TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 32

TALK OF THE DAY.

By MAZEPPA.

* # * I understand that at the meeting of the Danedin Jockey Club's Committee to be h<-ld Hris (Thursday) evening it will be reported nfcat the Forbury Park Land Company hasdefi»)t«ly refused to entertain the offer of th« club to buy the racecourse right oat for £15,000 net cash, Instead of continuing on under present arrangements, wbich involve a crushing rental and the right of purchase for £28,000 up to the year L9Ol. ' The sab-committee appointed to inquire as to other sites has, i hear, not been idle, jeverat eligible properties, some local and others tt a dhort distance from town, having been placed under offer to them. These thingsseem K6 point to the probability of the Dunedin Jockey Club shifting its quarters ere long. The idea of keeping on at the present charge is not likely, I should hope, to be entertained. Tbe club cannot afford to do so. Even if it could stand the s'raia, lam not feure *b -vi-doui would die rate & cou- , tinnance of ex»tmg arrangements, for the club is" penned up in much too small a space, and t&e Forbury, though a noat course in itself, hatT Dbt the' nicest approaches. All the world over, racegoers are accustomed to a , drive or ride ■ loto a sightly diifcriot on race days, and this, - indeed, is one of the attraotioss,. that the sport means a day's onting. At the Forbury the >tztinjf is not much different to what every man >an get in his own baok yard. If a shift ia iecidtdopon — and it seem* inevitable— l want '

the otabto mate its coarse la ft pretty spot, and to take care that the new course is wide enough for a large field of horses, and long enough to avoid dangeross curvea, say a mile and a furlong, which in my opinion v the most said' *ble distance, round for oar requirement*. Ttwt is the length of the coacse at AnoMand, where the racing is wail Within view. From a money point of view the clab can hardly think twice about leaving the Forbury. The alternative is to struggle on with a millstone round the dab's neck *** The well-named Bsan (in Scripture history Bebekah wot mother of Esau, and this horse fo from Rebecca) had a very easy task in the Maiden Plata at North Otago last week. Buffalo, who started second favourite, lost his rider after going a oouple of furlong*, and in a finish betweee Esau and Mea Culpa the latter practically had no show, E^au really holding an advantage all through, Burns'* demonstration with the whip berng only "kid." Picket carried 261b overweight. Looking at the race for the Publicans' Handicap, many formed the opinion that Vanquisher would have bad a good show but for lotting ground at the start ; bat the Welter on the second day dispelled that idea. In this latter race S simulant conceded lib, whereas on the first day Vanquisher was giving 101b. Slick Ryan's horse roust therefore have had at least. lllli th<> best of it in the Publicans'. I am pleased to see Ryan getting a turn with his new purchase, and hope he will be, thereby encouraged to remain in Otago. , In the Oup the grey .mare Jane Eyre was really a stronger favourite than the machine investments on the course made her appear to be, and fqr about seven furlongs she looked tike winning, but at the distance she began to tirer visibly, and,, her run up the hill having no fire in it, she was easily defeated by the muchimproved Van Buren, whose time was a second ■lower than Winobman's a year ago. The public went straight for H» eel wood in the Trot, and he gave bis backers no anxiety Jack and Fairy, the only ones that might have troubled* him, broke badly. Nomad led from end to 6nd in the Novel and won in a canter, being afterwards sold for £30 to J. Loughtiu. Tangi Maid disappointed her supporters in the Flying by beginning badly, and Jane Byre quite gave away her show by bucking and fighting with her rider when the flag fell, so that the issne lay bntween Molly Darling and Vanilla, and the, latter, staying the better of the pair, won comfortably at the finish. Highlander was not ceriously pushed in the Ladies' Bracelet. Molly foil through being galloped on. On the second day Van Buren got off with the lead in the President's Handicap, but, being almost immediately beaded by Jane Eyre, the latter led throughout and won as she liked, gr«atlv to the delight of Maurice^Evans, who, having been "barracked" by the boys when Van