TALE OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2124, 8 November 1894, Page 29

TALE OF THE DAY.

BY MAZBPPA

* # * The three thoroughbreds belonging to Mr Mos^man have bet n sent to Pydney, to be forwarded thence to Queensland. I understand that a Charters Towers man hasltastd them, They are— firstly, the thrre-year-old Beau Brummel, by Commotion — Quality ; secondly, Quatorze, th« two year old mare by Nelson from Tres Deuce ; fcurdly, rr,e hwo-year-old colt, Bl.tzcn, by Hotchktvs from the Mat uka nia>e Tnsrr.a'iia. The last-named promises to be a big fellow, and if he ever st e;gtheus up in p> (portion t» fcis size h- should be a v © r 7 speedy customer cv( n if he dues not cuke on the qua>i'y ot staui.g The Uliy, >.<ed l.y Major George, in a swec-temi er-ri ami sl>ppo y look« ing chestuut. Beau Brumnul disappointed his tr«inor when tried for Oamaru, but that cannot be bis' form. No h' rse built on the lines of a ract-r, and coming from the families that this one dots, d uld he so slow when ready as 'his co t was in his t-ial. 1 di- regard tha gallop eutir. )y. It must hive been done on a day when Beau Brurnmtl was n«it well. Some of these day* he, will prove the truth of this judgment. Harry <Jnck on was trailing the trio up to the day of shipment, and deserved credit tor having brought them on nicely.

*#* Onlj 25 nominations have been made fo E the chief race at the Wellington Spring meeting, though tbe distance is the popular one of a mile and a-quarter, and the club has a great advantage in beirg centrally situated, within easj distance of large breeding groui di But if any disappointment is experienced in regard, to thin race, there is consolati< n in the fine list of nominations for the Cup. The to-ai runs to 56 or on< more than last year. Yog' ngang, last > ear's winner, is au ab«eitse, unfortunately — he is reported to h*ve broken down while doii/g one of bis final gallops for tbe New Zealand Cup— but Clanranald and Rosrfeldt, wha finished second and third la-t yeur, propose, all being well with them, to have another go, and quali-y is otbciwise represented by Poxasus, M»gaz ne, lloyl Re,R *c, An devoir, Liberator, S»racen, Lady Zetland, and other proved racers, of whom tbe Orago trio sh jws two worthy one* in Skirmisher and Casktt.

*** Writing of the Donc&ster running, tb« Sportsman's special couomi'sioner sajs : It. is strange that Throstle should be touched in her wiudae well as in her temfer. Is not thisyefc another pioof how utterly stupid is the exaggerated fejtr of roaring ? I distinctly heard the noise when she, Matchbox, and Legal Tender were gallopirg, but jumped to the conclusi' n that Legal Tender was the culprit. Throst'e's half-brctter, Goldfinch, would certainly have won ?ome of the el>%s k ic tbree-jear-old events had he not ben run out as a two-year-old owins to the f- ar ent rrwiuid about his wind. There are some i eople now who affect to doubt Ma'chb x's staminn, but ther« is no Fort of reason for auy such doubt. O* the contrary, the colt w»s subjected to a Terf

B»vere ordeal in the Leger, when he had unexpectedly to make his own running. From the Red House home Ladas csme out and beat him in the run in, as he always will over any distance whatsoever ; but thi» in no way indicates any lack of 6tam ; na on the part of Ma'ctibbx, but jufrt this : that he is at Itast a 71b inferior horee to the Derby winner. Having Bsen him run in all his races except in the Grand Prix, I have no manner of doubt that Le stays uncommonly well, and is a game one too. Afi to Throstle, it wou'd not be easy to find a finer mare of the clean-cut, hard, wiry type, just the sort to stay for evtr ; aud fct*y she does beyond all possible doubt whatever, ir.somuch that even IsiDgUss may have all his work cub out to beat her when next they meet should she be in the humour to try. How easily the stable wtreled to form a \irong estimate of her was shown by what she did iv the Lege*, for it was just touch and go at the rifle butts whether »-he gave up altogether or not, aud but for Morny Cannon's dtlic ate handling and resolute treatment of her she would probably have been tailed off from that point. No one but a horseman with really gocd hands can humour a rogue or a jade icto taking hold again af^er they bave begun to cut it ; and apart from that the us? of the whip was a crucial remedy which probably in a trial would not be reaoited to. Hence in a.tii&l no doubt the mare would stop and run as if whatever wm had stones in hand.

