TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 27

TALK OF THE DAY.

BY MAZEPPA.

* # * The acceptances and general entries for the D. J.C. May meeting promise excellent racing. Nothing of much importance ti&B dropped out of the main races with the exception of Occident and Huguenot, and the stable to which they belong is represented by two acceptors in each of the chief 'events of the first day. , Next week will be early enough to try to pick fcne winners, but I may remark that I look on Mfirrie England, Hippomenesy Palliser, and Don Pedro as the most formidable, in the Birthday, and Lady Zetland and CJonjurer in the Tradesmen's. Doubles are opeh at 50 to 2" if not,"i and there is a fair demand, the most popular selection being those flbovementioned, with ■ the addition of Prime Warden and Flinders for the Birthday arid Young Cheviot and Tempest for the Tradesmen's.

*4* Handicaps for the Dunedin Amateur Trdtting Club's meeting to be held on Carisbrook ground on 21st inst appear in this issue, and acceptances are due on Saturday 14. It appears to be as great a puzzle to pick the winners as it must have-been to Mr Dowse to make the handicaps, and I don't feel inclined to 1 expose my ignorance of what some of the horses . can do by trying to anticipate results this week. The committee have decided that . the totalisator shall be closed immediately the limit horse starts, instead of waiting for the scratch horse to leave the mark, as has been the custom hitherto in trotting races. As this is one of the reforms advocated by the Owners' and Trainers' Association in Christchurch it should give satisfaction to trotting men. It will at any rate prevent the crush at the machine at the last moment.

* # * The Tahuna Park executive have every reason to be pleased with the nominations for the inaugural meeting, and from all that I can hear the venture will prove a success. Mr Philp has been somewhat delayed by the wet weather in putting the finishing touches to the track, but it will be ready in plenty of time, and I am sure that owners will be satisfied with it. If it be true that a scheme has«been thought out for getting the cinders to bind without making the going too hard, then the course should be a particularly fast one, and possibly records will be put up. In any case it should be a good track in wet weather. The committee are sparing no pains to make the arrangements complete in every respect.

*** The few words sent by cable concerning the result of the two Guirieas races at New' market last week are spread out into a column or so of what will be interesting reading to those whose connection with the Turf is something more than a mere means of making money. It is difficult to guess whether Bonavista was or was not a public fancy for the Two Thousand. When the last mail left there was practically no betting, one reason for this being that Orme was engaged; but the cable tells us that he went amiss a week or so before the contest was decided, and he was of course an absentee. It is likely that after he was withdrawn the public would select one of Porter's others, probably Goldfinch or Orville, and Priestess .would be safe to be fancied if she started ; but in any case Bonavista would not be entirely neglected, for his breeding would attract attention, and besides he ran a really good race , in the Woodcote Stakes last May. In the early part of that six furlong struggle he seemed to be hopelessly beaten, but when Rioter tired Mr Robb's colt came with a wet sail and an exciting finish resulted in his defeating Pilgrim's Progress by a length. That was Bonavista's only win last season, but it was highly meritorious. He ran twice again, finishing third to Goldfinch" and Pilgrim's Progress in the New Stakes at Ascot and third to La Fleche and Lady Hermit in the Chesterfield Stakes, and then retired for the season. His one win contributed L 950 to Bend Or's total of L 12.843 in the season of 1891. St Angelo started four times last year and won once, this being in the Hopeful Stakes at Newmarket October, the amount thereby credited to his doubtful paternity being L 557. Curio started once in the Criterion Stakes, when he was beaten by Mortgage and St. Angelo.

*** There is a bare possibility that if the favourite was beaten in the Two Thousand the punters were thereby induced to become somewhat cautious about the fillies' race two days later, but the chances are that the opposite of this was the case, and I shall be quite prepared to find that Baron Hirsch's Daisy went out as hot a favourite as Wheel of Fortune was in 1879. Backers are as a rule more inclined to go a raker for a recovery than to plank down the pieces when they think they know something in the early part of a meeting. I have seen this over and over again. A man will receive what seems to be good information, say about a Cup, and he is satisfied to put L 5 on. His horse loses, and in his anxiety to get round he sticks L2O on to some fancy of his own for another race. Then he curses his luck if he does not get homfe. This pernicious habit of not knowing when to stop has been the ruin of many an otherwise sensible man. In La Flecte's case the punters landed the odds on that they would be sure to have to lay, and the result of the race will be to harden the filly for the Derby. She is full sister to Memoir, who was beaten in this race in 1890 by her stable companion Semolina, and is undoubtedly on performances the best mare of her age in England, if not superior to the colts as well. Last season La Fleche had four wins, worth L 3415, and she ranked second to Signonna as a contributor towards the L 26.860 secured by the 25 wins of St. Simon's stock in that year. The Smew, also .by St. Simon, won twice, earning L 151 2; and the beautifully-bred Adoration had three wins worth L 1836. All

