CANTERBURY DOINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 37

CANTERBURY DOINGS.

By 11. Quid.

Coneequent on the committee of the C.J.C. declining to license W. Brown until he had disposed of Bhnetallist, the horse was offered for snio at Tattarsiill's on Saturday and bought by J. Hill for £60. -Mr- D. Jji'Lean, of Ashburton, tells me that he has a* nice coli' by Electioneer from Daisy Jiell.

Tlie entries received by the Canterbury Trotting Club on Saturday scarceiy came wn to expectations, and, iis compared to the number received last; yoar, there is a serious falling off. However, no fault can ba found with the general quality of the entries, though few of tho contestants for the plums of the meeting are ciained cuUido Canterbuiy. There are a few entered from Australia, but nothing firstclass, though one, the full feistc-r to Polly ifuon, is bred well enough to suggest ability.

Major George, m a letter to the Canrerbury Timed, says that he presented S. Lindsay with a cheque for £375, £2 or which was for his mount on. The Labourer, and' the reminder on account of Seahorse's success in tiro New Zealand Cup.

A peculiar point cropped up at the last ' meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Asso- , ciation. The Geraldine Racing Club wrote , that the nominator of; who won an ' ovcii at the club's Spring meeting, stated that the mars registered 5.A9 when the won at Ash- , burton, and it subsequently transpired that ; tho official time was 5.39. On this ground, the club had declined, to pay over the stake, but as the matter introduced an entirely new point, ' tho club asked the association for its guidance. Mr Baxter, tlic ownei of the mare, wrote to tha club stating that he had obtained the time from the columns of the Referee, and ha had nc other means at finding- out. The ■ tuna had not been posted on tho coursre. It'i appeared that the Turi Registei gave the time ' as 5.3% The association: decided 1 to ask the ' Geraldine Club wheiher tho handicapper had ' verified Uio time sent in by the nominator, as the action- of the club suggested that the , more had been handicapped or o.lfi, and aipo advised that h the club were satisfied with, the bona fides oi Mr Eaxtar, end ( that no frt'.ud whs intended, the st-.tke-' ' might bo paid over to him. Tlie whole ca3Q bristles with, debatable ipoiats. Of course, the handicapper, even if ha had i»t- , temnterl to verify the time sent in, might have been misled by that originally published ; ihon, supposing a protest had been entered again-it ' patella on tlie ground of wrongful ent.-y. the club might h»ve fairly sustained, the protest, 'as no. man. should.;, it might be argued, bo allowed to benefit by a typographical error.

