SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2173, 17 October 1895, Page 30

SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

I By Horn Pokne.

Melbourne, October 9. THE BOWDEN-Ctf-itf- ANDERSON IMB'<OGLIO. For some years past there has been an unquiet feeling in the minds of the racing public that a. number of our more prominent stewards indulge too mucli altOEefcber in "backing their funded,'* nnd covert hints as to certain of them sitting in judgment on nn-t «Ib aft'ictiig thorn monetarily have Viecn by no meaus rare Up till quite recently, though, these hints found no distir ct voice, nnd even whin the fat got into the fire at the late annual meeting of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club it wannore by accident than design In accordance with a notice duly given, Mr A. A. k amuela moved that all members of committee should act as stewards at VAT.O race meetings, anil Oiis motion (which \va« seconded by Mr George Woouforde)waa subsequently cairied. In bupporbiug ', the motion, however, Mr tt. Molesworth said it would be better to have eight than five stewards, because there would t.e more choice in cases where some of the stewards minht have happened to bt- wagering and being interested in _th« race, should not adiuiicate on caseß aff^otiug tbeir I bet* "It was no uncimmon thing " contiaueJ Mr Molesworth, "to see stewards ffoiiif?ti jockeys for tipe." This remaik immediaMy Drought I Mr Jarues Gricc on to his feet with the inquiry : " Who were the hte wauls you saw Roiug to jockeys for tips?" To which queiy Mr Moleftwurth immediately rojoined : " I will name them if you desire it." But as Mr Grice evidently did not I desire it, and ns no other member was of an in1 quiring turn of mm in this particular oonm.ci.ion, tht- matter might have flickered out altogether lu-d not Mi J O Bowiien fJcsircil to gwt jiu iiis-Hiice that came under hts own notice heating ' on Mr M'llesworth's remark* where a steward hail adjudicated ou j cisc in which he wai monetarily interostpd. And in a "pUin, unvnrniahed manner," Mrßowden related : " A steward oatno to him one i&ce meetiug and said : ' I have i)SO on that horse [naming him] and lam afraiit I am not g"ing to get a run for my money. Will you put your glares nu him ami w:it« < him in the ivco?' He (Mr Bowdon) rti'Uo , but the hor-.o won There whs a protest sgj'ii-t the winnor, and that steward subsequently .uljudicnted on the protest." This was J C. B's tale, which he appropriately rounded off with the moral : " Stewards had a tight to do what they likod with their own m >ney, but where they were interested 1 they ahoul'l certainly not «it on a case. Sonic men would r.ther cut off their hands than do snch a thing" Upon hen'i"c t|ii-, one member, evi'ienth iniliued wiHi .m idri that Mr Bowdon was " pitcliiuK a fairy talo," and desirous of trying to bowl him out, ejaculated, '' Give us tbe Award's name ! " Aud without more ado Mr Bowdeu »>hirted out, "It was the chairman ot the V.A.T.0." Then there was madii'jas. The chairman (Arthur ■ Anderson) lOde up aud stigmatised the accusation J as one of the biggest falsehood r ever uttered, iv proof of which he put forth the rather childish pleii, " You may he sure Mr B >wden is tho lnst man I would say thin sort of tbing to" F. MaiV'eu, C. D o'h.alloran, \V. Gatinson, Colonel Tora Price, and others flew at the devoted Bowdon as if anxious to reud him pucomeal, the solicitor (O. D. OH ) getting worked up into such a f urora of Hibernicism (so to speak) as to advocate the club supporting its chairman in an action for libel (!) against Mr Bowden ; whilst to tbe oommoD (or garden) variety of intol ect it presented iteelf an being slander, seeing that it was ut'ere^, not written, llowevur, the moat terrible threats of " expulsion " aud what not only served to make J. 0. B. more socrttive than ever aN to the main facts of the case— tbe race, horse, jockey, etc. ; all that could be elicited from him being the fact that the episode occurred at Moonee Valley, wbe-e (par parentheses) some very curi us things have I occurred at times. Seeing that they couldn't ; "draw him," Mr Madden said they could not allow tbe matter to drop in that I way, and as Mr Bowden refined to <xplain, he moved— "That thih meeting dtebelievea the statements made by Mr Bowden concerning Mr Arthur Anderson, tho chairman of the VA.T.C." Then there was more "powwowing," and eventually Mr Maddens motion was declared to b« " carried uu*nimonely," although a number of members did not vote on the question at all. Ab a matter of course, th's action only servsd tr> make confusion worso confounded, and for several days after tho i V.A.T C. meeting the position was the principal topic of conversation where horeey men most do c mgrezate. It was felt that having gone so far, Mr J. C. Bowden wa< in common honesty bound to go a step or two further, and Biibmit the whole i circumstances of the ca«e to tUe full ulare of day. I Meetings of the V.AT.C. Committee were held, ' at which it was determined to evil upon Mr Bow- • den to