SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 56

SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

* Bt Hoki Poene. MELBOURNE, February 22. THE AUTUMN' MEETINGS. ■ 'The autumn racing campaign opened on Saturday at Caulfield, the weather being a 'trifle on the warm side, the attendance satisfactory (if not quite up to that on the opening May last year), and the racing fairly interesting, i The course and appointments were simply perfection, but the volume of wagering bore un«nistakable signs of the times. Our Sydney ' Cousins proved- to be in good form, and thus *" it is quite safe to nominate that the ll '.*an*in .bulk of the V.R.C. prize-money will be " 'taken once more over the border. fDceedings opened with the orthodox jumpSvent — the Warfein Hurdle Race, of two 3 and 64yds — for which there were ten era, the Western District horse, Trans10.5, eventually settling down favourite bJ Speculation 10.10 being at s's, Matong fj.i.3 at &'?, and Blue Rock 10.13 at 7's. The . - jSast-jiamecl son of Scots Grey cut a very inVlorious figure, finishing, like the cow's tail, -' ',**»1I behind." However, he has earned his : Printer oats right enough, and is still lightly * lawn in the weights, bo that a winning sequence *1 »ay again be accomplished- by him in the sweet Sby-and-bye. Matong is an aged gelding, by -^Biragambil from Denial, and has been fairly Successful of late over the battens, another buy being added to his crown of laurel in the ■kvent under notice r W he came away on [ Entering the straight, »nd defeated Glare 9.13 fif three lengths, in smin 56isec; Yestmeut j t.4 being third, Speculation 10.10 fourth, and -favourite fifth. j " ] Albeit there were a baker's dozen weighed ' -f*ut for the succeeding event— the Bond Cup, j >f one mile and a-half — Bobby Lewis's mount, j $3hmang 8.10, was backed down to 7 to 4; I Lamrdek 7.13 found admirers willing to ~ .Accept 7 to 2 about his chance.- Ratafia 7.10 * ■' was third in demand at 7's, which enabled the ■ -L followers of Tom Payten's stable to secure ; .Wds down to 8 to 1 about his chestnut four- | -War-old Green Mountain "(Greenlawn — Yes- j ;ialia), who carried 7.1, in the person of young ! ""Coffey.- After these three it was almost a i lease of "write your own ticket," Herbert i five-year-old gelding" Athanie 7.3, ! r though piloted by that talented light-weight j -_ 31. W. Brennan, actually beginning on the i -' 525 to 1 mark. And yet the unsesed son of j - -Pilgrim's Prpgress and Athata was the only 'one to put up a decent showing against. the ~ Tmj&aev, Green Mountain,, who held _ a five - . advantage inside ' the ■ distance, but j , - ,'only scrambled home by half a length, oVing ! -to the determined run put in by Athanie, j h^ f^h6 in turn was three lengths in advance | =' ' X>f the in-and-out Elderslie* 7.3 ; Lamrock being ' fourth/ and Sinnang sixth; the time being 2min 37sec. Ratafia fell half a mile -trow. tome, but there was no casualty. The absolute ! last to pass the post was F.J.A. 9.0 I The rich Oakleigh Plate (740sovs to the J first, 35sovs to ttte second, and 25sovs to the third) attracted 17 contestants the sturdineas nf the support accorded to him causing Sam T&'ielder's aged Dunlop — Nada gelding Abington (whose 71b penalty made his burden 9.3) ) ''to finish up at 7 to 2; whilst the mysterious jßea Kale 7.12 (ridden by W. H. Smith) and Jje&lie Macdonald's representative, Bullion 8.10, <JUvided second fayouriteship at 6's. Tens were iccepted about The Golden West 8.5 (7lb Tpenalty) an<3 Troytown 7.5, 12's about Mark f.12 and Haiteras, 15' s about Handsome (Clayton), Dangai 8.12, and The Infanta; whilst and festive Medallist, whose 71b penalty -caused F. Hickey to scale 8.5, was comparatively friendless at 100's to 5. M'Gee had the favourite out of the barrier with the celerity of greased lightning, and after a couple of Jturlongs had been traversed he had put dayJight 'twixt himself and his nearest compagnon Tie - voyage — Retrencher, — who was followed by Medallist, The Infanta, and Dangai, with >Mpy~p acting as whipper-in. Hounding the turn for home Abington held a lead of three lengths from- The Infanta, then coming Bullion, The Amazon, Medallist, and Handsome. Approaching the distance The Infanta and aledallist began to decrease the gap separating them from the ; but though they a most determined effort M'Gee managed *o keep "Abington- at it long enough to win . T>y a head from Medallist, a neck behind whom ~"*ame ,The Infanta, with Handsome (who ran . 'Something more than meritoriously) well .^ipj ""fourth, Bullion, Retrencher, Hat- - Jleras, Dangai; and Manlock next; whilst last .year's Newmarket Handicapper vie--tor — Mairp — was still last. The time^ — Imin Bsec — was 2sec slower than Wild Rose's Xeeord; but although Abington will have, Hespite his 10lb penalty, 9lb off his Saturday's weight in the N«wmarket, his finish in the lOakleigh Plate did not suggest the proba-"-ibility of his battlirig out the extra half-furlong '.up Flemington straight successfully against' -.'either Medallist or Handsome. 6f course, is this to be said on behalf of AbingAon — the terrible gait he dashed off at in the jßrst three furlongs may possibly have caused iliim to be troubled with "bellows to mend" at the fag end of the sprint. 1. A three-mile steeplechase fell to a 10 to 1 chance — the Lcchiel — Critic gelding Lamond 11.12, who, nicely handled by P. Cosgrove, Vancouver 11.7 by a length, Mr Sept. iMiler's Abdallah H. 7 annexing third money, dO. lengths away; the time being 3min 57see. Barber (Field) started favourite at 5 to 2, Vancouver being at s'e, and Abdallah at 6'a. h There were half a- dozen starters for the t £t. George Stakes, a w.f.a. event (with allowances), over nine furlongs of ground; the clos'jng of quotations being — 5 to 4on Gladsome XBarden) 8.11, 2*s Billingsgate (W. H. Smith) ,7.3, 10's each fimir (Lewis) 9.0 and Koopan XCoffey) 8.3, i 2's Nuncio (R. W. Brennan) 7.3, land 20's Red Streak (B. Carslake) 8.0. GladBorne was first to move, but, knowing that jtehe was a bit backward in condition, Smith immediately forced the pace with Billingsgate, ;«.nd led the daughter of Seaton Delaval by ■'(two lengths round the back of the course, kfted Streak (a rattling good filly, by the way, W an Oaks winner to boot) lying third, -fKoopan fourthj and Emir last. Racing down |the railway side, Billingsgate was still going ; sgreat guns three lengths in front of the favou- , idte, whilst Koopan and Emir had both headed ] ■Sled Streak. The nuggety son of Bill of Port- « £«nd and Fishwife swept into the straight with 1 'about the same advantage, and, hard ridden J !by Smith, he managed to last long enough to 1 win by a length from Gladsome, a short head £ 'behind, whom came Emir, with Red Streak i fourth and Koopan fifth ; the time being fairly { • "fllicVr-to wit, Inoia 561sec f i

