THE "MERCURY" MOANS.

NZ Truth, Issue 507, 6 March 1915, Page 11

THE "MERCURY" MOANS.

They tako racing seriously m Tasmania, If wo are to Judge the races by the reports the Hobart " Mercury" hands out to its readers. Serious as may be the expressed views of tho rac--ing, they aro. quite joyous compared to its perturbation over tho- dressing of its sports. Here is a chunk tomahawked out of its report of a late raco meeting: — Tho ievclling-up effects of Australian democracy were easily seen m the sartorial accoutrements of tho men. A few, very few, wore tho regulation gurb of frock-coat . and top-hat. Somo, In despite of British convention, wore morning coat and top-hat, the outer symbol of high rcHppctnhlllty, but tho great majority, which Is always right, and who."*' will is law, wore the more comfortable lounge suit, with headKuar of felt and straw, and a concession to Hummer In white waistcoats. The GovernorGeneral wore the iiHiml racing garb of a P.rltlwh Keiitleinan-u light frock-coat and white top-hat. It Ih fortunate for Home of the visitors, however, even thoso holding high nodal position, thnt there Ih no tailor's prens* lv Tanninnln. All I the Hpcctatora wero happy, or

that he~"stafted, a strong favorite "Whg,tev«r Qhance he had he settled b.v breaking: at- almost every furlong and at' the ddath.he was a poor fifth. Punters put it fceavy on Mt. Albert itt'the February Handicap and left ii there, a^Hlrd's drive was never m the hu&t ang.it;- was 'only through tho other.* mlxfqg it that' he got fourth. Mt Albert l.s not a good one by a long way, Lady S. brought off a small surprise when she»iWon-Hfift*February Handicap m good ttbrle.lftjs.ishe is a nice little mover race settled down to hot -work nicely and was always doing Well m front. - . ... ■ ■ ' . - 1 • McMast'er showed bad "kokum" In trying to ' bring Tltton Patch up on the inside of .Geprget vlC three furlongs from home m the, February Handicap. Tha result 'wtsheY got pocketed and h&d to pull out and lost ground which otherwise would have gained him second money. . ' ' ' A likely sort seen out on Saturday was Young ' Specialist, by Specialist out of a Takapuna mare. He is very flighty, btit when 'more ', settled down should he' heard of. ' Bteel Bell found tho task of giving away start up to lOsecs too much m like Otahuhu 'Cup and> never got near enough £0. /tjie leaders to have a win•lng ch^eik-Y^ -J *'■■ Jack -Mattie and Prince Rufus refused to strike a gait at" the word grf and . practically took no part In the race., ... . .., After, a. lofig spell ot outs Lieutenant got OQ:;(h£' ! WinnUJjr,.list when he won the _\gpot . Handicap.. ' As a rule he plays v_Q at,the,^tart-byt on Saturday he mowfcyjff likg aMTurk on the retreat andj^^^Bd^eadlly throughout. One «$ the beit received, wins at OtahuhUAwajL "Bob*' Hall's success m the 'Ascotfc»l_firidicap ' with Lieutenant. Hall has Used up a lot of patience to get the son pf Commander to settle 'dovih anij-tho-credit of the win (s due to Hall, \#ho jaUHOw2rove a fine race. ■ . St.: HXr**i, ,' . „. . . • Llnotypfe, ..i&cei!|- *yell m the. Ascot, but the' 'soli ."of . Specialist just lacked that little : finishing, effort required to head off Ueu tenant and Erin's King and a-goob third was -the best he could do. '» \r. ■•:? . '"..'■.•■•' Alf. McKlriney was fhe "pea" m the Papakura Handicap, and after standing the others up starts ranging 1 to 8 sees, he stepped' to the front half a mile fro/n-hojne aiad stopped there, winning nicely by a couple of lengths. . That good Bort 'Blackthorn was as v hot as' Cayenrie'in- the' -Alexandra, and • starting oflf "well his •• supporters were never, alraid of .not being on the winner. - Oric6~6r "twice he was allowed to drop hack' a. length Or two, but never near enough.. to', his opponents to give them a winning chance. FloratuLand St, Trella got mixed up jiist after, the- jrtjrt-fpr the Farewell and both were pulled up. Dick Fly broke up at the start of the President's and; trotted last all the trip. ?. . • ',

Mitttson is some good and the Fare- ' well Handicap was only an exercise I try out for the son of Papanui: Silver Black travelled very fast for : six furlongs m the President's when '■ the pace found him out. and he'lired s to a walk. Miss Dulce is as game as they make ' them, but a mile is about aa far as she ' can go at any pace. ' The champion Master Park was re--1 sponsible for a. brilliant piece of pac- ' ing when he started from scratch, and \ with a solid pice set all the way mow- ' ed his opponents dow«? m great style. He ran up second, turning \nto the i home stretch, but could not J"?t near i Ludski.' Master Park's performance i- was the star item of the meeting. If he were a stallion hla owner could float a loan of the purses offered for mile records.. The President's Handicap .was looked upon as the Ludski Stakes, and so it proved. The son of Specialist soon pushed, to the front and from Hhenco on it was only a matter of how much he would win by. The win was fully due as Ludski has cost punters a heap of money at times. Floranz is not quite so good as many thought and the old mare had every chance m the Papakura Handicap, be- i ing well placed throughout. In the run home she never had enough brilliancy to land a place.