SPORT AND PASTIME.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 18, 20 July 1907, Page 14

SPORT AND PASTIME.

,„ ■ ♦ « I ■ *** ' — ' , EACING FIXTURES. Joly 20 ~ 24, and 27— Wellington R.C. - Winter. ■ • July 26— North Canterbury J.C.s Sports 'Meeting./ „ Otyly 31 — Hawkes Bay Hunt Club. August 7 — Woodlands Hunt Club's* Annual. 'August 13, 15, and 17— C.J.C, Grand /National. 'Augyst 29— -JSinberley Steeplechase dub Annual. " "" * ' September 4 and s—Mrtiton5 — Mrtiton J.C.s Hack ■Meeting. " Segfcmber -8 and 19— Rangitikei E.C. » Spring, v ______ rwicciJ'pTSr^ciijß^: claims* • r*lfie> Raciba Conference * will Jiold its hßniuil meeting on Monday nest, and if . the great amount '•- of business on the order-paper is to receive the attention it deserve?/ the; delegates will have to be oft their' mettle; lit is to bo hoped that? ■when allotting dates adequate consideration -"will be givon to the practically un-nns-werabe claim of the Wellington Bac-' ing Club for an additional holiday date. The; enterprise of the Wellington Club in taking the bold' step of transferring , Itheir. racing headquarters to Trentham ■ and incurring the' heavy financial responsibility- Which was inevitable, deserved to '*be rewarded with the signal succes3 which . Las crowned the change. It is manifestly • tinfair that any body of honorary officials subh as'the stewards of the Wellington Bacirig Club" 'should remain under a "responsibility of such magnitude ; therefore, the appeal of the- club's delegates for the holiday date, Labour .D^y, is entitled, totljp thoughtful consideration of the conference: With the great amount of businass"Fefor'e"lh'e''confefence it" is^ to be feafced.'that Wellington's application ma.v/ be shelved, as on previous occasions-, ■when, owing to -the skilful pleading of the, Napier Park' representative, the request was, 'never, thoroughly considered, on its.merits.- At present Wellington has merely the 0112 • holiday, Anniversary" Day/ and, in. comparison with other centres is badly 'treated.^ If must not be overlooked that 'racing has now become one of the chosen sports of the gr<}at , mass- of the people; and the difficulties surrounding the acquisition of a suitable, race track compelled the club to go some considerable distance. out of town. This naturally makes it , impossible for tho average race-goer to -sec more than' -half a day's sport unless the day be a holiday. The interests of this numerous class of spprting^ enthusiasts requires recognition, and it f would-be a graceful concession if tbe^astuto Mr. M'Vea withdrew his oppo-> sition "to" th "request, which he can rest assured, is backed up by a solid body of public opinion in this city. A good deal' of use is 'made of the Otaki Club's in T terests in this ' connection, but the sympathy which is' sc^ freely expressed .for this club should it lose Labour- Day is more apparent tEan real, "and" it would be* an. easy matter to "compensate that cTub by^ allotting -to it the King's Birthday. This- would, no doubt, suit the Otaki Club, and as the'Taratohi-Carterton Club wh"ich holds its annual meeting at that time,- depends mainly for its nominations upon. " - stables located in - , the Wairarapa.*" and! Hawkes Bay, they surely, would not clash. Anyhow, the large army of Wellington raee-gpers. devoutly hope that their chances of getting a day's .racing at Trenth^m." on 1 Labour ,Day will not ' be jeopardised by the usual junction of forces ~oa- the part of Dunedin, Napier Park, and Otaki, afcd have its fate de : cided in"., the preliminary lobbying that' invariably -takes place -before the matter is actually considered .by the conference. Tfie turnover of .tlje_ Wellington Club should, at the end of this current season, ba in the- neighbourhood of £150,000 for at ihe-canclusion of the autumn m-eeCffig" no'le'ss" than" £124,000 had been put through the totalizator, so even if the- ,club merely handles as much at the winter meeting now on as it did at the similar meeting last year, the above estimate will be. assured. 'Notwithstanding these -' flattering figures •Wellington .which has .only eleven days' racing' ' compares" "unfavourably with Napier which despite its much smaller population enjoys no less than fomteeu days' sport,' and a totalisator rekirn of" over £100,000 per annum. The, extra 'holiday -would be ihe means of increasing the popularity of the Trentham. course, and thus enable the club to further increase its stakes. - THE JUMPING SEASON. The publication of the weights foi the Canterbury Jockey Club's Grand {National Hurdle and Steeplechase shows" that we are Hearing the end of our jumping season. A great number of the candidates will be seen out at the Wellington meeting, and the quality of their performances may have an important- bearing -oir , the results of the big Eiccarton races," The acceptances are daa 00 the 26tb inst. AUSTRALIAN EACING. It is not every year that the fielders get pxtro such turn-ups in the Flemington Nationals .as Bribery and Divham. The latter gelding was a somewhat ungainly and unkempt -looking, customer when he cantered past me at Caulfield about two years ago, and I remember commenting upon his want of looks, when J. Foulsham remarked : "You watch that joker ; lie will win a big steeplechase one of these days." On the two or three occasions I saw him he certainly gave no indication of his ability to win such a eevere race as the Flemington Grand National Steeple, and his success furnishes further evidence of the time required to gradaally T-repare a horse, even with a natural aptitude for the 'chasing gape. Jjivham traces back to the famous Richmond, who begot many splendid stayers, and was bred in the Western District of Victoria, where some of the greatest jumpers that have "earned distinction in' Australia first saw the light. The Winner of the hurdle race, Bribery, it is reported, 'has been purchased for New Zealand, at, the figure of, six hundred guineas, and as^he is a particularly well, bred gelding, I should not be surprised to see him. put over big country here. His dam, The Gift, is by that great sire of jumpers, ■ Wellington, a son- of Panic, whilst, his 1 sire, Malvolio, a Melbourne Cup- winner^ was by Malua, a Grand National Hurdle winner, and the Robinson Crpsoe mare Madcap. ' Better staying '.blood than this is not to^ be found anywhere. Ai the same meeting Contend*! carried 8.7 into second .place in the Lawn,, Handicap, run over the straight cix furlongs of the Newmarket course, and as this race generally attracts a field of prclty fair class this prominent display by the Gold Reef geling emphasises the quality of Pink 'Un, who, on some of his form was quite a 211b; better hot&e. A cable measage states that Pink 'Un is being, supported for the' Epsom -Handicap which is to be decided , on sth October next. In this race the New Zealander has been allotted 8.13, but deepite this , substantial impost he is such a beautifully-proportioned animal, and possesses such unique propelling power ,tbat this event, which i 3 run over a< mile- course, is just the sort to enablo •him to show, to the greatest advantage. X .notice that his price iv Oxenhtua'p list /Hras 25 .to 1, t