* # * On the hst day of the meitirg the Dolce of Portland's Armable, evidently none tie wor-e for her effcits in tbe St. I>ger, won the Park HiU Stakes ver* easily by a length, covering the distance (the Old St Lej;er course) in 3min llsec. This was apparently l£sec latter than Throstle was credited with having occupied in ■winning the Lf ger; but the figures are&did to be rather misleading, inasmuch as the Leger •we« cfficiclly timed t-.o slow. The hcives were let go a long vr&y behind the post, and the anthonti'S seem to pretty well ogive that Throstle's actual time wai a tick uud- r 3ain Here. In the Doncastet Cup then st favourite (Sweet Duchets) won easily. The honour* of the race, however, are given to Stlf fcacnOce, who had to be eased up in training and yet seemi-d to be outstaying everything at th a finish. The pacemaker wa< Portland, who rcschtd the end of tbe first mile in lmin£ssc, bu' fivmihat point the field ran lomf a cr.scber, ih" Vine for the full distanct- b ing 3m in 3*|ec, as takau to a fraction by two watcbes. Th s meai s thit the last icile was dote in lnain 39|sec, wh eh would be good for a siigle mile, ltt a one the second of two.

*#* The Auckland Raring Club bas given notice of motion for tie next confecei.ee : — "Tbat, to encourage breeders and others to ««Btrate thtir colts, jjeldicgs be allowed sib nste»d of 31b in a'l weight-for-age and cL-ssic r*ots." Whe-n ths motion is bi ought on for discussion the mover may perhaps be aeked to substitute some othtr word for "classic." The term is often used tmd generally understood, but ii hardly stands suitably in a foimal motion. Tb*t, however, by the vay. What I wish to point cut in this pa:agraph h that I e'oobt ■whether the idea would work out the purpose ajm'- d at. The ohj'ct presumaby is t> rai^e the s* audard of our thorou^hb-ed* by g, tiing rid of undes rable ►tallions. A rapital n> ton, no doubt. It would be a general gain if inferior horses were gelded. Bui the qucs i n ,-s now presented to us drmands Ciivful ccns'Jeration. ■^o be^in with, wholesale cast rat i'.n would nob be to advantage If on the one h»nd 'he knife is too sparing y used, it ha-j somttiineb been employed to s, oil a good one Was it non a p ; ty th^t Fishhook wa* cut? Mata was nno'her •ca«e, and Francotte a Inter one. Hotts of similar mistakes rou'd be cited. What we really require is iome in.de of di.*criminttion, undt-r whuh the poor hoives will be stlecttd for opH>ting on and the best o-es left entire. Tlo Auckland proposal would, it seems to me, act in the reverse way. Euc.urage m< nt is to be gheu togeld colts that ar.-. to compete iv we ght-for-age and classic races Belt* r than that would betoci-tihe'u aft*-rthcyarebe<>ten. Then, again, ihe evil p'opOMd to be remedied is <>nly pa tly dealt wi hby weeding out the colts The nw.res wa'.t looking a f ter as w.;il Msny a hor^e that has within bio> the pos^bilities of a good is ciemnid early in his career by produciiiy weedy racers «h«^e t.-tult< are ii.he>ited from tt>e-r niothecs. I should like to so 3 the -whole uubjtct thoroughly diacussed before any 'decision is. arrived at.

