The Turf.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 97, 2 June 1892, Page 3

The Turf.

[by old turfite. J

A.R.C. Winter Meeting.

The general entries for the North New Zealand Grand National Meeting, which takes place at Ellerslie next Saturday and Monday, were made last Friday, and, taken as a whole, must be considered good. The Maiden Steeplechase has an entry of eleven, including Commotion and Somnambulist both of whom are engaged in the Grand National Hurdle Race; but should all start, the race should lie between Couranto and Somnambulist, Chance and Kate being the next two to be considered. The race, however. had better be left alone until the numbers go up, and the pro et con is settled, but Chance reads best.

There are fourteen in the Welter Handicap, one mile. Mr. Evitt has certainly not taken much trouble over the handicap, as twelve are in the lost division, Yattaghan and Rataplan reading about the best. The Grand National Hurdle Race has an acceptance of twenty-four, a moiety of which may come to the post. I have been through the handicap twice before, therefore shall not do so again. When the weights first came out I selected Couranto, Lonely, Commotion, and Glenelg as the most likely ones to furnish the winner. Since then Glenelg has gone amiss through an accident at Wanganui. Fabulous has been backed in singles and doubles to win a. good stake. He belongs to a clever stable, and he has shown plenty of pace on the flat, but has never appeared over hurdles. Belmont, since his easy win over hurdles at Takapuna, has been well backed by the public, and now is almost as good a favourite as anything ; but too much reliance must not be placed on the Takapuna running, as owing to the timber-smashing the first time round, it was almost a flat race. Belmont is a horse with a good turn of speed, and has the lenient impost of gst 51b. Over the only hurdle he had to jump at Takapuna, he cleared in good style, but it appeared to a practised eye that he jumped wildly and dwelt on landing, which is not a good point in a hurdle racer ; still he may upset all calculations. Tupara, 9St 81b, has also been well backed, and is looked upon as a “ dark ” one that is likely to land a big coup. He has shown a little form over hurdles, but he is one hardly likely to win brackets in a race of this description. Somnambulist does not appear badly in, but he has not been supported openly in the market, and on paper should be held safe by Couranto. The others require no further remarks. After looking them all through, and hearing many opinions I adhere to my original selections : Couranto, Lonely and Commotion, and I prefer them in the order named. There are ten in the Selling Steeplechase. The majority of them are hardly decent hacks, so the race should rest between Kate and old Hurricane —the former for choice.

Ten is again the main for the Maiden Hurdle Race. On paper it looks a good thing for Stepper with Hopeful Kate to hunt him home.

The Ladies’ Bracelet has six entries, and as it is for gentlemen riders- it depends as much on the jockey as the horse. If Yattaghan and Ida have good mon on their backs, they should fight out the finish. This concludes the first day’s racing. SECOND DAY. The second day’s programme is, as far as I am concerned, a skeleton one, as the weights and acceptances will appear too late for me to take any notice of, so I shall confine my remarks to the Great Northern Steeplechase, which has the good acceptance of twenty out of the twenty-three entries, though it must be confessed that many of them can have no possible chance ; still there is a likelihood of a dozen going to the post, and these should afford a good race. Whalebone,. 11st 51b, heads the list, and is a doubtful starter, but after the recent running at Hawera and Wanganui, he must be out of it. Ingarangi, lost gib, will find the pace too fast for him, though

he should get the course. Fishmonger, lost 81b, has been backed in singles and doubles to win a big stake, and will have the services of Morrigan, one of our best cross-country riders ; but he is an uncertain jumper, and it is very doubtful if he gets the course. Hune will not start. Couranto, lost izlb, after his running at Wanganui, reads a certainty, if a steeplechase in the colonies can be called so. Somnambulist, lost 51b, has a show for it, and must not be despised. Chance, at the same weight, has been backed, but will most likely find himself out-classed. The Colonel may be dismissed, as the pace at the outset will find out his weak point, as he makes a noise. Hopeful Kate, lost 41b, will keep plodding on, and if there are many mistakes may render a good account of herself. Commotion, lost 31b, is a dangerous one, but there are doubts if he will get the course. Shillelagh, lost sib, after his running at Hawera, looked a good thing, but it is reported that after the Wanganui meeting his leg filled again, and that he is lame. The remainder may be passed over. As in the Hurdle Race, I selected four when the weights appeared — Couranto, Commotion, Waterbury and Shillelagh. The two latter —especially Waterbury —have gone amiss, so I must rely on Couranto and Commotion. A.t the same time I look upon Somnamubulist and Fishmonger as dangerous ; but if good odds are to be had on the machine it will be well to save on Fishmonger. Couranto is my fancy, with Commotion next.

