TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1905, 25 May 1888, Page 23

TALK OF THE DAY.

BY MAZEPPA. *** Nominations for the D. J.C. Champagne Stakes close on Monday. See advertisement at the head of the turf news. %* The Dunedin Jockey Club have removed the disqualification from F. G. Parkes, who waa put under the ban on August 17, 1886, for running Warepa at tbe D.J.C. rac9B on July 31, kuowing it was not the horse it was represented to be. The disqualification was nominally for life, but the commutation of the sentence at the end of a year and 10 months will not be carped at, as there is ample evidence that it has worked the desired effect. *** Mr Edward M'Nulty has been appointed a member of the Cromwell Trotting Club's Committee vice Mr Sherwood resigned. *^* I am told that Mr Barnes, the new

owner of July, has a very extensive stud farm on the Clarence river. It is said that he has spent £10,000 in stocking it. Talking of Mr Barnes, by the way, reminds me that George Robertson, who will be remembered as owner of the jumping horse Fishhook, recently made a trip there from Oamaru, having gone across with a shipment of horses. *** As Jockey riders, the Flatheads and their relations have perhaps no equal on earth. Raised as they are from childhood almost on a pony's back, so to speak, it is no wonder they become superior equestrians (writes a British Columbian exchange). When preparing for a race, the young bucks skin themselves of their clothing so as to present as little resistance to the air as possible. A Flathead jockey mounted for business ' is dressed in nothing more than a breech clout, and perhaps a thin cotton shirt, which float 3in the breeze, but offers no impediment to the rider or horse. Leaning forward on their hardy little cayuses they dash down the racecourse like the wind, jumping ditches and dodging trees with a precision and skill truly marvellous. The whiteman's racecourse is a flat, level stretch of ground, rolled smooth, over which the animal simply runs, while the rider has nothing much to do except hold his seat. On the other hand, an Indian will race ever any kind of ground, among timber or swimming streams, combining with tbe simple speed of his animal individual skill and judgment in surmounting a score of obstacles, and always coming under the wire ahead. A whiteman seldom wins a race from an Indian, and there is no wonder for it. ♦** Stornoway, the sturdy little son of King of the Ring and Norma, is to be put into training again at Flemington. *** Mr Beetham's motion for a tax on the totalisator has been carried by a large majority in the Lower House, and will, I should imagine, make its way through the Second Chamber without any serious hostility, and become law without more ado. We shall then have some security as to the continuance of the machine, as no further agitation is likely to be brought forward, in this Parliament at any rate, after so large a section of the members saying by their votes that the totalisator ought not to be swept away. Mr Beetham's motion has indeed come as a blessing in disguise. It ostensibly professed to aim at reducing the benefits of racing clubs ; but the result is to give the machine a new lease of life, and on a permanent basis. I speak of the carrying of the motion as a blessing, not because I look on the totalisator as an unalloyed source of good, but simply for the reason that in the present position of affairs we could not very well do without it. To knock it on the head now would be to asphyxiate many of the clubs, for it would be the next thing to impossible to get up a race meeting at all by the old process of sending round the hat for subscriptions, as the public have been educated out of that sort of thing ; and it would be nearly as impossible to so arrange matters as to have a profit on the racing, even if it did tak« place. The jockey clubs who have incurred heavy liabilities on account of racecourse purchases would be in a pretty fix one way and another ; they would be, indeed, as I have said, suffocated for want of the wherewithal. And as to the public, I venture to say that having tasted the sweets of ready money betting they would be loth to go back to the husks, and take the risks they ran in the ante-totalisator period. No ; I regard the introduction of the totalisator as a mixed blessing ; but it has now become necessary to the welfare of the turf, and consequently all who are interested in the success of horse racingshould join and strengthen the hands of those who are standing by them in the Legislature. %* There was recently on exhibition in New York " what is claimed to be probably the smallest horse in the world, for it weighs but 731b, and stands only about 33in high. He is a native of Yokahama, Japan, and belongs to the