RACING IN NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 32

RACING IN NEW ZEALAND.

TAHUNA PARK TROTTING MEETING.

Second Day— Wednesday.

The Summer meeting of the Tahuna Park TrottiDg and Racing Club was continued at Tahuna Park yesterday. The weather was beautiful — if anything & trifle on the warm •ide — but the attendance waa below expectations. The racing was, however, very much better and more honest than that of the preceding day, and the light of either of the two hnraess events alone was well worth the visit to the park that patrons of the races made. Bach of the events mentioned provided a setecfc field, an interesting struggle between horses that were not merely being exercised, and an exciting finish. The naddle events possessed the average degree of interest. The totattsator investments during the day amounted to £1273 10s, this giving a total for the meeting of £2874 10s. In the Final Pony Haudioap the totaliatitor pool was "scooped" by the aolittry investor — said to be a steward of the clvb — on Blackie. He received a dividend of £46 163. But for interference at the bottom of the itraight, however, tbe race would, there can be little doubt, have been won by Miss Norah. A dividend that wan relatively about the same aa this was paid ou the nexb event — the l&sfc of the meeting, — which was won by the rankest outsider in The Wolf. There were no investor* on the winner on the £1 machine, but there were seven lll0 1 tickets taken on him, an 3 the holder of each of tbese received a dividend of ■£23 2i. The arrangements were generally of an up-fio-date character. Niool's starting machine,, which may be. said to.be now perfected, w»s in use and gave entire satisfaction. Variety was given to tha proceedings of tho afternoon by a couple of emeutea, reference to which is made elsewhere.

Prior to the day's programme being entered upon a meeting of the stewards of the club was h*ld. 'Ihis was attended by Mr S. S. Myers (president), i r CJo3P, M«-ssrs J. N Brown, F. A. Hooper. K. S. Bepe, 11. Gourley, F. J. Townsend', J. M.Wilson, and J. A. Millar, M H.R. The question aq to whether tho meeting waa open to the press was raised by Mr Brown and decided iv the affirmative. The president explained that the meeting had been called to consider his action iv instructing the s«cretary lo advertise that the receiving of money by the totnlisitor would stop as soon as the limit horse left the mark. He was willing to admit that he might have acted a little on the impuUe or somewhat indiscreetly in "trying to brins about this b*dly-needed reform. At the same time his action was not so hasty as some of the stewards mi^ht imagine. The abuses that he saw on Monday disgusted him with the existing »y stern. He saw a man instructing a confederate to go out and watch the horses get off, and he saw the machine standing idle while the horses were on the mark, and then as soon as the horses were off there was a runh for the machine— people " breaking their necks "in order to orefc in. What he saw was enough to sickpn any respectabl« man After noticing what was going on he (Mr Myirs) spoke to the stewards iv the judge's box, sayiDg that that sort of thing mubt be stopped ; and he also spoke to the secretaiy, who, however, pointed out that they couM not make an alteration without advertising it. Moreover, he had consulted Messrs Mason and Roberts, who told him, in answer to questions, that the scramble was a bad thing, and that it would' be b=tterfor<svei'ybocly if the machine shopped tab jug money when the iirat horse started. Having been told by the pecie ary that a cbang-j could not ba made without advertising it, he (Mr Myeis) instructed tiie secretary to see about this as Foon as he could. When he gave that order he thought .that the stewards would back him up in putting a £top to such a glaring scandal. For not consulting the stewards he now had to apologise. They would, -however, see that something was necesHary to be done. Lefctets had appeared in the •"new&pspr.ra commenting on the existing arrangement, and the charjge proposed wa-i advocated by. the mcing reporters— ma>i -who were not influenced in the matter, rind who might be coil S'dered as. racing s-peciali-ts. Learning; however, that there might be >.ome slight opposition shown, he had telegraphed to the AurkUud, Wellington, Christchurcb, and I'almerston North Clubs, and to Mr Heligr, president of the Trotting Association, asking what the prac'iee was, and allNths telegrams he received in reply were in the same steam.. . The. Pabncrston North Club telegraphed that the machine stopped afe soon as tin limit hoise started. Mr Selig replied "Limit horse," and Mr llatlray of Christchurcb, Eecretai-y of two larg* clubs there, repl'ed '" To'alisator stops when fii*t horse leaves mark." Those were the replies actually received, and he was informed that simil ir r->p.li«s would come from other quarter*. The stewards in other places had evidently seen the injustice of the arrangement existing here. It was an absolute fraud to allow one man to take such au advantage over another man, r.nd if the stewards said that Ihey would continue to allow a horse to get away s'lsec ahead of ano'.her— which he supposed meant. about 400 yds — they might as well go a step further and let a hor.«e go a who'e round, and run the lisk of being brought up for manslaughter in tbe nish for the machine. This would be only one 6rep further than they hud alr-:idy gone, lie might add tj Mr Townsend, Mr Ffooper, and himself woie standiug at a sheet corner ou the previ us day when a in^u, who had been to Monday's meeting, told them that he had noticed a man standing on the fenci 1 , and then, lush fo the machine after one of the ho'vies had" started. This informant said he had followed the ,\*atcher in .tovthe machine, but he .(the informant) got " blocked," .and could not g<-t bn money on. The reform suggested hud been spoken about six months' ago' by Mr Wilson and Mr MTDonnld, and he(Mr Myer.-O thcii tbongtt it a go<«l thing, buthehad forgotten it, and the subject had not .enteied his heal again until Monday. ■ Ou the motion of Mr T«wnsend, seconded by Mr Hooper, the president's action was confirmed, the motion being supported by Messrs Bepg, Gourley, and Biown. Another question discussed by the meeting was in connection with the nomination of Commodore, a Bjlcluthi horse. From a statement made by the secretary it appeared th^t Mr Dunne had previously nominated the horsj under the name of Admiral, but he had thought that he could change the name at any time before the horse started in his first race. lie had found, however, that that was a mistak-j — that the act of entering was equivalf-nt to claiming a name. Learning this he had com.municated with the Trotting Association, and the president had replied that the stewards would probably allow an amendment of th«. nomination bef- >re handicapping. Mr Dunne then askei the Tahuria Park officials to consider the matter, and the president an>l secretary agreed that the name could be rectified as being merely an imperfect description, such amendment being provided for by rule 46, which authorised amendmeut on- payment of a fine. They had fined Mr Dunne j£2 2-«, and had then written to MrSelig to a-k if they had correctly read the rule?. TII3 reply was that in his opinion the course taken by the club was judiciou.-!, and aUo that the case came within rulo 40. The stewards therefore decided that Commodore was eligible to run under his new name.

