CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 37

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By M. Qvu>.

Mr Buckland, the well-known Sydney trotting owner, has written to Mr A. I. Rattray informing him that be intends bringing over 11 trotters in time to compete at the May meeting of the Canterbury Trotting Club. He also requested Mr | Rattray to obtain hotel accommodation for j trainers, grooms, boys, etc., and stahling for the ! horses if passible near a trotting track. The following is a list of the animals Mr Buckland in- i tends bringing here :— Bay horse St. Louis, bay i gelding Fritz (the champion), bay mare Husk', J black mare Viva, bay gelding Vasco, bay or brown gelding Reply, bay gelding Booby, brown filly | Sunshine, biown filly Louise, brown gelding Thought, and bay or brown gelding What. The two last-named are engaged in the Juvenile Stakes!. Mr BuckUnd has sent very full information as to breeding, performances, etc., and the completeness of his letter in thia particular forms an object lesson to those who are just a little careless iv supplying particulais. Mr Buckland's enterprise— an expensive oae— should meet with a corresponding return, and can scarcely fait to give local trotting a fillip. We have some fair specimens of the trotting horse here, and I feel sure they will be able to make a decent race with the imported animals. The Canterbury Trotting Club's meetings have always been most successful, and the May meeting i-hould be still better, as i the public'will have an additional attraction in j witnessing the performances of the Sydney | horses. " ' ! Cables to Sydney inquiriug Vedette's price for j the Doncaster Handicap offered little eucourage- \ ment to several would be backer*. A local syndicate was prepared to take a good wager, but 100 to 8 and 9 was not considered enticing enough. Gold Medallist cost local oacksis a pretty heavy sum when he again succumbed to Daunt. Thia time the northern colt defeated Mr Stead's horse at level weights. Gold Medallist's defeat probably means that Mr Ormond'a colt has imnroved . a little, not that the Yaldhurat horse has deteriorated. | When returning from the New Brighton racec i on the first day Viking got rid of his driver, and : the horse wandered round the roads all night. ■ This experience would not tend to improve a , valuable horse. On the second day two trottera ■ atttched to sulkies were beiDg driven to town side by side without lights, and when near town , the horse nearest the pathway came into collision with a spring trap loaded with children. The driver of the latter saw the sulky in the middle of the road, but not the other one. The occu- j pants of the trap were nearly all thrown cut., but j fortunately without serious injury. The driver j of the trotter was not much hurt, but his horse was dreadfully cut and maimed. Several persons who were in charge of horses at New Brighton had been imbibing too freely. The stewards were probably unaware of the fact, but one or two driveis were ia no condition to drive I or ride. i One of the fir3t things that strikes the eye on j glancing at the weights for the Great J2ister and Great Autumu Handicaps is tha weight allotted • to Waiuku. Last year he won tha Great A.utumu j under 7. i 2, now he is .tskei lo carry 10.1 — a differ- ■ ence of 311b. Ido not recollect any horse of his j asje who so suddenly and deservedly ros? in the ' estimation of the handicapper. Almost as great a difference is seen in the Great hh&ter Handicap. ; He has now to put up lit.3. Last year he ran third \ to Goldspur with 8.11 on his back. Thia year Mr \ JEJenry has dcilfc with a better-clas* fi-ld thau ' previously, and on the whole hii work seems to have beea well thought out. Since tha Great Easter Handicap was instituted, the heaviest ] weight carried to 'victory was that under which Goldspur won - 8.7. Waiuku (10.3) is such a master of weight that he cannot be safely ignored, and the same remark applies to St. Paul 10.2. Both, I fancy, will Le more at home over tbe mile and ahalf, as both horses have recently contested long rather than short eveuts. Ido not c*re fur either i n this