TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 16 July 1891, Page 25

TALK OF THE DAY.

B7 MAZEPPA.

*«* I improved a shining hour the other day by looking round Messrs Stephenson and Hazlett's stable, Stuart Waddell, as usual, extending a hearty welcome when I presented myself. There are at present Biz horseß in training and one partially on the shelf, this last-mentioned being the yearling daughter of -Jje Loup and Titania, who has been blistered on the book and left to iun loose by day in the •large paddock belonging to the stable, Tbii

filly, Cobweb by name, is the biggest of all Titania's progeny so far, and she may turn out the best, being a nice raoing-looking youngster all over, with a splendid back, excellent quarters, and covering a lot of ground, besides whiah she already .moves freely, having the way of using her legs that one looks for in a racehorse. The only thing about her that gives rise to suspicion is a rather doubtfullooking pair of hooks, and to enable her to gain strength in this respeot she will not be oalled on very early in her first season. This being so, Bhe is not likely to fulfil her engagement in the O.J.C. Welcome Stakes. Franoctte waß the first one of the stalled horses that was stripped for inspection. This son of Musket and L'Orient, at present all in the rough after his long run on grass, has just been put into work again, and a month or two should prove whether he is really as sound as he looks to be. There is no doubt that he has speed, but Stuart himself does not know whether he oan stay, for Francotte has never galloped a mile in his life either in publio or private. I think there is room to hope that the stable will get a season's good work out of this hitherto unprofitable servant. Tempest, the next we interviewed, is a mare that was certainly fast as a two-year-old, but has since proved a disappointment. The cause of this is a mystery. I am told that Bhe always eats well, and never seems to ail anything, and haß kept quite sound; but somehow or other she has not grown muoh in the paßt year, and the odd occasions on which Bhe' does shape at all satisfactorily are when she is working privately with others of the team. One of these days Tempest may flop up the winner of a decent raoe, but I do not know.of many as sound aa she is that would be a worse investment for the man who makes it ajrule to follow up certain horses.

•«* Huguenot, the Cap filly, is wintering very satisfactorily, and I should say that Bhe is the most promising member in the stable, She ia growing nicely, and furnishing into a really handsome mare, and Stuart tella me that she is a particularly good-tempered filly. Her appearance indicates that Bhe baa not been idle since the May meeting, and I expect that Bhe will be ready to raoe in the Timaru Guineas. If all keeps well with her she should take a lot of doing in that event, but whether she has any show of lasting the New Zealand Cup distance iB more than anyone oan say aB yet. The other Cup candidate in the stable is Mariner, who also is regularly doing suoh easy exercise as iB proper for this time of the year, and this without showing weakness on the leg that waß injured at Ohristchurch in the autumn. Mariner has proyed himself a fairish horse of his class, and ought to pay bis way again next Beason, Ocoident was never Bounder in bis life than at present, so far as one one can tell by seeing and feeling, and I believe that he would have been specially trained for the New Zealand Oup if the handioapper had given him a Bhow. The other horse in the stable is the plater Derby, whose recent deeds have caused him to be regarded with respect in his own company. He is not a bad sort of a nag if properly placed, and Stuart Waddell is too old a soldier to make many mistakes in that way.

%• The weights for the Grand National Steepleohase take a lot of (looking over before one oan really write a just or useful criticism, and I do Dot know that it would be of much use to go over the matter this week, for the reason that some of those which at first blush seem to be well in are sure to go out on aooeptanoe day, if not earlier, v The best thing to do is, I think, to wait till we see what owners themselves think of the handicap, and in the meantime reat content with a few general observations. Observation the first that I shall make is in the direction of expressing the opinion that the handicap might have been started at 12 7 instead of 12.11, oonBidering that a "has been" like Chemist is at the top of the list. I have no doubt that Mr Henry is right in making Chemist, a Grand National winner, give weight to a loser, even though the loser be Ahua, but Chemist cannot be quite the Chemist of old, and I would have preferred to see him 41b lower for the same reason that Mangaohane is well down the list. Abua lido not like at all. I doubt whether he is first-class steeplechaser. Sentinel ought to have won at Hawke's Bay with 11.10, and if he comes down he will be danceroua with 11.13. He ought to beat Tauraekaitai. The latter was receiving 131b at Hawke's Bay, and they say that his beating Sentinel was a fluke : now they meet at a difference of 31b, so that Mr Henry Bays the Hawke'a Bay performance was no fluke. I will not have Jenny, though she did win at Auckland, until I know that she is sound. Tauraekaitai is, I think, held safe by Sentinel. Mangaobane and Irish King are done for, from what we hear. Oeo has a Bay, and a food one. He waa second at Hawke'a lay with 9.9 and divided at Wellington with 10.0. They say that he is a splendid jumper and a sticker, but slow. I like those sort of horses. He should beat Darnley at 10.5, on the Wellington running, and the ooaoesaion of 81b in favour of Kangaroo will not make him win. Without going further down the list horse by horse, I may say that at a first glance I like Sentinel, Oeo, and Ival as well as any other three, and old Waitangi may very likely beat a lot of tb6m. In the Hurdle Race I would stand nothing but Ahua if I thought there wae any show of his being reserved for this event. Next to him I like Erin-go-Bwgh aB well as anything in the race. There's a queer double for you— OEO and AHUA. When the acceptances appear I will try and piok some better one if this first fancy goes oronk.

