OUR SOUTHLAND LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1928, 2 November 1888, Page 24

OUR SOUTHLAND LETTER.

By George Reubbn.

In my last I promised to endeavour to show your sporting readers why there are not more uags in training, and why the people's owa money, presented to them as it were by the Govern • ment, is not spent on the sport to amuße them a» intended. Well, from inquiries made I find that the Invercargiil public some years ago had ft nice piece of land situated at Onetree P°fa* granted to them as a site for a racecourse ; tb« the said course was vested in trnstees; that the said' trustees have since let the course for aboac £20 per annum. Who the trustees are, however, very few know ; and since X have been, in W

district— for four or five years past— l have not to my knowledge seen a balance sheet published. The Winton district, again, I am told by trustworthy residents, has been treated even worse than the Invercargill one. The residents of this district many years ago applied to the Provincial Goverament for a site for a racecaurse. They were granted a nice parcel of 215 acres of land for the purpose. This was duly vested in three trustees,',to be jointly held for the benefit of the Winton Jockey Olub and the residents generally of the district. The trustees were duly empowered to lease the land for a term of years, the rent to be devoted to the encouragement of racing, the improvement of the breed of horses, and the improvement of the property ; the trustees to duly publish a balance sheet every 12 months. Now although the property has been let for about 16 years at an average rental of 75sovs per annum, nobody appears to have seen or heard of a balance sheet being published as required by the act or ordinance. The trust are now receiving £100 8s 4d per year rent, and the members of the jockey club say that none of it is handed over to them. If this is so, how on earth is this money expended ? Or if it is not expended, what is the object of the trustees in boarding it up ? I had a passing look at the improvements on the property a few days ago, and all I could see was a crop of wheat and about 175sovs' worth of buildings and fences as improvements. Now if my remarks result in an insight being given into the working of these two trusts a large section of southern readers will, I am sure, rejoice in my having drawn attention to the subject. Failing an explanation from someone I think the metropolitan club should Bee into the matter and require the publication of a balance sheet from clubs enjoying the benefit of an endowment as Winton, Lumsden, Wyndham, and Invercargill are doing. The handicaps for the Winton annual meeting having appeared, it falls to the lot of Your Own, as he is generally on the premises as it were, to pull, or try to pull, the latest of Mr Howell's estimates to rags and tatters. As Your Own's opinions will be scanned before the acceptances are received, some allowance must be made for owners' intentions, as I Bhall endeavour to spot the winners straight out for the eight events on the card, subject to owners accepting. In the event of my first pick not starting, I say the next on the list with few exceptions— not more than eight — must win. In the Hurdles, the first event to be decided on the 9th, Victory, in my humble opinion, is fairly pitchforked into it with an impost of 11.7 ; carrying the same weight as Mayboy, who in his prime, before he broke down, gave the former exactly 2st and a beating in the Hunt Club Oup. To Wardrobe he concedes nothing either, though if I mistake not he proved himself about 171b the better horse on the fiat in the same distance at Mandeville last fall. To Civis ho gives 71b. Writing from memory, I think Wardrobe in May last was asked to % give this little horse a stone but both declined to face the starter: so I can't see how the difference of 71b has ciept in since, unless the big son of Duntroon is to be allowed half a stone for his meritorious win in Dunediu, or the little son of the same horse penalised the same amount for winning a funeral procession, ?uch as I believe the Hunt Club Cup was. Robin's burden, comparatively, is a nice little steadier for a big horse like him ; but as I believe be cannot stay, I'm off him straight. Gipsy (9.7) can't live in such aristocratic company as Wardrobe and Victory. Subject to acceptances, as before stated, and from private information — not public form — I am going Btraight for Victory, Civis, Wardrobe, and Robin, in the order named, to file past the judge s box,after leaving the two miles and eight leaps of timber in the rear in something under 4min Bsec, go you can reckon they are all pretty fit. The Cup again appears to me so cheap to the chestnut son of Feye — Clipper (8.10) that I doubt very much his starting over the timber. Mokoia (7.7), on 171b better terms, will prove hard to 6hake off. Civis (8.0), if he be reserved, may prove troublesome ; but Wardrobe and Forget-me-Not I consider " cruelled " out of it, allowing for all improvement, by at least 101b. So for this event the inevitable must be Victory, Mokoia, Civis, with Kate Kelly (6.7) respectfully in the rear. In the Flying Handicap Forget-me-Not (8.12) fills the post of honour. Next on the list, and for whom I have more respect, is Mokoia, with a stone less to shift, and I look on it as a moral that if Mokoia can give Streamlet (7.10) 211b and a beating over the 6ame distance at Alexandra, he can surely do her at a difference of 2lb at Winton. As for Robin, with the same impost, I can only stand him for about half the distance. Mimihau (7.€) could not keep this company if she had only the cracker of a stock-whip to carry ' on her hindquarters. I have too much respect '. for good blood to pass Anonyma (7.0) lightly by. ] So I come to the conclusion that the judge's 1 optic will first catch Mokoia, Forget-me-Not and , the Anstralian-bred 'un Anonyma, in the order ' named. < In the Prince of Wales Stakes Victory is the < honourable place-holder, having 8.12 to cart . home. Forget-me-Not (21b less) has about a 4lb i better show than in the Cup, taking the distances : into consideration. Civis (8.7), on the same ', basis of favourite distance, meets him 51b worse ] than in the Cup. Mokoia (7.10) appears to me ] the best of the six. Pirate can't be fit, Modeste 1 has the same trouble, and the two Derby horses < I can't stand, so Anonyma must be the next i best. Streamlet (7.8) can't get the iength of I the journey. To my way of thinking this should x prove the best race of the day, but the Auckland* s bred horse must win after a close shave with "* Mokoia and Anonyma, with Civis laying dan- t gerously outside. \ For the District, Surprise, receiving 2st from 1 Wardrobe, must do it if he is fit at all over one i mile, and Swede has won enough now to retire I on his laurels. Forget-me-Not I don't think can a start for this as she was exercising in North In- I vorcarpill within the last six months, and the f limitation of residence iv the district is that period. <3 For the Trot— oh! I'm off trots after this, t The best of this orowd to my mind are Anneau t d Or, Waxy, and Tute d'Or. If that can't find h jt it's a very open affair bar Reefer, who bas v been this time shamefully sat on. a The Derby Stakes— what wins that? Well, 0 1 11 tell you : it's Mr G. Stewart's well-bred Sea- r ward ; Blackpine second, Goldsaver third, and c Beeswing coming round the corner. fl , The Maiden will have about six entrants, and I in the following trio the winner will be found — fi Anonyma, Seaward, Modeste, in the order 1 named. £ The Hurry Scurry I will leave to the knowing £ ones on the course, as I many not be there. £ Foremost is iv active work for St. Andrew's ~ n Mr Stewart's Brunette has produced a nice iv bay colfc foal to Evertou Lad. g Lady Ellen and Cliff both visit Le Loup this £ Wison, and I expect to see Cliff and Le Loup fi, wck well. p ========= • R "Rough on Rats."— Clears out rats, mice, tc roaches, flies, ants, bed-bugs, bottles, insects, S skunks, jack rabbits, sparrows, gophers. At fii chemists and druggists. * E