THE TAHUNA PARK MEETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2556, 11 March 1903, Page 46

THE TAHUNA PARK MEETING.

•Tub threatening weather which was on tiand during the- morning of the second day of the Tahuna Park Trotting Club's Autumn meeting somewhat interfered with the at- | •tendance ; but after a heavy shower had fal- ' "leii about midday the day became fine and ■warm. The rain which had fallen did not 'hare a serious effect on the track, and some Fairly smart performances were established 1 during the afternoon. The first event on the ; card was raptured by the Australian-bred gelding Frisca,, who is a. son of Burlington, ' jun. Frisco won in 5.31, and was all out at ,the finish, and had Flora not put in several bad breaks she must have beaten the winder, as she was running all over him for pace. Vixen jumped off the mark well in .the Pony Race, and never gave her opponents a look in at all, and the daughter of "Good "Wind won, nulling up, from Aquinas. In the Autumn Handicap the Messenger celding Oneliunga, who has let his backers Tlown very badly on more than one occasion, met a weak field and scored without any great difficulty in 5.3*. Plan was made favourite for the Telegraph Handicap, but the General Tracey gelding, Teddy, made good •use of his handicap, and Pringle's efforts landed him p winner by three lengths from i the Specification gcklmg. The Christchurch mare Woodlancler was a strong order for the came race, but .=h» could not act well on the 'track. A protest was lodged against Teddy for inconsistent running, but was withdrawn. Teddy ran unplaced in the Ladies' Bracelet on the first day, and gave a poor exhibition in tho hands of an amateur, but with Pringle in the saddle he displayed a marked reversal of form. The ancient Cowboy had to- be hard and well ridden by H. Mountney to capture tho Selling Race-, after which he was sold to Mr W. Perry, of Invercargill, for £18. The Electioneer gelding Elector was made good goods for the Telephone Handicap, and he never caused his supporters much anxiety, as he won comfortably by 12 lengths from Sir Hector, who defeated Boldrewood by three lengths for second place. If Boldrewood had earned a win at the meeting it would have been an extremely popular victory, as he is undoubtedly one of the gamest horses that ever raced on the track, and his displays in the races which he contested were full of merit. Candidate displayed great pace at different stages of the race, but broke badly and put his chance out of cdurt. The state of the track conliderablv .hamoer3 such b^g striding horses as" Candidate, but ife must ba said he "leaves bis-Jeef just as badly oil any jther "rack: but, if ho cbulrt have maintained the gait he was ds*»layinij occasionally-, ho would have given" ltfortcr a goer! battle for the money Stew iiilc-se won tha Ladic' Bracelet with tho g.caicst cf <a'o. and Sj)l:t Ivtr jus; manasetl to j^mc:?.; l hum-* 'a. '!•(> Rcco-. cry Hanchcij- TV- r;dms cf V. M'lw.c.i ws mainly w • '" .:/o fci r'.' l:i"or'- v. :". aril he di l.\ -. trrdlt i>r t\w < xca l ■ -it 1' - r man-'.up li« i!l-<ila>ci!. Ba'.four woi'i'l wrfoubicuiy licvic woa. i~ h? fead tLe kaucis

caught at half a mile, but he then smashed up badly and lost a lot of ground before he got back to his gait. Hisrider evidently was too anxious to get to the front. Fleigher brought off an overdue win for his owner by annexing the final event on the programme, but had to run the gauntlet of a protest before obtaining the money. Coral Hue, a likelylooking two-year-old gelding by Huon, was mad© a- hot chance for the event, but, after beginning well and putting in a good gap, he tired and was defeated by a narrow margin. A protest was lodged against the winner, and* after consideration was dismissed by the stewards, who also returned the protest money. During the meeting the sum of £54-65 was put through the machine, which amount fell short of last year's total by £707. The handicapping of Mr Brinkinan on the second day was very successful, and the winners were extremely difficult to locate. Ther is no doubt but that, when the track has bean improved in the manner which the club contemplate, the Tahuna Park meetings will grow in popularity with northern owners; but it must be said that the club would add to the attractiveness of their programme by judiciously curtailing it.