THE WELLINGTON RACE MEETING

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 385, 10 February 1880, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON RACE MEETING

■ ■ <■> BY OIJILBT. ■ The meeting held mi the Hot/ course hy the Wellington Racing Club deserves more notice than can he accorded to them by a "'special" at the scene of action, especially when the medium of communication used is the telegraph. Brevity is truly the soul of businesj in such case*, and'maiiy interesting details have to give place t( matters of greater importance, The meeting just concluded is worthy,

ofreview, as. being the : beat ever lieldiu'; the Empire' City, and'one of the most complete,successes yet chronicled in the colony. To be able to say that every nice, was run : on.Us.nieiits,,that thejnvjnßy.j.u.". will beVpnd : 'co" 'tire "owntir .fairly' entitled to receive it, is, in these days of bare-faced swindling, something to 'ilJeVjiiiuu^ far above anything ever ssen at the Hutt before ;■ the weather glorious; and the totalisators relieved the saddling paddock of a great many individuals whose noisy presence at any race meeting could well he dispensed with. There was a deal of betting dime, notwithstanding the totalisator, but it was transacted in a quieter manner and with' much less ostentation. .There are many items connected with the Club that one could complain of, For instance, the course is fearfully rouyh, and when the pace was best the horses were rolling like a small boat. Had it not heen for this drawback the Cup would have been much faster--Hailstorm, Lara, and the splendid field which followed ihem home so closely could have gone faster, and thereby have drawn out the spare pace Foul Play pissessed when he entered the straight, to fill up the small hollows would not cost a great deal, s-ud if done within the next few.- njojiths the Hntt course would again he wlfit it once wa3-oiie. of (ho best in New ZeaWid.

The saddling paddock is.not large enough and might easily be extended'; 'whilst the weighing room ami suffer from the same complaint, 7ii mentioning these necessary improvements to some of the Club's officers I was. met'at the'outset with "We simply have.not the money; are fully alive to .the importance of making our property as complete as possible', but our financial position forbids at present aught but the strictest - tludeF such circumstancesjt is needless to[expect any great improvements for a year or so, for, successful as the.last gathering: was, it -will only enable •the-Clnlr to-retfriW their liabilities, which have been a source of much anxiety to those wlnlwisli'to see the meeting worthy of the capital city, The pjiti'fintige ; and active interest d'f.his' Excellency Sir Hercules Rohinson is worth a great deal, for although;, not an-, owner "f racehorses at present, the countenanceand'Buppoit of > our distinguished? representative of 'Royalty will siire'lybav'e a beneficial influence'qii,tl» affairs of the. Club. His Excellency 'and suite r were' present bothdays,arriving before the first event and'remaining throughout 'the pro-' gramme, bein« greeted with cheers on his arrival and departure from the course,but not such hearty ones as I believe Wairarapa will give if his Excellency will only honor Tauherenikau with his presence* ■ The racing commenced with the Maiden Plate,Mr Redwood's filly Rore by Totam, not Rose as you printed it, being a decided favorite, her opponents being a chostnut colt, also from Blenheim, named Talent by Totara, Hamlet a grey imported son of Snowden, and Pnurera a -Hawke's Bay big descendant of Dainty Ariel hy Riddleworth ;.. our representative, flarkaway, being- wisely reserved for the good thins; he had : in the Empire Pla'.e. Talent- was known to be very fast, but his courage nndabilify'to get the distance was doubted. He upset', that'theory, for malrng the pacg a cnuti()h.fr<)m'the fall (iftheflagihe wassopn.-in command, aiid sailingalonu in .'beautiful, form. His opponents could

■never'tret on .terms with him, and he win

a fast.race by a length, Rnre behig next. Pourere also struggled on. gamely, and came in a respectable.third. —Time 2.47," and tlio> wlhiier carred Bst 2lbs witli. his 31bs overweight. Master A. Redwood was in the saddle, and evidently possesses the fami]y iknowledge in such in tters, for. he sat very quietly, and ivliPii Rnrelooked must dangerous, he never flurried his' ,ehai;g\\ hut-aH'iwed hiiu to race alone' unmolested, enditv,' with a clever victory With all .the partisan feeding so natural when ones sees his district champion rvp-*-posed tn cnlihre of a superior order; and alth-Mtgli with many' of iik,""" the wish would have fathered the thought," we CMiild not sue old Kan«aron in lh.< Hurdle Rice at even-, weights, .when opposed to suc!vanimals as Te Whelti, Poinore,'ard' especially sucli.hb tha great Lnnehaiid' To' 'fact nobody- evar"iiiiiiiined 'the''old veteran good enough for such company, even if turned loose. Theie were a few wjioveiitnrrfd a 'pomid. or two on him. .and'their; pluck did not, p'lsv.'niirewarded, The gli'.iioiH "uncertainty of the turf, as exemplified particularly in jinnp'ing races,

