* # * Last week's racing gave us Buch a dose of ponderous considerations as to weights and calculfttions of form tbat I shall be probably consulting the tnsbes of Witness readt-rs if I rtfrain from entering into detail on the subject of the Duntrdin Spring handicaps as prepared by Mr Dow^e and published in this issue. A few general observati' ns will perhaps be more acceptable. Taking the Otagn Cup first, it is a matter of general observa'ion that Prime Warden has not been crushed <vlth 9.5. Apart from his Cutter Mi- y Cup win, he got home in theM»t'opo ; itau,rh« asm- distances 'hisOtago Cup, with 8 11, In very fa«t time, and that fact alone shows that, he must have a capital chance wiih a ris* of 81b But. bin rise m^ans that the horses Warden beat in the Metropolitan have a substautinl nllowanee as a solatium. Skirtnisb.tr receives 51b, Majzazine 61b, Au Rivoir and Clanranxld each 71b, Lottie and Sara' en eaoh 10 b. Th-- best of this lob may have a very fair show of getting their rev»-ng«-. Thi-n there is Lady Zetland to be reckoned witb, and I think that Bead«nwell, Outpost, and Casket are not out of ib. So that it is an open race after all, and, though Mr Dowse hat commenced rather low, I think he has giv«-n us a very good handicap. My first fancy is that Mr Hobbs's selected must be hard to beat, but I di fer a definite pirk till the acceptances appear. As to the other events, I take Melinite and Rebel to be a likely pair in ihe Hurdles, and no'hing stakes my fancy more tban St. Clements and Britomarte for the Federal, but this nx-furlong race should be approached with a considerable amount of cauuon, when such clippers as Mount Royal, Lady Zetland, New Forest, Blarney, and others have rea-on-able racing weights. Mariuer has bi en aleady scratched for the Welter, and Grainer for the T*o-mile Trot, and I reclon that Mr M. Allan will also take Dilemma out of the Cup, as this horse is to bo reserved for the autumn Wild Peer, in the Maiden Two-year-old Race, is the Australian Peer colt owned by Stephenson and Haz'.ett, and not a bad one either. Acceptances are due on Tuesday next.

* # * Carbine, though indubitably the champion of the colonial turf, has been regarded in some quarters as unlikely to maintain his reputation in undertaking stud duties. One objection taken to " Old Jack " in thai capacity is that he is not better in point of appearance than the ordinary run of good horses, and an even weaker argument is that deduced from general principles— viz., that lots of excellent perfoimers prove failures at the stud. Theie objections count for nothing. The one last nsmed is simply not worthy of reply ; and ss to the other it would be a simple matter to fish out dozens of horses and mares that have had very slender claims on the ground of good looks, but \et have turned oat capital stock. I may meution two typicU instances : the GoJolphin Arabian and our own Rubina. The celebrated horse first mentioned was altogether despised and rejected until he stole a chance from Hobgoblin, for whom he was anting as teaser ; and as for Rubiua, I quote her ease because it is fresh in my memory that when <-h" arrived at the IWoury to do battle for the Publuans 1 Handicap a friend of mine, who had her bucked in a doub'e wiMi Vanguard for the Cup, was so disgusted at finding her "a rat of a thing" that he begged me to take his wager from him, his fancy being the more ghowy Taiaroa, who, as all remember, was beaten rather easily at the finish. Thip, by the way, was the biggest bet I have ever won- £25. collected from ooor little

Abe SniHer It may be said d's'iuctly, then, tha there is no for<*> in any arguments put forw-rd in suppt rt of he t'onon tbat Ca.' bine w. uld be h di-Kpp >in men at the stud. Still, so 10-ig as he was uutri d the-e was always a ch.ncp -f it and f > r thut and other ica^ous New Z< alander W h .> »itb p'o'-ur** ot the ere 'i si' le perf man p in <■ • at i c V.Rd. jn cc ing by up -ptly amed Wallace, th«•i cond of (Jaroine'h stuck to com« out in public Creel was the ti st, and -he has yet to make a narue. Wallace his iow won a race, mul though »he exploit is t>> -ome ext*nf. depreriuted by t''C ftct t- at l>c lud the luck b'> get ihe best. of a bad start while tt>e lav.air to was left, I take it that be ran a very five r&rt and would probably have won even if all had left the mark toge f er. Ihf reft- n nee is to tse Fiviim Stakes, in wh«'h, after taking 13^ ec to do the first fu long, he (.ot to the end of the seven in In iv 27^ cc— >qu«lto Rub>'s record for Nt-w ZeaUi d, «nd « nly a quarter of a second slower than Tne-ti-'6 fam us go, which is ihefa-t-st in ih- colonies. We are told that W»Hacp is a fii ely develope-1 youngster, and doub less more will b- heaid of him in the near futuro— perhai s he will in ihe next Derby avenge Us sire's defeat by JSusign four years ago.

