SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA,

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

SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA,

By Horn Poene. Melbourne, March 9. V.R.C. AUTUMN MEETING. Third (Champion Stakes) Day.

Thursday was au ideal day for racing— a beautiful bracing breeze, which at times made locomotion absolutely essential, not having sufficient force to make things disagreeable. OwiDg to the defection cf Autum in the Champion Stakes there was not the interest evinced there would

have been had the fixture possessed a more truly intercolonial character than it did, for, good horse as Bundook undoubtedly is, it was generally conceeded that in his present condition he had but a very remote chance of downing the New South Wales champion. As a matter of fact Bundook di I not present the appearance cf being wound up for thia Autumn meeting— a remark which I intend you to preseive on the tablets of "your memory. As Ophelia says — " There's rosemary ; that's for remembrance." Had the Messrs"Miller imagined for one moment that Aurum was likely to decline the tn^ugerueut no doubt they would have slipped th« work into the Carbins— Mooziga hor*o more thoroughly ; albeit under such circumstances there would have been a numl.er of other acceptors who would not have dropped out ou Wednesday had there been even a rumour abroad that Aurum was an unlikely starter. Save and accept that the Argus had a paragraph on Thursday morning that owing to the erstwhile split hoof having become inflamed duringtie previous afternoon Mr VV R Wilson did not intend to enter the lists againat Amberite and Bundoc-k in the i hampiou Stakes no definite information was vouchsafed as to the cause of his retirement, and for my own part I fivour the idea that the bold front difp'ayfid by the Amberite party when they determined " to beard the lion, in hi 3 den,"— or, in other wor -s, to try conclusions with Aurum over his own vantage ground — caused the St. Albans people to put on their considering cips as to whether after all discretion was not sometimes the better part of valor. ( Some individuals who are supposed to possess the"Opea Sesame ! " to the St. Albaas ev/ern state with aa authoritative air that ths "inflammation " did not attain its most malignant form until after 4 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, by which hour the final forfeit hid to be declared ; a mostunforiunate thing for the joint owners (Messrs W. and C. Wilson) of Wait-a-Bit in particular, who would undoubtedly have st'.rted the son of Malua and Lucina with Aurum out of the way, and just as uartoubtedly profited to the extent of 150 soys, if not 300. It is ax ill wind that doesn t blow anybody some good, however, and as the third prize of 150 coys would have come out of the lOOOsovs added money, Mr "'Billy" Dugsaa, the lessee of Amberire, profits to that extent over the transaction. *nd he readily deserves the slice of luck for his plurk iv throwing down the " defi."-to the popular ul jI. According to the Flemington touts A mberite was altogether too gross- to be ia first-cl.i?s ciD'Utfon, and had it not been for the reports of the.-,e "hoive-watchers" it is next door to a certainty Amherite woul-1 have been 10 to 1 on, instead of 'A to 1. The style in which he won, however, placed ir. beyond question that his trainer had him prepared to meet Auruin. at the latter a very best, and it is a matter for much regret that the doughty Victoiian champion was not in condition to try " a fall" with him. It would have been another Wallace aud Quiver battle over sgiiin, with perchance their record of smin 23i->fcc clipped. The Messrs Miller were evidently seized wiih an idea that Amberite was a bit thick irside, as they forced tho pace with their representative after half a mile had been traversed ; but no matter how the race had been run. there would have been only one in it at the finish. The first four furlongs took lmin ssec to get over, I) indook then having a three lengths' lead. Then ha set to work in real oanitst, and, covering the nr*^t mile in lmin 43iec, he ;iccjmp!Khed the first mile and a-h-^lf in 2miu iSsec, Amberite still lying (" in ambusb," as it subsequently transpired) three lengths astern. Ding-dong, hammer-aut'-tongs Bundook kept al ib up by the riverside acd along the back stretch, Amberite only beginning to decrease the g>p, ana that very slightly, when they reached the abattoirs, tvyo lc-Iles and a-quarter of their jouroey, in 4min !