to the good. After the race an affluent backer said to the owner of one of the starters: "That chestnut horse of youra reminds me of a, roast of beef before it has been served at table." "How so?" said the owner. "Because," replied the backer, "he was mad© a very hot joint, but hasn't had a cut!" " Right oh," grinned the owner, " and more'n that — it's took a bit o' weight off him!" A New York writer states that a firm of tipsters have been conspicuous in America throughout the past season, by the extensive advertising which they indulged in. Not only did they publish a paper of their own | containing racing items and their selections for the day, but they also advertised to an unprecedented extent in sporting dailies, and had large banners bearing their name suspended over the tracks, high up in the air, by means of a system of kites, so that no one at the races could fail to see them. They charged a daily subscription of sdol for their information, sent to subscribers, and employed good staff of touts who knew their business. Their advertising probably cost them lOOOdol or more per d*y. An old-time tipster, who has for tie past 15 years had a staff of boys at the entrance •to the tracks selling his information as " Jack's Tips," found that the business was j falling away in consequence of th© advent in the field of this progressive new firm. He therefore hit upon the idea of obtaining one of the daily circulars, copied it, and peddled off the information by means of his staff at 50 cents a copy. ; The firm, went to all the expense of paying the touts and advertising, while Jack realised a good profit at no expense, since the general public naturally preferred paying 50 cents rather than sdol for the same information. The result has been that the firm brought suit against " Jack " to restrain him from selling their information, and this is the decision of Supreme Court Justice Clarke in the matter: "A court of equity is asked to lend the aid of its great writ of injunction, to preserve to the plaintiffs its business of selling tips to gamblers on horse races." The Justice then declares tßat the State Constitution make 3 pool-selling and bookmaklng felonies and misdemeanours, with the exception that in the case of a person making a wager upon the race track he shall, instead of criminal liability, forfeit the wager to be recovered in a civil action. He therefore dismissed tho application, and " Jack "' onlyhopes that the firm will continue their business as before this year, since it has proved very profitable to him.