ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 335, 9 May 1885, Page 11

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Header asks. —Did Director ever atart for the Auckland Cup ? [Yes, " a-many years ago."]

The Otah.uh.ti Racing Club's Autumn Meeting took place last Saturday. The attendance was very small, owing- to there having been so many of these plating meetings of late, as well as the uncertainty of things going smoothly. The first race, the Maiden Plate, again proved the necessity for these outside meetings being under the control of the A.R.C. ; also showing that the Australian rule regarding licensing miner meetings should have been adopted long ago. Eight faced the starter. All the horses got away, but someone raised the cry of " False start," whereupon several of the horses pulled up, and Mr J. Brown, the clerk of the course, galloped wildly after the others trying to stop them, even chasing one animal that could have won, off the course. Three, however, passed the post. The judge and stewards bein« appealed to declared it was no race, in the face of Mr O. McGee, who officiated as starter, declaring that he had dropped the flag, and that, therefore, it u'as a start. The race was run over again, but St. David, Reckless, and Princess Alice, who had passed the post in the order named the first time, declined go/fog, again, and the owner of St. David claims the stakes, and intends to sue the Club for the money. The second time of asking resulted in Highland Mary beingfirst, Miss Mat second, and Comet third. The race was awarded accordingly. The excitement was veiy great, and nearly ended in a row. Taking the affair from a racing .man's point of view, What had the judge to do with it ? He is not a steward, and has only his own duties to attend to. The starter having declared that it was a start, the stewards could not declare it a false start, and order" the race to be run over again, as Rule T7 states, "The decision of the starter is final, etc." Therefore, the ■whole thing was contrary to the laws of racing,- and the stewards have rendered themselves liable to an action. The committee of the Otahuhu Club had previously made a blunder in the Handicap, thus showing that they know nothing of racing ; also that they had not taken the trouble to provide themselves with a book of the A.R.C. rules (under which the races were supposed to be run), or even to read them. It is to be hoped that this will be one of the clubs that will be strictly watched when the time for licensing comes on. The Hurdle Race resulted in a win for Mr D. Twohill's Revenge, who defeated 2sTew Year and two others. The Suburban Handicap was taken by the notorious Rewi, Nannie second, and Dressmaker third. Mystery also started. Rewi should have been disqualified, as he was not the property of the nominator ; in fact, he runs under so many names that it is hard to tell who he belongs to. Whalebone won the Steeplechase, Sunray being second, and Quilp third. Lily Langtry also started. The other races call for no remark. The meeting, on the whole, was anything but a success. The time was badly kept, the last race having to be omitted, as darkness would not permit of its being run. I am glad to learn that at last the members of the Auckland Racing Club have decided to call a general meeting of the members to adopt the rule I huve so long advocated in yawi, i.e., the Australian rule as regards licefismg all outside meetings. Over and over again have I pointed out the desirability of doing this, and at the end of the season Mr Marshall and his friends have seen the wisdom of the step, and have requested the to call a special meeting to discuss the same. In Mr Marshall weliave a gentleman who is above suspicion in racing and all other matters, and one who, moreover, races for sport, and sport alone. Though a young hand at racing, he is very shrewd in all matters connected with the turf, and sees the necessity for the revision of the new A.R.C. rules, and the affairs of the Club, which is rapidly increasing, being put on a pioper basis. He has a hard task before him, as things are in a perfect chaos ; but as he has plenty of determination, he may succeed in doing it. As the adoption of the Australian rule as regards licensing outside meetings is the only business of which notice has been given, no other question can be brought