*#* Quiver, the odds-on favourite for the Oaks, refused three Mine* to face the starting machine, and when fchr barrier at lasb sprang up she wan ha f turned tound, whereupon Moore, her rider walker her back to the paddock. Ths caused a great row. The public^ we are irformen, consider d that MrWat'On, the starter, was equally to blame wisb the j> cke> for th> occuronee, b>.t the committre dropped ouMo'trt- *lone, mi inquiry resulting in tbat rider's license beii'g *ittidrawu. The announcement to th t ffect d>>cß not appear to have given stti f c ion. Tne nuD<iu received tbe dc won in s 1 nee, -nan us of disc nt-nt, while- the daily pa rs ermes-d it with .some severity. Tor. Age, v*e are told, forci'ly denounced tbe policy of panisLin; juik«»yß whilst i allowing the instigators to ewcape scatheless ; while ttie Argus said that it was almost inciedible that Moor© thould do purposely what he did in front of the g'afd ntaud with ail ejes upon him It is added that the ->tabl« cunneetions 10-t heavily ov«-r the tace. so ir there ' was arjy bunkv-panky th«j were not in the I know. Such is ihe t nor of tne cablegrams on the sublet. We shall hf-ar all tne Jacrs wh^n our correspondent's h t er comes to h nd. In the meantime I rt-mark that it ueems absurd totiytostn ngth>i> tbecas- agaiuf-tMoure by telling us that th<- iiflcl si wt d down in the first six furl ngs ap, ar ntiv to enable Quiver to catch them. Th<' tatem<nt is open ti susp cion evrn «s a bare recoro of f>c r .. Obvi usly they wire i ot eag r to put on 'he p«ce. f^r the half distance tooklmin 49^-ec and the next six furlongs only lmin I7sec, but tbe fair presutrjptitm is that; ihi-y nere wai'iiig on one another ra. her thau encouraging Moore to bring the favourite up Thar, Ht Any rue, is a re >sonable deduction from our ordinary knowledge of racing matters Th« important conmdera'ion is that, however sow 'he paca was m»de, the horses must have traveled a bit of a way before Quiver whs ready to follow, and what; Moore had tojmgeat'hati staut — remember that hehad no t.nie fordeiibt-r tion — was not whether the pace was rlow ei-oughto give himrt,chanceof oatth<ng up, tor on that) o nth could not know anj thing till h<- *et hi- mar- going, but whet'irr the gap already exiting wa*« or was not too large for her to have a chancß in an ordinary run race. Moore could not tell at that point whether the race was going to be fast or slow The remark under this beading reads very much like what is known as "the »fter game," and it must be regarded with a certain amount of caution until " Honi Poeoe," whose judgment is to t c trusted, telle us a'l «bout the epuode. A shiudv aro«e over this race last year. Beisie filacarthy uta-ted favourite and got beit«n by La Dauphine, and m consequence of White being blam- d for misjudging the pace he severed his conntction with Mr Qollan's stable.