reared corrnlwivilu'e ev .la'iee in' Hie event under notice. Fur tak n.«j liptlie running-.- the last hiilf-mile«f.the journey. Te Whet 11 .was nuking tracks fur home at a c'iuking pace, with Tamitea and Kangaroo in hoi pursuit, the former being within a few lengths of the leaflet, when the last hurdle brought To-rt'lrctu down badly, leaving Kamraron to be first over the-last obstacle.- You m\y be sure that Hi:«inson was in nn mood for coinpanv during the rest of the distance, and pegged away all he knew, just.getting home before Tamatea, who came very'fast down the straight. - Lonehand baulked frequently, and to his'failure Tamatea owed his second place, as both of them could outfpot our representative, if they-would only jump as honestly. Kangaroo refused mice, but ■Higginsnn, who rode with good pluck and judgment, soon had him over and.going again, The victory was a' very popular one,' the winner receiving a small ovation aa he returned to the scale. . . I

, The Hack Hurdles also came toWarrarapa, Mr T, Bay appropriating it by the aid of Shamrock, Eclipse being the' Only one who was near him at the' finish. H|«sjitiß(in ; again-steered the winner, winning easily. , : . .'.'" '"""'■..'."'". By this time the Cup candidates had all arrived on the field, and immediately the bell rang, the scene in the enclosure was a busy one. The scra'ching of Vampire, York, S ; nking Fund, and Pin'fire left thirteen to try conclusions for the 40050v5 given by the Club;'' Every horse in the race was backed for more or less, Foul Play, Hippo, Ha Inform, and Lara, carrying the m<>st money, Lara's chance was considered a good one, lint not equal to what he could do, owing to'the hard groiii'd-hayinu bropghUon fever in his feet, which had caused branch anxiety to his owners, who, for the week previous, h;(d lipeh'poulticing and f'»m'ent"irig him from his vvf l hers to h's feet, in order, if ti find -where [he niisolvef was. Tlnit'ih'ey "managed to get bin mil well enough to run such a great race says much for their skill, and more of the .enurago of tho horse that 'fought so gallantly under nich disadvantages, for be could hardly hplililu out of the paddock after thei 'i\-ice;.wiui over. Too'see such horses as TempletoUi P'Mil-Play, Chaurellor, FPp'ior'Tiiiip'ia,'LaVa, HiiilstormV N'usem hi Kn; ' v bi iil',;Magi)oli;,;Soiik''r LiMlur, and Laertes,'weiuh out erent is a tro-it not oflen witnessed m th s ro|<>iiy; the more so as ihoy wm-B all starling un ier weights th it fc'eir very piesenco indicated they were able to race under.. ''" •''" -. ; •'-' : '■ •■.--' •

After the preliminaries were over Mr Ymng did not kei-p them Inny at the post. Balmoral refused to go up tn the flag, and-wag left at tho post, Insnwneintimating that he only went down to see