three fillies are engaged in the Oaks, which so faf as we can judge looks something like a certainty for Baron- Hirsch's clipper. She was bought as a yearling for 5500g5, the largest sum ever paid for a yearling in England, and therefore needed to be lucky to pay her way, but she must now stand clear in her owner's books if he has made it a rule to back her.

*** Some particulars about tho method of betting in the United States are given by a writer in the Sportsman. It is a ready-money business, and is done in dollars, 25 dollars being about five guineas. It is carried on at the tracks and in the poolrooms. The betting ring is a large square or oblong room under the stand, and free to all holders of stand tickets, from 50 to 100 bookmakers pay from 15gs to 20gs daily for the privilege of betting, and they pay for four days in advance. They are provided by the jockey clubs with stands somewhat resembling pulpits, and employ at least one clerk, who writes down the bets on tickets printed with the firm's name, and one cashier who pays out and receives and writes down tho bets on a fresh sheet for each race. Often there are three assistants; who receive scldl, or a guinea, a day. ' The bookmaker stands on a step outside the box and shouts out the odds, which are likewise written in chalk on a black board provided for each box. There are also other expenses attending the business, and it is doubtful if a bookmaker can get out under 25gs a day. Many bookmakers ply their trade all the year round, for racing is carried on at certain tracks during the winter. At the large tracks during the regular racing season there is 150 days' racing within an hour of New York, but a persistent bookmaker will lay for 200 days in the year. For this, it will be seen, he has the privilege of paying to the Associations or Jockey Clubs, and for labour, 5000gs a year, or 3750gs if he only works during the regular racing season — that is between May and November. He has also to enter into competition with the "mutuals,/' which absorb many of the smaller bets, and which issue tickets for no more than sdol. Very few of the bookmakers refuse a bet as low as 2dol (8s 4d), and some of them .will get up to lOOOdol, or L2OO, but this is unusual, and never happens at long odds. A bet of LlO or even L 4 is sufficient to wipe, say, 50 to 1 off the slate, and lower it to 30 to 1. As a rule bookmakers seldom succeed in getting round ; indeed, they now never attempt it. The public backs only one or two, or perhaps three horses, and the bulk of the money goes on one.

*** All books befc first and second on every race, and a great many one, two, three. The average rate of place betting where it is 10 to 1 to win, is 4 to 1 one two, and 6 to 5 one, two, three ; but this varies widely. A horse may be at 50 to 1 to win, and at evens 1, 2, or 1, 2, 3. Place betting is productive of an immense amount of fraud. An owner need never run his horse to win and he need never lose. He backs his horse 1, 2, 3, and gets a bookmaker to lay against him to win, so he is on velvet. This is done every day. On the other hand his horse is at short price 1, 2, 3, and he stands in with a few bookmakers who can make a good thing out of it, whereas were there no place betting no one would back the horse at all. There is more place betting than to win. The jockey clubs are quite conscious -of the frauds involved in place betting, but it increases the attendance at the track, as also the number of bookmakers, which is all they require. With all the touting that prevails it is very difficult to win a large stake over any race. I have heard, says the writer, of very large sums being won, but I should say that L 20.000 has never been won on a race from bookmakers in America by one man. I think that with a dark horse it would not be difficult to win LIO,OOO. This could be done by an unknown man very easily, but after once winning he would be so closely watched that every move would be noticed, and the horse he backed marked down to short odds very soon after he had commenced operations. Only a small amount of money can be won in the",mutuals," which are patronised as stated, by the smallest bettors.