#** The record for the V.R.C. Oaka is 2mia 42sec, by Litigaut in 1890. Never till this year was it so slow as 3min 61sac. The extreme in tlab direction was Maid of all Work's 3miu smin in 1875 And the course mu*t have been in goud order on Thursday last, for Wallace did his seven furlongs in splendid time, and the other records of the day were all quicker i ban the average. Hav< c seems to have run really weL, and against difficulties, in the Spring H^ndicnp, and this brother to Zaliunki will probably now take the place in public estimation which rightfully b longs to him by reaon of his high lineage, whi'e Besme Macarbhy somewhat rerie-mo < her character by put' ing in a f«.f<t mil« and a-halt iv the Veteran Stakes. The Royal Park Stakes found Ruenalf once mure a di«ap»oiiitmeut, but it is urged on hin behalf that he was galloped ->n in th • Cup, though this fact evidently had no influence t<n bat kers wheu th-*y Uid 6to 4 on. Dr» aniland's dt feat in the Spring S :ikej on the fourth day is attributed to some extent to the fa< t th»t though carrying a 71b penalty he was asked to make the running. The explanation seems reasonable, though in this ct.se, as in others, judgment may very «el be suspend d in the iniautime lam beginnd gto fancy that that critic was right who said tiiat Dreamland is a slashing fine colt, the inoct premising vi Australia, but as yet a mere baby, wanting time to give him strength. The result of theV.RC. Handicap eeems to show that the Quiver parby bad really reat<on to be savage at the Oaks bungle, for tie mare stayed out tbe mil#> and three-quarters in fine S'yle and fast time. Certainly she had but 6.12 on her back, but still the performance is a good one. for shr* was conceding lib to L yalty and 121b to Straightfire—that is, according to the weight-for-a^e scale, the justice of which, however, I do not swesr to. Noi ton's jumping in the Steeplecase appears to have impr. ssed the Victorian s. but he could hardly be expected to win with 13 2 on his back. Chesternoan failed to *tay the two miles with the Derby wiuner in the Canterbury PUte, and Carnage's defeat is set down to his having run unkindly until the last two furlongs. The meeting closed with a win for Mr Gollan with Maxim's half-brother The Possible, who started at a remunerative price The mpetintf was on the whole a most; aalisfactory one for us New Zealanders, iv thit the Muvket blood made itcelf felt over and over again. Two of Trenton's stock ami one of Nordenfeldt's won races on tb- f'mi th day.

* # * It is not oftf n, says " Gipsy King," that the ri(*er of the last h'<rre is che-red, but such happened at the W«nganui meeting. Perjurer, who was ruidfn by his owner, Mr W. Chapman, in tr-e Hunters' Hurdle Race, slipped into the staii'i lrnull • an<i fell »>u ro his knees ; Mr Chapm-it , ho*rv'.'r, madr » suoii't recovery and got his mount going aga>n, but when uking the same hurdle tlie second time Pri-jura struck heavily and fell, but though he dislodged bis clever rider this tim", Mr Cb;<pmMi did not let go the reirs, and was on tbe house's back again as soon a3 the horse was on his feet, and bet sail after the others ; the field, though, were too far away t and Perjurer finished come distance in

the rear, but as he came up the straight Mr Coalman was warmly applauded in leco^nition of hi* bor.scmans-.ip. Another little incident oc un-ed in <O' ncction witu this race. When P. rj .i>r slipped in r o th^ hurdle the flivt time he knocked two <f tbe hurdles d >wn. which were promptly put u/> attain, a' d Awarua struck them pre'tysmart. jumping tnem in Lhr secui.d round. Ho« would tb.t! race hi.vu been d.cifcd had Awsrua fulku?

