COURSING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14523, 19 August 1911, Page 4 (Supplement)

COURSING.

COMING EVENTS. (By Master McGrath). I have tli© programme of the South Canterbury Coursmg Club before me 05 1 wr'te. and I note tho Club has a stake of £6O to bo competed for on the 30th and 31st of tlu.s month. It is a Maiden stake, so that any lover of coursing who thinks he possesses a pleasant surprise might .surprise himself by winning: . , An open stake is also Offered. witn. a nomination fee and acceptance of two guineas. This stake should insure a number, of the best dogs iti New Zealand ou the Tiinaru JL'lumpton on the dates mentioned. That such a programme : is put forward by this plucky little club —a club tltafc has not done much in advertising—shows, s«s was generally expressed after the last meeting, that the management is right, and that any owner of a meritorious dog can he sure of receiving a fair deal. Already; enquiries have been made from." the "West Coast, Wellington, Dunedin, and other centres, and most encouraging letters have been received from some of the chief coursing clubs in Now Zealand. Given fine weather the club . expect .sportsmen of all colours to be present in their numbers. There are men on the Management Committee who/ without any personal | emolument- have- their 3ieart and soul j in the furtherance of the sport, and 1 though the club has got over its u trial balance " it is on the cards that a successful meeting on the 30th and 31st of this' month will place them in a verv satisfactory position. I wish to draw attention to tho fact that thirty new hares are added to the experienced hares of Inst meeting (when were a rarity), and that the same capable trainer. Mr Goodman, is using h:s best endeavours in showing them tho way to tho escapes, and - how to save their lives. To those who have attended the coursing meetings of the club. it was a source of regret oil many occasions that after - a good dog lisid won his course, and liis flag was shown by the judge, ajid' when to all intents and purposes ,tlie course was overj the hare again from the escapes, and the "winning dog's clianocs in the stake were .ruined' by having mi unprogrammed course on lus own. Satisfactory to say this has not occurred for the last two meetings; no dogs were run to a standstill, and the wiclder of the white flag, ";iU clear" at tbo escapes. Mr H. Tovey, deserves credit. It'is needless to say that tho club arc using their best endeavours in their "arrangements to attract dogowners from every coursing centre in New Zealand, ajyf from the experience of last meeting, success ought to efventuat^. notes in a previous letter I mentioned several prominent coursers in the eighties, but omitted two mimes that should hold an equal reverence for coursers., viz., the late Mr Boyd Thompson and Mr H. Lee, both of Temuka. two enthusiasts who always owned good dogs, and were thorough sportsmen... As the club are issuing entrance tickets, why not issue ladies' complimentary ones as well. Tlifs is a suggestion which deserves to be considered [ COURSING IN RUSSIA. j .Coursing' is a very popular pastime 1 Russia.* and recently there i\ore tluTty-sisr runners in the Waterloo Cup event, which was won bv the English greyhound Flower Glen, with Dendromys, another British importation, i ; as runner-up. The latter was pur- 1 chased hi England for the Cun by the Grand Duke Nicholas, who paid £275 for him. - In addition to the Waterloo Cup there was a stake for borzois, in whjch 56 - of those giants were entered, ■ and_ they" gave both Mr Joseph Walker (as. judge) suid E. Wilkinson (as slipper) a'somewhat trying time. The borzois do riot run tb© iine of hare—-each goes 'of? to the side, getting puss between thtmi. first one and then the other making a cut to kill. And whiUt Mr Walker's task was perplexing, Wilkinson's was the severest he ever took in hand. On the first day, commencing at 2.30 a.m., and finishing at noon. Ik* slipped ninety brace of borzois' and fifty brace of greyhounds, and ♦eeing that the borzois average over lOOlbs apiece the strain on his arms must hav<> been terrific. On the second day coursing commenced at 3 a.iu. ;.nd finished at 11 a.m., 131 course* being run. On the third day the- -start was deferred until 4 a.m.. only 41 courses ljoiiig required. As showing the extent of some'of the Russian kennels it may he' mentioned tlr.it tl:e Grand Puke of Nicholas owns 074 dogs of ore k : md and another. The Czar ran twemyfive dogs at the meeting, and in the stake for !>orzo:s (on Waterloo Cup lines) won the Purse.