Easter Handicap, but would prefer Eurocly Jon at 9.11. In my opinion he should cirry jusfcas much as either Waiuku or St Paul. Multiform 9.5 is well treated on tho weight-for-age scale as compared with St. Paul and Waiuku. On this scaie he is asked to carry 111b over, Kt. Paul 351b over, Waiuku 101b over, whilst Euroclydon has 1010 over. M'.ltifoim is probably a 101b better horse over sevea f urlougs on the tcale than either of the other two, and, if started, should beat the three. Mr Stead's horse has no ot'aer engagement so far on thai; day. St. Clements 9.3 is nicely treated, bufc his prospects may be better judged after the Dunediu Cup meeting. Bob Ray has secured quite enough, I should say, although no more than hs would have been, asked to o*rty in Australia. His movements are in shadow just now. Dauot at 9.3 and Gold Medallist at 5.2 seem to be about in their lespeetive place=, although the latter might well have been allowed another pound from his recent conqusror. Dciunt has beaten Gold Medallist when in receipt of a few pounds, and at level weight again won by a nose over six and a-half furlouas at Napisr. With another half furlong to go, Daunt, who has shown an ability to come well at the business end of a journey, should again beat Gold Medallist, who evideaily cannot stay well. Boreas 9.1 is well looked after, and Sai-acen 8.11 is not tbe hors,e of a few year 3 ago. Mauser S.ll is undoubtedly a good animal, ag also is his one-time stable mite, Slannlicher 5.9. He will scircely be ready to race. Arline 8.8 is about in her place, I should say, and she will run well under her weighs. Of St. Crispin 8 6 and Cannoushot 85 1 prefer the latter, but would prefer Vaailla 84 to either. Belle Clair"B.2 and Gotdleaf 8.1 are about in their places, and 1 prefer cither to Red Lancer S.O, Strathbraan F.O, or Mountebank 7.13. Bracelet 713 has not run any too well of lite, but S3 she will be a starter al the Dunedirt meeting perhaps it will be a3 well to leave her alone for the time being. Doris 7.11 I ! know little of, and probably Maremma 7.10 is not [ the horse he was two years ago. KiDg's Bowman i 7.9 is undoubtedly fast over this distance, and j should defeat Double Event 79. If any reliance [ can be placed on rumour Amphion 7.9 is a realty good horse. He has recently won, and also finished third to Daunt and Gold Medallist in the Hawke's ; Bay Stakes. There may not have been much ; merit in the latter performance, but he finished !in front of a speedy filly like Tigress. t I know little of the form of Lord Rosslyn 7.8, but Gulverin at the same weight is not badly treated, neither i& Bloomer 7.8 nor Leda 7.7. but CurasEOW 7.7 will need to make a vast improvement on his public form to win. Firefly 7.6 is well in, and I prefer her chance to that of Stirshot 7.5. Tire 7.2 and Tirant d'Eui 7.2 could s arcely have got in lighter, and both Marino 7.0 ! and The Spinner 7.0 have been given a chance, j especially Marino. Of Fulmeu 7.0 and Remorse i 6.10 I xirefer the latter, as she ran remarkably I well at the Summer meeting of the U.J.C. Of the remaining 10 probably Marlin 6.10, St. Ouida 6.10 (both of whom will be running at Dunedin), Padlock 6.7, and Female Franchise 6.7 are about the be&t. To select nine, I name Multiform, Euroclydon, Daunt, Arline, Vanilla, Bracelet, AmphioD, Firefly. x Waiuku 10.1 has been asked to give St. Paul 21b over the mile and a-half iv the Great Autumn Handicap. Of the pair I prefer the first-named. If Euroclydon 9.8 were fit and wall, I think he would beat the pair, but Multiform 9.5 is, I believe, the master of the three. It is quite likely, however, that Mr Stead's colt may not start, as ha has an eagagement in the Challenge Stakes on the same day. Bob Ray 90 is not yet here, but Zanella at 8.6 has been given a chance. D^unt 8.6 is iv ray opinion the pick of the race ; hs has been handicapped as though he were a non-3t»ver, find is only asked to give Gold Medallist lib, notwithstanding the fact that the last-named has so far failed over a distance of ground. Boreas 8.5 has; not yet shown great ability over a mile and a-half, and Saracen 8.4 will scarcely be ready to gallop so far. Mauser 8.3 did not finish like a stayer at Hororata, although it must not be forgotten that he was then carrying a very heavy burden. 1 cannot pay much about Maunlicher 8.2 ; but seeing that St. Crispin 7 13 defeated Qold Medallist in the Auckland Derby, one mile and a-half, I do not see why he ahouia receive 01b i ww the latter, ttw, Qold

