Sporting.

Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 62, 10 September 1887, Page 4

Sporting.

«. Turf Notes by "Vhjii.ant." Tho programmo published liy ilia WcUin.' ton lacing Club lma been subjt cted to a k of criticism. Of course it ia not what \v h ould like to rco it, and it is to a ocrtni extent humilintinif to bco Wellington i^n; ing tccond fiddle to snch p)a"es as NnpV mid Wanganui, but the fact must bo admi tr-1 lliot v/o aro not a racing communit; and it would bo tlio height of folly for tl club to cimm'fc it olf to an cxjienditui beyond its moanfl at a timo when the indie! tioim aro in favour of monoy being ti^ht* than it is at present. After nil, thu redm tions mudo in tho added money are o! a vei unimportunt character, and are alrno 1 wholly accounted for by tho excision of tl Tivo-Y ear-Old Plate (which it mnst be coi fussed was not a success last year), and tl iiltoration, of tlio Wellington Cup from 5' fcova to 400 soys. Wo have tho consolatic of knowing that tho sizo of tho stakes doi not invariably regulate the oxcellonco of meeting: in foot, tho oxperionco of Auo' lmdand Dunedin lias led thorn to rcduc their stakes with full coulidonco that tho nominations will not duffer thereby, understand that 1 . Mr. Evett in to bcagni entrusted with the task of handicapping f< tho club. Tho promotora of tho projected fahn l!ay R-iein<f Club lmvo, I hear, succeeded i potting with'n a fow of tho 2CO sul'soriboi of £1 Is, which it was settled Rliould bo ol t lined before any farther steps wero take in tbo formation of the club. A mopting t > bo hold in a fow djyfi, when officers wi bo appointed and the' programme of a spri'i meeting (to be held on a date a fow days i a'lvance of tho Racing Club's reunion), not of otter meetings, will be submitted. I have several times had occasion toanin advert npon the delay whiob nearly alwa' occurs in the publication of Napier Inind caps. The same thing has occurred a-a: this week. The weights for the ltawke Hay Spring Meeting Were dne, accordir to advertisement, on Tuesday last, ai luvo not boon published yet (Friday After repoated telegrams being Kent I tlio Press Association and others, all tl explanation we get is that at an indignatic meeting held in Napier on tho subject M Kvott stated that it had been thought botti to hold thorn back until after tho appcaram rj|' tho Napior Park weights. This is a very well as far as it goci, and in oxaotl v.liut I oxpoctcd was tl'o cause of tho'r noi uppcaranoe ; but it is not kcoping fait with horse-owners, and, moreover, such di luyHal ways provokoalotof nasty iunueudoc wiiinh, whothor well-founded or not, oaus much ill-feol in'-T and a wretched sonso of dii trust. Ilaoing is such a curious game thi it is in ovory way dosirablo not to give tl Blightost pretext for suspicion of unfairncs Stewards of metropolitan clnbs should 1 thu Hi-at to reeognLo this, and although the mivv got a paltry advantage over a riv. club by breaking a pahlio en<<agomont, tbc may depend upon it they do themselves n real good. Tho Napior Park woijhts — in contra 1 with tho delay of tho older club -appcurc on Friday morning, instead of in tho evenin as oxpoctcd, and I om accordingly ablo t give my impressions of them. In the Hm dlos, if Owhaoko is himself again ho ougli to win with 12at, and next to the top weigl I like Kangaroo, lOst 121b, and Uranus, 10< 81b. In tho two flat handicaps, my opinio is that one-half tho candidates have no sho whatever. I refer especially to the li^l weights. Mr. Stead, although well looke aftor, has a fair show. Loehiol is top wote! in both the railo and a-balf Park Stake and the six furlongs Tramway Stnkes, but h is not oyorburdened with 9st 31b and 9st Oil respectively, and Maxim with Bst 41b and 8e 101b, if the wonder he is reported, cannot b anchored. I like both bettor than oithe Poarl, Bst 111b and 9st, or tho Sluh (in th Park Stakes only), Bst 61b. The last-named although a good horse, is hardly fo-war enough to show at his best to early, i liorso whose treatment seems to be mnoh to lenient, and is, in my opinion, the blot of th handicap, is Salisbury, who, although a wol] portormed 5-year old, with a victory oto Spado Guinea to his credit, gets in with th impost of 7st 21b in each race. Mr. Danver has also made a mistake, I think, in lettini Stronnous in the Tramway Stakes witl 7st 121b. Doooivor ran so woll when las seen at tho Hutt that he ought to have i chance with 7at 121b in the Park Stakes, may say at once that whon the Hawke Bay woights appear I fully expect to ace Mi Evott estimate Salisbnry quite a 101b bette horse than Mr. Danvers has. Forestei