A BUSH RACE MEETING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 124, 18 February 1908, Page 8

A BUSH RACE MEETING.

.... »;V. / A FREE AND EASY .DAY'S. OUTING. ■ A blurred stencil ink legend on an : old piece of packing-case:' swung; lazily' from' tho dilapidated fence near ■ the publichouse, The inscription ; readj ■ "This way-to the race courscL" - You .followed a .narrow, path: pasi the 'sandy-whiskered ■gatekeeperj -arid' , 'dowi into a hollow; where your; eye' wa's' ; caugh; by the steep. verdure-clad. cliffs' oftho' river Had it not been for, the' sight of- the yellow clay track, 'which "apparently lost-'itself/ it tho-^ wilderness)"of'-burnt -stumps''/and logs, you" would' not have, thought that: it : .'was;a racecourse.' -There were no buildings',-one< excepts the judge's' box;'which wis a coffin- i shaped receptacle with" no covering, but with a narrow slit through which ' Me '/ official, could; cast his. eyo\o'n> the lengthy blackened stump opposite and get alignment in. case of a olose finish. - Near. by. was < the: ten-foot trunk of burnt tree, where you could obtain the best view of the races if you were-dis-posed to climb, but- early in : the. day . thia point-of-vantage was seized by-the.ubiquit ous smalLboy. ;-In the centro of-tho coursa was a" refreshment,tent,. beside, which, tho: Sawdust Band played. selections moro ov less-musical. N . ■ "The Lawn.". : The lawri : and - saddling paddock was badly-fenced - section- overrun ,with ruslie, and accommodated with two jtents, . one -for, the stewards, weighing-in, secretary, ■; Press; the 'other 'for •• the . jockeys. ' Hen therewere more, stencil;; ink- legends- giving the ' necessary :' information to- the; stranger. ..The 'stewards .were'.a. gloomyrlooking ,kt,'-of business - people, with pale blue V rosettis. They were manifestly" unused to. the game. Usually ' they v wore'- cheerful faces," but this day/they went about their work.as if;they had just been sentenced to death but; meaint to 'seo'the- thing through 1 as .bravely, sis pos-" sible. < The ; judge admitted that; • he,-" kiie'jr more about dairy cows than racehorses,' but he came out of the ordeal:with honour. -Th« weighing machine was a massive structure,/ which in its tiiuc had'allowed tons and tons of 'agricultural produce to be deposited upon its creaking old body. In the light of aaj it blushed with rust. .1 ~

•The Horses. , v ' . -The racehorses were mostly locally, owned, all Carbines in their way in the opinions- or their owners, who'took - the. ••.whole thing most - seriously. ' Fust trials : had been "clocked" many nights and mornings by the ■owners of the steeds. Some had mentally registered a'vow to take s few/falls "out of any unwary Wellington-bookmakers, if; they, happened to stray that way. .Alas ifbr.>"bcst. -laid plans,"- the falls at the end .of the day wore in' favour 'of tho "bookies." the various owners was .reiy keen, 1 arid ,there ; wer,c. - numerous offers to-run th«. race again to-morrow morning "for as mucl as you like from £20 Oiipwaras." j ; • The Philistines. ■There was no totalisator,■ but out in.tho open wero the Philistines, the band of. hard--featured men, with big, bags slung round ; their, shoulders, apparently, oozmg with notes, gold, and silver. .To tho, man fron», , the backblocks they, were all Monte Chrislof running tilings as ; "Monty" Brewster ran. V his millions. Thoro was wealth galoro;,;The .. "King of- the Ring" had. a namc;cngraved/' ' bright brass plate on his bag, and, , mounted ona soap-box, he made himself heard :\yith: .a raucous voice'all over the field. -Ho did' big business. The other brethren worked. hard. for their money,. pr'_ rathe'r. othcr. , people's money] by persuasive .voice , and gosturo. Some, shifty-eyed,. with, their • .-characters ■,written 011 their faces, r anathematised everything .under, the sun /because , tho "dairy feds" and! the. "sawdust - men". ■ wore not "quite so verdant ; as they-michb have been'. /'"S'welp me," ,said one,,"l,v* - ,dono more in one race at Trentham .than.' I'vo.dono.hero in a, whole daj. There's ni money in tho place;".-' This man had probably never .been; allowed., to ' stray' on. to , Trentham, but nobody was to know, that except, himself. Aroxind , these individuals '/ hovered the camp followers, of tho-ring and the/saddling paddock men, whoso one ainr was to live on/the unwisdom of others. Tho Joclieys. ' . /. / ■ The', jockeys .wore mostly amateurs, youn.' . .men' with sporting.jjfst-uict-s. . /Somopos sessed orthodox costumes, others nothing but "a bluo shirt, saddle-tweed trousers,, and bluch'cr. boots.< Nearly all. .the .ainateu. jockeys adopted the Tod Sloan • style,. and the daylight, between them and .their saddle? /,./ would have, accommodated a fifty of flom in / each instance! They, invariably. rolled in their saddles like ships at sea, and with arms and. legs working furiously looked lilts miniature windmills run wild. In the dus* and dips of the lialf-milo'course, a, race ro« somblea a whirlwind at high-pressure. One man put in at a stone overweight, Wrightwas 110 object beside the qualifications of horsemanship. . , . , .... , r