THE LATE OPAKI MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 347, 23 December 1879, Page 2

THE LATE OPAKI MEETING.

[by gimlet].

With fine weather, what might be made a. beautiful course, what were termed ''splendid" entries, and a tolerably enticing programme—i.e., from a spectator's point of view,—the last meet at Opaki cannot be pronounced a success, So far as the attendance indicates whether or not the club possesses the sympathy and goodwill of the public, the verdict on the first day especially was decidedly against the meeting as being far below previous gatherings at Opaki, Whether the paucity of attendance is dvie to the prevailing depression, to the race days being so near the glorious 4th, or that the Opaki B«co Meeting has lost caste, I shall leave to others to decide for themselves, I have my own opinion. At present my particular business is to discuss tho racing and what occurred on the 2nd and 3rd inst,, not to demonstrate how the meeting could be made better or more popular, and oii» iu so far as a faithful resume of the proceedings will enable thoie who care for a good race meeting to form their own opinions on the management, shall I digress from the racing itself,

• .^?^ a^0n "was interesting as introducing to notice the colt Repudiator by Termga, from Hatred (a mare contemporary with Envy and Malice that played an important part in many events ere she left the turf). He is a nice colt, but unfortunately damaged his hock in a wire fence, which may have interfered with his preparation, for bred as he is, with a good style of moving, the company he met 111 the Maiden Plato ought not to have troubled him; He started first favorite too, but the pace Prince Albert (an aged son of the defunct Ravensdowne) took them along at settled his .pretentions when a little over a mile.had been covered It was then that Casey, determined to keep the going true, took Romeo to the front, and, playing with his field, .won comfortably by half a length, As he wajcprngk 91b, and the time given • 5 it was above the average performance, 3 „ d a very popu]ar m people gool ' ™ !ie3 of most The Ladies' Purse was a surprise. Report stated that Lady Grey was pounds be ter than ever she had been, and without a doubtshe looked it, I never remember seeing the mare so well, and why she did not race better is hard to say, unless the I2st lib stopped her, for the pace was nothing, Mr Murray who « 0 t away with a long lead, pulling Slower almost into a canter as they passed the stand the first time, when Lady Grey and Harkaway coming on with a fair stride, St with"% aftel ' a short tight with Sloper, soon headed him, and ;roneas y could not "help thinking that with the long lead Sloper had before going half a mile, if hj a r^er j ia( j j et gai j along a a fair bat instead of fighting with him to keep hun back, he would have got so far away that the others would likely enough have never caught him, Harkaway was evidently watching Lady Grey, and most racing men know how often races are won by allowing despised outsiders to get a long lead. The same amount of strength and power that Sloper used in fighting with his jockey would have taken him chains further on his journey, as.heis not too courageous, and the fact of his being in front would have brought out the best part of him, and a good race would probably have resulted. Mr Renalls finish on Harkaway wag a disappointment, and a long way below what he is capable of, That he can finish and knows how, I am sure, and I attribute hia exhibition in the Ladies' Purse solely to want of practice an anxiety approaching almost to fright that alwa 3 catches a man when the pincli comes and Ins condition is not equal to the occasion

I. The Hack Race that followed is onl interesting as being likely to prove i : turf history, the starting point iu wha lawyers term a • cause celebre." Mr T Ray a grey gelding Shamrock (lie won ft Maiden at Opaki two years ago) won boating a sp endid field, but had to witl stand the ordeal of two protests, one fo crmngandtheotherforbeingnoniinate, , , the OpakiHandicap which the objecto declaimed, made Shamrock a racehorse Whether the Stewards ever decided tha question I do not know, but the race wa; awarded to Blue Jacket, the cross beini held proven, It seems a warm thing t< disqualify a horse for an accidental cross unless it interferes with the other horse'i S C J S i i aS Shiim, ' ock TO neve > l eaded and the cross took place early in the race, the result was clearly not influenced thereby, However, so long as the law relating to crosses stands as at present we shall always hear of them when the slightest chance occurs wf ?!?• S , llamr ° ( * beat » splendid field. What think ye of Blue Jacket, Talleyrand, Fores Queen and Roebuck, in a ten stone hack race) And what chance has a bona fide hack against such cattle, with jiot an ounce jo f sup]us fl e3 h 0 n them, bellow clear and as fit as hands can make ;hem for the time they have been in work inly they evade the term "trained" bejouse they hayenot been seen in clothing. Hie advertised value of this event was £lO md the runners actually contributed £7 ' the money After all, can anyone uestion seriously their right to %oas hey like, seeing that the club only subcribes the munificeat sum of £3 in a £lO lack race, making the poor wretches who howthefun findthebulkof the stake. ■Jio Opaki Stakes Handicap was the next tern, and five of the seven nominated rent to he post. Up to this event the dryhash business had not appeared, lit the handicap being the first item in lost of the doubles that had been picked, ie bookmakers were particularly anxious nay against anything in the race, The 'ivcr, with9ft 81ba and C. Winteringham i the saddle, was quite the favorite nick, nilst those who knew what work he had sen doing could not see him in it giving _omeo 261bs, especially as Southern niefs «on had done lots of muscleMing work, and his gallop in the Maiden id done nothing but string him up for e second task which had been set him ith 2st less to carry. That real good We fellow, Tim Whiier, was considered r the majority clean out of it .in such mpany. The result proved how near lie )uld have been had he been quite lit d well and a real horseman to steer him, hat a blow it is to the advocates of big 'rses to witness such a pony ? with 7st lbs, get home over two and a quarter front of such as The Diver, Orphan (Bst )s), and Ada (Bsfc 61ba), To my mind ndicapped according to any race Tim hiffler has ever run in, he was givin<* unds of weight to everything else in the :e. Nobody believes him within 2st of ie Diver, equal to Romeo, or, consider- t [ the distance, within l'Olbs of Ada 1 d why he was asked to carry fat lOlbs < beyond my knowledge. Ada, with Bst ' is, was "right in it," if she had been I > Ada of old-I allude to when Hay- 1 rd had her. The race itself was over <

