AUSTRALIAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1895, 16 March 1888, Page 23

AUSTRALIAN.

The following weights have been declared for the

That the new rules which are to be considered by the members of the Victoria Racing Club next Monday will meet with some opposition there cannot be any doubt. In many quarters it is felt that the proposers have, in their desire to stamp out a number of the small gate-money meetings, attempted to do too much. It is felt that in a young country like ours we are not yet ripe for such extreme legislation as that which the V.R.C. wishes to indulge in ; and if we were, perhaps it wou J .d be more satisfactory if the whole subject were considered by a council composed of representatives from the V.R.C, the V.A.T.C, and the principal country clubs, such as Ballarftt, Sandhurst, Geelong, Sale, Warrnambool, &c. Members ct the V.R.C. committee are apt to look at the matter from A selfish point of view. Some of them labour under the impression that the marvellous increase in suburban racing has affected, and is likely to still further affect, the prospects of the leading racing institution of Victoria; and more from a desire to prop up the club over which they preside than any wish to improve the condition of racing generally, they propose to introduce rules, some of which would doubtless prove beneficial, while others would have a contrary effect. That the members of the V.R.C. committee are not unanimous in this new departure we are quite aware, and from those who are breeders, with thousands of pounds invested in thoroughbred stock, we expect to see the strongest opposition to various rules which threaten to extinguish an already languishing industry. Breeding in Victoria is not by any means a paying game, and if the rule which proposes to fix the minimum distance at six furlongs be carried, then a serious blow will be struck at the raisers of thoroughbreds. Anybody^ with only a superficial knowledge of the turf is aware that for one stayer bred for racing there are at least 100 who cannot get beyond five furlongs, and if the proposal had been to make this distance the limit, perhaps there would have been no objection. Should this rule become law, and the proposal to reduce entry fees to 2 per cent, be carried, then, country clubs within the stipulated radius will be pretty well improved out of existence. Wyndham, Melton, Bacchus Marsh, Mordialloc, and other country towns are just as much entitled as the V.R.C. to hold annual race meetings if they choose, and if the V.R.C. attempts to pass rules which, while aiming at a decrease of suburban gatherings, have the effect of extinguishing long-established country

gatherings, then the desire for self-preservation will cause a revulsion of feeling, and the V.R.C will find a majority of country clubs coalescing for the purpose of resenting the tyrannical system adopted by the leading club. It will be argued that by the new rules the V.R.C. will have the option of allowing any club to race under other rules ; but this is a power that we do not wish to see vested in the V.R.C. Let every club be treated alike, and with a fair field and no favour the fittest will doubtless survive By attempting too much the proposers of the new rules will in all probability miss the object; aimed at. To have effected their cherished wish — and we are heartily with them is thsir desire to cut down some of the suburban meetings — it was only necessary to pass a rule compelling all clubs within a radius of 15 miles of Melbourne to give £400 per day. When they extended the radius to 50 miles many country clubs were included, and it is because we are desirous that they should not be interfered with that we are so strongly opposed to some of the proposed new rules. There' can be no valid objection to the rule which provides for at least one race of a mile on the flat per day, but the smaller clubs are likely to object to the rule which fixes hurdle races at two miles or over, for there are so many horses can get to the end of a mile and a-half, but are put out of court when the distance 18 extended half a mile. "No race for two-year-olds shall be held, except between the Ist day of September in one year and the 31st day of July in the next following year, and no such race shall be less than four furlongs." This rule has been proposed, no doubt, with a view of saving the two-year-olds from early running, and allowing them to mature; but while the former portion of the rule may achieve the desired object, the latter has the reverse effect, for it compels all two-year-old races to be not less than half a mile. Surely youngsters would suffer less by running three furlongs, which seems to us to be quite far enough for a two-year-old in September. The proposal to compel all clubs to pay jockeys' fines to the Distressed and Disabled Jockey Fund will meet with almost universal approval; but in other rules the f ratners seem to have blindly followed the English system, which will hardly apply to a young country like Australia. (" Augur.") At the Calcutta meeting in January the chief prize, the Metropolitan Stakes, of 7000 rupees, six furlongs, was won by an English mare named Vitarba. The principal race of the becond day, the Merchants' Cup, was won by Mr Apcar's Australian horse Sparkle, who is by Gemma di Vergy from Cremorne. The English horse Fitzwilliam was second, but he was giving 201b. The English horse Padlock was nowhere, and Myall, King, who was handicapped afc lOst, didn't get a place. The Selling Hurdle Race was won by Stanley, and the Hooghly Plate and Consolation Stakes were won respectively by the English horses Lord Harry and Campanile. Both of these were selling races, and the irrepressible Australian Weeks bid so freely for the former that his owner had to go to 3000 rupees before he was knocked down. Then Weeks did the club another good turn by bidding briskly for Campanile, and went to 4050 rupees, when he left off, and Captain Warner, bidding another 10 rupees, got his horse back again. I need hardly say that the owner wished Weeks in a much hotter place than India.

