SPOTTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 41

SPOTTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

By Ravenswobth.

MELBOURNE, Febiuary 21.

On Wednesday, February 14, a race meeting was held at Flemington under the auspices ol the Y.R.C. in aid of the Empire patriotic fund tiutl local Bushmen's Corps fund. It -was a financial success, but from a racing standpo.nt was not much of an affair. The day being an off one, the attendance was moderate, but members of the V.R.C. did not exercise their privilege of gaining admission on their ticket 3, and donations came in freely. The Y.R.C. gave JESOO as stake money, Mr S. 'Miller (the chairman) .£2OO, Mr W. R. "Wilson £100, and a bookmaker named Tom Tooher £50. As a consequence, the club made a profit of about £1750, which will be equally divided between the two funds. Racing started with the Hurdla Race, which went to Signal 9.10, in R. H. Frew's stable. The win was, however, an exceedingly lucky one. Inglegoodbie 10.9 massed Signal five furlongs from home, and had the race in hand, but broke down at the 'asl hurdle, and Signal, "coming again, beat him by a length and a-quart.er. The South • Australian Fairlight, a good class of a huvdleracer, was favourite, but he ,vas ridden in a most peculiar style. Hie stewards he'd an inquiry, and afterwards the n-vme old finding was announced — "Explanation accepted." Vcloce 8.6 who won the Army Handicap, si:: furlongs, is in J. Leek's stable, and is uo.v a, strong fancy for the Key/market at 100 to 7. She is very slippery, and runs well up the straight, and must go near winning the .Sew-, market. Her sire Velocipede va% once he* vily backed for r. Caulfield Cup, but ran diaappoiutingly. Neva 8.3 came late on the scehe. and ran second to Yeloce, while Tramp 7.S was third. All three are in the Newmarket. I'Tcva is a very smait mare by Maiv.a. Symmetry 0 0 was well backed, but mn oaly moderately. ' Mr W. R. Wilson cannot win a race to save his life. He started four horso= at this meeting, and did not get a place with one of them. It is mnrvellou« how the luck of a s.rble changes. _>.'ofc so Ions? ago the tit. Albans stable could lint go wrong. [ The Loyalty Handicap, van ove* a mile, was j taken bj the Carbine filiy ilodel 7.10, who has been doi>:g good work on the track. Shf> v.-as well backed at 5 to 1, but the Trenton filly Drama 7.12. who is a member o£ Tom Paytoc's team, was half a point sborter in tb.i odds. Model won easily with Bay Hose 7.1 and Wait-a-Bit 9.3 in the places. The latter was loolcing well, and should win again befcrs long, though j I am afraid Hie Atistralian Cup is too much ■ for him. Drama lan poorly, pad that biute Scorn cut up, and was only a moderate fourth. Backers laid odds on Homer for the Patriotic Steeplechase, and he won Tol-ly easily from his onlj opponent. Rosebud, v.:d the racing concluded with the Britannia Handicap, seven furlongs, in which Keyless 7A led all the way, and wen easily from Zoe 7.12, find Altairs 7.4. The winner is by Pudlock, and is in the Newmarket Handicap at 7.3. She is a pretty, slippery mare, f.s she rail the *«veii fur'onggin I.CSa, but tkt; course \.as particular's* faston -this day. Eu;e"-e, the favourite, i^n a ve.y bad race. He i 3 an exceedingly erratic customer. A.J.C. PATRIOTIC MEETING. Last Friday the A.3.C. held :' iaeetl"g in Sydney in aid of the local B«ohj)iex.'s contingent which is being got leaciy for c .Tiee in South Africa. Originally this meeting was to have been held on the same day n<" Mia V.R.C. fixture, but it had to be postponed for. a couple of days owing to the ram. A profit of £500 only was made. Rand-wick never presented such a military spectacle as on this occasion. There was a march oi the foot and mounted men, and their horses were picketed in the centre of the course. The nioftrrteresting event of the day was the .Contingent Handicap, six furlonsrs, because the Ncvir.arket Handicap candidates in The Watch Dog 0.4 and Saraswati 8.13 ran. There was p big field Beaufort 8.12 being favourite at 3 to 1 with The Watch Dog at sto 1. The wmrer turned up in Saraswati. who is in the, same stable as The- Watch Dog and went oui ut 15 to 1. Both are owned by William Forreste) and The Watch Dog has since come into request for the Newmarket Handicap. He was unlucky in the race, as he^got away badly and then was oaly beaten a neck in the fast time of lrnin 14sec. Aberdare 9.0, an outsider, was successful in the Hurdie Race, and the Transvaal Handicap, one mile, went to Clcon, who is a three-year-old by Juan. The Cran-hi-ook colt St. Clare scored in the St. Valentine's Handicap, one mile and a-quarter. This colt has frequently disappointed Fielder, but had been doing good track work, and went out favourite for the race and won comfortably. There were two races for the horses which are going to South Africa as niount3 of the Bushmen, and Uproar, a well-bred nag, by Niagara, won both events.

