SPORTING NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 9280, 8 December 1890, Page 3

SPORTING NOTES.

Mr F. H. Pyne has resigned his position on the Handicapping Committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club. Whitworth, by Musket—Leila, has been sold to Mr 3rl‘Mahon, for seventy guineas. Mr-H. Goodman is expected to return to Dunedin before Christmas, and will probably be accompanied by Blizzard. We have received the programme of the Turakina Jockey Club’s Meeting to be held on Jan. 29. It is said that Niagara, who has served a few mares this season, will bo given another chsuce on the turf. The Melbourne Sportsman of Nov. 19 contains a picture of Mr M. Gallagher, the well-known Auckland sportsman. News comes from India that Bravo is making satisfactory progress with his preparation for the Viceroy’s Cup, to be run at Christmas. Mr Martin Loughlin, of Ballarat, one of the millionaires of Australia, is said to Lave changed his trainer, because his horse Don Giovan won the Williamstown Cup without being backed. It is now reported that Gibraltar’s withdrawal from the V.E.C. Derby was duo to the colt being pricked by a blacksmith. Mr 'Saville, in reply to a prominent trainer, asked 3000 sovs for Ringmaster after the little horse’s defeat in the Cambridgeshire Trial Plate. The London Sportsman considers Valauris, the brother to Seabreeze, the Oaks and Leger winner of ISSS, the best two-year-old of the season. “Augur” says that Mikado 11., by Apremont Forget-me-Not, has changed owners at a high figure, and is now an inmate of J. Gardiner’s stables at Malvern. It is said that Baron Hirsch has not purchased Ormonde after all, and the great son of Bend Or will probably remain in South America. Teksum, recently purchased on behalf of Mr Martin Loughlin, has been withdrawn from all his midsummer engagements at Eandwick. ■ Teddy luille won the Stewards’ Mile at the Morefield (N.S.W.) Meeting, and Little Shamrock took the Spring Handicap at Wyndham. The Committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club is considering a proposal to make extensive reductions in the railway fares and charges for admission at the Summer Meeting. D. Price, of Princess fame, attended the Spring Meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club; tut when’ on the last'day the stewards became officially aware of his presence they promptly warned him off the course. On the application of tho Nortn Canterbury Jockey Club the Committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club has suspended a lad named James Smith for not paying a fine imposed by the former body. A correspondent writes to the Sydney Morning Herald, stating that Walter Hickenbotham, the trainer of Carbine, received only .£IOO over and above his usual fees and percentage by the champion’s victory in the Melbourne Cup. The weights for the principal handicaps to be run on the first day of the Greymouth Meeting are published in this issue. Acceptances will not be due until Saturday week, but in the meantime we like the appearance of Exchange in the Midsummer Handicap and Don in the Hurdle Race. Mr Busch has reported to the Jockey Club a lad named Robert Mitchell for leaving his service without the stipulated notice. There can be no doubt, says “Asmodeus,” that, apart from his excellent breeding and brilliant powers as a racehorse, Nordenfeldt owes much of bis early success at the stud to the circumstance that his constitution has never been impaired by a protracted course of training. A horse taming contest is being arranged between Professor Liohtwark and Mr J. Lukey,. the proprietor of Cobb and Co.’s stables. The event is sure to attract a large concourse of spectators. At a political meeting at Marshland on Monday evening, Mr Stead, replying to a question from an elector, said that no one was justified in stating that he objected to the' Trotting Clubs using the totalisator. He'had, he continued, recommended the Colonial Secretary to reduce the scale for Trotting Clubs to one-balf of that for Racing "Clubs, but his recommendation was not accepted. The well-known trotting pony, Billy-the-Nut, got out of his stable on Monday, and while galloping on the road fell and fractured his shoulder bone. The unfortunate animal was, of course, .destroyed. : and a post mortem revealed the fact thatthe bone had been splintered into at least a dozen pieces. The Australian mare Lady Betty carried lOst 3lb, when she won the Hambledon Handicap, at the Thirst Autumn Meeting, and was ridden by John Osborne. The vicar of the parish was present at a dinner given by Mr J. Chandler, the head of the Lambourne House training establishment, to celebrate the victory of Amphion in the rich Lancashire Stakes. Mr Fodor has just completed an admirable painting of Wolverine to the order of the owner of the horse. Tho artist has caught a very characteristic likeness of the Cup winner, and the picture is one of his happiest efforts. Mr F. Robbins, of Melbourne, is anxious to match hia mare Mystery against any trotter or pacer in the Colonies for a substantial stake. Here is a chance for the owners of Princess and Calista. At a recent mayoral banquet in Melbourne, Lord Kintoro described Carbine as the greatest horse in the world. The London correspondent of the Leader says that Chicago is being kept quiet for the present; but is all right and will probably win a race or two next season.