before the meeting, but as in all probability there will be a large muster of members, let me make a suggestion, which is : That a committee of five competent men should be formed to revise the whole ©f the rulesMany of them as they now stand would puzzle the cleverest racing man in existence, especially the rules regarding nominations and rule No. 20, which at present reads thus : " The top weight in a handicap shall not be less than Bst. 121 b, consolation handicaps excepted, and no horse shall carry less than sst 71b in any handicap plate or sweepstake." Now, what does this mean ? Some racing men read ' accepting,' others not. The fact of the matter is, that some of those gentlemen who assisted in compiling the rules thought they could improve on the Australian and Newmarket rules ; the consequence is they got muddled — thus the great necessity for revision. It would be as well ac the same time also to discuss other matters in connection with the affairs of the Club which is now second to none in the Colony, and therefore requires that a working cemmittee should be formed to overlook matters ; and also the secretary should be a man prepared to devote the whole of his time to the business of the Club, as is done elsewhere. If all these matters were discussed they could be brought up in proper form at the annual meeting. It is currently reported that the Hon. W. Robinson's horses leave for Melbourne this week in charge of It. Mason. One certainly lives and learns, especially as regards racing matters Taking a stroll the other morning, I saw two boys breaking in yearlings at the door of a public-house, the youngsters evidently not liking the treatment. An hour later the lads were still standing there. No wonder young horses get frightened and turn, as they don't like beer, even if the boys do. Mr Reeves has sold the chestnut yearling colt by Apremont — Aglina to an Australian gentleman, and he has been shipped. Harry Custance, who will be remembered as one of the best jockeys of his day, has been appointed starter, on probation, to the Newmarket Jockey Club in the place of Tom McGeorge, who lately died. Custance began iding when a very light-weight, and attained his principal successes in the yellow of Mr Merry and the rose of Mr Chaplain. Unfortunately he increased very rapidly in weight, as he was the best jockey on a rough one since the days of Frank Butler. The appointment is sure to be popular, as from his quiet manner he is a great favourite with all classes of racing men. Archer has returned to Falmouth House, from his American tour. He still hopes to be able to ride Sst lOlbs, but it will give him a great deal of trouble to get down to that, so it is not unlikely that he will devote himself to training with Mat Dawson. The celebrated stallion See-saw will be remembered as the winner of the Hunt Cup at Ascot and the Cambridgeshire, defeating Blue Gown, with a heavy weight in those days for a three-year-old, He was very successful at the stud ; perhaps the best of his get was Little Duck, the winner of the Grand JL'rix de Paris. He was suffering from acute inflammation, and was shot at Iwerne Minster stud farm. The death of the "flying" Nutbush is also announced. She was foaled in 1858, and was the fastest half-miler ever known. As a two-year-old she did nothing ; but as a three-year-old she showed her time form when she defeated Little Lady, Caller-ou, Longshot, and many others over the last half of the Abingdon mile, with Harry Grimshaw up. Some of my readers will perhaps remember the celebrated match over the same course with Lord Stamford's Little Lady (Edwards) for 500sovs., when, with Fordham up, she won in a canter. The betting was tremendously heavy at guineas to pounds, Lord Stamford losing £20,000. At the same meeting she beat eight speedy horses over the first half of the Abingdon mile with lOst 41bs. She did not do much at the stud. She was trained by T. Cliff at Hediiesford. At the Caultield Races on the 25th of April last, old Clarence, with 12st on his back, ran third ; but owing to the field going the wrong course, the stewards decided to run the race over again, when Clarence was again third. As a result of the Steeplechase blunder, the committee were understood to have declared " all bets in connection with the race off." As an important precedent is involved in the question of wagers, it may be as well to point out that no racing club has aty right or power to interfere with bets. The rule touching on this matter reads as follows : " The stewards of a meeting shall have full power to make all such arrangements for the conduct of the meeting as they think fit, and to regulate and control the conduct of all officials, and of all jockeys, grooms, and persons attendant on hoi'bes ; and to determine all questions or disputes arising between any persons at or in relation to anything done or omitted in reference to racing, except only disputes or claims relating to bets.' The only power the committee or stewards have to declare bets off is : ' That in the event of a horse or jockey being disqualified on the ground that the horse was pulled and fraudulently prevented from running, the committee may declare all bets made on the course to be off in respect to such horse, or on the race, as they may think advisable.' On the principle, therefore, of the interests or bets being inseparable from the interest of stakes, all wagers should have been allowed to stand, and no betting tribunal in the world have declared them off, as they

were in the Auckland Steeplechase last Janurry and the Pony Eace at the Polo Club meeting in Auckland. Therefore we caution stewards of racing clubs about Auckland to be more careful in declaring bets null and void on the spur of the moment, and therefore breaking all laws of racing and betting, and to the general annoyance of persons that know the laws of racing and betting.