THE FIRST DAY,S RACING

Otago Witness, Volume 30, Issue 2353, 30 March 1899, Page 35

THE FIRST DAY,S RACING

Tcmmy Chapman, who 'had his license restored to him as an act of grace, for which the D.J.C. is to be commended, rode the first working gallop at Wingatui, and followed this up by riding the first winner on ihe course,, having, the mount on Abercrombie, who, to complete the sequence of coincidences, was the first racer weighed out in - the new- room by Mr A. Bremner. I note, by .the way, that the old platform weighing machine was used. It looked rather shabby and out-of-place behind the stylish rail which barricades the weighing enclosure, and I hope before long to see a proper weighing chair affixed to a beam scale. Abercrorubie^won this initial event, the 3Jack High-weight Handicap, with very little, if anything, in hand. Witchcraft was pressing him all the way — once, in the straight, actually headed him — and it appeared to me that .only the fact of the Sydncy-bied gelding being in the nappy position of a waiter in fiont enabled him to get home. Red Banner shaped fairly well, and I look on this jnare as a likely winner before long. Glenore ran much- better in the Hurdle Raco than his stable companion Ilex. The latter had a stale appearance, and, indeed, was not exwected "to do much after his double defeat at Waimate. As a matter of fact, he was beaten all tho way. Glenore, on the other hand, ran well up to the point at which he fell, nearly three furlongs from home. Cochrane, his rider, escaped unhurt, and the horse's only injury was a deepish scratch. Clarence made a bid for victory right into the straight, but was then collared by Social Test, and this fine Ahua gelding, galloping with a reachy stride, and gaining at every fence, looked the surest possible winner until six strides from the judge's chair, when he sud.denly tired, and simultaneously Nicholas put in a run, which had the miraculoug effect of taking him at once past both Clarence and Social Pest, and landing him a winner. The singularity of the finish gave rise to the theory on the part, of some that Social Pest was pulled off in his favour — a ridiculous suggestion, since Social Pest's rider could have had no notion that of the pair behind him Nicholas could beat Clarence ; — whilst others averred, with more •justification, that Clarke was caught napping. My own idea is that Social Pest tired on" the hill under his heavy weight, and that the veteran' Dan Roberts',. ht>ving nursed Nicholas, found himself able at the last moment, unexpectedly, to -pvll the' slake out of the fire. Whatever the explanation, Nicholas's run was most convincing. His thoroughbred blood stood him in good stead. He is by the eternally-valuable Apremont out of Nickname, by Albany — No Name, by Traducer. Nickname is bister to Nemo, Nonsense, Oudeig, and Disowned, and half-sister to Euroclydon's dam. Lady Gertrude. A pretty good pedigree thib for a hurdle-racer. The Champagne Stakes, Though .one of the sort of races that Mr Stead specially looks after, has not been a particularly lucky event for t.he Yaldhurst owner in -pant.y«ars. Up to 1896 he had. never won it at all. Even now -ho- only has his name thrice on the follof winners. Stepniak, in 1E92, when Daydream won;- Bl\iefire two years later, in Neroli's race; Musketry in 1895, Gipsy Grand's year : and the pair, Conqueror and

AJtair, a twobemonth ngx)— these are the, recent defeats of the yellow jacket. But Courtfer this year won ir very pronounced fashion. Up to 200 yards from home Glenogle seemed to have a chance of landing the btako for Sir Georce Clifford, who, by the way, has won the Champagne only once, with Cynisca 10 year 3 ago, and has at various times had hard luck, particularly when Evorlon Lad stole a march on that noble colt Stonyhurst in 1885 : hut at the. point named Matthews had to draw tho whin to Glenoglo, and that was the signal of disaster, the strapping gelding belonging to Mr Stead thereafter romping home. Courtier is the first of St. George's stock to win .this Champagne- .His dam r A<lqJation,-i8 by Apremont out of Flattery, by Traducer. A tri'eat similarity here to the , pedigree of the Hurdle Race winner. Courtier was, I believe, bred b3 r Bob Derrett; -his half-sister, Bracelet, was at any rate. The time was quite up to the average. It has, as a- matter of fact, beeri beaten only by Dundas (lmin 17sec) and Gipsy Grand. Cajolery, and Daydream (who tie for the record, lmin 16isec). Concerning the Cup there is not a great deal to be said. Malatua made the pace, pressed by Sequin, till half-way up that magnificent straight, where Djin Djir came through with a " Please make way" run. which made the issue quite certain 50 yards from home. It was a fairly strong fielJ f on paper ; but the pace carried Pitch and Toss off her legs — so Buddicomb said in a chat after the race — and neither Starshot nor