* # * In the pool rooms, which may number from 60 to 100 in New York, a great deal of money may be won, but these are in constant communication with the ring on the track, and it is difficult to work both together. The members of the ring have by no means such a rosy time as in England, and few, I believe, make much money by actual bookmaking. They are plundered and fleeced by the common enemy, the Jockey Club. The Jockey Clubs strive to shut up the pool rooms, and to prevent their getting information, but hitherto they have been unsuccessful. Standing in the pool room the bettor hears a very fair account of the race as it is being run transmitted over the wires, and really on a cold, wet day the pool rooms are preferable to the track. If two or more tracks are in operation betting is carried on at the pool rooms on each of them, although the tracks may be 1000 miles apart. At the pool rooms a commission of 10c or 5d is charged for each bet, which in order to evade the law is nominally made at the track, but in reality in the pool room. If 1000 bets are made at one room, the comfortable little sum of 5000 pence— L2o 16s— is realised per day, besides the profits of bookmaking. No wonder the pool rooms flourish. The Jockey Clubs contemplate bringing in a bill to abolish pool rooms in order to increase their own gains. With a judicious amount of bribery, this will probably be effected. In the meanwhile in the State of New Jersey the pool rooms have fought the Jockey Clubs, got the best of them, and shut up four of the principal racetracks out of revenge. There is practically no antepost betting in the United States. A few books are nominally opened on the Brooklyn and Suburban Handipaps, but as there is no trust people do not care about depositing their money a long way ahead with the prospect of being welshed.

*** Owners being more anxious to win stakes at this time of the year, so as to have something wherewith to cover winter expenses, than they are in the spring and summer, when larger stakes are immediately in prospect, it was not surprising to find fairly big fields running for the decent stakes offered at Ashburton. Ido not, however, mean to imply that owners had to put up with indifferent handicapping. On the other hand, I think that Mr Cresswell did his work well, so far as the results show. True it is that during the two days six favourites won in handicaps, but in most of those cases tho public seemed to be puzzled as between two or three of the candidates, and besides an easy win for a favourite does not necessarily mean that the handicap is a bad one. Take the Consolation at Ashburton as an example. I doubt whether any weight in reason would have brought Coinage alongside such cattle as New Hope and Queen 8., and Coinage is very poor property on recent form— not such a one as could be fairly asked to carry a castle. Looking through the details of the racing I notice first that Magpie must be improving at a tremendous rate or else Little Arthur is going off again, The former is probably the

more correct assumption, for. Magpie beat three others as well as, Arthur, and' his time for the two miles was very fast— an average of a fraction under lmin O^sec for each half mile. That's travelling. We may take it now that Magpie can stay. Previously it was generally supposed that a mile and a-half was his best distance. The newly-instituted Ashburton Stakes brought oat four two-year-olds and two three-year-olds, and quality was by no means badly represented, for Saracen, the winner, is by some accounted one of the very best of his age in the country ; Tom Field is a slippery customer, as was proved at the Dunedin Cup meeting ; Corruption was not far away from capturing a good stake at tho C. J.C. Autumn meeting ; and the other three are well-bred. I hope to see as good a field next year. If so, and the quality keeps up in the future, the club will have no cause to regret its liberality in instituting the race and endowing it substantially. Saracen, who started at less than even money, got home, but with very little to spare. He was palpably short of work, and if Corruption had got away well she would probably have beaten him. As it was, this filly and Warrington were left at the post. Fabler seems to have .had his day, for he was easily beaten by Emperor at level weights in the Novel Race, and that is not the performance of a really smart hack, and both unexpectedly succumbed to Pennine, who appears to be coming out of his shell again.