Medallist was not then trained ov«sr such a tlla- ' tance ; but even so, Mr Henry his.s apparently estimated that the Medallion cok will improve about a stone. Ido not think thi3 is sx all likolv. JSpaulet 7 12 has run most disappointingly s>iuee his peiformance in the New Zealand Cup. Strathbraan 7.11 h*s done little of late. LJefiant 7.10 should be beaten by his stable companion Daunt. If Canuonshot 7.9 is the horse he is occasionally represented to be his weight will not trouble him. Antares 78, Lord Rosslyn 7.7, Ledu 7.5, Culverin 7 4 have each been given nice racing weights, as also has Red Lancer, Starshor, Haria, and Sequin (each at 7.0). Goldleaf 7.0 is not perhaps a stayer, and Emmeline at the same weight has yet to prove her ability to cope successfully with a first-class field Neither Black and Red 6.13, Tirant d'Eau 6 13, nor Tire 6 12 can complain on t.he score of weight, but King's Bowman. 6.11 will probably find the journey too far for him. Of the remaining six I prefer Firefly 6.11 and Bloomar 6.10. Waiuku, St. Paul, Multiform, Zanella, Daunt, Antares, Lada, Culverin, and Tire are those I would select, and if I now had to pick one against the field I would take Daunt. The nominations received on Saturday for the ev>jnt3 to be decided at the Lancaster Park i Autumn meeting are decide ily good. I quite ex- ; pected to see a largee nomination, but, after all, , the quality of the animals is ths principal attraction, and this condition ia amply supplied. Splendid stakes are offered, and if Mr Brinkman i 3 successful in his work the club only requires the weather to favour it to ensure a successful gSthering. The number nominated in each event is as follows, making a total of "36" :— First day— Saturday, 9th : Maiden Handicap (saddle), of 40sovs (two miles), 12 ; Pony Handicap (harness), of SOsovs (r.wo rnile^) 11 ; Autumn Handicap (saddle), of fcOsovs (two mile?), 10 ; Limit Handicap (harness), of lOOsovs (two miles), 7 ; Progressive Handicip (saddle), of 50sovs (two miles), 19; iCa«ter Handicap (harness), of SOOsovs (two miles), 14 ; Electric Handicap (saddle), of 50sovs (one mile), 20 ; Dash Handicap (haraeis), of EO^ovj; (one mile), 19. Second d*y—Wednesday. 13tli : Muden Handicap (harness), of 40sovs (two miles), 17: Pony Handicap (saddle), of 30«ovs (rwo miles), 13 ; Limit Handicap (harness), of iOOiovs (two miles), 7 ; Progressive Handicap (liarne s), of 50sovs (two miles), 27 ; Linwooci Handicap (saddle), of 80iovs (two miles,), 11 ; Lancaster Park Handicap (harness), of lOOjovs (two milea), 15 ; Telegraph Handicap (saddle), of sj>'ovs5 j >'ovs (one mile), 17 ; Final Handicap (harness), <A 50s .vb (one mile), 17. Mr Jo'm Small has sold hn stallion Lord Willoughby to jMessis Rae and Trhtrail at a satisfactory figure to go to Australia. Lord WiHoughby is by Lord Granley out of a K.-lviu mare, and own bro'.her to the r ian horse which Mr Small sold last year, and which afterwa-ds realised COO.JB in Australia. The annual race meeting of the Oxford Jockey Club wa3 hsld on Tuesday, March 15 The weather was favourable and the attendance giod. The HuntfsrV Hurdle Race was won by Rainbow, the Open Haadicap Trot by Brown Duches.i. the Oxford Cup by Zola (St. SwitbiD), Farmers' Plate by M.D , District Trot by Klondyke, Flying Handicap by Battery. Pony Bace by Tit, Consolation by Blurher, and Hurry Scurry by Mac. Hailstone, who showed decent form at Lit'ls River, is iow ia charge of B. Edwards. Mr J. Jordan has purchased a piece of land on the New Brighton road, where ha will in future train his horses. St. Mellon split liis hoof in a gallop last week, and lia3 been tmnel out for a short spell. Marino has been turned out for a few days. Wewy seems* to be somewhat sore. He is not very bad, however. M'Cann, formerly of Dunedin, has joined E. Cu'ts's