IN A NUTSHELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 54

IN A NUTSHELL.

— Black Child is now out of the >lings and progressing favourably. — Buceleuoh shows lameness when working, but throws it off after cooling down. — The Maniototo Jockey Club hold their annual meeting sn Thursday md Friday* of this week. — The well-known horse-owner, Mr- D. O'Brien, has taken the Victoria Cafe ia George atreet, Sydney. — During the nine years Mr Hall Walker hes raced in England his norses nave won £77,583 in prize money. —It -mas found useless to persevere vital Seal Bock, and he has been turned out for a lengthy spell. — "Long life and happiness" to Mr B. L. Mscessey, who crosses the this- week and become* a Benedict. -De Witte appears to be galloping well »t Riooaxton, »nd on. SatuzSay ran over seven furlong* on the gr*u in lmdn 30*oc. — Persimmon, who recently fractured his pelvis bone, is one of the finest looking horses in England, and has been, valued at £60,000. — G-apon, ft New Zealand-bred son ol Ifcnuehikoft and fiunningdale, dam fit Cavalry, was sold last week in Melbourne for 47} guinea*. — The ancient Hypnotist continues in good! form, and i*n % »ood x»c* in the FaareieeU Handicap «fter getting a bad passage in th« early part of the race. The Canterbury Jockey dub hold their midsummer meeting •this -week, and it pro* wise's to by a littl* better than avenge off* .. ga&ierxngs lurid at Bicoarton. — Tha Sewton Deiaval gelding Loftna ' arrived front th* north dnrfng the week, and * i« understood to have' been nmohaaed by, a syndiowte of «outhem sportsman. The well-taown ISoguah orom-conniry ride* Arflinr Birch, who was badly injured by a fall xeoeiyed whilst riding in December of 1906, is *till confined to his bed Ghalopin. liln St. Simon, never sired *

chestnut. This is remarkable when it is ' remembered the hundreds of mares of various colours with which they were mated. — Mr A. Fey, of Doyleston, has purchased a two-year-old colt by Franz (brother to Fritz)— from Effie^ — for. £190. Effie is by Electioneer front the Berlin mare ~ Maud. j —In a desperate finish the rider of the second is generally blamed, but it has very often happened that the beaten jockey has performed wonders in. getting his horse so close. —The West Coast horse Freeland has arrived ' at Riccarton in order to fulfill his engagements at the C.J.C. midsummer meeting. Freeland is also engaged in the Dunedin Cup. — Bosebloom is racing ont of form, and evidently requires freshening up a bit. In her recent races she has showed very little fight' when it comes to. the business end of the journey. — A mistake appeared in the telegraphed report of the time recorded by Octave when . che won the Grand Stand Handicap at Tapanui. It should have read lmin 17 2-ssec, instead of a second, faster. • — Lord Stanley, in his Gimcrack speech «t -York, said that the people who , spoke loudest of malpractices had thfe least Io say whqn they, were' called, before the stewards to give evidence on .the subject. ' — -The two-year-old filly Axsdb r -who was rHLoitgst the 'winners at the D.J.C. summer meeting, evidently continues in form? r»s she . is reported to -have sprinted four furlongs in 49 l-ssec on Saturday. — The well-known "mare Sonia (by Stepniak — Vantosa) dropped down dead' while at exer- " cisc at Forbury on the 28th alt. She was ""raced by the Hop. G. M'Lean till the early part of the present month. — The Finlind-^Circlet' gelding Zero won a I couple of races fairly good style, but could only finish a moderate second when he met Octave. In this latter Attempt, however. Zero began badly.' and had to make up a good deal of ground. — The various events on the Tahuna Park Trotting Club's programme have, with one or two exceptions, been freely patronised by owners. Handicaps for the; first day are due on February 7. and acceptances must be declared on February' 12. — Husbandman (Treadmill — Golden Vale) is reported to have beaten Fleetfoot in a 3ix furlong jallop at Riccarton on Saturday The former ran the journey in lmin 17 8-ssec, whilst Fleetfoot, who failed to .show any dash, finished several lengths away. ■- — The North Otago Jockey Club has prepared a programme for the /acing on the 23rd and 24th May, which totals in