INTERPROVINCIAL SPORTING

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 9120, 4 June 1890, Page 7

INTERPROVINCIAL SPORTING

jTEOIT OTTB OWN CORRESPONDENTS.] Auckland, May 27. J. Eae, the well-known horseman, returned to Anokland from Australia last week. In. a short chat that 1 had with him he gives a moat glowing account of the tuff on the other side, and stated that he intends to break up his home in Auckland, and move to Victoria. He has already secured stable accommodation for his horses. Speaking of the steeplechase courses Eae says that those at both Randwick and Caulfield are quite as severe iu the matter of obstacles as any in New Zealand, while that at Flemington he describes as a “ rasper,” one jump of terribly stiff construction being 4ft 4in. Bae intends to take wing to Sydney by the boat leaving here on Tuesday week, and ha will, I understand, take over Orangeman and Donald (half-brother to Titokowarn). Had Bae been prepared to sell be might, I am told on excellent authority, have received a very long price for Titokowarn, but with the V.B.C. Grand National close at hand, and the field for that event this year likely to be rather weak, the party behind the son of Dilko are not at all anxious to part with him. I have seen a few heavy courses in my time,* but that at Takapuna yesterday takes the palm in my experience. The heavy rains that fell last week had the effect of flooding all the surrounding flats, and as the course lies low, the track was in a terrible state. I put my walking ■tick into one hole made by Corina when galloping, which was fully a foot deep. The Club will have to spend a deal more money yet in the matter of draining this ground. As a matter of course, the heavy character of the ground had the effect of upsetting calculations in most of the events, and the Cup went to Dollar, the outsider of the party, who, favoured by her light impost, romped home in front, and a dividend of £l2 was the result.

J. Kaan intends leaving for Sydney by next week’s steamer, and he will take with him Leopold, Dolosa, Montrose and a couple of ponies. Cuirassier was brought over from Eohimarama yesterday, and he will, I understand, he wintered at his owner’s place. North Shore.

