CAP AND JACKET

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 88, 20 May 1882, Page 158

CAP AND JACKET

MY NOTE BOOK,

By "Ariel."

" Tot homines, quot sentential

If any putsider is to win at Cliristclmrch it should be Katerf elto lOst lOlbs Te Whetu is let in very light at Wanganui and should about win the G.N.S. Fancy poor old Sportsman having to give away ■weight to such a horse as Te Whetu. Pat McCoy will take Catch' em to "Wanganui and also rides him in the Grand National there. t Though if 0-rey Moraus was well there would be nothing else in it considering his ridiculously light impost. The genial Jack Eae took G-rey Monms to Wanganui ; while Billy Edwards has charge of Te Whetu. Segenhoe is first favourite for the Y.E.C. Derby at sto 1 j *J to 1, Navigator j 10 to 1 bar two freely offered. " Trumpator," on the spot, and able to judge a bit, classed Euclid with a " lot of moderates " in training for the Adelaide Cup. All being well with him on the 24th, Clarence should have very little difficulty in winning the N.Z. Grand National again this year. It is not yet decided who is to pilot Lone Hand in Wanganui, ' but Jack Jones is the most likely. It appears that Agent was entered for the Grand National at Christchurch, but for some reason he was scratched before the handicaps appeared. Poor Lone Hand still serves his turn as an imaginary line to start from in handicapping 1 He is like the imaginary scratch man in the Sheffield Handicaps. Catch'em is treated simply absurdly at Wanganui, He got a stone and a bad beating from Te Whetu at Auckland and now he has only 51bs allowance from the same horse. Mr Gallagher is very foolish to accept such an impost. Taken altogether this latest effort of Mr Hately's is one wholesale blunder, and I wonder at any club putting up with such work. Any jockey boy could rig up a better adjustment, on the course, in 10 minutes. A jockey named Solly was fined £2 for appearing a dirty costume, and had himself brought under the notice of the Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, on account of his brutal usage of his mount, Satellite, in the Hurdle Race at the Sydney Turf Club Meeting. "Nemo," in the Sydney Mail, said of Euclid for the Adelaide Cup—" He has pace enough for anything, but he has never shown any fondness for a long course." " Commotion had his full portion." And yet Euclid ran Ist, and Commotion 2nd. To ,show the difference of opinion between Mr Hately and the C.J.O.. Committee of five, Baron is allowed list 121bsby the former and lOst 121bs by the latter, a stone difference, and. it is not that he is in poor company at Wanganui either. My Dream is hardly used and has very little chance of paying his passage to the Thames meeting. He is in fact crushed out of everything, and it is poor encouragem.net to a plucky sport, who pays a fair price for an animal, to find him treated in this severe manner the first time he enters him. W. Adams will have /totalisators at both the Thames and Te Awamutu Eaces. The old proverb about a rolling stone gathering no moss was spoken before the introduction of bookmakers and totalisators, evidently, as Mr Adams " rolls " some, in pursuit of the real moss, and gathers it too. The folly of Amateur handicapping is proved by the bad adjustment of the weights for the Thames Eace Meeting. It is evident to the most casual observer that Paramena is let in very light to all three events : while the Mying Handicap is a positive gift to him at the weights and in the company he has to meet. Lone Hand, Te Whetu, Grey Mpmus, and Catch'em, were to have left by the McGregor on Thursday last for Waitara en route for Wanganui, but owing to the non arrival of the steamer they were still in Auckland at the end of the week. Te Whetu left on Sunday, and the three others by the Eowena on Tuesday, direct to Wanganui. . - _ . Our Napier correspondent writes :— rlt is quite on the cards that the Jockey Club will provide stand accommodation for the " common herd " at a moderate rate, before the next ensuing Autumn meeting. There is also some talk of a Steeplechase meeting. Eureka! Ellerslie had "better look after its laurels now, for, I tell you, w,e mean business down here. , At a largely-attended meeting of Adelaide Tattersall's, on April 21st, the following new rules were added to those already in operation. Of course, as yet, it has not been found necessary, owing t<j the good character of our local "books," to make any very stringent rules concerning them ; but as our "visiting circle" increases we may have to meet some unexpected contingency, in ■which case it would be perhaps as ; wett r to te provided, and not to have to "bolt the door when the steed is stolen :"— « rpjjat n0 bookmaker shall remain a member of the Club unless annually approved of by the committee at the first meeting held by them after the annual general meeting, the committee being hereby empowered to reject any bookmakers. This^ule to take eftect from the 31st of March, 1882^' "That notice of partnership existing between any two or more bookmakers, shall be ffiveb in writing to the Secretary of the Club, and ' dissolution^ of such partnership shall not be recosnisedunless notified to the committee; Such noticeVfo be posted in the Club-room. Partners to "' be liable for wagers of co-partners." "All bookmakers to have their books paged consecutively and stamped and signed by the Secretary, or tbey?will not be recognised as evidence in any oasewnicb. may come before the committee."

The Auckland bookmakers, and I have no doubt some of the Southern ones as well, have good cause for grumbling anent the Ea'ndwick affair : and I think the stewards of the Taranaki Jockey Club are greatly to blame for not wiring the protest all' over the Colony, and so delaying the payment of bets till enquiry was made and the matter thoroughly settled. As it was, the matter was let lie and not' made public until the "books" had paid away on Eandwick, who was heavily backed. Now, as Larry takes the stakes, and* according to the rule of betting " the interests of the bets are inseparable from the interests of the stakes," in such cases ; they must also"" part " to the backers of Larry. Of course they may claim a refund of the money paid away over Eandwick's supposed win, but what a show they have of getting it! A few probably who can't afford to refuse, and a still fewer who are top honest to stick to unearned money will repay. But the majority who received, are birds of passage who hajDpened to be in Taranaki just then, and who are Lord knows where by now. Anyhow they are not likely to advertise their present address, under the circumctances. Besides those mentioned above, the likely, the unlikely, and the "positively wonts" there are some on whom it will come harder even than it does on the books ; and these are a few quiet backers who made a good return on their fiver or less, and who would be certain to " blew " their winnings as soon as possible ; and who have not literally the means to pay it back now it is proved to have been received wrongfully. lam sorry for these sort, how they will suffer. Altogether, I opine that the deduction that will be drawn from the whole " contraption " from first to last, by nine but of every ten, is that the stewarts and officials, (especially that scale man) of tho Taranaki Jockey Club, want improving upon badly. They have shewn a wretched lack of firmness and promptitude of action. The affair could have been settled in half-an-hour, ancl the stewards should have met instanter and settled it ; and so avoided all subsequent trouble and disagreableness. At any rate they might have instructed their secretary to make it known that a protest was under discussion and that all bets had better await the settlement of the dispute one way or the other. Messrs J. Gallagher ancl W. Lyons are the worst sufferers in Auckland, and both lose considerably.

£430