A writer in Sporting Life, referring to tho cale of the Kirkham horses at Newmarket,, says ; —MrD. Cooper, who has had some experience in Australia, was the chief purchaser, and I must congratulate this gentleman on becoming the owner of Mona Meg, a truly grand filly to look at, and said to be the best two-year-old in Newmarket. I thought she would have made .£4OOO, and I regard her as very cheaply bought at £2600. At the Victoria Racing Club meeting last month, horses bred in New Zealand appropriated J! 12,135, in New South Wales ,£6851, in Victoria £4296, in South Australia £2434, in Queensland £1482, in Tasmania £6BB, in England £3O, giving a grand total of £27,915. Of this amount Victorian owners won £20,070, New South Wales owners £7116, South Australian owners £430, Queensland owners £240, and a New Zealand owner £6O. The sum of £28,921 was passed through the totalisatora at the recent meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club. Tho following figures show how the investments compare with those of last year : 1889. 1899. jg jj> First day ... ... ... 14,013 7,551 Second day 11,088 6.970 Third day 10,542 9,510 Fourth day 5,073 4,867 £41,616 £28,931 Last year, we need scarcely remind our readers, tho total was swollen by the presence of the Exhibition and a specially liberal programme. Several Christchurch backers were pretty good winners over the Dunedin meeting. A well-known member of the C.J.C. Committee, who might be expected to set his face against every flagrant breach of the iulcs, won a nice stake from the local layers of totalisator odds. Perhaps this is the quickest way to put an end to illegitimate wagering, but the Committeeman is also liable to disqualification. The Spirit of the Times, writing of the Sir Modred colt Tournament, says:-—Our Australian fellow sportsmen may make note of the fact that the big son of tho stallion hailing from their country seems to have simply nothing in hia year that can make him race now. Undoubtedly the three-year old class of 1830 is far below the standard, but ho ia a wouder, and though he has had his full share of racing, he seems to improve. The line we have got must be very false indeed if he is not a prodigiouely-goodrthree-yearj old J ; and to

judge from this year’s form he will be vastly better next season. The following list of the principal winning horses in Australia last season is taken from the Australasian of Nov. 22 Carbine £6165, Bravo £5867, Titan £5407, Dreadnought £5399, Abercorn £3559, Sir William. £2767, Melos £2740, Wilga £2667, Boz. £2415, • Pet Girl £1973, Churchill £lO4l, The Admiral £la2o. Fearless 11. £1720, Ernest £I6BO, Mahdi £1564) Singapore £1555, Chintz £1544, Tho Charmer -£lsll, Ellerelie £1495, Novice' £1402, Mikado £1295, Magic Circle £1286, Hop Bitters £l2lO, Ballringer £llOl, Megaphone £1175, The Gift £ll6l, Eclipse £1036, Shootover £1035, Rudolph £1032, Lava £IO2O. Among the smaller winners the names of tho following New Zealand-bred horses appear : —Squire £535, Blizzard £525, Pretender £445, Medallion £412, Moss Rose £390, Kossiter £345, Scots Grey £342, Dtmkeld £334, Miss Alice £255, Precedence £250, Soudan £l5O, Mikado 11. £145, Eewi £l5O, Civis £125, Satan £lls, King William £lO5, aucl Secretary £IOO. During the progress of the Dunedin meeting Mr Ormond was asked to put a price on St Andrew. Tho request came, we believe, from an Australian buyer, but Mr Ormond refused even to quote a figure, and St Andrew will fulfil his engagement in the Great Northern Derby. People who favour the legalisation of sweeps in this country may be interested by the following paragraph from a Bathurst paper:—“ Talk about the strike being disastrous, why, it ia nothing to the curse of gambling now in full swing all over the Colony. These monster consultations are ruining thousands, crippling business and filling our gaols. They are, without a doubt, tho cause of much embezzlement at the present time, and should be put down at once, the same as they were in Melbourne. It seems strange that the authorities in the Cabbage Garden wiped the thing out in one act when it became dangerous, yet our lawmakers and enforcers of the law are helpless in trying to prevent it here. We don’t object to men backing their fancy for a few pounds who can afford it, but we say, for heaven sake let some determined attempt be made to stop these consultations that are ruining thousands of our men, women and youths, and making gamblers and embezzlers of them at the same time.” “ Hori Poene,” writing to the Witness, says :—Do you know my candid opinion of it now ? It is this : that adding £IO,OOO to the Melbourne Cup is likely to prove the ruination of the Derby unless the stake for that event is proportionately increased. I take my stand on Correze’s running. Perhaps hia Derby gallop brought him on; hut to my mind the three-year-old that could carry 7st 31b into third place in a fast-run Melbourne Cup, and cut out a mile and six furlongs with 7st 121 b up in 3min 3sec, should have started at shorter odds for the Derby than 100 to 5 and finished a bit closer than sixth in a field of eight. ’Nuff sed.

