WELLINGTON NOTES.

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 33

WELLINGTON NOTES.

By Onlookeb.

October 27.

Trotting is certainly becoming a much more respectable sport up this way than it was wont to bo, and when we get a few more horses of the right sort, it is a class of racing that will catch on. We find that trotters of the right sort are fetching good prices, and legitimate men only can afford now to keep up with the procession, so tkat herein we have something that 1b slowly working the purification and ultimately will bring the cure of the evil of past trotting meetings. The advent of a J.H. is of great value in a district, and breeders in the Wairarapa think that they will shortly be able to raise stock of this class which will improve the present breed, and run out the queer ones. Good on't ! These remarks lead up to the successful meeting held at Palmerrton North yesterday by the trotting club of that district, for which glorious weather waited upon the club and a goodly attendance, evidence of which is given in the totaliaator receipts, which reached the total of 136650v5, and cut of thiß investors on the various winners got pretty liberal returns for their vesture, the dividends respectively and in order being-£8 Us. £4 15s, £5 6s, £11 18 a, £2 li, £1 9s. and £2 4e. The racing was pretty good, ana Keith seems to have had his hand and eye in during the meeting, getting a big ovation for his §eneralship in piloting Tuesday home in tho Pony addle, of two .miles. Keith was in charge of his own Peppermint in the Hokowhitu Harness, and also guided Tonga twice into second place. The chief event resulted thus :— Trotting Club Handicap Saddle Trot. Three miles. 44— Mr L. Robertson's b m Whitefoot, 85sec (Owner) 1 15— Mr R. S. Henry's b m Jenny, 403 ec (Owner) 2 35— Mr J. Butchar's eh g Grenadier, 40sec (Gibson) 3 Mr Cave's Gable was favourite. There was a goodly display of thoroughbreds at the Manawatu A. and P. Show, held at Palmerston North on Wednesday. In the class stallion over 4yrs, Mr D. Pringle's eh h Forester, aged, by Puriri— Gossip, again beat nil corners, which he has now done for a auartet of years. Forester was bred in the Wairarapa by Mr P. F. Tancred, of Clareville. His opponents on Wednesday were : Flinders, by Tasman — Waterwitch ; Boulanger, by Grand Prix— Fleurette ; Sou'wester, by Gold sbrough— Seabreeze ; and Haere. by Malua — Norna. Boulanger took second honours, and the Victorian-bred Haere got the ho. The second day of the Manawatu show was a great time for horse-lovers, and in the crowd of 10,000 people I reckon thert were a few sports, eh? Of course the feature of the day was that set down as the Hunters' Competition.' These jumping contests at all our shown, whether they be in tb« south, up north, or in the middle, are always looked forward to, and up in Palmerston it proved no exception to the rule. For this event tbe ladies of tho distriot had gathered together their pin-money and presented a Challenge Gup, valued at .'iOgs in filthy lucre, but its real value let him put down who has known the smile of beauty's eyes in their challenge. The assuciation also added a 10s ov prize, so that the event was well worth contesting, bo small wonder is it that 20 horses faced the jump?, although Alma, who got a log in last year for the Cup, was not in the list. Mr F. Perry was the lucky man by means of Duke, and, as on the first day, Harkiiway came in second. During the week thnre has been much promenading of the wharf by local sports, inspecting the many hordes passing north and south — north to the Wairai apa for the country meetings, notably and immediately the Taratahi-Carterton meeting ; south for the great Carnival ; and others in the shape of trotters have passed on their way up the Manawatu for the Palmerston North Trotting Club's meeting of yesterday. Oh, yes, i there has been much expression of opinion npon j travelling hon,eflesb during the week, and all j grades of lovera of the turf — the classic, the hack, and the trotter— have each had their particular points to dilate upon and condition to dieouss, together with the merits and demerits of their fancy ; but how will it all pan out ?Is a query they are unanimous in seeking the solution of Con Boyle brought down from Hawke's Bay on Thursday the Hon. J. D. Ormond's O J.C. reps., Nixie and Woodlander, and took them on to Lyttelton yesterday. They both appeared to be in good nick. After completing hii Ghristchuroh engagements, St. Clements, the Auckland sprinter, goes on to your city. He put up at tho Nag's Head stables tor a little while here during his journey south, and on taking a gentle walking exercise he was much admired, and many were the eyes that gazed at those shapely legs and looked the query, If I only knew the winner 7 There has been a report in circulation during the week to the effect that Hippomenes would not be a goer for the Cup, and some of our people have felt badly hipped over the rumour, and they won't be happy till their doubts are set at rest. At the Wanganni races last week, fines amounting to £17 on the fint day and £11 on the second day were inflicted on the jockeys. The sum of £7200 was put through the machines— an incraaae of £651 on last year. The Wairarapa Trotting Club has fixed its Spring meeting for November 29 on the Akura racecourse, Masterton, R. Roake being secretary and Ulic Shannon handicappar. The programme contains eight event*, over which is distributed 135sovs, the biggest sum (SOsovb) being allotted to the Club Handicap, harness, about 2J miles. Mr UHc Shannon, who does most of the trot handicapping in our district, has just got out the adjustments for the coming meeting of the Upper Hutt Trot Club, the horses for the chief event being fixed tbusly :— Upper Hutt Trotting Club Handicap (saddle), two miles and a-half.— J.H. Bor, Cable Bsec. Invictus 12sec, Nea 12aec, Dakota 20aec, Jenny 40sec. Miro 45seo, Coal Queen 48« ec, Khandallah4B»ec, Billy II 50»ec, Ladybird BOsec, May 55sec, Caloola (JOsec, Cotherstone 6bsec, Ned Kelly 66aec, Gentle Annie 65seo. October 80. J. Munn, G. Hope, and S. Lindsay, in charge of Mr W. Douglas's team for the Canterbury Spring meeting— the Cup candidate Rosefeldt, the Derby horge Marino, and the hurdler Kapua— came down from Hastings on Saturday night and went on to Christchuroh way by the Te Anau yesterday. For the aame destination Mr Donnelly's Cup horse Purepo arrived from Hastings by the same train, J. Maher heing in chargo of him : while J. Belcher brought down Westmere, Caribou, and Nanakia from Wanganui, and J. Godwin Sylvia Park from Taranaki. Yesterday's Times says: "Mr T. Waddington, well known in Wellington as an owner of trotting horees, has drawn Devon in Tattersall's consultation an the Caulfleld Cup, and as the horse ran second for that race Mr Waddington should receive a trifle over £3000 If the sweep Is subscribed. . _ . . The Christchurch trotting horses Peppermint and Tuesday, both of whom were successful at the roc«nt Palmeraton North trotting- racus, were shipped to Lyttelton par Te Anau yesterday afternoon in charge of thbir trainer, A. Keith. As the carnival time drawa near the excitement of the Cup grows apace up this way, and he who is going down already wishes he was there, and he who would like to but cannot la full of regret, and only finds solace in constant referenoe to the sporting portions of his newspaperi. And as to his daily papers up here he gets very little consolation, for I sever before noticed auch a dearth of training notes from the City of the Plains. "What means it?" "What has come over the Press Association ? " These are the queries at all the corners, and have even found vent in the shape of a growl in the papers themselves. We hare daily more news from the training track which is preparing the Melbourne Oupites than we have been getting from Riccarton. There Is something wrong somewhere, and In the meantime those who can afford it are putting on the private wire method, whilst the less-favoured brethren flock to the "free pub" and eagerly scan the Christchurch files. , Everyone admits the Oup to be very open, and analyse the entrants as they may, their one song ia still "If I could only baok the winner 1" "Measure? not msa," ear some people In "Horses not owir ojs some ol out