family of hardy and diminutive ponies common in Japan, but he is the liliput of his race. Yen Hoc, as he is called, was very thin owing to hardships which he was obliged to endure during his voyage across the ocean. He came over in the ship Ariel, which was 158 days in making the trip from Hong Kong. The ship ran short of provisions, and for days Yen Hoc lived on nothing but a few handfuls of rice. On his arrival here he was so weak and thin that he could not stand up. For several days he was quartered in a saloon on Monroe street, under an oyster counter, but is now one of the attractions of a dime museum on the Bowery. His age is 4yrs." * # * A bookmaker in a very small way of business has been sued in Melbourne for not paying over the sum of £7 lOsj won by a man over the double of Trident for the Leger and Lochiel for the Newmarket Handicap. ♦*♦ Chatting one day with a well-known steeplechase rider, he remarked to me, " Your course at the Forbury is one of the most awkward in New Zealand for hurdle races." " How so ?" I asked. " Because of the fences being put upon the outside," was the answer; and my friend proceeded to explain that putting a horse over to one side of the couise to take a jump, and then to the other side to take a short cut to the next fence, was very apt to annoy a horse and cause him to swerve when approaching a hurdle. He hardened up his argument by pointing out, what is an absolute fact to the knowledge of those who frequent the Forbury, that the majority of " runs round " happen at the hurdle placed at the entrance to the straight, that being the part of the course where the sharpest angie has to be struck. We all remember how Trapper ran round there ; and many other cases will suggest themselves now that the fact is mentioned. There is evidently some reason in my friend's complaint. Perhaps the D. J.C. have not seen the importance of the matter ; and if so, there may be no objection to having all the hurdles on the inside, unless when the course happens to be exceptionally heavy, in which case it would not be advisable to cut it up too much with the first race. Better still, would it not be possible to have the hurdle racing on the middle crank ? This could be done next season at any rate, for the ground will have settled down by that time. *** Mr G. Adams, of Tattersall's Hotel, Sydney, was convicted some time ago of having allowed his licensed house to be used for the ! purpose of getting up a " consultation " on the Melbourne Cup, and was fined £25 and costs. The decision was upheld by the Full Court on appeal. Mr Adams recently moved for leave to appeal to the Privy Council, but the Full Court decided that, as the penalty had beeu imposed under a criminal statute, it had no power to grant the application, which was therefore dismissed, with costs. * + * One of Ingomar's stock, a mare named Diadem, was successful in the Kedleston Hunters' Hurdle Race,of two miles, at the Derby Hunt meeting, England. She met two unknown ones, and just got home by a neck from an animal named Lown. *** At the instance of Mr Stratford Strettle, the Victorian Trotting Club lately held an inquiry into the conduct of Dr Slate, of Sydney, in nominating Mr Strettle's Creole for a trotting race at the Sydney Driving Park Clnb'a races without the owner's authority or consent. The club named held an iuquiry into the circumstances of the case before Mr | Strettle's recent visit to the Old Country, and i

acquitted Dr Slate of any dishonest intention in the affair. Mr Strettle, however; was not; satisfied with this decision, and at his request the Victorian Trotting Club held' a further inquiry into the matter. After hearing a lot of evidence, the committee decided to refer the case to the Australian Jockey Club in Sydney. * + * Jimmy Monaghan has put-up a new house and stables close by- Rand wick' race* course. *** In 1780 the weights for the English Derby were colts Bst, fillies 7st 111b. In 1784, they were altered to colts Bst 3lb, fillies Bst. In 1803 colts had to carry Bst 51b, fillies Bst. In 1807 there was another increase of weight, this time to colts Bst 71b, fillies Bst 21b. This held good for over 50 years, but in 1862 the imposts were raised to colts Bst 101b, fillies Bst 71b; whilst in 1884 a further alteration took place, and still holds, viz., to colts 9sfc, fillies Bst 91b. - ' %* It is understood that though Mitrailleuse's lease by the Sydney syndicate has lapsed, the mare will not return to New Zealand co long. as she keeps her form. The owner is to •be asked to consent to a new agreement. *„* The Manchester executive have added a piece of plate to the Manchester Cup co as to be allowed to retain the old title instead of renaming the race the Whitsuntide Handicap. *** Replying to an accusation of having protested