EULIUS CASE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17350, 15 May 1924, Page 8

EULIUS CASE.

POVERTY BAY HANDICAP. ANOTHER •* RINGING-IN » CHARGE. Evidence in the Ail Sm-ok* oa*e having been eettd'Oded* tho Court to-cUy proceeded to tidal with the evidence in regard to the tunning of Kulius.. About nineteen wituowaea will appear, and the case, it is expected, will continue all day to-morrow. Waiting jurors were discharged from further attendance, the Crown Prosecutor stating that it would be impossible to deal with the third caae iu the time available this week. Walter Medley Hulston, Charles Hop wood Capes, William Percy Capes and Alfred Tucker were charged :—- (1) That on July 27, 1923, st Christchurch, they did conspire among themselves by fraudulent means to defraud tho Poverty Bay Trotting Club. (2) That on July 27, at Christchurch, they did conspire among themselves to commit a crime punishable by three years’ imprison merit with hard labour, to wit, the crime of obtaining moneys from the Poverty Bay Trotting Club with intend'to defraud by a false pretence by representing tho horse Willie Lincoln to be the horse Eulius. (3) That on August 2, 1923. at Gisborne, with intend to defraud, they did obtain of and from the Poverty Bay Trotting Club the sum of £l7B 18s by means of a certain false pretence, by representing tho trotting horse illie Lincoln to be the horse Eulius. AU pleaded not guilty. Mr Donnelly uppeared for the Crown, Mr Hanlon for Hulston and the Capes brothers, and Mr Thomas for Tucker. Some minutes were occupied with tho empanelling of the the challenges being very frequent. The Crown Prosecutor ordered eighteen to stand aside, and counsel for the defence exercised their right on seventeen occasions. The Crown Prosecutor said that the accused were charged with fraudulently substituting the horse Willie Lincoln lor the horse Eulius in a race which was run at Gisborne on August 2 last year. The facts were that Tucker, oi July 6, owned a trotting horse called Eulius, which he purchased some time previously. On July 6 Tucker, by a transfer through the Trotting Association, handed over to Hulston twothirds of the interest in the horse. The writing in the document which was put into the Trotting Association seemed to be in the handwriting of the accused Charles Capes. Willie Lincoln was one of the bestknown trotting horses in New Zealand. He had qualified for the New Zealand Cup. He was probably one of the twelve best known and distinctive horses In July he was owned by lies and Young, and trained by J. N. Clarke. On July 23 they leased the horse to Percy Capes. At that time Eulius did not seem to have been in the hands of any professional trainer, he was in the care of a man named Le Briton, who was a cab-driver, and used the horse in the cab ; he was not an aristocrat of the racing world. On the other hand Willie Lincoln was a full-time racehorse and was actually in training. , Some weeks before lie had run third in a big race in Dunedin. Eulius was taken possession of by Hulston. The Poverty Bay Trotting Club held a meeting in August. Eulius arrived only in time for the second day, when he started in the big' race, the Gisborne Handicap TKr. broad question was which horse, Eulius or "Willie Lincoln, ran in the race.

