TALK OF THE DAY.

By MAZEPPA.

*** Ib it the common fate of good handicap horse 3 to reach sooner or later a point from which farther progress is practicably impossible. Wainku is now in that position. His splendid record this season has caused Mr Henry to give him 10.0 for the New Zealand Cap. IS may be arguable that the St. Lager horse has earned this honour. He won the New Zealand Cup with 8.6, ran second in the Metropolitan with 9.7, made Multiform gallop in the Canterbury Cup, carried 9.12 into second place in the Auckland Racing Club Handicap, was second with 9 13 in the Wanganui Cup, won the Thomson Handicap with 10.3, and finished second wifch 10 7 in the Wellington Autumn Handicap won by Target with 7 .4. Waiuku is evidently a grand weight-carrier and a thorough stajer. Still, he has after all won very few racc3 this season. Close up he has been oftwo, bat the haßdicappers hs.vo had his measure, and in lifting him to 10.0, or a atone and 81b more than he won the Cup witli last year, Mr Henry has, in my opinion, given the horse every pound he is entitled to. All things considsred, I should not pick Waiuku to win even if it were settled that he ii to stay in the colony. The chances and the calculation* from the records aro against any hone winning with such a burden. No horse with anything like 10.0 has ever bad a look in for the Cup. In Waiuku's case there is the further choke-off that ho is supposed to.be outward-bound. Go or stop, he is not one of my picks on this occasion. I place stress on the fact that with half a stone less than his present >>utden be only finished fifth in the Auckland Cup ; cotsideraUon must also be given to the Canterbury Cup result, Multiform heating him at weight for age, and this pair being now called on to meet at precisely the same terras, eecb 81b over weight for age ; and, furfcber, Waiuku is presumably near to the age afc which degeneracy may be expected. St. Paul comes next with 9.9, or 161b more than ho had vrhen Waiuku beat him half a length in the last Now Zialaud Cup, and 91b above the weight that he carried into second place in the Auckland Cup. I mention these races because they are trie present distance, and distance is a special consideration in respect to Sfc. Paul, the fact being that he has never yet quite got to the end of two milts. He has mostly been "a second-day horse." Afc Christohurch he r*n second in tbo New Zealand Cup with 3.7, and won the Metropolitan (a mile and a-half) with 8 13 ; at Auckland, second in the Cup wifch 9.0, and won the Racing Club Handicap (a mile and a-half) with. 9 10 ; at Wellington, second in the Cup with 9.7, and won the Racing Club Handicap (a mile and a-quartec) with 10 2 ; at Wanganui, uuplaced in the Cup wit-h 9 11, and won the Wang^nui Stakes (a mile and a-half) with 10.0 ; wbilo at the Auckland Easter meeting he began by being nowhere with 10.3 in the Buster Handicap, then ran second with 10.0 in the mils and aquarter race, and wound up by annexing the St. George's Handicap with 10.3 and cutting the colony's mile record.

#*# In all these peiformances, it will be noted, St. Paul b:c*tne more formidable as the distances were reduced. This fact seems to me "significant. They say he lo3fc some of his races through bad riding, but are we "to understand that the bad riding was all in the long races and the good riding in the shorter ones ? That musk be proved if the argument is to have any weight. I am not convinced that St. Paul is a two-mile horse in the sense that Waiuku is ; and if this notion bo correct Mr Henry has about hit the mark in« putting 51b between this pair. It does not, however, follow from thi* that, having shelved Waiuku. I also shelve St. Paul. There is this all-important consideration to m&ke a distinction : that St. Paul is now coming to his prime, and may as a five-year-old, if his lengthy spsll of raciag did not hurt him,excelhisfour-year-oldperformances ; whilst, as already remarked, Waiuku is not by ordinary calculations »n improving horse. Moreover, St Paul is settled in the colony, and his party seem to fancy him. There are, at any rate, plenty of backers at 100 to 8, and this confidence saema to suggest stable inspiration. Bearing these thiDgg in mind, and deeming ib quite possible that with the extra year's strength St. Pau may get the little bit more staying ability that hitherto he has seemed to lack, I am dispoßed to say that Mr Chaafe's horse has some Bort of a chance. At the same time 9.9 is a stiff burden, and the desire to back him just now may fade down when some of the lighter weights begin to reveal form. The rule is that *t the opening of the Cup market backers pick aomething that has dons well in the past, not so much that they affirmatively fancy him as tbat they cannot make a selection from the others. Tbis may happen again. I certainly should not take 100 to 8 St. Paul at this stage. In including him amongst my selections, I have a fear that tho best he will ba able to do is to finish in a place The job just now is to uarns the one that is to beat him ; hence, no doubt, his being hoisted to th 9 position of first favourile. Mulliform comeu third with 98, or Blb over weight for age. Thia inrse raked in to his credit fchir season the Hawko's Bay Guineas, the Derby, the Canterbury Cup, and the Challenge Stakes, aud by virtue of these performances he is tho champion of New Zealand. Ordinarily we find the Canterbury Cup winner afc the head of the next New Zealand Cup handicap. On this occasion Multiform has been given 81b over weight for age, and Waiuku the same, notwith- { standing the fact thxt in the cace which stands *-fnc our championihio Multiform beat W»iaku

at weight for age and that there !« uo r.'.liei* race to destroy th&t as a test — no other face, 5 mean, in which this pair have meb. This in a high compliment to Waiuku, and it is a highet one to St. Paul, since the latter never even tackled Multiform, ard yet receives ouly 41o» judgsd thzough fcbo wsigiat-fcr-agfi scale.