stable. -The Amuri Turf Club's annual race meeting ww held yesterday at Oulverdpni The excursion train from Chri'jtchunjh con'vfyed a fair uumbpi 1 of visitors, and' these, together with the local p^oplp, constituted a satisfactory attendance Although once or twice during the afternoon the weather appeared threatening, the ram held off until the close of the racing. The majority of the event* were interesting; but speculation was limited, and the sum of £652 which- was passed through the totalisator wis £77 less than that handled at the corresponding meeting last ye»r. Mr A Boyle acted as starter, and was successful in his despatches. Jacko defeated a, better f »vourite iv Agaut-general in the Hurdle Race. The ex-hurdler Social Pest put down Jewel. th<s favourite, iv the Arauri C .p. Prospect thiri. The St. L"ger— Baugle ci-lt Golden Legend took the Maiden Plate comfortably from Crusader and Conspirator, whilst L>p:<iary, by Ahua— Trinket, beat Alcestii hy & length in the Culyerden H-.n-dicap, Jih a 3 o'ji- third. The District Trot was wan by Sta light, by Emerson — Nelly, Lidy May from scratch finishing second. Alcestis made amends for her previous defeat by jppicpriating the Pahau Handicap, hcmale Fianoh'sa acting as runner-up, with Jewel third. Jih, by Ahua — Miiuboom, 190k the District H»ii'licr,p, def dating the penalised Lapidary and Awntgeneral. The New Brighton Trotting Club fiaished its meetiusc on Thnis.'Jffy, the weath&r bfain? iath-»r cold, but the attendance was better thaa on tkt< opening day. The track was just a trifle loose, hii*wifchal good going, as some of the times legisltMe^ prove. The totalisator investments for tl c i\i •: amounted to £3012 10s, making a total of £3070 iOs for the two days.^Except that punctuality v. us not very strictly observed, which was not entirely the fault of the officials, the gathering was well conducted, the secretary and his assistants beinjc ;it their bast. Liberia, by Kentucky — Siberia, hsd no difficulty in winning the Maiden Handicap Trot, the queerly-named Eladarat (TaiadaL 1 . bae!'wards) second. Littfe Jim, who has lou£ b^e > i-redited with fair ability, won tie Pony Tio", buG this time he had the services of Angus, whirr, probably considerab'y affected the result,. Bvookholm, by Blackwood Abdallah — Wathie*. trotted iv fine form in the Three -mile St. Patrick's Handicap Trot, gradiiilly making up his leeway, and finally winning easily from Hazeldean, who just beat Sam Slick for spcoclposition. The journey was covered in Bmia SJaeo, which is equal to slightly under 2inin 41sec p.-r mile. Colonial was the only other starter. Rat?, by Rising Sup, appropriated the Selling Handi cap Trot, paying the huge dividend of £71 155, and was subsequently bought in for £11. North Star and The Dodger both seemed to have a chance, but broke up at a critic*l moment. Collector, by Lincoln Yet, won the Advance Handicap Trot; easily, but had to submit to an unavailing protest for inconsistent running on behalf of Ruby 11., the deposit being forfeited. The Avon Handicap was taken by the Johnny Faulkner mare Floi-i ie, who had no difficulty in disposing of a fair field, of whom, iv quality, AUercoti was the best. Berlin Abdallah, by Blackwood AbJallah— Queen Emma, trotting splendidly, put up the line time of 2min 31se-. when he won the Telcgrsph Handicap Trot, the big hors>e paying £11 14d. Wild wood did not quickly settle down, but when he did he showed rare form, finishing fifth. Micro, by Kentucky, a pacer, defeated Gvvynn l>y a length in the Final Handicap Trot. A protest was entered by the owner of the secon 1 hoise, which was dismissed on the followieg day. On Saturday afternoon there was a larg^ gathering of officials and members of the Ashburtou Trotting Club at the Somerset Hotel for tiie purpose of presenting Mr DonaH M'Lean, president of the club, with a sovereign-box and shield pendant in gold Backer? went down badly when Rangefinder missed the principal event at the Waimate meeting. Haria's non-success on the Coast was also a bitter pill to a few punters. A large amount of wagering has taken place this week over the Dunedin Cup and Publicans' Handicap.