Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 1899, 13 April 1888, Page 23

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Bt « RATA."

The first meeting held under the auspices of the Canterbury Trotting Club was celebrated on Saturday afternoon at whab is known as the new Agricultural and Pastoral Association's show ground. The management of the fixture was admirable, and if the executive maintains its efficiency, the club can hardly fail to develop into an mportant body in its particular branch

of sport. It has issued a code of trotting rules,which appear to he mainly copied from ih'e American code. These make provision for ,811' kinds of irregularities, and it, would undoubtedly be in the interests of the sport generally were it subject to such rules at every meeting. The Lancaster Park Club run their fixtures, I believe, under the Victorian rules, bub I do not know what these rules are, and if they be materially different, an amalgamation of legislative control would certainly be advisable. The rules of racing in New Zealand have been adjusted in the interests of sport, independent of metropolitan clubs, and why ought not the rules of trotting be framed on a similar basis ?

Last week I referred to the practice in vogue amongst some riders of making sensitive and imperfectly-trained animals break through the medium of shouting. Now, -the recentlyframed rules of this olub contain an enactment bearing immediately on this subject. It reads,: "Any rider or driver guilty of loud shouting, or making other improper noise, or of making improper use of the whip during the pendency of a heat shall be punished by a fine not exceeding £5, or by suspension during the meeting." It appears to me that' a rule similar to this is wanted very badly in Otago. '• Ido nob particularly care for the track at the Agricultural and Pastoral Association's show grounds. It is but 667 yds in circumference, and though this is perhaps large enough for handicap trotting in saddle, it is too small for races run from a level start and also for trotting in harness. The only deficiency I noticed in the general arrangements was the absence of a number board, and in this respect I fancy that both racing and trotting executives could effect' improvement. Publicity is a primary factor in the management of racing and trotting meetings. Of course the totalisator acts in lieu of a signal board to a certain extent, but I am strongly of opinion that the exhibition of riders' names would . be advisable on race and trotting courses in the public interest.

The business of the afternoon commenced with a Maiden Trot, for which 14 competitors faced the starter on equitable terms. I have never seen such a contest in Otago, but it was a particularly interesting event, the majority of the competitors keeping well together for a considerable part of the journey, and the race being a comparatively open affair until the winning post was actually reached. A bay mare named Jane, trotting very evenly, led throughout, and was only caught on the post by a powerfullooking brown horse called Dexter, who succeeded in making a dead heat. The owners decided to run it off, and after the decision of the second race the pair again went to the post, when Dexter won anyhow, and paid the nice dividend of £14 9s.

The second race, the Handicap Pony Trot, was also a good one, and the handicapping appeared to be wonderfully accurate. In the first two races, too, there appeared to be a greater number of triers than is usually the case in similar events at the Forbury. Shortly after the start for the second race, a well trained little grey mare went to the fore, and eventually won without being headed by half a length ; though Misfortune, who finished second, ran her close, and would certainly have been returned the winner had he succeeded in passing Sedgemere Lass — the victoress — at any part of the journey. He reminded me greatly of Maniac when that horse was first taken in hand by Mr Taggart ; half-a-dozen times he got to the leader's quarters, but always broke on attempting to get past— indeed, he broke just on the winning post. It was intended to lodge a protest against the -winner for running in shoes, and this shows on what grounds owners may sometimes even be done out of a stake. The Canterbury Trotting Club stewards, would not, perhaps, have entertained the objection against Sedgemere Lass, their rules apparently making ample provision for such objections ; but at some country meetings I fancy authorities could be found who would have disqualified the mare, especially if her ownership influenced them, on the lodgment of an objection. It appears that she was just a shade over the requisite height when placed under the standard, and that her shoes were' off to regulate this, but on her showing a disinclination to trot barefooted her feet were pared and her shoes replaced. '