Buren won the Cup (it was from his stable that Van Buren was soM), took his revenge by pointing out with hilarity, as Jane Eyre romped - home in th« President's, that Van was uot much, after -all, when he was seriously tackled. I understand that was the character Van Buren earned while trained at Oamaru — of being a r«gnlar "dog." Whether he is getting cured of that grave fault i» a matter on which it would be wise to suspend judgment for a while. On the Oaomru form neither he nor Jane Byre seems really reliable. The Waitati Plate, though merely a match between Vanilla and Molly Darling, proved the best race of the meeting. The pair were locked together nearly the whole way, and were ridden right, out to the last ounce, Adam King eventually squeezing Molly home by a head. They are a game couple of sprinters. In the Hack Selling Baoe both BothanssU *il *nd Nomad ran iv the one interest, and the former, evidently the fancied one, got away absolutely last. Wherefore Nomad was called on to do a bit of shepherding until his stable mate was safe. It wa» one of those races m j which a good illustration was provided for those who very properly argue that horees from' one stable ought to bf bracketed on the totalisator Such a provision would net only protect the public, but save jockeys occasionally from having to do risky things in the way of watching a friend who is in trouble. *«* The general management of the meeting calls for p a : se in several respects. Mr Dowses handicapping in some of the races showed that b« had completely puzzled the experts. The Publicans', for instance, was a capital betting race ; the winner of the Cup was fairly conotaled considering the »mallne»B of the field ; the same - remarks apply to the Radeaatle Welter and the second day's Trot; and the veteran 1 ! judgment of the pair that contested the Waitaki Plcte was simply accurate, he hiving their abilities gauged to a pound. Mr Piper's starting left nothing to bo desired, and his lessons as to punctuality will not be forgotten by investors who got shut out from the Cap. I giv« him credit for his promptness. Notwithstanding the loss of investments in this race, and the fact that the fielders were allowed on to the course in spite of the proclamation to the contrary, Mneon and Roberts panned £26*5 through the m a chine, an it crease of £374 as compared with last year. This is a vtry satisfactory result considering that the total number of ntarters at the meeting cane to only 75, as against 89 a year ago. I don't know why there was this falling^ off in the fields. Certainly bo preventable cause presented itsftlf, nor can tbe management or the programme be blamed. Mr 6. R. Hiilop, as usual, attended to the secretarial work with zeal and discretion, and all present thank him largely for the measure of success attained. *** Wallace lacks that mighty finishing ran posse*sea\by his sire. He stays out the journey gamely ehongb, but the brilliancy of Caibire appeai 8 to be pretent ouiy in part. So i-ays " Umpire " in Sydney Referee, and he con- , tinutte thus : His ont-and-out admirers do not admit this, •ut I am not with them, although holding tbe merits of Wallace in the highest retpect. After his performance in the Sjdm-y Cup, winning under 8 12 as a three-year-old, how could it be otherwise ? In the Cumberland St«ke» odds of 5 to 2 were laid on the St Allans champion, Toreador being second favourite at 6 to 1. Mr Hordem's gelding, however, was not present at the fiuish. It was not the sort of race thxt suited him. When he shines it will be in some fast-run race, when he prtvaija by staying power alone. Hi» chance was in the Cup, and he missed it by being kept too far out of it un*il Wallace had the matter settled. The two miles took 3mjn 46£s<-c, a, style cf froitig that suited Valiant exactly. The natty ton, of Au'seus gjiv,- Wk'l«c<- » 'mrd ng\\t all down tbe straight bo e»ti?h ,iud He.t urn, but Carbine's son was equal to the ordeal, smd survived the issue by a long neck. Below the distance The Harvester was doirg so well that 1 quite, anticipated his victory. He suddenly faltered,, but came on again and got third place. 16 was evident Mr 8. Gk Cook's champion was od the improve, and observers did not fail to make a note of it for future guidance. After -a day's rest Wallace was stripped again, on Satus^*y t»*an hit fourtlk race in *h»