Boreas seemed able to stretch themselves, so there was not a wonderful lot to beat, and Sequin was somewhat handicapped by striking herself in the race. Nevertheless, Djin Djin won so easily an 4so impressively, and made such good time, that we are warranted in classing him as quite worthy to go on the roJJ ofwinner3. In him again we have the

Apremont blood ; the French stallion is his sire and Dudu is his dam. Another son of v Dudu, Epaulet, was one of the disappointments of last year's race, and Dudu herself was the sensational failure of 1889 — it was

thought she could not lose, but Sultan, who, let me mention, was the first of the Aprerrsonts to be returned a winner of the Dunedin Cup, put her down decisively. The mare stopped on the top turn so suddenly as to make the people on the stand think she had broken down, yet she next day won the D.J.C. Handicap with 61b more on her back, assuming the lead half a mile from home, and making hacks of a biff field. These' brf old stories, of which one could tell a cartload if time and space permitted. But I must move on. The Maiden Plate was not quite such a boil over as last year, when Seabrook defeated Fulmen ; still it was a surprise, especially to tho shilling crowd, Edelweiss racing away from the five that opposed her. On breeding, Edelweiss was, perhaps, the pick of the bunch, being by St. Clair out of the Grand (Flaneur mare Indolence, who descends from ■\h 8 Julifit f^reUyj; but MessrJ. ElUjs'e mare is

no wonder to look at, and on her records Bhe had little claim to respect. B^it Harry Ellis has mode a racer of her lately, and she climbs the hil? like a hare. . It was on the ascent that she settled the pretensions of the others. Strathnairn seemed to be galloping up to her when they got to the flat on the top. Another St. Clair, and another bred by the Hon. G. M'Lean — also, I am glad to say, owned by him — won the next race, the Publicans' Handicap. The reference is to Brisa, daughter of -St. Clair and the Gorton mare Mistral. She led all the way, doing four furlongs in 52^860, five furlongs in lmin 3see, and the whole seven furlongs in lmin 29 2-ssec. I take it that this result proves the Wingatui to be by no means a slow course. Allowing something for-the inequalities of the surface, it must be fast going. Here is the record of modern contests for the Publicans' Handicap, establishing the correctness of my proposition : —

Two horses in the Publicans', unfortunately, got no start. Proposal stood stock still when the tape went up, and Mr Gourley tells me thnt_ Rochester seemed to get a bump which kept him stationary. For Blazer's defeatthere is no excuse, so far as I know, in tho incidents of tho race. I don't think he was quite at his best, nnd the big weight and the pace of the race got him into trouble early. Yet he ran a good horse. The three starters for the Selling Race were a very poor lot, and the race no race at all. The Stewards' Purse, on the contrary, was one of the prettiest contests ever seen in Ota<jo, and St. Denis got home with nothing to spare, while tho-hon-ours rested with Jupiter, who stumbled, and then finished third.

1891— Pique 3yrs ... 6 'A ... lmin 20sec 1892— Hug.-euot ... 3y s ... 0 12 ... lmin 2fljsee 181)3— Heather B. 11 .. syis ... 7 2 ... lmin 30s x ISSK-.BD..don«e!l ... 3jTd ... 7 2 ... lmin 30.- cc ;593 Bu-mby ... 3yi\s ... 7 11 ..*. lmin 231 sec IS3'»— MarcTima ... 4yrs ... 7 8 ... linin 2Ssec iS97— Belte Clair ... 3j is .. 713 . . lmin 31sec 1898— Ai line 4yrs ..811 ... Imia 28js,c 1899-Brisa 3yr o ... 7 3 ...-.lmin 20*s8(