substantiate his charge, and hub-leaders in the daily papera endowed the request. At last Mr Bowden, who had previouuly retained Messrs J. "L. Purvis and W T. Cildham in the event of an action being instituted against him, bowed to the evident wish of the public, and on Monday he handed the following letter to the general press for publication :— "Sin,— My action in connection with the late g-neral meeting of the V. A..T.C. having been commented on somewhat prominently by both the press aud the public, I feel it riuht that the matter should be sifted to the 1.0 ' m and that I should explain my position fully. At the meeting, when the chairman stulecl that the conmi'ttee were hostile to th« proposal that the whole o; their body should act as steward*, i felt that thpresent system was objectionable, as it had been frequently stated that some stewards had acted when interested, ami in other coee< a quorum could not be obtained, as other stewards rightly refused to act, on account of having had bets ou the race and I mentioned the facts reported. , When a-ked for the name I gave that of the chairman, Mr A. Anderson, feeling it my duty to do bo in jußtice to the other members pre-

sent. Th« instance I had in mind wjis the Lardy Dardy and Lor t John case at Moonee Vallay ou November 53, 189 i. Before the ra-e Mr Anderson agked me to put »ny glasses on Lord John, as he bad i!SO on binOand was told he would not get a run. Lanly Dariiy won, and » provost was »utdved HKainst him Mr Audcrßon tat n* rnairman of the steward.", and tho appeal was allowed, the rti'.'e being given to Lord John. " If I am wrong Mr Anderaon can, in a simplo and inexpensive way, teat the matter by taking proceedings in the county court against we. when himself and tbe witnesses can be examined on oith, and I undertake, so as to have tho matter fairly tried, not to raise any technical defence Thin is tbe only coiuve available to my mini), an the committee of a race club cannot examine witnospe» on oath, or enforce tho production of duoumtmtH. Mr Andercon, if h* is as confident as he appoars to be, might even make a statutory declaration that ho hud never sat in any case. This course has already bton suggcated by a correspondent. "The cast I have mentioned 1b within my knowledge ; there are rumours of other Instances, but as to these I cannot at present rpeak. " Having given a date and definite case, I leave tbe public to judge which of us is in tbe right. —Yours Ac, John O. Bowden." The appearance of this letter on Tuesday morning created much excitement amongst sporting men, keen iutereat being evinced in tbe action likely to bo taken at a spaoial meeting of tho V.A.T C Committee convened for that afternoon.. However, with the exception of the imbroglio I ems discussed for an hour and a-quarter, very little is known outside llie charmed circle as to the exact purport of the dc.ci-<iou arrived at, owing (as Ihe Age puts it) "to the close eecrecy observed by the club officials. However, it is understood that the committee will ask Mr Bowden to acquaint them ' officially ' with the circumstauouj of the cime he has quoted, and what action will then bo taken is a matter for conjecture. The members of the committee, however, seem 'ncliued to carefully avoid the fre-quently-emphasised challenge by Mr B->wtlei> that Mr Anderson, or the dtib on his heh If should light the lHsue out in the law courre." For -my own part, I fail to seu how thu' last stricture of the A«e rit-i lv. The charge was brought against Mr Amlerßon in his oapacity of steward at Moonee Valley— not at Caulfleld ; and th*refore ! the V.A T.C. ought not to be dragged into the transaction at all— jave in the mntter of dealing with their ex chairman us rt-gardod conduct detrlmental to t.iie true intercuts of the turf. In ju-tic to Mr .tnoeruon it mu«t be stated that on a npreseuUtive of thu Argus showing him Mr Howdou's communication bt-fore it was publisbod he slid : "I have a faint recollection of the ca3e to which. Mr Bowdeu refors, and 1 rathtr fani-y that I cat on (he proteht in my capacity as »• c* ard at Moonee Valley. I have no rco- lltction, however, of havinc invested j£so or any le^or or larger amount on Lord John, and am quite prepared to make a statutory declaration to that effect. lam certain in my own miiut that 1 had mi interest iv Lord John getting the race, othorwu-e I would not have brokuithe rule which I have always adon'od of never kitting on a case in which I was interested in bets." There you have the full, tiue, und particular account of the whole affair, and ulthougn it haa ocmti iod a lot of_ valuable space, I doubt not It will prove of sufficient interest to your readers to warrant the elaboration. OLLA rOURIDA. As you will doubt'e-s lemember, I "fioze" on : to Prestcn for the Melbourne L,up as soon as ever hi* apportionment of 8 7 appeared, and although ! Mr Barnard only allotcd him the s*me wtight for the Caulfleld Cup I fancied the Messrs Miller would select the longer distance iv preference, seeing how splendidly Preston acquitted himself in the v.tt.C bt Leger labt autumn. We haven't had tbe pleasure < f witnchshig the four-year-old eon of UobinHim CrubOu and Blue Ejes on a raceroui'Hf- this 6ea*ou until yesterday at Epsom ; and thereby hanK« a tale. Preston was catered for tht lianoicap Flat Race, r.f a mile aud a-quarter, go handsomely won by Monastery 8.1 at thß Melbourne Hunt Club mooting at Flemiugtou last Saturday ; but although ho was nib Wen at during the prec> cling week fov the Caulfleld Cup_ at longish pricew (certain auguiy of a " splai-h " being myiitueil in the imm<diatp futurti) ho did not out st the t'vcnl. YiJitculay morning though h» Wat supported to yin thu Caullitld Cup to the extent of sonic .