MELBOURNE SPORTING GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1243, 25 September 1875, Page 17

MELBOURNE SPORTING GOSSIP.

(jtsom our ovm correspondent.) That Mr Watt ahould have allowed the

, - teat racing blood to leave New Zealand must ? always be regretted. We know that at J|m«>me^-I mean in England'— powerful opposition is being directed to the exportation of well-bred stock ; and when the Duke of West* minster gives L 13,000 for Doncaater, the Derby winner, to keen it from unhallowed soil ; and the Prince of Wales, Lord Falmouth, and others, form a protective alliance to keep our four-footed princes from the arms of France, Prussia, and Yankeelatid— it may be worth the consideration of colonists whether property in horse-flesh has not its duties as well as its righto; When the owner of the once-famous Touchstone, a great many years ago, was interViewed bjr a would-be buying Yankee, he answered, in reply trt what would he take for Touchstone— "The TJnifced States." The Duke of Westminster remembered that when he bought Doucfeter. The sale of that horse is remarkable, because it fetched the highest recorded price. Mr Merry sold it to his trainer for LIO,OOO. The Cobham Stnd Company offered the buyer, Mr Peck, LBOOO for three years' hire ; ami the Duke, fearing England would lose the horse, told Mr Peck to name hia price. The mare Lurline in as fit as a fiddle, and as good as gold ; and if the present weather — (it is raining at this moment) — observes propriety, it will be hard work for the metropolitan favourites. Your Otago horse King Phillip seems to have retired from the Victorian arena. Before it was known that he had apoloffiaed for the Melbourne Cup, there Was amongst Victorian turfites a lurking uktrust about him, and I believe he might have been worked into notice. I rejoice, however, that he has not given manipulators a chance. Lurline's owner, Mr Gardner, is a true gentleman and a sport j and if anything can con solate New Zealand for the loss of Manuka, Lurline. Calumny, and Redwood, it may be found m the fact that their present ownera are worthy of having them. I do not know how your laws affect the betting fraternity, but We they are most ridiculously incongruous and unworkable. For instance, I am not prohibited from bettbg on credit, but I mustn't pay my bet. I may play ecorte, wbiat, Unlimited 100, poker, five up, bevdque, in the Penny-a-Liners' Club ; but I am pounced upon if I spread props on the table of the "Three Pewters" for a drink ! Our Legislature is, in fact, the Sir Forcible Feeble of the by-gone comedy. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. It cannot put down Pak-ah-pu ; it yawrs at early prostitution, and it doesn't see any immorality in a member of the 'ouse availing himself of his position to make a penny iv any way he can ; bat in the meanwhile the Police Department costs money, find somebody must be taken up, po ther prosecute * h*lf.rtwv«d Chinaman ttrpetfbr for pUnicf » Htef ctdw in b!i cM

shop on Sunday, contrary to the Act of Chorles the Second ! J. J. Miller, one of the longesttried of our Melbourne book-makers, has for years carried through L2OOO sweeps on the annual Melbourne Cup. It is not too much to say that the subscribers are highly respectable people in the main, and that it is by no means a disreputable thing to hold a ticket. But the existing Act will not permit any gambling except for works of art. The Upper Gonlburn Hospital announce a lottery of L 2500, the prizes being caskets containing "most useful works of art," viz., sovereigns ; and J. J. Miller has a sweep on the Cup, which he calls a_ balloon ascent, the prizes being his observations taken at an altitude of whatever the amount may be ! Is not this poking fun at the administration of the law with a vengeance ? The Chinaman laughs at us in a good-humoured way, and says : "Ah, S'premo Court no good ; Johnny go to House Lords." And so he will if ever an important decision goes against him.