V.A.T.C. RACES (SECOND DAY).

The "Victorian. Amateur Turf Club Autiima. meeting was continued on Saturday last in cool weather. The racing was highly interesting, and of importance as bearing on futur events. A start was made with the Utopia. Trial (five and a-hali furlongs), for horses which, had never won or received over 40sovs in any one race. There were a lot of fairly smarc two-year-olds engaged, and one of these Hoopiron 5.9 was joint favourite with Argyle 6.12 and Neptune 7.7, witb the two-yesr-o'd Rumour 6.11 next in demand. Argyie is the hurdio racer. He has plenty of pace, but even with such a light weight up could not be expected to live over the distance with two-year-olds oZ any calibre. He only got going in the last lu'-long, and then finished third to Rumour and Ore, both two-year-olds. Rumour is owned by Mr W. R. Wilson, and this is the first v.-m scored by the stable for a considerable time. She is by Eirids-ooid (dead) from Eleuais, dam of that fair horse Eleu&iman, a good winner is Adelaide. Mr Wilson was congratulated on his luck having changed, and a good daywas predicted for him. but it was not to be. The lo.ia Hurdles pioduced a splendid finish, Jenico 10 0 beating Duello 9.7 by half p head. Jenico is an ex- Tasmanian, and was shed by Creswick. He is owned by Mr J. Murphy, a wealthy young sportsman who races as Mr J. M. Roberts. He has not had much luck on the turf and his hobby up to date must have cost him a nice penny. He owns Primate, who is likely to win him a good steepleoha?e before long. Chartreuse ]0.8 was favourite for Jenico's race, as he should have been on his running the previous Saturday, but there seemed to be a screw loose somewhere. Chartreuse was ridden a peculiar race, and then finished third. He will do better some other day. The Third Futurity Stakes followed. Mr W. R. Wilson secured the two first Futurities, and he started three— Songbird, Debenture, and Kinlike— with the idea of capturing it for the third time. He looked like doing so when the field roundetl the— home turn, as his three were bang in front, but at the finish Songbird, who got the nearest of his trio, was only third to Palmer 5.12 and Olaf 8.10. The winner Palmer is a two-year-old by imported Pilgrim's Progress (son of Isonorny) fiom Zeph (full sister to Ringmaster), by First Kins, and is a compact chestnut. He is a^ stable companion of Memwee, and owned and twined by James Wilson, jun., son of the veteran turfite James Wilson, tho original owner oi

St. ATbans, who is still with us, and takes as much interest in the turf as ever. Wilson, jun., now runs, into about 15st, I should say. Many years ago he was a famous feather weight jockey. I remember him riding Miss Jessie to victory in the V.R.C. Derby in 1871. His * stable has a reputation for smartness. It is situated at Queenscliff, and his horses are trained privately away from all prying eyes. It is not a stable that cares to let the public into its good things, and when the public are on the stable as a rule are off. Thus Palmer started in the V.A.T.C. Oakloigh Plate the previous Saturday and the public rushed him, as he was reported to have done a wonderfully food trial. Then the stable stepped in and acked Alix, and Palmer joined the "write your own ticket division in the betting. On that occasion Palmer with a light weight ran nearly ' last among a lot of second raters. On that form Palmer was worth just about two shillings, yet on the following Saturday he wins a race worth to his owner 1600sovs, and no questions asked. Racing, you will see, is a most peculiar game, and the Wilson stable" is a most peciiliar one. Backers, as indicated, have the greatest difficulty in catching the stable when they are backing their horses. As a rule, it is a case on a par with Josh Billings's flea — "When you've got him, he ain't there." Olaf had an unlucky run in the Futurity Stakes, or he might possibly have beaten Palmar. The favourite for the race was Kinglike, on whom there was quite a sensational inn as soon as the betting opened. Everybody seemed to know that he was the "pea" of the St. Albans stable. He is a peacccky two-year-old by Wallace from Bonnie Rosette, dam of Majestic, Majesty, and Koran, and to me looked in want of a -gallop or two, and the raoe bore out this theory as after running well to the turn he could not paco it .with the leaders. He is, lam sure, a smart'hoise, and iff, with a bit of luck, bound to win Mr Wilson some good races, and so is Songbird, a three-year-old filly by Bill of Port,land from Melodious (dam of Wallace). Debenture again ran badly, ancT^so did Shell, but she was left at the post. She is a stable companion of Palmer, and notwithstanding tbs form, it.is quite on the card 3 that she will win the Australian Cup, for which she has been quietly backed. The St. George stakes, a weight-for-age event, ■brought out Bobadil and Parthian among others. Bobadil 9.0 was reported by Mr W. R. Wilson to be all right, but probably he is still suffering from the old kidney coinpiairit, as he ran absolutely last. The race proved a gift to Parthian 8.3, who won in a canter by six lengths from Blunderer 7.11, who has a good chance in the Newmarket Handicap. The Righi Steeplechase went to Babel 9.2, who was at one time the champion sprinter of Queensland. He is by Glorious, and must La pretty old. Mr S. Fairbairn, who has sugar plantations in Queensland, is the owner. Widderin 10.3, the favourite, fell, and injured himself badly, and his rider, A. Williams sustained concussion of the brain. The .TJbique Stakes was a glorified selling race, run over seven furlongs, with a stake of 250sovs. The Sydney gelding, Bluecap II (by Sunrise) was made favourite, and with only 7.5 to carry .he won easily. The day's racing ended with .the Kooyong Welter, seven furlongs. Terlinga (late Tramp) has long been regarded as smart, and bickers have been waiting for a stable lead. It duly came on this occasion, and in a field of 19 Terlinga was backed down to 5 to 2, Veloce 9.4 at 7 to 2 being the only other backed with spirit. Both ran well, but the Carbine colt George Frederick had come back to form, and with 9.9 up won easily, Terlinga and Veloce coming next. Veloce was ridden by a stable boy only. Terlinga used to be known as 'Tramp. "Terlinga/' the well-known turf •writer of the Australasian, wrote something

