TROTTING TALK.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9117, 30 May 1895, Page 2

TROTTING TALK.

Weekly Press and Referee." Br Honesty. The New Brighton Club is out with its programme for the Winter Meeting, which is set down for Saturday, June loth. The sura of £200 is to be given away, there being seven items on the card. Nominations close on Saturday, Jane Ist.

Mr P. Moloney, owner of Rotheraro, has, it would appear, appealed against the decision of the Wellington Trotting Club stewards In respect to his prote-st against Prince Albert in the Wellington T.C. Handicap. I gather this from the fact that he writes the case is not yet settled. Ha propounds the query—ls Princi Albert entitled to the stake if he was over tho line when he started? If such were to be a disability, seeing the tri„in_ few yards or " some lengths," as Mr Moloney has it, was far more than compensated for by the horse being kept after his time (a* was demonstrated by a competitor on a further back mark getting away in front) then a great number of trotting winners would bs deprived of the fruits of victory. It is an extremely difficult thing for a horse once ordered to come up to the line to be kept standing there until the3ignal is given his rider to go, and if he doe 3 forge ahead the starter equali->«s this by letting him away a little bad. Sach, I understand, was the explanation of the Wellington starter in regard to Prince Albert, who lost ground, as has been shown, by being started in front of th? mark.

At the Maribyrnong Rice on May 9ch Calista, after winning the second heat in the Divided Distance Handicap Trot, wa« beaten by thirty yards in the final.

A deal of talk has been occasioned in trotting circles iv connection with the American bred colt Wild wood, who was nominated for the Sires Handicap at the Canterbury Trotting Club's Meeting. It appears that the hawdicappers received information that Wildwood, nominated as a maiden, had American performances. On this assumption his handicap for the Sires race was withheld until Monday last, when, it being discovered that the breeding of the performer as given in the American Year Book did not tally with that in the Messrs Kerr's sale note for their colt, he was handicapped as a non-performer. If Wildwood did run in America hia present owners were entirely misled. It was through an advertisement in the Referee tha 1 ; Wildwood, Ha Ha, and a couple of mares were bought by the New Brighton owners, aud all the papers relating to the stock were open for perusal at this office. It wa9 distinctly understood at that time that only the old horse, Ha Ha, had ever entered into public competition.

Much surprise was expressed in trotting circles at the Auckland T.C. allowing Edwards, while under disqualification, to take part at their recent meeting. The Auckland Club state that they were not officially intimated of the disqualification, and in this connection the correspondence published below la rather interesting reading. It may be stated that on April 17th a telegram was received in Christchurch from an Auckland Club official asking if it was correct that Edwards had been disqualified. A reply in the affirmative was sent. After the first day's trotting at Auckland another wire was sent to Christchurch enquiring whether it was likely that the Canterbury Metropolitan Trotting Association were likely to increase Edwards' disqualification for riding and driving on the first day of the A.T.C.'s Meeting.