withOstin the 6 furlongs, is nicely weighted and, next to Salisbury and Stronuo.ua, h has my fanoy. With a start I should b inclined to take these tbreo against tho fiel in the Tramway Stftkos. In the Payk Stoke Salisbury, Deceiver, and the best of Mi Stead's pair are my selections. My Wairarapa friend forwards me th following :— The mooting which I referred t iii my notes last week of the members of th Featherston Ilaoing Clnb took place in th Hall on Saturday la-it. Amongst tho mom •bors present were W. Bidwill, W. 0. Wil liaras, W. Cundy, C. Elgar, Monokton Hutton, and A. Matthews. The latter gen tloman was voted to tho chair. Th Secretary said the raeotin? was called s the instigation of Messrs. Hutton and Bid will. Mr. Hutton said ho understood then was to bo a hack race meeting held on thi Oth November; if that was the case, hi thought, as the district could not suppor two raco meetings, it would be better t( wind-up the Poatherston Eaoin? Club whih it was in a solvent stato, with a oredil balance in hand. If there was to be anothei mooting, ho for one would resign from th( club. Mr. W. Bidwill said he thought th( projectors of tho hack races had acted in c discourteous manner to tho olub, in not con forring with it, as their action was likely t( load to the withdrawal of members, whicl tho club could not afford, there being onlj 35 members upon the roll. Mr. blgar saic ho quite agreed with Mr. Hutton. Mr Mathews said he had read in the paper Btlia ho had been eleoted Pro«ident, but he knev nothing of the olub, neither had he been con suited in the matter. Mr. Monckton saie ho had been eleoted Yioe-prcsident in t Bimilar way. He hid been asked to suppor the olub, but not as vico-president. Mr. W O. Williams was of opinion that if tho olul was to bo wound up it was best done al once. After several others had oxpressed tbeii viows, the following resolution was handoc to the ohairman :— " That in tho opinion o) this meeting it is to be regretted that it i< intended to hold a secend mooting in the Featherston district, and that it is also the opinion of this meeting that the possible result of this will be the collapsing of the present olub through members resigning; and that it is advisable, should such be the caso, to wind up the olub whilo in a solvent position. 1 ' This resolution was carried, though soveral expressed a hopo that suoh a oonrse would not be necessary. Mr. Monokton did not think the hack meofcing would clash with the Featherston Glnb. Ho thought it was more for the purposo of providing- a holiday and keeping tho money, in Featherston on the '9th November, and quite independent of any racing olub. Mr. W. 0. Williams then handed in a notice of motion that they meet again that day month to further discuss the advisability of winding np the club. The meeting then adjourned. Tho Masterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association will hold their annual parade of stallions at Messvs. Lowes and lorns' yards, Mostorton, on Wednesday, 14th September. The Wairarapa and Ejast Coast Agricultural and Postoral Association will hold thoir parade on the Association grounds Carterton on Saturday, 2tth September. To umko these parades successful I think it would be advisable to hold them npon altornato days. Owners who are at a distance and do not travel their Biros during the season, complain that to send their horses to both paraJes with the time that now intervenes, they must either make two separate trips or stay from home for more than a week, wbioh means too much loss of time and no inconsiderable* expense A capital illustration of tho ridioulous length to which goody-goodies will go in denouncing racing and everything oonnected with it, is afforded by "An Eleotor," who writes to the Christchuroh Press on the aubjeot of the totalisator. This enemy of gambling says in tho course of his letter :— ' I have known many who for months save their money to pnt on this infernal machine, and aftor one day's meeting return minus money, watoh, and clothing." Nothing like going the whole hog. A lie unless it is a good one ia reprehensible, and " Elector " is evidently not a man of half measures. He wishes to draw a heartrending pictnre of the gambler, and he does so j and if tho details are not quite consistent with facts, wolj, fco much tho worse for. the facts. It possibly never ocourred to "Eleotori 1 tbhtw man who "saves for months'; cannofc.be a very frightful gamblqr:., Thero is a little overreaching 1 ib this ;i but whan Ik> oomen to the itictuEed.ptocQsaiori.of -n*keS wrotchw xf. *fte£iclayVoung. »Hg in which their " duds " have irone on the

