CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1913, 20 July 1888, Page 24

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By " RATA."

That racing clubs are instituted mostly for purposes of monetary acquirement — i.c , they are floated on business principles and conducted on commercial line?— is beyond doubt, but there are exceptions ; the English Jockey Club is an exception. Comprised of those who have acquired rank and fortune hereditary, and men who have attained similar positions by distinction in the field, or in law and legislation, it is far removed from any corresponding body whatsoever in point of social status, and its power in racing matters is illimitable. The premier club of both hemispheres, its rules are adopted in the main by every properly constituted racing senate, and its precedents are invariably acted upon iv judicial enquiry. Newmarket is its headquarters, and tho town and its environs belong mainly to tho jockey club and its members. A quaint old place is Newmarket in itself : a long straggling town with one main street running north and south, everything savours horsey, more or less. Newmarket, too, is unique in a way ; it Has no properly constituted municipal authority, and, as I have remarked previously, it is beyond school board jurisdiction in consequence of the excessive number of stable boys located in its neighbourhood. The stables are mainly on the outskirts of the town, and some of these are nearly new, with almost palatial residences in their vicinity. They are mostly built on a quadrangular priuciple: they are yards in reality, with ©pen horse boxes — and the majority of them contain upwards of 50 boxes, and are supplied with heating apparatus ; indeed in some instances a trainer may be found with 70 horses in actual work. All these are exercised on jockey club property, and every trainer is mulcted in a training fee and is licensed, which license may be withdrawn at the pleasure of the club immaterial of nonconformity with rules and regulations, such withdrawal being beyond the turf apart from training on Newmarket heath. Training licenses are rarely withdrawn, however, and the only instance I recollect was that of Charles Archer, who had previously expended a* small fortune on au elaborate training establishment, and superintended the mentorsbip of one of the largest and best teams of horses — mostly the property of Lord Ellesmere — exercised at headquarters. No reason was given for the suspension, and even the influence of Lord Ellesmere was inadequate to obtain a rescision of the club's judgment; yet a reason apparently existed, and Charles Archer was outlawed for a couple of seasons, and ultimately lost the patronage of his most patrician employer. Such decisions frequently subject the club to adverse criticism, but they are undoubtedly warranted by the evidence before the stewards, and that is usually very reliable. Perhaps the harshest decision of modern times was the expulsion of Mr Lowe, the original owner of Barcaldine. Mr Lowe was an Irish owner, and he knew ho had a clinker, but so did other people. Barcaldine was entered for the Northumberland Plate, a big ante-post bettiug race rim in the vicinity of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and being a maiden and unknown to the handicapper he was " chucked in " at something like 6st 51b. When the market fairly settled down Barcaldine was made a raging favourite, and it became bruited abroad that his owner contemplated scratching him. Sir John Astley, who had evidently backed the Hibernian, and is himself a member of the Jockey Club, and a most excellent sportsman, communicated with Mr Lowe, and inquired whether he intended eliminating his horas or running him. Mr Lowe replied that if he (Sir John) would lay- him £10,000 to £1000 be would ran Barcaldine, but otherwise he would scratch him. No answer being forthcoming the pen was resorted to, and Sir John Astley laid the matter before the stewards of the Jockey Club. Disqualification of horse and owner resulted on the score of unsportsmanlike conduct, as evinced in a conditional betting communication to a member of the Jockey Club. Mr Lowe was apparently disqualified for non-observance of sufficient reticence, and no doubt any other owner would have incurred a similar penalty.

The English Jockey Club takes no cognisance of betting. That department is under the control of the committee of Tattersall's and the committee of the subscription rooms at Newmarket. These bodies are almost identical, and their rules of betting are universally adhered to. Tattersall's is a repository for thoroughbred stock — a sale yard with betting rooms attached — ia Knightsbridge, London, and the subscription rooms at Newmarket were, like Lloyd's, the headquarters of marine insurance, originally coffee rooms — or a coffee room ; in official documents they are frequently termed

" the coffee room " at Newmarket. The committees are comprised of influential owners, and all betting disputes are submitted' to their consideration, and this is the weakest point in English turf legislation. Betting is the main feature of racing, and it is invariably the primary factor in judicial inquiry by the Jockey Club; therefore, it may fairly be argued, why is it not under the immediate control of the jockey club P The subscription rooms at Newmarket are only used during the progress of race meetings at headquarters, and Tattersall's is the chief betting centre in so far rs " Member of Tattersall's " is esteemed sufficient guarantee of solvency ; but Tattersall's has degenerated as a betting resort in face of the institution of betting clubs, and in either the Victoria or Beaufort a ''monkey" is perhaps booked for every " pony " that is betted at Tattersall's. Yet Tattersall's is the chief centre by virtue of precedence, and it will continue to be so just as as the Jockey Club will maintain its position in face of miaor institutions though its race meetings are now greatly inferior to some of those held elsewhere. This is an outcome of the enclosed system of racing: jockey club revenue is confined to training fees and admission charges to the racecourse enclosures and stands, whereas the main revenue of enclosed grounds is derived from " gate."

