CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 32

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

JJy M. Quad. j

Cutts has not yet made up his mind what horses he will take south, but in all probability hi* team will consist of Culverin, Djiu-Djin, and Falka. Skirmisher will not be seen at the Dunedin Cup meeting. He gallops in fine style, as usual, on the track, but his form at the Akaroa meeting was anything but good. In a field of three he finished a bad last. ■ Already inquiries are being made as to Vedette's price in the Doncaster Handicap, in which the Vanguard horse is weighted at 8.2. Surely he is ' fairly well in Any New Zealand handicapper ] would have put another stone on his back. Of j course local pencillers have ho books on the ! event. , The New Brighton officials would not allow a ; large number of visitors to their trotting meeting | to enter the course, detectives being on the j watch at the gates to prevent their entrance. , Several of tho.-e denied admittance mounted a : coach drawn up close tn the fence surrounding the saddling paddock aad " barracked" one of the detectives The language used was m>»st offensive, I and it would do some of the low blackguards j good if they were sent ever the bills for a few 1 months Unlesb some very strong measures are ■ adopted to prevent the patrons of clufes being obliged to hear the foul language of this senm at 1 our racecourses few will attend trotting gather- 1 ings. Betting on the double, Dunedin Cup and Publicans' Handicap, has been fairly spirited during the week. Culvsrin has ccine into the market, coupled with the favourite selections > in the short race. ! Gold Medallist was sh taped to Hawke's Bay on j Tuesday. Derrett, who will ride the colt, was in | charge. ' '■ Josephine has been sent home to Ashburton by \ Stan- The same trainer has put Rita into work again after a shirt epcll. The annual meeting of tho Akaroa Jockey Club was held on Thursday last A fair number of Chiiatchurch excursionists assisted at the meeting, which v,»as most successful. The weather was somewhat threatening in the morning, and must have affected the attendance, „ but it improved as the day grew older. Tbe , totalisator investments were £113 more than last , year's meeting. The Peninsula Cup only ' attracted tlirse staitsirs — Skirmisher, Marino, j and Starshot. 'ihe latter started favourite, owing in no small measure to reinvesiments from town. J As is often seen in races of" this description, only j oue horse was inquired for, and that one was Star- [ shot. On the course.an occasional fiver would be 1 invested on Marino, but this only served to j benefit the dividend 011 Starahpt. This mare j made all tba runnicg, and shaking off Marino's i rather feeble challenge in the straight, won as she liked, Ski>misher being six lengths behind Marino. Starshot only paid £1 13s. but the winaer would have pxid a much better dividend had net the bookmakers 'entalotof money for the mare. Powder Monkey won her two races very easily. In the District Maiden Hurdle Race Tiamore and Wahu ran pS ai, the first fence, and Powder Monkfy merely had to canter round. The Ohainshot mare had a nibble in the District "Welter, going to the front in the ] straight and winning as she pleased. Agteeable, by Apremont, easily defeated a poor lot in the District Maiden Plate, Lady George, trie favourite, finishing third, whilst Ugly Shot divided the pair. Firefly defeated Alcesfcis, Aunoyance, and Maybud in the Flying Handicap. Alcestis held \ the premier position until a hundred yards from home, when Firefly, struggling gamely under the . whip, got up and defeated Sheenau's mare by ' half a length. Colebeck, by KinK Cole— Wai, Sir George Clifford's cast-off, bad no trouble in appropriating the Ladies" Bracelet ; but Jhis opponents were not of much account. "Wallaby, by Victor, won. the Open Handicap Trot by 40yds. \ H-ulstone and Hetty were his most immediate < attendants at the finish.. Miss Hanlon, the . favourite, started before receiving the signal, and ' was stopped after going a mile. The owner asked j for a recuru of his entrance and acceptance fees, ' but the stewards refused. Jn the District Trot ? Little Nell was selected as the good thing ; but ; she tired badiy iv the la.st furlong, and Hailstone ' was able to win easily from the favourite. j Bracelet, who is now trained by Oawson, from \ Derrett's stable, is almost sure to be taken south. J She should play a prominent part in the decision j of the Publicans' Handicap. J The Amuri Turf Club's annual race meeting, ! which takes place on 'the 17th, is always a most enjoyable gathering, and given decent weather the reunion is sure to be quite equal to its predecessors. Kaiti ought to win the Handicap Hurdle • Race, and Jewel should via the Amuri Cup. \ After her 1 like Social Pest's chance. Prospect at ! 7.3 (341b lesa than Jewel has to carry) only needs } to be thoroughly well to win a good race. Alcestis j and Female Franchise may fight out the finish for the Culverden Handicap, and Social Pest and Prospect are nicely treated in the Pahau Handicap. Vesta Na*h or Lady May ought to win the District Handicap Trot. ] Bloomer is showing nice form on the tracks, j aisd she should run well iv Dunedin. > Wahu is in Roden's handd. He does not appear , to ba very fast, but he is supposed to be a gteat , jumper. Arquebus is not yet in work, and Quiltiri is merely doing the lightest of taske. O'Brien's "little lot" are kept quietly moving, j Heather Bell and her colt were shipped to | Sydney last week. The same steamer also took away Prenez Garde, full brother to Wakawatea. So far the former has not shown much pace, but he may improve with time. Vedette has been scratched for the Great Eastsr Handicap, to be run at the Autumn .meeting of the C.J C. St. Mellon is to be given a short spell. Pundas, in the »ame stable (Hobbs), is looking and goiag very well. Boccaccio, in Cutts's stable, is agaiD being given a chance. So far his mentor has been unable to train hip, but ha now hopes the younster will bear training. From a trotting standpoint the New Biigbton Club has every reason to congratulate itself on the success of its first day's meeting. As a whole, the contests were remarkably good, and Mr Brinkman, the handicapper, probably shook hands with himself. Comical, who, by tho way, is eDgaged at the Tabuna Park meeting, won the Maiden Handicap (in saddle) , fairly easily, Mitiain being the only one to threaten danger. Comical's time — smin <J3=ec— is not particularly fast, still I fancy he can ', travel a bit faster. The Pony Handiccp wai a ; most interesting race to watch, and the result , wan au open question for more than two-thirds of the journey. Jessamine, on the strength of hei Plumpton form, was made favourite, but she travelled rather unkindly over the middle mile, ■ whilst Dorothy and Worthin&ton (both from scratch) were trotting in fine style. Dorothy was ; Just io front of Worthingtou until halfway down ] the straight at the finish, but here she went up, and Worthington won by a few lengths, with ermine ttuul. Normj, trotted very W «U iv