money £1430 — the largest yet offered here. Of fourteen events only four are for less -than lOOeovs. The principal event is the Oamaru Cup, of SOOsovs, on the first day. —At a recent committee meeting of the Ashburton County Racing Club a recommendation was -v made to increase the stakes for tihe autumn. -meeting from £640 to £800, but owing io the small attendance the question ira» .held over for consideration. -at a fuller meeting. — The English National Anti -Gambling League intends to prosecute certain organs of too press, which carry on limericks or -- similar competitions. They will be challenged both under the Lottery Acts and the Betting Acts, but in what quarter will not be known until' the summonses are applied for/ — Disappointment was on odds on chance for the Flying Stakes at Tapanui. but her chance was spoilt by getting left, whilst Derwent, practically the only hor2e she had to beat, got away with a moving start, and as the latter is * quick beginner the adVantage he obtained set his pursuers a task they were unable to accomplish. —An exchange reported that there has been extraordinarily high gambling at Monte Carlo recently. The most extraordinary thing was a record run on No. 6, which turned up six times following, enabling two Englishmen to win an immense sunn of money. The odds against this run of Mx times six are 2,496,382,452 to 1. — The defunct Australian thoroughbred, Abercorn, was represented by sir-winners of eight races on the Irish, turf last season. Abercorn stood for some seasons in Ireland at Captain Scott's breeding establishment. --'The Nordenfeldt horse Sternchaser. and Patron, by Grand Flaneur, were also represented in the list of winners in Ireland last year. — The North. Otago Jockey Club are issuing an attractive programme for their winter meeting. The Oaraaru Cup is to be worth 30050v9 (including a cup of lOOsovs, presented by Mr St. J. M. Buckley) whjlst fche remaining events, except (die trots, » Trial Plate, and Sborta are ell worth from lOOsovg. upwards. The principal event *n the second day will be worth ISOsovb. — There is good prize money to be won en the turf in Austria-Hungary, judging by the fact that 11 owners won/ over -€si>oo each last year. The mosi juccessfu'l were Baron de Springer, £18,862; Mr Miklos de Szemere, £17,956; Baron Alphons de Rothschild, £11,670; Mr Mauthner, £10,372; Mr Drelier, £9960; Count de Wenckheisn, £9662; Mr Lagos de Egyedi, £9305; and Count Trauttmannsdorfi, £9013. —At Ricoarton on Saturday Lapland.' with a- light weight up, and Freelar.d (hack') were companions in a gallop extending over a mile and a-quarter. They were assisted over the last mile by Soroaroff (Yarr), who, with Lapland, finished 10 lengths ahead of Freeland. The times for the various stages of the gallop were reported to be as follow: — First half-mile 54 2-seoc. first six furlongs lmin 22 3-ssec. and the lull distance 2min 17sec. — According to Mr John Corlett, the stewards of the English Jockey Club recently investigated a case of alleged "doping 1 ," which was supposed to have taken, place »t Kempton . Perk. The writer does not say who the acctfsed,, were, but mentions r several witnesses^ amongst whom were included the well-known Australians, the two Wootons, father and son. It was clearly shown in evidence that the accused party had no band in saddling the horse, and the trouble arose out of idle racecourse chatter. ' i —Mr E. Blanc, the well-known- "French sportsman, has been -officially appointed to ; the Parliamentary Race Committee to inquire and report on the many alteration* to the j Betting Act in France. An idea is finding j favour thai the adoption of the Belgian ! end Austrian system of betting, which allows | bookmakers to operate on the race track as well as the "mutuels," wiH be a satisfactory solution, and It is proposed ihat the best - iDetbod for France to adopt is this system and Jbectviiy tax the bookmakers. — Bookmakers are to be chaxge3 £20 per <day ' for the privilege of betting at the Dune&n Cup meeting, and clerks will be licenced at a fee of 10s. The clerk's foe Is euoh' » bagatelle and the bookmaker's fee so formidable that the former should" not be : collected. Clerks are paid about £3 per j day. when they are smart and capable men, and as the 10s lee would be paid ■>? his employer tfoe "spirit of the law," which limit* th* fee fit £96, is likely to be subjected to a srnfeli fracture if the fee is itf-