"B.u V mrse-quarters ot a mile froi; home. Ada was first away and continue* in front for nearly half a mile, when Th Diver joined her. They raced thus to th stand, with Romeo, Orphan, and littl Tim cloße up, At the turn for the secom round Casey was waiting, and, seeing th pace was not fast enough, told the boy oi Romeo to go on—and perhaps he didso also did The Diver, who left Ada am assumed command. The boy on Romeo leaving {lie track, ran wide and sent hi charge at his best pace after the leadin P air - The Diver was going so well tha! many of his admirers yelled "Diver Diver!" which was responded to bUoineo s partisans as he caught and passei Ada and essayed to get on terms with tin hero of the district. Still riding him a if for bare life, young Polling gradual shortened the gap between him and th' leader, and when the tartan jacket ranget up alongside the black and gold tho ex citement was intense. " Romeo 1 Romeo What about Southern Chief now j" couk be heard on all sides. Hats were throwi up, and offers to lay fabulous odds oi either of the pair that were fighting ou their battle so resolutely, went to make ut such a scene as I cannot adequately de scribe. As they joined issue the pact increased and before many yards hac been covered, condition ' and weighi told ita tale, and the younger and mw

favored competitor went clean away from his opponents. Here again the excitement beggars description, for the boy never left off riding, more's the pity, and won by any number of lengths, Tim Whiffier beating Ada for second place, Orphan next, and Diver, who was pulled off, coming in last. Romeo's sides bore testimony to the vigor of his jockey, but the absence of distress denoted that he was not a stranger to that real work necessary to get successfully to the end of a long race, whilst The Diver showed unmistakeable signs of distress, and his jockey prudently refrained from puniahmg a good animal, Mr Casey was congratulated on all sides, but not more bo than was Mr Hayivard, who has had to stand by and silently listen to the jeerino remsiks so much in fashion respecting southern Chief a ability to get anything but donkeys. So hia detractors said, but Romeo s victory effectually silenced them. 1 wish my remarks about the Handicap ended here, but it would not "be fair to do SO neither would the latter poition of my critique be understood, weie 1 not to mention how severely one man was tempted, and how fairly (!) ie Opaki Stewards treated him for going straigh . Whilst The Diver was being Sa ?f 1 n indlvulual accosted Mr Hay with- Do you race for money or for honor and glory fir Pay replied, " Oh, for both, lh ei i l e t me see| » t]le tempter, the race is £SO. Hero is the amount. Have The Diver pulled, it will be all the same to you." M r Ray's reply was kief and to the purpose, "No certainly not," he said, tl I never did such '?<t> com mence now." But said the "Dryhash," "everyone does it. here will you find any racing man nowadays to refuse?" "No matter, said Mr Ray, " niy ]iorse goes to flm ir he can, so keep your money." Lveii after tins there was an attempt made to square the jockey, but, to the honor of both owner and jockey be it said, they both bid the tempter stanc 1 aside, and although they lost the £'so, the esteem of every honest man is theirs; and so it ought to be. Annie got a bad start in the catchweight hack race, and havinw her shoes on and such cattle as Blue Jacket and Hall Court,to meet, this terror to all owners of hacks could only get third, Jjlue Jacket winning easily,