#** We niAy safely say, I think, tbafe Me Stead's beautiful horse is w?ll treated by comparison with St. Paul and W&iuku. 1 admit, however, that Mr Henry had a difficulty iv handicapping these top weight?, and tbat 81b over weight for ago is a sufficient impost for a four-year-old - even for such a crack as Multi« formp The question, in my mind, is as towhether the others above him should nob hare come down a bit. If satisfied that Mr Stead' would start Multiform, I should be inclined to b»ck him against St. Paul ; bufc experience teaches that the Yaldhurst owner does not care about knocking his horse about in handicaps. In the meantime the safe plan may be to lefc Multiform alone, but keep an eye on him in case the stable should bring him into the market. If Mr Stead backs the horse I shall be satisfied that he has a good chance. Swordfish stands fourth in tbe Hit, and in receiving 9.2, or 31b below weight for age, he may be said bo have a nice racing weight. This season the son of Hotchkiss and Fishgirl has won a numbec of races — the President's Handicap with 8 5, » mile, in lmin 48sec; the Ascot Handicap with 7.0, a mile and a distance, in 2min 0 3 sscc ; the Christmas Handicap with 8.4, a mile, in lmin 44sec ; the Grand Stand Handicap with 8.4, * mile and s-quarter, in 2min 13£ sec —all at Auckland ; also the Eg--monfc Cup with 8.2, a mile and three-quarters, in 3min 9aec, Tiraut d'Eau 7.7 being one of the beaten ones; the Atkinson Memorial Stakes with 8.12, a mile aud a-half, in 2min 45 3-ssec ; and the Wanganui Cup with 89, a mile and three-quarters, in3min 4§sec,"in tbe latter racedefeating Waiuku 9.13 by a length and a-balf, and have Tire" 7.0, St. Paul 9.11, Day Star 8.12, Aatares 7.12, and Douglas 7.10 amongst those that were behind him. On the other hand, 8.10 waß apparently too much for him in the T&ran&ki Cup, and the handicapper found him oub at Auckland in & pril. His later career, indeed, would seem to indicate that Swordfish is not & great; weight- carrier. I am not disposed, however, to make too much of this. Swordfiih hud been racing nnce the early spring, and perhaps he was growing stale in the late autumn. As a. five-year-old he may be fresher and stronger. Taking the last of his good races, the Wan* ganui Cup, I find that he beat Waiuku &t adifference of 181b, and that the latter is now asked to give 121b, or 6'.b concession to Waiuku for the length and a-half beating. This is fair as between these two horses.

*#* It may be said that as I vote Waiuku out Swordfish must follow. But this conclusion, is by no means inevitable. I regard SwordfisSi as a horse thab will probably improve, and seeing that he has already shown a partiality for » distance and is coming to bis best age I do nob think it would have been wise to let him off with much less than 9.2, which is only a decent: racing weight and bub 71b more than he has won with over a distance, beating a field that at any rate looked strong on paper. I give Swordfish a chance, and would in any case prefer him to the top weight, though in saying this it is bnt just to Mr Henry to point out that the Wanganui form to gome extent bears out his calculation with regard to Waiuku— to the exlent, at any rate, that it made Waiuku a difficult horse to handicap. Nestor won the Auckland Cap and Derby a 8 a three-year-old, and his subsequent performances have noj; erased the credit therein earned, since one of his few races this season was to flniih third in the Auckland Cup when carrying the same weighb as St. Paul—namely, 9.0, both being beaten by Antares 7.11 For being third while Sb. Paul ran second Nestor now receives lllb, and that is every ounce that he should have. If Sfc. Paul's position is justified, Nestor's cannot ba attacked. Bob Ray will be remembered as a winner of the A.J.C. Derby. That set upon him the scamp of quality. Since then bis infirmity through accident has interfered with his usefulness; but he has now had a long spell, and they say he is all right. I cannot Bpealc as to his present capabilities, but should say that a horse who has a Derby to his credit and has done uolbiDg in the interval to dim hia reputation, and who is galloping well, now that he is reaching his prime is reasonably enough handicapped at 8.10.

%* Day Star had 9.0 in the last New Zealand Cup, and some of bis party thought a week or two before the race that he was a really good thing. He ran very badly, however, and was last in the Canterbury Cup, and in fact made no show at all throughout tho season. He now gets in at 8.8, or 61b lees, and thia really me&ne lllb less, since he is supposed to improve 51b between the ages of four and five years. On this showing he would seem to be well in if he comes back to his three-year-old form. Whether, however, he will do so remains to bs seen. He has changed hands recently at 600gs— considerably above the price that would bo obtained for a horse that was believed to have lost his racing powsr. According to his displays this seasou Day Star is not worth half that price for tur? purposes. Evidently, theD, his purch»ser ex? pects the horse to brighten up. But buyers ar«» often wrong in Iheir calculations, and I merely mention the sale as a side consideration, plae • ing very little value on it as a line to backers. All that I can aay concerning the son of Cissy is that if he i 3 seen at his best there is no bette* pick in the race ; if he keeps on as he has been going, the concession in weight will not make him win. Starshot is next on the list. Here we have a really good handicap mare. One of her performances to be kept in mind was her second in the Otago Cup to Uniform, who was coaceding 281b. Then we have also her Dunedin Cup win. a mile and three-quarters with. 7.6 in 3min B^3ec, beating Pitch and Toss 6.8, Sequin 7.4, Sb. Paul 10.3, Epaulet 8.2, and Antares 80. I leave Euroolydon out of count, since he broke down in the race. The way thai* Starshob ran out by herself in this race aloDg the back stretch proves her to be possessed of considerable speed, and she undoubtedly stay* well. Then with 8.3 she made hacks of her opponents in the D.J.C. Handicap; later oa she led all the road in the Great Autumn Handicap, carrying 7.0, and was beaten only a neck in the last few strides, having a fair lot b9bjnd her, including Waiuku 10.1 ; and she wound up her winning account for the season by * phenomenal run in the D.J.C. Birthday Handicap, getting home by a nose, and carrying her 8.12 to the end of a mile and a-half in 2min 4R 3-ssec. This bare statement shows that Starshot is a member to be respected, and, believing her to be more reliable than the majority of hec Bex, I like her chance. Marquis of ZetUnd, itt the same stable, was allotted 8.3 and went out as soon as tho weights appeared. Thia leavas Mr Hobbs with only Starshob and Dundas engaged in the big event, and, while the lattec is a good colt, ib must nob be overlooked that ha has the uucoveted honour of top weight amongst

