SPORTING NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5299, 9 November 1878, Page 6

SPORTING NOTES.

The last of Captain Bogardus's matches, at pigeons took place at Preston, near Brighton, with Mr. Aubrey Coventry. The condifciona were—to shoot for £11103, at 100 birds each, 30 yards rise, from fire traps, v.ith twelve bore-guns, the u'ja of both barrels, and Ijozs. of shot. The d.-.y was beautifully fine and warm, bu.fc there was at times a nasty glare from the suu, that mado it very difficult to sight a bird, especially when it was slipped from the right hand corner trap. The performances of both are well-known, Mr. Coventry-being the champion handicap shot at tho Hurlinghaui and Gun Clubs. The American has beaten all the best shots in his own country, and lias won three matches out of four in England, beating . r. Cholmcley Pennell twice by two birds, Captain Shelly once ; and in turn was easily beaten by -Mr. Dudley Ward who shoots under the nom tie guerre of " Mr. \\ allaee. At times they were both unlucky, several birds falling dead just out of bounds. At the S2ud round Mr. Coventry was one bird a-head, and * maintained this advantage till the 9Gth round, when he missed a clinking good bird, and the captain killing, a tie was annnounced ; Mr. Coventry missing his 971h against a kill on tho part of the American, thus leaving the latter one bird a head, which advantage he maintained to tho end. thereby winning a most exciting match by one bird. Score :— Cattaik Bogakdus.

A novel trotting race took place at the Alexandra Palace, near London. The conditions were for horses that had been regularly driven, during the last six months, in licensed hansom cab 3, within the London District; 1-mile heats. The trotting was exceedingly good, and the horses, notwithstanding the increased priee of all kinds of animals during the last few years, shewed a vast improvement to the horses formerly used in cabs about London.

A short time ago a telegram was received from England without date, stating that William Elliott, of Blythe, had beaten John Higgius for the Championship of the Thames. This is an error, as it should have been for the Champion sculls at the Thames regatta. Prizes : A challenge cup by the proprietors of the Sportsman, and £75 added ; second, £10. Elliott won by four lengths, through Higgins catching a crab at starting. Tliere has always been a great deal of talking in the Colonies about the time different races are run in, and how much faster it is done here than in England. -Many people go the length of arguing that unless a horse does his trial in a certain time, he can have no chance of a race. Trying by time iu England has long bean proved to be unreliable, as many things will-upset it; difference of the course, state of the ground, or even the atmosphere will cause an alteration in the time. The following letter, written by a conceited colonial to tho Editor of the Sportsman, might ba read with advantage by some who put so much faith in time trials, and eventually save them money, as the time in New Zealand is hardly ever taken properly. The-official time-keeper down Snub has made a third-class horse, with Sst. 2ibs. on his back, beat the fastest time on record by seven seconds. "To the Editor of the Sportsman. "Sir, —A3 an Australian, visiting 3-our country, I have been much amused at not only the egotistical tone of the Press, but also of your sporting men when referring to tho Ascot I'acec. To read the accounts of the various races in the daily Press ; to hear old sportsmen, returning from the race?, declare, 'It was the finest race possible,' ' The very best in the world, sir,' ' Grand race, sir—could not be better,' ' The best horse in the world, sir,' is, I say, very laughable to one who has seen a little more. Now, what are the facts 1 Tour racing is very indifferent. Your course at Ascot is one of the very worst for sight-seeing I have ever been on. STour horses have neither the physique nor the speed of Australian racehorses. Your array of beauty and fashion ia nothing compared to the sight which meets the eye on the Melbourne racecourse on a Cup day. Yonr accommodation for visitors is of the most primitive order. To prove which I refer you to the report of the last race on the Melbourne racecourse, last March, when Chester and First King ran almost a dead heat, two miles and a distance, in 3min. 32sec. These horses are splendid models of a racehorse, and are nearly 16 hands high. Compare that time with any recorded at Ascot; —say Ascot Stake 3, about two milas; time, three minutes fifty-six seconds. Take even the Grand Prize of Paris, one mile seven furlongs, time 3min. 22sec. That should, according to the rate of Australian speed, be done in 3min. lSJsec. or les3, considering the extra distance. So much for your time, your horses, and so much for the ' best horse in the world, sir.' Now, re the course. I ask, can anyone see the race who ia not on the stand ? Can they even see all ? I know I coulii not. In Melbourne 500,600 people could &ee horae3 saddled, mounted, preliminary canters, and race from start to iinieh, all for two shillings. There 13 a magnificent lawn in front of the grand stand, beautifully kept; and as ladies do dress iu Melbourne, do turn out there, and their beauty is the admiration of all who visit us from other lands, the lawn in the intervals between the race 3 assumes the aspect of a flower garden. The sooner the English sportsman awakes from his dream that England is the world the better. 1 could put my finger on many soft spots in connection with the Ascot meeting, but as it does not concern me much 1 will content myself with saying that for all the racing you can shew at Ascot I would not walk across the road to see it. May I say a few words re other sporting matters ? First—Cricket: The Australians were very foolish to play at Prince's in such •weather as they did, and with the ground little better than mud. Until warm weather sets in and turf is fit to play on, our great bowler, Mr. Allan, will never come off. When he is in form, and the ground suits, the Gentlemen of England must look to their laurels. Second —re Aquatics : I hear there was some prospect (when the report of Trickett, the champion sculler, losing two fingers came to hand) of some gallant Englishman disputing his title to the championship. Ha 3 the courage of your oarsmen vanished now that they have found out he has lost one finger only?— Yours, &c., St. John.—Salisbury Hotel, June 23." [We are very much obliged to our correspondent for his information, but we fear . that he has not dealt too tenderly with the failings and shortcomings of the "old country." It is true that at Ascot this year the horses engaged were a somewhat moderate lot, several of the chief competitors having Had to be struck out on account of illness, superinduced by "the inclement weather which had prevailed. As to the stand accommodation, we have not visited Melbourne, and cannot say what are the arrangements there. Wo are obliged, however, to sorrow fully confess that Ascot is about as well provided with stands as any racecourse in this country, and we had always re gardedita3 "worth looking at" anyhow, "bt. John" should have been a little more discreet when reflecting upon the costumes of our ladies, remembering that by far the greater majority of them appeared in mourning, or semi-mourning, on account of the bereavement which the Royal Family has so recently sustained. To conclude with Ascot, we need only say that races in England are not timed with kitchen clocks. And we may wind up by assuring our correspondent that the courage of our oarsmen has not vanished, several of them longing for the time when they may again measure blades with Trickett in a contest for the title of champion of the world, and, if we judge them rightly, only regretting that he cannot bring all' his fingers with him, as will assuredly be needed. —Ed. Sportsman, ] The Melbourne Cup is now a thing of the past, and will long be remembered for the disastrous defeats of the favourites. The winner, Calamia, has been pretty firm in the market at 100 to 4 and 5, until last week, when he receded several points. For that reason I omitted him from my final selection of four, preferring his stable companion, Chester. Still, I hopo my readers have benefited by my advice in this my maiden attempt publicly to givo a "tip," as I recommended him to be taken in a lot of twenty when the weights ' first came out, and again, cn October, tho 12th, I Baid, "1 .think my readers will not repent. ; taking the . following six in a lot, is 1 expect the -field will consist of at least thirty : —Chester, DeBrittMlfadHriHllHi