*#* Bobby Ray rode Liberator in the Autumn Handicap, and little Marks, who has scored pretty well this season, was up on Don Pedro. The latter carried LlO5 in the machine and Liberator L 156. Aquarius made the pace, but after going seven furlongs he was joined; by Liberator. As they came round the last turn Aquarius began to drop away, and Liberator was first into the straight, but the latter was in turn licked at the distance, and Don Pedo, who had been lying in a handy position, came away and won by three lengths ; Coinage a moderate third, just in front of Ilium, with Aquarius] last. Bay King was most in demand for the Welter, and Victim Was second favourite. Sebastopol made the running to the distance and then collapsed, leaving Beau Nash to win rather easily from Victim. Bay King finished fourth. There was a great struggle in.the Flying, and it was perhaps owing to her smartness in beginning that Carronadewas able to get home from young Cheviot. Dad Kingan rode the winner. May, who started second favourite, was just beaten for places by the consistent Victim. In^ the second day's hurdle -race Captain Abram and Magpie cannoned while taking the last jump but one, and Magpie got the worst of it, the other fellow, who started favourite, then running home an easy winner from Smuggler. The Grand Stand Handicap was a pretty race, and one that must have looked open beforehand when we find the placed horses carrying respectively LBl, L7l, and L 76, and the favourite paying L 3 14s. Aquarius was left at the post, and took no part in the race. Chic's brother Beau Nash had a bit in hand at the end of the Wakanui Handicap, and paid L 7 10s, which was a rattling dividend considering his form on the previous day. Bay King was again the public fancy. The Open Welter was a soft thing for Don Pedro, but there was a slashing finish between Erin-go-bragh, Coinage, and Tassy, who ended in that order, but each separated by only a few inches. .The spell which Aquarius had earlier in the day may have to some extent accounted for his win in the Harvest Handicap, but he came at the right end and defeated the unlucky Victim. Aparrima ran well, but could not hang out the six furlongs. Coinage simply played wtyh his opponents in the Consolation. The starting throughout the meeting was somewhat patchy, otherwise the carrying on of the racing was deserving of high praise.

*#* Several horses have already arrived for the ensuing meeting at the Forbury. Absolutely the first to put in an appearance was W. Robertson, who has brought, a team of four : Duntroon's son Dunmore, whom we jnay regard as one of the last of his race and to the eye by no means the worst, though he has yet to show his worth ; the well-performed Miss Mack, who has a liking for this course, and is not averse to either a bit of weight or heavy going ; the now venerable Windsor, who is almost too good to be classed as a hack ; and that sturdy gentleman Eauroo, who at Lawrence and elsewhere has earned laurels during the season. Robertson has an idea, I understand, of remaining at the Forbury, but he says that he will not make up his mind about it till after the races are over. Another friend from afar is Malcolm Allan, who brought Mariner on from Wellington by steamer. Mariner is no stranger here, and it will suffice to say that the horse is well, though he failed to do anything at the Empire City. There were others there in the same predicament, the explanation being that that there were more racehorses there than races to be won. Arthur Smith, Mr Hungerford's trainer, is also down. He brodght Heather > Bell and Mayboy 11, and he has them pretty well, though the mare must : be pretty nearly ready for a spell. Chatting with Smith the other day he told me that when put on board the steamer to be sent home for a spell, Wakawatea was as lively as when he was first broken in, and apparently none the worse for his very lengthy season on the turf. There are not many two-year-olds, I should think, that could stand over 10 months' continuous work, and come out as sound and gay as this remarkable son of Apremont. He was broken in in June ; he was winning races 10 weeks afterwards ; and till after Eastertide he had no spell worth speaking of. Moreover, he is not one of your quiet lazy horses that don't knock themselves about, but, on the contrary, a highly-sensitive and excitable youngster, who has only been kept in check by the most judicious handling. Smith is not given to blowing, but I think that Wakawatea's record and present condition do him infinite credit. The Dreamer is, I understand, in need of the spell which I suppose he will get, and so is La Rose, who was not herself at the Wellington meeting.

* # * With the addition of the teams above referred to, there is quite a crowd of horses now working at the Forbury, where I am h&ppy to say, the tracks are in very fair order for what we may call early winter. Occident, Tempest, Hippomenes, and- Huguenot are doing good work, I understand, though I have not been lucky enough to see this lot at it when I have dropped in ; and of Harry Goodman's team Galtee and Mistral are retaining their condition. I chanced to .meet this pair in town on Monday, and, though they were clothed, it could be noticed that they were not ailing much. Sam Mercer has old Shifnal seemingly as sound as he ever was, and he galloped very freely in a spin the other morning with Rondinella (the mare by Idalium) as a companion. James Allan is busy putting the polish on his useful team, which includes Iroquois, Crescent, and Glencairn, the' firstnamed being pretty fit ; Poole has Waitangi galloping regularly and going with singular determination and freshness (as far as he can) for such ft very old fellow, and there is in the