^,ec. Gradually Anibarile kept creeping up, though it was not until ihsy had arrived at the f'orne turn that he got on an equality with the leader, upon whom W. H. Pearson was hard at v\ ork. Once fairly in tke straight Bundook ceased 1o strug-zle; but Mat Harris, with an eye to the limit of smin 45sec, any lpntrthening of which woul.l have meant a i eduction of 50 per cent, in tiie stake, kept a full head uf steam on until the v.-iuQin? post W33 past, tha cheering from the somewhat sparse attendance being boisterous and long continued. Tha exploit s,Minped Amberite as being "one^ of the few" amougot champions. Friday's .Argus endeavoured to detract from the merits of the Carbine— Duenna colt by saying " Amberite's turf career so far has certainly been an exceediuly lucky one." Well, perhaps so. The colt, who started on August 14 last by winning the Hampden Stakes, of a mils and a furlong, w.f.a., fn/ni Coil, Valiant, Delaware, Positauo, Courage, md sevi n others iv 2min, and followed it u,p by amipxing the A.J.C. Derby, the Caulfteld Cup, the V.R.O. Derby, and now adds the bays of the Champion Stakes to his lauxel wreath, may only have been an "exceedingly lucky one"; or, again, the parties behind Aurum may have bad their "bump of kokennonty" highly developed when they '•cleared" Auruin out of tho way. However, the pair of them are billed to meet a*; Rand wick next month, and then the much-vexed question of supremacy may be definitely settled. At present Amberite's prospects look the rosiest, a3 there does sot appear to be anything the matter with him, whilst Aurum may possibly be in Queer street. Under any circum taoces it is always a bit of odds oa Amberite coming fittest to the post. To revert to the lacing, the form displayed by Oloaaldkin with 10 2 in the I'irso Hurdle Race oa Tuesday was quite sufficient to causa neaily twothisd* of thoae co"iou,ol en the card fo>r the Second Hurdle Rice to beat a retreat when they found Bob Battv's sialwart son of Goklsbrough and Songstress (The Druramsr— Canary, by Lapidist) only upraised 14lb, and as the stable were again partic .larly sweet on his chancs he was backed down to in some instance? 2to 1, albeit the Argus returns bis starting price at 3's. The ("rippslatHlsrs were pretty sweet on a fine upstanding six-year-old gelding named Milord (Oaramut — My Lady, by His Lordship) 0.7, and they sect him out at 4 to 1, Brighton 11.0 and Sheo^lc 10 7 finding favour at a point longer, whilsr Cynic (who was ridden -s'.b overweiaht, bringing him up to 9.5) was amongst the 10 to 1 divis.on. 'Jhe favourite was never really troubled during the two-mile journey, and eventually won by two lengths from Cynic, Milord, whose condition failed him when the pinch came (the pace beiiig- a very sound one), being third, 10 lengths farther buck, with the improving Podaicas (Splendor — Electric Lisfht, by Grand "Flaneur from Bengal Light) 9.10 fourth and A. Skirving's Sheoak last. Timp, s'miu 48531 c. The presence of Mr Archie Yuille's Spencer (Carbine— Silvia, by Thurio) amongst the halfdozen eontes-tants ior tho Maiden Stakes, of one mile, somewhat paralysed the betting, especially towards the close of pencilling operations-, when the bookmakers demandfd odds of (i to 4 about him ; where is Mr James WiU on's (jua ) two-year-old gelding Avalon (Stratbmore — Chintz), who at first received genuine support at 3 to 1, lengthened to s's when the Pellissier push came for the brother to Amberite. who wound up by dividing