maohine with evorything else, ho simply provokes our laughter and at the same disgust at ThoVrday°at Hawkesbury showed the Hod. J. White already to tho fore as winner of the two prinoipal races. Contrary to expectation, Abereorn was not brought ont for tho Guineas, Lava being Bubatituted at the last moment How she won wo do not know, nor do we know what started, so that we can form very little estimate of tho value of the victory. Last season Lava showed a bit of form, but sno was generally put down as inferior to Abercorn and Sumatra. The Hawkesbury Handicap is rnn to-day, and I fully expect to see tho County Purse, winner MoroV again to the fore. It gives us an inkling of whtta horse has to do to win a Melbourne Cup when tore-year-olds like Algerian and Morok are pitchforked in with feather weights. I see by the training: notes in the Australasian that Algerian before starting for tho Spring Handicap at Tattersall's (Sydney) Mooting was tried with Arsenal, and that though both were under the whip at tho finish, there was little to choose between the pair. Supposing Algerian to bo as good a» Arsenal at level weights, what show can Pasha, Spjide Guinea & Co. have against him P The Sydney Morning Herald of tho 29th ult. says:— "Tho New Zealand horses Socket and Vinaigrette ran woll forward in their races at Bandwiok on Saturday a» lonjf as their condition lasted. Thero can be no question as to their pace ; neither con there be to tho fact that they are short of work, »nd if they are to play a prominent part in the Hawkesbury and Randwiok meeting, their trainer will bave to rattle them along in tho meantime. . In the same issue we find the following :— "Notwithstanding the declaration of acceptances for tho Hawkesbury Spring Handicap on Tuesday last, there has been no stir in the betting market, and transactions during the woek have been neither numerous nor heavy, consequently there has boen no change in last week's qnotations worth recording. The grand performance of Algerian in the Spring Handicap at Handwiok on Saturday, introduced the speedy son of Goldsborougn into't^o wagering on the MclTjourne Cup, and he was backed for a fair stake at 1003 to 25 during the evening." Thomas Payten has been installed direc--tor-in-ohiof of the Hon. James White's string of racehorses in the place left vacant •toy tho death of Mr. M. Fennally. During -the past few months, says a Sydney exohange, when Mr. FennelJy's illness was

mull ai to prevent bim glun<; the piling tbe liccc.'. .iry ettent'on, tho oneious duties devolved upon Pny'cn, and tbo doings of Ti;ilont, Aborcorn nnd Co. in the antnrnn speak woll for his fitness for the re'tyoiiMble position, 'lliose who hold tbe opinion that tbe noble thoroughbred docs not enter into tho spirit of his work flnd enjoy it too ((-ays (lie .Sydney Morning Heiald), should have seen the performance of the hurdleracer Invictus at Randwick on Saturday. He came to grief at the hurdle opposite tho Lejcr ntuud nnd rolled he \ilyover; but ho was noon on his legs again, and, rideilcsfl, he pursued tho fiold, taking the fences in splendid style. He overhauled his horses in they raced past Cutts's, and 0s they reached the hill, near the trainers' sheds, he came on terras with the lcadcig, wore them down after going a few strides in their company, and assumed command, which ho held to the finish, having paw cd tbe post several lengths in front of Garnet. Tho style in wbjch he showed tbo way over the slicks on his own pecount was greatly admired by the spectators, wbo applauded his performance as ho tunicl intuitively to interview the clerk of the scales pr'or to roturning to the s?ddling paddock.