Tommy Nakagawa, a leading Japanese resident on Thursday Island, was lucky enough, says an exchange, to draw Carbine in Adams’ sweep on behalf of a party of ten Japanese, and the fortunate owners collected £22,500. The Japs were exceedingly jubilant, and the majority of them threw up theiifoccupations. Singular to relate, but Carbine was drawn last year by residents at Thursday Island, when they secured £7OO as second prize. Pony racing, says an English paper, if carried on in a proper manner, would be entertaining; but nowadays, from the time that the animals themselves are taught to deceive by making themselves smaller than they really are, until the period when in many cases they pass the winning post in far from their proper position on their merits, the small deer game is little more than a deception and a fraud. r ■ i • The proprietor of the London Globe has sent an ample apology to Lord Penrhyn, together 1 with the sum of £IOO for charities, as ,a proof of regret at having allowed certain statements to appear which were calculated to reflect in a libellous manner upon the running of his Lordship’s horses.

The weights for the A.J.C. Summer Cup (one mile and a half) are published in the Sydney papers just to hand. Starting with Melos at 9st 71b Mr Scarr has allotted tbe following weights to horses in which New Zealanders will feel a special interest: —Teksum Bst 101 b, Antceus Sat 41b, Little Bernie Sac 21b, Leopold Safe 21b, Gatling 7sb 121 b and King William 7sb 101 b. * Parbiculars of Dolosa’s victory in'the Warwick Farm Handicap of 100 sovs show that the daughter of Leolinus carried 7st 21b, and beat Signeas 6st 111 b, Hugo Bst 71b, and fourteen others. Dolosa started second favourite at 6 to 1, and the mile was covered in Imin 45fsee. Advices from Melbourne state that though there were many rumours afloat as to the ability of several prominent bookmakers to meet their engagements on settling day over the Melbourne Cup, they proved to be unfounded, and tbe adjustment of accounts passed off satisfactorily. All sorts of rumours have been circulated during the past few weeks concerning winners in the big Australian sweeps, but we believe the following is a correct list of persons who have drawn large prizes : Caulfield. - 25,000: 1, W. Brondemuhl, Inkerman, near Dunolly, Victoria, £4500; 2, M‘Gee and Duncan, c. o. J. J. Bliss, Ar mid ale, N.S.W., £1350; 3, J. H. Clayton, 214, Drummond street, Carlton, Victoria, £9OO. Melbourne Cup.—so,ooo: 1, Tommy Japan, Thursday Island, Queensland, £22,500 s 2, S. Beattie, High street, West Maitland. N.S.W., £4500; 3, J, Hickey, care of Mr Skinner, Bullabadah, N.S.W., £IBOO, No. 1, 50,000 at 10s : 1, E, Stratton, care of T. Deane, Mitchel, Queensland, £9000; 2, A. Carlyle, “ Cooma " 72, Morris street, Williamstown, Victoria, £2700; 3, Mrs A. Allsopp, care of L. and D. Company, Williamson street, Sandhurst, Victoria, £IBOO. No. 2, 50,000 at 10s: 1, Lonier and Co., care of Mr J. Scott, York street, Sydney, N.S.W., £4374 ; 2, Robert Tarin, 231, Goulburn street, Sydney, N.S.W., £1312 4s; 3, E. W. Lloyd, care of A.M.L. and F. Company, 122, William street, Melbourne, Victoria, £874 16s. No. 10 000 at 20s: 1, W. Hutchison, care of J. Jolly, Walhalla, Victoria, £3303; 2, B. Gillmore, Commercial Hotel, O’Neill Creek, Greymouth, Now Zealand, £1321; S, M, Meskill, Wingen, N.S.W., £660 12s. “Nemo” selects Melos, Little Bernie, Muriel, King William, Bendigo, May Queen, Yunko, and Papua as the best treated horses in tho handicap for the A.J.C. Summer Cup. The same writer saya —« The weak-loined Gatling can never be a friend of mine when racehorses are in question.” The Manchester Sporting Chronicle, alluding to some comments which have appeared in Australian papers concerning Matthew Dawson, says : The Colonials are no doubt disappointed at the poor figure Kirkham and Narellan cut, hut it is foolish of them to lose their temper and make unsupported statements detrimental to the high character enjoyed in this country by the trainer in whose hands they were placed. The stipendiary Steward recently appointed by the Victoria Racing Club has not, according to some of his critics, yet grasped all the difficulties of his office. “ Sentinel,” writing in a Ballarat exchange, says Whether the recently appointed stipendiary has been overwhelmed with the magnitude of Plemmgton events, or whether he has arrived at the conclusion that whatever ie is right, I know not; hut it is a fact that he is remarkably quiescent. Ido not think that he has done all hia duty when he has struck out a few ponies which are over height. The weight of hia duty appears to me to rest in connection with consistency or inconsistency in running. A couple of most glaring instances of reversal of form occurred at Flemington; and at Moonee Valley, Williamstown, and Oakleigh Park, several men and horses ought to have been struck out for life. Lord Falmouth, ono of the greatest English breeders, was of the opinion, which is now generally accepted, that mares for whom a great future is anticipated at the stud ought not to be kept long in training, and that a mare that has done a lot of work on the. W^