— Octive, a daughter of Obligado and Quatorze, made hacks of the opponents she met at Tapanui. -and- showed herself the possessor of a good turn of speed in doing so. One of her knees has not been too sound, but if she trains on she should win again. Her dam Quatorze was formerly owned by the Hon. H. Mosman., and was ti*ined at the Forbury when that gentleman had a string of horses in woik here. She was taken to Queensland, but subsequently brought back again. Qnatone is by Nelson from Tres Deuce, the dam of Miauton. — A sum of £702 8b 2d was realised for the Women'B Hospital at the charity race meeting held at Moonee Valley on December 11. 1 The total includes several subscriptions, while Mr H. A. Currle ctona-ted-tlie stolce won toy his horse, Lorenzo, to the fund. The Wo1 men's Hospital will really benefit to the ; extent of over £1400 by the meeting, ac the State Government subsidised the amount raised pound for ground. New Zealand clubs never dream of inserting a race on their I programme from which the proceeds would be a donation to some charitable institution. —If Miss Mary Money, the American lady rider, who is endeavouring to obtain a jockey's license in France, should be successful, she will not be the first of her sex to steer a horse along the turf. Lady jockeys, in fact, are not unknown in this | country. One of the most famous was Mrs Thornton, the wife of Colonel Thornton," who is mentioned in the Racing Calendar. On .Saturday, August 25, 1804, she -sniered for the races at York mounted on Yinagrillio. Sho was beaten by Mr Flint's JJrown Thornville. Great interest was excited by the race in all parts of the country, and over £200,000 changed hands over the event. . , — The totaliaotor investments at the Tapanui meeting, despite the fact that the club licensed bookmakers, wea considerably in advance of what was registered at last season's meeting. In addition to -the licensed fielders present the cab allowed others who did not take out a license on the course. The unlicensed men appeare to devote all their attention to punting. In f«ct it may be said that they were ihx> oiggest punrters on the ground. One of the fielders who declined to pay the high fee lost, considerably over a century punting, and that fact, no doubt, will further convince that backing horses is not the high road to fortune. —In winning t(be Hurdle Race at Moonee ! Valley recently, Designer nan the two miles over seven hurdles in 3min 42Jsec, which time constitutes an Australian record for a race o-f this olaes. Waratah's 3min 444 sec on the same course last August was the previous record. Shrapnel, carrying 10.8, ran I two mites over eight 3ft 6in hurdles in 3min 44 3-sseo when he won the National Hurdles 1 while at Flemington on November 7 last. i Waratah (11.0) covered' two males on the course proper over 10 hurdles in 3min 45 4-sseo. In Designer 1 s"Vace there wa® » good pace on throughout, but with the heat at ISSdeg in the son. the performance sounds extra good. , - — A good performance was put up by the crack English hurdle race rider Mason at the Nottingham meeting last month. Six furlongs from home his mount, Veglo, made such- a bad 1 blunder' th-ot it was miraculous how Mason And! he did not dissolve partnership, much less fall; but by a wonderful piece of horsemanship Mason kept the horse on his legs, and after giving Mm a little breathing time to recover from his narrow escape, sent T»m in •pursuit of the leaders with such good effect that he overhauled Fidessa three fences from the finish, and gained a well-merited' victory by a length and a-half frofil Downpatrick, who just passed Fidesca in the last few strides. —It is a rarity for four horses the produce of one mare foaled in fo*r successive »e«eonn to be all winners of good races cm. the flat in tiie same year. That, however (says an English paper), waa the feat accomplished in Germany this eeason by four of the progeny of Festa, by St. Simoa out of L'Abbeese de Jouarre. She is, it may be noted, an own sister to the successful »tallion Desmond. Fes&a's fouT-year-old son, Fele (by Hannibal), heads the list of winning horses with £6280; Fabttla, Byrs (also by Hannibal), has won £2273; Faust," 2yrs (by Saraband), has won 31375; and Featino, syrs (by Ayrehire), sscured £782, the sum total won in the i season by the quartet amounting to £10.660. ' Festino, Fele, and Fabula have won big sum* in previous seasons. ' — A southern sporting writer states that Casque won the Tapanui Handicap after a great race with Rosebloom — or words to that effect.