SPORTING ITEMS.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9013, 28 January 1895, Page 2

SPORTING ITEMS.

Weekly Press and Referee. That was a significant addendum to the judgment of the Auckland magistrate in giving his decision in favour of the plaintiff in the action brought against an official of i the Onslow Trotting Club. There, how- ; ever, can be no two opinions but that the ' remarks that emanated from the bench, aud which are fully reported in this Issue, were very much to the point, and we can only hope that the magisterial authorities ell over the colony will note, mark, and follow out the plan that Mr Nortbcote has expressed his intention of adopting at Auckland. If clubs cannot exist without mortgaging the future, the best thing for • them to do is to disband, tbat is, always supposing that untoward and exceptional circumstances have not been present to account tor default over a gathering. From what we can learn, the club in connection with whose affairs the strictures

of the Auckland magistrate were called forth has, on several previous occasions, been remiss in settling over its gathering*. There is good reason to suppose, indeed, tbe institution has had a hand to mouth exhtenre since its inauguration, and that it has not been brought to book long .since certainly does not say much for the ruling trotting board in the Northern capital. Had the club been obliged to submit properly certified balance sheets, it would, no doubt, have at once been seen that it was not in a position to pay its way, and refusal to pass the programme wonld or should have followed until satisfactory proof were forthcoming as to all expenses being provided for. Had this been done, the humiliation of having the club's affairs canvassed in court would have been avoided.

It may be that there are other clubs in the colony in the habit of relying' on a prosperous future as an excuse for incurring debts. To such the Onslow Trotting Club may be pointed to as an object lesson. All the same, object lessons would be unnecessary if. In the first placj, the ruling racing authorities did their duty in refusing sanction to programmes if there was any doubt about their being creditably carried out, and secondly, if magistrates took the stand tbe Auckland S.M. has intimated his intention of taking. His remarks as to his future action of course apply to racing as well as trotting clubs, anp we hope the outcome will be. another step In the direction of ridding the Turf of undesirable clubs and their speculative conductors. Unfortunately, the'sport of horse racing has been turned to account, in many parts of this colony, by men who can do nothing unless it is likely to bring in a monetary return, and thus we have had the proprietary club, run by individuals on business principle**—that Is to say, for speculative purposes. The proprietary club, however, thanks to our turf legislators and a strict code of racing rules, has almost ceased to exist, but in tho Auckland district racing, we believe, would be all the better for the absence of more than one club and certain individuals for whose benefit they seem to have been run. Such clubs may. find a loophole in Mr North cote's pronouncement with regard to tbe bank balance. When he and hia brother magistrates find one they should, if they have any doubt of the bona-fides of the club, ear mark It, otherwise they may find it th& day after non est.

Seeing (hat Mr .Tames Mills' motion— "That In the opinion of this meeting the reporters of the lccal newspapers should be present at all inquiries held by the stewards into protests, suspicious riding, &c, and that the incoming committee be instructed accordingly"—was carried without a dissentient voice at the annual meeting of members last week. It is fair to suppose that the new committee will give effect to the,wishes of the general .body. We are not so sure that the reporting of these meetings will be an unmixed blessing. There is no doubt much to be said in favor of full publicity, under certain circumstances, being given to cases of the"kind indicated in the resolution; but again, there would be occasions when it would not only be desirable in the best interests of all concerned that newspaper reporters should not give forth to the world all that took place in the inquiry room, but it would probably be inadvisable in view ot the libel laws to report everythlng that was stated. After all we do not think the great majority of owners or those who go to races Or take any interest in racing affairs care one jot whether reports of inquiries into protests, &c, are published or not. Those who clamour for inquiry with open doors are mostly those of a suspicious turn of mind, who " speak through their pockets." So long as your officials are men whose integrity cannot be impeached, where is the necessity for the why and wherefore? We think the principal at least of bur'clubs are officered by gentlemen who not only are conversant with racing but whose probity is such that they can be depended upon to carry out their duties fearlessly, and with justice to all. There may be minor country clubs whose officers are not so well versed in racing matters, but with few exceptions probably they may be relied upon to at least give their judgment according to their ideas of right and to the best of their ability. There may be, too, clubs conducted by men who do not command the confidence of race goers, who, in which'case, have only to withdraw their support. However, we have no doubt the committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club will meet the wishes of the members and throw open the doors of their enquiry room to the reporters. They will, at least give the new mode of procedure a trial. If they do newspapers published outside of Dunedin will no doubt demand the same privilege as Mr Mills wishes accorded to the""local" papers. We have every confidence in the ability and integrity of the reporters of the "local" newspapers' but at the same time why should not the Dunedin representative of the Referee, and all other correspondents for that matter, be granted the same privilege as their confreres of the Dunedin Press. Probably the word "local" in Mr Mills, motion was a slip, which will, no doubt, be rectified.