second favouriteship with his brother saplinfc. The favourite led off from Avalon and Kruger— • the latter being a three-year-old belonging to th» Messrs Miller, by Gossoon from Precaution's dam, Pretoria (The Drummer — Athina, by Yattendon)— * but after three furlongs had been traversed Kruger ran up to the leader, the pair of them being pretty well on an equality as they rounded into the straight, with Avalon and Pellis>sier next. Once round the turn Spencer cleared out for a two lengths' lead, looking a certain winner until well inside the distance, where Avalon— a mera pony— made a run at him, the result being that h« won cleverly by a length in the exceedingly good time of lmin 42isec, Pellissier finishing third three lengths astern of the favourite, with Chokebore fourth, The Bohemian Girl fifth, and Krugee (who was not a '* scrooger " towards the final) last. Taken all round, they were a pretty fair halfdozen maiden platei'3 ; quite good enough to flesh their maiden swords ere long. Another attenuated field (8 out of 22) for th& Autumn Handicap, one mile five furlongs, emphasised the fact that the ideas of owners and the opinion of the handicapper were as the poles asunder ; and when the betting opened, tha i Sydney horse Loch Leigh, who appeared to ba i given a really excellent chance with 7.12, was so j spiritedly backed that 3 to 1 was difficult to ■ obtain. Tte investments on the Lochiel — Lola 1 (by Roodee) horse did not carry the true stable (do ■ not neglecc the italics there, Mr Composivor, if i you please) ring about them, thoueb, and yet - there was no aroma of "dead meat" even unto the end —of tho wagering ; the fact that Vakeel's -. party supported the aged Robinson Crusoe — Eileen gelding 7 7 down to 4 to 1 being good and sufficient rea«ou for Loch Leigh's receding half a point. Mischief certainly read nicely at 5.5 after , her performances ou the training track, the Commotion mare neaily always running up to her pre■paratory form, and her friends were quite satis-fi-d to accept s's about Tier, whilst Legs 6.7 had shaped so well at Caulfield in the Woodcliffe ■ Handicap (third to nine furloDgs in lmin 59£ sec) that he received a_ fair amount of attention at 7to , I— a price at which the unlucky Cravat 8.1 was likewise quoted. Mischief was first away, and ' maintained the lead for over a mile and a-quarter, sweeping into the straight from Loch Leigh, Legs, Vakeel. Talavera, and Cravat. Then the lavourite suddenly dropped back, and Legs threatened much danger until he, too, " yielded up the ghost " (metaphorically, of course) in a mys- | terious manner, Vakeel running up top at the ; distance and apparently winning easily until Cleal brought Cravat up half a furlong from home, making such a determined effort at the finish that ; the result was a mere matter of guesswork until ; Judge M'Culloch awarded the victory to Vakeel f by a short head, with the hurdle racer Legs I (Mentor —Rosy Morn, by Lothair) five lengths off, j Tslavera, Mischief* Loch Leigh, Damien, and ' Trentham following in the order given ; time, 2mia 52? sec. Mem. — Not a murmur. In fact, • one might almost say the silence of " the grave." I have expatiated so fully on the Champion Stakes in my introduction that I need say no more here save and except that the time for the event, smin 27£ sec, has only been bettered on • six occasions— First King (1878), Commotion (1883), L<s Grand (1881), the three of them covering ■ t.he distance in smin 26sec ; Commotion (1885) smia 26 bee, Portsea (1894), smin 23Jsec, and Quiver and Wallace, dead heat (1896) smiu 23Jsec, i Amberite's performance being equally as meritoI rious as the beat of these, seeing that he ran tha Jasfcmile and a-half in 2min 39£ sec, and the last six furlongs at the evenly solid gait of 13sec to the furlong. | In the Nursery Handicap, over seven fur'oEga of ground, 23 had been handicapped, Mr F. F. Dakin giving his opinion of the various lop. notchers amongst the two-year-olds by placing Mr W. It. Wilson's colt Bobadil at the head of the list with 9.13, though, as a matter of fact, on I the weight for age scale Mr Chirnside's gelding < Coidite\9.ll was conceding him 31b, Mr W. ■! Bailey's Coeos at 9-9 being con&idered a 31b better S colt than Mr H. Hawkins's filly Novua at 9.3. j None of this quartette accepted, however, and out of the eight competitors Ormuz C.2 was installed i favourite at 2 to 1, the general public freesI ing on to Mr James',Wil3on's, sen., Canada (with Chris. Moore up) 80, and backing him strongly, which enabled the stable