against dividend in the Glen Huntly Handicap on insufficient grounds, Mr W. B. Dakin says that this was only the second protest he had ever entered since he has been racing. Speaking of this protest on behalf of Whakawai and the customary secrecy observed by the club in regard to the inquiry, " Asmodeus " has some remarks which so exactly represent my own views on the subject that I am tempted to re-print them :—": — " I have heard all that committeemen have had to say in defence of this star chamber business, and am still firm in my opinion that so long as their deliberations are denied the light of day and full publicity se long will they fail to command public respect. Those who are interested in these matters are not satisfied at being informed that the stewards have decided so and so, but have a right to be in a position to judge whether that decision was or was not reasonably justified on evidence. Racing stewards are ' apparently under the sublime delusion that they are the only people whose position places them above criticism, but a more absurdly false conviction could not exist. It is notoriously well known that in these secret inquiries strict racing law is not always properly administered, not from any intention to palliate offence or to do injustice, but from a wrong conception of the proper course to follow. As an example of what I mean, let a protest for crossing or jostling be entered against a horse owned by a good and true sportsman ; let the fact of the cross or jostle having taken place be palpable, but an absence of deliberate iutention being proved and a theory of greenness on the horse's part substantiated, I will guarantee that a large majority of the ring would lay 6 to 4 on a dismissal after being made acquainted with all the facts. Stewards should remember that their functions are not confined to the punishment of scoundrels who rob deliberately, but that they are also supposed to protect horses and owners from being deprived of their rights through accidental means in which there may be no suspicion of intentional unfairness or evil doing. Respecting Saturday's case I am satisfied that no intentional blocking was done by Dividend's rider, and my own opinion based only on personal observation was that Moffat, on Whakawai, endeavoured to get through where there was insufficient room." *** The Taieri Amateur Turf Club are in the enviable position of having a cash balance of £320. Many a more pretentious body is worse off; but our friends of the Taieri cannot well help making money, and might, I am sure, do well if they were to launch out on a larger scale— by giving larger prizes and throwing all the races open. However, I presume that the members o£ the club know their own business and don't want advice from me. One obstacle to extending their operations is, I understand, the difficulty of obtaining any tenure of the course other than from year to year. Tbis being so, it would be manifestly absurd to go to any great expense in the way of erecting the usual conveniences. * # * Those present at the annual general meeting of the above club last Wednesday were: Messrs C. Gore (chairman), Knott, Lowe, W. L. Christie, Churton, Molrose, W. Christie/ Taggar fc, W. J. Gore, Ross, Davidson, O'Donnell, Vaunini, and J. Cullen. The balance sheet tabled showed that of the £320 5s 2d in hand, £287 3s iH at interest and £33 2s 2d at current account. The balance brought forward from last year wag £121 7s sd. The sub-committee appointed to frame a set of rules brought up their report, which was adopted with slight amendments. The rules are based on those of the Dunedin Jockey Club. Nominations were received for the election of officers ; but a vote was deferred until next meeting, fixed for the 28th inst. %* No wonder the Yankees are buying stallions in the colonies, it' what the Spirit of the Times says about the state of affairs there is nob exaggerated. Racing, says the paper referred to has assumed such stupendous proportions here, and the demand for racehorses is so great, that we aro breeding from everything. High roarers, spavined, ring-boned, curby-hocked brutes are pressed into the service to grind out racing material. The result is our horses, while marvels of speed, are not, as a class, as sound as they were a few years ago. We doubt if there ever was so large a proportion of worthless horses on the turf as there is at present, and we expect, with the enervating influence of excessive racing, the next generation will be worse. Breeders see that the most saleable kind are those which mature early and have speed at two years old. It does not matter if a stallion be afflicted with all the infirmities known to veterinary lore, so long as he can transmit speed he is the one sought after. %* A paragraph in another