* # * There is au indirect elatiors^ip between Hmvoc, who won the Maiden Plate at thr V It 0. meting, and The Enchanter, the mnuer-up. By the w»y, why the "Tte"? This prefix set-ms to be a particular fanny en the pa. t of Mr Samu-I Garth Co-k. "Tho" Admiral, "The" Captain, "7 he" Sailor Prince, and now '-The" Enchanter and "The" Hfctveter. Printers and telegram-senders and b okraakers «re not much wedded to formalities when the -guent'.on is one of space, coat, or ci nvrijii-nce, and though the prefix 's gracef ul it will be difficult to preserve, so it is to be hoped th*tS G.C. has not eethis heart on it. But lire relationship, you ask. Wull, Havoc is half brother t« Trenton, and something more, as he i« by a son of Trcntou's J-ire as we 1, and The Enchanter is by Trenton. In which fact we glem more glo»y for our island eoleny, thy birthpl .cc of Musket's mighty son, who is goirg to be if he is not already one tf the b* st sire« we have ever ghen to the droughty con'iuent. There does not sfem to have been a great deal of merit about Havoc's »in, for the time was nothing wonderful and he had ouly five to beat, four of them unknown. Still, he won easily, aDd if tbe feat was not a great oue it was f-pmething to scare out of the race those from vhom a decent performance might have bern expected. We may r* ckon that Havoc is a very tidy colt The Melbourne Stwkes showed once more that the ireight-for-age races over there are about as hard to pick as the handicaps. Excuses •were made for Carnagei's defeat iv tf*e Caulfield Stake*, inssmuch as he had a 141b penaltj. On Saturday l&st, however, he met everything on equal terms (presuming the w.f.a. f cale is a just one), and, though looking extremely well, he was never m the hunt. Loyalty, too, wbe'e on earth did he g^t too in the race ? Both these bor*e a , also Paris, finished out of a place, and beh'nd 'Ihe Sailor Pmce, whose fetkek gave way in the race. And the time was nothing wonderful. Loja'ty got home Jast year in fatter time by l^sec than that registered by Ruenalf. Tbe cxrlauation is probably the simple o:e that when Ruenalf emerged at the distance he d'shearte&ed the rest, and I sha'l be quite p'e-.iared to Ifarn wht-n particulars arrive th&t the last furlong wns a pretty slow race. Foxtail, wiuu-r of the Hotham Handicap, is in thft same utable as Devon. The twenty-fourth Mwribymong Pla'e went to the Sydney fi.'ly Arihi, o-e if the two candidates spfC'aliy reromrx.ended by our Melbourne correppondeijt in his letter published lust wrek. Reckoui.g Lavinia (»ho dead-heated in 1880) a winner, Anhi ia the tbirtecn - h member of the weaker sex that has won this race. It wilt be no'ed that her time is in one sense a record. lolanthe was officially timed at lmin 2isec in 1883. but private watches then showed

lmin 4seo. The next f&itest wa«t Necklet's lt»in 2|sec bix years ago. The cabled report gave Carbine's son Wallace as set ond, but a snbsequtnt message explains flint the judge pined Blmcap second and Wallace third, Atihi must hay« shown considerable speed, as she was partly turned rouud when the machine let t\e field go, aod yet she won very eas'ly.