- As a matter of fact', Casque won with his head being pulled off. although his winning margin of a " short head " no doubt deceived those not conversant with racing. Casque and Rosebloom ran in company until reaching the home turn, where the former was "steadied," J and dropped back over two lengths. Inside the distance Casque ran up again, and won under a pull by a very- narrow margin. This is Hie facts- of the case, still the ignoramous of racing would" make it a "great race." There is one other thing to be said about Casque's win, and that is that his rider would have been severely reprimanded) by some stewards for the manner in which he handled his mounts — Colonel Hall Walker's Gimcrack dinner ' flpetoh in -"England, recently is already bear- ! ing good reoult. Under an order of the Bocrd of Agriculture and Fisheries, ennued" | the -Glanders or Farcy Order of 1907, which comes into force on January 1, no horse, ass, or mule brought to Great Britain from any other country, except Ireland, «ie Channel Islands, or the Isle of- Man, is to be lauded in Great Britain -unless accompanied by a certificate of a veterinary surgeon to the ■ effect that he examined the animal immediately before it was embarked or whilst ft was on board the vessel, and that he found that the animal did not show symptoms of glanders or farcy. .It has, however, since baen asserted that glanders is not increasing in England. On the other hand, statistics have been quoted which go to show (hat the trouble is decreasing. —In some reminiscences of the bookmaker Jackson, who was once the leader of -raie English ring* the Pink 'Un s»y# that in his day he was said to hwv© had half the Northern jockeys in hi» pock#t, and he is generally credited with having supplied Alacroft with a loaded whip to "weigh in" with when Ellington- "won the Derby. This was probably a malicious invention, as no evidence was ever forthcoming of it. It was, however, commonly reported that Ellingtoa in reality carriedE many pounds less than, his proper weight. That this was idle rumour is evident from -the fact that it waa not an til some years afterwards that it w»a forbidden ■to put the whip in the scal&r. MJordaa tells a. funny story <f the big 1 w&lp that was given him in the scales when Catch 'Em Alive was short of weight for the Gambridgesnire of 1863, and Admiral Rous refused to allow ii, itHot being the whip lie hod used in the race. — Lord Stanley, the «©nior Reward -of the English Jockey Club, is a descendant of ihe founder of The Q*k», ihf twelfth Earl of Derby, from whom fli* worla-famops English Derby took its name The founder of this very ancient family, Adam ct© Aldithley, came over from Normandy with Duke William, and his grandson /William, mwrrieg • Joan Stanley. i. descendant 'of ihe Saxon King*, In wiu>& honour iwllUftm. tools ttt« ntwfkl stanleft

The barony dates from 1456, the earldom from 1485, and the first earl, by his second marriage — that with the widow of the Earl of Richmond — became the step-father of Henry Vll., whom he had crowned on Bosworth field after the death of Richard 111., whom Richmond "knocked out' after a terrific combat, which, if Shakespeare got the facts right, Richard was looking for. During the progress of that historical fight the Kingdom of England was on offer rather cheap, for, according to the divine 'William, Bidhard 111 offered his right and title to the said Kingdom fox a horse. — The Badminton Magazine of December contains an article on Major Edwards, the well-known trainer, and comments on one of tlio horses midsi bis ctoaige, our old friend as follows: — "The great disappointment was caused by the colonial importation Noctuiform, an arnm.ftl who had done big things abroad which' it was confidently expected