the Ihree-year-olds, so that of the pair Starsbofc ' has the lower weight, reckoned through the scale. '%* North Atlantic is a horse of which we wave not heard mnch recently. It has always been said that he once did a great trial Tor the New Zealand Cap in his younger days— so good that it was on the strength of it that his party fancied him for the Great Autumn Handicap which he won. It is a moral that in his .btBt, d»y« the big gelding would have been regarded as a good thing for the Cup with odlj 8.2, for he was a manterful sort of r»cehorge, possessed of great power and courage arjd able t > stay well. But who in to guarantee that tie still retains these qualifications P Not yours truly. 1 don't know anything about North Atlantic's present form, and cau only say that he hag received an ample allowance for his assumed deterioration. Mountebank has pride of place smonget the Olago horses, being put at 7.13 Running through his performances Ja&t Feesou, I fiad that he won tho North Otago Maiden Plate from Stquin, that be was second to Multiform in the Derby, bating St. Cobod ; third with 6.11 to Uniform 9 5 and Starshot 7 5 in the o'i-go Cup; won the Tahuna Park High Weight Hacdicap, carrying 8.0, and having Cannonshot 9.10 behind him : won the Midsummer Handicap with 7.7, beating Culrerin 7.10 az<d Fcquin 7.7, also Epaulet 8.5, Starshot 7 9, asd Goldleaf 7.7 r and getting to . bhe end of a mile and a-half in'2min 39 3-s«c ; md was bsaten a length' and a-quarter by Gold ' Mtdallist at level weights in the Champion . Plate. Taking the Midsummer Handicap to - iiethe best guide to Mountebank's form, I , append & statement as to how tie now meets the horses then opposed to him as reckoned through the weight-for-sge scale Mountebank : was carrying Blb under weight for age, and now has 151b under.; Sfqnin bad 51b under aud now bas 251b under ; Epaulet had 9ib, and now has 221b; Sfcarsbo 1 ; had 16lb, and now has lOlbrGoldleaf had 51b, and now bas 151b Put in auotber ■way. Mountebank is weighted »t7ibless (judged through the scale), Stquin 18lb leso, Epaulet I3ib les», Starshot 61b lets, GoldJeaf 1016 less. On this showing, Mountebank ought to beat Starehot and Goldleaf Bgain, and Sequin, who it is said really finished second and not third as placed by the judge, ought to have a chance of doing Mountebank. I am satisfied, however, that Starshot was not displaying her real form In that race. Htr whole ic^ord proves that. All things considered, I reckon that Mountebank is reasonably weighted. He gets 231b from the brst of his age — I refer to Multiform, ■who beat him badly in the Derby— and if he want* inors than that he is a worse racehoiss than he is supposed to be. *** Zinella has some very decent pprformances to her credit At Manawatu in December ehe win the Cup, a mile and a-half, in 2min 42|s£c. carrying 7 7, and beating Tirant d'Eau 6.10, Cceur de Lion 8.2, and Douglas 7.8 ; and at "Welliugton in January she pulled <ff the President's Handicap, a mile and a furlong, in lmin 58|sec, carrying 8.6, and beating amongst others Stawhot 7 6, Target 8 0, and Goldleaf 7.7; but Starshob bad not then come to her , best, and when . Zanclla tried lo win - the Hawke's B*y Cup in March,, with 8 10, ehe gob rather badly put down by Douglas, hsndi- . cupped at 7 12, the Utter winning by two lengths and a-half. Evidently the weight found - ber out. But ehe now bas 121b -taken off her . back, and D ugla* gives her Sib fur the beatiug, . and bearing in mind that a mare which has . been, a fairish stayer will -occasionally do her best in this way jas.t before she begins to go off finally I am rather disposed (o give Zanella's chance some consideration. It has not yet been proved that she cannot get to the end of two miles. A question was raised this season as to her soundness, but I do not know how she stands in thtfe respect. Sylvia Park, the brother to Hippomenes, has not, I think, run at a greater di«tance than seven furlongs this season. The Wai mate Handicap at Egmont was that distance, aud he did it with 7.13 up in lnvn 31sfic, beating Rex 7 9 He is a Lorsa that I know nothing about excepting by report, and on paper I do not care for his show, but Mr Henry has seen the bo«e tunning and may have discovered some promising signs \7hichare not revealed to the general public. Antares rests his claim to attention solely on the Auckland Cup win. Xn that race he carried 7.11 and beat St. Paul 9.0 by half a length, doing the two noiiea in 3oiin 36sec. Seven-eleven meant 171b under weight for age, and the aame weight in the New Zealand Cup next November means 221b under weight for age, so that An tares gets a 51b allowance on the Auckland Cup weight, whilet Bt. Paul, whom he beat, goes up 41b. In other words, Antares has 91b the best of it by comparison with Mr Chaaffc's little bulldog. As a mere matter of weight, there can be no doubt that Antares is remarkably well treated. In this consideration I take lo notioe of his numerous defeats, sine?, so iar as can be understood, weight had nothing to do with those results. But, in estimating Antares' chance of - winning, these failures must count for a very .great deal, sinca theyjind cate faintheartedness, or eemethinft very much like it ; and, therefore, while picking Antares aa one of tbe most leniently-treated horses in the , race, I would not back him for a gooseberry. He may win • from end to em?, or he may be last all the road. Epaulet is a puzzle. The run in the New Zealand Cup which landed him in third pkco with 7.il made him cut to be a racehorse of lome pretension*, and I thought a lot of the determined ggllop he gave in the Si. Andrew's Handicap, when, with 8.4, ha finished second to Uniform 9.12, losing Mountebank 6.9 ; but since tben Epaulet has consistently failed over a distance aud appears to rather prefer welter?, wherein he is able to carry a lot of weight up to a mile The explanation may be that he is a slug acd wants a strong man to drive him along. He is not one of my fancies ; tut he could not very well ask for a lighter weight than 7.11, or 221b under weight for age, *#* Boreaa has so far distinguished himself principally over six-furlong courses, and we do not know whether he can stay or not. Until that problem is settled he may be passed by with tho observation that 7.10 is not a high Weight for an aged horse thai has been running Forward over his own distances with 10 0 on his back, and has to his credit such an important event as tbe C. J.C. Stewards' Handicap, won in lmin 15^iec. If it be true that staying means speed, here we have an unrevcaled stayer. Cccur de Lion hag three good races to his credit this reason— the Spring Handicap at Hawke's Bay, a mile and a-half, 2oain 37§sec, 6.9, beating Missfire 7 3, Douglas 79, Tire 7.8, and Defiant 7.6; tha Park Stakes at Napier Park in October, a mile and 3-quarter, ' 2min 14§3fc, 7.9, by a, bead from Pompom " 7.10, with Douglas 7.11 third ; aud the Pearce • Handicap at Wellington, a mile and a furlong, lmin 59scc, 7.8, beating- Leda 7.9 and Target 1 8.0. On the other hand, 8 6 stopped him Sn tbe mile and a-qaartei* race at Feilding, and tho weights which he earned were never by him carried to the front in his subsequent appearances. Rightly or wrpngly, I have tbe idea that Ccenr de Lion is not Been at his best with

