THE CANTERBURY JOCKEY CLUB.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4732, 18 April 1877, Page 3

THE CANTERBURY JOCKEY CLUB.

At the meeting of the Canterbury Jockey "Club on Saturday afternoon the Fishhook case was considered. Mr Studhoime, who witnessed ■ the race, said it was evident that the horse was pulled, and the Stewards were unanimously of •tnat opinion. Mr Redwood was standing there : at the time, and it was plain to him and everyone who saw it,—The Chairman (Mr Lance) ■said his, own opinion was .that they ought to stick to the general 'iule, unless any .-. good treason.'could be shown for.not doing so: - Generally speaking, it was better not to go iDto the •whole case, but to accept'the ruling of the - other. Glub. If they wished to have evidence -they could do so, but he thought it was inad--.Tisable, There were plenty of people on the -course who would no doubt •bewailing to give evidence, but he did not think it was necessary. -—Mr Robinson said it seemed.to him that they ■ :Otight to have received some- report of the evi--■dence on which the opinion and resolution of -the Stewards were founded. It appeared to iumthat if there had been any pulling, they lad commenced at the wrong end by disqiialirng the horse. This was indeed very hard, the jockey had been bought to pull the aiiorse. Indeed, the first step oughfc to have been to disqualify the jockey, and after that, >ifupon examination they found there had been • any collusion with the owner, then it would be aright to disqualify both horse.and owner. The Jhorse. could not have ' been pulled without the - action of the jockey, and the jockey should •therefore have been punished. The. next -thing to. be found out was whether or not rthe owner was a party to \the pulling-^ rSif. Cracroft Wilson said it struck him that the -only innocent' animal was the horse, and, that :in these cases the owner, was generally the -greatest criminal, the rider being an- accessory ■after the fact, and that the innocent was genehTally found guilty and punished. For his own .part, he should like to take step 3 to- stop the ..rascality that now existed in. connection with turf matters. It',did not. exist in the early "days of the Club; and unless stringent measures were taken, it would lead to the disgrace -of the whole Colony.—Mr Walker thought they should uphold the decision of the Stewards ' The Chairman had taken a greatdealof trouble an the matter, acd he believed it was a robbery from the marked pulling, and. for other reasons. Mr Kobinson said if it was a robbery, as had /fceenstated by the Chairman, then the first Ithing they should.do was to disqualify tie Jockey.—Dr Piins said it seemed to him that .the Stewards had not gone, far enough. If there was sufficient evidence to; disqualify ».±he : horse, there was to ■■ disqualiiy the rider.—Mr Egan thought they should be Just,, and, if the rider had been guilty ,of;.,.'pulling, then he should suffer. —Mr lEgan; asked what caused the' Stewards to arrive at the conclusion that the horse was •pulled.—Mr Studhoime replied the race itself. '•All- the- Stewards were-present, and saw the polling.—Mr Wynn Williams'^thought the •owner should be responsible. He was clearlya ■-jcesponsible t>aity, and was liable to the Club ODr; Eiinß said they had no, evidence-before -them. to show'tha*; the Stewards were wrong ■ -and he thersfoie considered they were in duty •Jiound to uphold their decision.-^Mr Robinson considered their action was wrong, because they had not disqualified the rider.—Mr Lee •-asked1 if. Fishhook had not run a waiting race Tn the Publicans' Handicap ? — Mr Stud Holme '.said yes; but he -went through his horses as he . liked. He (Mr Studhoime) had never seen such a bad attempt in his life as the pulling of iFishhook in the Plying Handicap. —Dr Frankish asked :Mr Studhoime how many •Stewards were present when they arrived at "their decision.-^-Mr Studhoime replied eight or June. —Dr Prankish: And it was the opinion 'pf every one of them that no evidence was Required beyond the fact of having seen it ?— ,Mr t Stulholme: Yes.—Mr Delainain : Pish.nooic had run.in the Publicans' Handicap, and rile was afterwards entered, for the Flying ■/Handicap. After tha first-mentioned race, he -was kept walking about.. His own opinion jwas that tLe horse was stiff; he did not believe he was pulled at all. Nor did he think he was fit for the race, and he had told Mr O'Brien so. He (the-speaker) had himself backed the filly.—Mr Walker: Why did you 'not tell this: to the Stewards?—Mr Delamain: -I-was never asked, and. tli9 whole thing'was .over in five minutes. I was quite ready to /give my evidence, and I told Mr Studhoime so.—Mr Studhoime:' Yes j afterwards.—Mr Delamain: I say that capital has been made -ont of this.—The Chairman: Do you think ■ the Stewards did not mean what they were »doing ?—Mr Delamain: No, I don't say that.— Mr Wynn Williams considered the .fact of the Stewards having arrived at' a decision in minutes was a proof that there was a pretty strong case.^-Mr Robinson thought it ■was improper to have come to a de■cision without hearing ' evidence. — Sir ■Cracroft Wilson said that when men saw a gross traud committed, it phould be acted upon at once. It was very clear lo him that the must have hud ocular demonstration that the horse was pulled.—-After further dis«cussion, Sir Cracroffc Wilson: I move we go Into this question at once, with a view to stopping the swindling practices which make the ,sturf a public scandal. —Mr Egan: And I will -second Sir Cracroft's motion.—Sir Cracroft "Wilson: It is such acts aa these that bring discredit upon the turf in every place. Let us make the jockeys know that they must not pull "their horses, even when they are asked to do so t>y the owners.—One of the members said they -could not get the jockeys t) do this There were not many honest jockeys.—Sir Cracroffc Wilson: That may be: but there are also a -good many dishonest owners. I don't race myself, and I don't bet money on races ; but I take a great interest in keeping up racing in a fair and proper manner. There has lately, I am sorry to say, been very unfair and very -improper practices introduced into our turf sports.—The action of the Club has been com jnunicated by telegraph.