The nominations for the Tasmanian Racing Club Sires' Produce Stakes of 1890 are to hand, and are highly satisfactory, no less than 63 youngsters appearing in the list. This is a strong proof of the revival of breeding thoroughbeed stock in the sister colony. Mr R. O'Connor is the principal contributor with 15, a majority of whom are by Astronomer, a son of Yattendon and Starlight, by Stockowner from Nightlight. Seven of the others are by Caramut, a very fine horse, by St. Albans. Mr C. S. Agnew has seven to his name, all by The Assyrian, some of them from very highly-bred mares, notably First Fruit and Tripaway, a member of the Quickstep family. Mr M'Bain is represented by seven, all by Commotion's brother Albert. Mr John Field has nine to his name, five by Creswick and four by Proto-Martyr. Mr J. Symmons has four f three of them being by Manuka; and MrW. Field is represented by a similar number. Among the other nominators are the Hon. T, Reibey, Hon. Alfred Page, and Messrs Sydney Page, J. C. Lord, J. Powell, S. M. Wilson, J. Mandeville, J. Rigney, A. R. Blacklow, G. T. Law, and E. Kearney. Mr Fred Woodhouse, jun., has just completed to the order of Mr C. WiLson an excellent portrait of Gardenia. She is represented mounted by 'Mick O'Brien, and her owner and trainer are also in the picture, which is certainly one of the best that ever left the easel of young Woodhouse.

Mr H. Haines tells me that although he claims the services of his apprentice Gorry after tho V.R.C. Autumn meeting, he is quite willing to allow him to ride for Mr Long whenever he does not need him. I saw Gorry at Williamstown recently, and it struck me that he was growing very fast, so that as there is a chance of the boy merging into a man of 9st, he will have to make hay while the sun shines. It seems only the' other day that he could have ridden 6at if necessary, while now he walks over 7st. (" Asmodeus.") In addition to three days' racing at Fleming' ton next week, members of the Victoria Racing Club will havo a busy and important day on Monday, when the proposed new rules will be discussed at a special meeting. The day is singularly well chosen, as many members of the club resident in other colonies will be in Melbourne, amongst whom are several gentlemen whose opinions will be worthy of the greatest respect on account of their social and public positions no less than their extensive turf experience. That the proposed alterations and amendments generally have been framed for the support of the best interests of racing will not» I think, be denied. Thus few, if any, disinterested or independently constituted men will object to the limitation of selling races to one per day, or to the minimum distance for such selling race being five furlongs. Insisting upon the inclusion in each day's programme of one flat race of not less than one mile should also be generally approved. The wisdom of limiting hurdle races to not less than two miles is, however, open to question, and I doubt whether any beneficial result would attend the adoption of this proposition. Certain it is that the most interesting hurdle races of late have been run over short distances, and been contested by fields far more numerous and of little, if any, less quality than the loDger journeys. Nobody wishes for a repetition of the Leroy-Sinking Fund farce, which was performed at the Flemington Summer meeting for a stake of no less than £200. I admit that our hurdle racers of the present day generally are not up to the quality standard of a few years ago, but those who hope to improve hurdle racing by increasing the distances must not suppose that the longer journeys will attract satisfactory fields, for this particular game isjeot played as it used to be in the days of Dalesman Sussex, and Co. A remarkable spirit of freemasonry has been developed in hardlo racing stables, whose representatives generally sosm tc be sensitively opposed nowadays to injuring e*c£ others' prospects of success. " United «?e sttrid divided we fall," is a truism especially re cog nified in hurdle racing, and it is no secret; thai

