AUCKLAND TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 53

AUCKLAND TOPICS.

Bt-Taxboa.

«iune zm. ■The Auckland M.H.R., Ku- Frank Lawry, has llot dropped the idea' of legalising consultations 'in New Zealand, and will again bring his bill (before the House during .the coming session. Jack Rae, the well-known trainer and ex-'Cioss-country rider, will probably take The TNeedls and Natation to Christchurch for the JNew Zealand Grand- National meeting. . Mr A. Robertson," having decided to leave (Auckland, has dibpowed of Firefly. This horse iremains in the 1 hands of Harry Franks, and mill be put to the jumping game. I~ • Beddington was placed under offer to a tfouth«rn owner l*st Wednesday at SOOgs, bxit mo business resulted. . I' H:' Moore, who steered Coeur de Lion to uc--tory in the Grand National Hurdles, goes to •iSydßey on Monday to ride Record Reign at the 11.V.R.C. Grand National meeting and the Wm«er meetings/in New South Wales. F Hairtrigger and Sylvanus wereshipped back fto Hawkf's Bay to-day. Alf. Williams who <w« 8 upon the Crackßhot gelding at the A.K.O. nueeting, also went south with the pair, f The Avondale Jockey Club had the protest Wainst Rocket before them again an Friday, £uHhe investigation was not completed. From Snformation from one of the first owners of *he folding at Hawera it, however, seems that CRocket was not raced prior to coming north. 1 T*ie curtain was rung down on the season 1900-1901 on Wednesday afternoon last, when the Brand National meeting was brought to a close »t the Ellerslie course. The weather was anytthing but favourable, heavy showers falling Muring the first two or three races, and this, combined with the rains of the previous night, Vnad* the going very Bloppy and heavy and the 3awns we* under foot. Despite these adverse circumstances, there was a very good attendance and the good sum of £9567 was passed through the totalisators, bringing the returns tap to £28,443 for the three days, as against £l 7 5?.5 for two days last year, thus enabling the' A.R.C. to secure another record. Comparisons sliow that the amounts handled were {proportionately larger than m the season 18»919 00 * The principal events were .tin? third Winter fWelter Handicap, one mile; the Winter Steeplechase, about three miles ; and the Handicap Hurdle Race, one mile and three-quar-•^The great field of 18 starters filed out for the Welter, Crusoe being the one most to the liking of speculators. A heavy shower was falling when the £«ld was dispatched, BedHington, who was lying in a good position on khe rails, being the first into his stride. He was" closely followed by Tukapa, while the favourite was seen to be occupying a good posiiion in the bunch that followed. After two , fcurlbngs had been traversed, Tukapa ranged fcinielf alongside' the aon of Seaton Delaval, )and "taking charge a bit farther on, he continued in the van until the home turn' "was fceached, when Crusoe shot up, and as they i 'dashed into the Btraight and made their -way j k Tip to the distance, it looked as though the , toged Cruiser gelding was going to score. Here, [(however, Buchanan drew the whip on Beddington, and coming again under punishment, \he won by better than a length from Volee, Iwho- made a run from tie head of the straight. ["The latter finished very strongly. The favoufiita filled fourth place just behind St. Peter. kßeddin°ton, who showed real grit at the busifueas end of the journey, thus closed his three-year-old career with a win. Nor'-west and Tarragon were the scratchings sor the Winter Steeplechase. With the son of Sou- wester out of the way, and Cannongate aot himself, owing to stiffness from striking on -«,he "previous day, tho cross-country race was Booked upon as giving Plain Bill a good chance (to score. In thia event, however, a surprise Waited the punters in the shape of old Voltigeur 11, who wound up the season with a win. {The grey son of Lionel was among the first to (begin, and though Princess of Thule was responsible for the running until the hill came to be ascended the first time, the gallant little «rey was battling for the lead before the post and rails was reached. Popping over his fences Jproficiently, he remained m iront throughout ?the remainder of the journey. When the post 'and rails had been cleared the last time, and they lcame rattling down the hill, it, looked as thotigh khe favourite was going to catch Voltigeur 11, «,nd as but three lengths separated this pair ■■when they cleared the stone wall and entered Aha- straight for the run home, the supporters 'of Plain Bill were iv high glee: but they had chuckled all too soon, as old- Voltigeur, nipping ■over the wall as nimbly and cleanly as a two-.year-old, was seen to be holding his own as >they ran up to the last hurdle in the straight, "before reaching which Plain Bill was seen to -Qiavo shot his bolt. This left the grey to canter in the best part of half a dozen lengths 'from Princess of Thule, who came again in the last bit and beat Plain Bill for second 'honours. .Although Voltigeur returned a diy. of £20 17s— quite a facer for backers — they did not fail to give the game little fellow and his rider, Frank Burns, a- hearty ovation when they •returned to weigh in. As he made no sort of a show iv the Great Northern Steeplechase fVoltigeur was naturally given no chance in the Winter Steeplechase, and no doubt the soft going had a great deal to do with tho result, as he fairly revelled in the jinud. Princess of Thule ran a good race, and fenced proficiently throughout: with a little taiore condition the daughter of Lord otf the ■Isles should do better over steeplechase bourses. Dartmoor was withdrawn from the Handicap Hurdles, leaving a field of seven to contest that race, Hairtrigger and Hinau being the ones to carry most money, the former, of course, being sorted ovit as a result ojj| his good display in the Grand National Hurdles. The son of Crackshot was always .with the leading division, and as he was well clear of his field half a mile from home he Jcoked like winning pretty comfortably. Royal /Conqueror, however, here began to move up. tond finishing with great determination, he had the favourite under the whip at the half distance — the latter having to be ridden right out to, win by about half a length. Royal Conqueror made a slovenly jump at the last fence, tor otherwise the result might -have been reversed. Hinau's display was distinctly disappointing, and some of his Wanganui admirers urge the heavy going as an excuse for his indifferent showing. Maybe they have struck the tight note. Hylas jumped the Steeplechase country at Ellerslie satisfactorily in his race on Monday last, and he may be heard of to advantage Across country next season. St. Elmo, who has been purchased by Messrs Lawner and Good, is to do stud duties in the Gisborne district.

