THE FORBURY PARK MEETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 50

THE FORBURY PARK MEETING.

The postponed meeting of the Forbury Park Racing Club came off on Saturday, and, all things considered, it must be marked down aa a great success. In tlie first T>lace ihe penalties earned at Oaniam mio-ht have been oaloulated to make some owners pull out their horses, particula'-Iy aa a win alsc entailed a penalty for the more valuable events at Winga-tm. Consequently, there is no doubt that the Forbury Park meeting has a warm corner in the affection of W&e ownars, and judging: by the excellent attendance present, th« average raoegoer has a weakness for having a day's outing at she same spot. Thr writer, as v matter of duty, attends every meeting he possibly can which takes place in this island, and frequently notes the presence of people at the Forbury for whom he mieht look in vain at other courses. Poor old ForVurj is showing the results of the combined effects of winter frosts and rains, together with the parching and warping summer suns, faced without the protection of a coat of paint, whilst the choked drains keep the place very damp at this time of the year; but still the writer did not meet one (bar- those who had a pain in their pockets) who did nofc thoroughly ©njoy the bill of fare presented by the F R.C. on Saturday. In the first place the day was beautifully fine, and some excellent musio was provided by the management, whilst the items on the racin. menu were far from being monotonous, a3 the sport Avas sufficiency close and interesting to satisfy anyone. One drawback was present, however, and that wae the presence of a very bad sight occasioned by a haze bang-ing over the back of the course, and this made it somewhat difficult to follow the horses as they ran along 1 that portion of the track .The "cent, per cent" grabber, yclept the totalisator, which does not lend itself to any turf romance, was not to be found on the track to accommodate ©peculators, but the fielders were easily able to cop© with the wants of punters, and, to do them scant justice, it must be said that the. price? obtainable about anything which had winning chances were fairlyliberal. For instance, in the Trial Handicap Curiosettia opened at 6 to 1, and after tightening to evens, lengthened again to 5 to 4-. Money put on Jewel Case and June caused this, and it showed that pencillers were inclined to field legitimately. Fives to 1 about Yankee Doodle was good business fc anyone who saw him race at Oamaru, and the s's to 2 an the field obtainable in the St. Kilda Handicap until the hiorees left the mark was also __ good business for punters. The evens obtainable about Regiment were principally on offer because one of the owners elected ro b«ve the ride instead of giving it to M'Combe, who piloted the horse at Oamaru. The wiseacres got uneasy and went for Casque, but this only caused a good price to be procured about Regiment and things did not eventuate as was commonly expected. The track was very heavy, and cut up badly before the card was got off, but that did not have a bad effect on the quality of the sport. Cuirosettia began well in the Trial Handicap, and won from end to end. He is a big upstanding gelding that at present does not show much racing condition, and when he has muscled up a bit he should do a great deal better. Jewel Case looked lighter than what has been previously noted, but he also did not appear at home in the going. Yankee Doodle cut down his field in jrood style before marking down a win in the Mil© Trot. Casque gave his opponents no quarter in the principal event, the Casket gelding winning from' end to end, but to compensate exbitemient-lovers. however, for.tho somewhat comfortable win witnessed in the first two ex three races a battle royal was created by the Hack Handicap, which resulted in the judge being unable to separate Small Shot and Rubrette, wihilst June finished right up with the dead-heaters. Regiment won the Musselburgh Handicap with a bit in hand, but Trentbridge was travelling on at the finish. Another good race was witnessed in the Mile and 1 A-half Trot, and the day terminated! with a really fine contest between those who saddled up for the Welter Handicap, which was the last item on the card. There was not a groat deal to choose between Apprentice and Bed-and-Black in point of favouritism, whilst Trentbridge' Redstart, and Rubrette.were also baoked for money. Rubrette and Red-and-Blaok were first to land in the straight, and were closely attended by Apprentice and Trentbridge. Passing the | distance post the quartet were racing almosfc abreast, with their riders hard at; work. Apprentice, on whom Derreti had been moving over the last four furlongs, answered gamely to his rider's energetic call, and drawing out in the last bit gained a short neck victory from Rubrette, whilst Trentbridge, who looked a winner a~s the outside stand, -was a similar distance away, third, and closely attended by Bed-*n<t-Blaok. It was a fine effort from a horse apparently beaten a long way from home, and in a long acquaintance with Derrett's horsemanship the writer has never seen bin* make a better effort in the saddle. Credit i is due for the excellent arrangements made for the carrying out of the card. The events were got off well up to time — seven, events being run in 3hr 20min, — and the* programme was never in danger of getting l monotonous. Chief amongst the officials was Mr E. L. Macassey, whose energy largely contributed to the success of the meeting, whilst in Mi L. C. Hazlett (who

died, the dual -positions of starter and treasurer,) the club has a worker of the Tight .sort. Mr H. J- Gcnirley also filled a dual position, as in addition to acting as iiandicapper lie also acted as clerk of the course in the absence of Mr J. J&ffe. who liad jjousme.yed north to see Pipi race at Wanganui. The other officials (including Ifchs president, fhe Hon. H. Gourley, whom ■we have seen at the Forbrury meetings cnly during the past couple of seasons) •were also in evidence luring the day.