SPORTING.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15485, 12 January 1916, Page 9

SPORTING.

taranaki stakes. (press association- telegram.) NEW PLYMOUTH, January 11. After declaration of sccond forfeits, tho f n'!mvin/r remain in the SFCXKD taranaki STAKES, of 500 r 0 v»: six furlongs—Avon Park, Spain, Rangi-tc-o. Bisogne, Maid o' Gowne, Christine, j,oyal Arch, Treadfire, Bezoman—Snowatell iil/v, Kilbroney—Cyre colt, Kilbroney— Shiwno colt, Advance —Phemi© colt.' Martian—Ukraine colt, Paraoo, Greenstreet, BiEmperador, All Black—Aurarius colt, Finland —War Scare colt, All B:aek-Auru-rim fillv. Tete-a-tete, Good Hope, Wrestler, Battle Eve, Flying Start, Probation, Bonny Dream. KEW ZEALAND TROTTING ASSOCIATION. MEETING OF THE BOARD. A meeting of tho Board of the New Zealand Trotting Association was held yesterday afternoQn. Present —Messrs P. Soli? (president), W. H. Denton, W. G. Garrard, C. F. -JT»rSi-""H. J- Palmer, H. W. Kitchingham, T. VSitchio, and H. F. Nicoll. An apology for afescnoa was received from Mr W. J. M. Hopkins^ A letter was read from Mjts P. H. Pyne, acknowledging the Board's resolution of sympathy. Notice was received from the New Zealand Trotting Conference ,of an adjourned meet-' inr of the Conference to bo'held on January ]3th to consider tho report of tho Executive regarding stipendiary stewards The president a aid that by virtue of his offioe he would be attending tho Conference. The members of the Association had had copies of the Teport eeiH to them. He intended to support the scheme,_ which seemed to him a satisfactory one in 'its general principles, though thero wero details that wight 'require threshing out On the motion of Mr Kitchingham, seconded by, Mr Denton, it was decided that the president should be instructed to support the scheme for the appointment of itipendiary stewards. A letter was read from tho Writ Australian Trotting Association suggesting that it would be advisable if the various govern- ; 1113 bodies were to pass a rule which would }, pievent the registration of horses which d.d t uot boar & brand of some sort. The letter J pointed out that horses with "clean skins" £ t-a'erc-a opportunities for wrong doing, and went on to'say that it was believed there was a regular traHic in i such horses in Australia. ~ v Alr Denton said that. hs considered the proposal a. very good, one-, and he suggested tiie matter should be referred to a committee., , Mr -11C0II said , that his present opinion wus quite opposed to tho proposal, Cases of "ringing in" wero exceedingly infrequent, *nd they wero almwt invariably detected. Mr Mark said thai be thought tho proposal, if desirable, wm quite unworkable. The president said that he thought eugSoejtjoßftiiiiin.: Asepcialions-.with. which they jcciprocatoa wero entitled to consideration. Jt-li);-could that- 4hj|«e': were" 'objections (» tho proposal, but,' it'was possible that\eomo v.oriiao.e scheme might pp • evolved.' - I 1 On the motion of Mr Palmer, it was dog cided to r-oitr the question to a committee S cpusisting of Messrs-Kitchingham, Nicoll, K_»uci Denton. r iho Canterbury Owners' and Breeders' Aasociatioa wrote, forwarding a copy of "the E, b>'a!'co shv?t of the PatHotio Cajrnival held hi tljJ Association. The president said, that the- Association I hid very woli out of the Carnival, and 'on hi«. motion it was decided to thank it V-for tending a copy of the balance-sheet. ■ An applicatipn was received from Mr W. J. Morland for the issue of a certificate for' A- the mile record of 2.7 '1-5 established by his r>, Country Belle at the Metropolitan iv- Tmtting Cub's track. K The president's . action in .appointing offor the.{rial was approved, and it was I*decided that the certificate «h<mld be i&feaiiA.',-.'.-. »i ;lhe New Brighton Trotting Chib wrote, p'adviain* the Association of tM results of a 'election of officers «nd committer. wae read from. 0. in rtUsttm to the Board's refusal io grant him >}tfeaN3 ,!JV-l«tter was received. TSti said that until he had had

