RACE STEWARDS AND BETTING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10495, 19 October 1895, Page 3

RACE STEWARDS AND BETTING.

Melbourne, Ostobsr 17.

Mr Andrrson declines further action in respect to Mr Bowden's charge, on the plea that he is satisfied that tbe racing public have implicit faith in tho honesty of himself and racing stewards generally..

The Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Witness supplies the following particulars of the circumstances connected with tho matter referred to above :—

. For some yeara part there has been an unquiet feeling in the minds of the -racing public tbat a number of pur more prominent stewards indulge too much altogether in " backing their fancies," and covert hints as" to certain of them sitting in judgment on prot-sts affecting them monetarily have been by no means rare. Up till quite recently, though, the«ehintsfoundnodisti:.ct voice andevea wh Bn the fat £ot into the fire at iho late annual meeting of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club it was more by accident than de>ign. In accordance with a notice duly given, Mr A. A. Samuels moved that all member.) of committee should act as stewards at VAT.C race meetiogs, and this motion (which was seconded by Mr George Woodforde) was subsequently carried. In supporting the motion, however. Mr R. Molesworth raid it would be better to have eight than five stewards because there would be more choice in cases where sonii of the stewards might have happened to be wagering, and being interested in the race should nut adjudicate on cases affecting their bets. 'It was no uncommon thing," continued Mr Molesworth, " to nee stewards going to iockcy3 ■? r T l|Ps- „ This remark immediately brought » T,r\* mes Grlce on to his feet with tn« inquiry : Who were th« stewards you saw Koing toiockeva for tips?" To which -ine-y Mr Moleaworih immediately rejoined : " I will name them if you desire it." But as Mr Grice evidently did not desire it, and as no other member was of an inquiring turn, of mm.i in this particular connection the matter might have flickered, out altogether had not Mr J. C Eowden desired to give an instance that came under his own notice bearing on Mr Moles worths remark! whera a steward had adjudu-ated on a cisc in which he wai monetarily interested. And in a "pliin unvarnished manner," Mrßowden related: " A steward came to him one race ineetins and slid : • I have £50 on that horse [naming him], and I am afraid I am notg.Miig to get a run for my money. Will you put your glasses ouTiim and watctt him in the r tv (Mr Bow<len) did so; but the'horse r^Vi */° ■""?" aj"ot«st ogiinjt the winner, and that steward subscqueatly adjudicated on the J£°^ ■ *?"'* wasV T, a B's tale- whi<* "c appropriately rounded off with the moral : Stewards had a right to do what they liked with their own nvmey, but where they were interred they should certainly not sit on a case. Some men wookl nther cut off their hands than do such a thing." Upon hearing this, one member, evidently imbued with an idea that Mr Bowdcn wa? "pitching a fairy tale," and desirous of trying to bowl him out, ejacuKted, "Give us the steward's name!" And without more ado Mr Bowden blurted £i r n. was ""; eh»irm*n of the V.A.T.C." man there was madness. The chairman (Arthur Anderson) rose up and stigmatised the accusation Mone of tbe biggest falsehoods ever uttered, in proof of which he pat forth the r.ther childish Plea, You may be sure Mr Bowdcn is the last Madden, C. D O'ttalloran, W. Gaunson, C!olonel lorn 1 nee,- and others flen- at the .levoted Bowden «*'' ii*l?u v» st 0 "ml hi. m Tri-cenieol. the solicitor ifVSU • ■)K«£tme worked up into such a furore ot iJtDermcism (so to speak) as to advocate the Mw A U"I>Ortlr?r *J ch «i™'"» in an action for (>6ei(!) against Mr Bowden ; whilst to the common (or garden) variety of intellect it presented itself as being tlander, seeing th»t it was utrere-1, not wntten. However, the mo?t terrible threats of T t7?)^ slon a!>d what not only served to mate J. O. li. more secretive,than ever asto the main that could be elicited from him brine the fact that the episode occurred at Moonee Valley, where no%. P,-Tfl'l' eS'S) son' e, V(=ry curi us things have occurred at times Seeing that they couldn't i n ™'.w Mr Madaen said they could STTv '. T '*•"> ;m<»«°r to drop in that «£Kn >, M M, c .Bowdcu refused to exav^e^sLtt?!^^^^^^ re-V^XAt^w^io^^ although a number .of members did not vote on the question at all. As a matter of course, this action only served to make confusion wotse V°/ oT°f, d4,^ fcsmnil days after the tm3; f • meetlnß.thc position was the principal topic of conversation where horsey men most do connate; It waS felt that having gone so far? r J' l'-. Bowden wai in common honesty bound to go a step or two further, and submit the whole circumstances of the case to the full clare of day. Meetings of the VA.T.C. Committee were held, at which it wss dotermined to ell upon Mr Bowaen _to subatn tiatehis charge, and sub-leaders in the daily papers endorsed the request. AtUst Mr Ij. 1 Hvvis and \V. r. Coldham in the event of an action heine instituted as-inst him, bowed to the T'^"hY' sli ,", f the puMiB> aaJ on Monday he for ap,';biicuion •'-' Dg letter tb tlje Senerill re!S **3 "{' ~JIX 11, ill connection with the late gfincr.il meeting of tlie-V.A.T.O. having been commented on somewhat prominently by both the press and the public. I feel it right that the 'u att, eJ Shol, lW be sifte<l t0 the bottom and that I Bhould_ explain my position fully. At the incet--IQK, when the chairman stated that the committee were hostile to th. proposal that the whole of their body should act as stewards, I felt that the pivsent sy..,teui was objectionable, as it had been irequantly stated that some stawards had acted when interested, and in other casei a quorum could not be obtained, as other stewards rightly retustd to act, on account of haviag had beto on the race, and I mentioned the facts reported. When a-ked for tho name I gave that of the chairman. Mr A. Anderson, feeling it my duty to do so-in justice to the other members present. The instance I had in mind, was the Lardy Dardy and Lor-i John case at Moonee ValW on November 23,1591. Before the ra-» Mr Anderson asked.me to put my glasses on Lord John, as he bad £op ou him, aud was told ho would not get a run. Lardy Dardy won, and a proieat was entered against him. Mr Anderson tat as chairman of the stewards, and the appeal was allowed, the race being given to Lord John. "If I am wrong Mr Anderson can, in a simple and inexpensive way, test the matter by taking proceedings in the county court againat me, when himself and the witnesses can be examined on oath, and I undertake, so as to have the mutter fairly tried, not to raise any technical defence. This is the only course available to my m,ind, as the committee of a race club cannot examine witnesses on oath, or enforce the production of documents. Mr Anderson, if he is as confident 83 he appears to be, might eveu make a statutory' declaration th»t he had never sat in any case. This course baa already been suggested by a correspondent.

