Tuesday's Coursing.

Otago Witness, Issue 1486, 8 May 1880, Page 18

Tuesday's Coursing.

The oureing meeting here at length gives promise of coming to a chse, for to-day, the third of the meeting, the second ties have been roached. The sport has bren very poor. On. Saturday it was bad, on Monday worse, and to-doy still worse. What it will be to morrowremains to be seen, but we expsct the blessing that cometh to those who expect nothing. The ground coursed over <o-day was on the righthand side of the railway line goinsr south, a Bfcart being made opposite Milton, and the base of the hill kept to till Milton was reached ia the evening. All the morning— that is from about 9 till 2—the rain fell in quantities altogether too copious to be agreeable, and

as during all this time the spectators had tho melancholy satisfaction of seeing two courssF, what woi.ld scarc-lv Vo called a jolly forenoon wa<i passed. A'torwards, however, the clay cleared a little, although fcliera was not muck improvement; i<\ the way of sport, for but six [courses were run all day, and four of theso v.vre of the moat Bony character. Billiards and Lima wore first in <he slips, being the third pair iv tho fiwt tips. They had a short unoatisfacfory trial, which the judge gave in favour of Luna from what he gaw on tho hillside. Billiards, out of his Bight, gave the Dunedin birnh the ,<?o by, nnd turned tho hare into Luna's mouth. Mwrcator and Verbena had a no course owing to the dog getting unsighted at a fence after travelling but a few yards. Verbena, however, kept Right, and did a lot of hard work for nothing. When the two met again they had an excellent course. Verbena was first out, but the dog gave her tho go-by in the run up, and turned his hare, giviDg Verbena possession again ; but tvgain he ran past her, and working it to himself, killed, There was no doubt about this victory, which brought the dog into favour for the final reßult. Idle Girl and Guy had a short spin, affording an unsatisfactory trial, although the local dog did all the work in_ it. Justinian and Shoo-Fly also had a poor trial, Justinian leading to the hare by lengths and turning it, when Fly got ia, wrenched a couple of tiinea, and killed before Justinian could recover himself. The latter is a half-brother to Honeywood, the Waterloo winner at Home, and man y wished to see what he really could do. Luffra and Cain then met, and their run was altogether unworthy of being called a course. The hare was but a half-grown one, and besides the two contestants a sheep dog joined ir, many believing that he killed the hare. Ihe whole distance was not over 100 yards. Luffra beiDg given the victory, waa placed in possession of a bye for the second ties — a lucky stroke for her, after so little work. The only one of the second tie 3 run off waß that between Sly and Wheel of Fortune. The latter led to the bare and turned it ; Sly then took up the running, got a wrench and a turn, but her opponent in a straight run gave her a clean go-by, driving the hare to the hedge; there the puppy wa<» at fault, and Sly getting across killed. The judge therefore had to declare a victory for the lfttter, after an excellont rue, in which Wheel of Fortune showed much quality. This dog is 16 months old and is by Mr Duthie's Briton, out of Mr Bannatyne's Stella. Mr Bannatyne bought her dir?ctly after the course was run, at a good figure. Luna and Mersator were in the slips when uight fell. Guy and Shoo Fly will be the next to meet, and Luffra has a bye. Sly stands to run Luna or Mercator for third tiep, and Luffra to run Guy or Shoo-Fly. The results are :— First Ties. Sly beat Sea Lass Luna beat Billiards Mercator beat Verbena Guy beat Idle Girl Shoo-Fly beat Justinian Luffra beat Cain. Second Tibs Sly beat Wheel of Fortune. NORTH OTAGO COURSING CLUB. The North Otago CournngSClub's meeting will commence to-day. Tuesday's North Otago Times says : -" Mr Ronayne's Kathleen met with an accident yesterday which will incapacitate her from taking part in any ensuing conteat this season. During a trial the dogs got into rough stony ground, and Kathleen's fore- log coming into contact with a Bharp stone, the skin and flesh wtre stripped off, exposing the shuwß. The injury will take some time before ifc is healed, and this is the more unfortunate, asKathleen has proved herself one of the fastest sluts in New Zealand, and looked remarkably well for some of the prizes of the coming coursing season."

Wednesday's Coursing.