Mr Evett issued to-day the weights for the Great Northern Steeplechase and Hurdle Race, to be run at the Auckland Racing Club's Meeting on June 6. So far as I can see, there is very little fault to be found with either adjustment, and there should in each case be a good acceptance. In the Steeplechase old Orangeman has nothing to complain of in 12st 2lb, but in Titokowaru'a half-brother, Donald, lOah 91b, Kao’s stable has a second string that will be very dangerous if they send him. Orlando, lOst 121b,ia sure to be dangerous, but though a capital fencer, he has not, I think, as much pace as Donald. Amongst the light-weights Fishmonger, 9st 71b, reads the moat likely. In the first two miles of the Takapuna Steeplechase he played a very prominent part but he stopped at the water. Hune, the half-sister to Mata. broke her maidenhood at Takapuna on Monday last where she won the Hurdle Race in really good style. The Takapuna Jockey Club experienced beautiful weather for their winter meeting yesterday, and there must havo been fully two thousand five hundred people present. The following were the results:—Handicap Maiden Plate, of 30 sovs; one mile—Mr M'Hughea’ Te Kooti, by Auteros—Queen Mab, 4yra (Pyne) 1; Mr Thompson's Torment, syrs, 7st 61b, 2; Mr Booth’s Lottery, 3yrs, 7st 41b, 3. Ingoriua 7st, Fishmonger Bst, Locket 7sb 121 b, Fragrance 7st 61b, Phantom 6st 7ib, Myra 6st and Albert fist, also ran. Te Kooti won by a head. Dividend £9 11s. Horde Race, of 40 sovs, second horse to receive 5 sovs from the stake; one mile and three-quarters— Mr Burke’s Huue, by Cap-JL-pio—Eaupo, 4yrs, 9at 101 b (Ctowly), 1; Mr Wright’s Orlando, aged, 10st 41b (Frewin), 2 ; Mr Maitland’s Parnell, 6yrs, Set 101 b (Morigan), 3. Dick Turpin Sat 7ib, Hailstone 9st, Operatic 9st, Shamrock Sat, Billy 9st, Irish Agitator 9st, and Larrikin No. 2 9ab also ran. Hune won by half a length. Dividend £3 Bs. Hactc Race, of 30 bovb ; one mile —Mr B. Thompson's Octopus, by Izaak Walton, aged. Tat 41b (Lindsay), 1; Blarney, aged. Tat 41b, 2; Barber, syrs, 7st 71b, 3. There were seven others started. Octopus led throughout and won easily. Dividend £2 6s. Birthday Handicap, of 75 sovs, second horse 5 sovs out of the stake; one mile and a quarter—Mr M'Gavin’s ch m Dollar, by Sterlingworth, syrs, 6st 101 b (Patterson) 1; Mr H. Harrison’s Tamora, 6stßlb (Cook) 2, Mr W. Walters’ Leorina, aged, Bst 12lb (J. Keen) 3; Lochnesa Bst 41b, Cartridge 7st 21b, and Nigger 7st 21b, also ran. After the first hundred yards had been covered. Dollar went to the front and was never afterwards headed. Dividend <£l2. At the turn into the straight. Cartridge, who was three lengths away in second place, slippled in the heavy ground and fell, throwing her rider, Pyne, whose collarbone was broken. Nigger was running at the heels of Cartridge, and consequently he was also brought down, but Hodgson, his rider, was uninjured. Handicap .Steeplechase of 80 sovs, second horse to receive 10 sovs out of the stake; about three. miles and a quarter—Mr Wright’s b g Orlando, lOst 41b (Frewin) 1, Mr Martland’s ch g Parnell, aged, 9st 101 b (Morigan) 2, Mr Burke’s bm Hune, 4yrs, 9st 101 b (Crowly) 3. Magnesia lOst 121 b, Tawhiao lOst, Dick Turpin 9at 101 b, Fishmonger fist 101 b, and Surprise 9st 71b, also ran. Crossing the water the last time Parnell and Orlando were together, and they raced almost on even terms for the next three - quarters of a mile, till the last obstacle was reached, when Parnell collapsed, and, Orlando drawing away, won amid much excitement by two lengths. Dividend £3. Magnesia broke down during the race. Victoria Handicap of 43 eovsj six furlongs and a half—Major George’s ch m Fiesole by Ingomar Florence, 3yrs, Bat 21b (Ryan) 1, Mr James’ Nigger, aged, 7st 21b, Mr B. Thomson’s b m Torment, syrs, 6st 101 b, 3. Leorina Bst 12lb, Dollar Sat, Tamora 7st 121 b, Rataplan Tst 61b, Fusee 7st 51b, Nigger 7st, Prudence 7st, Octopus fist 101 b, Te Kooti 6st, and Albert fist, also ran. Fiesole won easily by a length and a half. Dividend £3 ss. The sum of <83719 was passed through the totalisator during the day. Dunedin, May 26.

To - day saw the finish of a really pleasant race meeting at the Forbury. The . weather oh Saturday was fair for winter, and. to-day out of the shade it was perfect summer. The attendance was above the 'ayerage. There were only two properlyprepared horses out of the five that started for the opening event, the Hurdle Handicap, viz., Ahua and Trimolite 5 and after Modesto and Erebus had run themselves to a standstill, and Waitangi had come to grief, these two fonght out a finish that was interesting enough until the last halfdozen strides, when Ahua said " Good-bye.” Luna had the little pony a mass of muscle, and the win was very popular, not only because Ahua was a favourite, but by reason of the fact that Lunn is invariably a trier. Waitangi’s mishap was due to one of the hurdles rebounding suddenly after being partially knocked down by one of the leaders. ' > They were rather a poor lot that contested the Maiden Plate. On present form Belvidere is undoubtedly the daddy of the lot, but Goldqn Hope might have been a little more dangerous if he had not been blocked at the home turn; and Forest King is susceptible of considerable improvement. The rest are, 1 am afraid, not likely to be heard * of in future, unless it be The Don, who is, it strikes me, none too sound. In the Birthday Handicap Mon Loup buret up : after going a mile and a quarter, and Miss ‘ George also died away to nothing at that point, while Catamount’s antics before the start completely disposed of any chance he might-hare had; so that there were only , "Wolverine and Blizzard to fight out the finish. Blizzard was first in the line for home, and I fancy that Buddicombe was -rather surprised to find Wolverine challenging, hut : he lost no time in stirring -up the son of Lady Gertrude, and, though 'the finish was a close one, Blizzard's chance all up the straight was always two to one on. Catamount appeared to walk rather gingerly before the start, as though one of