I boots, as did Rats, but Lassie has been seen to better advantage. Little Jim did no better than usual. AVorthinglon covered the tyro miles iv smin 4'2sec — not bad time for a pony. In the pony class he will be a, hard one to beat, as he is still improving. Gwynne, a pouy, was installed 1 favourite for the Burwood Handicap, she I being backed down to level money. She won all right, putting up the fine record lof smin 28^ec. With 20sec stait, nothing ! else had a chance. Dictator, who was making , liis first appearance after performing stud , duties, finished .second, and as he started from I scratch his performance was equal to about 5.12. ; AHerton was not on his best behaviour, but Ipswich showed fine form over the first mile. Bonnie M'Gregor was soon dove with, although j for a time he paced it with Gwynne. Linda had jno chauce. North Star easily won the Selling ! Race, Norma and Muriel being her nearest i attendants. The Progressive Handicap produced i a line race. Nghia and Imperial quickly got to work, and this pair alternately carried on the runnning until well in the straight for home. Nghia always had slightly the best of the deal, however, aad when Imperial retired the event looked a fair thing for Nghia. Cosmo, however, finishing strongly, caught Nghia 100 yards from home, and thence had much tbe best of it, finally winning by a couple of lengths. Had Nghia been sent along all the way he could scarcely have lost. The Brighton Handicap (harness) was contested by a flue field, made up as follows:— Wildwood scr, Viking Ssec, Brookholm 13sec, Grenadier 22sec, Kingston 22sec, Manton 245ee, Honest Jack 28sec, Collector 29see, Sapphire 28sec, Uncle Tom 34sec, and Ruby II 35s:ec. Wildwood, looking in splendid feltle, rrotted off the mark steadily, and it was not until Kei-r had got round the turn that he let his horse out. From this point the champion gradually worked his way through the large field, and five furlongs from home he held pride of place. The last to submit to Wildwood was Brookholm, and this horse hung to the scratch horse in fine ( style over the last half mile, although ha never ! quite reached him. All down the straight Brookj holm tried all he knew to overtake the big hoise, i but it was no avail, and Wildwood passed ths ' judge three lengths to the good. The two miles ) were covered from a standing start in smin lsec, i although the official time was slightly slower than i this. The track was not at ita best, being very ' misty in parts, though not holding. Wildwood ! trotted well out in the course the whole distance, i Hud never made the slightest mistake. He must I have covered considerably rnord than two miles. I Yet he put up the fine record of siniu lkec. : Brookholm broke several times in the fiist mile, I and again in the second. Had he kept down and I maintained an even gait throughout, Wildwood might not have caught him. ißo'b. horses were heartily cheered when returning to scale. The I winner was well driven by Kerr, especially when 1 cettirig eff the mark, an-l he never bustled him i the whole journey. .Although Brookholm kept with Wildwood so well, it i% just possible the latter was not fully extended over the last half. If WiJdwojd keeps well and is givm & ehanca ou a hard big track, he will most assuredly worry Mr Buckland's champion. Viking was not at his best, and appeared on the big side ; but Grenadier showed glimpses of ability, but he breaks bsdly. Kingston was never prominent, and the same may be said of all the others, with the exception of Uncle Torn, who shaped very well, and Ruby 11. Micro after her easy win at tbe Hororata meeting was looked upon as a veritable " bird " for the Electric Saddle Handicap, but she had no chance whatever against Jessie, this fast mare beating Micro and a laige field easily and paying a dividend of £21 fis. The last race of the day also fell to an outsider in Ruby II who just got home after a slashing race. At the top of the straight the event appeared to be a good thing for Stockholm, but jubt as she reached Ruby 11, -she went up and could not be s^t going again in time to get on- terms. The Baron finished second, aud Berlin Ab&allah third, with Stockholm alongside, the others dose up. Ruby II has pcobablv been the most successful pouy in New Zealand. She invariably pays a big dividend, and her connections mu3t haye done remai'kably well. -