he would' repeat in England. He showed himeelf, moreover, in excellent -form, at home; but in public ho proved, absolutely hopeless. A more confirmed pig of a horse has rarely been seen; he simply declines to make any sort of an effort. During the present season he has been out seven times without running into a place. That he could win races if he would make the slightest attempt to do so there jan be little doubt, and if he were in the hands of a trainer of a certain class the chances are that he would win, because h-9 is jus 4 one of those animals w4u> would respond bo a -'dope.' It need hardly be said that no tricks of this sort are likely to be played on him whilst lie is at Ogbourne." — Last year King Edward's horses ,only "won £2994, 'an amount that would not much more tihan"cover training fees alone, to say nothing of forfeits, etc. That possibly would not trouble bis Majesty, but there is no doubt hd would be seriously concerned over the accident which happened to Persimmon, that horse having fractured his pelvis. Persimmon, who io now 15 yesrs old, was on the turf three seasons, his earnings' in prizexa&ney totalling £34,731, and .among the races accounted for by him were xhe Derby, St. Ledger, Eclipse Stakes, Ascot Gold Cup, and Jockey Club Stakes. He commenced stud duty at a fee of 300gs, and the first of his progeny raced in 1901, when they credited him with £2455. Next year his total went up to- £36,868, and oince then it reads as follows:— 1908, £24.472 10b; 1984, £10,306; 1905, £16,444; 1906, £21,787; and 1907, £12,301 10s — oi Visa respectable total for sevjen seasons ot £124,646. If be had never been responsible for anything else (says an exchange) the fact of being the sire of Sceptre would have assured him fame, but, aa his figures indicate, his name as a sire was not made by the deeds of one representative. — Without doubt the -most boomed trotter or pacer in Australasia is Sal Toaker. -As a two-yeaar-old she paced a mile in 2min SQsec, and, she might reasonably be expected to put up 2.15 or even" 2.10 as a five-yeair-old, but ai a x>uple> of exhibition miles site showed *t the Greymouth (N.Z.) Trotting Club meeting she put up 2m.in 21 _l-seec and 2min 18 4-Sseo respectively. There is nothing wonderful in this, considering she had a flying start, and the course all to herself, with a galloping horse tv assist her. About the same fcim>e in another part of New Zealand Mr Bucklftnds St. Simon won the Au Revoir Handicap, battling it out with a field of hor99e, with a standing start, in 2min 20 2-6& ec, without cany flourish, of trumpets. Sal Taskecr ia tk> doubt a good sort of a mare (says the Sydney writer "Rothschild"), but not up lo championship form for giving' exhibiiions. When are some of the newspaper champions going to haye 1 a lash at pacer Ribbonwood's 2min 9sec, or trotter Fritz's 2min lUsec? "Rto+hschild" evidently has not heard, or declines to believe, the rumour -that when Price gets a. match on a record will have to be established before "Sal" is defeated. —An Amerioan writer s-tatea that Jim Jeffries, the champion heavyweight, has opened in Los Angeles a saloon Which, for fittings, stock, etc., is said to be unequalled in tia» States. The famous fighter has to issue tv card weekly that he baa retired for good, •fc'hftt on no account would he Te-en.ter the ring except the title went to a foreigner, that he will never fight Tack Johnson, ot any othar negro, and that his fee for refereeing fights -m one thousand! dollars and not a cent less. Most of the heavyweight boxers prominent here a few years ago are doing pretty wall .nowadays. John L. and Jake Eiir'ain »re with a variety show, and spar three sounds nightly ; Jim Corbett "is on the legitimate atage, and has graduated most snessssrally m>m -nelodraina to comedy; Bob Fltzsimons is principal in a sketch, "A Fight fox Love" ; Tom Shaxkey has » saloon Ai this city, and deels in trotting horses; iTorcaaa Selby (Kid M'Coy) has an autofjiobile agency on Broadway, and besides is jinterestsd in a detective agency; Gus Ruhlin traiao "candidates fai the New York police force; Joe Ohoyinsky sells athletic goods in Ckic«#«-, Fran-k Slavin is said to be lost in the' Klondyke, and Peter Mater has an interest io a, Harlem saloon. — The following interesting reminiscence of Mr Bowe.s, ownier of four Derby winners, ] is from ihe pen of "Vigilant," the -well-known English writer: — "George Fordham for many years wore Mr Bowes's black and gold jacket, and we recollect that on one acoaaion, when it cam© a near thing- as to weight, it was found necessary to strip the gold, which was urutfually heavy, from the jeeket. One 3*y at Newmarket, as Fordham was about to ride a race fox Mr Bowes, whose jacket he was at tfh» time wearing, an old gentleman approaohed him and asked him what sort of a chance the animal possessed. 