WELLINGTON.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9522, 15 September 1896, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

September 1. Owing to the Taratahi-Carterton Club holding a two days' gathering this year, and as Mr J. E. Henry, who formerly framed the handicaps for the Club will be present at the New Zealand Cup Meeting, Mr T. Coyle has been appointed to the position.

Slaiden passed through here last week en route to Wanganui, where I understand he will be trained previous to being taken to the West Coast.

I notice several trainers of horses engaged at the Marton Meeting are in the unpaid forfeit list.

.A working bee was held on the Martinborough course on Thursday when four hundred trees were planted. The Works Committee decided to add a weighing room and a larger jockeys' room. September 7. A. Peters left this morning for Marton with Bona Fide and the jumper Bryon. P. McGrath accompanied the horses to ride them in their engagements. Bona Fide continues to show good form on the track, and it is abont time he scored for his trainer, instead of being *' so near and yet so far" at the finish of the races he has lately competed in.

J. Taggarfc received a nasty knock on one of' his eyes recently by a son of Blackwood Abdallah, but he now has almost recovered. He informs mc that the report that he had taken in hand a four-year-old mare by Natator—Hippie, from Fame," is incorrect. The mare has been purchased by a patron of his stable, but she is poor in condition, and therefore will not be taken in hand till the middle of the season.

At a meeting of the Wairarapa Racing Club's Stewards held on Saturday afternoon, Mr W. E. Bidwell was re-elected Chairman ; Mr J. Coyle was appointed Handicapper, and Mr Jos. Tocker, Custodian. A motion was given at this meeting for the next meeting that the minimum weight should be 7st. Light weight jockeys are generally very scarce in the Wairarapa, and it is hardly fair to owners of horses handicapped near the minimum, having to put up overweight owing to their inability to obtain jockeys to draw the weight. I trust that Wairarapa stewards will agree to the proposal, which has several times been pointed ont to mc by trainers as being necessary for Wairarapa meetings.

Hutt horses continue to do steady work in view of spring engagements. W. Davies' horses are looking in nice condition.

Houp-la has changed hands and has been sent up to Mr Bridson's farm in the Wairarapa, where he will be used as a hack till the next hunting season. He has proved an expensive animal to Mr Lingard.

Mr James Ames, who has been connected with racing in Wellington for many years past and been a steward of the local club for several seasons, has always been of opinion that the Hutt is too far away from Wellington,for the Club meeting to become popular with the general pubb'c, as in the first instance the expense in getting out to the course is very heavy, then a large number of the visitors to the Hutt races do not come into town; whereas if the meetings were held at Miramar or Island Bay all traffic would have to pass throngh the city and tradespeople would, no doubt, benefit to a large extent. Mr Ames is going to test the feeling of the members of the club at the annual meeting as to changing the site of the racecourse. It is a pity the proposal was not considered some years back before the club had expended so much money on the Hutt racecourse, some £9000 having been spent on the course since 1889. Mr Ames also proposes to pay out dividends on the first and second horses in a race, and I am sure if this system is adopted it would prove very popular with the public, and far more money would pass throngh the machines. Salaries and wages paid by the Wellington

Club during last season amounted to the respectable total of £960. News came to hand to-day that Mr Dan O'Brien and Mi* C. Paterson, interested in Patriot, a colt by Autonomy—Bangle, who won the two-year-old race at Tattersnll's Meeting in Sydney on August 29th, had a good win over the colt's victory, backing him down to 5 to 1. OTAGO. September 7. Sixteen youngsters remain in tho Dunedin Stakes the two-year-old event of the November Meeting. Most of these that are locally trained are as yet backward, but if I had to pick out one as being more promising than the others I should mention Reel, a very slippery-looking filly in MoGinnes's stable.

The Gore Club has come through tha year's transactions with a small balance on the right side.

In order to make up a programme for the amusement of those who went out to Tahuna Park on Saturday to see Brooklyn trot, James Allan, who acted as master of the ceremonies, had <four foot races for which jockeys were eligible, three that were confined to riders alone. R. Allan won a double, getting home in the 100 yds and the 200 yds races, and C. Flockton had an easy win in the 150 yds. Harry Jackson ran well in the whole of the four races, but had been over estimated by the handicapper, Mr P. Brady.

The Otago Cup weights were brought out on Saturday. It will be seen that in regard to a number of the candidates Mr Dowse has struck pretty well to the relative apportionments in the New Zealand Cup. He could scarcely do anything else, seeing that owners have practically said, by accepting, that those weights are regarded as a fair thing. The most noticeable point of divergence is the handicapping ol Gipsy Grand and Euroolydon. Mr Henry made Gipsy Grand concede 21b; Mr Dowse puts the two together. The nominal difference in favour of Gipsy Grand is 21b. The actual value of tbe " come down " is presumably more, since at a mile and a half so far as .form is concerned, Euroclydon has not the best of it to the extent he has at two miles. I think that Mr Dowses assessment is a fair thing. One horse that he has evidently valued lightly is Barmby. This horse won last year with Bst 41b, and now has but a pound more. It seems to mc that this is a mistake, and tbat if Mr Sherwin gets his horse thoroughly well by the day he will be very hot property. September 8. I have heard nothing during the week of the suggested arrangements for the Dunedin Jockey Club remaining at the Forbury. On the other hand I have the fact to chronicle that on Saturday the committeemen went out to Wingatui with an engineer and, after an examination of the ground, instructed him to prepare the plans and estimates of laying out the new course. These will be laid before the committee at a meetftg on Thursday of this week.