If they were satisfied that Eulius did not run and that another horse was substituted there would be the clearest evidence to associate these men with it. Eulius was nominated, and he was supposed to have run ; a horse of This name won the race. Eulius was the actual favourite, and he paid a dividend of only £3 2s in a field of five. In spite of the fact that Eulius was not a good stayer he was baoked with the utmost confidence to win the big .race for which he was specially brought up. The association of these men with the event was strengthened by what happened afterwards. The cheque for tne stakes was paid to Hulston and a receipt was sent to the club. The-.cheque was paid into the account of the Christchurch Produce Company, which was the name of the business run by Capes, and the deposit slip was signed by C. H. Capes. Later Eulius was sold as the Gisborne Handicap winner and was bought by Clarke, the man who previously had Willie Lincoln. The proceeds of the sale should have gone to Tucker, but it was paid into the banking account of the Christchurch Produce Company. All the dealings seemed to have centred round the shop of the Capes’s. Eulius was not a two-mile horse, and was not regarded as a stayer. There was no comparison between the two horses. Eulius had done 3min 33sec to a mile and a half, which ran out at 2min 21sec to the mile, while Willie Lincoln had done 2min lOsec to tho mile. In July a man called on Mr the employer of Williamson, asking leave for the latter so that he could drive Eulius at Gisborne, stating that the horse would have a much better chance if Williamson drove, as he understood it. Mr Scott said he could not give the leave. On July 29 f ~m . a n travelling under the name of Williamson and having the horse Eulius with him was seen on the boat travelling from Napier to Gisborne. On the evening before the race Mr Fisken. who was a» owner, saw a horse do a trial on the Gisborne track. The horse did 2min 16sec. which was equivalent to about 2min lOsec on tho metropolitan track. The evidence on which the Crown asked the jury to conclude that "Willie Lincoln had" been substituted was based firstlv on the evidence of the stable-keeper. Blake, who ca.me to Christchurch and picked out from horses the one which he said stayed at his stables from July 29 to August 4. It was Willie Lincoln. The horse had a number of peculiarities, including a gait of his own, which enabled him to be identified easily. The horse was driven by Bennett, a professional driver. He said that he was not asked to drive the Horse in Christchurch, but that he met Hulston in Gisborne and was retained to drive in the race; he was to get £3O in addition to his fee. The horse won comfortably. Since then Bennett had driven both the real Eulius and the Willie Lincoln. He was now certain that the horse he drove in Gisborne was not the real Eulius. but Willie Lincoln. In the lower Court be had said he was sure it was not Eulius. but that he wasn’t sure if \t was Willie Lincoln. Bennett had not told the truth on that occasion and the jury would have to take this into consideration in weighing his evidence. The explanation that he gave wr.s that he was flustered and bustled ai d he wanted to say as little aa possible with the idea of protecting the other people. After the race had taken place a photograph of the winier, with Hulston as the proud ownerhanging on to the reins, was secured by a Press photographer. It was a photograph of Will : e Lincoln. Clarke, "■no had trained Willie Lincoln, and who aftei\vfe»ds became the owner of Eulius, lies, the former owner ow Willie Lincoln, and Fleming, a trainer, would give evidence on this point. The