a long Twoso . she some way got off badly, ananas made a good race of it as between her, Emmerson, and Watercress. White cut the finish very fine iqdeed, and got up only in the last couple of strides, landing Tempest a winner by a nose from Watercress. The Trot was a great farce. Count, who was ssloctad when the handicaps came out, being uaapproached in the last couple of miles. He is not a first-rater, and will not win many races from scratch, but at 60sec he could put down anything in the country. Only two horses were backed with anything like spirit in the Selling Ktco, the local crowd going for Bed Ensign, while a section of visitors from the North spoke vary confidently about Kahu. Tho last-named got away badly, and never improved bis position, but the other fancied one managed to get home after a struggle .with the outsider Forest King, who would have paid a dividend of £250 outside. Red Ensign was bought in at .£25, and was the same evening sold to Mr J. Poole for £SO. Young Peters, the rider of Koad Metal in the Tradesmen's, seemed to lay himself out for a quarrel with the starter, in persistently refusing to join his horses after each break-away, of which there must have been a dozen. It was clearly a case of the boy and not the horse playing up, and Peters richly deserved to be reported. A more spirited finish than that seen between Ruby and Lord Aston could not be imagined. The former having inside position, Derrett had to reach across his horse and play on the near side, but in spite of this disadvantage, he drove old Ruby along at a terrible rate. I never saw a mote equal match. Occident and St James in tfie Dunedin Cup finished closer together, but their final tussle was tame compared to this one, as Ruby and Lord Aston were going as strong as though they were in the middle of a iive-furlong race. The Hack Race was run in the dark. There were nine starters. All that we saw of tho race was tho horses coming home in procession order, something winning by a couple of lengths. What that something was no one knew until Tom George claimed the race for Fanny, a Taieri-bred mare. The story of her victory, as related to me, is that there was a false start, and all the horses were ordered back, and came back with the exception of Fanny, who was not seen by the starter when he gave the word “ go.” This mare, being at the time three or four lengths ahead, was never seen by the other riders until towards tho end of the race, when Preston’s jockey found Fanny in front of him, and wondered how the dickens she got there, since nothing had passed him in the race. This tale may or may not be true, but, whether or no, a race ■in the dark is decidedly unsatisfactory, and I hope wo shall have no more of them. The public did not, as might have been expected, regard the Selling Hurdle Race the opening event of the second day, as a match between Garibaldi and Mammoc, but backed College Boy freely and did not neglect the others. All stood up, and Mammoc won as he liked, poor old Gari, hardly himself, beating the rest very easily. College Boy was the sharps’ tip. Blizzard’s superb condition enabled him to again outstay Wolverine in the chief event, and the best of the others proved to be Dispute, who was rather big. Catamount finished absolutely last, and thus showed that he never had a show in the Birthday; and Stonehenge seemed unable to raise a gallop until he had gone a mile, when he was moving faster than any of his opponents, though too far behind to get with the leaders at the finish. In his excitement at being in a fair way to win the Novel Race on Invermay, little Eingan undoubtedly hit Kahn with his whip just as the two were at it in the finish, but the occurrence was purely of inadvertence, and neither Tommy Buddicombe nor Mr Sherwin made any fuss about the matter. Leinster’s performance in this race was of a surprising character. He got away best of all, was steadied at half the distance, and then came again at the home turn, and was eventually beaten rather badly. Ido not, however, suspect that he was not a trier. Invermay was purchased by Mr Goodman at £43. Tempest won the Selling Two-year-old Race as she liked, and was bought In at the upset price of £2OO. All that she had to beat were Watercress, Lady Mab, and Emmason, the other three being far short of condition. Bobby, who for some time past has been in Christchurch, got to the front very early in the Trot, and, with the help of an occasional turn at galloping, which should have brought about his disqualification, he kept there. After finishing and easing up, some one in the crowd yelled out " Go on,” and forthwith Bobby, Fosaicker, Polly, Telephone, and something else set out on another and an unnecessary round, the "kidding” resulting m great sport for all but the victims thereof, who seriously fought out a second finish before they were aware of the nature of the joke. I understand that the owner had only a half share in Bobby’s dividend. Sir Julius’ performance in the St Clair Welter would naturally suggest that he had run stiff in the Novel, but the beat proof that the suspicion is unfounded may be found in the fact that the owner had not a sixpence on him, nor the jockey either, in the second race. Warlock gob the best of the start in the Scarry, and won with very little to spare from the plain but serviceable Normanby. Le Temps fell, and gave young Lardner a severe shaking. The winner was bought by Mr Arthur Smith for £26. We saw only the start and the finish of the Consolation. La Bose and Little Shamrock were the first away, and Mon Loup the first home, the chestnut getting up just in time to beat Stonehenge and Kahn, who were as nearly as possible a dead heat. Three or four strides from the post we thought Eahu was winning. There was no protest during the meeting, and the only accident was Lardner's in the Hack Race. As to the starting, it was, on tho whole, better than usual, and.there was not one really bad start, though on several occasions the get-away was somewhat ragged. . The only jockey who got into trouble was Peters, who richly deserved the disqualification until next January, imposed upon him for fiat disobedience at the Post in the Tradesmen’s Handicap. Owing to his disobedience. Road Metal was a perfect nuisance in that race, and delayed the start fully a quarter of an hour. Messrs Mason and Roberts passed £11,956 through the totaliaators, as against£l2,oSl last year. The trotter Nigger was sold last week to Mr M'Eewan for £l3.