*** The Harvester, winner of the Derby, was bred in Victoria by Mr D. H. Hill, end sold as a yearling tor 90gs to Mr S. G. Cook, who had previously bouxbt the dam, Springfme, and put her to Escutcheon. Thi^ marc ! was bred by Mr C. B. Fi-her in 1877, got by Fireworks from Spring Bl<ssom, by Fisherman from the imported Miuette, by Faugh-a-hall*«h f r m a dmighter of Voltaire xnd Ka'tnia, tte latter by Magistrate. E-8-nt,ally a stout i>tidigr€e, we m»y say th : s one cf Harvester's i», seeing tbat it has for headlines such names as St Alb-ms, the wellknown colonial mare Bl^ck Be?s, imported Kelpie, the famous Gaslight", and the mighty Fisherman; and this ninety-guinea coltwhtse performance everyone is talkiug a) out appears to have won ou his merits. Th yk was a collision of some scrt, by nil accounts, but it Seemingly did not help Harvester, ac.d th." dismissal of the protests lodged by tße owners of tho Bicond and third hosts m*-t with ei>pha'ic approval from the public. The witmer's time is ruucb faster than the average. Seagull has the distirc ion of th« clowest l-ecord among the I ho winner* to date, th>tfii. i y having taken 3r»in I 4sec to do the job, while the quick^t recrd is 2miu 395-c, made by Martini-Henrr, Tri'iei.'t, and Carnage, end only one results these has done a faster run than Harvester— viz., The Australian Per, wh sa time wa> 2mia 40-ec. Mr G oka celt lias be=n a deeeiit p rfo<-m( r all along. It wi'l be remembpi'G'l *hst he ran a dead h«at with Oarltou for the Nurstry Handicap at C*ulfield a y«ar »go v and ! a«t May he won a handicap frr sa^linas at Fleminttton, while his recent succ ss in the C#ulrWd Stakes oilkd atftntiou to bis qualify a> d led mauy good judges to fas cy him for the Derby. Among these exptrte, I &m pleased to say. wa» ! our Melbinrne corro»pmdent, who tipped him in on«. It may be nf'ted bere tbat Malachite, who nn second to 'J h^ Harvefcter in the D- rby, occupied the fsme position in tbe Canlfi Id Stak s a f<.r'i;i<.ht curlic. He mu4 be a pretty good colt, and if i h be the case, as alleged, thafc Oobbitty is a better on e t Mr L'oyd mutt Le vexed that tt,e latter could net get to the post for the Derby, thouph ifc is very much like noimnse t'j s^y that Cobbitty must have won if had kept right. No one can tell what a horse has io him when he wins easilr, as Tbe Harve^ttr did. Tte cabled report Jells us that Power rode a bad race on Dream'and and Mocrison a wose one ou Boniiic Scotland. The latter kept ruuning up snd fallit.g away again. Pcrheps he really could net do any better. We ate told that he was lame the s-m- morning, and otherwise did not kok qure at his beat. *** Ilium, wiuaer of the R-iilway H«ndic*p on tne venond day at Flemington, is a mare that was bred in this cilony and raced till we tlojght nc knew a.l about her, end yet I doubt whether we re illy did get her measure, fvr on her old form here we ehould hurdly have expected her to win any sorb of a race in good company with 711 on her- back. She has decidedly lmp.oved since landing in Au9'r«li». Maoiiiand-: red sires in Trenton and Eicufccheon gave us the Drat aud a-, ond tvrs •& iv the Nur»fery Handicap, at)d an exile fom tbe-e ; pavts in JRp\.U s ra« seotd iv \he Van Ytan Stakes, this race bei' g wo.- by the consistent Foxtnl, vrhoHe ability is even jet an unj known quantity to the haadicappcrs. As tor j the Melbourne Oup, it fell to one of the migh*y P.'s now found among thi\ top-Wrights for the I big races, and the particulu* one was io»lly coasiclered tie Itast likely of the ba'.ch. Mr i Purches used to be reckoned en unlucky owner, but the tide has turned of lute, and runs strongly iv his favour. Phtron's chance looked as nearly hopeles3 a^ possible. The gruelling he received in the Riiuhvick Pia'e, when j.itt-.d against Chtster man and Light Artillery, left him tore, f-o« the reports tt±\ c, and his gal ops since then bad not included ono over the Cup distin-e. He I was merely kept to spunu-g wo-k. chiefly ovt-r , 6bort courses, and ran untried so far as private j questions against the wutch w<re concerotd. i Then, again, on fo:m he seemed to possess j simply no show ot beating Ruenalf. Thi- latter i won the Melbourne Stakes w.th 9 3, Patron 9.0 second. In the Cup the latter had 9.3 and Ruenolf 7.7. On these flgure-s Ruenalf had 27 b the rest of it, tv say ; otln'pg of the bating, wtich suro'.y mijjht be pies^med to be worth 3lb. Yet when it came to the race itsrlf the so-called certainty fiuished bo nearer ths>n t'^nth. *** Doubtless it was the distance that found bicu out. He actually led f r the greater p&rt of tl,e two miles, and was only tackled half way up tbe st' aighr. He c, it is *l ege \te s iffe ed fr< m interference by Devon, and this was the subjret of a protest; but the stewards found the objection not proven, and we may cenc'ude that the interference is tot chargeable for Ruenalf 'a defeat. It is not like as if Lehad finished c 1033 up. He was in difficulties as soon as tackle;d The race Hppetirs to hay« been 1 rataer an unidti-fxctory one in some r^sppcts. We «re tol i that Loyalty w<<s fairly scared out by Ruenalf — not quite like Dun O'Brieu's usual ttyle— and tbe report adds tbat threefourths of the riders were evidently impressed with the idea that the race was over as j sooti as the fnvourite touk the leid, and refraired from any effort to weir him down. If th's is correct (and the author.ty is generally reliab'e) we m»y t>upj>ose that some owners were afttrwards found " whipping the cat" for giving the instructions the jockeys were etnt I out with. But 1 don't know that the fact detracts from Patron's character. He at aoy rate pegged on, and raai agtd to work his way from absolutely last to the first place, exhibiting staying power which would probxbly have landed him a winner in any case. His time is quite up to the average. It has been bea'en eight timf s, but yet it ii only 2|sec behind Carbide's record. I think the honoura of the race fairly belong to this proved son of Grand Flaneur and Olga. The unlucky candidate was Devon. He was beaten by only a neck in a cl se fiivsh, and had a half stone penalty on his b°ck. If the true quality of this half brother to Occident had been thoroughly understood by the stible a mouth ago, »w\ he had steered e'ear of (he penalty, he must have got home in one or other of the Cups. *** So'emn warning is given by the Taieri Club that at Friday's meeting it intends to stoutly maintain its rights iv respect to the tota'isator, and will not wink at any competioninthe beti ng business. The law forbids the laying of odds at totalisator prices ; the courts have decided that a club has practically unlimited rights of rejection ; and the Taieri executive, thus doubly armed, are resolved to make an end of the trouble which has annoyed j them in the past. I h»ve been requested to statj that prompt action will betaken should | any difficulty of the eort arise. In complying