to secure & nia pricb about the secoud string to their bow, Relic (by Off Colour— Touia, by Newminater from the Kuglish Tim Whiffle'— Musidora mare Idalia) 7.3, whom they backed down to 9 to 2, Johansea B.S figuring at s's, whilst Canada retrograded to B's, Pellissser 8.0 and The Pirate King 7 6 beiug included amongst the "10to 1 others." True to his two-year-old tradition, The Pirate King saw them , all off before he took it into his head to ' pull ! foot," Canada baing the first to move, followed by ' Johansen, Ormuz, and Pellissier. Turning into the straight the c'dsv was— Sparta, Ormuz, f Safety, PelliS3ier, and Johansen, the three lait • being The Pirate Kin?, Relic, and Cauada. With i their heads fairly set for home, Relic ran through | the field a3 if they were standing still, her example being followed by The Pirate King. The pair of them found Pellissier a pretty hard nut to ' crack, Mat Harris riding him vigorously, Relic . eventually guning the verdict by a short leucrth, « a. similar distance separating The Pirate King ! from Pellifsier, Ormuz finishiog just behind Mr ! R. G. Talbut's colt, then coming Safety, Johani sen, and Sparta, with Canada bringing up the I rear. Time, lmin 3lsec. This rearward position of Canada did not accord with the stewards' , ideas as to the racing ability of the fiddle-headed • sou of Niagara and Bengal Light, and so Ohri-j- > topher Moore, h ! s jockey, was duly "carpeted, 1 ' when the explanation offered was deemed per1 fe-^tly satisfactory 5 The River Handicap, of a' mils and a-quarter, rung down the curtain on the third day's racing, ' but once more the lesponses to the handicapper's . apportionments were very faint, only 11 outot the ', oiiginal 40 putting iv an appearance at ths post. ; Moonlyong's 8.1 after her performance in running ; fecond to Resolute ia the Bourke Handicap no : r.oubt accounted for a. number of the defections, [ backers being so impressed with the luxury J accorded Mr D. S. Wallace's slippery daughter i of Mentor and Sierra that she opened out favour- ' tte, and held the pride of place in the quotations i until the contestants wera despatched on their 1 journey ; *he betting then being— 3's Moonlyon?, t 4's Cabin Boy 8 9, 6's Fitzroy 7.10, B's Pinfire 6.10, ) 10's Eiridsforde 7.6, 12's Keera 7.0. Moonlyong, I Cibin Boy, and Paul Pry 8.10 (Mat. Harris up) i led the van at ihe start, but the favourite bemg j steadied, Beau Brummol 6.9 dashed to the front, ' taking a three-lengths' lead, and bangiDg oa to it '. till they swept into the straight, where E. Crippa ! was forced into a difficult position when the general stampede commenced, Fitzroy rushing to the front, closely pursued by Moonlyong and Cabin Boy. The pony failed to sustain the effort, though, the pace beins made a cracker by Moonlyong, who had everything settled at the distance, ' and won ea ily by a length and a-half from Fitzroy ia the splendid time of 2min SJsee, Keera I beiag third five lengths to the rear of Fitzroy, ! Cabin Boy fourth, the nearest of the others being , Eirid-forJe and Beau Brummel, with Hear Hear . and Monard last. The day's proceedings were marked by the dual successes of P. Dowling (of Mr James Wilson's I stable) and D. Callinan (son of the late Dennis I OullinaD, for many years " whip" of the Melj ISourue Hunt Club), who is now a freelance, after I being connected with Mr W, R. Wilson's St. ' Albana establishment, an engagement that I gentleman advised him to relinquish, as H. J. Morrison was marly certain to monopolise the ' lightweight ridiDg. Both Callinau and Dowling [ displayed excellent generalship. Fourth (Steeplechase) Day. A day made to order for racing. The most fas«tidious could not have desired anything better. The sun .shining gloriously, with any quantity of I fleecy clouds, and a gentle breeze which served to | temper the i/uns rays, and yet was not of sufficient ' strength to cause any discomfort. The attendance ' was capital— quite up 1o fi-st-clasrS spriug meeting ! fono. His Kxccll^Dcy the Governor, Lady Brassey, | and tuite aguia honouring the proceedings witbl | their presence. Ii coascnancj with the general . fitness of things the racing was of an extremely I high order of mniit ; for, although then: were in - \ close finishes (which, by the way, have been cot* i-picucus by their absetc-. vigbt through the fou_< ■ days, CravatV half head behind Vaktel for tlu* \ Autumn Ranrtirap beirg the "'one ewe lamb"' ir, ! this connection), special interest was added tott.*, ! afternoon's enjoyment by the fact that exceec:. ingly fast times wesc registered right along th« line, whilst in two of the events— the Place Han-