'Well, don't you see, you know, err, that's a question you ought to ask the owner, not me.' 'I am the owner; let me introduce myself — I ant Mr Bowes,' was the quiet reply. This, was the only occasion of Fordham ev«r sitting eyes on the famous owner of .Mandig, Cothfcrstone, Daniel O-'Roudce, and West -Australian, ! many as were the times he had worn hi* colours. We never, io the best of our belief, saw Mr Bowes, and he spent all his time in Pane. How-Was it that fee came to pay this solitary visit to Newmarket we did not hear. Fordham, who told us the story, said thai he was nevei- so surprised in bu life as he was wbep the old gentleman *aid hiv name w^s Bowes." — Giving hi* opinion about the pecuiHaritisi of the American seat, the crack jockey, Maker, said, "I have always ridden iioM way, and" always aball. The English style of riSing long is very pretty, and all right when you are going slow, but for-race-rlding I am sure you want «hort stirrup a. You have better balance and! better control of your horse—^ great many people think you haven't, but you have.* Riding abort you get a sorj of leverage against your irons, and that gives you more power. Haven't ell the English jockeys taken, up their Erfcirrups? • Madden, poor Lane, 'Haleey — all of them have, you will >ee/* > Madden- al«o Hkes the American. BtnA. "You. have twice the power over your horse. A lot ot people don't -think so, I know— at least, so I judge from' what I read about it sometimes, but vdhsji you ate sitting on the horse you get to know. You cab hold him better wittt your logs, end I think what proves this itt mat yon fiever «•* Tacnem running eway with, their jockeys now, as thejr often uiftd TO da Jr* We> Olfl dasa when.

jockeys rode long." Other jockeye say the same thing, and instead of the Amerioan seat being wholly responsible for the bad and reckless riding complained of a great deal of it undoubtedly comes -from the employment of apprentices tor the sake of a 51b allowance, and the altered system of "coming right through" at top speed. —In giving opinion how the wistocracy of - England keeps horse-racing in healthy vigour, a London turf critic writes: — ''Thj,s county patronage ia not easy to secure. Mammoth prizes, bands playing, and flags flying will not do it. In truth, of modern meetings Newbuxy is the only one that has reached county rank. Other meeting's may boast of patrons possessed oi wealth that avarice could iKrt clie»nii of. But tijey go ! as unnoticed as they come — leaving no impress behind. Oppositely the county families 1 give indelible tone to a meeting, and when racing is assailed as the pastime only of the vicious and' the depraved, I like to think | of the scores of county meetings spread over th-3 country, and wonder why men and women of high and honourable character lend support to a pastime which is alleged to be ! born and nutored in, and only able to bring forth, vice. It is, indeed, the steadfastness of the patronage of the county families that ensures Hie maintenance of racing. They occupy bo racing the position they hold to cricket, to hunting, and to shooting. If the county families stood aside front racing as the unclean thing it is 'described in certain places, few would be its iays and full of trouble. ' The occupation of the anti-gamblers would be gene. There could be no gambling — betting is the truer word — on racing, because racing would not exist.' In -the real osnse of the word, trotting has never existed in this country. The county families did not take to trotting. The trotting- world in England, has never been one of the right people. Hence its feble state. When distinguished foreigners- visit the Court of England they are in the summer taken, to racing, and in the winter shooting, ex hunting, or both, By jhese sports we are known all over ihe world." — Thus 'Mr Henry Lucy in "Life in London" letter in the Sydney , Homing Herald: — "I have a tetter from an old friend, an eminent divine, which I publish for the benefit of the clergy. It ia calculated to help them to keep in the right way, to which their footsteps constitutionally and hatibually tend. 