Mr T. Snrman, now of Melbourne, was in Dunedin for the races, and looked after the running of Streamlet, this mare having been owned by his brother now deceased. Streamlet and her yearling brother (by La Loup out of Lady of the Lake) were put up to auction on Saturday, and bought by Mr Taggart, the mare at 21gs and the colt at 22ga. Another sale took place on Monday, the trotter Colac being knocked down by Mr J. Grindley to Mr Anderson at £45. Charlie O’Connor, who has. been in charge of the Hon G. M'Lean’a stable since the departure of Mr Turnbull, was relieved on Monday evening by M'Guinness, the appointed trainer of the stable, who could not get away earlier. O’Connor has made numerous friends here. He leaves to-morrow (Tuesday) morning for Christchurch, where he will probably start on his own account. May 28. Poole leaves by Friday’s steamer for Melbourne with Waitangi and Mammoc. The former has a swollen knee, tho result of his fall in Saturday’s race. This will not help his chance in the Y.R.C. Grand National. During Poole’s absence James Allen hunts the hounds. Apres Moi and Milord continue working, hut Red Ensign will be temporarily turned out. Loughlin, with La Rose, leaves, I understand, next week, and Goodman may go by the same boat. At the Winton races on Saturday, Wardrobe 10at 12ib beat Lady Ellen lOat 7lb in the Hurdle Race, paying a dividend of £3 ss. Aparima, Ranger, and Orphan also started. The Maiden was won by May Eing, who beat Robin, Surprise, Eiwi, and The Lad. Dividend, £5 15s. Two started in the Birthday Handicap, Victory Sst 91b winningby four lengths from Jealousy Sst 51b. The Flying, Heartburn 7at 101 b won by a length and a half from Matanaka 7st 7ib, the-othet starters being Barb

Wire Bst 71b, Black Jack Sst 51b, Lady Queen 7st 121 b. Dividend £2 4s. The District Handicap, Victory Sst 121 b, won easily from Robin Sst, and Wardrobe 7st 121 b. In the Trot, Oreti 50aec, was first. Foremast (scratch) second, and Nelly I. 30sec, third. Dividend £29 2s. In the Selling Race, Annie Laurie beat Barb Wire, Black Jack, and three others. Dividend £l2. The Consolation fell to Jealousy Sit Sib, with Matanaka 7at 12lb second, and Token Sst third. Messrs Mason and Roberts passed over £IOOO through the totalisator.