same stable that smart hack Collingwood, who is in great heart; while Loughlinis keeping his nags in condition by racing them ; and the Smiths, father and son, have Old Judge, Omimi, and others in work. M'Guinness is sending along Conjurer, Pique, and Ozioso in a manner betokening early trials in public, and we all hope that his respected chief, the Hon. G. M'Lean, will draw a decent cheque this time as some compensation for repeated disappointments. Conjurer is in capital nick, and it will be extremely hard luck if he does not get a win at the forthcoming meeting after scoring so many seconds. Dilemma is also working, but with a view to next season's racing, and the others in the stable are the two yearlings colts : by Le Loup— Tangi, and by Vanguard— Ouida. Last, but not least, is Hankins' lot, including Adventurer, Leinster, and Assyrian King. They are all doing well.

*#* Baron Maurice Hirsch, owner of the Two Thousand winner, was the " Celebrity at Home" in a recent issue of the World. To find him thoroughly at home— that is, in all of his several homes— he must be followed from Bath House, Piccadilly, a recent and costly purchase, to Eichorn, a twelfth-century castle in Moravia, where there is much good hunting in the late summer, and thence to St. Johann, a splendid modern residence in the heart of Hungary, not far from the noble Danube, and within view of the Carpathian mountains. Here again the pleasures of the chase are enjoyed. The Bavarian millionaire is 60 years of age, a non-smoker, an abstemious liver, and something of an athlete, regular gymnastic exercise being a part of his daily life. He is fond of a game at billiards, and our readers need not be told of his liking for the turf. At the age of 13, Maurice Hirsch, who was born at Munich, went thence to Brussels to complete his school education, which was not marked by any peculiar promise of ability, Four years later his business career began, and before long his capacity as a financier became evident; his moderate patrimony soon doubled itself, and his personal influence was greatly increased by a matrimonial alliance wijh Mdlle. Bischoffsheim, the daughter of a Belgian senator. In 1866, the commercial collapse of M. Langrand Dumonceau, which shook the money world of Belgium to its foundations, gave him his opportunity. He secured the most valuable of the assets, including the Turkish railways, and, by his skilful manipulation of them, has built up, in a quarter of a century, a fortune which equals that of the Rothschilds. No man who has acquired such vast riches has ever used them to better purposes. His charities in Germany and Austria are innumerable, and his scheme for transplanting his unfortunate Russian coreligionists to South America (many of the details of -which have been elaborated in the study at St. Johann) will cost what any ordinary person wbuld consider a colossal fortune. The great event of the day at St. Johann is always the " departure for the chase." The smallest details are settled beforehand, and everybody gets a memorandum specifying his position and mode of conveyance. About 10.30 j a.m. the carriages (with many-coloured embroidered hammer-cloths and stalwart coachmen in Hungarian attire) and the saddle horses are brought round to the front door, together with the dogs, a small army of servants, a vehicle containing a large tent, and a huge foun/on, which is nothing less than a complete 'kitchen on wheels, manned by two cooks in orthodox white apron and cap. Everybody hnows hie' place, and the start is effected with great rapidity. Shortly after noon- hot luncheon is served either in the tent or in some old castle or outlying farmhouse, with the same perfection and state as if it took place in the great dining room overlooking Piccadilly. The whole juvenile population of St. Johann, num.hering 400 or 500, turns out to do the work of beaters. The return home is always accomplished before the electric light once more .casts its rays over the plain from the central tower above tho hall. By about the 20th of October a move westwards is decreed, for English pheasants have also of late years acquired a bold on Baron Hirsch's affections.

*#* The hocussing of Orme is perhaps the sensation of the century in the sporting world. At first there geejned to be some doubt as to whether the horse had been poisoned, but that seems to be now agreed upon, and the only question is whether the poisoner can-be found out. I don't mean the man o* boy who administered the lozenge, but the greater offender vrhq paid for it to be done. We may take it for granted that there was someone of this sort at the bottom of tho mischief. There always is, though detection is not easy. It will be remembered by some that the whole facts about the hocussing of Plenipotentiary for the Leger of 1834 were never unearthed. Thank goodness such crimes are not common. They are practically unknown in New Zealand. Most of the horses that are here stopped are "waiters" rather than "milkers," and the steadying can be managed without the least trouble or the necessity for anyone to run a risk. It is only in cases where heavy money is betted beforehand that poisoning is of any use to anybody, and under present arrangements anti-post betting is fast dying out both here and elsewhere.