A.J.O. Plate, over three miles, and naturally backers began by laying 3tol on him. Then 5 to 2 was accepted by - bookmakers for a considerable time, when The Harvester's friends made a move by taking all the long odds offered, and accepting 4to 1 dually. Tain had the effect of knocking Wallace back to 7 to 4 on, at which quotation h« went out to Ho battle for St. Albans aud a host of confident admirers. He looked rather dicky about the forelegs, and his greasy heels had had a liberal application of dressing. Slightly weary-looking waa the champion, without doubt, after his hard-won successes, but at three miles he was supposed to be invincible, nevertheless. The raoe was of the muddling order, the five starters being agreed to m*ke it a slow one. Cabin Boy was pacemaker, but he never west far away, and his followers were content to take up position* and keep them for two miles and a-half . When tbe last half mile was entered upon, however, there was considerable life put into the business. Cabin Boy kept his lead, bat only by half a length, from Valiant, Wallace nearly on terms, with Fort and The Harvester a length off. So they swept round the home tarn and into the straight, when the whips came- out on all excepting The Harvester. Huxley had kept him in the rear all the way, and only when on the straight line for home did he call upon him for action. Then in an instant he shot through, passed the struggling quartette in front of him without an effort, and speedily put in & gap of SfcveraJ leagths. It was a hollow victory. ' *** Up to last week 93 owners in Obago alone had obtained permits to train their own horses without paying the trainer's fee, and, the horses in their care number 164 ; while the professional trainers who have paid the fee muster 40, and at a guess I should say* that 150 would ba » very large estimate of the- horsfb under then* care. What does this, mean ? The object of the rule imposing a fee was not to gather in funds, but to subject the trainers of horses to- the discipline implied in a contract, the clubs issuing licenses which could be revoked for misbehaviour, and thus having an extra pall, as it were, on the trainers, who it might be conceived would be specially careful not to loietheirlicenses — their authority to a«k for employment and the coafidenceof the public. The principle here stated is undoubtedly a sound one. But the practice requires amendment. We wanted to establish close supervision over trainers. This has been done, and effectively done, since holders of permits are, equally with those who pay, liable to ba atruok <.ff tbe list; for turf offences. The permit system has, however, proved a failure. No one dreamed for a moment, when thesa exemptions were authorised, that owners pretty well as a body would, turn amateur trainers. Yet that is what has- happened. Look at the list of exempted persons :—

I can sea in this li«l at-.veral names ot men who to all intents and purposts are as liable in equity to pay the fee as some who figure in the professionals' list, and much better able to afford the tax. This is a matter that the conference ought to deal with at its next session. The permit system should be abolished, the leading reasons for this contention baiug (1) that it seems practically impossible to di-crimi-nate with exhaustive fairness an between i hose, wfeo should pay and those who should go free ; (2) that the number of exemption* has grown to sucb formidable proportions all over the colony as to make it unfair to tax a small miuority ; and (3) that on the permit-holders' own showing they should pay, since if they are pure amateurs and keep horses simply for pleasure; they cau well afford to ante- up the fee — ju»t »s well at any rate us the men, many of them in renlly poor circumstances, who follow the precarious* business as a living. There are in the professionals' list the names of men who sometimes are without a horse in their stable, and occasionally have not even a stable. *#* There is a general idea, says an English writer, that to be "in the know " on the turf is almost to ensure a fortune. A greater fallacy never was known ; and paradoxical as it may seem, the man who knows the least is the maji who know* the most. A great trainer, who has over and over again won great races on which hundred* of thousands of pounds wvre betted, might be supposed to b» well " in the know." I cannot, however, call to mind a single