K.'j B." Chester, which I preferred to him \n my iinal four for the reasons stated above, ran against a pose aud broke his jockey s leg. Until fuller accounts of the race come to hand, one cannot say how he was running when the accident happened, but in my opinion he could have beaten his itable companion at those weights. Melita, which came into the market with such a rush and has remained at the head of affairs ever since, being reported to be able to win with another stone on her back, ran nowhere. Iu all probability she was a stiff one from the beginning, feavanaka, which was backed down to seven to one the (lay before the race, was moss likely the intended of the St. Albau's stable, but, from bc-ing so suddenly scratched on the eve of the race," he must have met with an accident. Firebell, which came with a rattle in the market daring the last few days, was never in the race from the start. The amount of rain that fell on Sunday night and Monday must have made the ground very deep and holding, causing all calculations to be upset, as some horses oanuot move ill deep ground. Until wo get fuit'uer particulars, the running of the others which were calculated to liars a chance cannot be accounted for.

At the Christchurch meeting, Mr. Redwood, as was expected, had the Derby at his mercy, lunuing tirst and second, Dundee, the only one that appeared to have a chance of beating him, nut starting. Maritana continued her winniug career by carrying oil' the C.J.C. Handicap. When the weights first appeared she was declared to have been thrown in, but during the last week the rapid advance of I'empleton caused her to be neglected, as it was thought that she would be. sacrificed for her stable companion. I therefore choose Templetou in preference for my final selection. The little mare, however, which is a tremendously hard puller, made the pace so hot from beginning to end that tho others could never get up to her, though at the linish she was fast coming back to lier horses, and only managed to win by a head. Foam, my second string, ran an unaccountable bad mare, as she was never in tho race. From the accounts I had received of her I expected at least that she ivould have run into a place. That game little horse, Teiupleton, as I predicted, won the Canterbury Cup cleverly by two lengths ; the ditlcrenee of three pounds an l a slower run race, coupled with his fine speed, enabled him to turn tho tables oil Fishhook. Nalator, who won the Derby, ran a fair third. This running tends to point to the fact that the three-year olds are a moderate lot, and Mr. Nuil'-on may have cause to regret his bargain. The Ayeut, by winning the Spring Steeplechase, has proved himself one of the best horses in -New Zealand at that game. Kversley, which ran second stood still at the linish, though at the eud of two miles ami a half he looked like wiuning, thus continuing the report that he cannot get beyond that distance. Oi.d 'i uiirixu.

11111 01111 10111 01001 10001 — 17 out of 25. 11111 11101 10111 11011 11011 — 20 out of 25. 11110 10111 11111 11010 01111 — 20 out of 25. 11101 10111 11111 01111 11111 — 22 out of 25. Total: 79 out of 100. MB. A. COTEh-TRT. 11011 1100110111 00111 00011 — 1G out of 25. 10111 11011 11110 11011 11111 — 21 out of 25. 11111 11101 11111 10101 10101 — 20 out of 25. 10111 11111 11101 11111 00111 — 21 out of 25. Total: 7S out of 100.