The third race was a time handicap trot over three miles, and a capital contest it eventually proved. The limit horse, Blue Gown, went off very sharply, and speedily led by a dozen lengths. After the first circuit had been covered the winner could have easily been spotted in four, though • the strength of the opposition was 13. For half the journey it 'certainly looked slight odds on Blue Gown, who maintained his position in the front, and even increased his lead till Tommy (20sec) ran into second place. Almost simultaneously Victor ran up alongside of Tommy, but did not succeed in passing by reason of breaking. Half-way round the next circuit, however, he went ahead, and, trotting grandly, soon overhauled the leader, and eventually won by about eight lengths; Gipsy, t ho scratch candidate, finishing third, and a mile farther might'have landed her the actual winner. She is an excellenb trotter, but so is Victor, the winner ; yet I do not think thab either is the equal of Maniac in point of pace. The Handicap Novel Race (in harness) was an interesting event and a pretty race, though it resulted in a tolerably easy win for Jess. I greatly prefer trotting in sulkies to trotting under saddle. It is preferable from a spectacular point of view, and roping is more easily detected in harness than in saddle. Jess (20sec) came away from the starb, and maintained a four lengths lead for half the distance. Five furlongs from home Sally, who is by no means an accomplished trotter, ran up to her, and it appeared any odds on her (Sally) winning ; but ere she got quite level she broke badly, and her driver being unable to get her into her stride properly afterwards, she finished nowhere, and allowed Jess to get home by some five lengths.

Under saddle, horses show greater speed than in harness, I believe, but I fancy that must be a result of training or driving, or perhaps the weight of the sulkies in common - use. The fifth race was also a harness affair, but the result was almost a foregone conclusion from the. finish of the first lap. The Rogue," who travelled splendidly, soon went to the van, and though Wait-a-while, whoj^iad.'great difficulty in passing his horses, mainly in consideration' of the smallness of the course, made an effort on nearing the judge's box the sixth, time round, he never had a show with The Rogue, who won by something like 80 or 90 yards. Sixteen starters carried silk for the Two-mile Handicap Trot (in saddle), and of these .Victor was put back lOsec in conseauence of haying won the Threemile Handicap Trot, and this stopped him. The race was one of the best witnessed during the afternoon, though at one part of the journey Blue Gown, the ultimate winner, led by 50yds'. Gipsy, the scratch mare, trotted in magnificent fashion, and passed her opponents one af tar another in excellent style until she ran into second place prior to passing the winning post the last time round. At that point she was quite 50yds in rear of the leader, with, half a mile to make it up in. This she just failed to

do, but got to within four lengths ofiklue Gown, a capital performance in a two-mile race with a SOseo limib. I should say this mare is nearly the equal of Dudhess, now sent to Australia, though somewhat less; her conformation be; hind the saddle is certainly better. The afternoon's sport wound up with the Consolation, and of the seven contestants Queenie, who had been awarded the limit, simply smothered everything, and passed the post the length of a street in [front of her nearest opponent, The face' was run in comparative darkness, and on passing the judge's box, in the vicinity of which was the major portion of the public, Queenie's rider was shouted at from either side of the course. Now, Queenie was an outsider, and Hard Times, who was well backed on the totalisator, was trotting as well as anything in the rear. ,It Btrikes me forcibly therefore that the shouting was done in the interests of Hard Times and his backers, and with a direct intention of causing Queenie to break.