instance of a trainer who was a rich man as the term " rich man " is undentood. The greatest of all trainers was John Scott, whose will did not add. much to the Exchequer. There are a few instances of trainers who diad worth £20,000 or £30.000, but that is a mere flea-bite looking at the money that passed through th«r hands every year, aud the savings represented leas than '£looo per annum. No trainer ever died what I call a rich man. John Day died worth nothing, and he had for yeara one of the greatest stables in the kingdom. Joseph Dnwaon, who had a big stable fnll of horses, 'left about £30,000 behind him, £20,000 of wbich was laid out on Bedford Lodge, which ■ produces an annual rental of nearly £2000 per annum. The late Alec Taylor, who trained a Derby winner as long ago as 1861, and was for a time believed to be abnormally rich, accumulated only about £30,000 What men who are still living are worth it would be impertinent on my part to speculate upon, bat I nut only two or three over £30,000. \ *jj. Jf Twenty or thirty thousand pounds ! A mere fleabit-e I What would the writer cay, I wonder, if be knew as much v. «o iio about the p^ uoiary position of N«» Ze Utui trainer* ? He •vt.u'ct re<-kon the licln-it . f th tn in poverty. We are not accustomed 'o tLictk in these big figures. I don't suppose there are a dozen trainers in Ne«r Zealand who could show ca«b or property sufficient to bring in a steady £200 a year. Per-oaally -J know ef only one who may be called fairly well off. Racing as wo have it is not a money-making game, if followed yetr in and year out. A decent living is pce6ty near as much us. any one of the traiueisor riders «n make outside of his investment*. Maey

dont do that. It is far from uncommon to find very deserving men temporarily stranded, and if simply and solely set upon money-making they would probably oat racing altogether and take up with some steadily-remunerative ocoupatrfon. Whenever I see a lad of promise joining the ranks of the exercise boys I think of a sight that was once before my eyes at the Dun©dm railway station. A Jockey who bad secured leave to visit the Oamaru meeting — I speak of some 10 yean ago— approached me and said, "Do you think they'll stand me P " exhibiting as he spoke a child's Becond-olaia railway ticket. Poor chap, he looked so miserable — no topcoat, his dress shabby, and evidently hard up. Yet this lad had some time earlier won a very big race. Of oour-e hi* ease was exceptional ; all jockeys do not come to be so hard up as he was ; but there was the possibility, which still exists, it having been proved by sad experience that racing is anything but ft short out to opulence. For all that, our professionals are a very decent class, perhaps as jealous of their reputations as the Croesuses of England who can be poor on £2000 a year. * # * •• Anglicanuß," in the Sydney Mail, sends out from London a series of tables showing the present valuos of blood stock as compared with those of previous years. In the | course of the past season there have been sold 605, yearlings and 31 foa's, a few less than in 1894 ; the aggregate snm realised was £167,013 .. — au increase of £16,000 ; whilst the average, 26lgs, shows an improvement of some £40 per lot. The highest figure reached was — as in 1894— 4100gs paid for a yearling filly by St. Simon oat of Sterling Love. Although prices have been going, up the last three years, the figures for 1895 are very far from approaching those of 1890, in which year it may be remembered that as m«uy as 58 yearlings were sold for lOOOg* or upwards. Taking the grouped figures for the past sir years, we find the average sale price to be 256g5, and last season's average was 261g«, or sgs above the average. Proceeding to consider the measure of snocess achieved by the principal sires in connection with the auction sales of their get. we find hi*torv ouoe again almost repeating itfelf. In 1893 St 3imou held the pride of place with an .average of 1492ga, Hampton came second with 848gs, and Ualopin third with 782gs, whilst in 1894 the first three places were occupied by the same three sires in precisely the same order, St. Simon averting 1292,^ fur five sales, Hampton 939g- for 10 sales, and Gralopin 838gs for v seven sales. In 1885 we have for the third successive year the same trio, and St Simon again easily di»t*nceft his field with the very extraordinary average of very nearly £3000 for each of his four sales, but Hauipton has to give place to Galopin, nine of whose scions average 1154g5, whilst Hampton's 15 come but at 822gs each Quite a yvung sire in Amphion takes fourth honours, springing from 482g« for five sales in 1894- to 711gs f-jr .