The following arc the results of the Vacinpf :—

Second Maiden Handicap, of 20iov*. One mile and a-half — 36J Mr J. Carter's eh g Donald, syr<?, 21sec (Jl. Allan), 1. Also started : 3 Joe scr (Sea ton), B Iri-h Girl llsec (S-nnsou), G Lancer 13sec (J. M'K>\veu), and 51 Belle Hamlyn ISse'C (Pringl--) In the first l»p Belle ITamlyn gained considerably upon the limit horfie, there being only the two of them in the race ait tbe half-mile, but iv the second lap Bello Hamlyn broke thric, and Donald, trotting steadily, established a commanding lead, which Tie maintained in th& last half-mile, baating the msre by more than the distance. Time, 4tnin 22-sec. Dividends, £2 12s and £163

Houday Pony Handicap (in Hahness), of 25sovs ; second pony ssova from the stakes. For ponies 14 hinds lin and under. Two miles. — 29i Mr \V. F. Dunne's c g Aquinas, 103 ec (Latimer), 1. Also started : 3fr Miss Noiah scr

(Pringle), 60* Groatholmj 12* ec (J. M'Kewen), 3> Di Haeo (firant),.4 Daisy 801 l 17sec (X-Allan), 3* Blackia lOaec (McDowell), and 8J Scrapi 37*eo (Ha-yes). In ths firat mile Aquinas trotted into the lead, and he was followed into the third lap by Groatholme, Scraps, and Di in that ordar, but the cream pony, maintaining a steady gait to the fini«h, drew gradually away and won easily, tha other starters being distanced. Time, smin 51 seer. Dividends, £4 6s and £2 33. First Maiden Handicap (ijT> Harness), of 20sovs. Two miles. -71 Mr W. B. Rochfort's .br m Haidee, aged, 30aec (Grant), 1 ; 70J Mr J". Heenan's b h Honest Wilks, 6yrs, acr (Jl M'Kewen), 2 ; 21 Mr A. Paterson's b m Ruby M., syrs, 37nec (J. Allan), 3. 30 John Drumm 42sec (E. U'ownsend) also started. The order of"starting was maintained tin oughout the first lap, but in the second lap Jottn Drumm was passed by the others, and while Ruby M. was first and Haidee second at the end of the circuit Honest Wilks was close upon them. In the third lap Honest Wilks broke, and Haidee deprived Ruhy M. of the lead^ Haidee, Ruby M., and Wilks being the order as the last half-mile was entered. In the back stretch Haidee broke, and Ruby M. and Honest Wilks both passed he--, but at the-Jbottom of the course Honest Wilks also broke, and Haidee regained second place and tackled Ruby M. at the foot of the straight, while Honest Wilks, recovering his stride, came strongly at the pair of them, • A g-eat race home ensued, in which Ruby M. was passed by both the others, and Haidee beat Honest Wilks half a length for first place, while Ruby M finished three lengths away. Time, smin 57£soc. Dividends, £2 8s and £1 4s. New Year's Handicap, of 50-ovs; second horse lOsovs from the stakes. One mile .and a-half.— 2B Mr W. Crossan's br m Norlaine, 30aec (R. Crossan) 1. Also started': '4 JComufl 2Sec(J. M'Kewen), 99A- Stifling Lad Bsec (Priogle), 33 Xxi plorer 16sec (Grant), 33J- Commodore 28see (Latt mer), aod 77 Jimmy 32sec (Loughlin). NorUine took the )e*d in the first lap, and steadily io.crea.aing it won by 100 yard* from Kxplorer, tholsifciav with the other starters heing distanced* Timei 4min s?ec. Dividends, £8 Its and £\ 7<j. NovEr, H'anoioap, of 20aov». I'wo miles. — 18 Mr C. E Lama's b X The l Wolf, aged, 2<sec (Owner), 1 ; 53 Mr J. Davis's b % Eohnru, syrs, 24sec (M.AIUn), 2. Also started : 21 Sandy scr (J. M'Kewen); 16J (Jamarine lOsec (W. M'Kawen), . J Wags, 14sec (J. Allan), 9J Blackbird II lfisec (Paisley), 4 Doughy 22sec (Millier), and 3 Present Times 24sec (Farquh^rson). The wolf led from the start, and though he tiied palpably ia the l?st half mile and K<>huru waa travelling faster than he was at the finish' hd won by about 40 yards. Wags finished.thicd but was distauced. Tini", smiu 57uec. Dividends, £6 4s and £'i 'ii. The winner was bought in for £5 10s.