It was only last week that one of the members of our staff drew attention to the fact that a horse had h/en entered for a race in Southland without the owner's consent. That tbe object was, as then surmised, to keep the Weight oft some other horse in the race there seems only too good reason to suppose, as the horse, which was handicapped at top weight, was withdrawn soon after the appearance of the weights. Who it was that took upon himself the responsibility of nominating another man's horse we may never know, but certainly the Metropolitan Club of the district would do well to try and ascertain. Horses are frequently entered by telegram for races throughout the colony, and the owners in many cases do nothing further than send the nomination money by wire. Bometimes they neglect even to do this, being well known to the secretaries of the clubs, with whom they settle accounts when they attend the meetings. In connection with the acceptance of Boyal Rose for the Wellington Cup, which was denied by the trainer upon seeing the horse's name in the list, it appears that he was accepted for sometime previous to the date of closing by a jockey in the stable, under circumstances detailed in this issue by our Auckland correspondent, who states that Wright is satisfied he will have to pay the acceptance fee. In this connection is is appropriate to ask what becomes of tbe rule setting forth that entries made by wire must be confirmed is writing by first post. That rale evidently is mors honoured ia the breach than in the

observance, and no doubt owners are very careless wheu entering into engagements for their horses. Secretaries of clubs, too, are caused no end of trouble by negligence on the part of those most concerned, who should be reminded of what theic duty in the matter is. We have frequently had- to comment, upon the fact that owners sometimes nominate horses by wire without stating their age, colour, or brtellng, and neglect to give in tbe performances or information where they are to be found, thus entailing on secretaries of clubs and handicappers a lot of extra work. In the interests of their clubs some secretaries do not like to reject these so called nominations, but it would be well if some of them were declined as being informal. 16 wodld serve as a lesson to the careless ones. We would then perhaps find that a change for the better would come about.

In connection with the nominating of horses without the consent of owners, there have been some instances in which trotting horses have been so entered, and the Wellington Trotting Club's meetings have afforded cases in point. Horses which have put up excellent performances have been nominated in races in which the limit has been stated in order that certain horses would be placed so as to give them a chance of beating the poorer class or limit horses, whose starts would have to be curtailed as per the conditions of the race. The Wellington Trotting Club lately fixed a limit to one of their races, but to thtir surprise a noted Australian performer was entered by some one for the purpose, as the committee imagined, of obtaining longer starts for other horses entered, and the handicappers were instructed to make their handicaps independent of the foreigner, which they did. It been ascertained meanwhile that the horse they had excluded was not in the colony, and having strong suspicious that he was only intended for the purpose already indicated, they handicapped it losec behind tho scratch horse. This mode of procedure was not Id accordance with the conditions of the race, nor do we think to be commended, even admitting that, the suspicions of the club were well founded. Their proper course would have been to call upon the nominator to produce evidence of the. ownership, or show good authority for the entry ; when, if not satisfied of the bona fides thereof, there would have been no need to handicap the horse at all. Ie is well that this case should be mentioned, so that clubs which arc introducing class races, or short; limit race-;, may be prepared to deal with those who enter horses without producing reliable information aa to their right so to do. Nominators, if called upon to do so, should be compelled to make sworn declarations in matters in which any doubt exists concerning horses they, engage.

There was a time when declarations to win were permissible under racing la:v, and the rule was invariably made use of by owners who had-more than one horse engaged in a race. Complications were, however, continually cropping up. An owner would declare to win .with one horse and the other would prove victorious. The public would back the wrong horse in such a case, and then would come a howl of discontent. And no matter how much the' owner might protest that he had declared in favour of the one he fancied most, he would be placed in the uncomfortable position of being made conscious of the fact that his action had caused a great deal of suspicion to rest upon him. Of course some owner* of the unscrupulous cla's ofteu purposely misled people, and the rule did not work well afc all. It was followed by .one requiring that, when an owner started more than one horse f each should Mc run upon its merits. This is a very good rule, too, but we have found that owners have so of ten been misled as to the capabilities of their horses, and that the public have likewisejerred in their con. elusions as to which would have bean the better horse to entrust with their money, that we would again revive the suggestion urged frequently from time to time in this journal—that when one owner starta more than one horse in a race they should be backed as one horse on the totalisator. " If such a rule had been in force when Blue Fire and' Bloodshot ran in the Musket Stakes the other day at Elleralle, -or when Couranto beat Mutiny in the Hurdle' Race last autumn in Wanganui, or when Clarence beat Thorpe in the Hurdle Race at Titnaru— notto mention innumerable other instances of a similar, kind—-there, would have been no cause for dissatisfaction whatever. In this proposal there is nothing that owners wbo race for sport can object to, and unseemly demonstrations would be reduced to a minimum by its adoption, while the clubs have everything to gain thereby. Let us once more urge the matter upon the attention of the powers that be. There is a rule'prohibiting the barring of horses on the totalisator, but there is no rule to prevent clubs coupling the' horses running in one ownership and interest on the tetalisator, and in some cases it would come as a protection to the public if the clubs of their; own accord pat the proposal into In trotting races especially it would be an excellent feature. ■ >

The V.RiC* Calendar for January shows that eighty-two days' racing weie t>et down to take place in Victoria this month ;forty, three of the meetings were on New Year's Day. From what can be learnt one-fourth of the amount of racing would have been ample to satisfy the Victorian racing public just now. The turf there is described as being In a very bad way—that at all the suburban and country gatherings the attendances have fallen away to such an extent as to= be confined to those actually engaged,; with the horses, bookmakers, and a small army of punters. It is even said that at some of the.meeting* there are no stake distributions whatever, horee owners haying to look to the betting ring to pay their way. If such be the state of thing* it cannot last long. Many of the dubs, it is known, were carrying on at a loss, and the surprise is that the V.R.C. 9o not step in and, by purging the proprietary clubs, give some relief to the overtaxed racegoer, and assist in raising the standard of the tiport. As a sign of ihe times it may be stated that in the birdcage at Flemington bets of 5* are now recorded, whereas a few years back backers with single pounds were disdained. ,