stud. There are exceptions to the rule* but in the main it has proved correct, both in racing and trotting. The most valuable ages for horses on the turf is in their two, three, and four-year-old form. Horses bring so much more as yearlings than they used to do that it is a question for breeders to decide whether a : mare would not be far more profitable at the stud than on the turf after she is four years old.

It is hard (says the Sydney Truth) to realise the fact that the totalisator can be in reality such a bugbear to racing in New Zealand as some writers would have us believe, when we ascertain the fact that at the late meeting of the Auckland Racing Club the large sum of .£9684 was put through the infernal machine, as against at the like meeting the previous year. We further read that the machines are reported to have worked admirably, and that there was not a single dispute concerning them during the whole of the meeting. Bookmakers also continue to live in Maoriland, and prosper, too; and so far as the public of this Colony is concerned the sooner the machine is properly legalised here the better, as it will do away with the present private totalisator system, which as now carried on—except in two or three instances, not desirable to name for obvious reasons—is far from satisfactory. Inasmuch as Mr Donald Wallace does not gamble extravagantly, his recent purchase, Titan, will never (says “ Asmodeus”) prove to him the singularly expensive luxury he did to his late owner, Mr E. G. Brodribb; and although from 4600 guineas to 650 guineas is a long drop, I am of opinion that the sensational gelding realised more than his true value. Ever since the day he entered the sale ring I have never ceased to express my doubts regarding his legs standing the necessary preparation to enable him to win an important race, and now that one of his suspicious fetlock joints has actually given way, things look worse than ever for him. With one of his faulty pins necessitating special treatment, and the other under suspicion. Titan, even at his latest market value, promises to turn out an uncertain investment. Under the most favourable circumstances Hickenbotham cannot hope to get him to the post until after he has enjoyed a long and imperative holiday, and in all probability no attempt will be made to get Titan into racing fix until the winter season is well advanced. Mr D. O'Brien arrived in Dunedin from Melbourneon Thursday week, and was therefore in time to see his horses perform with such success at the Dunedin Spring Meeting. Although Whimbrel failed to pull off the V.E.C. Derby, the Lonsdale Lodge trainer expresses himself well satisfied with his trip, and intends to return in time for the V.E.C. Autumn Meeting He says that Carbine won the Melbourne Cup with the greatest ease, but the injury to his foot was so serious that when Mr O’Brien left Melbourne, a fortnight after the race, the champion had only sufficiently recovered to put in an appearance on the training track. Melos went off just before the Cup, and Highborn looked very much unlike a probable winner. Of the three-year-olds, Mr O’Brien liked The Admiral best, and describes him as a beautifully made colt, brim full of quality. Megaphone is a wiry, useful horse, that will stand a lot of knocking about, and Mr O’Brien adds, “he is getting it too.” Gibraltar is a really fine looking horse with very bad forelegs, and reminded Mr O'Brien a great deal of old Tewhetumarama. Pygmalion was overdone, and looked pounds below his New Zealand form. His party, however, were not discouraged, and Mr O’Brien thinks that when the brother to Cyniaea gets well, he will win a good race. Dunkeld was suffering from rheumatism, and had to be scratched for the Caulfield Cup, when he was otherwise very well. Of Mr Wilson’s two-year-olds, Lady Carbine and She, are small, while Steadfast hardly comes up to the standard of Lochiel. The Australian two-year-olds, Mr O’Brien considers, are moderate, and the only two. Lord Hopetoun and Sophietta, who have any pretensions to first-class form are, unfortunately, not