The meeting at Milton to run off an Allaged Stake frr 28 dogs was continued and concluded on Wednesday. The weather was deplorable for the greater part of the day, rain comiug down very heavily for about five hours During all th's time only one course was run. The ground gone over was from Clavksville towards Mount Misery, and no hares were found till the hillsides were reached. Nobody but the persons interested attended, the attraction not being sufficient for the lovers of sport. Luna and Mercator, after a long turn in the slips, were let go to a fine bare, and they bad a good ran, all in favour of Luna, who ran astonishingly well against such a big opponent. Shoo-Fly and Gu? also had a good xun, the bitch doing the whole of the work very neatly, never allowing tbe dog to get in. Luffra ran her bye with a pup, but a leveret was put up and there was no w^rk. Sly then met Luna for third ties, and ia a short; uphill course vanquished the Dunedin bitch ; and Luffra in a pomewhat sinailnr course did the same for ShooMy. This left the two Toko, sisters in the stake, and the owners agreed to divide. Proerodings ended at about 4 p.m. Speaking of the meeting as a whole, it has been marked by poor sport, over bad country in <be main ; whilst two of the days have been wet. It has also bsen a highly unsatisfactory meeting for owners, as the best dogs have been put out without anything like decent trials. Sly, certainly, one ot the dividers, haß done a good dpal of work, and well de ssrves a place ; but Luff fa has bad a highly comfortable win. The new judge, Mr Oonway, bas given very considerable satisfaction. On one or two occasions he decided short runs, in which remarkably little work was dore, to be "courses," against the opinions of some ; but in view of the difficulty that was experienced in geStiDg a course at all sometimes, be may be pardoned if he objected to throw away even the semblance of one. On the whole, however, his judgments were well received. The results of the second and third ties were as follow : — SECOND TIES. Sly beat Wheel of Fortune Luna beat Mercator Shoo-Fly beat Guy Luffra ran a bye. THIRD TIES. Sly beat Luna Luffra beat Shoo-Fly, and Mr M'Laren's lml b Sly and Mr Daniels (ns) bl and w b Luff i a divided. Me'sis M'Laren and Danielfe— the treas andjsecretrry of thn Club, by-the-way— divided LC6 ; and Mess's Daley end Tnggart, of Dunedin, with Shoo-! Fly and Luna, divided 'L 8 B<.

NORTH OTAGO COURSTNG CLUB. [By Telegraph ] (kkom ouk own ooebebpondent.)

O.ur.Yim, May sth. The North Otogo Co'ir-in,; Club opened tts third P'aion to day under vtry unfavourable an»pifiPß Tho ruin which comm«nprd hst night rontimif d wit* greitr r furce i his morning, rendering PVf rything d imp and misf r »bla At one tstnfl' it was thought that <he Committee woulrl decide to rww'pona tbe meeting, rrmre fs: eciAllv as Mr Wieo. ih« judve obtained in Melb'ii.r-iti for th? linked clnba. had not arrived in Oamnra owing to the deten ion of the Rotomabana; bat the members of the Committee had evidently made up their minds

to havo a day's sport, and were not inclined to ba diverted from their purposG by the wretched weafher and the difficulty in regard to tho judge. A. meeting w.xr held, at. wtii-^h it was decided thab Mr Turner (the slipper) should acl as judge, ponding the arrival of Mr Wise ; and at about halfpait 9 o'clock a start was made for the ground, on the Hon. Maine w Holmes' Awaraoa Ecs'ate. As mny readily be imagined, tho attendance of spsctatow vas very small, and tho^e present were entirely composed of ardent sportsmen bent np'm braving the elements, and tasting of the excitement attendant upon courting. That they braved <ha elements ia undeniable, but it is questionable if they obtained much excKement, for the sport was slow, owing to thed'fFL culty experienced in raising tares. Only 11 courses were decided as the result of between cix and seven hours' beating, and of these very fow were visible to the majority of those pre tent, in consequence of the uneven nature of the ground ana tbe heavy rain. The wisdom of the Committee in deciding to proceed with the meeting in the face of the unfavourable we*lher is very questionable, more especially when the effect »h»t the exposure mu~t have upon youug dogs is taken into account. In addition to the Puppy Stakf s, which formed the chief item on the programme, and for which there" were 26 acceptors, there was the Vice-prenident'ei Plate, for 16 all-aged dogs; but this was not entered upon, though the dogs engaged in it were kept on the ground throughout the greater part of the day. The proceed ings were commenced with the first round of the Puppy Stake 3, which was nearly com pleted, there remaining only two undecided courses to settle. Mr J. M'Donald, of Tokomairiro, was especially fortunate, the whole of his five dogs winning their courses, so that the S mtherner should havo a big say in the stake?, though Mr M. Grant's pair, Mr A. Thomson's pair, and Mr Boyd Thomson's son of Balmoral (laafc year's Waterloo Cup winner) will prove hard nuts to crack. The most unfortunate owners were Mr J. D. Kett and Mr I. JohnBton, whose dogs were in the slips over an hour during heavy rain before being Btarted to a hare, and even then the course was undecided.