3 The result was a triumph for condition, } though, as I have informed you on several occa7 sions, Billingsgate — who has 8.3 in the Augf tralian Cvp — bids fair to furnish into a high3 class racehorse. r The punters finished up by accepting 7 to fc 4 — against 14 others — about a four-year-old mare named Revolt 8.6 for the Salisbury 1 Welter, of a mile, and had the mortification of i witnessing the race completely fooled away throiigh her rider, W. Minter, going to sleep when he thought he had everything settled, the result being that Pegruni brought the 12 to 1 outside Rawden (Trident — Selina) 8.1;) with a mighty "swish" from the half distance and beat her on the post by a short head in lmin 44sec; Hovera 7.7 finishing third, The Hawker 8.11 fourth, and Aggressor 8.3 fifth. The feature of Saturday's racing at Rosehill (N.S.W.) was the successful form Trainer J. Allsop was in with his charges, no less than 1 three events falling to their share ; Jockey T. i.' Kyle piloting the triumvirate. H. V. Foy'a - Lord Ullin's Daughter (Lochiel — Farthingale) r 8.4 (5 to 2 in a field of 12), cantered away with the February Stakes, of six furlongs, by half a dozen lengths, in lmin 15|sec, and on the news being despatched to Caulfield some ■ £4000 was at "once secured aboixt her for the r j Newmarket Handicap (in which she has only > j 7.4) at 100's to 6 and 100's to 7. This four- » ; year-old mare is in tremendous form just at > present, and as she has proved her ability to stay a mile and a-half there is nothing to pre- • vent her lasting three-quarters of a mile farther • in the Australian Cup, seeing that she has the ■■ self-same "luxury" (7.4) therein. F. Foy's Drapeau (Yoyou — Colors) 7.0 like- > wise secured a six lengths' victory in the : Nursery Handicap, running the five furlongs > in lmin 3|sec. The Rosehill Handicap, of 11 furlongs, was , looked upon as a fairly soft snap for the Mcli bourne Cup vietrix Acrasia 9.5, and she started at 6 to 4, the following prices being ..available about the others: — 9 to 4 Tatterde- : malion 8.4, 7's Trenwith 7.5, B's each Loch Neuagh 8.8 and Metal Lace 7.3, 10's Ki2fera 8.6. and 12's Fireclay 8.0. Tatterdemalion led ' till a furlong from home, when Trenwith closed on him, and, being vigorously ridden by Kyle, managed to win cjeverly by a head; : Acrasia being a poor third, six lengths away. ■ Time, 2mm 24sec.