column respecting the sensational trial gallop performed by First King brings to my mind the recollection of several smart trials in New Zealand, one of the best being that shown by First Lord in the spring of 1886 V Mr Goodman, the trainer, and Mr B. Lyous, owner of the colt, had gone up to Christchurch earlier than usual— about five weeks before the meeting. When they left here First Lord was popularly supposed to have gone amiss; bus he was only temporarily "off colour," and while training at Riccarton he began to give an inkling of how good he really was ; and this begot in his owner's mind a desire to find out what chance he really had for the Derby. A trial was consequently arranged, and in order that there should be no question as to the training tackle Mr D. O'Brien was prevailed on to lend Tasman for the purpose. Tkis grand old warrior was just then in great heart ; it was just before he cracked his heel. The spin duly came off about a fortnight before the races. Tbe weights carried were 9st each, and First. L^rd was ridden by Billy Brown. A despßrate race for the whole distance found Tasman a winner by just enough to swear by, his advantage being gained in the last couple of strides. The time, though quite good enough, was entirely a secondary consideration ; the important fact proved by the gallop being that the ibr-e^year-old was nearly if not quite as good at level

weights as, the aged horse— and we know what a bulldog Tasman was. It was this gallop that cruelled First Lord ; but I firmly believe that if he had kept right Disowned would not have won the Derby. *** The six days contest at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, between cowboys and cyclists terminated thus : Cowboys, 892 miles 2 laps ; cyclists, 891 miles 3 laps. *** Our cablegrams on Tuesday announced the death of the veteran New South Wales sportsman Mr John Tait, who until a few years ago was one of the most successful turfites in New South Wales. Mr Tait was, we believe, very nearly 70 years of age. He owned and raced the mare Zoe, with which he won the Champion Stakes on two successive years, winning the same race again in 1867 with the great horse The Barb. With Fireworks, Tait aLo appropriated the V.R.C. Derby twice in succession, while , Florence and Melbourne also placed the race to his credit. He won the Melbourne Cup wi& Tha Barb, Pearl, and The Quack; the V.R.C. St. Leger with Fireworks and Melbourne ; the A.J.C. Derby with The Barb, Fireworks, and Florence; the Metropolitan Stakes with The Barb, Goldsbrough, and Amendment ; the A.J.C. St. Leger with Glencoe and Goldsbrough ; and the Sydney Cup with The Barb twice in succession. The enumeration of these wins will indicate what an import jut figure the deceased sportsman was in days gone by. He was one of the straightest owners of horses in Australia, and his death will be regretted by all who take' an interest in sporting matters. * # * A match is pending in Brisbane between Mr J. M'Gill's Pirate and the Sydney mare Alma, recently purchased by the Queensland sportsman, Mr Jost. The match is for £200 a-side, one mile and a quarter. 7st 71b each. Mr Jost is backing his own mare, and Mr Willis supports Pirate. *** It is said that Charles Wood, the jockey, has bought a large estate near Chelmsford. The park contains a capital galloping ground. * # * A peculiar betting partnership in Melbourne has resulted in one of the persons concerned being committed for trial. John Hull and Algernon Burnett Biggs, journeymen painters, become acquainted in 1884. In the following year Hull told Biggs that he knew a method of backing horses by which success was certain, provided there was sufficient capital to carry it through. This method was to back the favourite horses all through a meeting, and if the horse did not win the first race to double the investment on the second race, treble it on the third, and so on until one winner was backed. Biggs advanced £40 to Hull to invesbon this principle, and in order to raise another sum of £50 handed over the deeds of two allotments of land. The partnership money was lost, and it subsequently transpired that Hull had raised money on the deeds, effecting a transfer in his own name. The police were called in, and Hull was charged with forging the transfer with intent to defraud, with the result above stated. *#* I daresay that some of our readers, on perusing the report of the Dunedin Jockey Club's committee meeting as printed in last week's paper, wondered who the persons could be that have been improperly running horses in the names of other people. It is not my place to reveal the secrets of the prison-house ; but the public may accept my assurance that I know enough to be fully satisfied that there is foundation for the expressed convictions of