«ix 8»1pm i' 1895 a..dC mmon, wh> won the Two Tbu-^nd Gjiuohh, Derby, and St. Leger iv 189 L, ha« made a grand begiuning with 10 sales for an average of 700gs. • *** Zola, who started at aa outside price and won the North Canterbury Jockey Club Handicap, is, ho far as I can remember, the first of the St Switbins to get the brackets, though, there must be a number o? them about if the' horse has been made fair use of. St Swithia was bred by the Hon. G. M'Lean, got by Cadogan from Malice. Zola appears to have helped materially -to makn the running, then to have eased off for a final run from the distance, in which he outstayed Mona, the pair beating Salvo, whe the other day cat d.<wt. Lard of Mi«rale. Toism-k-'* on* a f<in>-f c' ■■ »..nc« on the part o' Z >la, for, >b ug> h« vi r.bc lightest weight of the party in tne Cup,, it was only a comparatively trifling onofssioa that weU-known horses were giving him. An hour or so earlier Zola had ran unplaced in the Winter Oafea Handicap. Comparing his ' perforooanctt in that race with what ac showed in the chief event I should say that the protest entered on the ground of inconsistency was Cerainly uot frivolous. The seven-furlongs race occupied 96£ sec, or a fraction less than 14 •tec per furloug ; the mile and a- quarter race took exactly 14*ee per furlong ; but Zola waa unplam-d in thy flrat and won the second, and the d'fiVeuoe in weight, 41b, was no more than enough to comfe site, one would think, fo. tbe fact of h ; n having had a raou junt previously ' The stewards, however, diiimi««ed the protest, so we may conclude that some satisfactory explanation of tbe seeming inconsntenoy was vouchsafed Ni<hola* practically won the sevenfurlongs race all the way. Lord of Misrule started favourite, and the steward* seem to have had suspicious thnt he w»« not trying, for th*j reprimaiided his rider, Brown. Ca'nel hml a, aef-lo with Jewel in the District W-I.mt, aud when the U-t«r was disposed t>f nothing , else challenged-. A somewhat similar rsce was | the Raugiora, Welter, won by Frenchy, Mr Cassidy'a son of Flt-nr-vuge leading all the way and paying a nice dividend to tbe followers of the popular Sprin^fWd stable. Rangiatea won fchf Novel Raoe iv a common oanter for his new owner, Free Holonos, wbo had to bid up to £66 to retain the revived aon of Wairuar^ka, and will probably take this an a hint nob to venture iv such races again with this h-tree, for the present at any rate. The weather being fine there «ra.« a large attendance at the meeting, and £2011 went; through the totalisator, or £592 more than last season. *** Tho qaeation asked of the Maniofcoto Club by the D J C., as to why the club wa» satißfied to tii-qualify Amelia (believed to be Semolina in d'Sjfuise) without taking -action in regard to the owner, has produced an answer, tbia being bo tbe effect thai there was reason to ! suppose the nominator cf the mare to be j merely a oatwpaw for the real o*ner ; that the ! nominator i% not a regular racing man, and was not present ; and that no good purpose would have been served by disqualifying bim. The reply has been considered by the D J.C., and deemed satisfactory as far as it goes, bat the metropolitan club asks why the "oats p»w '' wa« not called upon to disclose the name of the real owner The reply to this may be guessed, I should think — namely, 'hat a nun so far outside the pale ot mcirg an to be in- ! different to its decree* nii^hb uot be willing to ' maku the disclosure, and, if he did refuse/ no lower poisessed by the clubs oou'd make him .speak. Besides, he may not be disposed to do the clubs a good turn at the expense of his principal. It seams to me that the Maniototo Club went as , far as it was safe to go. To have pressed the matter further might have involved a lost) of dignity. Other. means will have to be taken to stop the games lof thp initing-in gentry; and of the va ious nimrtii'c p <>p.>«ed nothing seem* more feasible than *o cn<-ilenge ou noaupatiou daj every uni known signature, and lnt the club be fully satis- | fled, by affidavit if neces>fcry, th»t the entered ! horse is what it is represented to be, thus making it a penal i»ffeuee_ to deceive on tha i point ; while, as a further measure of security, | any evasion that does temporarily succeed ' should go before a magistrate oa an information charging fraud. 1 am pleated Lo balieve that our clubs are alive to their duty in this matter, and that the D.J.O. is not inclined to

