SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2012, 15 September 1892, Page 28

SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

By Hohi Poene. Melbourne, September 6. THE TURF.

The Hawkesbury Race Club gathering has not thrown any light on future events, seeing that Alcides (the winner of the County Purse) and Selkirk (who walked away with the Hawkesbury Handicap) are not engaged in either the Caulfield Cup or Melbourne Cup. The news from the Randwisk training track points out several who will require watching either during the A.J.C. meeting or a little later on ; and amonsst these I must mention the name of Realm-a Queensland horse, by Archie out of Empress, who has lately been accentuating his performances up north by putting in some excellent work in company with Oxide. Realm has been scratched for the Melbourne Cup, wherein he was apportioned 8.10, but btill remains in the Caulfield Cup, where Mr Bar-

nard has treated him very generously by awarding him 8.7. By the time this reaches you the first two days of the A.J.C. Spring meeting will be numbered amongst the things that have been ; and if Little Bernie has not flopped up in the interval, I beg of you to keep a wary eye on the doings »f the son of Cheviot and Myrtle, as he is very very well at present. The New Zealand contingent under Percy Martin's care at Caulfield— Tirailleur, Culloden, Sternchaser, Bessie M'Carthy, and Co.— are doing famously ; the same remark applying to Fortunatus, Glenloth, Malvolio, Correze, Malolo, Marco, Dundas, Mcli, Pigeontoe, Premier, and Hartington ; Dundas having been taken on a rusticating tour to Brighton, where swimming in the sea can be indulged in— an addenda to a Caulfield Cup preparation mucn availed of by our leading trainers of late years. We don't hear much about Impulse, who is still located over the border ; but I notice he still keeps his position in the Sydney betting market for the Caulfield Cup ; and, after all, it is the money that speaks. Mick O'Brien was buried last Wednesday in the St. Kilda cemetery, and the same evening his father (who was 68 years of age, and had been ir. delicate health for some time) yielded up the ghost, the main cause of death being grief at his son's early decease. Beggar Boy and Aurelius took their departure for Randwick yesterday. The former is engaged in the A.J.C. Steeplechase. The Sporting Standard directs attention to the fact that, although tabooed by the law, " totes " —after the style of those conducted by tobacconists of sporting proclivities on the Sydney sideare in full force in Melbourne, where at the present time there are something like 10 or a dozen flourishing. But whilst there is a very shrewd suspicion that the totalisator as known in Sydney is hardly carried on in a manner advantageous to the backer, there is absolute proof that those who plank down their dollars on this side of the Murray get decidedly the worst of the bargain. Should an unexpected winner turn up unbacked, his division Tof the profits are in New South Wales divided pro rata between those who invested on the second and third horses— less, of course, the usual commission, which falls to the runner of the show. Here, however, the knowing men who carry on " totes " regardless of the law adopt an entirely different plan, and a plan which provides a handsome addition to the usual 10 per cent, allowed them. Should an outsider turn up, and be absolutely devoid of a backer, the proprietor of the "tote" considers the share due to the first horse a just reward for the risk he runs of detection and imprisonment, and quietly pockets the whole share that would otherwise have gone to the winner had he been backed. Those on the other placed horses receive only their usual percentage of the total amount on the "tote," whilst the proprietor takes all coming to the unbacked first. In the same way, if no one strikes the second or third horses the money allotted to these positions reverts to the enterprising gentleman who kindly superintends the working of the machine— which in itself is proof positive that there are a number of people who will put up with any sort of daylight robbery so long as they can invest their money on a totalisator. The full programme for the Spring (Caulfield Cup) meeting of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, which takes place on the Bth and 15th October, has been published, entries closing therefor on Monday week, 19th inst. The bill of fare is an exceedingly good one, as follows :— First day : Caulfield Stake', of 500sovs, weight for age, one mile and a furlong ; Handicap Hurdle Race, of 250sovs, about two miles ; First Handicap Steeplechase, of 250aovs, about two miles. Second day : Maiden Plate, of 150sovs, one mile; Nursery Handicap, of 250sovs, for two-year-olds, four furlongs and a-half ; Selling Race, of 200sovs, five furlongs; Second Handicap Steeplechase, of 35050v8, about three miles ; Windsor Handicap, of 250sovs, six furlongs. The betting shop 'cases came on again for decision at the District Court last week, when the proprietors scored a decisive victory, Mr Perry, police magistrate, delivering the " ultipomaturn" of the bench in the case of Detective Larkin against Frederick Pollie. In this matter Pollie, whilst acting as agent for Mr Humphrey Oxenham, was charged with receiving certain money in consideration of a certain undertaking to pay thereafter certain money on the contingency of a horse race. The magistrates had on a previous occasion dismissed the case on the ground that no offence under the act was disclosed, but the Crown obtained an order for a rehearing. Last week's decision was similar to that given on the first occasion. The bench expressed the view that the agreomentmade by Polite to obtain a certain bet on commission was not such an as- j surance or agreement to pay such as is contem- i plated by section 52 of the Police Offences Act, 1890. The section, they contended, must be interpreted as an undertaking to pay by the person himself who receives the money, whereas in this case the undertaking given by Pollie was for securing the paymtnt of money by some other person. For that reason the bench dismissed the case, and the other case of Lnrkin v. Phillips was dismissed for similar reasons. There has been very little animation in the betting market of late, a gentle simmer of excitement pervading yesterday for a brief period as Eurus (who won the Mentone Handicap, of a mile and a furlong, on Saturday, with 7st lib up, from Villiers, Accident, and 10 othors, in lmin 59sec) wassupported to win .a few thousands in the Caulfield Cup down to 100 to 5. Eurus is a four-year-old colt, by Nooroo from the Puff filly, owned by Mr J. Whittinghain ; his weight in the Caulfield Cup, for which he has not iucurred a penalty, being 6st Blb. Magic Circle also received some support for the mile and a-half race at 100 to 4. Despite the fact that there are rumours abroad, about Malvolio suffering slightly from dentition, he still maintains the pride of place in the quotations for the Melbourne Cup, for which event Tirailleur is being accorded consistent support at 100 to 4. The following is a pretty fair criterion of the state of the betting market at present :— CAULI'IKLI) CUP. 100 to 5 agst Titan, Malolo, Trieste, Linburn, Steadfast, Dundac, Eurus. 100 to 4 agst Magic Circle, Fortunatus, Zalinski, Impulse, St. Blaize, Mona, Sternchaser, Littlo 100 to 3 agst Correze, La Tosca, Glenloth, Pigeontoe.