%* Colonel Dodge, a very fluent writer on the horse, and oußtoms of horsemen, says that the Indian, in spite of his untutored mind, has found out the effect of weight on a horse, and even to-day always raoes bare-backed, because the saddle weighs too much. Experience has taught him what a few pounds more or less mean. By the way, can my readers suggest a reason why we mount a horse from the near side, whereas it was the habit of antiquity— a habit preserved by the Indian to this day— to mount from the off ? Colonel Dodge furnishes what he regards as an explanation, and it is cartainlj plausible. The lance or other weapon, was naturally held in the right hand, and could not readily be thrown over the animal without fright or injury. The Greeks had a small loop on the shank of the lanoe, into which they thrust their right foot, and this aided them greatly in mounting. But the dangling sword of the mediaeval cavalry soldier obliged him to mount on the near side, and as he ib the pattern from which moderns have been oast, the habit has survived. The white man who attempts to mount an Indian pony in our fashion is very apt to get a nasty spill before ha has reached his baolt, for at the unusual attempt the balf-trainad beast will be apt to whip round. As for the endurance of these horses, there is a record of one that carried the mail 300 miles in three consecutive nights, back over the lame road the next week,

and kept this up for six months without loss of condition,

*«♦ The Palmerston Club is about to erect a stand on the course, of -which a 14 years' lease has been acquired. A small item of news, perhapß, to the majority of our readers, but of considerable import to the hundreds from Dunedin and other distriotß who make it a rule to attend the meeting, and I give the subject prominence in the hope that other clubs will take the bint and make suitable provision for the accommodation of the publio where this is lacking. There are very few courses where a stand is not an absolute neoessity. Tokomairiro is the only one that suggests itself to my mind offhand. There there is a noble hill— a mountain it would be called in England— from the sides of which a million of people could overlook every part of the oourse. At Palmerston, as at moßt other suburban courses where no artificial stand iB provided, no one but the judge and the one or two others who crowd into the box with him can possibly see muoh of what the horses are doing, excepting when they are on the back stretch. This is exasperating to a degree, and unfair too, for how can the stewards be qualified to perform their dutieß when perhaps only one- of their number has seen what occurred at the point where the incident ocourred which gave riße to the dispute? I am quite sure that at many race meetings which I have attended it would have paid a man to bring on a lot of kitchen tableß and charge, say, 6d a jump up. Further, clubs that provide decent aocommodation will gain by the patronage of the ladieß. Men won't take their wives out for a day's outing and ask them to stand about all day, or push their way to the front if they deßire to see the racing. Clubs cannot do impossibilities, but they ought, in their own interests, to follow Palmeraton's example as soon as they can rake up the wherewithal. %* Though the Cromwell Derby entries this year are somewhat fewer than usual, numbering only nine, the quality is the best ever put forward. On the sires' side at any rate the breeding is unexceptionably sound, if not quite as fashionable in all cases as we get in metropolitan nominations. From the list appearing elsewhere it will be seen that the five stallions represented are the well-bred Gorton, the sturdy and unfortunately defunct Duntroon, the successful and now-sought-after L 9 Loup, and the promising though untried Epicure and Argonaut. These Bireß must surely beget something that has a better show of lasting than the Btock so far raised in the district. It is evident to me that this Oromwell Derby is now doing something, in a small way, to fulfil its mission. By and bye it will be an important race. I notice in looking over the names of the horses entered that the obviously suggested name of Lupus has at last been secured for a son of Le Loup, and that one owner has manufactured a queer-looking name rather than lose the chance of combining the names of both sire and dam. He calls his colt Verepic, but the people will miss the meaning and the pronunciation altogether, and the youngster, instead of being called Ver-epio, will infallibly be dubbed Veer-piok. *»♦ A fall report of the Wellington meeting has been sent, and will be found in another column. Nothing of note started in the Trial Steeplechase, but Chester, the winner, shaped exceedingly well, and may be heard of again. The hurdle raoers were a pretty fair lot, a better field than one usually Bees in these degenerate days. Ival seemß to have been a little lucky, aB he blundered at the laßt fence, but Gallagher managed to make a quick recovery. In the Steepleohase Whalebone led all the way until the last stride or two, when Oeo succeeded in getting up, and making a dead heat of it, The following iB a list of WINNHRS OP THH WKCMNGTON STBHPIBOHASB.