about his running one day, and the owner thought he would get even by calling the horse his present name. It was "' Terlinga's " turn ■Jo laugh on Saturday.

, ROSEHILL RACES. ~n Sydney on Saturday last the Rosehill Jtacirg Club held a meeting. Two Newmarket Handicap candidates in Sarsawati and Sock of Ages were beaten in the Sprinters' Handi-_ cap.' The race went to Eanjitsinjhi 7.8, who as a iull brother to the V.E.C. Oaks winner Regina, by Forest King from Thinni-Ghinni. Aberdare carried a penalty for his A.J.C. win, and won the Hurdle Race while the Nursery

Handicap went to Bar One 6.7, who is a half brother, by Seneschal, to MaTvel. Seneschal is a beautifully-bred horse, by Splendour (imp.), from Dame Acnes (imp.), by Hermit, and should be a success at the stud. The February Handicap, one mile and a-quarter and 100 yds, was regarded as a certainty for St. Clare, but once more he put his supporters in a hole. The "winner turned up in 'Bombshell 7.7, who is by Scots Grey, a horse, I fancy, that came from New Zealand some years ago. The Stewards' Mile went to Surbiton 8.8, and the Handicap Welter to Mang"anese 8.8. Both were got by Metal, whose stock win many races. Surbiton .■was a rank outsider, but the other a strong favourite.

ODDS AND ENDS

.T. Williams, a Western District jockey, died last weak from the effects of a fall in the

Steeplechase at the Wairnambool races on February 8. He was a very popular horseman. He must not be confused with the J. Williams

•who rode Grace Darling to victory in the Caulfield Cup." The latter is a trainer at Caulfield, and has in hand at present a pretty .fast horse -in G-lenroy. Two owners promised to give the stake to the funds if their horses won at the Patriotic meeting. Neither started a horse. This is a cheap way of getting a name for generosity. Seahorse has not quite pleased the cognoscenti at Flernington. He resembles his sire in appearance, but is not such a lobust horse as Nelson. He had a rough passage over from Sydney, and when he trotted on the track at Flemington on Friday he wore a tucked-up and jaded appearance. He seems to have done plenty of work, and has been picking up since. He goes sorely, but there does not appear to be anything serious. On Saturday morning Major George went out to see him * -work. The colt went over a mile with Cabin

Boy, Coralie, and "Waterloo, three Sydney, 'horses. Seahorse threw off his soreness when warmed up. He got up ■with the others at half a mile (run in 53sec). They were then steadied, and the four finished together, the mile being run in 1.52. Yesterday morning (Tuesday) he ran a mile and a-quarter in 2.21£, well in hand, with Waterloo. He again showed soreness at the start. A well-known trainer tells me that he thinks Seahorse's knee joints are a bit wrong. Two of Tom Payten's horses, Scornful and Drama, are going badly on the tracks at Flernfington, while at Caulfielcl the Newmarket Handicap candidate Silverstream was not worked for a week.

That good mare, Contrast, has, after a spell, been put into work again at Flernington.