the committeemen, and that it has become necessary to put the more stringent rules in operation. Rule 152, which is the regulation to be enforced, reads as follows : — " When a person is warned off the course under these rules, so long as his exclusion continues, he shall not be qualified, whether acting as an agent or otherwise, to subscribe for, or to enter, or run any horse for any race either in his own name or in that of any other person, and any horse of which he is wholly or partly the owner, or which after the fact of his being warned off has been posted in the club rooms, shall be proved to the satisfaction of the stewards to be under his care, training, management, or superintendence, shall be disqualified." In plain informal English, au offender is sent to Coventry by the club ; they don't know him, and will not tauch his money. I think the D. J.C. have taken a timely stand in this matter. They were in duty bound to do something, or else abandon their judicial authority ; and they have, I think, wisely deter • mined to go the whole hog, and not only refuse to take a nomination from one under punishment for corrupt practices, but to have nothing to do with a horse that he is at all connected with. There are some eminent dodgers in this world, and it is to meet their wiles that the rules . have to be made stringent. *** Racehorses are hard worked in America. The aged Barnum, by Bonnie Scotland, who ran in 43 races, of which he won 24, in 1866, was out on no fewer than 63 occasions in the season which came to a close in December last. A total of 106 races in two years for a veteran, on such tracks as they possess in the States, is, we should imagine, a record. %* Pony racing is rapidly becoming popular in England, and a pony racing callendar is now published. The Earl of Harrington and the Earl of Dudley are prominent patrons of this exotic. * + * The hurdle racer Promotion has been bought by Orangeman's owner for £100. * # * The well-known jockey Martin Gallagher recently met with a serious accident while breaking in a young colt at Sydney, which, being rather spirited, flung Gallagher out of the saddle, • inflicting cuts and bruises about the head. *** It is an' old story— old enough to be news to many of our 1888 sportsmen, and being a slack week in regard to "matter" I am tempted to tell ifc for the benefit of some of my young readers. I refer to the tale of the celebrated match between Golden Cloud and Dainty Ariel, run on the Epsom course at Auckland when the soldiers were there. Speaking from my recollection of the story as told tome several years later by one of the parties concerned, the facts were somewhat as follows. *** Golden Cloud was sent from the south by Mr Stafford to be trained on the Auckland course, -being handed over for that pnrpose to George Cutts. Dainty Ariel was placed under the care of Jack Laing. Just before the final payment had to be made Dainty Ariel went crooked ; and Laing, as in duty bound, went to Mr Walters and acquainted him of the fact feeling sure that he would declare forfeit and have the match knocked on the head. But Mr Walters indignantly refused to do any such thing. His f riends, he said, had backed old Dainty, and if he could ba brbught to the post on three legs, he should give them a run for their money. Laing was accordingly ordered to shut his mouth and keep Dainty's condition a secret. He did so. Day after day the horse did his work, but never was set such a task as would let the touts know of his weakness, and meanwhile heaven and earth were ransacked in order to doctor up the old horse. The. treatment was, however, only partially successful, and a day or two before the race Laing, knowing that his horse could not possibly win, went again to Mr Walters and besought him to cry off. Finding his appeal had no effect Laing said, " Look here, if you are determined to run him you may get somebody else to ride him, for I won't." By way of anovrer Mr Walters produced the agreement by

I which Laing had bound himself to obey his .master's orders for a specified time, and made no bones as to his intention to prosecute Laing if he threw up the mount. " Well," replied Laing, < "if it must be so, here goes; but I want you to 1 promise me one thing if I am to go on with the job." " What is it ? " was Mr Walters' question. " That you give me full liberty to ride this race exactly as I see fit; and that if I lose it, even though you think I've -done wrong, you'll stand by me." The condition was accepted and Laing went home to think out the problem of how a broken down horse was to be made to win from a sound oae. ♦*♦ The day of the race came, and with it a great crowd, who, knowing, nothing of what had happened, made Danity Ariel a hot favourite. The distance was three miles, at weight