TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 17 August 1893, Page 28

TALK OF THE DAY.

BY MAZEPPA

*#* The Taieri Club marches forward steadily if slowly. Twelve jears ago it had a, race meeting in James Crow's paddock, when the

chief prize was £6 and the nomination money.

That was the race in which Mr M'Hattie's

Larrikin came in first, but was disqualified for going inside a post, the stakes being awarded to Mr K. Nicholl's Darkie. Such was the humble beginning of a club that now possesses its own

oourse and can see its way clear to offer £350 in stakes for a one-day's meeting. A club that displays such enterprise is bound to succeed. It was at a meeting of committee held on Monday evening that the resolution was passed to further increase the stakes of the SpriDg meeting to tbe Bum mentioned, being a rise of £30. The leading event, henceforth to be known as the Taieri Cup, is to be endowed

with 80:ovs, and the other alterations compared with last season's programme are that a pony race, five furlongs, is to supersede the Consola-

tion ; that each of the trots is to ,be decided at a shorter distance, the three-mile race being reduced to two miles and the two-mile event to

a mile and a-half ; and that the Maiden is made an open race and the distance reduced to a mile.

* # * The exact position of Mr Harry Goodman's affairs was disclosed at the meeting of his creditors on Tuesday. His total liabilities to unsecured creditors amount to £1344-, and in addition there is a debt of £350 to Mr M 'Master, who holds st curity over five horse 3 valued at £400. As against this the assets are put down as worth £120. The principal creditors are T. Buddicombe, who claims £313, J. M 'Guinness £220, " Manny " Lyons £200, and R. M 'Master £171. In making his statement to the assignee Mr Goodman showed clearly enough how he was driven to bankruptcy. During the epace of three years he had won only £650 in stakes, and the expenses of his stable came to at least £1000 a year. Also he had been unfortunate in bnyiDg and selling, and he had a wife aud 10 children to support, besides his mother. Harry further remarked, with a pardonable pride, that he had never been bankiupt before. Those present seemed to be at one in ascribing Goodman's present embarrassment to sheer misfortune, and it was unanimously resolved not only to oifer no opposition to his getting his discbarge, but to give up to him the whole of the estate save the book debts. Sportsmen from far and near who know what a straightforward man he is will be pleased to hear of this rare expression of confidence from a body of creditors, and it is also satisfactory to be able to place on record the fact that Peter Miller atd Phil Mason and John Fleming and the owner of Casket — these who should know Goodman the best — rose up one by one and publicly testified to their appreciation of his excellent character.

*** I had hoped that by this week we should have had a decision in the Supreme Court case of Murray Hobbs v. the Union Steam Ship Company ; but the arguing of the law points involved took half a day on Tuesday, and the judge intimated that he would take time to consider his decision. The facts are somewhat follow : — Pallistr was being landed from the Mararoa in December last at the Dunedin wharf, and when fairly on the gangway he became ftightened and backed, the stage slipping away from the vessel at the same time and allowing the horse to get his leg over the outer end of the wood, with the result that he was injured. Hobbs, his part owner, says that the horse is permanently damaged both as a racer and as a covering stallion, and that the accident was all the company's fault in not providing proper tackle for ensuring safety. The reply on the other side is that the mishap arose not through negligence but owing to a stack of timber falling and frightening Palliser when he was on the gangway ; f uither that Hobbs saw the gangway and agreed to its use ; and also that at common law the carrier is not liable under the circumstances. The case is an interesting one, and Mr Justice Williams's decision will no doubt be instructive to all who are in the way of travelling'racers by sea. It transpired in the course of the hearing that the price paid for Palliser after he ran Second to Prime Warden in the Great Autumn was £380.