Ahua was never dangerous at any part of the journey, If that was his true form, he can't win the Grand National. In connection with the Steepleohase, Ahua's indifferent display was not the only cause of talk, another being provided in the scratching of the favourite, Tauraekaitai, owing to a disagreement as to whether the owner owes the Wanganui Club a small sum, payment of which was asked. It is a pity that the owner took this summary method of revenging himself for what he seema to have considered an inßult, as by doing so he really punished, not the olub, but the horse's backers. The rest of the racing calls for no comment, save that the Now Zealand Oup horse Jet d'Eau managed to beat his stable companion in the Ladies' Trophy. %♦ Little Arthur and Red Cross, two of the horses recently taken to Australia by Campbell Hobbs, made their first appearance over there at the Mentone (Vie ) meeting on the 3rd inst. Red Cross had 7.10 in the Midwinter Handicap, five furlongs, and was ridden by Daddy Kingan, but she did not even gain a place, the race being won by the even money chance Briton, a four-year-old brother to Pakeha, carrying 7- 12, with Adonis 6.11 seoond and Memoir 70 third. Investigator 9.0 was one of the unplaced contingent. The race cawed some unpleasantness, owing to the suspicion that Driffield was stiff. The stewards held an inquiry into the running of Driffield, with the result that his owner, J. B. Ranniaon, the colt, and the jockey, John Hayes, were each disqualified for 12 months. Little Arthur's race was, of course, the Hurdle Handicap, in which he had 11.0 and was unplaced, the winner being The Dane 9.12, with Handover 11.4 second. Campbell Hobbs rode Little Arthur, The chief event of the day, the Mentone Handicap, resulted in a dead heat between Master Walter 7.6 and Accident 7.3, and in the run off Master Walter won. *** The committee of the V.R.C. have given their decisions in the two cases in which certain disqualifications which wereinfliotedby local stewards were afterwards altered on the confession of the jockeys implicated!. The first oase was in connection with the running of Partner in the Selling Race at Wyudham on May 16. The stewards in the first instance disqualified the owner (0. Lenny), the trainer (J. Adams), and the jockey (B. Banvard) for six months for suspicious practices. The jockey then admitted to the stewards that he had been instructed to pull the horse, and the stewards altered their deoißion to 10 years' disqualification for Lenny and Adams, and let the jookey off with a fine of £5. The second oase ocourred a little time after the other, and was a Bimilar one. The pony Wasp, her owner (J. M'Leoa), and jookey (E. Caldeoutt) were each disqualified for Bix months, but Oaldecutt made a confession, and the steward altered their deomon to a fine of £20 on the jookey and disqualification for two years on the mare and her owner. The V.R.O. Committee, when thesa proceeding j were reported to them in the usual com Be, desired to be folly informs i as to (he wroum-

stances under which decisions once given were altered, and after having received tbia information and having fully considered the matter, they have decided to endorse the first decision given in each instance. The Argus remarks ttat the committee of the V.R.C. by this ruling does not approve of the action of local stewards who altered their original decisions in the direction of making the punishment lighter for the jockeys who made confessions and heavier for the persona who were believed to have been the instigators of the offences. The V.R.O. Committee acted on the striot letter of the zule of raoing that the decision of stewards shall be final bo far as local stewards are concerned.