horse* >teiv outside the Court and lio wanted the jllry to have « look ut them \ it* general tippearnms>* they eOUId Hot toeaility be mistaken. The eeso against Percy Capes and Tucker wan uot so strung, but all the men Were associated in Obfistchurchi Cope* Bros ware fruiterers. Itul*ton * Was their employee, and Tucker wo* the man who uaod thair banking n.vount, William Haury Laroombo, clerk iu tho New Zealand Trotting Association’s office, produced the registration papers in respect of tho horse Eulius. The owner at praoenb was James tJlarkw, the previous owner having been Alfred Tucker, la July Tucker leased two-thirds interest in the horse to Hulston. The body of the handwriting in the leas© was that of Charles Capes, and Hulston had signed it. Befoi-e Tucker Iwcarae interested in it Hulston had a lease of the horse from Richard James, which was not the person’* real name. Clarke, the present owner, bought the horse on August 20, 1923. 'Hie nomination for the Poverty Bay meeting was signed Hulston, 303, Ferry Road, Ohrisfrohurch.” The handwriting in the body of the form was that of Charles Capes. "Witness produced a i-egistra-tion form for the lease of the horse Willie Lincoln from lies and Young to Percy Cape*. He produced a list cf the performances of Willie Lincoln. Mr Hanlon : It was a man named James who transferred the hors© ? He called himself Richard James or James Richard. Does that go through the Trotting Association all right P Can a man sign himself Richard James or James Richard, as he likes?—lt did this time, unfortunately. Prior to. the transfer from James to Tucker there had been a lease from James to Hulston?—Yes. Do your records show that Eulius has done 4min 46sec at RiccartonP Iz ran third in 4min 46 2-ssec at Riccarton. Eulius is registered at about lof hands in height and Willie Lincoln at about 16?—-Yes. The transaction between Tucker and Hulston was an ordinary lease?—Yes And the rent payable was one-tliird of the stakes?—Yes. There is nothing subtle about tl*p lease of a horse; it is just the same as tlie lease of a house?—As far as I know. Horace Earl Dodd, secretary for the Poverty Bay Trotting Club, said that before the August meeting the horse Eulius was nominated by telegram. He ran on the second day in the Gisborne Handicap, driven by D. Bennett, and won the race, in 4niin 49 2-ssee, and the dividend was £3 2s. There was only one dividend, there not being 1 sufficient starters on account of the [ brackets. There were 401 out of j 1405 tickets on the horse. The -net amount of the stake was £l7B 15s, and a cheque was forwarded to W. M Hulston. Tho cheque was endorsed W. Hulston, and the receipt was signed by W. Hulston. Mr Hanlon : How many tickets were oil the second horse? — Well, it was a bracket; there were 367. So Eulius was a little better favourite than the second?—Yes. And the third horse —He* was one of the bracket. Have you any figures to show what the next favourite was?—Cold Light had 390. Were any of the others pooriy backed? —The outsider was Medway 69, and the remaining horse had 238. Taking it all round there was no pronounced favourite?—lt was fairly Were there any inquiries about the horses?—-Not the second day. Were there any the first?—No. Wasn’t there an iuquiry about Peterwah belonging to Air Fisken? —I wasn’t present at the meeting. At this stage on the application of Mr Hanlon all witnesses were ordered out of Court. Walter Frederick Ingram, a member of the firm of Roots and Ingram, photographers, ’Gisborne, said he represented the “ New Zealand Sporting and Dramatic Review.’’ He attended the Poverty Bay Club’s meeting and he took two photographs of the winner of the Gisborne Handicap.; one of the finish of the race and one with a man standing at his head. . Mr Hanlon : I have heard it said that -the camera can’t lie. I suppose you agree with that?—lt hasn’t lied in this case. In reply to further questions from Mr Hanlon the witness said that if a photo was taken from a low .position it would make the legs appear longer; taken from higher up the legs would appear shorter. The effect J gained by standing a little in front ■ of the horse would be to shorten the barrel. Air Hanlon : At a short distance such as this would it make any difference. if the photograph was taken just after the horse had been clipped, or j after it had six months’ growth?—Tt would have to be a very clear photo to show. His Honor: How high would von hold your camera? —The lens would be 3ft Gin to 4ft off the ground. James N. Clarke, horse trainer at New Brighton, said he bought Eulius | at Tattersall’s saleyards on August 2G. 1923. Ho was sold as being the winner of the Gisborne Handicap. Witness had trained the horse since; lie had a bit of speed but could not stay. His best distance was over a mile, but witness had driven him for n mile and a half. Witness trained Willie Lincoln for a couple of years and won races with him. The photograph produced was not that vf Eulius, and though witness would not swear it. he thought it was Willie Lincoln. Another photograph produced witness recognised as Eulius. He was induced to buy Eulius because the horse did not look in racing condition, and he thought that if it could win a two mile race in that condition he would be a good proposition when trained. itness had Willie Lincoln, up to some time in July, training it for Messrs lies and Young. When he handed the horse over to Air lies it was m good racing condition. Ho beeel the horse had be<jn clipped just previously. Willie Lincoln had a mile record of 2min lOsec. and Eulius had done 2min 22sec. "Willie Lincoln had done 4min 27sec for two miles ; there were not more than five horses in the country with a record better than this. 1 here was a difference in the appearance of the horses. Willie Lincoln, stood co-.v-liocked with his feet turned out. Eulius was straighter behind than Willie Lincoln. One horse went with a 58} hopple and the other went with a 53, which showed that one stood over more ground than the other. In action Willie Lincoln was a bold pacer, and the other was what witness called a potterer. There was no resemblance between their gaits. Air Hanlon : Do you say that you are able at all times to identify horses from photographs?—No. I do not. The truth is that you can’t?—l say you might be able to. Isn’t it impossible?—No; I am certain that I could identify some horses from photographs. When is it possible to be able to toll a horse from a photograph?— A\ hen you handle him every day. Then you say that there can be r.o other horse like him?—Yes. The photographer says that if he puts the camera low it makes the logs long. That puts your conformation

theory out?—No, you don’t look mly nt the legs. Do you judge by the length of the barrel?—No, by the general conformation.