Trotting is a very excellent sport when brought to anything like perfection. America is the only country that has hitherto excelled id it; but, as it is apparently very popular in this colony, there is no reason why it should not become perfected. So far trotters here, wibh a few exceptions, are' nothing better than badly trained hacks ; but the; formation of such clubs as the Canterbury Trotting Club' and the Lancaster tark Trotting Club can hardly fail to effect improvement , in this direction. Such bodies, too, ;as the sport becomes more fully developed' — it is yet but in ibs infancy—will be enabled to offer greater monetary advantages to owners than racing executives can possibly do. In an average race programme you cannot very well have more than one trot, and whatever the value of that may be, it is hardly- worth sending a horse any distance to compete for unless that horse has been consistently pulled for a lengthened period and the result reduced to a certainty. Under the control of such clubs trotting is also calculated to receive the attention that its peculiarities require, attention that ordinary racing executives can hardly be expected to extend. Division of authority, however, may hamper it to a certain' extent, and the sooner a code of rules is framed for the government of trotting throughout the colony, the sooner will trotting be placed on a firm basis. At present I believe there is no end of chicanery connected with the game, and I feel certain that I have seen big fields face a starter for a trotting race with quite two-thirds 'of the competitors non-triers. Driving and riding trotters, too, in the colony, except in isolated cases, does net yet exceed an ordinary amateur standard, and an encouragement of the professional element in this department would be greatly in the interests of the sport. An innovation in. the managerial arrangements of the Canterbury Trotting Club is the handicapping of winners in preference to penalising them, and it appears to me that the idea is a remarkably good one and might be extended to flat races with advantage. The winner of the first race, for instance, under the penalising system, carries a certain amount of extra weight if he be a starter in another event — this is in racing, — whether his victory waa gained by a nose or 100 yards. Under the handicapping method, however, he is mulcted in exact accordance with the merit of his performance, as seen in the estimation of the handicapper, and he may have to put up 21b or 2st over and above his original impost — i.c , were the system extended to racing ; in trotting he may be put back lOsec or 30sec.

I should hardly think that the charge preferred by Mr Stead against H. Piper in respect of touting will come to anything how I am conversant with the circumstances of the case.; I have before referred to the rottenness of the rule bearing on the point, and it is quite time that it was made obsolete in the interests of common sense. According to the reading of that rule, a press representative or casual visitor could be warned off for .witnessing the morning work at Ricoarton, provided any trainer cared to gallop a nag against time during exercise hours. Doubtless it is very aggravating to a man in Mr Stead's position to have his gallops watched, but it is long odds that were racers all galloped privately the popularity of horseracing would be discounted 50 per cent. No doubt that part of the rule relating to the acquirement of surreptitious information is right, but refer- ! ence to the annals of sport would show that far greater coups have been landed by publicly trained animals than by horses trained and tried on private grounds. However, sport has advanced ,'apace, gone another halfcircuit as it were — from Newmarket to the Antipodes — and the malpractices that that rule was evidently drawn to guard against have become the prerogative of an opposite faction. Market rigging and " nobbling " is now the province of organised "rings" rather than of the bookmaker, as the disclosures of recent years will amply testify. Besides, no pecuniary advantages can accrue from market rigging, " nobbliug," or forestalling in New Zealand in the absence of a rich betting ring, and private training undoubtedly impairs the popularity of horseracing in so far as it debars the publication of news regarding the condition and work of piovincial candidates for important races. It is all very well for owners to say : " I can do what I like with my own," but what would horseracing be without public patronage? The money, whether it comes in the shape of stakes or bets, comes from the public. Again, Mr Stead's gallop is not altogether a private one. The morning work of his team can be seen from a road, and I believe that H. Piper never crossed beyond this road, though he might have viewed the performances of the gee-gees from that standpoint; and this even requires evidence. Of course Piper is not fool enough to acknowledge having done bo, and apparently nobody saw him. I On the whole, I think Mr Stead has been a little bit too precipitate this time, more especially as watching his gallops cannot pos- j sibly militate against the interests of , sport or his ewn pecuniary interests. Mr O'Brien bought a brown gelding by St. George from the Middle Park Stud Company last week, and I believe the nag was purchased on behalf of Mr Turnbull, and has gone South in charge of Stewart Waddell, who has been detained here a day or two, by reason of illness. There has been nothing doing on the racecourse since the celebration of the Autumn meeting, and the only item of news I have to chronicle in that direction is the purchase of Count d'Orsay by Mr Lunn.