entered for classic races. Whimbrel went off after running in Sydney, and was altogether to pieces at Caulfield and Elemington. Gatling became none too generous after his severe race in the A.J.C. Derby, and Annesley went all to pieces after his Caulfield Guineas. Our London correspondent wrote on Oct. 10:—-It will he remembered that last year in the Kempton Great Breeders Foal Stakes (now worth JS5000), Mr Milner’s Eiviera was just beaten by an outsider from Jewett’s stable called Dearest. Curiously enough this anniversary, history repeated itself, Mr Milner’s Yalauris (the brother to Riviera succumbing to Lord Calthorpe's Blavatsky (a 20 to 1 chance), by a neck only. There-; were twenty-one runners, and Petard, Lady Primrose, Gold Beef and Tittle,! Tattle started better favourites than' Yalauris, who opening at 6 to 1 went! back to tens. The rank outsider Guardian ! (by Zealot —Selection) made the running j to the distance, where he was challenged j by Blavatsky, Lord Rosebery’s Keronal; and Yalauris. A grand race home? between the four resulted in a neck j victory for Lord Calthorpe’s daughter} of Isonomy and Lotus, Yalauris being?a head in front of Guardian, and! the latter the same distance to the fore of£ Keronal. Like Eiviera last year, Yalauris} was unlucky to lose as Tommy Loate e managed to get shut in at the home turn,, and so lost a lot of ground. Saturday ajs Kempton was a tragic day for backers, n?o fewer than four races out of seven falling to animals unsupported for sixpence, l a the Champion Nursery (of 1000 sots), Hr Milner’s St Kiida was made a great favourite, but never showed in the van, and Sir R. Jardine’s Bondage (by Mancaster —Beata) won easily from Bitr Houldsworth’s Susiana and Mr Deacorr’s Kate Allen. Betting: 100 to 7 ajjst Bondage, 100 to 8 agst Susiana, and. 8 to 1 agst Kate Allen. Neither like Duke of Westminster’s Orion _or Mr Milner’s Yalauris can be anything Hike so good as their connections imagine. The former started favourite for the Middlepark Plate on Wednesday ha a high-class field of nine, but could get :ao nearer than third to the French Gouvijrneur (by Energy Gladia) who vwn fairly cleverly from Mr Douglas Bafrd’s Siphonia (by St Simon—Palmflov/er). Gouverneur, it will be remembered, c ame from Chantilly with a great reputation., in the Spring, and was favourite for, rthe Manchester Whitsuntide Plate, in wh ioh, however, he ran nowhere, though Reverend (also an Energy youngster ;and M. Blanc’s property) won. In the !Portland Stakes at Leicester Gouverneur again failed to show prominently, and thj mgh a clever victory over Cereza, in the Rous Memorial at headquarters a fortnight ago somewhat retrievedma (;ters, M. Blanc’s colt really appeared to have small pretensions to beating cracks i like Orion, Mimi, Yalauris, and K«u;onal. Siphonia, too, had not done well since her smashing finish with The Deem slier at Ascot. What, by the way, the feelings of the backers who laid 3 to 1 on tbjitj filly beating Orion at Goodwood, and losl; their money, can have been on Wednesday* when they saw the form reversed, I -cannot imagine. Evidently either the fjou of Bend Or and Shotover has gone/ioff, or Siphonia has come on since Goodwood. Orvieto failed to stay, and bo did Mimi, whose first defeat this was. Gouverneur made all the running and won rath ,er easily by half a length, Orion, two lengths off, third. Prince Soltykoff’s Sheen, by Hampton—Brilliancy, who broke the record by winning the Cesarewitch yesterday under the top weight of 9st 21b, has nover been considered a very high-class animal, and probably owes hia victory to tl ie fact of there not being another really -downright good stayer in the field. The 1 ime shows the pace to have been a crack er. When the twenty-two runners came wi *ll in sight there seemed only four or five, in it. At the distance the favourite, Alicante, appeared to be about to score an easy victory, but old Sheen regularly wore her down, ultimately winning by Hvro lengths. The French filly beat Judibli by half a length only for third place, an-d Victorious was fourth.