> more than 80. Surely, however, he has earned . his present impost of 7-9. If that does nob give him a chance no weight would. As a mere question of weight, however, I I prefer Douglas to Captain Russell's horse. | Douglas ran «econd in tha Wanganui j Stakes with 7.8, the weight now served ! out lo him ; with 7.7 he accounted for j the Racing Club Handicap at Manawatu, doing the mile and a-half in 2miu 42sec ; and then there was his Hawke's Bay Cup win, a mile and a-half, in 2miu 39£qee, giviDgZanel!a(wbo conceded 121b) a two and a-half lengths' beating. It strikes me that D^u^las is rather a good horse of bis class, but difficult to train. Defiant bas generally been kept lo short and medium distances. One of the most striking of his perforcoarces this season was to win the January Handicap at Wellington, doing the nine furlong*, wi(h 8.5, in lni'ra 58J<5-sc, beating Sundial 6 9 and Sfcawhot 7.2. What he can do over two miles no one can say, unless it be the owner or the.traioer. It will be remembered { that Defiant whipped round in the Derby and took no part in the race.- But for thst we might have hrd a line as betwixt Defiant and Mountebank. i * # * Rubin is another whose proper place in ! the handicap can only be guessed at-, the d-ffi-1 culty of assessment in hia case arising from j the lact that he has been k«pfc until very lately Ito hack company. He seem?, however, to have ; Fairly ferved his ppprenticeehip in that way, '-coining to the-lop by .sheer merit. As a sami pie of what Rubin h^s done I may mention his '! suceeKH in the Hawera Cap, a mile and a-half, with 9 2 up, in 2aain 39§iec — that is to say, he carried a stone and 9lb more than Mountebank bad in the Mi(3s«inmer Handicap and' made the same t;tns. Other perf ormanoc s, though possibly not to impressive as this, al<o show good form, and all that can be said on -the other hand is that Rubin is or has been a hack — th« very same reproach as'W&iuku in receot years and Maritana in years gone by had hurled at them. Hack or no hack, I like tbis Rubin, and shall make him one of my selections for the New Zealand Cup Goldleaf's claims to attention rest on three races. She won the Oaks. That, perhaps, was not a great performance, since, after S*quiu was accidentally put out of tbe contest. th°i'e was nothing better than Weary to mak-:a iightof it. Lateron, on theeame course, she captured tbe Si-. Albaua Handicap, doing the mile in a lick under 1.45, and carrying 7.4, wbile of those behind her Red Lancer had 79, Fulnvn 69, aud Sfcarshot 74. Subse- | quetitly Goldl-af pulled off the Great Autumn j Handicap, and this counts as her principal achievement. She carried 7 0 and beat Starshot 7 10 by a neck, having Tirant d'Eau 7 4. Waiuku 10.1, and Antares 7 8 also behind her, aud gating to the end of the mile and ti.-hs.lf in 2min 36 4-ssec. This performance may bs I looked at a little closer. Analysing it through tbe weight for-sge scale we discover that Goldleaf carried 161b undf>r weight for age, SUishoi; 16lb under, TirAut a'Eau ll!b under, Antares 201b under, and Waiuku 12lb over. GoldJcaf now ha* 15 b ut.dcr, Starehot 101b under, Tirant d'Eau 18. b under, Antares 221b under, and Waiuku 81b over. In other words G 'Idleaf is raised lib, Starshot is raised 61b, Tiraub d'Eau is lowered 71b, Antares is lowered 21c, and Wftiuku i* lowered 4!b. On these figures I Goldlt-af has a fair show to win again if sbe can j gallop to the end of two uniiea, and as. ehe won the Autumn JHandicsp on the yoint of staying, there is no particular reason to question her capability in tnio respect. The remainder of | my remarks on the handicap will appear next wetk. *** The Prince of Wales won the R >yal Two-year-old Plate, run at Kenopton Park in M&y, with Eventail, by Ayrshire from Fanchctte, by Speculum— Reticence, by Vespatiaa. She wen a fine race by a head, after a game struggle. The daughter of Fanchetto was well liked in the paddock before the raoe, being an evenly-moulded, full-quartered, whole chsstnut, beautifully balanced, and in many respects like Formosa. On the Saturday the weather w»s in every way favourable for intending visitors, the result btiug that a larger crowd has rarely been witnessed at Kempton ou a Jubilee Day. Sixteen runners for the great race was a good average, and the wagering ranged from 9 to 4 taken about the Irish-bred Dinna Forget to 100 to 1 about the American-bred Dobbins, who was reappearing on a ractcoursa alter a epell of service at the stud. The two mentioned furnished the first and last, but Dinua Forget, who started the hottest favourite ever known for the race, only managed to secure tbe verdict by a head, after a despsrately exciting fiaish with Bridegroom, who stood at 25 to 1 in the quotations. The winner was ridden by Robinson, who also steered the winner last year wheu Cwyd won by a neck from Ki'CDck. Diona Forgets time for the mils was by iio means a fast one, ac lmin 45 3-si<ec compares badly with the lmin 40see made by Clwyd last year. This year'a winner is by Loved One (son of Seesaw and Pilgrimage) out of Barometer, by Chippendale — Remorse, by Hermit. Mr Reid Walker's horse has had a lengthened and unlucky career. After he had failed several times ou the flal as a four-jfor-old, he was bought by his preseut owner with a view lo putting him to the jumping business, and his next appearance* in public was at Manchester lest spring, when, he started a warm favourite and finished a bad third for the Salford Hurdle Race, for which there were only three atarterf . Then Dinna Forget returned to the flat, and during tha season sported silk on seven occasions, but only once was be first p2St the post. *** The Newmarket meeting followed. Here, en the first day, the Australian-bred RJaluma got done in the Newmarket Handicap by Jaquemart, aud this led a prominent writer to remark: "Sprinting fotm in Australia is probably very inferior to that in England, bu j Ma'uma's sprinting capacity as proved there should be very useful here when combined with ability to get over a distance. There is no knowing how good JaquFmart i 3 this year. He is a beautiful horse, and looks like continuing to improve. Mr Jersey's luck is turning, but only slowly, for two seconds with Bridegroom and Malnma are not altogether cheering." The Exniug Plate went to Knickerbocker, who comes of American blood, though bred in England. His dam, Flirt HI, was included iv the lot of Aruericin-bred horses sent over to England in connection with what was known as the DwyerCroker combination in January 1895. His sire, Dobbins (foaled in 1891 at the, Fairview stud, Tennessee), v?aß also among the number, and Knickerbocker was foaled the following year. Kir'ekerbocker was making his first public appearance in the Excing Plate, and the way he won leads the ocribes to suggest that his sire (Dobbins) ought to go back to the stud at ence instead of bring made a fool of by further attempts to train him. The report of the raoe for the Nuwmarket Stakes makes ib clearly underetandabls how Jeddah came to be knocked out for the Derby. Cyllene, who was not entered for the Derby, won in record time, and Jeddah was in trouble sll the way, finishing fifth, thus provoking the comment that "he obviously dislikes racing, aud must be put down on *. disappointment." Cyllenei who is

