THE TURF.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143550, 15 July 1911, Page 8

THE TURF.

{By Field Glass.)

FIXTURES. •July 15, 19, and 22—Wellington R.C, Winter. . Aug. 8, 10, and 12—Canterbury J.C. Grand National. Nov. i—C'.J.C. New Zealand Cup. The annual mooting of the Taranaki Jockey Club will be hold on .Monday night. .Severe 1 nice voungslers are being handled liv local' trainers in readiness for the, ensuing season. Mr. J. Davmkon, vice-president ot the l-kr-.ie.iit Racing Club, has been seriously ill. but at latest accounts was improving somewhat in a private hospital at llawera. It is reported up north that Wauchope w.ll be o t no to tho Si.id after fnllilling his < ngagements at the Wellington meeting. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Racing C'cnfcrevee will be held at Welling!on on Tuesday. Applications lor trainer;’ and jockeys licenses icr the ensuing season should be made to. tho secretary of the Metropolitan Committee not later than Monday. !!v riding three winners at the forborne mooting M biltaher again got to t)u> top «t the winning jockeys’ hat. and inis two more victories to 1 ins credit than the Taranaki jockey. Seeing that there is only one meeting now remaining, the finish promises to bo most exciting. Str.mp rhitv to the amount of £782 13s fid -wv; paid by the Wairarnpa Ilncing Club on its receipt;: tor tn© year. Wages paid during the same period amounted to £1254 12s. Tbe appeal )i the Egmont Racing Club against the decision of tbe Taranaki Jockey Chib in removing tbe disqualification imposed on R. Barlow will bo heard in WelFngfon next week. Tbe pronounc—nent by tbe Minister of Internal -Affairs that the report furnished by H-e Racing Commission must stand should prevent his being further worried by deputations from those dubs concerned. Obviously some clubs were bound to he seriously affected. A reduction in the number of days upon which racing could be held was a mandate from Parliament. It seems, however. to be a case of “spill every drop of the other fellow’s blood, but keep your hands off me." By a fire at an early hour on Sunday morning the whole of the buildings on tho Mnsterton racecourse, including grandstand a nd-boothstewards’ room, totalisator house, ladies’ cloak room, press room npd secretary’s office, weighing and jockeys’ room, and loose boxes i'ere destroyed. The newsstand and judge’s box were the onlyy buildings left. ’ The cause of tho fire is a mystery, but is thought to he the work of an’incendiary, ns there is evidence of an attempt to burn the remaining stand. The buildings were insured in the North British office for £I2OO, but it is reported that this does not nearly cover the loss. New buildings .arc to be erected without delay. From all accounts the bookmakers at a recent Johannesburg meeting had something for which to thank the introduction of the hobble skirt. The fair punters thus attired found it impossible to climb tbe steps leading to tbe totalisator windows in the crush, and were perforce compelled to do their betting trnnoactions with the peneiUers. If rumour is correct (says a Calcutta exchange!, wo are to be honoured by the presence of Mr, Boh. Sicvier, the ox-owner of tbe phenomenal Sceptre, at our next enld weather meeting.' So far the present arrangement is that he leaves England after the Cambridgeshire. Ho is said to be bringing out two or three horses and “funning them here-and veiling them after tbe meetings. The presence of this well-known tact-horse owner in our midst should add to the interest and excitement of tho proeeediijps. as Mr. Siovicr is a very bold bettor. THE DERBY. A TARANAKI MAN’S DESCRIPTION Mr. D. Laing, who is now in London, ■went to Epsom to see the Derby on May 31, and thus describes the race in a letter to a friend in New Plymouth:— “On ’Wednesday X went to the Derby. A short account .’of the Epsom course and Derby might interest yon. Starting from London Bridge cn route for Tattenbam Station, which is within two minutes’ walk of the famous confer of that name, one’s first impression was the want of all bustle and confusion, and except for the immense crowds it was hard to realise that anything in particular was in progress, the trains being rapidly filled and 'dispatched without the ringing of a bell or the constant cry of “All seats, please” so familiar to the oar of all New Zealanders. The trains, run to tho course, with only one stop, in about forty minutes, and on alighting one has a splendid view of the whole of the Epsom Downs, which for the present is a seething mass of people and vehicles, and although there are estimated to be balk a million of people on the Downs, there is an entire lack of excitement or rowdyism, which speaks marvellously lor the powers or the police force of this country. Mixed through the crowds ere great, numbers of gipsies, tolling fortunes, selling charms, letc., thimble-riggers, tlirqacard tricksters, roulette tables, and other devices not known to my uneducated mind for enticing the nimble Robert from the pockets are, also plentiful; while musicians and vocalists, some of retd talent, arc everywhere, and all seemingly .doing good business. I must say I was greatly disappointed in the Epsom course appurtenances. With tbe exception of the stands and Tattersnll’.s enclosure, every building looked as if it had not seen paint for many years, and the whole course had a neglected appearance,- which was much accentuated by the litter of papers which were allowed to blow about all over the grounds, and even on the course proper. At about 1.10 tho king and Queen with their suite arrived and were given a great reception. The King had adopted for this occasion the late King’s favourite racing costume—grey frock suit and white'high hat—and looked in the pink of condition. The Queen was dressed in mauve costume and hat to match, and looked extremely handsome. .Ono thing that strikes a colonial is the lack

or interest taken in the raping by the* ipcctotors. half of whom I am convinced did uot think of trying to see the races, hut only came for the outing and seemed to regard the whole thing as a gigantic picnic, “The weather was extremely sultry when the 26 runners were paraded for, the great race, and when they passed the stand the sweat was rolling yff most of them. There, was the usual delay at the post, principally caused hy the unruly behavious of the second favourite, Pietri. and >vhen the barriev went up two of the candidates wore hopelessly left in the roar. An outsider. Banockburn, at once wont to the front, ~ accompanied by Phryxus, but the black and red cap of Sunstnr, the favourite, was never far behind. Never on°e in the race did Pietri or King "William, the second and third .favourites, look dangerous, although nb Tattenhani Corner I saw T. Wootton on King William sit down and try to get his mount up to the first flight, but.the horse was evidently licked and quickly dropped back. As they .swung round Tottenham Corner. Stern, on Sum tar.- began to edge up to the lenders, ami a quarter of n mile from home pulled his way to the front and soon settled the pretensions of Banockburn. At this part of the race Steadfast started to race up to the leader, and I noticed Stern raise Ida whip, but don’t think he hit Sunstar, who staved off the challenge. although Steadfast got .within a length of the winner about one hundred yards from home, but quickly fell back some throe lengths before the winning-post was readied. Royal Tender ran r;to ♦ bird place, but was never dangerous. The victory was well received by the public, and Air. Joel departed from bis usual practice by personally loading in the winner, as usual smoking a fat cigar and looking the’typical ‘cent.--per cent.’ “The other races were very tame, and i*bruit 5 o’clock one of .the meat severe thunderstorms experienced for years broke over the Downs. Luckily I bad just boarded a homeward-bound train as the first peal started, and very shortly ran out of it. Several people, T believe, were injured and one or two fatalities occurred. • Taking everything into consideration, the outing was a very pleasant one. although I have spent more enjoyable days on the racecourse in little old New Plymouth.”