SPORTING NEWS.

FARvAND NEAR.

(By THE POSSIBLE.) Mr W. H. E. Wantklyn, the secretary of the New Zealand Racing Conference, has brought forward a scheme for the rearrangement of the Rules of Racing. In view of> the. fact that alterations are being 1 continually* made in the Rules, the proposal has much to recommend it, while it is hard to see how- exception' can be taken to it by anyone. No alteration of any rule is affected ."by the 1 rearrangement,/ which aims solely at simplification. In place of having about 170 rules .there will, under the suggested soheme, be only forty -nine Rules of. Racing, the reduction being effected by having only one rule dealing with each separate subject, what. were formerly regarded as distinct rules being now only clauses of the different rules. If the' idea, is approved by the. Racing Conference, the addition of a new enactment will not necessitate any renumbering of the whole of the Rules. The Christchurch syndicate which is running Robertson's double total isator has met with a very encouraging reception from the Wellington Racing Club. Negotiations have been .hv progress for somo time, and as 8v result of these the machine was recently exhibited in working order, for the benefit of the stewards, who were so well pleased with it that they have made arrangements to use it at their winter meeting, to be held next week. From present indications double event 'bet-ting,, through the medium of the botaYtsaior, appears to have come to stay, and the machine under notice is likely to. become very popular with clubs. Some time back I saw it at work, and was greatly impressed with its possibilities.' It is very simple, and it possesses the strong advantage of registering all sales automatically, a matter of considerable interest to the investors.

The Napier Park Racing Club's Winter Meeting, which was held last week, did not reveal any champions over hurdles or bijr country. The best performer in either department was Creusot, who followed up hipwin- on the -second' day at Hastings by appropriating both hurdle events at Napier Park. Until .the last week or two Creusot Bad ,not been regarded as other than a very moderate performer, and I cannot quite make up my mind yet that he is a pood one. After following the- form at the Auckland winter meeting prefctv closely, I came to the conclusion that the hurdle, horses seen oTrt at the Ellerslie fixture were not a brilliant lot, and IJhe running at Hastings and Napier. Park has not. given me any higher opinion of the hurdlers of the present season. I may be wrong, but it will take something to cause me to alter my views. Nor was the steeplechase form at Napier Park very high-class, Papatu being the best of the performers over the big country, and I cannot regard him as^a good one yet. At present the Grand National prospects seem fairly good in the matter of numbers, but I am afraid that quality will be sadly lacking in the jumping events at Riccartori next month.

The Hon G. M'Lean is to be sympathised ■with in the loss of Pampero, who died last ■week, after doing, a gallop at ' Wingatui. Bred at his owner's Warrington stud' in 1897, Pampero was by St Clair— Mistral. fflp tyro-year-old form was moderate, and did not give much indication of the brilliant

deeds which he- was to accomplish, later in his career. As a three-year-old, however, ho came out in a more promising light. His victory in the Stewards 1 Handicap at.Riccarton was full of merit, and he followed ifc up with, a Win in the Exhibition, Handicap (now known as the Banfurly Handicap) ab the same meeting. He was seen to even greater advantage at the autumn gathering at Riccarton, when he won the Great Easter Handicap, and carried Bst 71b into second place in the Great Autumn Handicap. . In tie last named race he was madfe a strong favourite, and he had none the best of the luck, getting a bad passage. Later on his feet caused some trouble, and in other respects he was a somewhat unlucky horse. Twice he gave his connections strong reason to think that he would win a New Zealand Cup, but each time he went wrong a few days before the day of the race. These mishaps appeared to have affected him permanently, as in his later efforts he. failed to reproduce the form which made him such a good stake earner in the earlier part of his career. 4

The claim of Mr J. Jeffs, the- owner, of Petrpvna, for the stakes in the Criterion Handicap at the last New Zealand Cup meeting, in which Bagpipes finished first, was advanced another stage last week, when the case wag considered by the committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club. When the stewards of the Club had; the matter under review they decided :'Tm^^oiisly'_a^Mnst v Mr Jeffs, and it is interesting to note that the 'committee did not -take quite the_same view, as, though the appeal was dismissed,, it was only by a margin of one vote, me case is exciting considerable interest throughout the colony, seeing it is based on similar grounds to'the GladsomeConvoy appeal. I have not heard whether Mr Jeffs intends to go on any further, but I presume he will carry the matter on to the Racing Conference. If the judges take the previous decision as a precedent, the final result will be to reverae the verdict o the Canterbury* Jockey Club. A good deal of speculation is being indulged in as to the attitude likely to be taken by the Conference judges in dealing with the case Meantime, however, with the prospect of further procedinga being taken, comment would be out of place.