by Bjna Vieta from Arcadia, by Isonomy — Distant Shore, by Hermit, wis bred by his owner, Mr C. D. Rose, and on the first occasion of running as a two-year-old — in the Sefton Park Plate ab Ihe Liverpool Spring meeting — slight odds were betted on him. Tnesa he landed very easily, and'ou nexb appearing ab Gatwick he readily accounted for the valuable Worth Stakes from four opponents. The colb's winning career was unchecked ab Ascob in tbe Forty-fifth Triennial Stakes and ab Sandown Park in the National Breeders' Produce Stakes, but defeab overtojk him on his lasb appearauce as a juvenile, when Dieudonne (in receipt of 101b) beat him by thret-q jarbevs of a leugf.n in Ihe Imperial Produce Soafces atKetnpton Park. Cylleue e-\me out ogsiu this yeßr ab the Newmarkefe Craven, and wibh oJds of 11 bo 2 entrusted (o him for the Column Produce Slakes in a field of five he could only fiuieh third to the filly by Senauus oub of Scotia and Pureer, to whom, however, he was presenting a considerable amount of weight. Then followed the Newmarket Sbakes.

! *** Q e D.medin Jockey Club acquiesces reluctantly iv the ruling of the conference over the Lobo affair, regretting that the opinion of the stewards has been ignored, and expreesicg the opinion that the rules should be mo amended ta to do away with appeals on qu?stioti<s of lacfc. If; will be seen f-orn this that the D.J.C. still regards tbe paint ia i<£=ue iv the Lobo appsal as a question oi fact. I argued this point lasb week, aud ib seems perfectly clear thab it musb be so. What I desire to say now is that I heartily support the re c o'u'ion of the committee on the sa' jeeb as eeb out in fuij in another column aud referred to above. Not th»t I think the dedvion of the Appeal Committes in respect to Lobo a wroug one. I adraifc that in this particular instance ib seems to me thsb tbe deewjn arrived at by the process of appeal is correct. Bit I dmb like the proems. No one kaows what the procedure was. That constitutes one objection to the system. Also, it is to be feared, for reasons given over and ovef again in these columns, thai appeals will frequently work mischief uuUsi sategu^rd-ed very strictly by condition? tbal v ) oiie has y«b suggested, and which it win Li perhaps bj difficult to sugges 1 ;. Think for a moment of how the eysfcf m works. Cert&ia men see a race and note its surroundings. A dispute arisf s and is referred to these per- 1 ions for settlement. They bring the results o? j their own observation to bear, take nofco of the ! local facts, and, if sa disposed, receive evidence j fcom o'hfir persons then accessible 1 , aud who ! can speak of tho eveut as ib is fresh ia their minds. AfLer deliberation a decision is given. l - Tfiis fails to satis'y <ne of the parties, and , theie is an appeal. Up to thi-. poiufc, it may be j arguable, uo mischief can arise. The doctrine j of appeal sounds like a fair thing. In theory, ] no doubt, it is. Bub it is hero that the pro- i cedure steps off the rails into the "region ] of f'iree, TII3 appeal is m?.de not to a 1 superior boJy, but to au inferior one — nob to the conference, but to three m&n who aaay or may nob ba up to the level of any tbrua of th° stewards whose decision is to* be reviewed. This is simply ludicrous. In the practice of ou; law courts there is au appeal from a magiotrats to a judge, from a judge -to i the Appeal doutf, ircm the Appeal Court to the Privy Council, and so on, a step up tvery time. In racing wa are reversing laid order and allowing au appeal from, say, a dozen men who should bs :u a p^ifcion to give a decision to thres who canaob possibly kuow more than what they a<e loifl aboab t<he maXttr they are cel'eA" upon to "investigate. The eye) em is utterly mod hopelessly wrong, and the D.J.C. Committee would have been within their rights if they had lushed out a bit; instead of putLiog j their grievance in moderate phraseology, though 1 the adoption of this latter- course ia certainly | the more dignified. j

! " *£* Mr Jack Cohen is perfectly dizzied by the magnitude of the betting in Englaud. In a further letter to the Melbourne Sporbaman, h« says : Never in all my experience have I seen any horde back-d like I caw the wiuaer of the Kempton Jubilee backed. The people behind Dinne Forged ftviriy shovelled the nvmey on. They did nob etaud out for price. All they wantfd to know was how much the bookmakers would befc. They started to pui the money on two dfiys bt-fore the 'race, and never stopped until the flag fell. They started getting 10 to 1, a«d finished taking 9 to 4. I stood behind George Cooper — whom I con&ider one of the best fi^lde.'s iv tha ring — when Mr Charles Mills, oue li th« biggest backers in England, came up to hitu and asked " What price Dinna Forget?" He offered 7 to 2. ''All right," says Mr Mills, "I will take £7000 to £2000." Mr Cooper befc him. About a quarter of au hour later Mr Mills came back fc> Mr Coopar, and asked him "What price Dinna Forget?" " Five to Z," replied Mr Cooper. "All right," said Mr Mills, " I'll take £5000 to £2000." That's what I call betting. Why, if we lay a man the odds to 100 in Australia we thick vo do wonders. But I can assure you ib is nobbing here. I enjoy watehiDg the English, bookmakers bei; ; it fairly maljes my mouth water. Taere in absolutely no limit to wh&t you can win if ytu are game enough to pub ifc down. I bare r.ob heard what the people behind Dinna Forget won, but I should gay, judging from the way I saw the comniusiouers working the courst?, nob a shilling less than £100,000. I know il was one of the worßt races the books have had for jears. There are a lot of backers here who do nothing else buh back horsfs, and they make ib pay well ; bnfc they arc excellent judges of form, aud splendid judges of horseflesh— especially tbe North couatrymeu. They are also good judges of figures, and know exactly what price they ought to get aboub a Lor.«e. In fac l ", if they cannob get what they consider a fair price, they oflea turn round and field againsl; the horge they waated to back. Iv this country there is no registration, so you see if a punter docs nob Fancy the prices, eotne of the punters offer a couple of points longer, and very often ky them to other punters. Perhaps they will only lay the fisb and second favourites. It is wonderful the prices that the public take aboub the first aud second f&vourifces. And they seem to know whi^b they are doing, as they invariably win. I have laid against one or two hob things ab what I considered a falsa price, bub they got borne on me. I tell you they do get home here. It there were as mauy favourites won in Aus- ] tralia as wiu iv England, there would not be a book left. I don'c know how ib is thab bo many backed horses win here. The bookmakers say ib is no fault of the handicapper — as he handi- j caps wonderfully well — bub the punters know 1 too much about the game. They gauge the j form ofr the horses to an ouuee. The only thing that keotis the bookmakers going here is the way they beb. They bet very close indeed.

*%* The Napier Park Steeplechase meeting engrossed the attention of sportsmen lasb week. This meeting was inaugurated iv 1887, when Mangaohane followed up bis win in the Hawke's Bay Sbeeplechase by securing a somewhab easy victory with 91b more on his back, getting home by five lengths from Orient, even

