THE MAN IN THE BOX.

Otago Witness, 5 December 1900, Page 40

THE MAN IN THE BOX.

For years Mr Harm has acted as jiidge at ■Wagga (N.S.W.), but at last month's meeting it is reported that one of bis decisions was mot well received by a portion of the public. This occurred in connection with the Highweight Handicap on the first day. The majority of the public were of opinion, says " Martindale," that Bira, who ran second, was first, and that Satisfaction, to whom the judge Warded the race, was third— a wide difference 'of opinion, which does not surprise me in the Seast. I have met hundreds of people who could always tell far better than the judge jwhat had won a race, no matter if they were '» furlong behind or in front of the winning ipost. Mr Harm may have made a mistake, ibut if he did not think so he was perfectly justified in taking no heed of the hoots and yells of a racing crowd, who, so far as the finish of a race goes, are really bad judges. •At Rosehill the other day we saw a race from the press box in which the reporters had no ""doubt but what one horse had won— some v thought by a neck, others by half a neck. Yet 'the judge said he did not win at all, in fact, '■was beaten by as much as the scribes thought iu° had. won by, and when the different angle •at which the finish was viewed by the judge imd press scribes was noted, there was not the shadow of a doubt but what the judge was right. In respect to the Wagga case, I read ffhat the rider of Satisfaction, when interviewed, stated that he won by a head. Now, 'reading these different interviews, and withWt any prejudice one way or the other, as are strangers to me, I must say that I am "inclined to agree with the. judge. It was very evident that Bobstay was a beaten horse halt--way down the running ; and the rider of Bira Avas that cocksure of winning that he was not an a hurry to do so, and those jockeys, like many others, thought that they had the finish to themselves, and paid no heed to Satisfaction, whose rider caught them napping, and beat them by getting up on the rails. Now, 'this must have been a pretty good finish, ana 'if the riders of Bira and Bobstay had said .■when asked about Satisfaction that they did not see him, their evidence would have carried more weight than that the horse was a length behind them. If he was so far, then they in a hard finish would not be looking round to see where he was, and be able to tell all about at so aptly. I well remember a case of this ikind occurring once at Randwick. It is years ago now, and we were all out watching the '■gallops on the following morning. One individual was very confident that the judge had given a wrong verdict. When asked where he •viewed the race from, he said from a spien- ! did position at the end of the grandstand. iWhen told that he could not have any idea, of how they would finish from there, he flared up in great style, and offered to bet any money that he was right. The agreement ended in a bet being made with him for a bottle of wine that he could not tell who was "in iTDnt out of three people standing close by 'the 'Omuiing poet. He took the wager, and ■thrsft of the trainers were placed with yards 'between them, with the result that in three "tries fcfc picked out the third man on each occasion; a fact which caused him no end of surprise, l§nd brought forth the wordSj " Well, after that I will never offer an opinion about the-iinish of a race again," and it would be a good job if those who are always singing out about judges' mistakes did likewise, for they «re not, and cannot be, in a position to tell.