lhe case I have mentioned is within-my knowledge;'there are rumours of other instances, but us to these I caunot at present speak. " Having Riven a date and definite case, I leave tbe public ±o judge which of us is in the right. —Yours <tc , John 0. Bowden."

The appearance of this letter on Tuesday morning created much excitement amongst sporting men keen interest being evinced ill the action likely to ba taken at a speMal meeting of the V.A.T.O. '-ommittee convened for that afternoon. However, with the exception of the imbroglio I emit discussed for an hour and a-quarter, very little 1a known outside the charmed circle ai to the exact puiport of the decision arrived at, owing (as the Age puts it) "to the close secrecy observed by the club officials. However, it is understood that the committee will ask Sir Bowden to acquaint them •officially' with the circumstances of the case hn has quoted, and what action will then be Wken is a matter for conjecture. The members of the committee, however, seem inclined to carefully avoid the fre-quently-emphasised challenge by Mr B >w<len that Mr Andersou, or the club on his beh*lf. nhould light the issue out in tho law courts." For my own part, I fail to see how that last stricture of the Ai;e fits in. ■ The charge was broueht aeainat Mr Anderson In his capacity of steward at Sloonee Valley—not at OaulfieM; and therefore the V.A T.C. ought not to be dragged iuto the transaction at all—save in the matter of dealing With their ex-chairman as regarded conduct detrimental to the true intererts of the turf. In justiCß to Mr Anderson it must be stated that on a representative of the Argus showing hiinilr Bowden'a communication before it was published he B»id: "I have a faint recollection of the casa to which Mr Bowden refers, and I rather fancy that I sat on the protest in my capacity as steward at Moonee Valley. I have no recollection, however, of havius invested £50 or any lesser or larger amount on Lord John and am quite iwepared to make a statutory declaration to that effect. lam certain in my own mind that I had no interest in Lord John getting the Tace, otherwise I would not have broken the rule which I have nlwsya adopted of neversittiDg on a case in which I was interested in bets." There you huve the full, true, and particular account of the whole affair, aud although it hits occupied a lot of vs,luable space, I doubt not it will prove of sufficient interest to your readers to warrant the elaboration,

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