WHAU RACES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4785, 27 December 1872, Page 3

WHAU RACES.

TheWhau, not to be behind the fashion of the present times, held a turf meeting yesterday in Mr. Aitken's gaddock. About 500 spectators were present, and the races were successf al as far as they went, and oreditable to the Whau. Mr. A. Dilworth officiated as judge ; Mr. Kelly, clerk of the course ; Mr. Stratford, starter of the horBe-races ; and Mr. Archibald, starter of the foot-racea. The Horsh-baces. — The first race was open to all untrained horses ; c&toh weights ; prize, £5 ; entrance, 5s., second horse to save stakes ; distance, 14 miles. For this race only three horses entered, the horses being the property of, respectively, Messrs. Motion, Sandles, and Lupton. Motion's Tom took the lead from the start and kept it throughout ; Sandles's coming in a bad second, and Lupton's a worse third. Owing to a dispute the race had to be run over again, when the tables were turned, as the racers came in in the following order : — Motion's Tom, 1 ; Lupton's Lucy, 2. — Settlers' Stakes : For all horses bon& fide property of and ridden by settlers of the district. Prize, £5 ; entrance, 5s. Distance, 1 mile. It was a well-contested race. Stratford's chestnut mare came in first, and was closely followed by Hunter's No .Name, which again was hardly pushed by Mr. Motion's horse ; Thompson's horse being a bad fourth. — The next event (pony race), prize £4, caused universal interest, there being 11 ponies entered for the contest. Moor ran well for first place, Dick being a good second, and Abbot a moderate third, the remainder being t nowhere in the race. — The next event was a trotting match, three. vtimes round the course ; prize, £5. Niner ponies ran. Lundon's pony, 13 hands, trotted well, and secured first place, Stimpson's coming in by the winning post 2nd ; and the Abbot 3rd. — Following this race came a donkey race, such a one as we read of in books. Kelly's donkey won the prize, Pott's being second. — The hurdle race of a sweepstake of £1 each, with £5 added, over three hurdles, was the principal erent of the day. Lupton's horse took the hurdles very well, and was the only one that managed to do it clean with one exception, when both horse and jockey (Pell) were brought to terra firma in an attempt to clear the last obstacle, neither man or animal suffering any serious injury. She took first place, Ephraim's being second, which got over the first hurdle as Lupton's cam* by the winning-post, Motion's having retired through refusal to take the hurdles. — The last event was for the Consolation Stakes for a prize of £2, which was won by Vercoe, Archibald coming in second. Athletic Sborts. — Boys' Race f 14 years), 9 started : John Henry, 1, 10s. ; C. James, 2, *10s. Second *Kace (adults), 11 started : J. Kemp, 1, £1 ; McShane, 2, 10s. Third Race, 5 started : Abbott, 1, £1 ; Shaw, 2, 5s. Fourth Race, 4 started : Kemp, 1, £1; Boswell, 2, 10s. Fifth Race, 4 started : A. Hepburn, 1, 30s. ; Shaw, 2, 10s. Through the destruction of the "Whau Hotel great inconvenience was experiencedr by visitors from Auckland, of whom there were very many. No doubt when the Whau Jockey Club is older it will be in a position to offer better prizes j but success attended their efforts yesterday in providing^amuse ment for the neighbouring country?^