a field of five or six there are frequently two or three who *• atand " in " united " interest to win a .good stake, and frequently land it. Better eurely to have a dozen starters over a mile and a-half with seven or eight genuine "tryers," tbau a field of sk amongst the three best of which only one is intended to win. In this proposed clause it was a mistake to lump hurdle races and steeplechases, and I should like to see it so amended that hurdle races should be not less than a mile and a-half and steeplechases two miles, as the contests are sufficiently different in character to justify such a distinction^ and 1 leave this suggestion to any member of the V.R.C. who may choose to present it to Monday's meeting. Exception must certainly be taken to the proposal that " the money added shall not be less than £400 per day." To insist that the stakes given by small but reputable and deserving clubs shall average £36 each in value is bo unreasonable that it cannot possibly meet with support from those who remember that racing is not conducted at Flemington^ Caulfield, and Eandwick alone, but that less flourishing centres exist which are also worthy of recognition and consideration. Two of the proposed new clauses are worded so that one is almost contradictory of the other, but I take the intended proposal to be that no race (except a selling race) shall be run over a distance of less than six furlongs by threee-year-olds and upwards. This is an arbitrary and too sweeping proposition. It is not everybody that can breed Maluas, Tridents, and Commotions ; and as the unfortunate sprinters who can't stay can all feed, they should have a chance of earning their oats. The difference between five and six furlongs may not appear to be very great, but that ifc effects the pace of many well-known public performers cannot be denied, and in the interests of owners of moderate cattle I would as strongly support altering the proposed minimum distance from six to five furlongs as I would for other reasons applaud one flat race of not less than a mile being insisted upon. The sub-sections of rule 169, to which I have referred, are only to apply to meetings held within 50 miles of Melbourne, but after they have been well discussed and adopted in more or less modified form, I fail to see the desirability of the further proposal that " The committee of the Victoria Racing Club may, if they think fit, excuse from the operation of such sub-sectione, or any of them, or any part thereof, any club holding or proposing to hold races within 50 miles of the Post Office, Melbourne, for such meeting or meetiugs as the said committee of the Victoria Racing Club may think proper." This seems to me to be a sort of safety valve, suggested by a fear that the proposed alterations may prove to bo unworkable, in which case a " get out " must be provided. The clause quoted will be generally considered an admission of weakness, and should be struck out. If the V.R.C. committee are capable of framing suitable rules for the guidance of Victorian racing, let thosa rules by all means be adopted and enforced; but if the members are not satisfied of the efficacy of their proposed new laws, let them not become part and parcel of the code. Sauce for the goose must be sauce also for the gander, and it would be absurd if that could be permitted at , Moonee Valley which would bo prohibited at j Elsternwick, or vice versa. The V.R.C. com- ! mittee are compelled to enforce their now existing rules, and the same stringent system should be equally applicable to the new ones unless they are felt to be undesirable innovaions.