dicap, of a mile and a-half, and the Steeplechase, of three miles— new records for Flemington were established. With regard to the mile and a-half record (2rain 352 sec), it will doubtless be pleasing to Maorilanders in general to learn tbat it was put up Ky Cravat, a five-year-old son of Castor and Necklace, owned by the New South Wale 3 sportsjnan, Mr S. Hordern. Whernside's exploit in covering the three miles across Fiemington country with the crusher of 13st 71b on his back in 6min 31Jsec was rendered all the more astounding from the fact that for fully half a mile of the journey lie was eased down to <i hand canter to allow of Tapage making the semblance of a race with him £or a furlong or two. Had he had 15.7 on his .back, I f<-=el satisfied he would have won all the same. Of late the gigantic son of Glorious and Mildura had been performing most ingloriously at Caulfield over shorter courses with much lighter weights, the Messrs Miller voucheafing the informatioQ to their intimates that the fences were not " high " enough for him on the classic heathinformation which caused a number of the members of the Fourth Estate to " wink the other eya" as Wheraside returned to scale on Saturday. Otherwise there w»3n't a murmur, a circumstance I attribute as much as anything, so far as the denizens of the Flat were concerned, to the intense interest the hoipollni were manifesting in Mr J. J. Allan's efforts to get EunieralU round the cour-je after the aged son of Youag Sussex and Betsy Trotwood ha'i turned turtle no less than three times. It was just about the pluckiest thirg ever done at headquarters, but rash to recklessness all the same. It turned out trumps so far a? securing the 40sovs for third money was concerned, but the game was most decidedly not ■worth the candle. M at. -Harris has the reputation of -being the most " judicious " rider in Australia at the prebent time, albait the backers of Amberiie for the Loch Plate may well bs pardoned if they failed to agree with tha general verdict so far as tbat special event was concerned. Amberite displayed a decided disinclination to join the otter two contestants, and when Harris was ordered by the starter to take his mount over to the others, who were next the rails on the inside of the couise, Amberite's jockey replied that he " would u't go over," and advised the starter to allow him to remain where he was — •which that functionary did. When the barrier was released, instead of going straight ahead and gradually edging over towards the rails before rounding the turn out of the straight, Harris at once made a bee line across the cou?se, the consequence being that when he got in Indian file with Battalion and Bundook, he was a couple of lengthi; behind the latter, who in turn was three lengths a»tern of B^ttilion. Six furlong* from house Amberite was close upon three lengths to the rear of Battalion, and as the Queenslander cut out the concluding three-quarters of a mile in Imin 16i-=e<s i* was small cause for wonderment that th? three year-old with 8.12 on hia back should suffer defeat by a length and -threequarters — a distance that might have been considerably curtailed, if not actually wipsd out altogether, but for Mat Harris fumbling terribly •whilst attempting to change the whip from his light to his left hand coming up the straight. _ It wa3 a great performance on the part of Battalion to make his own running from the start and to negotiate the mile and three-quarters in 3miu siec after taking 28Jsec over the first two furlongs ;but the way I fixed things up after a careful synopsis of the whole surroundings Amberite must be one of the very best colts ever bred in Australasia ; and don't-you forget it.