then a veteran. This Mang&ohane was a fast horse, and it is a pity he was cot sound enough to last and rise to a leading position amongst the colony's 'chasers'. In the fo'lowing season the Napier Park Club fixed its steeplechase date four weeks ahead of the Hawke's Bay meeting, thus securing the Queeu'i* Birthday, but only email fields wer? obtained, and the experiment was dropped. Three competed in the Steeplechase, aud Chemist won by a couple of lengths from MaDgaohane, the l«tter receiving 121b, whilst the other starter, Denbigh, did not get | round the course. This form was justified at s Hastings four week* later. Ia 1889 a surprise w»s brought off. Panic, ridden by Cucbrane, fioished oufc of a place at Hawke's Bay, getting hems fifth ; iu y , with half r stone l^es to carry at Napitr Park he took the same jockey along at a great ba*". There was, in fact, a rs.ee foe tbe lead all the way betweeu Panic aad Defamer. The latter tired badly in the straight, and waspssaf d by Chemist, who, however, never got near Panic, he winning by 10 lengths. Next year, again, bankers got a tacer by Ihe result, j They pinned their faith to Sir Garnet and J Auckland, aijd wbil-sfc this pair shaped wel! i euougb std gol placed they had no show at the , fiuiah with tho speedy Oeo, whose followers j reaped the nice price for a field of fire of £10 2s, i The meeting was not held in 3891. The next ! y-ear it failed to bring together many horses of j repute, and the principal event was contested by only four, of whom the be<?t proved to be Whalebone, this Volunteer gelding'foUowiog up his success at Hawke's Bay. He beat Oba>eri by 10 lengths and Lyndoora was a bad third. The year 1894 was another blank so far as the Napier Park S'.eepleahftse was concerned. The meeting was not held. Nexb rear found the gatheriug revived with great glory, good iislds coming forward, and no fewer than 11 starting for tbe principal event. This was vo sd a fair thing for Tiritea, and so it proved. Certainly ho won by only half a length, bub it was Mutiny that he had to beat, and the latter was ia receipt of half a stone. In 18S6 the meeting was again pulled forward, being held co early as May 13 and 14. It was Mutiny's year. Morag fell at the sod wall when in ths lead and was sorted again, but lost his chance, Mr Douglas's horse winuing by half a df zeu lengshs. Last year, the early date being sLuck to, jb'iirr, the outsider of the party, gob home, Slorag again falling ; and now we have Rhino beating Morag at'tei" a iiae raca and giving Redmond his third winning mounl; in this Steeplechase. The listed results vesd thu« : — j 18S7— Mangaohane .. 10 7 Redmond £49! 38SS— (Jhemist... 11 (5 Ellingliam 3 36! lf-89— Panic 9 0 Oochrane 11 li ! 1890 -Oeo 9 8 Fergus 10 2 IS9I-Nouice — — — 1 892— Whalebone ... 11 12 Gilpin 2 8 3891— N0 race — — — IM)S-Tiritoa ... 11 10 Redmond 3 S ISW-Mutiny .. IS 3 Hope 4 4 3807— Flirt . ... 9 7 Gr«baru 7 13 I 1898-Rhino . 11 7 Redmond 5J3 ' Ib will be seen by the report that Rubin, a j candidate for the New Zealand Cup, woo his j rr.C's in good style, and that Nansen, another j candidate for the colony's big handicap, was i twice unplaced. Perhaps this raay be reversed j at Riccnrtou. I am told that Rubiu did not please everybody by the way he shaped. Yet ha won and bsat a fair field, and ia the mear_~ tinae his backers have a good win. They supported him freely in DuOedin, at any rata. Mr j A. Moss tells me that ho laid Rubin to wiu j nimself £100, an a went down badly over the race ; still he came out £12 to the good over the day. Messrs Barnett and Gr&nfc also had a j lucsp of the Rubin commission. What helped ' i.o fetch bbc Dunedm layers home was Opon'd j downfall iv the Hurdles. I btlieve that about ! £120 of this commission was execute d in Dun- ; edia, aad the horse was paying £7 163. A | lucky escaps for the books ' |