shirk any doto that may fall upon it in «US detection of turf swindles of this character. It would be Intolerable te hand over our apart* bound hand and foot, to tbe tender mercies of the rats of the racecourse \* The late Mr W. Filgat*. of South Ans, trail*, was born in tbe North of Ireland. Ona of the horses ht used to own was Baiber, who, being entered for the Champion Race fixed. Cos October in Melbourne, was snipped from Ada* laide in August by the steamer Admella, wbfca got wrecked on we passage. Mr Filgate had taken his passage by the ves«e], bat he was summoned by the Crown auth< rities to attend as ft juror in the Supreme Court, and he was de> tamed in Adelaide, much against his inclination* Messes Hurtle and George Fisher, however, went, the former being rescued from thfrwreck ( and the latter being- drowned. Both Barbed and hie m&te Jupiter swam whose, the- latter landing with his lege broken through . being dashed against the rooks and the former withy, out a scratch. Bell's Life wrote as follows on the arrival of the horse overland josft a mootfe after he was. wrecked : " The last of the 2* tiandidatea ia now amoagst us, the shipwrecked Barber having arrived in company with Tramps under the cure of Mr Simpson, late on th* evening of September 8. It appear* that a day or two after tha. wreck Barber was recognised stripped of his clothing, in the vicinity of the, fearful oatwfcrophe ; that he was forthwith tent, to Mount G->mbier, aud ou hie arrival there, x telegraphic message was sent to. Mr Simpson to. go to Mount Qambier at ones in order to, bring"; the horse to Melbourne. By one of those-acoi-.dents which will happen, the message 63d not reach its 'destination, and it was not until »<- week after that another was seat* which came' duly to hand. Ere Simpson's, departure, a third arrived, in which be was- informed that. the horse would be sent tot Portland. From ■ there he was sent to Melbourne, the trip, occupying seven days, ■We.- had a look at him* last week, and couldn't find a scratch,, bat bis misadventurea daring the past month most have materially lessened bis chance of sueeeu in the big race." Later on the Argus reported ttut ".bat for Berber's miia'-alous escape fromthe -Admella, Adelaide would have been ante* presented in tbe great race, and butr for the pluck of the thing Mr Eilgate might haver bottled the strong swimmer op. fox another occasion. When visited The Barber was being clipped, hia great coat having po«aibly been rendered a little heavy by excess of salt water. As the horse was. not stripped tfiere- wns no opportunity of noting bis '.condition. But withal, it may be. said that at present he ismore likely to gain a medal at the farmers' show than to carry off the colonial Blue Riband. He in an aged horse by Sandboy, and beat Jupiter, the Adalaide crack, on two occasions last season," the antediluvian and barbatoas question of heats being both timesadopted. The race was run on Saturday, October 1, 1859, *nd in the description of th* candidates it is remarked that " the champion swimmer, The Barber,- met with bad littlenotice, chiefly, we believe, because h« was nob recognised. He- seemß to be a nice colt, admirably adapted to carry weight, bat ocr- • tainly not the class of animal we should have thought would hawbeen seleoted to represent South Australia." *** Master Agnes's stock won' six races at' theWairarspa meeting; The sire was, a vigoroat horse ; and to this I attribute his tucceca at the stud. In half the cases wh*M a wsllbred honefails to make his mark as a sire, the cause sa, Iverily believe, debility in a more ox leu acate form, demonstrated not by laziness such as Carbine used to and his sou Wallace does exhibit, and as w« are familiar with in First Lord aud other high-class racers — their indolence being a habit, and nok a necessary result of wexkuws or over-finenew of constitution— but the debility that is fraoeabU 'sometimes to* overwork, and ofttner to over-geatlem*nlincas. We breed for. speed, and in aiming at quality we sometimes expurge