*** Eighteen Grand Nationals have been run in New Zealand. Ten of them on the Ricoarton course. It was in 1884 that the G.J.C. took over the management of what was up to then a hawked-about meeting. A brief history of the race appears in another column. Fi-om this it will be seen that favourites have won six times. Tftfe Agent was th.3 public fancy in each of his three successes; the other first favourites to get homo were Mousetrap, Canard, and Mangaohane. This year's winner, Waterbury, has landed longer odds than any previous winner. The largest number that ever started in the National was 13. Fakir, Faugh-a-ballagb, Ab.ua, and Waterbury each beat a dozen. The smallest field was four, when The Agent won in 1884. Four riders' names are closely associated with the history of the National. T. Lyford has had 14 mounts in the race, and three wins, on The Agent, on Faugh-a-ballagb, and on Daddy Longlegs. A good man was Tommy. Another Tommy, whose surname is Sheenan, has seen a lot of experience in this National, having had 11 rides, including a win on his own horse Kosciusko, and four seconds. Then there is Horace Lunn, a most capable handler of top weights, who got home on The Agent and Canard, and was thrice second. It is a public loss that Mr Lunn has given up riding. The fourth man on my list is plucky enthusiastic Frtd Hedge. Others have had as many or more rides in the Natioual, but Fred was at* his best a man of rare resource, and he is permanently associated with the National by reason of his having brought in both first and second horses ia 1881 at Timaru. He won on The Agent ; then heard that Sailor Boy, the only other oce to finish, had 1 unround a fecce; and thereupon went after Tho Agent, caught him not far from his fallen jockey, and rode Lim in for second money. The winning horses have sprung from a wide range of breeding Rojalty, who heads the list, was a well-bred horse, being by the Arab Blood Royal from a daughter of imported Peer and a mare of pure Arab extraction. This dam of Royalty, by the way, is the Peere3s who is the dam of Ruapehu and Tongariro, and Royalty was bred by Mr Cavtrhill, who also bred Despised. Mousetrap was another National winner directly descended from Arabian stock, but his sire's name does not appear in ' the Stud Book. Canard may be reckoned quite thoroughbred, the only blank in his pedigree table beiDg that which arises in the stated lineage of his great-great-granddam, Mr Smith's Sydney mare Gipsy. This is the same old' blank which we get in the pedigree tables of Backbiter, Calumny, Slanderer, Remnant, Tres Deuce (dam of Manton), and Gipsy King ; and if these are thoroughbred so is Canard. I regard them as just as free from stain as anything in the Stud book. Ahua claims a lull pedigree and a traceable one. The other winners of the National — those not mentioned in this list, are not pure-bred. But they are or have been a very serviceable lot. The Agent and Clarence have reputations whioh will last

as long 88 Carbine's, and in Chemist and the sturdy Faugh- a-ballagh we hail horses worthy of Liverpool company.

*#* This year's National resulted as many expected it would. I 'don't mean that the victory of Waterbury was generally anticipated, though lots of backers with whom I had converse told me they would be prepared to put a saver on this joker, and it is somewhat surprising, that he should have paid so handsome a dividend. What I mean by saying that the result was commonly prophesied is that nearly every fellow who expressed his opinion aloud seemed to be more or less apprehensive that Norton would be dished by one of the lightweights and have to be contenb with a place. If place books had been Opened Norton would have started an odds-on chance in that sort of betting. Bar a fall he was reckoned a certainty for one, two, or three. It was thedifficulty of puttipg one's finger on the particular horse to beat him that made Norton such a hot favourite. Plenty of backers were fearful that he would go down, and yet in their quandary placed their money on him. We must conclude that the weight was too high. That was what everyone said when the handicap appeared. -Yet, in fairness to Mr Henry, this must be remembered : Waterbury gave Norton fully half a stone beating. Two of the reports say that the Natator horse won by 20 lengths ; another account gives it as 10 lengths. Taking the average, and reckoning his win as 15 lengths, surely that is equal to 71b at the least. And what a howl there would have been if Norton had been handicapped at 12.5. In all likelihood several of those that started would have withdrawn at once. The stable themselves, it is said, counted on 12.10 "for Norton, and would have been satisfied with, that weight. And the ecribes and other critics seemed to be in agreement that the impost awarded to Mr Lunii's horse was too much by ODly2lbor 31b." Now that the result of the race is before us'it is obvious that the 21b or 31b which was generally regarded as excessive would not have placed Norton on an equality with Waterbury. Nothing le3S than half a stone would have brought them in together ; perhaps 101b would not have done it. So that, for all practical purposes, we were all as much astray in our calculations about Norton as Mr Henry was. Further, the collective wisdom of the colony did not discover Waterbury to be chucked in at the weights. Lots of folk gave him a show, but this was on account of his having occasionally thown a bit of ability in his mixed form rather than because he was reckoned a throw-in.

*** Th 9 fact is that Waterbury ran a very much better race than any of his previous performances warranted us in expecting. Being for once in a way inclined to try, and having the services of that skilful jockey Ge&rge Hope, whose clever riding of Norton last year wa3 generally voted one of the sights of the race, and meeting with no ill luck, the northerner performed a feat which he may never equal in his subsequent career. And, though it is not the correct thing to explain away a win, it must be obvious that the trial was not an exhaustive tsst of form. The misadventures incident to the race far outnumbered thoße of any previous year, ar,d possibly Waterbury might have met his, match if such nags as Tiritea and Clarence and Empire had lasted to the finish. In saying this, however, I by co means desire to underrate Waterbury. He made his own luck by his cleverness in overcoming . obstacles which brought some of his opponents to grief, and his success also shows that there was nothing in the cry that the northerners were handicapped out of the race by bad weather preventing them becoming acquainted with the course. What schooling Waterbury had was possible to any of the visitors had they chosen to make the. best of their opportunities. All I say is that Waterbury's performance was exceptionally good for him ; and that inasmuch as it could not be prophesied beforehand that he would show such form we must not blame the'handicapper for Norton's defeat. I say this because a top weight in a steeplechase is often a popular favourite— decidedly so in this case — and "when the people' 8 idol goes down there are always some ready to blame either the handioapper or the jockey, or somebody, even when nothing has brought about the result but the proverbial uncertainty of the turf. On this occasion there is no need to regret the issue of the race. The stake has gone to one of the most consistent supporters of the turf our colony can boast of, and a man who, though he has not generally patronised the Grand National — his only representatives on previous '" 'occasions being Baron and Harkaway in 1880— has always been in the front rank of steeplechasing owners up north. Mr Douglas is to be" congratulated on his success, and 1 hope he will send us as good a pair ntxt year as Waterbury and Mutiny.

