CANTERBURY JOCKEY CLUB SPRING MEETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1461, 15 November 1879, Page 18

CANTERBURY JOCKEY CLUB SPRING MEETING.

(FBOM OTTB OWN OOBBESPOIfDENT.) Chbistohuboh, November 11th. The races to-day were very, well attended. The weather was warm and dusty, but in the afternoon a' pleasant lain fell, though it did not .Jbaterfere with the racing. There were four Peaces on the programme' for the afternoon, and with the exception of' the. Free Handicap they had formed subjects f of argument and its neverfailing accompaniment, betting, for some weeks. The Derby betting had been -principally confined to Hornby and Betrayer, one or other of the pair being always first favourite in tha paddock. However, the little one was decidedly the . most - fancied,-, and, after Hornby, Mr Walters' Billingsgate had some friends. Grip was backed, by a select few ; but his, getting where he, did in the race wag a surprise to all except those who -blindly follow, the Redwood colours. -Hornby, as usual, excited an immense number of , contradictory criticisms, his admirers going in strongly for his size and power, and pointing to the immense, quantity of work he had done, while his detractors contended that he was a big bullock of a horse, and that whea' it came to racing he would be "out, of iW (How the former triumphed, nnd the latter— amongst whom we must confess to havebeen— were confounded, is now well known, and Hornby ,is enrolled on the list of Canterbury Derby winners. , But, to take the events in their, order on the card. The Free Handicap,, was the race which opened, the meeting, and for this event thepublio went, and rightly, for T Fpul Play, who had, more than once shown form over ! , a mile or thereabouts. To oar eye Mr'Mallook's horse looked fully -big, and in fadtone good trainer declares him '' as fat as a Beal." ( „Whatey,er J his.cbnditioß, however, he vests good enough! .to beat the lot opposed to him, and score first win for. the black and gold. He was' well 'and patiently ridden by Derritt,' who. has been an absentee from the saddle for gome time. When the candidates were under, going their toilettes, Betrayer and Hornpy came in for the' greatest amount of attention, and the latter looked big enough to carry his little opponent. ' The history of the race is told below: suffice it to say here that Betrayer never once' flattered his backers that he had a show in j it, and \ thus Hornby, after lying well in front the ' major '.portion of the journey, won . easily" enough at the finish. Grip, who , rail second, is not to our fancy, but ' Billingsgate ran, better than we expected, though he never was formidable. On Dit is not a bad sort of filly, and may see batter days ; but we ' should doubt Midge paying her way unless in very moderate company. After the race ; Nolan and Clifford were each fined L 2 for disobedience at the post ; but we must say the sentence seemed to us a hard one, more especially in Clifford's case, as he could not prevent Adamant breaking away with him. The eight coloured on the card weighed out for the C.J.C. Handicap, and of these Ray's pair and Longlands looked the bsst, the latter especially being much admired. He looked, however, better to the eye than he leallywas, as, though he showed signs of punishment after the race, he was never dangerous during it. No fault could be found with Pinfire, save that he is decidedly lacking in quality, and sweated a trifle when his clothing was removed. Chancellor was very quiet while his saddling was going on, and, as the event proved, was in the humour to gallop. The same pair occupied the leading positions in this race as last year; but now it was the horse's turn, and Maritana was perforce contented to be Becond. Goodman's horse had a rather round near fetlock, the cause being that he struck himself seven or eight days ago, compelling his ■ trainers to ease him in his work, and, aa the result proved, this was in no way detrimental to his chance. Rudings rode him very well, and Chancellor is a horse that requires careful handling, as no one can tell when*ha may not "turn it up." Old Templeton, who is one of the sedatest of horses now, never looked better, but though Bob declared to win with him, it was evident the mare was the trusted of the stable, though the old horse could have won with Chancellor out of the way. Pinfire appeared outpaced for the first part of the journey, but ran as consistently as usual, though his position as third at the finish was merely on sufferance, Atlantic and Numa, the two light-weights, occupied respectable places during a portion of the contest, but the former, who looked in tip-top order, must be very 1 moderate ; and Numa nothing can make anything but a commoner. Laertes was never formidable, and, though reported any amount batter than last year, certainly did not look aa if he had a chance. The result of the Handicap was, of coarse, pleasing to the noble army of bookmakers, some of whom appeared to have got considerably "in the mud" over the Derby; but we failed to find more than three persons who had been bold enough to back Chancellor, though doubtless he had some Duaedin friends. No less than 10 at the post for the Welcome Stakes was a proof that here, as in Australia, good two-year-old stakes will attract a large field. Those of the competitors that took our fancy most in the paddock were the Waimea colt, quite the gentleman of the party, but very backward ; Sir Garnet, who looked well ; Waimea, . and the subsequent winner, Hilarious — though, as we have before written, the latter ia at' present one of the lanky division. That he had plenty of pace we felt certain from seeing him galloping with two stable companions, but as he is not gifted with the most amiable temper in the world, we could not recommend him to win outright. Tim Whifflar, though perhaps a little too much Bet for a young one, is all over a nice colt, but Sir Modred we did not see. Lure was disfigured by bad hocks— the family failing,—