V.R.C. DERBY,

100 to 30 agst Autonomy, 100 to 12 anything else.

MELBOURNE CUl\

100 to 6 agst Malvolio. 100 to 5 agst St. Albans 11, Strathmore, Zalinski, Malolo. ' 100 to 4 agst Autonomy, Penance, Tirailleur, Honour Bright. . 100 to 3 agst Chatham, Titan, Little Bernie, G'Naroo, Vakeel, Oxide, Stcrnchaser, Portsea, Premier. 100 to 2 agst Blarney Stone. The respective victories of Chatham (Moorthorpe—Silver Bull) in the August Handicap at Rosehill, and oT "Vakeel (by Robinson Crusoe— Eileen) in the S. A.J.C. Derby last week have brought thnm into prominence with regard to the Melbourne Cup. Silver Bell, thedara oFChatham, is full sister to Grand Flanur. He carried 8.4 at Rosehill, and traversed the mile and 540 yards in 2min. 22:JKec. St. Blaize has been scratched for all his A.J.O. engagements, the ostensible reason being that a bruised heel has given his owner, Mr Isaac Earnshaw, some trouble. I never did look on St. Blaize as a likely contestant at Randwick, and as for the bruised heel,— well, his trainer is very clever ; in fact, to quote the words of Hamlet, "he knows a hawk from an 'eronshaw." The individual who first indited the memorable words, "The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong," certainly indited naught but the cold truth ; and yet niethiuks it is equally as certaiu that on the colonial turf victory does not always declare itself in favour of the highest-priced yearlings. In fact, so far as the experience of this season's Sapling Stakes tends the reverse has been proved to be the case. Meg, the treWewinnerin Victoria, wa^pickodupby the Messrs Miller for 50gs ; Pharamnnd, who sailed away wiih Tattersall's Two-years-old Stakes on the 27th ult., was secured by his owner, Mr W. J. Franks, for 48gs ; whilst Innamincka, the winner of the Nursery Handicap at the South Australian Jockey Club meeting on Saturday, was purchased at the sale of Mr Sam Gardiner's Bundoora Park yearlings last March for 30gs ! Of course these are only notable ex-