'While we we're in Brighton,* he writes, 'finding the races were going on within a Suartec of an hour's walk of where we were ving, we thought we would gratify our curioMty — we bad never seed such a thing before — and wen>t. We were surprised art the respectability of the crowd, and felt rafther indignant at a mission that was treating the people as though they were reprobates. I sneaked away, fearing that seeing my white neckband the labourers would want to press me into the service. We saw three races cloae to the winning post with very little squeezing, and got rather excited over it. It was different from anythingrwe had expected. Before the fourth race- the crowd round us seemed to thicken, and a three-card-trick man "set up his stand close to us, where we could have a splendid view of the • performance. Then the horsejs came thundering up, and one or two fellows' "behind 1 put their hands on my shoulders. I shook them off, but couldn't stay a strong pressure on my rightf side. The race bedng over, the crowd fell to pieces, and in a moment I realised that my puree was gone— my first experience of having my pocket picked. The purse had been in my trousers pocket, a long-skirted frock coat being tightly buttoned over it. Two pounds odd went; eighteenrpenn'orth of postage stamps, diary with particulars of engagements, etc., etc. How it was done I can't imagine. But the moral is this: How extraordinary that a first offence should receive such a condign punishment. Never again do I go to such wicked places.' " — When in England Mtt G. G. Stead 1 stated with truth | that the appointments of Eng- ' lish racecourses were very much inferior to the leading Australian convincing grounds. This excited the wretch of Mr R. Sievier in ihis paper, the Winning Poet, and respecting it he wrote: — "There is a vast difference in having to cater fox a village garden party at the pastor's house end having to regulate and govern a mass mie«<ting in Hyde Park. That is the great distinction which exists between racing in England! and in the colonies. Does Mr Stead wish to take one or two Australian racecourses and hold them up n» examples? If so, let him name a place which will — to take his own line, which be will better understand— compare- with Newmarket. On the , other hand, if his remiarks are intended to embrace the whole of the courses on both sides of the equator,' then we can answer them with a flat contradiction. We know, more both of English and Australian racecourses than does Mr Stead. It is undler 'these circumstances that we would draw his attention, to those disgraceful ramping places which in the colonies are designated 'u.p country.' Can he even 'With his elastic imagination name any racecourse in England where similar surroundings prevail? .It i» common knowledge thai all ports of nefarious practices take place at these gatherings— -we refuse to style them race meetings, — and that trickery reigns in place of sport when a 'double' or 'treble' has to bs> accomplished' by „ hook ox by crook. 'Catting vp 1 is too' delicate a term to apply to the majority of up-country gatherings; chopping up would better express the common situation." Mr Stead 1 did not refer to racing outside the principal, centres, but respecting Australian country racing Mr Sievier knows less of i-t than does.^Mr Stead. He speaks from) heresay (say* "Milroy"), and -is generally very much in the riglrt, however: but Australia is not the only ramping ground for toughs, for his contemporaries often refer to wondnful English ramps that for sheer brutal daring would io credit to a pony track "push, where oastout betting shopmen are trading, and must nave a sure Wing occasionally to remind them of old times, before the law cu{ them> iff in their -prime.