OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 75, 31 December 1891, Page 7

OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

LBv

WIRE.]

Christchurch, Dec. 29. A most successful meeting was held at Heath-; cote on Saturday and Monday. The first day was wholly devoted to trotting, and some capital finishes were seen. The chief feature of the afternoon was the treble win by Nilreb, a Berlin horse, who also won a trot in the mixed programme on Monday. Some time ago he was the property of Mulholland, a cabman in Christchurch, but of late the Kerrs have been, training him down New Brighton way, and it appears that they purchased hirp from Mui-; holland for 60 guineas. He is a smart one, anyhow. On Monday he had a start,, and he could have beaten anything in the race easily from scratch, and I shall not be greatly surprised to see him win at Plumpton on Friday. Fedora, who won a double at the late New Brighton Trotting Meeting, won the pony race easily. Though trained by Moorhouse, and run in his name, she belongs to a butcher in town, and there is no doubt of her ability, I am authentically informed her ability is beyond public form, and though her owner has been offered a good price for her he refused to sell her. - Sapphire paid a dividend of odd. I be* lieve the stable connections were the chief winners. I do not know what it is in Auck-> land, but down this way you must be in the know to win mUbh at trotting. The success of Clanranald may not haye been much of a surprise in Canterbury, but he is not much liked at Riccarton, though he is fast horse. With a good ’un alongside pf however, ** where would he be.” . He been a cheap enough horse to Mr. Lunn; but he has had great luck, and it appears to me that horses of Clanranald’s stamp pay just as well in New Zealand for racing purposes as top sawyer’s do. We do not know anything about Pinfire down here, and his victory in the Auckland, Cup was a surprise at Riccarton. After Lebel’s mishap Hilda was mostly fancied, and considerable' dissatisfaction is’ expressed about Pinfire’s» weight. But what can a handicapper do?, Trainers argue that he ought to go on public form, and a mentor who has a saved-up thing: frequently says very harsh things when the penetration of a weight adjuster discovers his motive. Were I a handicapper I should not care a civil damn for anybody whatever in the exercise of my duty. It appears to me that handicappers are sometimes got over. I do not mean that remark to apply for one moment to Mr. Evett and Pinfire and Co., but a general impression obtains that handicappers are , influenced in this colony, and whatever trainers say my opinion is that a handicapper must know more than public form to handicap properly. It is all very well for an owner or trainer to say my horse has done so and so, and at the weight you (the handicapper) have given him I will scratch him. ' Let the horse be scratched by all means; but an owner of trainer has a pull over handicapping with, handicappers not united numerically to certain districts and licensed. Under present circumstances an owner may scratch a horse for a certain minor meeting on account of excessive weight, and by influence get a stone taken off, his nag at a similar meeting not fifty miles away, and make a moral of winning. J - From the Auckland running it is apparent; that Mr. Hungerford made no mistake in the purchase of Wyvern. He fetched a good price certainly, and he is not a first-class horse ; but really good ones arp ifew and far between, and I have seen Wyvern cu,t out some good halfmiles on the plough at Riccarton. The raping ,at Heathcote on Monday attracted a very fair attendance, and some good racing eventuated, and speculation comparatively too, for that part. A majority of Riccarton professional people who journeyed down seem to have made a bit, and several of those connected with the stables picked , four or five winners from the programme before they departed for the scene, of action. That invariably augurs that divs, must generally be small. Sijverpint, however, paid over £22, and I know one who put a poupd on, but in that case it was the afterwards business generally of “ I ought to have known it.” Lady Zetland’s running in

the Heathcote Cup also knocked backers off her in the Midsummer Handicap, and my impression is that she 1 was backed by few people not in the i know in regard to her merits. She was riot pulled by any means in the Cup, but Ilium made the pace a cracker, and she and Regina fairly wore down Lady Zetland ere the winning post was reached. Missile has proved a very cheap purchase for Butler, as has also done Crown Jewel, and did luck in racing only rest in judgment Butler Would long ago have been a rich man, what cattle he has had of late years, and what kind of luck he has had with them. < I know of a good few dark trotters about Canterbury riow that will win sooner or later. When in conversation with a very shrewd racing mari to-day he remarked, “you can do nothing but hold them back if you want to win anything with them and there is no doubt that a great majority of trotting owners run their trotters for profit only. I believe in the rule that obtains in Australia to the effect that stewards, should they have any suspicion of malpractice, can change riders and drivers at their discretion, immaterial of the wishes of owners. '■ It appears to me that the Plumpton Park trotting and racing track will eventually prove one of the best minor courses in the disirict. It is very well laid out, and the going will commonly be first class I have a serious fault to find with the management, however, and that is that a fairly Whitechapel class of people are employed in minor official positions.