and Sir George turned up iv the shape of a shabby chestnut, with nothing in the shape of goad looks to recommend him. The Miss Flat filly ii one of th 9 plain diviiioa, and seemed quite excitert in the crowd, and the white-legged son of Lady Florence is not to ou" f-ti.cy. Rirneo wai another we missed, but we h&w nothing of Tommy Lyford, who, though he had been working hard, had to declare four pounds overweight, and we do not think he fancied his colt's show in the race. Hilarious was like a racehorse, and was rapid'.y increasing his lead when he passed tha winning-post. If everything goes well with him, he promises to make very useful hor.se when he has thickened and filled out a bit. Hia sire was as three-cornered a looking animal at ti>o name age as a man could wish to see, and wo all know what he was with age on him. The races finished just in time. A heavy bank of clouds, which had long pre" sented a threatening appearance, commenced to discharge their contents, and a rush for the trains fttjflusd- Tho following is an account of the diff )re»t events :— Frbb Handicap, a sweep of 5 both each, with 100 soys added. One mlla. Mr J W Sfallocic's br h Foul Piay, by Traducer— • Fancy. 5 yrs. 9it . . . . (Derritt) 1 Messrs Mason and Vallance'd eh g fcinking Fund, aged, Bst 81b (■* Harris) 2 Mr H. Goodman's eh c York, i yrs, Bjt lib, (O. Rudintrs) 3 Mr R. Rm 's b m Titanla, 6 yr«, 8»t 61b . . (Wattie) 0 Mr H. Cats dy's b g fililn King, sgad, 7jt 101b, (M'Coakey) 0 Mr H. Lunn'H bgr Robin Hood, aged, 6)t 121b . . 0 Batting : sto 4 agat Foul Play ; 3to 1 agst York, Sinking Fund or Titania. Mr Campbell effected a fair start, of which Sinking Fund had a trifla the best, and Robin Hood the worst. The former lumped off with the lead, closely attended by York, Foul Play lying tidrd. Mason and Vallance's gelding mada the running round the top of the course, having York close up to him, and the pair turned snto the straight in company, Foul Play some lengths away. Half-way up the Btraight the two chestnuts were in trouble, and Derritt biding his time brought Foul Play with one run, when well inside the rail*, winning a fair race by a long neck j half a length between second and third. Time, 1 mm. 45 sec. Dbrby Stakes, & sweepaUke of 20 «ova each, with 260 added; for three-year-olds. Colts, 8stl01b; fillies and geldings, Bst 51b. Second horse to save his stake. One mile and a-half. Mr R Ray's b c Hornby, by Songster— Tol-Toi. Bstlolb (Wattle} 1 Mr H Redwood's blk o Grip, Brt 101b . . (Nolan) 2 Mr W Walters' o c Billingsgate, Bst 101b (French) 8 Mr B G Griffiths' br o Betrayer, Bst lOib (Fuller) 0 Mr WO Webb's oh c Adamant, Batloib (Clifford) 0 Mr J W Mallock's br fOn Dit, 83t 51b . . (Dorritt) 0 ,Mr J Walker's br* Midge, Bst 61b (A. Walker) 0 Betting : Even money about Betrayer, 2to 1 against Hornby, 3 to 1 against Billingsgate, 5 to 1 the others.

Grip had the best of the rather indifferent start, and showed the way past the corner of the stand and round the bottom turn, Hornby being next him, On Dit and Adamant following, then Billingsgate and Midge, with Betrayer last, some distance off. Past Redwood'a the pace was very merry, and Betrayer began to cpme through some of his field, Adamant and Midge dropping behind. The two leaders came along at a clinking pace past Ford's, Billingsgate, five or six lengths off, being third, and Betrayer three or four lengths behind him. As they , rounded the top turn Hornby and Grip were still in front, and when once in the straight Hornby assumed command, Grip making fruitless efforts to get on terms with him, and Betrayer being eased off when pursuit waa hopeless. A good race between the leading pair terminated in the victory of Ray's colt by a tenth and a-half, Billingsgate beaten five or six lengths for second. On Dit waa fourth, Betrayer fifth, the last two being Adamant and Midge. Time, 2 mm. 45 sec.