FUN AT DARWIN

Evening Star, Issue 15914, 21 September 1915, Page 9

FUN AT DARWIN

HOW CARBINE WON. The Northern Territory Racing Club held a . race meeting early in the month • —the finsb for five years. As a preliminary the race track had to be cleared of a heavy growth of jungle, and the felloes and grandstand had to be restored berAUSb bf bileh fires which swept tile place oh more than one occasion. Scat tered through the bush were boughcovefed structures for the shelter of competing horses. There wiis some fun, too according to the account in the .Northern Territory ‘ Times and Gazette.’ In the 12-haiids pony race ’ “ onlv two ponies faced the starter, Carbine and Willie. The rider of the latter fell off before the horses had run 100 yards.* The rider of Carbine apparently did not see this mishap, and rode his mount for all lie was worth, using his whip freely on the run down tho straight and passing the winning post amidst shrieks of laughter. The riderless pony follow-ed Ihe other closely until nearing the grand stand, when it jumped the fence and careered across the track enclosure with streaming bridle.” In the second face, the Flying Handicap, there were three starters, and -Sleep 11., olie of them, throw his rider immediately after the start, and bolted off tire course. The next race, the Corinthian Stakes, was won by 100 yards by Plain Bill, and in tli:« event, Warwick, emulating the effort of Sleep IT. threw his rider* and bolted into the bush. The paper named also enter:- - its protest against the grandstand being turned into a picnicking ground:—“A feature not so pleasant was the use i*i the grandstand by many people—partial larly by happy family groups of Chinese —as an all-day dining ealooh or picnic resort. The seats were, in many cases, so plastered with sticky scraps of pastry, etc., that it was difficult to find a clean spot on which to sit, and weareis of pretty gowns ran serious risk of disaster."