an int-crvicw with the president of this Auckland Trotting Club that body's views in regard to the '"boycott case" had never been put fully before" the _ Board, but both Mr Gladding and Mr Giesen hod written the Board so fully on so many occasions that he did not think there could be anything more for them to say. At the previous meeting of the Board it had been decided, on the motion of Mr Hopkins, that unless C. F. Giescu could arrange with the -lUc.Vand Trotting Club to remove the embargo placed on him, tho Association would proceed to cancel his licenses. No information had been received from cither -the Auckland Trotting Club or' from Gieson, and tho resolution P<issed by the Board would automatically take effect. Mr Ritchie said that he had not been present at the last meeting, but he was strongly opposed to Mr Hopkins's motion. Tho Association should not have granted a license to one man and refused to issue one to another concerned in tho. trouble, but now, to even things up, it proposed to withdraw tho licenses issued to Giesen. Tho president then formally moved and Mr Nicoll seconded that the resolution of- tho Board in reference to the cancellation of C. F. Giosen's licenses be given effect to. Tho president said that he considered that the Association acted weakly in this matter, and should not have granted a license to either of the men concerned. When a body (\f men set themselves up deliberately to endeavour to wreck a club's meeting, they 1 deserved to bo punishedl ' I The motion was carried, Mr Ritchie dissenting. ' The case of tho horse Samoa was reforred to tho Inangahua Trotting Club to make I further enquiries. !, An application from James Troy for the moval of his .disqualification was referred to . the Wellington Trotting Club. j On tho application of Hugh Curry, jun., the disqualification of tho horse Bill Brown, incurred tlirough being nominated before . registration, was removed. ; \ The action of tho Avinton in., respect to Jarneo Duffy waa endorsed. j The action taken by the stewards of the . Furbury Park Trotting Club in regard to ! various enquiries held at the club's Spring I Mooting was endorsed. If. wa s decided to Wit© to Mr W. B. Clark--1 6on, calling on him to show cause why he should not be fined for using an assumed name which, had not been registered. • Tho" actions of tho Marlborough Trotting Club, Waipa Racing Club, Kaikoura Racing Club; and Auckland Trotting. Club in re•spect to various cases dealt, with at their/ Meetings were approved. The Westport Trotting Club forwarded particulars of a complaint lodged by'W. Bevau agains't I. Rhodes, who had been fined £10. The club's action was endorsed. The Greymouth Trotting Club's action; in upholding the protest of. R. S. Bore land, owner. of Amazon, against Diction wa3 endorsed. . Tho Canterbury Park Trotting Club's action in fihing J. Brvce £10 for interference at the club'® Summer Meeting, was endorsed. Notico was received- frorn the Canterbury Park Trotting Club that Mr E. Clarkeon had been appointed second timekeeper. ' ' Programmes as passed- by tho executive were approved. v Itr. Ritchie drew attention to t.he fact that the New.-Zealand- Mo-tropolitan-'-PtOtting Club had reduced the stakes for the trotters' events. He thought it was a pity that the club should have taken such a step. The president said that; he~ agreed with Mr Ritchie. They had had a hard struggle to save tho straightrout trotter, but they were now getting some very good racing among trotting horses,.and it was not encouraging to find the Metropolitan, Club reducing the m«ney offered. - Still,' the programme complied with the ~ Rules, and they could not refuse to pass it. Letter* were read from the Poverty Bay Trotting Club and tha Nelson Trotting Club in reference to the optional races on their programmes, pointing put that under present conditions it was difficult to confine the events to either saddle or harness horses. The programmes had been passed by the executive, ond.no action'was taken in the matter. Licenses as recommended by tho Lioenaing Committee were issued. On the recommendation of the committee, the sum of £6 was voted to F. Holmes, jun., from the Provident Fund in respcct of his , recent accident. On the recommendation of the Foreign Horse Committee, certificates were granted for tie-following horses:—Alice Shaw, Mountain Palm, ■ Colme'na, Reha Pointer, Paul Huon, and" The Maid. j The Board then Vent into committee to J bear > report from the auditor appointed to 1 investigate tho N«w Brighton Club's affairs. It was deoided that 'the matter should be considered at a meeting of the Board at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2nd, fhe ordinary business being dealt with at the meet*' | ing commencing at 1.30 p.m. on that date. !

ALLEGED CRUELTY TO TROTTING HOE ES.

THE BAB TWITCH CONDEMNED. ; A new feature in trotting methods was the .inlbject of' discussion at the meeting of the execßtivo of the society for the-Prevention <Sl Cruelty to Animals hold last sight. It appears that an. American device, entitled, members believed, the "American Ear Twitch," waa used at the trotting meeting lately held at Sockburn. The device consists of a "scissors", arrangement-fastened to the ears of the trotter and worked by pressure from the hand of the driver, by which a eevero pressure could be exercised on the-ear of the horse, thus forcing him to start or; else accelerate hia speed. '. Mr -A. A. Johnston, veterinary, surgeon, opinion had been invited, wrote - stat,ing that -in .bis opinion, while the machine in itself was not cruel, yet it"could bo used with, cruelty to the animal driven. " Mr J. Spiller, who brought up the matter, said it had beon brought under-his notico by a trotting man himself, ixnd this man considered -it distinct cruelty to animals'. Moreover, it was usod to apply" driving force, as it wore, secretly. ■ ~ Mr J. H. Parker said Mr Johnston had written about the:luxury the trotting horse had been brought up inland also how well fed he wae, but he considered this new "American Ear Twitch" was a most cruel device, which could be most cruelly used. Mr -!Weir, the Society's inspector, stated that he had, at the last trotting meeting, in company with the police, watched the device in operation. They considered the mechanism was most cntelly used, es they saw the horses flinching under the pressure of the "scissors," or "parrot's beak," which nipped or pinched the horse'e eare in order to make him start or go faster. It was decided to- take immediate action against users of the device, and thus make a test case of tne matter.

NOTES. ;

Bonsign has been taken up again, looking nig atad well after a few weeks in. tho paddock. J. Olsen has been engaged to ride Chudic in his engagements at the "Wellington Cup Meeting. Cflenowl has leen placed in H. Coker'a hands, and the Glenapp gelding ivas allotted steady work: this-mornin ol under- his now mentor s guidance. 0 A. McAulay has biokea iu the two-year-old filly _ .^lbroney—Xgaio, which Mr A. W. Rutherford. junr.. recently leased front her breeder, Mr J B. Rfeid. - , _ t . • Mr G.--Fulton s >~arto gelding, Art, got fou] of a "vvire fence a few days, ago, but the mishap does not seem to have been accompanied by any very serious consequences. He still-bears a scar on the off fore leg, but w aa o ut doing steady work yesterday morning.