*** In my opinion, writes "Magpie" in the London Globe, too little heed is paid to the part the trainer plays in the success of a great racehorse. .The jockey, to whose care he is entrusted for the space of a few fleeting minutes, comes in for all the plaudits of the crowd, and too often for the lion's share of an owner's generosity, which should fall to the man who has cent the horse to the post fit to

run for a kingdom or a man's life: For the few minutes of anxiety to the jockey who steers him ' the horse has cost his trainer weeks and months of suspense and many a sleepless night. However, jockey worship, thanks in a great degree to the behaviour of some of the mannikins worchipped, has subsided to a considerable extent, and people are at length beginning to understand that it is the trainer in nine cases out of ten who is^the chief factor in a horse's success. Of course the art of the jockey comes in when he has a delicate horse to ride, or when fn an exciting finish he has, as was the cage with Archer in Bend Or's Derby, to "snatch a fear«ful joy," or, again, when his judgment and knowledge of pace enables him to time his horse and place him oa most advantageous terms with his field. Yet even in the wild excitement that invariably* follows a superb display of horsemanship we should not forget the trainer in our enthusiasm for the jockey. And this I say without any wish to disparage the deeds of such past masters of the art of horsemanship aa J. Watts, Webb, John Osborne, Tom Cannon, the elder, whose mantle seems to have fallen on his son "Moray," or any of the great knights of • the pigskin dead and gone.

*** Father O'Flynn, the Grand National winner, trained by Rixom at Market' Harborough, in Leicestershire, was bred at the Stanton Stud by Mr E. C. Wadlow, and sold at Doncaster to Lord Chojmondeley for lQOgs. He was subsequently sold at Tattersall's to Mr Q. 0. Wilson, bis present owner, for 470gs.

As a two-year-old Father O'Flynn carried Lord Cholmondeley's colours in nine races, of which he won the Warrington Plate at the Liverpool July meeting in 1887. As a three^year-old he was not seen in public, but in 1889 he joined the ranks of the performers under National Hunt rules, and made an unsuccessful first appearance in a Hunters' Steeplechase at Dunstall Park. Since then he has won 14 races, up to and including the G.N. The field for the great cross-country event was this year the largest since Disturbance beat 27 opponents in 1873. The pace, says an eye witness, was a cracker from the fall of the flag, and in the first round the early spill was that of Partisan, who came down at the third fence and somewhat hurt his jockey. Mr Dormer was not afraid to make plenty of use of Cloister, and he jumped the stand water side by side with Flying Column, while the Primate lay third, with Paul Pry and Rollesby bringing up the rear. The casualties now commenced in earnest, and in the next mile lay Tenby, -who had been jumping badly, Meldrum, Jason, Nap, and Rollesby on the floor, while Paul Pry and Billee Taylor pulled up. The Primate was beaten before reaching Beecher's, and at this point Midshipmite and Flying Column were upsides of Cloister, with Ardcarn, Ilex, Father O'Flynn, Hollington, ami Lord of the Glen alone near them. When Midshipmite parted company from Mr Atkinson two fences from the racecourse a rosy chance was destroyed, and in leaving the country the race was reduced to Father O'Flynn, Ardcarn, and Ilex. Soon afterwards the issue could be foretold beyond all doubt, and with Father O'Flynn in clear command at the last fence but one he left Cloister and Ilex astern at every stride and won by 20 lengths. The winner's time was 9min 48 l-ssec, which is very fast, though not to be compared with Huntsman's record of 9min 30sec in 1862.