* M * The conference of delegates from metropolitan jockey clubs opened at Wellington on the 10th inst. The following delegates were present : — Hon. L. Walker, G. H. Clifford (Canterbury), Hon. G. M'Lean (Dunedin), Messrs H. D. Bell, J. Duthie (Wellington), F. R. Jackson, A. J. Parsons (Wanganui), Bauchope (Taranaki), H. M. Lyon (Nelson), W. Pollard (Marlborough), A. Guiness (Greymoutb), Captain Russell and Hon. J. D. Ormond (Hawke's Bay). Captain Russell was appointed chairman. The business first taken, so far as the proceedings are known, was introduced by the Canterbury Club, the following being adopted in the form of a resolution : —

No horse in whose ownership any paid official of a raoe meeting or any person engaged in working the totalisator thereat has any interest shall be qualified to start at suoh meeting. Any suoh person so entering or starting a horse shall be liable to a fine not exoeeding £100. I agree with those who regaxd this resolution as objectionable in that it casts a Blur on men who, though paid, are not supported at a princely rate. The suggestion implied is that because a man is paid he is not to be trusted to act as a gentleman. If a resolution of this kind were imperatively needed, it should have gone a step further and declared that no officials of any kind are competent to run horses at the meeting in which they are interested. That, of course, would be impracticable, since ab many meetings there is no one to manage but owners ; and therefore I say it would have been better not to have had a resolution on the subject at all. The next business was the passing of a rule providing for the registration of partnerships. That also appears to me unnecessary, the matter being provided for already ; bub as I have not seen the new rule I will not condemn it offhand. The Canterbury Club's third proposal—

That a similar rule to the English Jookey Olub rule relating to bets bs inserted in 'place of Bule 162— was withdrawn. The Wellington Club succeeded in carrying one of its suggestions, to the following effect : —

Eule 21.— That the word " speoial " be struck out of the second line, and that the following words be added:— "Which license shall be'granted only upon speoial grounds " ; and Bule 38 (was amended by raising the minimum weight to be carried by any horse in a flat race to 6.7. Of the 10 motions given notice of by the; Auckland Jockey Club only the fourth was passed, this being in these words : —

A certified oopy of race cards of all meetings with first, second, and third horse .marked, shall be forwarded after each meeting to the metropolitan olub of the district. As one who has spent a deal [of tjme in searching for correct reports of country race meetings, lam very pleased to see such a rale carried. It will help everybody to keep the run of out- of - the way meetings. Another Auckland motion, that

The proprietor of, or any person interested in the working of a .totalisator shall not be eligible to act as a steward or committeeman of a race meeting, stands referred to a sub-committee. As to the Hawke's Bay Club's suggestions, this one was carried : —

Eule 23a.— At any meeting held on any date from the Ist September to the 30bh April not more than eight races shall be included in any day's programme, and from the Ist May to 31st August not more than seven raoes shall be included in any day's programme. And the following new rule was also approved of:—

Bule 46.— That the words "unless otherwise specified" be struck out, and after the word " winner " in the third line the following words be inserted :— " Exoept in the case of a dead heat, in whioh event the penalty shall be calculated on the amount payable to the winners less"<any second or third money divided by such winners (also see Eule 121). The proposals for preventing the running of steeplechases and hurdle races at less than two miles were negatived. At a subseuent sitting the question of the formation of a N9W Zealand Jockey Club was discussed at length, and it was ultimately decided that suoh an association should be established as from the Ist day of January next. When the subject was entered upon the Hon. George M'Lean, delegate from the Dunedin Jockey Club, intimated that the club he represented was strongly opposed to the proposal, and retired. Mr Standisb, the Taranaki Jookey Club's delegate, also opposed the proposal, but did not vote either way. The decision of the conference in favour of forming a New Zealand Jockey Club was therefore unanimous. A committee was appointed to revise the draft of the constitution of the new association, and this will be submitted at the next sitting of the conference in Christchurch in November next, which will give time to opposing clubs to reconsider their decision. The prmciple that no fraction of a shilling be paid out in totalisator dividends was recognised by the conference but it is left optional for the stewards at any race meeting to insist on the payment of 6d should they consider it advisable. Ifc is understood that the other matters dealt with by the conference were generally of a technical character. %» The V.R.C. Steeplechase meeting was postponed from last Saturday on account of the floods, Flemington being under water, and there is no telling whea the meeting will be held, though they are sure to make an effort to bring it off -this Saturday if possible. The scratohinga cabled to date are aB follow : — Steeplechase: Goal Post, Thelma, Nooroo, Duval, Dorinda, Bonnor, Little Arthur. Hurdle Race, Busaco, Nooroo, Yabba, Donald, Cuttlefish, Bothwell, Satyr, Iris, Tradition.and Elfie. Of theße. the mosb important withdrawal iB that of Tradition, who was suddenly baoked for a lot of money and then went bung. Ixion, however, is all right, so far as we know, and I think he will run a great horse in this Hurdle Raoe. " Augur " fancies Prisoilla for this event, and of the others he likes Frolic, Bellringer, Mebbeleck, and Ellerslie, while for the Steeplechase he selects Sir Wilfred or Grandwing, 'and expects to Bee Flashlight, Coral, Fearless 11, and Blair Athol the best of the others. My fancy is that Ixion will take a power of beating fcin the Hurdle Race, and that Cobal or Sib Wilfred will very nearly win the Steeplechase. * m * Locally there is no betting worth mentioning, and indeed there is nothing doing save an occasional double at irregular prioes on the Grand National events. One wager tbat I saw taken waß 25 to 1 Ahua and Kulnine. That waß before the weights appeared. Ab to Australian events, the Argus of the 6th reports tbat or the Gaulfield Cap no straight-out