with the request I would point out that it is not only the layrr of the machine odds who runs the risk. The tafeer is equally involved, and it is quite on the cards that the first Dunedin fielder to be marcbf d off will be accompanied by the person who h&s from him taken the odds. Now as to the real business of the day. Nine bave paid up firf i r the Trial Stakes, and of thesp I think three ar»* absolute novices. A'pen-tock is for certain ; and I do not know either Silverstream or Tesi. Claremont will probably be favourite, but, ttough he may win, he is no wonder, and should not be backed to a very short pric\ Leona h»» a show and Mossburn is well bred. Bea<om field must be very dangerous in oi.e of the tr^-s— which of them I can ot say. but I take him and We 1 come La's and Granierto provide ih'- winner of both these races. For the Cup I look no fur h^r than Winchman, though Slariby- noug will vo\ ba very far away. Trixie urns' have a say in the Novel Race and Arnistr. ng in the Welter, while I take Esparto ami Mar.b., rnong to be a dangerous pair iv the Flying.

*** Bad luck overtook four New Zealand Cup horses in their windng-up gallops. Three of them crncked up. The firtt; of the trio was Yojjfnijang Deny tt had been o»>gag.-d to ride the gelded product of Burlington and Psyche, and it is a moral c-rt&mty thatth- veteran Bob would have gcK a do"ent ra c <»ut of him. VogeDgang finished like a workman in the C.J C. Chnrnpigne, bea-ing-Wakawatea, Day(hvam, and others who -.v CLinb'i a'ioim^de up one of the strongest field- th-. eer bta ted for the race in quo-ton ; and among ruco t per <,rmancrt wis •*■ meri o iou- »iv in the W< 1 ingtm Cup Fi.r the New Zealand Cup this year Vog-ng-ng hid pret'y well finished a searching prepara'i'in. and I <«el very stj ttut Sheenan could noi b ing him to the pst He craiktd up on Thurs u .-y last. A rather curious fact about V< gongang i- that whilo- eutT^d for the shorter races - f the D.J.C Autumn meeting he v/as left out of the Dunertiu Cup. The rea»on of ths I camut oivine, unless it be that Sheenaa recko< ed that if he wen at Christcburch he w-.uld ger ton heavy a we : ghc at Dunedin. Whstever the c*ue, however, T. S. unwittingly gave us a hint to stand tff his hort-e for the Ricearbrn event, ar.d perhaps fomv accpted the "offi-e." though even as it is thf annj of backers iucludos uin-iiy whe lose by the elefec'iou. The t cx r . to f%U out *ai Dilemma, the unluckicst hor c in 'he colony. H> once showed a trial co d enough to prove him h gor-urn*? stayer, »nci he ran up to it when he finished <e.-ond to St. Hippo. The fo'lowing year be g.*t kcocki d oof.u f . by a collision. This timr he hid pretty nearly get through with a prepar-iHon vhicb had been rather tn üblou* to hs train- r, a lameness behind occasionally bc'oodmg bis prospects, but on oth*r days he would galop really well, and be was just flimhjn? one^of the best galops of the seri*s— that was on Thursday rooming— when he b.oke down while coming lDto tbe straight. Malcolm Allan thinks tbat if Dil-nima bad stood up be would have beaten all the rest of the Dunedin horses, and others evident'y nbared the opinion, and were somewhat confid' nt, f-r one st-ctiou of hi? backers refused to lay off their money at 100 to 4. It was the dry wepther tint knocked out the sot, cf Lady Em-na. With an ordinary spring sesson and easy tracks he would probably have kept right, and ont-e at the post his chanc* would bave been a, really good one.^ No 3 in my list is Scot Free, who tell lam- at tbe e'e^n'h hour and thus deputed Mr M'Kin- on of a run for bis wager of £500 ; and the fourth Cop horse to meet with a nrshap was Purepo, who collided with another horse ou the traiuing track and fell.