* # * An unusual incident is as'ociifed with this year's New Zealand Cup. On tue Saturday b- fore the ivce a circular was received by certain northern bookmakers a-ktug them to put up the mon<-y they had at stake in the wagers laid to the stable connections of Royal Rose and Thr» c Star. There was only an hour or so in »hie to find the money, but it was forthcoming. I think it wou'd have been there ; all the same had the stakes been twice tbe aizs. There were tons or money for Threa Star after he got to Christchurch, and, the idea b-ing abroad that there was a screw loo k e with R yal Rose he abo wan by no means tight in the market. Perhaps tUosa who had this fancy abnut Royal Rosa were running a greater risk thin they were aware of, for the horse shaped well enough to land a stake on tbe third dny; but still tbe fact is as stated — there was plenty of money for him. Under such circumstances, it was a foregone conclusion that the demand to put up the " stuff " would be promptly met. Tne ring cou d stand a rougher shake up tban that. o>.r bookmakers', taken as a dais, wero nevor more iudefjen<'ent than at the pres*nb time. They tncstlj have some capital, and thoy bet more carefully than they iwd to in the antetofcalisator prriod. On the general question as to the right of a backer to call up a layer, there can, of course, be no qu- stion. Ei'brr ptrty to a wager, layer or taker, cau at will, after reasonable notice, demand a sight of the pieces. The privilege is, however, very seldom u*ed. Brttiog is largely, if not entirely, a matter of h"nr>ur, »nd the rul* is to pay up a« smartly as possible How thoroughly this principle is re'ied on is illustrated by i an incident in Sheridan's life. This i pleasure-loving author, always up to his eyes \ in debt, was one day waited on by a creditor who presented a eecu'ily. "Sorry, but I can't pay you." was the reply; "I have dobts of honour tbat will take all my money." By way of answer the pecurity was tossod into the fire, and the account was squared right off As bearing on the Royal Rose incident I may add that the Dunedin fielders were not among tho-e who were asked to stake money ; but tln»y had a little experience of thtir own in the SMne line tbe other way about. A backer was notified that it would be esteemed a favour if he would ahow his sovereignp, and when on the given date be did not appear the wagers laid to him were promptly and formally cancelled.

*#* The brood bo ire Erycina died at Wellington Park last w< ck while foaling a colt to St. Leger, end the jounga'er also ii» dead. She wa» bred in 1874- ' by C*pt»in Walmsl*y, got by imported Sli dmere from Atlanta, by Dainty Ariel out of imported Moonshme, by Tho Libel. This breeding thows that the defunct mare wm half-sister to Hippomenea But she had distinctions of hftrown. Chief among these was the fact that she was dam of the flying Mitrailleuse, her first foal, who won th« Ell<-r«lie Plate as a two-year-old, beaMng R»bina and oth' rs, pulled off six events as a three year-old, and, continuing her successes in the following years, her wins including the Railway Plate i/wice, w»s at lasb gent to Australia, where she won the Bourke Handicap at Flemington, the Flying Handic*p at Randwick, and three races at country meetings, the laab of them with 10 4 in the saddle, after wbioh she was ask* d to carry 11.0 at Canterbury Park This was a great racer, and she lasted better than most of the Muskets. Krjcina, who, by the way, never weed herself, was al«o the dam of other winners in Rt>volver (who diod recently in Otago), Ricochet, and Lady Alice.

* # * The Dunedin hor>e Cowboy, fou of Dairy Boy, started iv the Champion Handicap at Lancaster Park last Friday. He had a start of Msec from Norman, and gave 4sec to Ipswich. Bsec to Blue Mountain, and lOsec to Lady Warbeck. These were tbe only starters. Rather a poor fi^ld for a »fcak<- of 250sovs. Cowboy had the service* of Jim Allan in the saddle, but had no show with Blue Mountain, a five-year-old gelding by Bluegown, who at enco a^fiumfd tbe lead, and had everything dead lick«d at a mile and a-half, at which stage all but Ipswich Imd given up the ta*k of chasing him The n suit was that the leader won by over tfae distance, without b'-iag asked to make much of a record. His time for the three miles was Bmin 18?ec. He did nob get on so well wheu nut back to the s«oc mark with Norrnau in the November Handicap. Neither of this pair got so much as a pla<e, the prize going tv the Oamaru ma'e Grasshopper [I, on whom Robeitson rode horn? 50vds ahead of Holly. Cowboy al-o started in this event, but made no show Thn performane •of V»gary in tb.p Stewards' Stakes caused suspicion to arise aa to whether she had been a trier, and the stewards held an inquiry, the result of which completely rebutted the allegation of stiifuass and exonerated the drivfr, C. Kerr. There being a very large attendance at the met-tinjf, speculation was unusufilly spirited, and no less thau £5120 passed through the totalisator, or £955 ahead of last year's total.