and the owner of the second horse would naturally feel aggrieved if the horse that defeated his got that benefit at his expense. Then, again, what probably is of more importance still, the character of the man who entered the 'mare should be taken into consideration, and if he is known to be a fairly honest and trustworthy man, who would scarcely attempt to defraud, it would be hard to deprive him of the stakes. r J-Tiis was the idea of the members of the association, and under the circumstances it is hard to see what better advice they could have given. The Ashburton mare Constance is now an inmato of D. Price's stable, who has lately removed hia team from PluniDton Park to Middle Park. The New Zealand Trotting Association were noi at all satisfied with the explanation tendered to it by the Auckland Trotting Club, and decided to appoint a committee to go into the- whole matter, and report to the next meeting of the association. Glonaladale, by Clanranald — Alsace, is. being broken in by E. Cutts. Heritas has been added to the list. It is not quite easy to understand the West Coast handicappers' opinions of the ability of Canterbury horses. For instance, at Greymoush,, Duudas is' asked to give Strathnairn 21b in the Cup, one mile and a-half, but in tho Inangahua Cup, one mile and. three-quar-ters, the pair nieei at a diffsrence -of lllb. In tha former event Pompom has 5.2 (121b frcm Uundaa), in the Inangahua Cup he receives 16!b. All the -other races are mysteriously compiled, and it. is difficult to account for fcome of 'tho figures published. Malatua and Peerage are looking really- wellafter their short spell. Cannie Chiel' and Labourer were shipped to Vie north on Saturday. - Hewitt is now in D. O'Brien's stable. Nothing further haa transpired in ronne'etion with tfie disqualification of F. Holmes. It is rumoured that some of tho members of the Wellington Clab were in favour of considerably extending the sentence. At the November meeting, o£ the New Zear land Trotting Association the matter of pony lacing at Auckland, was left for the president to deal with. At present, as is generally known, ponies racing a> the Auckland Trotting meetings aro liable t<> disqualification by a .Racing Club ; in fact, these animals cannot compete at JSllerslie. At last Wednesday's meeting oi the association, copies of Mr Sehg's letter to the chairman of the Racing Conference and the latter's reply thereto were read. Sir G. Clifford, during the course of his reply, said: '" All horse racing, as distinguished from trotiiing, is under tha jurisdiction of metropolitan racing club 3, subject to regulations framed by the New Zealand Racing Conference, and it would at onco intioctuce confusion if these bodies assumed independent power in respect to special classes^ of, horse, such as ponies, hunters, or hacks. 1 fail to see how the Auckland Kacmg Club being thus bound to the rules oi racir.g, could in the administration of them have acted otherwise than it has done. . The indulgence by which, some metropolitan clubs have included amounts allotted to trotting races in calculating the required added money is not analogous, as no- programme which does not foimally comply with the mles is passed, whereas the present application is to sanction horse racing whhout the provision of the miniir.iiTrt stakes permitted by the rules. Passing froir>"th6" question "of logalrty, the policy of combining tile two'fotms vi racing is more than' questionable, and I anr iiiyself strongly of opinion that the welfare of both- raoing and trotting would be best conserved by the abolition of mixed programmes. ' Sir. G. Clifford argues that the passing of programmer containing trotting eventa-ia nob a-nalogpus witli the passing of trocting programmes with flat races included Unless, then,, the. Auckland 'l'rolting Club gives moaey to their pony events equal to that demanded ror a whole or partial day's lacing they are nob allowed to race. That it v.-oukt be better noi to have mixed programmes all will probably subscribe to, bu.lr if, as Sir G. Clifford says, an indulgence .9 made to racing club 3, why not extend thai quality to trotting clubs? Supposing the Trotwng Assocnuion took up lhe same ground, and insisted ou racing clubs giving sufficient money to two or three trots inserted in their programmes. Tho action might be considered somewhat arbitrary, but the position is exactly the same, as if racing clubs aro allowed to add trotting money to make up tho amount required, there appears to bo no reason' why th : same rule should not obt.vin in trotting programmes. The unfortunate part of the matter is that the reciprocal arrangement recently entered into bj the two governing bodies means that any pony disqualified by the Auckland Racing Club must be? endorsed by the Trotting Association. Tha position will be somewh.it awkward, as the association can. scarcely jiass the ' Auckland Trotting Chib's programme, codtainnij pony evenis, and then disqualify tlia pon:cs. The above forms the text oi the discussion at the association's meeting, and tlie prt&idonl was instructed to again in-teivk-w the racing authorities on the matter. I notice thao the whole mutter haa been before the Auckland Racing Club, the committee docK::mg to demit from their usual custom. B." Edwards, who has beau laid up with an attack of influenza., is now much better. The monthly committee, meeting, of the Canteiimry Jockey .Club waa held on Tuesday. Tramers' licenses wera- granted to- P. M'Gratli an-'l William Mann, both with s. caution, and to W. M'Donald; riders' licernes to G. W. Ireland,. P. M-Grath. and' W. Mann. J. F. Mitchell's application for a license was refused, an.l I. Price's was referred to the Victoria Racing C!ub. Ashleigh Davis and A. T. Wells's applications wera held ovor. D. O'Brien reported that Harry Pickering, without notice, ha I left, his employ, and his apprentice's license was cancelled. W. Brown's riding license was suspended until tlie chairman was satisfied, that Brown had. disposed of the gelding Bimetrtllist. Mr Horace Pickering, Havelock, was granted an amtiteui rider's certificate. The trainer's licenses of P. Higgins and C. Hobbs were cancelled ; also the rider's license of P. Higgins. Mr J-. Cressweli gave the following notice of motion: — "That trainers, riders, a-nd apprentices, on production of their licenses, be admitted free to all courses under th? control ot the Canterbury Jockey Club-" Tho following tiansfers wero granted': — MeHsrs J. F. Reid to E. J. Walt, by t, bj Stapiiiak.— Ranee Nuna, 1 year; J. J?. Reid io G. Gould, b" f..Gips> Graud — Illusion; J. F. Reid to O. R. YvV,o,. b f, Gipsy Grand— Whirlpool, 1 year; I J. F* Reid- to .G. G. Stead, b c, Stepniak — | Pibrocn, 1 year; J. F. Raid to R, Franks, b f, Gipsy Gr And— Sortie, 1 year; J. F. Reid to C. G. Dalgo^ty, b f, Gipsy Grand— Lady's Maid 1 ; IT. Frankc to J. B. livid b f, Gipsy Grand— Sortii>, 1 yoar; &■. G. Stead to G. rl. Franks, br % Tolstoi; G. G. Stead tc G. H. Franks, b g Court ieiv