wagering is going on, but Bungebab ia the nominal favourite, the price being 100 to 6 on the field. For the Melbourne Oup the top weight and champion, Carbine, holds his place as a pronounoed favourite at 10 to 1 taken and offered. One hundred to 7 is offered against Vengeance, and 100 to 5 bar the two. Dreadnought and Malvolio having been backed for small Bums at that price. The double event— the two Cups— is receiving some attention at 1000 to 2to 1000 to 5. For the V.R.O. Derby Stromboli is favourite at 4 ,to 1 offered, while sto 1 would be accepted. Penance is at 6 to 1, Swordbearer at 8 to 1, Zalinski at 10 to 1, and the others at from 12 to Ito2oto 1. The double, Derby and Cup, is a favourite speculation, and the favourite picks up to the present are Stromboli, Penance, and Swordbearer, coupled with the Cup favourites, at 1000 to 5 to 1000 to 20. The two Penances and the two Swordbearers have both been baoked to win a fair etake.

\* It will be remembered that some weeks ago there was an action in Viotoria brought by Herbert Florence against William Hutchinson to recover bis share of a winning ticket in Adams' £10,000 sweep for the last Melbourne Oup. The plaintiff's case was that he and the defendant entered into an agreement to share in the purchase of a ticket in Adams' £10,000 sweep on the last Oup race. In accordance with this agreement the defendant sent to Sydney and purchased a ticket, upon which ticket the defendant afterwards drew Carbine in the sweep. As a result of the transaction the defendant was paid £3292, but baa always refused to pay over to the plaintiff his share. The defence was a general denial of the alleged agreement, and the technical defence that the agreement arose out of a gaming transaction, and so was not actionable. Late papers convey the news that Mr Justice a'Beckett has given judgment for the plaintiff for £1192 53 and costs. * # * In giving judgment his Honor Baid that defendant, having agreed to take a tioket in the £10,000 sweep, did not apply for one in that, but for one in the £50,000, so that the tioket which he afterwards got was not that whioh he applied for. It was, however, one which he was instructed to get, and as he had obtained no other which would satisfy the promise made to the plaintiff, his Honor thought that the defendant was not at liberty to say that he had acquired it on his own account. As to the defence of illegality, that the agreement alleged was one by way of gaming or wagering, and that the money sued for wis won in a lottery, and therefore could not be recovered, this was not a case in which the money sued for was paid to the defendant for the use of the plaintiff. It was therefore necessary to resort to the agreement entered into between them to prove that the plaintiff was entitled to anything, and if that agreement was illegal the plaintiff could recover nothing. If instead of buying a ticket in a sweep the defendant had baosed a horse in partnership with the plaintiff, won the wager, and received the money, the plaintiff could have recovered his half. An agreement to make a bet waß not illegal, though as between persons betting with one another the money won could not be recovered by action. This oourt had ordered accounts to be taken of a partnership in a betting business. Men who live by betting were put upon the jury panel and called in court by their avocation as " bookmakers." This would not be done if the avocation were illegal. Getting up a lottery in Victoria suoh aB that in whioh the prize in this action was won would be illegal under seotion 37 of the Police Offences Act, but it waa neither alleged nor proyed that the lottery in which the prize was won in New South Wales was illegal under the law of New South Wales. Apart from positive enactment, his Honor said he could see nothing to render the taking of a ticket in a lottery illegal, and he thought that it was not illegal for persons in Viotoria to agree to take a ticket in a lottery to be got up and drawn in a country out of Victoria, where the lottery was not illegal. On the continent of Europe State lotteries were common enough, and the agreement proved in this case waß no more illegal than would be an agreement between personß in Victoria to subscribe for a ticket in a State lottery in Europe. Suppose suoh an agreement were aoted upon and money won in the lottery, and the winnings were sent to Viotoria to one of the subscribers, he oould not successfully resist an action by his partner to recover his share, nor could the defendant here avail himself of the law sgainst lotteries in Victoria to keep the plaintiff's share of a prize won in a lottery in New South Wales. His Honor therefore gave judgment for the plaintiff, with costs.

