COURSING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 23

COURSING.

FIXTURES. August 24— Oamaru.— Bracelet Stake, NOTES BY MISTER M'GRATH. Mr Myers is sending his slut Stormy Night to Victoria to be mstad with Livingston, and his Biddy Alone, who gained the prize for the hest greyhound in last week's show, is to be put tq Ra?zle Dazzle.). Mr Martin Taylor is taking five dogs to tha Auckland meeting — viz., Bess Morley, Bird on the Wing, Bit o' Fashion, Yorkshire Boy, and Iveria. The latter pair are brother and sister, by Ivanhoe from Yorkshire Lass. It will be remembered that at the Waterloo Cap meeting held on the Dunedin piumpton a question arose as to the order of running in the Plate. Mr Harry L. James afterwards wrote to England and to Victoria for their opinion as to the question. He ha? received the reply of the National Coursing Club of Victoria. The ruling is as follows :— A3 RUN 5 (1) Douglas meets (I) Ravenswing (2) Lizzie Woods (drawD) meets (2) Heait of ' Grace able. . (3) }sa a bye. (1) Dougla3 meets Isa (2) Heart of Grace a bye. AS IT'SHOULD HAVE BEEN ; (1) Douglas meets (1) Ravenswing (2) Lizzie Woods (drawn) m.eets (&) laa a bye (3) Heart of Grace a bye. n. (1) Isa meets (1) Heart of Grace (2) Douglas a bye. From the above ib will b9 seen that the running was incorrect, and that Isa was not entitled to a natural bye in the Plate after having run one in the Cup ; therefore a dog is entitled to only one natural bye in the stake (Cup, Pucse, and Plate). a L The ardent admirer of the enclosed system n\ust admit (says the Australasian) that although pace may not be the only thing required in a Plumpton, it settles the- question of which dog shall' win in a great majority of tiials. Directly a dog is seen to lead, the professional speculators— and nowadays they know jast as much as the men who have been couwing all their live3— will bet odds of from 3tolo to l,as the case may be, upon him, and it is seldom the work done after the first turn has much bearing on the result. In the old days, when the elui> ran its Waterloo in the open, there were a stronger and better class of men takiig an interest in the pport, and the trouble attached to following the dogs all day made a man feel' at the end of the day that he had been taking parb in a genuine sporting evenb There is one strong point in favour of emlosed as against open coursing. There is litt'e or no luck attached to running in a Plumpton. Oatside, where you let go the dogs wherexer a hare is found, the chances from broken toe sand more serious mishaps render the coursing more fluky than in the enclosure, bub then the variety in the outside game is a compensation. In the open a trial is never v,on until it is lost, and we think that, as a rule, your true sportsman will always patronise the hardships tf the open in preference to the comforts tf the Plumpton. Cardigan, winner of the Champion Stakes last week, is a fairly fasb dog, but as a rule Blow in getting away from the slips, and it was nob his speed but his eagerness and honesty in working that enabled him to live through the stake. He also had a pull in condition over most of his opponents, Jack Deaker having him a perfect mass of muscle. He gets his working power from his father, Rotomahana, who was game and handy and as keen after fur a? a greyhound can be. The first course batween Cardigan and Pine Hut was I think properly ruled an undecided. The onlookers were largely impressed with the brillianoy of Cardigan's rush and kill, and neglected to observe that Pine Hut was first up for a wrenoh. That was, my note of the course, and I feel satisfied that Mr Blaney*B ruling was right," It it a pleasure to be »ble tft pay so, lince I am squally aura

that he made., a mistake in giving Lottie the course with Kotuku. Cardigan clearly beat Fine Hut in the run off, the latter running cunning, and then there was a perfect storm of applause, for Mr A. T. Price is popular and so is the dog and so also is his trainer, who heretofore has had nothing but bard luck. lam glad to hear that the kennel had a fair win. Cardigan's running weighb was about 651b. Lord Zetland thoroughly deserved bu success in the Maiden, for which he was well backed, and Stormy Petrel from the same kennel won the Supplementary on his merits. Archie Dalgleifh was a happy man on Saturday. I hope he will train many more winners for his enterprising and sportsmanlike chief, Mr S. S. Myers. The Sapling Stakes was a complete failure, only three dogs being brought to slips. Mr Mercer's pup, Despised, won in a clever manner and has the gift of galloping. Last week's meeting ended the Dunedin Plumpton" season. As a fitting wind-up a special general meeting of members of the National CoursiDg Club was held on Saturday evening, there being about 40 members present, Mr O. ft. Wise in the chair, to consider the important question of the judgeship for next season. It was necessary to do something as early as possible in view of the Challenge Stakes nominations being due this month. After discussion it was decided to recommend to the committee that Mr M'Aulay, of Oatnaru, he invested with the office. Mr Blaney declined to act any longer. One has to speak with a certain amount of caution in these matters, but I should say that Mr M'Aulay ought to be a suitable man for the position. Cardigan's price on the night of the draw was 60 to 4. A little was laid at 30 to 1. Mr Marbin Taylor did a large amount of betting over the Challenge Stakes of 1894 while in Dunedin. He opened a £200 bcok and laid the fallowing Wagers : 100 to 2 Lord Zetland, 100 to 2 Mars, 100 to 2 Philosopher, 100 to 3 First Water, 100 to 2 'Ravenswing, 100 to 4 Sweetmeat, 100 to 8 Bess Morley, 200 to 4 Prefix, 100 to 2 Kingdon, 100 to 2 Lancashire Lad, 100 to 2 Motley, 100 to 1 Chance It, 100 to 2 Norma, 100 to 1 Mabt;r George, 100 to 2 Douglas, 100 to 1 Ettie May, 100 to 1 Ostrich, 100 to 1 Florrie, 100 to 2 Briar Lfaf, 100 to 2 Wheel of Fortune, 100 to 2 Alton, 100 to 1 Minnie, 100 to 1 Deßpised, 200 to 2 St. Hippo, 100 to 1 Fuguist, 100 to 1 Forti?simo, 100 to 1 Biilliant Buy, 100 to 1 Rangi Pai, 100 to 1 Bird on the Wing, 100 to 3 Bito' Fashiou, 200 to 5 Sydenham, 100 lo 4 Pine Hut, An amusing course occurred at the coursing meet-ng on, Friday. An unusually active hare Ud two dogs a wild goose chase up and down the field for nearly five minutes. At firsfc the speed was great, but the dogs gradually slackened down till both, fairly winded and thoroughly disgusted with such an unreasonable hare, stopped entirely, while pussy, fresh as fever, soon covered the couple of hundred yards that lay between her and the escapes. The Plampton Park meeting at Cuiistchurcb. was begun and ended on Tuesday. Tha Canterbury Cup rt suited in a division between Wild Rose and Iveria, and the Maiden was won by Twilight with Belfast as runner-up.