The last English mail brings £ews that "the stewards of the Jockey Club have warned Mr Robert S. Sievier off Newmarket Heath," of which the cable message gave brief notice at : the time. The sentence, was generally approved by the critics, many of whom, indeed, predicted that some such steps would be -taken after the slander case in which the erstwhile owner of Sceptre, played such a prominent partIt shows the great pow«r wielded" by the Jockey Club, as in this instance there was no turf scandal nothing to be proved that wrong had been done on a racecourse or in regard to racehorses. A prominent writer put the case very well when he wrote that "without going through the\ deeds of Mr Sievier's horses, it will be acknowledged that they have been run singularly straight. What points a moral and adorns atale is the life of Mr Sievier from all that came up in the libel case. A successful bookmaker in Australia, he returns to England, marries an Earls daughter, embarks on the Turf, just as the noblest spdttsman ,in the kingdom ; the Duke of Westminster dies, and when his priceless stud is brought to auction Mr Sierier stands boldly out against the test judges of horses, and the most experienced trainers in the world, and be outbids every one for the beet. He gives 10,0002 b for one yearling, 6500 for another, and he really expends 20,000 when these great judges are looking on. He is perfectly frank in giving the choice of two for more than double the price he gave for them, a millionaire is ready for the deal, and he chooses the worst and leaves '• Sceptre, At first Mr Sievier employs a skilled trainer. They, have some dispute, and the public is made aware that the owner of the filly intends to train her himself. Now he will make a mess of it, shrewd people say ; but no, sh« is brought out in perfect condition six weeks after she had run second in the Lincolnshire Handicap, to win the Two Thousand and One Thousand. She wins the Oaks, and in thaty difficult process, a St Leger preparation, triumph again crowns all. It has all been very extraordinary, and in a certain, sense one might wish that the actor in this rioeular dramn had never had a. past, c.r' that he had mothered all by a new and useful life. Society never will forgive. It cannot be so when all is laid bare in a Court of Justice, and the Jockey Club has been perfertly right in giving its autocratic verdict without comment in favour of honour and well doing in regard to societv generally." The effects of the "warning off" are very far-reaching. Though nominally only applying to Newmarket Heath, it is practically world-wide. This the man who within the last two years owned and framed a filly that won the Two and One Thousand Guineas, Oaks and St Leger, is now prevented from owning, training or riding a horse, or going on any course under Jockey Club rules. Nor does the sentence end here. The Rules of Rf»cine r provide that "a horse is disqualified by the disqualification of his present owner, or that of his owner at the time of entry or subscription, or that of any person who has any interest in such horse's winnings." One effect of the "warning off" was to disqualify Sceptre for the Princess of Wales' Sferkes, run last

week, and which looked a certainty for her. She is now the property of Mr W. Bass, but was owned by Mr Sievier when she was nominated. This is not the only piece of bad luck Mr Bass has met with in, connec,fcion with this now celebrated case. A few months ago he purchased three of Mr Sievier's two-year-olds, giving 2000 guineas for King Duncan, by Ayrshire — Amphitheatre, 2000 guineas, for Elston, by Donovan—Chimera, and '400 guineas for High Treason, by Sir Visto or Velasquez— Sister Lucy. They are heavily engaged this season,, as well .as in next year's classic events, out their value will now be. Considerably depreciated by the loss of all the engagements made for them by Mr Sievier prior to their sale. This is very hard on Mr Bass, and shows how an apparently simple rule may at times harshly effect an innocent person. No one would suggest that Mr Bass was anything but the best of sportsmen, yet j^y the " warning off " of Mr Sievier he will suffer considerable pecuniary loss, to say nothing of the pleasure, dear to all sportsmen, of seeing his colours carried in important events.

The Princess of Wales' Stakes is a race of modern growth, the first contest having taken, place in 1894. Originally it was open to three-year-olds and upwards, but the conditions have since been revised, and three-year-olds are not now eligible. The list of winners is rather formidable, including as it does such equine celebrities as Isinglass, Sfc Frusquin, Flying Fox- and Ard Patrick, jj'or last week's race there was an entry of seventeen, but probably only a small proportion of this number went to the post. Sceptre claimed an engagement, but it was voided 'by the " warning off " of Mr R. S. Sievier, who, though he had sold the mare, was interested in a portion of the stake as her nominator. Rock Sand, the winner, was bred by Sir J. Miller, and as a ; two-year-old he won six of his engagements, running third in the seventh Middle Park Plate to Flotsam and Greatorex. The following season he clearly demonstrated his ability by winning five races, including the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby and St Leger. In the Eclipse Stakes, for the first time in his career, he met horses of other ages, and finished third to Ard Patrick and Sceptre. Then, in the absence of Ard Patrick, he ran second to Sceptre in the Jockey Club Stakes. This season he finished third to Zinfandel and Sceptre in the Coronation Cup at Epsom. He claimed an engagement hi the Ascot Gold Cup, but if he started he failed to run into a place.- In the Princess of Wales' Stakes he carried practically full penalties, but to counterbalance this he had a 91b breeding allowance. Saltpetre, who occupied second place, was a moderate per-

former at two and three years, and I have been unable to find any occasion on which he had won a race. William Rufus, a colt of more than average size, "was not hurried as a two-year-old, being only out three times, once successfully. Last year big things were expected of him. In the early part of the season he was not ready, but later on he showed great improvement, and captured five good races, besides running second to Rock Sand in the St Leger. In getting third last week he ran quite up to his best form, as on their past- records he had no chance of giving away weight to Rock Sand. The three placed horses may meet again this season, as they claim engagements in the Lingfield Park Plate. Rock Sand and William Rufus have also several other engagements in common, in which they will have to encounter the opposition of St Amant, John o' Gaunt and Sceptre.