*.** O» the day that Mr Stead gave 500gs for Medal ion, at one of the Auck'and salts of January 1889, a brown yearling coif; by St Leger from Aicla was knocked down to Mr Brad'ey, of Te Aroba, for the moderate sum of thirty-Jive guineas! That colt, fince developed iuto a iseven-year-o'd, and known as Impulse, b«8 just won the New Zealand Cup. There is a coincidence in rcpeci to the figure quoted. Mr Stead imported L'Orient, and pub her to Leoliuu«. by which siie she produced fist AiJa, then lladames, and third Capsize. Later on, afttr Muski-t bee > me the fashion, L'Orient paid bicn visits, and the third fcal to that hor-^e is the last of the Mu-kets, our own Franco-te, who in to race p-t the Taie-vi to-morrow. But lam wandering away from the coincidence. Aida sta>ted once in her two-year-old season, in the Welcome S'akes, but she had such elopers as Siesta, Vanguard, Welcome Jack, and Le-onora to go agaiut-t, »nd small wouder that aha finished unplaced. In tbi<«, the only race for which she ever started, she w*s ridden by Harding. Mr Stead kept her til the autumn, and thr-n sent her into the sde rieg with a m'xed lo c , He PowdreJl securing the filly— here i* tbe coincidence at la*t— for the minimum price realised at the sale, 35^s, the very figure tfcat her nvw distinguished sou brought when his turn came to go to auction. Being taken to the Ntrth Island, Aida soon joined the fctad which Mr Morriu was get 1 ing around Lim, and after foal ng a dead colt to Anteros, missing to Murket the next year, and then produc : ng a colt to Ingomar, «he gave birth to the fellow who i? now the h<>ro of the colony. Teat was in 1837. Tte low prire obtained for the youngster was doubtless a'tributab'e to the fact that hh dam was practically unknown exeppting on paper. She had neither won a race nor produced a winner. For that matter Impulfe could cot at the time brag atout the doings of his sire either. St. Leger was a failure on the turf, and it took a whik> to t'sh bis givat va'ue at the s'ud. All the same, it is a fine family en boh si<*es of Impu'se's pedigree, ss students of breediDg will discover in conning the table given in another column.

* # * Impulse did not race as a two-yeir-old. When he appeared, ts a gelding, the following season, it was at the Takapuna meeting in January, and there, ridden by 8. Cook at 6.12, he ended unplaced in the Zealandia Handicap, five furlongs, won by Regal at tho same weight, and next day outstayed the latter at six furlorjgs, conceding half a stone. A very fair field contested this race, and Impulie, brought home by G. Frith, paid £13 10s. After this we saw no more of the youngster till the autumn fixture at Bllersl c. There he pulled off the double, doing the mile and a-half of the Easter Handicap, with 6.7 up, in 2min 40ser, and racing to the end of the Autumn Handicap, a mile and a-quarter, with 7.10 on his back, in 2tniii 12] sec. He beat such cracks as Cissy in one even', and Hilda in the o'her. As a tour-year-old Impulse did not race at all till he went OTer to Sjdcey, and his only attempt there was in tbe Rosehill Cup won by Bungebah. In the following racing year he ran fourth, with 7.8, in the Auckland Cup won by St. Hippo 8.9, and finished second with 7 9 to Crackshot 9.0 in the Racing Club Handicap. Going to WaDganui, he was beaten a neck in the Cup, carrying 7 11, the same we ; ght as the winner, SK Katherine, had ; and next day won the Stakes with 8 5, his time for the mile and a-half being 2min 43seo. Thenheputnp the best performance wehaveeYerseeuhimdoßrior to tbe

present, and that was to pull off once miro the double at tbe Easier meeting of the Auckland Rscing Club. In the Easter Handicap he had" top wfij-ht of 8.12, and be*t St. Kathf rine 8.6 by a neck in 2miu 37sv.c for tbe mile and a-half, while his win in the Autumn Handicap was Bccompl;sbed under the steadier of 9.6. I saw the*e races, and was impre-s«ed with the merit of In pulVg form, but could n'st make up my nvrd (hat his cr det.tial* as a stayer wtra sum itntly satisfactory to warraut my standing h m for a two-mile race. He never won at a greater distance th«n a mile and a-ha\f till this j week. That fact by itself might or might not I mean much, but there was something more behind it, and thitt was thi»t he had ab«olutely failrd at the further distance ot a mile und three-qua>ters. Therifoie, though Impulse has wod, I don't know that we aiv to blarm- for i ot I seeing winning form hi J.is performances.! What I haid abo'it him when the weigh s ap- j peered was that be could not canpliau of tbe handicap, but that bo se.m E d to bave de- i generated and would be best left alone in the ! meantime. i