#** Of the lesser events on tbe first day, five among the starters in the Hunters' Hurdles were preferred by backers to Silver tail, the' son of Diomedes that got home. , Black Hawk was slightly a better favourite than Matariki, and there was plenty of demand for Hugh Gourley's mount, St. Barbe. The latter, however, jumped very badly, Black 'Hawk ran round, Matariki failed for lack of speed, and Silvertail won a capital race on the post. Liberator gave his backers in the Maiden Hurdles a considerable amount of anxiety .at every obstacle, but he kept to his work gamely, and though making hard work of the jumping, he escaped actual stoppage, and his pace in the lengthy straight brought him home. The Tallj-ho Steeplechase was* au unexciting event, for Gillie ran round, Ronald stopped, and the other four sorted themselves into pain, Amalgam and Muckross having the race quite to themselves. Amalgam, the winner, comeß from Wanganui. The Bracelet was another easy win, Master Royal having a pull over some of his opponents .• in the matter of breeding. One atter another theatarters in the Maiden Steeplechase came to grief, Hugh Gourley, making the pace as fast as he could with the Southland horse Robin, who'' was at last left the only one standing up. Galtee started first favourite for the Winter Handicap, with The Idler and Dora next in demand. Loughlin's horse was never prominent, but the other Dunedin representative, The Idler, managed to do the trick, thanks largely to the excellent condition in whioh M'Grath brought him to the post. The Lady Dagworth gelding seems to be quite back to his best form, and on the other hand we may conclude that some of those behind him were only half fit, and consequently not hard to beat. I can hardly think that Yogengang and Cajolery, for instance, were beaten like that on their merits. If such were the case, The Idler is a Cup- horse.

* # * The National Hurdles, under its highsounding but well authorised name, was initiated in 1890, when that good horse Ixion, then owned by the gentleman who at that time ■ chose to race as Mr Kildare, made an easy task of beating a very respectable field, though, some* what handicapped by striking one of th& hurdles very hard. The unplaced contingent that year comprised Iroquois, Erin-go-Braghi Leonardo (who wis made second favourite),

Harkaway, and Little Arthur— each one a good performer. Ixion was then in the dangerous Lunn stable, and from that establishment Kuljaine came out in the following year a decided favourite, mainly on the strength of private trials. He was then only four years old, the Bame age as another competitor in the race, The Idler. But Couranto won decisively by a length, with a bit to spare. It was, however, a good performance en Kulnine's part ; and last year, with a full season's experience to make him clever over the fences, and a twelvemonth's strength added, Kulnine had his full revenge by banting Couranto out of a place. The others who failed to gain a shop were The Idler, Kai"manawa, and • Irpquois. Captain Webb, who started second favourite, came very fast from the distance and stole into third place for money and into the attention of backers for future events. 'And, by the way, he has so far not yet justified the hopethen entertained of him as a hurdler. Bub we shall yet see him win something. This year's race brought together about as goo_d a crowd of ' proved * leppers as we can expect in a small C3lony suoh as New Zealand is— all winners, but, as it happened, the conqueror proved to be the only one .concerning whose jumping ability there was any doubt felt. Speed and luck X combined, rather than cleverness, had landed Liberator a winner in his one previous essay over the little sticks, and with this knowledge in tbeir minds many persons usually esteemed good judges concluded to place their soys on something less likely to rap the hurdles and .invite a downfall. But the knocks Liberator sustained on the Thursday made him jump better on the Saturday, and, fencing with certainty and courage, his turn of foot brought him home an easy winner in good time considering the state of the course. N