On Thursday last Moonee Valley afforded quite a novel spectacle owing to the bookmakers going out '• on strike." The members of the magic circle raise no objection to the £25 imposed for the privilege of laying the odds at Flemington, to the £15 fee levied at Caulfield, or to other smaller sums in force at Sandhurst, Geelong, and Ballarat, but their native dignity fairly rebelled against the imposition of a nominal £5 charge for betting within the Moonee Valley enclosure, hence the peculiar turn which matters took on Thursday. For once in a way the ring men were unanimous, which was of itself somewhat unexpected in face of the existing schism between the big guns of the Victorian Club, the members of Bowes' Tattersails, and cerbain ready-money fielders registered by the V.R.C., V.A.T.C., and other clubs, but who are not identified with any of the forenamed betting associations. Having refused en mas.it to submit to Mr Cox's charge, the paddock metallicians were equally determined to keep their books in their pockets. The small betting fry on the hill were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity to do business, and although backers were at first a bit shy in approaching the dividing fence, they rolled up in unlimited numbers after the second race, and a roaring business ensued ever afterwards, so that backers were in no way inconvenienced by the action of the inside men. In fact the nature and extent of operations made it forcibly apparent that there had been a transfer of bookmakers' capital from the paddock to the hill, as it seemed unlikely that the outside layers, whose transactions are usually limited, would engage in such extensive wagering unless specially provided with funds. " Ponies" and "fifties" were as common as the customary half crown, ss, or 10s bets which form the base of operations on the hill. In order to facilitate business Mr Cox invited the hill fielders into the paddock, but the compliment was declined, much to the delight of those " on strike," who vociferously applauded their confreres on this exhibition of esprit de corps. As events turned out, however, this sentimentality proved of & very superficial order, inasmuch as the novelty of the situation eventually overcame the hillites, and later on they found their way over the fence unsolicited, invading the weighing reserve in force, from whence they were ordered to the grand stand enclosure. This occurred before the last race. In this manner was enacted a very lively scene, but everything passed off with the utmost good humour on all sides. If one more than another had occasion to lose his suavity that person was Mr Cox, who, however, proved himself equal to the occasion. The registration of bookmakers was an idea first of all suggested by the leading metallicians themselves, evidently with the intention of establishing a monopoly of the business, especially at Flemington, little suspecting at the time that they were making a rod for their own backs. The outcome of the registration system has been to increase rather than diminish the crop of bookmakers, and, as I remarked a few weeks ago, the Victorian ring has developed^ into an unwieldy organisation, evincing signs of disunity and discontentment. Their relationship with racing clubs continues to become more embarrassing year after year, and it would not be at all surprising were their ever recurring bickerings and embroglios to eventuate in the legislation of their black-faced enemy, the totalisator. And then, Othello like, their occupation would be gone. If the V.R.C is justified in imposing a registration fee of £25, all other racing concerns are equally privileged to enforce a tax proportionate with their relative status ; and seeing that no demur has been made at Caulfield, Sandhurst, Ballarat, and Geelong, there is nothing unreasonable iv Elsternwick Park aad Moonee Valley following suifc, more especially as for <,very pound made by the bookmakers at tho three provincial centres, hundreds are turned over at tho two suburban courses named, If the ruig men wish to test the legality

of the vexed registration question why not fight the matter out with the V.R.C., who are the originators of the system. While thus carefully avoiding a fair and square battle with the sponsors of the so-called " poll tax," it savours of cowardice to attack a comparatively puny opponent like the Moonee Valley organisation, and in this respect the bookmakers have no claim on the sympathies of the sporting public.

SYDNEY OUP. Trenton Trideut Nelson Dunlop Araenal Abercorn Carlyon Cranbrook Acme ... The Peer Cardigan Bt lb ... 9 7 Benßolfc ... 9 5 Algerian ... 9 3 Mozart ... 9 3 Spade Guinea ... 9 0 Moorliouse ... 8 12 Enfilade ... 8 10 Niagara ... 810 Locksley ... 8 8 The Queen ... 8 6 Vespasia ... 8 i Lava ... stlb ... 8 4 ... 8 2 ... 8 2 ... 8 0 ... 7 10 ... 7 10 ... 7 8 ... 7 7 ... 6 10 ... 6 10 ... 5 8 (Australasian.)