The first pair placed in the slips were Rhododendron aud Tui, and after some hunting for a hare they were sent on their journey, but little could be seen of the course, as the two went over a slight rise out of sight. So far as could be seen, Ehododendron had the be it of the run up and the small amount of work done, and cesured the judge's favourable verdict. Sefton had a t<*o powfrful antagonist in Macaroni, who had the best of a shore course. Jeannette and Phlox Drummoncli had a couple of undecided courses before a final verdict was obtained, owing to the former not nighting the hare. In the firßt of these Phlox Drummondi ran quickly up to ber hare, and made a kill before Jeannette, who was some time ia sighting, got in, the result being as already stated. The judge declared it ano course. After some delay in bare-hunting, the pair were again slipped, and a beautiful course— the best of the day — took place. Phlox Drummondi again showed prominently in front in pursuit of pussy, scoring a couple of turns and several wrenches before Jeannette got up to her. Then followed some pretty in-and-out work in the course, of wbioh both dogs scored well, though M'Donald's slut appeared to have somewhat the best of tin contest, and was deservedly given the victory, > Another very pretty, though, on this occasion, shoit course, followed between Nemo and Encore. The latter, in consequence of Nemo hanging in the slips, had a long way the beat of the run up ; but Nemo, favoured by the hare, then pot in, and some nice play was the result. Encore was, however, the smartest-footed, and, turning very quickly, scored more freely than her opponent, and won a grand course. Te Whetumarama and Oarnation then had a long, hard, straight courae, in which fleetness of foot rather than working capabilities was the requisite qualification. Both dog* ran well, and the want of work was mn-e attributable to the strength rf the hare (ban the lack of working capabilities in the dogs. Carnation was declared the winner. | Another long and fast course followed, in which Liffey, after a hard tusßle, defeated Toi-Tois. Aster defeated Maritana in a sh( rt and not very |briliiant course, the winner having all the best of the work. After a considerable delay a fine course took place between Banuockburn and Te Whiii. Tho pair were despatched after a very strong hare, and Te Wbiti, showing the greatest speed, was the first to reach, puesy being also slightly favoured and holding possession for some distance. The Maori prophet scored rather freely before Bannockburn got in and made a point or two. A favourable turn again gave Te Whiti the pride of pifitinn, which he held until the two went out of sight. The judge's decision was in f ovonr of Te Whiti. Sam Slick and Lockwood had a abort course, of which little could be seen. Lockwood appeared to get up to the hare first, and killed before Slick had a chance of doing anything. Cineraria easily disposed of Tangi in a short course. Typo and Miranda ran an undecided course, and then the longest delay of the me 1 ting occurred. For an hour Strathm n re and Comet wer« kept iv the slips whilst the stewards travelled over hill and dale in search of game. At Jast a hare was raised, and the dogs slipped, but pussy got to cover before anything could be done, and the cour?e was therefore undecided. Shamrock and Bsnahee shortly afterwards ran the last course of the day. Banshee hung in the slips, and gave Shamrock a lead of some yards up to the hare. Mr Ottereon's elut was, however, quickly upon equal terms with the leader, with whom ehe collided, and was thrown out of ber stride. Shamrock then quickly disposed of the hare, and pcored a victory. It was now close upon 5 o'clock, and the sportsmen made a ba^ly return to town, having obtained a good wetting if not a satisfactory day's sport. There iR some prospßct of the weather clearing up, and if it does so the sport will be good. The following are the results: — DERBY STAKES, Of £5 ss, for puppies. Mr J. M'Donald's blk d Rhododendron, by Ben— Ply, (Broadway's), beat Messrs Reid Bros', bile w b Tui, by Wcller— Twilight. Mr W. Mercer's b w d Macaroni, by Hamlet— Musk, beat Messrs M'Auly Bros', blk w d Scfton, by Totara— Sunbeam.

Mr J. M'Donald's blk w b Phlox Drnmmondi, by Sedan— Cumberland Lass, beat Messrs M'Auly Bro >'. blk n-li .Teannette, by Totara— Sunbeam.

Jlr M. Grant's br w b Encore, by Spring — Tricolour, beat Mr J. Oliver's blk w d Nemo, by Totara—Sunbeam.

Mr J. M'Donald's blk w b Carnation, by Ben— Fly, beat Mr C. Dodge's w bl d Te Whetu, by Reubens— Swcctlips. Mr M. Grant's w f b Liffey, by Reubens— Sweetlips, beat Messrs Reid Brothers' f w b Toi-Tois, by Welter —Twilight. Mr J. M'Donald's bile w b Aster, by Ben— Fly, beat Mr M. Sherwin's br b Mavitana, by Cuckoo— Fly.

Mr A. Thomson's f w d To "Whiti, by WelterTwilight, beat Mr S. Lintott's blk w d Bannockburn, by Hock — Banner. Mr A. Thomson's w blk d Lockwood, by LancasterQueen Mab, beat Mr It. Morton's f d Sam Slick, by Totara— Sunbeam.

Mr J. M'Donald's br w d Cineraria, by Ben— Fly (Broadway's), beat Mr A. Thomsons bl w b Tangi, by Welter— Twilight.

Mr Boyd Thomson's w blk d Shamrock, by Balmoral —Chance, beat Mr A, S. Otterson's f w b Banshee, by Hook— Banner,

for I &m nothing, if not critical. The man that hath not music in himself, Let ho Buch^man be trusted. Shakkspkabb.