*#* Before Doondifch won the Slesplechfse ab the Oaklands Hunt Club meeting, writes the Melbourne Sportsman's special, I saw £500 to £25 laid in the Victorian Club against the double Suulfe and Dooudiah, and the backer wanted to go oc at the pries. Twenty to oue gpf ms an absurdly shorn price to take abouo a V.R.C. Grand National double at this time of day, but backers evidently don'fc think so, for siuce Dooadiah'a victory those odds about Messrs Manifold's pair are obtained with difficulty. If I remember aright 10 to 1 wag taken about the Baliaral doable one year — Sheet Anchor a-ud Gram" — but that wkb the day before the G.N. Hurdle R?,ce was inn. Sheet Aucboc was supposed to be next door to a certainty for the Hurdle Race, for which the subsequent Melbourne Cup winner was leniently handicapped, bub, although a good jimptr in private, ho crashed through nearly every hurdle in the rare, and finished third. Sheet Anchor** starting price, was sto 4. The other cud of tbe double (Game) started at 3 to 1, aud pulled bis backers through all right. A very short price, (00, was taken about " the two Redleaps," go, after all, the cramped odds offered against Soult and Djoudifih are by no means unprecedented. Mention of Kedleap's dual victory reminds me that Hayseed haE been supported for both events. Something like £3000 wai obtained about the double, bufc whether it was for the stable or nob I am unable to Bay;

*#* Apprentices and trainers will be interested ia a case reported iv London & couple of months ago. Arthur Aylin, suing through his father, brought; an action agaiusb Mr W. B. Purefoy, r*celzorse owner and trainer, having training stable* aij Bal'sbury, to recover damages for libs!. Mr C. O. Scobb was counsel for the plaintiff Mr Pease for bhe defendant, Ia December 1895 the defendant advertised for apprentices. The plaintiff's father, a restaurant keeper of Greenwich, who had several sons apprenticed as jockeys, answered the advertisement, ami ss a result of an iaietview with Mr Cunliffe, of Jerrayn street, the defendant's partner and ageut, the plaintiff was sent to defendant's trainiug stables at Salisbury for a month on trial. The plaintiff, a boy of 11 years of age, cotnmencad his duties in December 2 895. A month later the boy ab the defendant's request executed a deed of apprenticeship without his father being preaenb. Ths father, on learning this, objected to the terms of the deed and to its being signed behind his back. Ib was then arranged that there should be an alteration in the articles, and that the lad should be apprenticed for five years on the same terms as his brobhers ab Newmarkeb. Tbe indentures provided that the boy should be taughb the arb of training and riding racehorses. According to the evidence of the father, Cuuliffe promised him that the boy should not be allowed to ride a thoroughbred for six months. About a year afterwards the boy met with an "accident while riding, and the father considering that his son was not being fairly treated took him away. The defendant thereupon caused aa advertisement to be inserted in the sporting papers warning all trainers against employing the plaintiff, on the ground that he had absconded from the defendant's employment. This was the libel complained of, aad it was alleged that in consequence of it the plaintiff was unable to get employment in another training stable. Onlr nominal damages were asked for, tbe Qbjecb, of the action befteto