ceptions to a pretty generally excepted rule— to the effect that if you want a really first-class article you must pay a good price for it. But only to think if one owner had happened to have had unparalled good luck to purchase such a trio of youngsters as Meg, Pharamond, and Innamincka for 128gs ! Despite the most strenuous opposition the third reading of the Totalisator Bill was agreed to by the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday night, after several amendments had been made. One of these limits the operation of the bill to December 31, 1895 ; whilst another provides that the amount deductedfrom the totalisator forchantable purposesshallbe-placedinthehandsofthetreasurer For distribution. Eventually the bill was ordered to be forwarded to the Legislative Council, where the real struggle will eventuate, the bookmakers offering odds of 2 to 1 that it will either be thrown out altogether or shelved by the so-called Upper House. Doubtless the wish is father to the thought ; but for all that there is no shutting one's eyes to the fact that the opposition to the "infernal machine" (as poor " Augur " was wont to dub it) will be a powerfully strong combination. In witness whereof I may mention that last Friday a large deputation of clergymen and others (amongst whom were Dr Goe, bishop of Melbourne; Ray. A. Yule, moderator of the Presbyterian assembly ; Rev. F. Neale, president of the Wesleyan Conference ; as well aa a large number of ministers from other denominations; Mrs M'Lean, president of the ■Women's Christian Temperance Union, and members of the Social Purity Society) waited upon the Premier^ and strongly condemned the proposal to legalise gambling by means of the totalisator. The opinion was expressed that a recognition of the evil by the Legislature would only tend to increase it. Mr Gordon, M.L.A., said that if an earlier day in the week had been chosen the deputation would have been supported by a large number of members of both Houses of Parliament, and he was authorised by Messrs Outtrim, Graham, and Peacock (member^ of the Cabinet) to mention that they endorsed the objection of the deputation to the use of the totalisator. Mr Shiels, in reply, pointed out that when a bill was in the hands of private members the Government could not prevent Parliament from expressing an opinion upon it. He did not agree with the deputation that all gambling or gaming was a vice, any more than he would attribute sin to the Bishop of Melbourne for takinE some whiskey on a*' cold night. He freely admitted that the world could be better if there was no drinking or gambling ; but said it was simply impossible to absolutely stop these customs by prohibitory methods. The Totalisator Bill was supported by members of the Legislative Assembly who were connected with the church, and by men whose respectability would not be questioned even by the Bishop of Melbourne. He believed that the totalisator might lead to a slight increase in gambling ; but that drawback would be accompanied by the advantage of getting rid of the dangerous system of credit betting and the low-class bookmakers and welshers. They might take different views as to the means to be adopted to minimise the gambling evil ; but they all sought the public good, and the Government thought this end could best be attained by surrounding the evil with practicable and possible restrictions. After which the deputation didn't thank the Minister,' but "got up and got." Tumult (by Paris.) took first prize for thoroughbreds in the light horse stock section at the Royal Agricultural Society's show, albeit many good judges considered lown Moor infinitely superior. The Australasian qualified Town Moor's defeat by stating that "he was not long enough off the water to make such a fine appearance as Tumult !" His ownor, Mr Luck, jun , has since taken him back to Tasmania.