**• There is a story of Fred. Archer, in " Racing for Gold " which is not, I think, generally known. It seems that when this famous jockey was at Doncaster one year for the St. Leger, the evening before the race he received a parcel, whioh, on opening, he found to contain lOOsovs, and a slip of paper on which waß written a promise to send him a aecond hundred if he did not win on the morrow, Archer, who was to ride the favourite, at onco went to Lord Falmouth, the owner of the horee, told him what had happened, and asked that another jockey might be put up in his stead. But Lord Falmouth would not bear of this, and told Archer to keep the money. The latter accordingly rode the favourite next day, and though he thought he had the raoe in hand, he was beaten on the post by a short head. On his return to his quarters he found a paicel awaiting him, containing the second £100, and a letter thanking him for having kept his faith with bis anonymous correspondent, but asking him " not to draw it quite so fine another time ! " * # * A fortnight ago I printed a trainer's warning as to the possibility of Carbine being bumped out of the Melbourne Cup. Strange to say, the same idea is talked of by two prominent Australian Bcribes. " Augur " sayß :—: — " I think the old horse has been given a Bhow, though I am of opinion that 10 10 would have been quite sufficient. With 11.0 or over he would have had enough to prevent him getting a place. When Carbine won last year with 10.5 upon his baok, he gained the victory easily enough to make one think that he could have won with 51b more to oarry ; but there was one thing in connection with the contest which the general publio did not perhaps notice. Ramage waß fortunate in getting him into a good position early in the race; he was never in the slightest interfered with, and when be made bis effort everything in front of him seemed to opm out and let him up. Now a horee might run in half a dozen Melbourne Cups and not have such a bit of luck twice. Carbine, however, is such a marvellous horse that he can quickly go into bis place, and being a grand stayer he can remain there, so that though 71b on 10.5 is equal to nearly a stone blow 9 0, he appears to ma to have a very fair show of success. I believe he is wintering well, and my only hope is that Walter Hickenhotham may have him as fit aB be was in November last, in the event of which depend upon it you will see that white face showing out very prominently as they sweep into the home stretch."

V And "Trumpator" expresses hittgcll thua:-" Personally, I think the old fellow

might have been let off with 10.9, He certainly won the last Cup by three or four lengths, but he seemed to be doing his very best all the way up the straight, and a 71b increase on 10.5 is a terrible penalty. Then, again, Carbine has to be got to the same pitch of perfection as in 1890, and it is no easy matter to time a horse to such Buburb condition two years in succession. In the opinion of alt best qualified to judge, Mr Wallace's craok was as well in the autumn as in the spring ; but his running did not corroborate this idea, as it was only after a desperate race that he beat Penance for the All-aged Stakes, and Marvel actually conquered him at a mile. Far be it from me to attempt to detract from Carbine's extraordinary merit as a racehorse. He accomplished a seemingly impossible task last year, and>hould all go well he may start favourite for this year'B Cap, but the extra 71b may prove an insurmountable barrier to success, even if he should not have the additional drawbaok of not getting such a lucky run as he did last November, Then Ramage steered a beautiful course, and was never onde interfered with, despite the Biza of the field. A horse burdened with 10.12 would only have to bs' bumped once towards the end of the race to lose all chance of recovering 1 his position. Few thought Carbine would be asked to run again in a handicap, but it seems Mr Wallace intends him to try and beat last year's record. That matter settled, admirers of a great horse can only hope that the old fellow will come through the trying ordeal with credit instead of limping home a cripple as the result of his last mighty effort on the turf."

ear. [Str. Winner. Bider. Weight, 1884 1885 1836 1887 1888 1889 1890 8 8 6 10 5 12 8 Early Bird Faugh-a-Eallagh Denbigh E0h0... Kangaroo ... HoesTter ... Orient I Whalebone ... \Oeo Herd Chambers Ellingham Eollo Fell Cameron Keith Johnson Frewln st lb 10 6 10 4 11 5 9 10 10 10 9 3 10 4 10 0 10 0 1891 10