There were only five saddled up for the opening event of the day, the All-aged Stakes, of one mile ; and despite the fact that Amiable was engaged therein at identically the same weight under which she never let the field have a look in in the Newmarket' Handicap (8.12) the weight of money — Victorian and New South Wales — sent Bobadil out first favourite at 2 to 1, the multitude backing Amiable down to 5 to 2, whilst Ayrshire's friends supported him down to 4V, Wait-a-Bit figuring at 6's aud Relic at 'S's. The believers in Amiable were on very gpod term's with themselves when they observed her first under the barrier and away wirh the lead, but their plea&ure was but shortlived, as on sweepingdown to the turn for home Bobadil headed her, the pair having put a fairish gap between themselves and Wait-a-Bit, behind whom came Relic, with Ayrshire \vhi»pir<g-in some distance in the rear. Fivs furlongs appeared -to settle Amiable's hash, and Bobadil, who ran as st-aight as a die under his light impost, combined with the fact that he was hugging the rails, came on as he liked, and v/ou by saven lengths from Wait-a-Bit, who held four lengths' advantage over Relic, Ayrshire being fourth and Amiable laat, the time being extremely fast — to wit, Imin 40Jsec. The go proved Bobadil to be au extraordinarily good colt, and under the careful guidance of A. Hearn he iailad to evince the slightest irritability ot temperament.' The brown son of Bill of Portland and She maj' not show to the same advantage at Hand wick, howevur, as the right-handed system of running will probably affect him as prejudicially as it was wont to do Commotion in his day. tinder any circumstances, though, it is next door to a certainty that Mr W R. Wilson'^ colt will go into winter quarters a pronouueed favourite for the next V.R.C. Derby — which, by the way, promises to be the roost mtei esting one in point of quality and quantity of competitors that has been contested at Flemington for years and years. Amiable's performance was too bad to be correct, but as she didn't start actual favourite her remarkable reversal of form was allowed to pass unquestioned.

The YAnk and file of punters thoroughly believein the invulnerability of the animals carrying the white jacket with cardinal seams of the squire of St. Albans, aud after Bobadil's bloodless victory they frozo ou to Aurum's half-brother, Auiifeious, to such an extent for the Unplaced Two-year-old Stakes that at the conclusion of the wagering the bookmaker* refused to lay a shade of odds about Mr W. R. Wilson's representative, who started at even money against' eight opposers. Thi3 demonstration suited the Ballarat division to a nicety, as it enabled them to gat fairly good odds against Sir Rupert Clark's brown colt Ranfurly (Eridspord — Nina, by Panic— Hester Grazebrook), an inmate of Jem Scohle's stable, who finished up at 7 to 2. A sort of "office" was vouchsafed, too, through STrank Fielder being entrusted with the mount ; a circumstance that was duly noted and availed »f by the observant. Outside Auriferous and 2tanfurly there was very little speculation, a bay «olt named Raajitsinhji (by Foiest King— Glurini Crlurini, by Barbarian) being entrusted with a few tpounds down to 7 to 1 on the strength of Jack Gain«ford having the mount. The favourite, in the centre of the course, and Ranjitsinhji, on the rail?, were first away, followed by Ranturly, the order being much the same to below the distance, ■where Ranfurly tca.mpered to the front and won in hollow fashion by three lengths from Auriferous, Ranjitsinhji being a similar distance away third, Westward Ho fourth, The Bird fiftb, The TJndiae sixth, and Portree last ; time for the five furlongs, Imin 3aec. Ranfurly is a fine stamp of a colt, likely to furnish into a rattling good three-year-old Of the half-score