for age. The flag fell; both started off, neither anxious to make the pace. The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn, Stood, waiting for Sir Richard Strachan. fair Richard, longing to be at 'em, Stood waiting for tne Earl of Chatham. Substitute Cutts and Laing for the vorsefier's heroes, and in the above-quoted doggrelyou have a summary of the situation. The horses dropped from a gallop to a canter ; from a canter to a trot ; from a trot to a walk ; then they actually stopped, and while this performance was proceeding the two jockeys were railing at each other for not going on, while the crowd were frantic with exasperation at Laing for what they supposed to be his giving away the race. It would be wearisome to describe the match at length — it was the same game, waiting on each other until something like half a mile more had to be covered, wheu Laing cautiously crept a length or two in front, suddenly gave Dainty a taste of the hooks, and, being ahorse that was very quick on his legs, he was several lengths in front before the Golden Cloud was fairly in his stride. The Southerner suffered from shelly feet, and this caused him to sometimes move a bit sore until he was warmed up, and hence he was slow in beginning. Laing rode for dear life when ouce moving, his horse was going as strong as a lion, but might break down at any moment. In a few seconds he became aware that Golden Cloud was commencing to make up his lost ground — the noise of his hoofs told the tale ; he heard the chestnut close behind him, and still a furlong or so to go ; gradually the big horse drew up, and on they swept, Golden Cloud gaining an inch or so at every stride, until, just as they passed the post, it seemed to Laing that it was a dead heat, or that if there was a win it was his opponent's. Jumping off hurriedly, his one thought being to escape from the fury of the crowd, Laing was looking out for an opening to bolt when someone caught him by the shoulder and congratulated him. •• Why, what for ?" said Laing. " Because you've won a grand race," was the reply. And looking round, Laing saw to his astonishment that he was among friends ; Dainty Ariel had been declared the winner by a nose. The time was, I understand, somewhere about a quarter of an hour. %* As the outcome of this event, Golden Cloud's owner challenged Mr Walters to another match, but it is needless to say that this was not accepted. Golden Cloud was a chestnut gelding foaled in 1859, got by Tontin out of Emma (dam of Scandal, Flat Iron, and No Name), by Gil Bias from Emily, by Operator. Dainty Ariel was bred by Lieutenant St. Hill in 1857, got by Riddleswalk out of Althsea, being thus full brother to Meleager and Chymenseus. I have' told the story as told to me, aid from memory ; if there are any errors in the narration perhaps some of the patriarchs will kindly supply the necessary corrections. In justice to George Cutts it should be added that he had sufficient reasons for adopting the same tactics as Laing. ♦** English advices report that there is a renewal of the difficulty in connection with the Derby course, which arose between the Epsom management and the late Mr Studd, on his becoming lord of the manor of Walton-on-the-hill, owing to a portion of the running crossing a portion of his property near the old T. Y. C. starting post. A new course was laid out ap the time, and, a correspondent points out, if it is intended to adopt the same track hereafter, with its very angular and far more dangerous turn than the present one at Tottenham Corner, in consequence of a similar dispute with the present lord of the manor, no endowment in the shape of added money to the Derby and Oaks will prevent their downfall. Under no circumstances, however, can there be any deviation in the present so-called " new Derby course " until after 1889, by which time the present engagements which closed last year will be run out. *^* Skyscraper, who was sold at the breakup of Lord Falmouth's stud for 1400gs, was knocked down recently by auction for llgs. : * # * "The Waverley" is the name given to a new form of racing saddle patented by Mr A. W. Keen, of Victoria. The tree is wholly of metal of rounded form, made in one piece, and strengthened by two extra neck-bars or gullet pieces. It is a tree of great strength, and yet lighter than the old-fashioned one, and makeable in half the time. It will bend, but not break. The inner covering or panel to such tree is, in the new form, made of one cutting of thick felt or spongy pilse, instead of in the three layers of leather, serge, and flock in present use. %* " Brickey" Colley, the erstwhile Sydney jockey, is much improved ; but his leg is weak, and it will yet be some time before he is seen in the saddle again. %* Few people know the expense of