£50 r jo, at 100's to 4, 5, and 0 ; and In the afternoon lie saddled up for the Merdiallor Handicap (of 40sove, second Gsovs), of a mile and three furlong 3, and although there word 15 opposers (Bonnie Scotland 84, J5 83, Palo Alto 7.12, War Tanc« 7.11, Duhalh>w 7 10, Taranaki 7.10, Rnyal Master 7.8, Mfra^tlcux 7.4, Rewt 7.4, Str*ightfiro 73, limmalea 72, Tarn Ufa 70, St rahan 6.12 Lucid 6.9, and Piichery 67) he q ickly advanced from 5 to 1 to 0 to 4, and, coming away from tbe turn, won in hollow fashion by five lengths from Taurus, who held hßlf a length advantage over Rewi ; Roynl Master being fourth, Taranaki fifth. Duhallow sixth, ond Strahan latt ; the time being 2min 253ec. The win was such a ridiculously easy one that a rush at once »et in to get on to the mijiposo I good thing for tho Caulfitld Cup, aud ln-sttiijht IliCOto 70 ss'as acrcpte 1 three or fout times uvur. If his party mean buaincss for the C.ulfield (Jup PnnsTON will just about win ; but the money secui ed about him prior to the Mordialloc Handicap may be for " crushing" purpoaes only. Mind you, I don't wish to infer that the Mo?Br» Miller want to " rig " the market, or anything of tbat Eort ; but they are nothing if not r.ommer cial men, and, moreover, »re firm btlieverß in the advisabili' y -of " standing on velvet" in all such matters as the.^o. Piovuted Piesfon won the CaulfieW Cup, ho would have to put up a 101b penalty iv the Melbourne Cup, bringing his weight up to Tue Harvester's apportionment, 93, and, strangoly enou«b, the identical weight another St. Lsgtjr wiunt- v (P*tron) carried to vie tory last year. Arg^l ! Preston may win both Cups. The Meesrß Miller maintain that ho is quite as good a colt a . The Harvester. Tbat was a rlmkiug good performance of Monastery's in the Hanciieap IHat Raco, of a milt aud a-quurter, at Flemington last Saturday. There were 18 starters, and bo opon did it look that although P.urrabari 7.9 was backed down to 7 to 2. each of the foil wing met with support down t<> the subjoined prices : 7's tack Bonnie Scotland 8 6 and Bruin 9 5, B's each Lord Richmond 7 3 aud Mischief 7.0, 10's each Patron 9.12, Newman 9 ( , and J58.6; 12*8 each Htvahan 7.o and The UhevaVor l ; 7, 16's t-acb Lena (i S. Palo Alto 80, Brilliant s ]?,, and Monastery 8 1 The last named is ,i font -year old daughter of The Ei.^lisb man and Convent, and last year won the S.A. J.O. Derby. She belongs to Mrs E. Y. Can-, and has annexed one or two good races duriDg her career Although she started at 16's she was well backed by the Houth Australian contingent en Saturday at 100 s to 5, and they evidently knew what they were ab mt, as after Mischief had cut out the running from the reka?o of the barrier right away round and up the straight till as far as the distance p st, where Lord Richmond deposed the Commotion filly and looked all over a winner. Monastery swooped down on Eli Jellett's colt and sailed home balf a length to the good in the slashing time (considering tho state of the going) of 2min B!<ec, Mißchief being third half a l>ngtb behind Monastery, followed by Palo Alto, Bruin, Bonnie Scotland (who got away dead last), Burrabari, Duhallow, and Chnron. Monastery does tot incur a penalty for Caulfield, though she does (31b) for Melbourne. She has only 7.10 iv tbe CauliloW Cup— slb less than she carried on Saturday (when she only appeared to be really racing towards the end of the tryst), and may possibly spring a surprise. At all,'events I have tnken the precaution to keep her on my Bide. But I still expect to see The Admiral, Preston, Bruin, or Ayrshire furnish the winner; and am still firmer in the faith than ever that Preston will win the Melbourne Cup, for wnlcn TuunaKl promises to make a very bold bid. I fancy it was the Immortal (for licavcu s «>2vO. MrUompoßitor, don't lea\e the "t" out of that word ! Thank you I) Tvenwith who gave utterance to the remark : " All things are posaible ia a democracy"; and tbe applications for the * position - of handlcappev to the V.a.T.C. (rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr B. T. Barnard) tend to emphasise the correctness of the Trenwithian view Imagine tbe horror of one " hawhaw" English gentleman (who considered the position belonged to him of right as the only really <-li<ible parti) when he discovered that atnone&t other objectionable aspirants the name of his late cook figured conspicuously.