obtain a declaration thab uo bindiog appren ticeship deed was ever eutered into, and that therefore 'the statement as to the plaintiff haviag absconded was untrue. For the defence it was stated that the terms of apprenticeship were stated to the father and mother before the lad went for the mon*h'« trial, and ib was contended thab a perfectly binding agreement had been entered into with the lnd, and that that agreement wan never cancelled, Tbe defendant stated in evidence that it was iiect-ssary to be very particular about boys breaking engagements, as if au apprentice rode well he could earn large sums, aud it would bs to his interest to bs free to sccopb o'her engagements. The plaintiff wa3 a promising l&d, and a license would have beea takon out for him to ride h*d Ite stayed. The recorder, ia summing up the cas?, said that if the bjy signed a deed which was net a bentfieisl one ib would not be binding upon hi do, aud he could not be deemed to be an " apprentice " in the ordinary acceptation of the word. The jury, after a long hearing, returned a verdict for the defendant.

*#* Few people, siys the Sportsman's special, have fully realised what a wonderful horse Galtee More really is. I have the authority of his trainer for stating that lasb spriug, as a youug three-year-old, no wag the equal to Kilc.ck at eveu weights, and in tbe autumn ho was able to give the old horse 14!b. What this means lei anyone try to itnfigine who saw tbe very bold show Kilcock in*de under 9.7 for the Jubilee Stakes. Watt 3 thinks that had tbe going not been so hard Galtee would just about have won the Cambridgeshire, and as for his other races thf-y ppsak for themselves. Not only. did he win the " triple crown," but he missed none of his intermediate engagements, which proves him t> have an uuusunlly good constitution nnd souod litnbs. That be is the beet horse ever sold to go away from Boglaad admits of uo doubt, for Ormonde and Prince Charlie, being roarers, must rank below him. Mr Gubbina was uob desirous of selling, and if his stud were in Bugland wi'lru the radius of high fees he certainly would nob have sold, bub as it was he decided that Galiree's brother B'aitfiadfi would eecve his tura v?rj well at Koockany, and so he let the celc-bti'y go. Twenty thousand guineas is the largest price ever given for a horse in training, and it must not be forgotten that Mr Gubbins also obtained the cq-riv&lent of 20,000gs for K-endal, the sire of Galtee More —This eulogy is taken exception to by two correspondent*, one of whom claims th^t Fi-.herman was a. greater horse than the lu-vh representative, whilst " Oxonian " gays thab he cannot accept ihe dictum lhafc Galtee Mr-re is the best horse ever sold to go away from England. The claims of Priam, Glencoe, Lanercoat, Vau Tromp, Tne F;ymg Dutchman, and West Australian are nob to be disposed of in that off-hand fashion. Eir< ryone of these beat first-class fields over Cup ourftsg, and GiUee More has no'u yet dons that.

*#* Mr Charles Treadway, the Kuglish-Ausu-alian ihetallician, now in Perth, having recently returned from En&l&ud, has a fucd of racing anecdotes which he has gatheied in hit career on the Home and colouial turf. One of his many, related by the Sr-o r t-nian i.i tbe course of a recent interview with ciuj, serves aptly to illu'trate thn lavishrfs* of members of " fhe magic circle" doing a big business ov the English taif. Mr Treatlway relates that afc one Ne;vaiarket meeting St. Fi-u^quirJ aod a "rough 'uu"" were the ouly two ruun»i'? iv s. weighb-for-s\g3 rsce, and that it. looked (as it proved) " aoy odds in the world" on the Shea liighlr -fancied Derby candidate winning. Mr Rnhscbild, the owtiar of Si>. Frusqino, personally approached Peach, of Peach and Steel, o:jp. of the biggeit betting firms thesi in the ring, and queried : " What odds are you a'king on raiae?" "Oh! a thousand to a oarrof-, sir," responded the fielder. " I'll lay ib you, Peach," was the replj, and the form of booking the befc was gone through. St. Fm=quin won in " anyhow " style. The sequel to the etory is that on settling day the bookmaker presented Mr RoLhsehild with an imitation carrot, properly topped with green, ths model of the vegetable being set in gold, the value of the unique "short end" of the wager representing that iv reality Mr Rnthsehiid had, in lieu of laying "» thousand to a carrob " on, laid a thuusand to a "poz-.y," or thereabouts, on,

*#* Oir Wellington • correspondent telegraphed on Tuesday : — At the monthly meeting of the Wellington Racing Club stewards yesterday afternoon, the secretary stated that the damage done to the femiufj at the Hutfc racecourse by the recent fbed h»d been repairod and that a new steeplechase course had been laid out. For th& new course Ellington's and Ward's paddocks will not b? tfuverscd, as in ths past, the whole distance facing completed on the clab'o own property. The '• trappy " country will now be avoided, and it is expected that mishaps will not be. co frequent aa at previous steeplechase mectiugfl. In ali 22 obstacles will have to ba negotiated, including log fsnee, sod wall, water jump, post and rail, and a couple of brush fences, and a few hurdles. The question ot altering tho date of (he first, day* races to Wednesday (Aibor Dv) was oiseusged, ?.nd it was decided to rtfcaiu the original date, Thursday," 14th insc. The Governor has notified his intention of being present at both day's racing, in company with Lady Ranfurly and party, and it wa» decided <o entertain them at luucheon on the second d.iy, the party being the guests of the president on the opening day. The stewards resolved lo invite the delegate.* to the Racing Conference, which will meet in Wellington dudi-g race wesk, to luncheon od the GrsL day.