a racing establishment. It is estimated that this year's entrance fees alone will cost Mr Abington something liko £10,000. V The Bathurst-bred colt True Briton, by John Bull from Ruby, has been weighted at 7st 61b in the Suburban Handicap of 5000dol, one mile and a-quarter, run at the Brooklyn meeting (U S.)» and will probably start. The Barb is top weight with 9st 41b. * # * I think that our racehorses this year have been of a moderate class. Certainly one or two stand out as real good ones, and Mr D. O'Brien is, no doubt, the possessor of a firstclass two-year-old in Carbine, who is considerably superior to any animal of his own age that has measured strides with him. Whether he is quite the sort to carry out his two-year-old performances by training on into a first-class three-year-old is a question which will decidedly admit of argument, and his first appearance next season will be eagerly looked for. This is from the pen of "Hermit." Has his eagle eye detected anything suspicious about the great gun? *** Vinaigrette ran at the Casterton (Victoria) races on the 9th and lOfch, carrying the colours of aMr Watts. She won the first day's Selling Race, of 30sovs, five furlongs, her time being lniin 7sec, and was sold for 56sovs ; but on the second day she failed to gain a shop in the Selling Race won by Town Moor. * # * Mr Goschen's proposed tax is not at all favourably received at Home. One of the many grumblers against it says that racing, look at jit from what point you like, is a very expensive luxury. Indeed, there are few, if any, owners who race under the Jockey Club rules who can make both ends meet. Apart from party spirit, the proposed tax is not an equal one, and we have yet to learn from Mr Goschen the difference

between a horse kept for racing purposes and one owned for pleasure. A tax of £1 all round, would not have been exorbitant, but in extending the sum to £5 in the case of the racehorse is rather severe, and will, no doubt, cause many owners to curtail their studs, and especially so with those who train at Newmarket. A year or so ago, when the authorities at headquarters raised the Heathjtax to seven guineas a horse, there was a deal of grumblingon the part of owners; but how will he fare if Mr Goschen succeeds in also passing the five-pound tax ? Twelve pounds a year, without taking into consideration the training, travelling, riding fees, and other incidental expenses, to have a) horse prepared at Newmarket, will indeed be paying for a luxury. In* the winter Gurry had no fewer than 65 horses in training at Bedford Lodge, and close upon a similar number were under Jewitt's care. Such lists further show how deeply the owner has to dip into his pockets to keep up what is often referred to as a national pastime, whereas it may safely be said to be self-supporting. Until last year we did have some assistance from the Privy Purse in the shape of an annual grant for Queen's Plates ; but we have even lost this. In many ways the turf contributes heavily to the revenue, and, under the circumstances, this five-pound tax upon the racehorse quite unnecessary. * # * An American description of the breeding establishment to which sire Cheviot has been sent: " Away down in San Luis, Obispo County, in Southern California, where the orange trees blossom all the year round, lies a 40,000-acre farm,' known to all the surrounding country as the Pedro-Bianco ranch. It is the property of Senator George Hearst. The western boundary of the farm is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean. At this point Senator Hearst has erected a wharf, at which steamers of the largest tonnage land, and through this medium the shipment of stock is made direct from the stables to the City of San Francisco. The farm contains about 300 horses, including colts. The entire property is worth 600,000d01, and is one of a number of similar interests owned by this twenty millionaire from the Pacific Slope." A meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club was was held on Monday evening. There were present—Hon. G. M'Lean (president), J. Hazlett, R. Wilson, W. L. Pbilp, H. Gourley, J. Fleming, George Dowse, and John A. Cook. A letter was received from Mr F. G. Parkes asking for the removal of his disqualification, acknowledging his error, and stating that he had suffered very severely in consequence. This was the third application of the same nature, and taking into consideration all the circumstances connected with the case, the committee were of opinion that the punishment already suffered had been sufficient, and resolved that the disqualification be removed forthwith. The committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club have reduced the added money to the New Zealand Grand National Steeplechase from £500 to £400.