* # * The caution given in these column 1 ? last week that Claremont was rot good enough to back down to a very short price in the Maiden Plate at the Taieri proved to be bub too t.nie a suggestion. The son of Mountain Lily was soundly beaten all the way. Bilverstream made the running, and, though a 48 to 1 cbanr-e on the machine, he Vf-ry nearly got borne. Brin won by only a bead, and for this result the owner aiay thank T. Buddicornbe's riaing. The winner ran credi'ably, it will be remembered, in one of his rices at Oimaru ; hcnci^ his beinp; aupor-tio'-rd top weight. Beaconsfield was Blow in settling down in the Three-mile Trot, and when he seemed, at last, to have a show he went to picce-i, the North Otago mare Bridget thus piviug him a, bid doing. Mr Goodman has lately experienced such a succession of bad luck that everybody was pleased to see I im gpt a turn with The Win'hman in the Cup Maribyraong, bst year's winner, made a fair race of it till the question resolved it? elf into one of staying, and then the galloway went off pretty well unopposed. The son of Misa Russley (a daughter of G:and Flaneur, sire of the Melbourne Cup winner) is a regular lite slicker under a light we'ght, and I thought that he would win. Tiixie, whose succeps in the N>.vel Race was owing largely to Buddicombo'sriding. was knocked riown aftenvardu to Mr Ru h rford (of Civcribarn) for £14-. Frauc tte, %> oiu l only Musket," wss th Q first horEC in trsmble in the Ste-a-ds' Purse, and hst yar's winner, M'iunt»in Ma d, had to put up wish dpfrat by Swivel who simply cantered homp,pa?lu^ rhei,c*t dividend of thu day. Cotta>eGirl eecDrfdthe lead after going le(<s tban a m-le in tbe second trot, and won with something to spare. Cactus bad to fii-aft for his race, the Flviug, go had

his ridf r. Tom Buddicombe has seWom bad to ride so desperate a lini-h. A less resolute horoeman could nor h ave go fc home on the son of Folle F«rire This mailo Tommy's third win of tbe day, and his fourth followed when he landed Primro-e a winner. He deserved his luck The m magf*mHDt va s exceedingly creditable, a pl(>»s-nt feature of th^ proceedings being that strict punctuality was obsorved, and another mat'ei' for congratulation was the general excellence of the starting, the Flying seeing the only indifferent send-off of the day. The bookmakers present kept very guie 1 ", and Mason and Roberts passed £2480 through the totnlisator, as against £1582 last year.

\* Chevy had led for a mile and a-half in the Hurdlps at Winton when he struck heavily and dislodged his rider. Silvertail also met with bad luck, it being bis fate to fall at the I»sfc fence. The way was then cleared for Fairy Quesn, who smothered Nimrod for pace. Reflection had ouly Surefoot to beat in the Tradesmen's, and be is'getting'up in yeara. Otatara, who finished third, is t v .eson of Fusileer and Clinkerina that won th- Guineas last year. A pair of va»«-rans filled th* places behind the winner in the Three-mile Trot, and one of them, the blood-like Fowmsst, had the honour of starting at scratch, fromwlr.ch point hecoTered the distance in Bmin 26sec. Three Canterbury horsei fillei the places in the Cup, to the exclusion of the locally-rained pair, and the best of the lot at the weight* proved to bs Leinster, who waited on Ta»sy t'li well into the straight, and then drew away ratber ea«ily, Dora, lasb year's winner (she f'jen had 8.12), findng her 9 3 rather too heavy a burden. Old Leinster must b J a game one. Two or thiee seasons ago he sef mcd to b» about done with owing to soreness from which he has suffered more or less ever since ho began racing. 1 understand he has had a turn at. the stud this season. Tassy, winner of the Flying, is one of Mr O'Bnen's breeding and showed gtod f' mi as a two-year-old, but ho drvel peel a feirful t»mper in his next season and seamed to quite forget how to race. I liope tiiafc this win at AVinton in an indication of a return to form. On thr second day Leimler asserted eveu more strongly his claim to be cc'n*i<?ercd ns well established on the active list, for he pulled off the double, and the form in the mile and a-qu*iter race seems to .«u»gesfc that be could have beaten Dora ac level weights. Fairy Quoen stumbled and losfc her rider in the Hurdlea, and the winner turm d up in the Alluvium hor«e Huntsman. A protect wan entered, alleging tbab Dunoan, the rider, was unregistered, but the stewards summarily di -missed the object on, and declurod the deposit money forfeited. It was, I pro sume, discovered that the rider is registered. There is a Walter Duncan, of Rivertou, on th# list of those to whom jockeys' licenses have beeu granted.