staiter3 for the Place Handicap, of a i> ile and a-half, nine-tenths were " dead to the world" either before the start or when Cravat 8 8 made his crowning effort. There was nothing about the betting quotations, though, to warrant an assumption that there were such a number of pcrews loo3e, the support accorded to Vakeel 8.5 down to 5 to 1 causicg Cravat to be at 7 to 2 (offered) right up to barrier rise, Moonlyong 8.11 beinn also in favour at G's, along wirh The Chevalier 7.8 at 7's and Loch Leigh 7.10 and Mischief 8.4 at 8 to 1 each , the yanfcoutsiderof the party beiog Eminalea's sister, Nancylea 6.7, about whom it was a case of write your own ticket.'' Albeit, aB the sequel proved, Mr J. H. Davis'e useful daughter of The Gundolier jind Maryland (by the Bethnal Green hoise Welcome Jack) was not quite such a dummy as the wagering would have warranted one iv supposing. Vakeel was apparently 'attacked with the slowd" at the start, dropping suddenly to the extreme rear, whilst Mr J. »J3. Pt-arson's Contrast {Commotion— Contesaina) fairly revelled under, her light impost (6 7), and made matters "quick and lively," though far from " willing," so far as the main hulk of the field were concerned, for nearly a mile and a-quarter, leading into the Btraight from Nancylea and Loch Leigh, Cravat Iyii«next within nice striking distance. Ihree hundred yards from home the latter made a forward move, and carried on such a tremendous ?iace that he won by eight lengths from Moonyong in 2min 35} sec, Nancylea finishing a length anda-half behind the Hon. £>. S, Wallace's marc ;

[ then following in order Loch. Leigh, Mischief, The • Chevalier, Contrast, Vakeel, Legs, and Damien. , The Australian record for a mile and a- half is 1 2min 3bisec. I The Second Steeplechase, over three miles of ! country, has been fully dealt with in the introduc- i ! tion, and I need only give the dryasdust details I I that three others were brought out against | Whernside, who had risen to 13 7, or 111b more i than he had carried to victory in the First Steeplechasa ; that, after at one time touching level money, he eventually started at sto 4 agst ; that ; he appeared to be acting somewhat "extrava- i gantly " over the jumps at first, but always cleared ! them handsomely ; that none of the opposers ever seriously troubled him at any ona position of the journey ; and that he won by half a furlong (in the laat six furlongs) in the fastest time on record — (smin 31j5ec— a gait which would have been reduced V or 10 seconds had M. Mooney not waited for Tamage, 10.12, to range up alongside him at s the abattoirs. We have seen some marvellous { steeplechases at Flemington, but Whernside out- ,' Daimio3 DaJmio. Still with his unaccountable ' predilection for "high " fences rather than low, it j is a matter for satisfaction that some poor owner ' has not been connected with him during the laat few months, as he would undoubtedly have been strung up as high as Haman. Per contra, " the name of Caihms honours such," etc., etc. You will find the full quotation somewhere iv Shakespeare's play of " Julius Caesar" When Buodook raked in 303. ovs on Thursday and 40iovs on S .tarday for ineraly starting in the Champion Stake! and LochPiate respectively, he affoided a magnificent object lesson of the cold trutli permeating that patriarchal and flowingbearded proverb— "To him that hath shall be given and to him that huth not shall be taken even that wbich he hath." With a 51b penalty, bringing his weight up to 9.3. Battalion (Battailous— Nancy Till, by Drum Major) finished a length and threequarters in front of Amberite, S l2 (101b penalty) at tha termination of the Loch Plate, of a mile aad three-quarters, traversed in 3min sjec ; whilst Bundook, 9 (the only other starter), was atated by the judges to bs 20 lengths behind Amberite. As a matter