NOTES BY BEACON.

Otago Witness, Issue 1754, 4 July 1885, Page 19

NOTES BY BEACON.

The New Zealand owners who have horses entered for the Australian Spring handicaps have not, on the whole, much to complain about all being well treated, with the exception of Welcome Jack, who appears to be thought over there a 71b better horse than Vanguard. I think if the two were to meet in this country at that difference of weight there would be a rush to get on the black horse. Dan O'Brien's pair, Tasman and Trenton, have had far less honour bestowed on them than they had in their own country, and I should think their owner will regret not having entered them for more races on the other bide. Clarence is entered for the Melbourne Grand National Steeplechases. Mr Hobbs' Gaming and Lotteries Act 1881 Amendment Bill seeks to make clear sweeps of all kinds of betting, sweepstakes, etc. " Indeed, says a Wellington correspondent, one wonders at the knowledge of this kind of thing possessed by a member who is looked on as being really innocent of even the technicalities of the sport. Penalties are imposed on persons exhibiting placards or advertising betting-houses, sweepstakes, or lotteries. Ft ib further provided that letters and money-orders for keepers of lotteries, gamblers, fortune-tellers, etc., need not be registered or issued. It is extremely )■>:■>' •' : ■, Referee's Wellington correspondent, t •it Mr Fitzherbert's Bill will be s.o amended that both large and small sweeps will be legalised. A matter in dispute between two gentlemen of the legal profession, arising out of a totalisator transaction at the last Dunedin races, and .which matter has recently come before the public through advertisements and correspondence in the papers, is likely to come into Court shortly, oiie of the parties having taken out a summons to recover from the other a sum of money alleged to be due by the latter. A representative of this journal attended " Lady Emma's " drawing on the Hawke's Bay Steeplechase, the proceedings at which passed off satisfactorily. The Referee's Wellington correspondent writes : — " I understand that the proposed race meeting at Island Bay Park will not eventuate, although no formal decision has been arrived at by the directors of the company. I learn that it is the opiuion of a majority that races at this time of the year would not be a success, and they prefer giving the course a fair show to become fairly set bofore holding races. A two days' raca meeting will be held early in the spring.

An Auckland gentleman has received a leV j • from Mr E. E. Jones, fully explaining the caube of Welcome Jack's omission from the Melbourne Cup entries. In the course of the letter Mr Jones says : — " The omission was one of those peculiar things which might never happen again m the world. Mr Pilbrow asked me to nominate his horse as he would be away in NeAv Zealand on entry day. I called at the A.J.C. office, in Sydney, to do so, and made all the entries on one sheet, but was afterwards askud to put thorn on separate forms, which I did, as I was also entering horses for other people at tho samo time. In handing these forms to the Secretary 1 left Wolcorne Jack's Melbourne Cup entry