* # * English news to hand thia week tells of [ the defeat of La Flecho at Manchester. Sho was carrying 8.7, not a prohib tive weight for a five year-old mare over a mil« course in th« autumn, and as fho looked well she started first; favourite ; but up to half the distance she did not show her best turn of speed, and when she did commence to ga'.lop in earnest it w»s too late to quite close up tbe gap, and though sho actually finished within a length of the winner, Culonel North's Clwyd, the was unplaced. The Manchester meeting was followed by the fixture at Newmarket. On the i first day there Wisdom's son Sf-mpronius landed the Fo.il Stake*, and Ravennbury, appearing f6t the first time in Captain Machell's colours^ made short work of the three that opposed hin^ over a two-mile coinse. Saintly was anothec winner, the Buckenham Stakes falling to tb.o lot of Mr D. Cooper through this filly's agency. Matchbox being called ou to concede 14-lb and 2Kb refcpectiveiy to his opponents in the Produco Stakes, a slight shade of odds was procurable against him at ihe po6fc, but his backers got home all right, the race being so slow thut the winner only recorded 2min 34sec for the mile and a-qusrtcr. The same distance, over exactly the same ground, was covered next day by Isinglas* in 2min 13soc. Bnt be had to hurry. There were six opponents to be*t, oc rather that was the numbfr at the start, subsf-quently reduced to five, for Throstle, the Leger winner, behaved co erratically in the raca as to put horsclf entirely out of the con-eßt Shortly after starting she bolted, and although Mornmgton CamiO" soon had her iv the course ag«in, she aggravated the performance by running right out a furlong farther on, end starting off for a tour of the country. When his stable companion Priestholme was dove with at the Bushes, Isinglass was sent to the front, and gradually wen ring down the French colt Gonvriml, won very decisively by a couple of lengths. Son o' Mine finished third, and as the latter was in receipt; of more than two stone from the winner, while Gouverunil has been a very fair perfo-mer in Franco, further testimony is borne to the excellence of slr MCa'mont'B champion, who, a-* one writer remarks, is a horse for everybody in England to be proud of, and those who decried Ltdas for succumbing to him by a length afc Sandown Park after a gallant struggle may perhaps reconsider their hastily - formed opinion.

* # * Dawee, the rider of the Melbourne Cup winner, in an interview with an Argu»r«pie?entative, said : I knew from past experience in riding Patron I could get him to do his best by nob striking him, but by shaking the whip over hit head and calling on him. I urged him on in this way for the final itruggle, as we were then about a furlong from the judge's box, and had the satisfaction of fleeing him gradually but; surely wearing down Devon. I got level witb Devon within a short distance of the pest, and for three or four strides we seemed to keep togotber, neither being able to shako the other off. With the winning post so close at hand — it was not mere than a dozen strides away— • and with victory almost within my grasp, I Jet; Patron feel the whip for the first time in the race, and at my call he bounded in front of Devon. It was then I knew I must win, but I kept the whip going till the few yarda that separated Patron and the winning post were covered, though it was scarcely neceisary to flog him, a3 he won by about; thrae-quarfcers o£ a length.

* # * Twice on Saturday last we had a recordcutting performance, and strange to say, in each ca<»e it was by one of Sir G. Clifford's horses, both Safeguard and Golden Fleece getting to tbe end of four furlongs in 476 ec, which knocks three-quarters of a second off the reco-d made e'ght years ago by Sextant. This is very fast traveling. The best in Australia at the distance is 48* cc, and Ame'ica can only bo«s h of the 465(-c done by Geraldine, en a cmr.se, by the w>y, which gives the half-Hiilo runner a. bit of n declivity. All thing* con-> sidercti, thtre'ore, thc-ivtord ioiv> las', weekafe R-ccarton ra&y claim to be as tnerlt.rioi'S wsany that the world kn« ws of Perbm k thM-c has b»en some'hii.g a^ f?."t in Kiuland, but it is difficult to spy what time counts for tfcere, hs unless in a few racrs, and <,f late ye*rs, thrre has been no ottlci'l clocking. So far as this colony is concenuHl, the holders of the four* furlong record during my career as a writer