The Dunedin Jockey Club /made a bold departure with its Spring Meeting, and it is pleasant to be able to congratulate the

special correspondent chronicled last, week. It is sometimes charged against our southern 1 friends that they are inclined to overdo the national sport; they certainly provide more days’ racing; than any of the other Metropolitan Clubs ;! but it must be remembered that they have not the number of suburban and country, meetings which furnish amusement and' occupation for the sportsmen of other districts. Perhaps there are more genuine, holiday-makers—people who go out to enjoy themselves apart from the business, and chances of horse-racing—to be found; at Forbury than on any other racecourse' in the Colony, and while this is the case, we may safely conclude that the Dunedin Club is not running the sport to death. There are, however, one or two matters: alluded to by our correspondent which* require the serious consideration of the, Committee and Stewards.

The in-and-out running at Forbury was. simply extraordinary, and several owners should have had opportunities to explain; reversals of form which no unprejudiced! observer can possibly understand. We,do not wish to imply that horses were pulled' or deliberately run below their true form—that sort of thing is much less common than; many people would have us suppose—but; when an animal appears to improve or, deteriorate a couple of stone or so in less : than twenty-four houra,itis only due to the} owner, trainer and jockey that they should' have a chance to place their explanation; before the public. If this were done half the ugly tumours which follow every; important race meeting and degrade the sport and its followers would be nipped; in the bud, and a largo proportion of the • other half would be discredited by sensible people. Honest owners on their, part would much rather appear before the' Stewards and state their case; others: would be careful to avoid the ordeal, and ; two ends would be served.

Mr Driver’s starting seems to be past; praying for. We wish, in the interests of: owners and backers that the Dunedin i official had one-tenth of the good sensei and sensitiveness which induced Mr Meikle to throw up his appointment in South; Canterbury. But he has not, and we cani now only turn to the Committee for relief.! Mr Driver is in every way an estimable; gentleman; we have not a word to sayi against his integrity, but we do sayi that he is totally unfitted for thej position he attempts to fill. This is; not a matter of opinion; it is the: unanimous verdict of every sportsman! qualified to judge, and the Club is not! treating its patrons with courtesy, or even! common fairness, in allowing their money! to be thrown away by the repeated! blunders of an incompetent official. ■ Mr: Driver is honest; that much we soadily! admit; but surely there is another honest' man in the country willing to undertake; the duties of the office, and until that man! has had a trial, it is not fair to sacrifice' the public to the fine feelings of the Com- : mrttee.

During the last week or two we have; heard repeated complaints of the in-; accuracy of the race cards issued by several! country Clubs. There is more in this than! appears at first sight. To the casual visitor! it matters very little so long as the card! contains particulars by which the various j competitors can be identified ; bat thej backer—and nearly every visitor is a! backer now-a-days—wants to know thej terms and conditions on which the horsesl meet one another. When a mile race is! described as a four-furlong race, or a horse! is allotted a penalty which he does; not subsequently carry, the betting public! have very good ground for complaint.; Pnecise particulars might not enable themj to pick the winners, but mistakes such as! we have mentioned, certainly add to thej amaoyance of losing their money. Backers! already have more than a share of chances: against them, and it is not too much to' ask that Secretaries should take ordinary! care to see that the official cards- are not' allowed to swell the list. j

There is a little matter affecting country) clubs which has again been brought under] our notice, and should receive the attention of the Eacing Conference at its next meeting. When the delegates commenced patching up the rules at their first conference eighteen months ago, they enacted that “in no case shall any programme be passed unless it clearly appears from the] balance-sheet that all moneys received byi the Club have bean expended in stakes,' making improvements to the course and stands, or payment of interest and sinking fund on purchase money, or generally in the interest of racing.'* This rule, as we have pointed! oute before, is more honoured in the breach! than the observance; it was unworkable from the first, and no one expected it to have any effect; but it is neither creditable nor in the interests of good government that we should retain rules which no •one respects nor obeys. Country clubs ■with perfect propriety are building up preserve funds, and it is monstrous that ‘'this simple act of prudence should place! thorn outside the letter of the law.