if lie would .starfcSThe other. tw^iye^Jeffc,. the starter, after one break awayyingbod' order, the colors of Hailstorm^King Quail, and Lara being the first to break "tliq .they„..Bai ) Ud,ju]piig j _the,jlwoJ£' j ■flETOiv • Anyoiie ;; ffould 'have tliougKFit' was only to he a half-mile dash; so ine;ry was the pace, I ara doing his best, to get, :, cbiriuiandi :j whilat'the^thetß-seeniect''idet'fiv-' mined to keep ahead of him, As, the) crossed the road, Hailstorm assumed, .command, King Quail and, Lara being, next, with the others close at their heels. En'ering the 'straight, Hailstorm's lead increased, but shortened again as thi field.' came down the straight. It wasi.asight; and I confess to being unable to give th'eplace3 ot more than the leading;three as. they passed the stand the first time, these being Hailstorm,'Kin:;"Quail, and Lara, the others in.a heap at their tails, and so quickly did they approach and pass the judge that, standing in amongst the; crowd, with all the thousand and ■one' remarks ringing in one's ears, it is simply impossible to get the places occupied by all the field, however desirable it may be.' Hounding the lower turn, Hailstorm was. still in front, with King Quail and Lara fiilloiviiig next, mid this order j was maintained to the | post, where the rear rank moved up simnltaneausly, absorbing Lara/ and King Quail. From this to the turn; the nice can best be described by saying that Hailstorm ■still led, the others-in;>. crowd at his heels, excepting that Norse-' man, when going well, collided with-a post, and got rid of his jockey, Bounding; | the turn Lara agiin left the cro)vd,,. aiid essayed to catch the leader, this time'suc-: uessfiilly, but so close were the twelve; together that, as seen from the' stand, they were all in it, and nobody could tell, which of the crowd was going to .'win. A3-ti'iey'cVimer' : witli lut judging distance, the public, so long almost breatliiesist ; the splendid struggle" 'going oti,/gave toiiguejind yelled Lara I Lava I but their iejolefoijs'iviera shortlived, for something, was seen coming up the centre of trie course, and not ut til he was almost .past the post did it seem to be realised;-'that fou|.P!ay.waß winning easily, .gw'ijf'.jn really beautiful form, with Derritt riding ; nq. if nothing was at stake, but 'merely .'doing an exercise gallop. Lara' "Wiis,Be,cond ) ,iinjl ..Hailstorm next to him; 1 ' His laiTeanfe the others, headed |y ■Hi|,ip.O; and Templeton, but so'close 'Vere they'.together that if the judge, had ..been..required to place more than three %-\vnultf hiive had a very onerous duty to perform. As a handicap it was a .real triumph, and Mr Lance'ctiuld well afford to smile at the hostile opinions, his work evoked from all parties when it first ap-"' pea'red. Thecungraiulatioushe received were numerous, and the Hon Mr Robinson's judgment in giving the big sum" of 800 guineas fur Foul/Play was not.questioned when he proved how great ah auimal he was. To succeed is truly the best success. Foul Play was bred by the late MrJ.W. Mallock, and is by Traducer. from F»ncy, by TonT-King fnttiiEiiiiim--line, Tlhj same line that gave us •Detractor, Golden Cloud, Scandal, &c, so that his racing fast and ..staying a-dis-tance ought not to have' been -such a matter of sunrise amongst-those/who knew how well his auditors ■ ! P. : . Jli^^.E.^Ar' Jfjfi/ibjl^der' 'aiid ■' late owner only died a few months a«o. Afterwi'iiuiiigj?oafe.uf the *"f.istest short, .races ever;rari'tin"the,coli.inies• with thißsqi) of' Traducer and Fancy, it was'nd,tiiis : lp,to see his coif run the .two miles'under the respectable impost of 83t . didtimeof 3.37. What will they.-.'say'ib "/Victoria? After-the cup Foul'.Play v-m 'scratched ; foi'.all his Wellington engagemen'ts and to finish his preparations 'for .tlin.Puned.in 9up ( . to .win..-aviiicli he has '■been backed-fin.' -ft • ring men suffered severely throng the result of the Cup, and in fact only a' a favored few, who were in ■'. tli'e Secret,. . wni| Anything, but then they threw, in fur' thousands, one supporter of the white g-ild sash netting tha nice little sum of £3303 -.-. •:■■ The winner is a brown horse with a somewhat .course neck, .and hit's' -the ap- . peiiriiiice.of_liei.iig a gross-feeder; >VIu appearance he 'is'a good deal like Mufti all over, the»same powerful back itudsq.ttaiv. ; fei's, and immense' driving • fibWeiiVihafc Traducer impwts 'tt-).all.his-pr<)^iiiyV^Bat v . ■ when he. moves"lfis .ability t,iy/ra&iitiy ; distance could scafcety.be doubted/'-So" close and--collected is Ins .ic/tipn—es'; pecially when fairly extended. .'■';. ".. ./- - : Annie made-quite a sorry -/exhibition •if .a big field in the Hack Race,,Bliiejacket not being able to get .fairly,oil terms with her when once the daughter of Peter Flat once gotHhrougli- theirtick.. There were s.ereiHeeirstarted;.-and the tiii ! was a long one.". ;; ,|. ' •-""The' Flying Strikes handicap brought out York, Billingsgate, Balmoral, lUit, catcher, Talent, and Sailor, ah"d : a very 'fast team'the first five are. Talent, with Gst 111b up, never gave the others ashowj for jumping off at the'fallof the flag he soon had a good lead, which heiiiiiuUiiied. throughout, York being second, and Billingsgate third. The winner's dam is a plough mare, She has been at work for years, and is even now" ploughing on -her owner's farm at Blenheim... One. could not.help smiling, as Mr H, Bedwood followed the winner into the yard,' and said to Mr Walters, " Well- if seems useless to talk about paying high prices for brood-mares when the progeny of a thoroughbred sire and plough-mare cancover three-quarters of a mile in 1.17, having behind him such noted fivers as /York and Billinsgate." With the Flying Stakes ended the day's sport, which for real good fast racing 1. •never saw beaten;