* # * Thf? evidences of (hat apptrent degeneration were bis double de'eat v»hen he weir to £>ji\t ey :<s a six-je x - -ol<l, and ss he did not race «fter then till <lip New Zealand Cup came up for dec's on the facts *m[>ly warranted the cautio j I gave Ev^ll when hp camo out m the tra'ks and w^s galloping well, very fow of the unbii'sed watcho s c«rod fo go further thau to give him a show •' if he kept, well." Ihe occasional us" of this j.hraflfc iv regard to th- g-M-irg WrfS read to in-ply th«t ).is physique was no- tjuit.i fres from nu'pici.<n, and this was another re*Hon for holding off him till the eleventh h >ur. Further, the people of Auckland, who should kno>v most about ths Lor-o, were bj no m ans agreed about him. Many of t^e horthem backers preferred Lottie; soroe dii n> t like h di.sj wtll as Pegasus. In all the cirjuwfrtsi.CfP, thf-n. there wss amp'e (-xcuse for sout'einers being canful about Impulse, at eny r»t»- till thry saw him acually at Rice rton. Wh,-n he did cjme down mo<t of the juHgi s g«ve h m some tort cf a show, but nearly a'l preU-rred some hing else as th i actual winnrr,and so for as lean find out "Rita" got nearer to the result thau any other spor'ing ferine located «6 heedq'iarte s iv lipping An R-voir 1, Impul c 2. That was b* uo me,ins a bad tip. With -»11 thebe«ir.ation, ho*»:ver, Impulse can har.'ly be Hoarded as a vtry givat surprise. His own connections backed him genuinely and cons's'ently and made no ol th ir belief tha f . he would ma well, and fclrs influciica being at work ever eitce the weights »ppe»red I suspect tint he ;s; s no morn 'han a fairish horse for iher'ng Evn-y now and again ». demand aro-ef or ImpaUe, ani a tid/ suai m'j»t ha> - e been taken about Itim iv the aggregate, the bulk of it a f . prethy io- g prices He wai quoted at 100 to 4 when the accept - nee « appeared ; afier a cotiole of Wreks be advivni ei a po'nt, was at 100 to 6 on aiv tving ab lliccarbt.n, and fa-v 100 to 8 on the final acceptance. It is up north, however, tbat niosb of th» mo.-.ey was t^ko^. Southerners fetood the r share of the stable f omnii-s'.on, but most of the small wagering i»b,>ut Impure wa.B dene in Auckland The hoses that we*e mosb genei'tlly backed throughout tbe colony (I mean of the (.tuters) w< re Prime Warden, Au Revoir, Dilemma, au>l Saracen, feither of these would have been a big 1. ss to the ring, who, as it is, have pleniy to p>.y with, and a bit to syare.

*** One thirg about t\As Cup, concerning winch a man could have got fair octfs b forehand, is that not a single Canterbury horse seured a place Aurkland was first and second, and Ougo third. A very (.'ood third, ioi, little AWe frliot u<ar>e of ib Ho put iv a fine run at the b» ck of the course and iaC'-d iuto the lwd, holding it to to distance and sttuggTiig home with such perst-t-ncy that he was only altngt'o an<i a-balt behin i ihe wimv-r ss ttiey r*n pus 1 ) the judge. There was some merit in this perfcmMice on ihe part of Aldec»hot, His cass is vastly different to llvit of a horse winch p»gs away for place money and merely beat^ a lot of pullii'g-up horse-. lam very i>lea-ed that Mr J. M'Krwo;i, who is a thoioug' -going sportsman, secured in this way enough to clear the torse's experscu at the m ttiig. In one sense, ho-vmr, it was a costly thing to get this third place. Ifc ga r e backecs a line About Mount Royal for the Welter, and shortened the divideud. Thi* fellow, by the way, via* the only favourite to get home during tbe day. Re.tnrning to the Cut>, I n<te that Impulse seems to have been nicely ridden ; «nd his win was dens ye, if not eisf. The time is proity fcood ; it has been only beaten twice — namely, by h*lf * second in St Hippo's jear and by a s-cond a«d a-hilf la-t year, when Rosefe ; dt is credi'ed with cutting the rtcord. This mare, by the way, htarted attually the favourite, and sustained a bad Keating, as I ( xpected she would. Prime Warden als > was never prominent— l made bold to declare againht him all through — and neither Skirnvsh«jr nor Pegnsus had any show, while Magazine, whose trial was B »id to have been quite good cnoogh, had to be content to fol.ow hvmc the placed horses. Saracen seems to have run well for a whi'e, but Au Revoir was a serious di-appoiutmenb. I am ca'isfied th.»t- it was not his form to stop in the body of the field all the way. Horses are funny sock, are they not ?