The oTdi'iaiy monthly ineetLng of the New Zea;:uid Trotting Association was held o-i Friday ; present — Me'-'srs Sehg (chairman), Howell, Mjfcrs, Da\Gy, M'Haffie, and M'Lcin. Apologies v. ere receive J from Xfessrs Clnrk^or and King. Mr J. 11. Martin, of Auckland, wrote, corfu ir.in<s a <statomenfc by il. Edwards rrsrnrciki3 a complaint made by Mr J. Covu-il!, o£ Wellington. It v/as reiol'-ed tha'. no action bo taken in ' the matter. A lettei was received from the Auckland" Trotting Club, re-

specting the association's- inquiry as to the amounts written off the club's balance sheet, and explaining. A. sub-committee, consisting of Messrs Gnerson, M'Haffie, and the president, ■wus set up to examine the Auckland Club's balance sheet, and to communicate with the club on the subject, and report to' the association. It was resolved to write to the Wellington Trotting Club respecting the starting of the horso Comet, after receiving notice from the Grey mouth Club that the owner was ou the defaulter's list. A letter was received from the Geraldin-e Chib,, and another from Mr- Baxter, owner of Patella, respecting the withholding of the stakes, in consequence of a mistake in tdie time of a performance taken from the newspaper report. It was resolved to write to tha club, asking if the handicapper verified the time, and, if the club were satisfied of the bona fides of the owner, the stakes should be paid. Mr J. Palinei wrote stating that he- had bought a black mare two years ago, and had since found that she was disqualified. He asked for the removal of the disqualification, which was granted, a similar course being followed with a similar application on behalf of Tom Tit. A letter was received from the chairman of the Racing Conference in reply to the association, regarding pony racing in Auckland. The president was authorised to again communicate with the chairman of the Racing Conference. Furtfter communication was received from Mr. C. O'Reilly respecting the disqualification of the mare Botfly. An appeal, was received from the owner of Trio, who was disqualified at a meeting of the Wellington. Trotting Club The" chairman ruled that, as the matter was a question, of fact the appeal could not be entertained. With respect to the ringing-in cases of Opossum and Pastime, it was. decided to supply the information obtained by tho- secretary to the M-ariborough Club. Several programmes -were passed and. licenses granted. /The treasurer reported that tcis association^ credit balance amounted to £170.

Some time ago Mt Connall, of Wellington, asked the Trotting- Association to consider a complaint made by him against M. Edwards, tlis' well-known local trainer. The matter had been held over for some timej awaiting a communication from Auckland. This was available at the last meeting of the association, and it waa decided that no action be taken in the matter. The Christchurcli Racing Club's meeting will be commenced on Saturday next. Writing without the acceptances before me I should say that Macintosh ought to trouble Melita hi the Nursery Handicap. Ben Farley, though he has not yet publicly essayed the task of getting to the end of a mile and a distance, ought to run well in the Windsor Handicap, and ffuku and' Lapidary are a- pair that will requite some beating. Sequin is at the bottonr of the list, but she has not done much of late, though on her bess form, she could scarcely lose. The selling Handicap moy go to Gold, the Plying Handicap to The Orphan or Bristol, the High-weight Handicap to Huku or Rangefincier, Uie Burwood Trot to The Member or Moonbaam, atfd the A.yon. Tiot to Peggy or Sue Dudley.