St. Kilda Handicap (in harness), of 50sovs ; ; second horse MLova from the stakes. Two I miles.— l2l iMr J. Jaffa's b g Peak, 4yrs, SOaec (Grant), 1 ; 24 Mr A. .Smith's b m Haeremai k syr«i 37* ec (J. D.ivw). 2; 10 Mr J. M'KewenV b fi Gjlonel, aged, 2sec (W. M'Kewen), 3. Also Btaited : 19} Bedale aor (J. Allan) and 26 Honest Wilks 2sec (J. M'Kewen). The order of the starter.s wa3 unchuuged in the first three lapr, but Peak and C lon<-1 bad both, closed oa Haeivmai, the former being almost abreast of the limit mare when Hit last lup w*s entered, while Colonel was only a few lengths away. In the final circuit Peak was on terms with Haereinai all along the bade, and passed her at the. bottom . of the track, but Haerernai immediately came at him again, and as the straight was entered Colonel challenged both, and a i-lashing finish ensued, the three horses trotting home splendidly^ Teak just succeeded in retaining the lead, beat2ing Haeremai by less than half a length, and Colonel finishing a length behind the latter. Bedale and Honest Wilks passed the post ia c mpany a dozen lengths away, and had they not both broken would probably have baen with tha other three at the finish. Time, smiu 47Jsec. Dividends, £1 8i and 14s. Final Vo>.y Handicap, of 20»oy<i. For uoniea 14 bands lin and under. One mile and a-half. — . I Mr "VV. H'Ooweil's blk «r BUckie, aged, 1-taae (Owner), 1: 2£ Mr W. M'Tainsh's eh m Misa Noi&h^sf.r (Pringle), 2.. . AUo started : 61 Aquinas, scv [inc. S^ec penalty] (Litinwr), ' J D.iky B«H" ; 13sec (J: Alia..). 224-^Tack the ltipper^ 14-eo. QV - • M'Kewen), 9J Ddfodfl" 16»ec (W. Samson),- 6Jf , Clicker 27sec( inJow), and 1 Scrapi 28sec (Hayes).'. „* " ( Ci iol«r led into the first mjle but was theu.pasaed' ,by Black ie, while at tbc entrance of the l:ist lap> Daisy 8.-11 was third, Jack the Ripper fourth, and Miss Norah fifth. Daisy B-U ami Mi-is Novah. passed Cricker in the back stretch, and the scratch . mare came strongly at the home turn, wh»-re, however, she was thrown out of her stride, being hampered by Dai«y Bell and Jack the Ripper. Cominpt on again she finished in fine style only three or four lengths behind Bhv-kie, whila Jack I th-» Kipper was thiid. Time, 4 mi n 23sec. Dividend, £4fi 16*. Farewell Handicap, of 2530vs ; second horse Bsovs fiom the stakes. One mile. — 3i Mr C. IS. Laing's b g The Wolf, aged, 20« c [inc. saec pensky] (Owner), 1 ; 61* Mr J. JenVs b k , .Kxplorer, (iyrs or aged, 13see (Grant), 2 ; 22 Mr W. fcamson's blk m Maori Girl, syr«, 22sec (Owner), 3 Al-o started : 5J Honest Wilks sec (J. Allati), 41 Comus3«c(W. M'K-Jwen) and Leo Hsi-c (J. Al'Kewen). these being coupled on the tofcalisator, 11 Stirling T.ad 7sec (Cringle). 22" Colac 18.cc (R. AlUn), 38 Atua,23sec (Crossan) 12 Annie I amis. 23sec (Latimer). Maori Hirl assume 1 the lead in the first l.\p, and lo.d The Wolf three or four lengths at half a mile, with. .Explorer third. Tbis order was unchanged un'-il a furlong from home, wh»n' JUxplorer came at; Maori Girl, and the latter broke, but no sooner hud done so than Kxplorer broke also, and The Wolf, bsinj shaken up, nipped into the lead' and wou by a f*w lengths from Kxplorer. with Maori Girl close un, Time, 2min 49sec. Dividend (103 tickets), £23 2s.