* # * The Idler's second win during the meeting, which occurred as the opening incident of the day, was scarcely expected^ 1 understand, even by his own party. It was thought that though the gelding's superb condition had enabled him to win at a mile and a-quarfcer, he would find his match in one or more of the others at the shorter distance. But the Dunedin fellow got there all the same, and thus registered his fifth win in the unbroken series of successes he has had since leaving Dunedin. Private wires to town advißed that Rothamstead was good goods for this race, and .1 know of some who were thus influenced to prefer the son 1 of Gorton. Otago was also again to the fore in the Huut Club Cup, that good chaser Robin, Southland's representative, being able to win - literally in a canter. As for the Beaufort Steeplechase, they tell me that Magpie would have nearly won if he had stood up, but he was rather eager to keep with Tiritea and both fell, thus allowing Norton to perform a solo at the finish. The hunters engaged in the next race were not a very bright lot. Despised's success in the Final Hurdle Race took all the wiseacres by surprise, it being remarked by some as the field went out that if there was one that couldn't win it was this angular, one-eyed brown. So I should have thought, too. Another illustration of the glorious uncertainty, &c. He got home by a length from Jacob % Faithful, a clever fencer and a fast one too, that will win good races before the season is out.

*#* The meeting sawseveralnotable failures. Tiritea was one ; he did not seem to like the country. Empire also disappointed a host of backers throughout the colony. So did Clarence, but for him the sufficient excuse is advanced that he was short of work, having had to be eased at exercise. Magpie was another conspicuous failure, and few would have cared to bet beforehand that Victrix would run through the meeting without scoring a win. On behalf of these and other horses that succumbed with or without known reason it may be remarked that the running was not quite true in most of. the races. The percentage of falls and other mishaps was unusually high, due to soma extent probably to the treacherous going. The course looked all right, but it was full of water under the surface. Of the jockeys who came down those who suffered the most were Free Holmes, who was unconscious when picked up after falling with Magpie in the Beaufort Steeplechase, and Walls, whosecollarbone was broken by his tumble with Smuggler in the National Hurdles. The total amount of money passed through the totalisators during the two days' of the meeting was £12,837, or £233 in excess of last year's total.

*** Liberator by his double success has involved himself in the extreme penalty of 71b for the New Zealand Cup, thus bringing his weight to 7.10. I don't think he can win the big. race, nor do the bookmakers hold the opinion that he can, for in spite of his wins he is this week quotable at 100 to 4. The leading alteration in the quotations is the advance .of Response, whose price has gone up to 100 to' 7 in consequence of her being backed for a few hundreds at 100 to 6, presumably on behalf of the stable. Others that have declined 'a point during the week are Stepniak, Saracen, Palliser, Fraternise, Beadonwell, yisconnt, Ua, and Spinaway, and Pegasus is back to 100 to 4. Mr B. Cnrtis supplies the following quotations :•+■

Horse. St. Hippo ... Merganser ... Stepniak Prime Warden Clanranald ... Boulanger ... Hippomenes... The Workman St. Katherine Saracen Liberator, 71b ex Dilemma ... Palliser Skirmisher ... Fraternite ... Blizzard Rosefeldt Au Revoir ... Westmere ... Tname Melinite Tempest Captive Dishonour ... St. Anthony... Royal Rose ... Outpost" Riversdale ... Strephon Pegasus Response Lady Zetland Gitnno Beadonwell ... Stanmoor ... My Jack Musket Lochness Magazine Viscount Tussock ... • Ua Purepu Ich Dien Spinaway ] Trainer. 1 i i G. Wright A. Robertson R. Mason M. Hobba H. Luun J. Belcher S. Bishop H. Harrison W. Eiwards M. Hobbs ' M. Goodgor J. M'Guinness M. Hobbs J. M'Guinnesa W. Butler H. Goodman J. Munn P. Butler J. Belcher A. Wood R. Mason S. Bishop S. Waddell J.B. Williamson F. Carrington G. Wright ' S. Bishop A. Robertson J. Munn H. Harrison D. O'Brien M. Hobbi 8. Waddell S. Mercer G. Wright R. Ray V. Oollello G. Wright R. Mason D. O'Brien F. Carrington J. Munn G. Donnelly R. Mason F. Oarrington IWGT.I l_: 910 9 10 9' 1 8' 7 8 6 8 4 8 3 8 3 8,2 B'l 710 7 9 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 5 7 4 7 3 7 3 7 3 7 2 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 6 13 6 13 6,13 6 12 6 12 6 11 6 10 6 10 6 9 6 9 6 9 6 9 6 9 6 S 6 7 6 7 6 7 Odds. 100 to 12 100 to 7 100 to 5 100 to 8 mo to 6 100 to 5 100 to 10 100 to 6 100 to 4 100 to 5 100 to 4 100 to 6 100 to 3 100 to 6 100 to 3 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 3 100 to 5 100 to 5 100 to 4 100 to 4 100 to 5 100 to 3 100 to 6 100 to 6 1(0 to 6 100 to 7 100 to 4 100 to 4 100 to 7 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 2 100 to 4 100 to 3 101 to 3 100- to 3 100 to 4 100 to 4 100 to 4 100 to 3 100 to 3 100 to 4 100 to 3