sports, and a few suggest "Jockeys not horses,* and advise the backing of the beet jocks on the job ; Well, I haven't had the straight tip; I don't know what is going to win : I have not put my stockings on Au ilevoir, nor hedged on Prime Warden, nor been led away with the stable's support of Haracen ; nor do I think that Pegasus will fly away with tho race, or Magazine bust, that it will be done well by Beadonwell. or shot the gang in Vogengang ; nor am I Skirmisher after Royal Rose, or felt Rosefeldt, ncr has my Dilemma given me an Impulse to make Captive Hippomsne*, Leontine, or Rangipuhi ; nor yet do I save even Aldershot in my Casket to escape Soot Free with Mahaki or Purepo. No, I have not even had a dream on the subject, but I enclose the state of feeling up here as evidenced in the batting market. Mr V uille gives me the following quotations for the Wellington market on the New Zealand Cvp :— 5 to 1 agst Saracen (tkn). « Au Revoir (tkn), 8 Prime Warden, 10 Royal Rose, 10 Skirmisher, 10 Rosefeldt (tkn), 10 Magazine, 18 Pegasus, 12 Lottie, 12 Beadonwell, 15 Clanranald, 15 Westmere, 15 Vogengang, 15 Leontine, 15 Three Star, 15 Impulse (tkn), 20 Rangipuhi (tkn>, 20 Hippomenes, 20 Purepo, 25 Dilemma, 85 Captive, 30 Scot Free, Casket, Mahaki, and Aldershot.