too freely that so-ealkd roughueM which is the tign of a robust constitution ; thus we produce pretty horses that lack stamina. My observation leads to the conclusion that racers may spring from any strain* of thoroughbred blood, and that the physique of sire aud dam at the v time of mating is the one irapo tant tb'ing to be seeurod-, in preference to fanciful fch<>ori<>s about this family naofchsg with that one, and stuff of that aort. Hm not Liberator been more valuable than th* rntj> rity of horses with unimpeachable pedigree ? And is it not a fair assumption that a racer of hia stamp owes something to what nay be termed out-breeding into a robust family P lan no advocate for bringing in roughnose heeaose it it" roujihneae, bat it is better ta go ontsidt-the stud book altogether for a cross than to mate simply on b-vk fch<» rr, irrespective- of constitution. Richard Ul gave us an immortal truth, when be remftrkod' that he was not begotten in the hour of sleep. • * # * The Nele«n meeting this year locked up a bit in the matter of poblic betting, the machine takings reachiog £4314, or £1284 ahesd of last yea-- 'a total. Review, winner of the Cup, is a Mx-year-old griding by St> G"orge from Rrtbecca. Thi~ Rubecciv, by the way, has two other winners announo<id in. this icaue, Esau, who pulled off the Maiden at Oamaru, and C.imcl, winner of a r»c« at North Canterbury, being both out of this daughter of Papapa and Becky Sharpe Swift, runner up in the Nelson Oup, and winner of the chief eveut the followiug day, is an agnd daughter of N» tutor and a Gladiator mare. Cheque pulled off a double, one of bis race* being the All-aged Stakes, in which be proved successful last year ; and Dromedary, who scored a leoood , and a. first in tbe Hurdles last time, performed a similar feat on this occasion. Clyde, the trotter, likewise appears as a winner at each meeting. *** At a meeting of the Wellington Racing Club a letter was read from the Mastertou-Opaki I Club asking for reconsideration of the refasal of the totalisator peimit. The stewards of the Welling! on Club sugge^ed that as the Wairarapa Racing Club had htfd its meeting without a totalizator there were still three licenses available for this season, and that these be allotted to the Mastertou-Opaki Clab, the Otaki Maori Club, and the Wellington Racing Club, but, before taking further action, that the matter be placed before the Wairarapa Club! and that a further meetirg be called' to conaider that club's opinfon oa the matter in dispute. A later me»sage states that the Wairarapa Racing Club, 'in reply to th» Metropolitan Clab, suggesto that, the restriction upon the Mastpr-00-OpaM Club be removed, ' and that a permit b." ssu#r for shfl trse of tha totairantor at tbeir wcrti»g u?xfc mi.nth, on -condition that a perna-ifr be granted lo the Ota.ki' Maori and' Metropolitan Clabs. The Wairarapa Club futther suggest that as it held ib meeting without the " tote,"' this three olubs. mentioned should make up tbe loas o£ £50 incurred. The Metropolitan Clab considers' the proposal tn-morrow. OW?TJ:?'-S' "HVMI?tI>EBSr ?,lay 9 -General «nt.ic3 *fld aCCtffltftDOflß S» O*" Dun edin M»y meeting • \

Ad <mson, J. Harrington, J. U. Orbell, J. J. Affleck, 0. Hille, G. Puddy, B. Aitchf son, T. Hogg, W. Quin, J. Aitken.R. Hubber, H. Quin, W. Baird, RH. Hutchison, P. Richs.rdßon, D. Barrett, S. Inder, 8 G. Riddle, R. Bifgens, J. Jones, H. Roati, '). Bro-kes, T. Jones, J. R. Rmhven, G. Byrne, P. J. Landell, T. F. Schluter, BL Cal'iwell, J, Laverty t 0. J. Scoles, W. Carroll, T. Livingstone, G. Sbaw, J. - Carter, J. M'Annally, P. She*>h. P. Cl«e, J. MBride, Y. F. 'She pard, J. Cof!gin«, C. M'BWo, JJ. Siuibb, A. Condon, M. M Ki»y, L). F. Smith, J. S. Ooeke, W. L. M,K*y, W. Stewart, G. Conner, W. Mackenzie, J. R. Stevens, W. E. Craig, J. M Kcwen, J. Sumptar.W. R. Daly, D. M'Kewen W. Sntberiand, A. Dempster, G. 'M'L.f«aii, "J. ' Suttou, J. B. Dundal,W.T MLeod, H. Tennant, J. Ellis, R M-Nulty, S. J. Thompson, T. Enright, J. M'fherson, A. Thorn <ou,J. Fits. er»ld, J. Mid. levin, "W. lHell«, w Fitapatrick.J. MjUn-w, W. Turub 11. J.R, Fiynn, J. Millar, J. Wulker, E. Fo*ter, T. Miller, M. Walsh, J. G«rrard, A. Mitchell, P. White, J. Gerfard, A. Monmm, E. WhiUnn. R. B. (jnu.) Munre, H. J. B. Whyte, W. Gillies, R G. CBritm. J. Wilkins, T. E. Gourley, J. M. O'Uoancll, J. Wilson, F. H. Hamilton, J. O'loole, L. -. Wordell, E. J.