*** Beadonwell's defection knocks a few Dunedin backers rather heavily. When the news of his scratching first came to hand we co&cluded that he had broken down, but fortunately the ose is not so serious as that, for ihe cJt had a run in the Stewards' Stakes aud finished second. The natural conclufiou is that Beadouwell's fkal trhl did not please his trainer. If so, or whatever hapr cned, the nec-ss'ty to scratch would be as gall and wormwood to the owner, for he made no secret beforehand of bis belief that the son of Di< ne would race we 1 and stay, and a select circle of followers went a raker on Beadonwe ll's chance. lam sure that the own p r would have been very plea-ed to wia if only for tbe*akeof Irs friends' interests. The s f able also bad bad luck in lesing the smic s of Black and Red in the Welcome The colt got slightly hmt before the race, and had to be scratched. Bar the win of Mount Roy*l, it was a day of places for Otago. Casket in rhe Maiden, Aide-shot in the Cup, Euroclydon in the Welcome, Beadonwell in the Stewards', aud Langley in the Shorts — this is a long record of "i,earV and I hope for belter luck on the »ecoi>d and third days. Perhaps Civsket may win the Derby, bub I don't care for his chance very much after being beaten in the Maiden. The Canterbury Cup also seems to be a very open sort of race. I have a little liking for Au Revoir, but really there is vtry little to go on. The Gaming Act appears to have driven extra money to the totalisatora, for the total pa3f ed through for the day was about £2000 over latt year's sum for the day.

*** A picture of Paris recently issued shows him to be short-legged in front with immense quarters. The Australasian remarks that since he ran his first race when a two-year-old Paris has accounted for 10 races of the approximate talue of £7750. He was placed iv charge Q f

Mr J. Allsop on the day the latter won tho Birthday Cup with Cremorno at Randwick in May 1893. After winning the Metropolitan the little fellow, as he is ca'led, whs g yon a spell at bis breeder's station, Havilah, near Mudgee. During his holiday he managed to stake himself sevmly in i'te the n e ar gaskin. the wound ext ndii g to the cann< n bone, but he wss to healthy thtt do ill effects r< suited, nnd when he resumed work in April lest he was as .lively and frolicsome as a two-year-old.

* # * There is no doubt, B»ys "Ttrrnga," thit Fiel J er, <he rider of Pail*, thoroughly outgeuerallcd most of the other jockeys at the post for the Caulflcld Cup. While everything elsa in tbe race was being used up in semcltss breaks, Paris stood on the line )ike a trooper's bor*e, never once attempting to begin unt'l the flax went down. S>ire'y beginning fresh, wbito many cf hii mo^t d»ngeroui opponents had been <-xh<iusHns( thetns-lves for a quarter of an h<nir ia jumping away and th»n pul ing up, musb ha*e been a go. cl deal in Paris's favour. I think so, at all events. Of cour eit is not every horse that will stand quu fly and husband its tffui't* until the riahttimo for putting them for^h arrives; but no doubt many of 'hecompetitor* would hsuve Vchaved th^m -elves decoi\>u»ly enough, if their jiokcys had not been in such an insane hurry to jump off whenever there was the alight* st chance of a erarfc taking place. Fielder's judgment in the ac'u.il race was quite equal to t the acumou ho displaced at the post. Few of our present jockey* ifou'd have the tati-nca t> wafts he waited, and mske full «Sd of that extraordit ary run f<r which Par's i?) celebrated. Com ng iuto the s rauh 1 ; he was on the insHfr, and three or foar hoi-s 8 in front of him had to die betcro there would be a fha"C2 « f 6c-nding Pahs after Bruio ; but, knowing that thechnnce woud c-.me, Fielder bidt'tl his tim^, aatt the opportunity to conae through and make his ran at the right time cam? jusfc as Le expected. Par s is the most fottun*te handicap horse of re-cent times S'm>-one rf marked after th- race, "What a pity he w»sge'ded!" Nothing of tho kind. Jf he bad not bern the odds a»e his turf career wonld have enrled long *go. It is not m?r n? *t»l)ion in a hunlred who would do the galloping Paris his done and be souud and M good us new in his seventh year.