The chief duty of the stewards of the Jockey Club— there are but three, one being elected annually for a term of three years — is the government of the turf and the administration of racing law — theiatwpretation and application of their own enactments, in fact. At Newmarket the club is merely a racing club; and though warning off Newmarket heath means warning off every racecourse in England, the suspension of a trainer's license — trainers are not licensed beyond headquarters — or an intimation prohibiting an owner training his horses on the heath, such a's was issued to Mr Abington on one occasion, is merely a club enactment that does not extend beyond the conduct of the club's private property. Perhaps Newmarket heath is the best training ground in the world, taken all over. It stretches away for miles on either side of the town, and comprises going of every kind. On the northern side are the Bury Hills, surrounded by a tan track— tan in reality,— and on these hills any kind of galloping can be bad, from a dead flat to a hill side. Then separated by a plantation from the Bury Hills is the ground known as the Limekilns, with a splendid mile gallop, and sufficient room— it is triangularly shaped— for the exercise of hundreds of horses, and perhaps quite 500 are sometimes worked there of a morning ; 2000 is the common estimate of the number exercised on the heath daily. The ground on the southern side of the town is termed the R vcecourhe Side, and that is intersected at the far tide by a Roman embankment, made for military purposes doubtless. The racecourse proper extends from the southern extremity of the main street —or 20 yards beyond it —to the western border of the heath, giving a nearly straight two-mile course from' the Rowley Mile starting post to the Cambridgeshire stand, known as the " top of the town," presumably in contradistinction to the situation of the Cesarewitch stand, erected considerably further down — at the end of the Rowley Mile. The heath on this side of the town therefore extends two miles from east to west, and the ditch — Roman embankment — side is encircled with a tan track. The .July courso is beyond the ditch, and a four-mile semi-circular track is obtained by a junction of the July course, and the Rowley Mile at the western extremity of the heath, known as the " turn of the lands." In point of galloping ground, Ido Dot think Newmarket can be equalled, but the race meetings there have degenerated greatly.

The Jockey Club has advanced with the times as far as possible beyond enclosing the racecourse side, but that advancement is inadequate to cope with enclosed meetings in more densely populated neighbourhoods, and, bar Ascot, I should not be surprised if another decade effects a universal adoption of the enclosed system as it now exists throughout New Zealand. At Newmarket, for instance, tho racing can be seen better from the flat beyond the rails than from any of the stands ; consequently the majority of visitors find it unnecessary to pay any fees whatsoever. The casual racegoer rarely attends an isolated place like Newmarket alone, and one betting ring ticket usually suffices for the require* ments of ssver.al visitors ; hence the inability of the Jockey Club to compete with rival racing clubs in the matter jof stakes, and the consequent degeneracy of its meetings. Betting may be the chief factor in a production of good racing, but value of stake money is everything in the maintenance of position in a meeting. A colonial visitor to Newmarket on a big race day — such as the Cesarewitch day — would at once conclude that a colonial racecourse has a long pull over an English one in point of general management, and this would bo more conspicuous at Newmarket than elsewhere. The Cesarewitch winning post is immediately opposite the stand — a very fine structure — but below that winning post, beyond the betting enclosures, are four other boxes separated in each instance by something like 200 yds, and finishes at these posts can only be seen by leaving the rings and stands and walking or riding down by the course. Then again cantering past or even exhibiting competitors in the paddock or birdcage is not enforced, and a moiety of a Cesarewitoh field of about 20 are frequently added at the ditch stables near the starting post, their backers not seeing them till the race is over. Indeed, the only improvement a colonial would see at Newmarket in point of management on what he had seen iv the colonies would be the hoisting of jockey's names on tho telegraph board, and that I think is a distinct improvement.

The majority of strangers engaged in the Grand National have arrived, but up to the time of writing I have seen very few of them worked, and apparently some of them are exercised at extraordinnry hours. I walked round the course a few mornings 6inco, and it is a very excellent artificial country. The going is splendid— a bit too good perhaps— and the fences stiff enough for anything. Beyond the straight on leaving home the first obstacle is a gorse fence, but as the gorse is a couple of feet above the top rail, horses can go through it from that elevation, and they know quite enough to do that, especially if they have been over it previously. The next fence is a raspiDg sod wall, some 3ft wide, and further on there is another gorge fence, and then a double jump, the obstacles being a chain apart. After that there are two sod walls — one about 4ft 6in and the other several inches less, though this other looks more formid* able in consequence of having a more than usually wide ditch on the taking off side. Last year there was a sod wall in the straight, but that has been taken away, and a gorse fence is now being put up where it stood. Opposite the stand, too, a double fence has yet to be erected, and that will complete the number of obstacles in a single circuit. Chemist, the top weight, may be a good one, as undoubtedly he is on his performances, but he does not look up to 12st 10lb over four miles of country. I saw him in his box a few days ago, and I fancied he stood no more than 15 2, though I have since been told that he is about 16 hands. He is certainly a well made horse, showing a lot of power, but

12st 101b wants some weight carrying ability over a Grand National journey, and I prefer Faugh- a-ballagh at a stone less. Ho is still a bit lame, but his lameness does not appear to influence his galloping, and he is a "beautiful jumper, and a rare "sticker,' and undoubtedly he knows the country well Mangaohone is a big black horse, with the peculiarity of a silvery tail, and he is one that might render a good account of himself, pro vided he can get ever the course. Kangaroo has also arrived, but I have nob seen him yot; and Isaac, who looks very well, has been restricted to tbe flat since he pnt in an appearance at Riccarton. Irish King is in good fettl- , and if list be not too much for his narrow coi - formation he will have a decided show. Wai tangi looks a commoner, but his weight is fo small that he must be in it if he can jump. Haka has received a lot of schooling, and he now gets over the post and rail fences admirably, and should he not come down at the sod walls he will be thorn in the side of the be3t of them. Daddy Longlegs has not arrived yet, and though Shillelagh is here I have not seen him. Of the lot, however, I prefer Faugh-a-ballagh.