Matters regarding the New Zealand Cup conlinue vefy quiet here, and so far I have only ieard of one or two small lines being laid, fcaybe business will look up a bit with the

publication of the weights, but it certainlj does not look like being big. The bad luck that has for so long past dogged the footsteps of the popular North Shore sportsmen, the Duder Bros., is still with them. During the week the yearling colt foal by Soult out of Anns was found dead in the paddock, death being due to a ruptured blood vessel. The youngster was a full brother to Takapuna, and the most promising yearling in the estabMshn.cnt.

Lieutenant, now 10 years old, was -sent home to the station of >is breeder, Mr Donald M'Kinnon, during the week, where he is to be used for station purposes. His only winning record since he started racing was at Lake Takapuna hack race meeting last autumn. Tha-t fine looking, but unlucky, colt Hengist has again been thrown out of work and is now located at the Hon. H. Mosman's establishment at Green Lane. He has been blisteied. As a yearling this colt cost the Hon. Mosman lOOOgs, and so far he has only placed one race to his credit. „,,., -, t There seems to be now some likelihood of coursing being put on a more solid footing than has been the case in the past. The Auckland Coursing Association is arranging for a good meeting in August. Martin Taylor, the wellknown bookmaker and coursing enthusiast, has promised the newly-formed association 20gs towards the Cornwall Challenge Stakes, of 200sovs, which it is proposed to hold in May, of next year. Martin also hopes to be able to arrange for a visit of some Australian dogs when he goes across to the other side. Mr W. Lyons shipped his recent purchase Kaimate to Sydney to-day by the Zealandia, and should be able to land a race with the chestnut son of Australian on the other, side. The Auckland nenciller thought he had a big say in the Winter Steeplechase at Ellerslie last Wednesday, and backed Kaimate for a very tidy amount in that race. But though the horse fenced proficiently throughout he couldn't get nearer than fourth. Lyons went across by the same boat, and will be away about two months.

Nor'-west is reported to have gone amiss. Cavaliero being still in Auckland, and the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Race, in which the son of Cuirassier claims an engagement, les3 than a fortnight away, it is not considered at all likely that he will be found -among the contestants.

Potter's Paddock, where we run all our trotting races, has been re-named Alexandra Park, in commemoration of the review of tioops there by his Royal Highness the Duke of York and Cornwall on the 12th mst.

Several racehorses were submitted for snle by auction on Friday last. The following lots brought under the hammer on behalf of Mr T. B. Bell, without the slightest reserve, were disposed of : —Brown colt Motor, 3yrs, by Hotchkiss— Mantella, 90gs. Mr J. Booth; brown gelding Pandarus, by Hotchkiss— Pandora, 35gs, Mr J. Thorpe; brown filly Rosiphele, "*3yrs, by Hotchkiss— Keproach, 30gs, Mr G. W. Wright; brown filly Rita, 2yrs, by Hotchkiss— Heproach, 53gs, Mr G. Loram; bay gelding Mechanic, 2yrs, by Hotchkiss— Mantilla, 30gs, Mr P. Lovett.