* # * The Adelaide Cup, of lOOOsovs— the race that Lurline won in 1875- was decided on the 28th ult. There were a dozen starters, and Jericho, a three-year-old by Gang Forward out of Tyropean, won by half a length, carrying 7.8 and doing the and five furlongs in 2min 55sec. Syntax 7.2 was second, and The Despised 8.3 third. Sportsman remarks that the race was 'a jumbled-up affair so far as the winning stable was concerned. Most people were under the impression that Mr Barnett held the key of the situation with Jerico or Quality, but no one could tell .which of the pair was to be slipped. It was late on the Wednesday night before a commission was put in the market for the mare, and Quality then quickly went from 7's down to 3's to 1, and Jericho receded from 6's to 10's and 12's. The books had been standing off laying Jericho, whom Mr Barnett would have backed, b-it the horse, it appears, ricked himself in a gallop after his Leger yiptory, and had swollen hocks. T. Burn, the stable jockey, had a great fancy for Quality, as she won the Elder Stakes so well on the Saturday, and he selected her as his mount in the Cup, and strongly advised the stable to back her. Acting on this, Mr Barnett sent out the commission to win him a thousand, and on the day of the race advised all his friends to follow his example, which a great number did. Quality remained first favourite, and went out at 3 to 1, the betting about the others being — 4- to 1 each Little Maid and Adventurous, 8 to 1 Shootover and Lord Grenville, 10 to 1 Jericho, 12 to 1 Syntax, 14 to X Britannia, 20 to 1 The Despised and The Duke, 30 to 1 Ellerstean and Ivanhoe. After the Cup was run the Countess of Kintore handed over the 100-guinea trophy (presented by Mr W. K. Simms) to Mr H. A. Barnett in the grand stand, amidst the usual cheering, and congratulated him upon owning the winner.

*** Appearing on behalf of the police in the recent betting cases at Wellington, Mr Gully said that in respect to the charge against Yuille and Nathan he should rely on two points — first, that keeping a room for the purpose of receiving money for actual investment on the fcotajisator was illegal ; and secondly, that the system of betting by laying totalisator odds was illegal. The whole object of the statute was to put down any systematic gambling, any making of gambling a business in a public place, although it did not pretend to interfere with private or unsystematic betting. The witnesses called for the prosecution were Constable Gantley, John Card, and Chas. T. Tayton, these persons swearing to their having made investments with defendants at various times, and Detective Ede, who gave particulars of the raid made on the premises, when he found LBS in cash and t cheques amounting to LBS 11s. Mr Skerrett, counsel for defence, said that he relied on $be decision of Mr Justice Denniston in the Referee Gase, to the effect that it would not be sufficient to secure a conviction if a man undertook to invest money on the totalisator and then put the money in his pocket, and paid the dividend if the investment proved to be on the right horse. The case was on all fours wijth that against the Referee, and he asked that the information be dismissed. Mr Gully, in reply, contended that it was not legaj for anyone to keep a room at which investors could put this money on the machine. The whole contemplation of the totalisatior was that it should be run as a machine upon a racecourse under competent supervision and the direct control of the authorities. Mr Skerrjt said that his clients gave no assurance to pay money on the eyent of horse races, but simply received it in trust for investment. His Worship remarked that it was a difficult pojnt to decide, and he would reserve his decision for a wgek,

*** In giving judgment on Tuesday of this week Mr Robinson said that on consideration of the evidence it appeared to him that the whole question turned upon whethpr he could take it that defendants were holding themselves out as acting as agents, or whether they were betting on their own account. That seemed to be the point upon which the case of Selig and Bird, of the New Zealand Referee, was decided. IJe had looked over the decision of Mr Justice Denniston in that case, and it appeared that he had held that the evidence that came before the resident magistrate in that case was sufficient to justify a conviction. The evidence in the present case was in many respects similar to that advanced in the case before referred to, and he did not think that it wont any further as against defendants, None gf the evidence was absolutely inconsistent with the allegations of defendants that they were simply acting as agents, therefore he felt bound by Mr Justice Deuniston's decision and would dismiss the case. IJe wished it to be understood that in doing so he was acting entirely upon what appeared to- be authority and n°. fc altogether according to his own view. If he had not felt bound by the decision of the superior court he must say that he nUght have found some difficulty. It was possible that he had. rflU* understood the proper bearing and effect of the decision of Mr Justice Denniston, and if jn reality that decision did not bind him in the present case, ifc was a proper matter f o r appeal. Mr Gully gave ngtice of appeal, and remarked that be did not wish in the meantime to continue the embargo upon the property of the defendants, which was m the hands of the police. The hearing of the case against F.

Martin, W. Piper, and J. H, Pollock was further adjourned until Tuesday next.