of fact, Bundook was at the mile aud a-half starting po3t (87 yards from the winning post) when Battalion scot home. The Argus Gives the betting as 5 to 4 on Battalion,' 5 to 4 against Amberite, and 20 to 1 Bundook ; but they must have been queer sorts of bookmakers who -were doing business at those figures, Bundook being simply a lay figure (so to speak) in the event, and looked upon as such, no one being , so utterly devoid of " horse sense" a3 to dream of ; backing him under the circumstances. There were 67 horses handicapped for the concluding event of the meeting, the Farewell Handicap, of ona mile ; but only 15 went to tha post | therefor. So-and-^o 7.10 and Spencer (Carbine— ; Silvia, by Thurio) 6 9 were about equal favourites, 9 to 2 being offered Alex. Taylor's charge and 5 to 1 Archie Yuille's three-year-old, who, with 8.0 up, had finished second to Avalon in the Maiden Stakes, traversed in Imin 42£<;ec. Even though he carried 8 6 Reaper's f . iends accepted as low as ' 6 to 1 aboun him, whilst the {Sydney contingent pinned their faith (*nd with a big safety pin, too !) to Talavera 8 0, about whom they were fortunate enough (or, rather, unfortunate enough) to secure 10 to 1. Talavera was first away, bus was quickly deposed by Beau Brummel 6.7, who maintained the lead right up the straight until within a furlong of home, when three or four had a cut *>t him, Spencer proving the speediest of the lot, and , winning by a couple of lengths in lnriD 41sec ; J Talavera obtaining second money by half a length from Reaper ; Esau Brumirul fourth, So-and-cso fifth, and Florin last. j OLLA PODRIDA. There were 534 horses handicapped for 14 events [ during the four days of the V.R.O. Autumn , meeting, but only 158 startel. Actual iirst favourites were successful on no less than 13 occasions out of the 24 events, and in seven other instances second favourites won. The takings on the last day were .£IOO better than on the corresponding day in 1897. Prior to the meeting Mr H Byron Moore estimated a loss of £2000, but a deficit of £1700 is all that has to be chronicled. £12,909 was given away in stakes. It is currently reported that one of the principals connected with the Amberite stable threw in for £400 over Battalion's victory in ths Loch Plate. During tlie lale yearling sales Mr Archie Yuille was very pronounced in his remarks against che policy of his fellow committee men of the V,R.C. in prohibiting early two-year-old racing. He stated that it simply means ruination to breeders and breeding. The treasurer of the V.R.C. also waxed wroth over the practices of the forestalling brigade, who got in early and skimmed the cream off the Farewell Handicap ; but considering how Spencer had been pitchforked into the event it was really surprising_ that he did not start an even-money favourite. Auruin is said to be an unlikely starter at Randwick during the A. JC. Autumn meeting. J. Wilson, jun., left yesterday with La Carabine, Virtue, and Avalon, vvhilst his father will proceed over the border to-day with. Reaper and Rslic j amongst others. i The principal stakes during the late V.R.C. [ Autumn meeting were divided as follows : — W. R. { Wilaou, £2487 ; S. Fielder, £1404 ; W. H. David- j son. £1214; W Duggan, £1053; S. Millar. £913 ; J. G, Clarke, £796 ; R Ohirnside, £612 ; J. Wilson, sen., £501; It. B^tty, £449; S. Hordernj i £3r4 ; D. S. Wallace, £tfl ; J. Crozier, £350 ; A. Yuille, £307 ; S. G. Cook, £244 ; H. Evane, £222 ; J. Wilson, jun., £200; Sir Rupert Clarke, £199; W. Bailey. £188 ; A. C. Chirnside, A. Williams, H. Oxenham, W. and C. Wilson, each £100, j H. J. Morrison rode four winners ; F Fielder, { J. Anwin, J. Roberts, M. Mooney, P. Dowling, and D. Callinan, two each ; N. Leek, A. C. J Delaney, H. Holnaes, R. Walker, M. Harris,^ A, i Manning, C. Cooper, and E. Cleal, one each. \