form on the desk in the A. J.C. office. The entry of the horse for the Melbourne Cup was not made that afternoon by Mr Clibborn when the rest had been made out, and, as he was perfectly aware from me that I had intended to enter the horse, he had all the papers gone Over several times without success. When he spoke to me the same night I was so positive about the matter that he went to the office early next morning bofore anybody else, nud after a little further search the entry wad found lying on the desk in the office. Mr Clibborn at once, in the most kind manner possible, wrote all the particulars to the V.R.C, also enclosing original form on which the entry had been properly made. The V.E.C., however, decided that the entry could not be received. This silly blunder has given me no end of anxiety, and I would have sooner lost £1000 than it should have happened." " Augur " says on this matter : — " Of course this omission is a ser ous blow to the New Zealanders who backed him ; but, after all, the loss may be a gain, for, when Welcome Jack was in the ring the other day, I did not like the look of his fore-fetlock joints, one especially,, and whoever has the training of the horse may find it difficult to bring him to the post." The Canterbury Spring meeting will be held on Nov. 10, 12, and 13. An Auckland correspondent of a Christchurch paper says it is rumoured in the former place that Mr F. F. Dakin, of Melbourne, is likely to come to New Zealand with a view to handicapping duties. This is a very likely yarn. It would take a stranger to the Colony two or throe years to got acquainted with the form of the various performers on our turf. In common with his many friends I (" Flaneur ") am very sorry to see that the gentleman who has raced The Poet and other good horses of late years under the iwm de course of "Mr George Bate," has had to seek the shelter of the Bankruptcy Court in Wellington. Mr Donne, *as everyone who has had any dealings with him knows, is a man of unblemished i reputation. For some years he sat in the Provincial Council of Nelson for Charleston and the Buller, and was editor of the Charleston Herald during its palmy days. As an owner of racehorses he was very successf ul for a time, and always gave the public a square race for their money, but the game does not pay played on the square, and " honest George," as we used to call him on the Coast fifteen or sixteen years ago, has had to put his hand down and retire. The Poet and Minerva are held by Messrs Andrew Young and Joseph Saunders underbill of sale, and arelikoly to find theii; way into Mr Taucred s stable, I am told. The following weights for the Wellington Steeplechase meeting have been issued by Mr J. O. Evitt, handicapper : —

A report of the big steeplechase meeting at Napier appears in this issue, and it appears to have been a thorough all-round success, the weather being fine, attendance large, and fields of horses unusually good. There were 70 starters for the half-dozen events on the card, or an average of close on 12 for each race. The sum of £4590 went through the totalisator and some capital dividends were paid, including £17 3s on the Maiden Plate, £16 15s on the Bracelet Race, and £27 10s on the Consolation Stakes. One of the local papers says that unfortunately the day's enjoyment was a lifctle blurred by several mishaps. Hedge, the rider of Ely, came down at the first fence in the Maiden, and received severe injuries to his right leg, but fortunately no bones were broken. Silver King and Mountaineer fell in the same race at the stone wall, and the jockey of the first-named horse, T. Ljrf ord, was very badly injured. Silver King came down first, and Mountaineer fell upon him and his jockey, and Director, who also nearly made a mess of it at this jump, came down on his knees on the other two horses. Mountaineer's jockey got a nasty spill ; but poor Lyford, who foil under his hor.se, was at first thought to be fatally injured. Ho was picked up insensible, and carried on a stretcher to the Press-room, regaining consciousim ss just before reaching the room. T)i.: v.r ' examination proved that the injured man ii j 1 been very badly kicked on the back and chuoL, in addition to being seriously shaken and bruised, but so far as could be ascertained no bones were broken. Mr Thomas, the rider of Donald Dinnie in thb Ladies' Bracelet, also met with a nasty accident, breaking both bones of the right leg just above the ankle by strikigg against. A report was circulated in Christchurch on Monday that the injuries sustained while riding in the Maiden Steeplechase at Napier by Tom Lyford, the well-known steeplechase rider, had resulted fatally, and some excitement was occasioned in sporting circles till telegrams were received from Lyford and others stating' that he was doing well, and would be able to come home by next boat. For some time past a proposal to shift the Cambridge racecourse to a site convenient to the line of railway has been before the stewards of the Club. That the race meeting can never be expected to be a success in point of numbers so long as the races are held pn the Gwynnelands course, there can be very little doubt ; and the stewards, therefore, fully recognise that an immediate change is not only desirable but inevitable. Were they held convenient to the railway, J . i • R-ill-vay Department would not hesitate to run special trains at reasonable rates, and so people living in all parts of the Waikato and from Auckland would muster strongly. But there is one great difficulty in tho way. The proprietor of the course invested a large sum of money in its purchase on the understanding that tho Jockey Club would use it, and therefore the proprietors, who have acted throughout most liberally, and with considerable enterprise, should not be thrown over. But this difficulty is only of a temporary nature, and no doubt the course property being one of the best in tho country, there will be no difficulty in disposing of it at a satisfactory price. In the, meantime

