SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

Evening Star, Issue 7480, 26 March 1888, Page 2

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

The acceptances and general entries for the Canterbury autumn meeting, which commences on Monday next, do not compare favorably with those for last year, there being a falling-off of fifteen horses in the various events. The Great Autumn Handicap has but seven acceptors, Cruchficld having dropped out on account of his lameness, while La Rose and St. Ives are, presumably, not considered good enough at the distance. The Champagne Stakes has no more than five acceptors, and that good stake looksamoral for Carbine. Dunedin will, in all probability, be fairly represented, Silver Mark, St. Clair, and Snapshot being in the Great Autumn Handicap ; Garibaldi in the two Hurdle races ; La Rose, Apropos, and Haka in tLj Templeton Stakes; Sommeil in the Champagne Stakeß, in which, however, Mr Goodman's colt will have to be at his very best to put down Carbine; La Rose and Snapshot in the Epsom Handicap; Apres Moi and Wolverine in the Russley Stakes; Sommeil, Wolverine, and Apres Moi in the Nursery Handicap; Silver Mark and Sommeil in the Challenge Stakes. The Hawke's Bay Jockey Club put through only half the money at their recent meeting that they did at last year's gathering. A dividend of LB9 waß paid over Sir Garnet, winner of the Farmers' Race at the Saudon hack races on the 17th inst.

W. White, the jockey, returned to Christchurch from Melbourne on Tuesday, and he tells "Sir Lancelot" that he thinks New Zealand the best place after all, and he is open for engagement to ride at the C.J.C. autumn meeting. He states that Spade Guinea has been purchased by Mr H. Haines at the figure of 700 guineas. Rocket and Pasha are both turned out for a spelU and Vinaigrette is now the property of a sportsman in the Western district of Victoria (for whom she has won one or two races), but it is on the cards that Mirella will start at the A.J.C. autumn meeting, which commences on the 31st inst. Mr Drake will be back here in the course of a fortnight or so, but Rudings and Milne will remain in Melbourne for the present. Milne is not in harness, but Rudings had been looking after Spade Guinea since Mr Oxenham bought her from Mr Drake. St. Clair has not incurred a further penalty for the Great Autumn Handicap by his victory in the Napier Cup. The following are the latest quotations on the GRE.VT AUTUMN HANDICAP. 2 to 1 against Springston 5—2 Silver Mark s—l Torrent 6—l Euby 100 10 1 Engagement 103 8 Snapshot. I recently received a letter from Mr M. M'Laren, owner of Boojum, stating that in one of the weekly papers the time given for two of the trotting races was incorrect to so great an extent as to make the mare out to have trotted more than half a minute quicker than was the case. As erroneous statements of this description are, unless corrected, calculated to lead handicappers to treat a horse more harshly than it deserves, I have made careful inquiry into the matter and find that in the race won by Boojum she covered the three miles in 9min 93ec. The lime from when the first horse (Snider) started until Boojum came in was 9min 42sec, and Boojum starting 33sec after him, made her actual time 9min 9sec. In the other race Duchess (scratch) won by a few yards from Boojum (32sec), and as the winner's time was Bmin 28secBoojum's time must have again been over 9min—yet the paper in question contended that her time i was Bmin 27sec.

Danevirke, in the Hawke's Bay district, appears to be a lively place for racing. Of its last week's gathering the local paper says:—" It is a matter for regret that the stewards did not take rigorous measures to repress the disgraceful rowdyism which pre* vailed during the meeting. At one time a huge Maori had taken possession of the saddling paddock, knocking down all and sundry who crossed his path, and later in the day, one of the races was delayed a considerable time, while nearly the whole of the spectators left the vicinity of the stand, and indulged in a series of fights ' out on the lovely grass.'" The New Zealand Stud Company receive 100 sovs by the victory of Volley in the V.R.C. Sires' Produce Stakes, they having nominated her sire, Musket, for the stake. Mr W. H. Keith, the owner of Dudu, intends commencing an action against the Christchurch Tattersall's Club for defamation of character caused by their having posted him as a defaulter and prevented the nomination of his filly for the New Zealand Cup being received by the Canterbury Jockey Club. In connection with this matter " Senex " writes:—" I may mention that Keith's name has been on the default list for the last seven years or more, and notwithstanding that it is distinctly laid down in the rules of racing that a defaulter on the turf shall not be allowed to enter or run any horse either wholly or partly belonging to him, he has, nevertheless, been constantly permitted by many North Island clubs to run horses his own property, and entered in his own name. That the rule is a wholesome restraint on unprincipled persons requires no argument to prove, and that the offence should be winked at by the Wanganui Jockey Club (which is one of the metropolitan clubs of Nsw Zealand) is much to be regretted. Pegasfs. The retirement of the brothers Cooper from the New South Wales turf has been followed by that of the lion. W. A. Long. The arrangements for the despatch of the Maori footballers Home are oomplete, and Lee, of Eiverton, has reoeived instructions to proceed to Napier next month. A disputed bet of LI.OOO to L9O Cranbrook for the Newmarket Handicap recently engaged the attention of the committee of the Victorian Club, and a verdict was found in favor of a well known sporting medico, who claimed the amount in question from Mr Joseph Thompson, the leader of the Victorian ring. The disputed wager, along with other ones, including a second LI ,000 against Cranbrook, were written by Mr Thompson on the doctor's card, and on this evidence the committee had no alternative but to decide against the "leviathan," who, however, had no record of the transaction in his book, and, furthermore, denied having laid more than LI,OOO against Cranbrook. There was a very good attendance in the Chess Club room, at the Coffee Palace, on Saturday night, and quite a number of boards were simultaneously engaged. The annual meeting for the election of officebearers for the ensuing year takes place on Tuesday evening next, when doubtless there will be a good attendance. The games of chess and draughts are more patronised in Dunedin at present than at any previous time. Harrington, the Riverton sculler, has decided to settle in Melbourne.

la an article on pedestrianism in the colonies, " Pendragon," of the London ' Sportsman,' says:—" It is not a good thing to take an English sprinter out to Australia with a view to picking up a gold crock unless he can do a good four yards inside evens; and if he is very well known he must do still better. Whether the game is worth the candle can best be told by the peds who have already returned. I fancy Mooly and Liddle—with Myers thrown in —think it is not. Like Hutchens and others, they went out to shear, and are returning or have returned home shorn'; Altogether, what with their cricketers, their scullers, their boxers, and their peds, our colonists seem to want a lot' of taking down. As one of the fly folk who went over to do great things—and didn't do theni —said on his return: ' You take my tip. What they don't know or can't do' among them blessed kangaroos' isn't worth knowing or doing/" ' . " lu an article on the decadence of cricket the 'Press' says:—"ln Canterbury we think that among some classes the interest is as keen as ever. We know instances of up-country enthusiasts riding long distances to obtain the earliest telegraphic news when a big match is in progress in Christchurdl. We see the ladies, too, taking up the game, and not only showing good form with the; bat, but also such steadiness and discipline in the field as is 'only possible for those imbued with the genuine spirit of the game". The attendance of the public at the cup matches has been larger than usual, and, dn the whole, we see no sign of the decadence

of cricket here, despite the growing popularity and frequency of petty race meetings, which certainly tempt too many of _ the colonial youth to spend their leisure in a manner not beneficial either to their morals, their physique, or their purses." We wish we could say our Christchurch contemporary's experience was our own. The public here appear to have nearly lost all interest in the game, and the players themselves exhibit almost censurable indifference.