the proprietors, who held a meeting a few days back, have recommended certain improvements, representing an expenditure of about £200. The Melbourne Sportsman had the singularly ba-1 taste to publish on thu 24th ult., five days before the weights appeared, its impressions as to what the handicaps for the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups should be like, giving the order in which the first 40 or 50 horses in the Melbourne Cup weights should bo placed, according to its idea. I can understand a newspaper ■criticising a handicap after it has been issued, but surely no respectable journal would by such action as the Sportsman has taken lay itself open to the imputation that it tried to influence handicappers in favour of or against certain' horses. The Sydney correspondent of the Australian writes that Thunderbolt has now joined the rest of the New Zealanders at tho Randwick training ground, and the lot can be seen each morning getting through their preparations. The son of Musket is only a small horse, but very symmetrical, and strides over the ground long and and low with perfect action. Vanguard is something after the style of Coriolanus, and impresses me as a real game horde, and not particular about weight. Liverpool is a handsome chestnut, but not displaying the blood-like quality so apparent in his half-brother Sir Modred. Oudois is a taking colt, and should take some beating in any of our handicaps. The death of Peeress, Mr Walters' celebrated brood mare, is announced. She was bred by Mill. Redwood in 18G5, and got by The Peer out of Miss Rowe. She was a grand performer on the turf, among her victories being the Canterbury' Cup in 1871 and 1872, and the Canterbury J.C. Handicap also in the latter year. She won several races at Auckland also. Mr Redwood hail sent her over to Melbourne in 1869, and at the V.R.C. Spring meeting she won the Royal Park Stakes (w.f.a), beating Saladin and Glencoe, but she got beaten in several other races and was brought back to this Colony. It is not worth while at this interval of time to rake up the scandal that was made about her in connection with a race in which she was reported to play a prominent part, and tho proceedings in connection with which led to her disqualification Suffice it to say that in 1873 she *as put to the stud, where she has proved fairly successful. Possibly the best of her progeny will prove to be Marion, Mr Stead's filly by Ma'ribyrnong. I have to acknowledge tho receipt of Oxenham's Monthly Turf Register for June. It is published in Sydney, and contains the placed performances of horses in the Australasian Colonies.

WELLINGTON STEEPLECHASE HANDICAP. st lb st 11) The Lad ... 12 7 Pastime ... 10 2 Raveuswood ... 12 « New Year ... 10 0 Macaroni ... 12 > 6 Bully-for-you ... 911 Moody ... 12 3 Quilp... ' ... 910 Scrutineer ... 12 0 Nulcurnu ... 9 8 The Druid ;.. 11 12 Fair Play ... 0 5 King Arthur ... 11 10 Doncaster ... 9 5 Jim ... ... 11 7 Diomedes ... 9 2 Orient ... 10 12 Flemington ... 9 0 Director ... 10 10 Mountaineer ... 9 0 Harrington ... 10 10 Silver King ... 9 0 Romeo ... 10 7 Ely ... ... f) 0 Faugh-a-ballagh... 10 4 Bobby ... 9 0

HURDLE HANDICAP. st 11) Master Agnes ... 12 7 Biilly-for-you Ravenswood ... 12 2 Miroi ... .Tim ... ... 12 »0 Egmoi.t Macaroni ... 12 0 Diomedes Scrutineer ... 11 12 Doneastor Druid... ' ... 11 10 Rorotora Orient ... 11 10 Ely ... Moody / ... 11 10 Jack Tar Director ... 11 7 Loch Lomond Romeo ... 11 5 Mountaineer Harrington ... 11 2 Dangerous Faugh-a-liallngh... 11 0 Flemington Claude ... 10 10 Planet Ereliua ... 10 8 Bobby Quilp... ... 10 5 st lb 10 0 10 0 0 10 9 7 9 7 9 ti 9 a 9 5 9 3 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0