There are seventy-six Clubs affiliated to the New Zealand Trotting Association. Of these no less than seventy-one were represented at the late Conference held in Christchurch. Mr. H. Mcllwraith, representative of the Christchurch Trotting Club, was in the chair. Mr. Sydney James, the veteran secretary of the Dunedin Jockey Club, was present, having been chosen as the delegate of several of the Otago Clubs. The Chairman said that there had been a question raised as to whether Mr. James should exercise a vote for each of the Otago Clubs which had chosen him as delegate, and it was agreed that he could do so. Mr. James said that he would most likely only exercise one vote, for all that his Club asked had been agreed to, and that the Otago Clubs did not want to have it all their own way. One matter he would like to have a clear understanding about was the constitution of the executive, since it was said that members of executive were members of proprietary Clubs and held the greatest interest in the affair. After a short discussion Mr. Connell proposed, “ That no two members of the Association shall be eligible for election on the Executive Committee who are members of the same Club or who represent the same Club as delegates, and that no delegate shall vote upon any question in which he is either directly or indirectly interested in a pecuniary sense.” The motion was seconded by Mr. H. F. Reece, and Messrs. Sydney James and J. Williams supported it, and it was carried. The Conference then amended and made some fresh rules, which read really good ones. It is a great pity that all the Metropolitan Clubs do not follow the example of the Dunedin Jockey Club and recognise trotting meetings. It is a success in Otago, and could be made so elsewhere. Would it not be much better to have two or three good trotting races on a programme than to be compelled to see the same old scrubbers or hacks, meeting after meeting, running for a small stake. These horses are of no benefit to the Colony. They can only be called gambling machines, whereas a good trotter is always worth money, either as a hack or harness horse. One has only to travel through the Colony to see how few of that class are bred. If you do happen to come across one he always commands a good price. Then, as things are now, an unscrupulous man can commit a swindle on many trotting tracks, until he gets found out, and then start afresh on the flat, hurdle racing, or steeplechasing, because the Metropolitan Club of the district refuses to recognise trotting clubs.

The following is a synopsis of the new and amended rules of the New Zealand Trotting Association, as passed at the Conference, taken from the Otago Witness : —

Rule 1 now provides, ‘ ‘ That the Association shall consist of two delegates from each duly organised trotting or racing club in New Zealand, and also two from

each affiliated Metropolitan Racing Club, always provided the annual subscription is paid. Any affiliated club that does not hold a trotting meeting within twelve months from the date of the affiliation, or one meeting during each subsequent year, shall cease to be affiliated. No club is entitled to representation until the first meeting has been advertised.”

Rule 2 was amended so as to provide for the affiliation fee of £2 and a subsequent annual fee of £2. Metropolitan clubs only including one or more trotting events on their programme pay an affiliation fee of £1 and an annual subscription of £2. Country clubs in a similar position pay the same. Rule 4 relates to the election of officers —a president, treasurer, executive of five, and auditors ; that each delegate may represent as many clubs as choose to appoint him, but shall only be entitled to use one vote on any question ; that no two members of one club or representatives of one club shall be on the executive; and that a delegate shall not vote upon any question in which he is directly or indirectly pecuniarily interested. Rule 5 governs the order’ of business. , Rule 7 now reads as 6, and there are two important sub-sections in it. The first is, “ The programmewhen submitted shall be accompanied by a properly audited balance-sheet, showing the receipts and expenditure of the clubs for the past year, and in no case shall any progra-mme be passed unless it clearly appears from the balance-sheet that all moneys received by the club have been expended in stakes, making improvements to the < course, stands, or payment of interest and* sinking fund on purchase money, or generally in the interest of racing.” The second reads thus: “In no such programme, when the totalisator is used, shall the amount of the added money be less than the net commission estimated to be received from the totalisator (having regard to the amount received as commission in any previous year), exclusive of all amounts received from owners for nominations and acceptances. The intention of this rule being that the minimum net amount given to owners in way of stakes shall be at least equal to the sum received from the totalisator.”

There were four new rules added—the principal one (2), “When a novel race, in which the whole amount for which the winner is sold goes to the club, is included in the programme of any day’s racing, only onehalf of the advertised amount of such novel race shall be computed as added money.” Other rules much the same as racing and totalisator t rules were also passed. Under “Entry and Subscriptions for Races” the following words were added to Rule 42: “ The nominator must send the last three performances, either winning or losing, failing which the horse may not be handicapped and the entrance money may be forfeited.”

Rule 43 has been altered to read plainly, and is a very good one if strictly carried out: ‘ ‘ The name of any person who shall fail to pay, within four weeks after the same shall have become due, any entrance, acceptance, stake, fine, fee, or forfeit, and of any horse in respect of which such unpaid sum shall be due, may be published in the defaulters’ list.” The rule of charging owners £5 for power to change a horse’s name was retained, but it was agreed to give owners six months’ grace from the date of passing the rule to re-name free of charge horses that carried duplicated names.

Another good one is 75, “The stewards may order any horse off the track if they consider he has no possible chance of winning.” Another important rule was passed, “ That the totalisator should cease taking investments when the limit horse starts.”

Taking the rules all through, they are well worded and intelligible. If they are strictly carried out there is very little chance of any more swindles being perpetrated, and some of them may be adopted with advantage by the Metropolitan Clubs. From the active part that Mr, Sydney James took in the Conference it must be supposed that the Dunedin Jockey Club have affiliated with the New Zealand Trotting Association. If such is the case, it remains to be seen what other clubs will do. If the C.J.C. join the Association trotting will become still more popular and be conducted on a proper basis, as the A.R.C. and other clubs will soon follow the lead. It will be seen that at the Conference the great object was to do away with proprietary clubs and have no clique on the executive, also having it of a workable size. There is one thing that is not quite clear, how long are the executive elected for and can they be re-elected year after year. The Canterbury Times, in writing about the annual meeting of the C.J.C., states that the same Committee will be elected, as there are no new candidates for that honorary position, which is to be regretted, as ‘ new blood, even if it is not better than the old blood, has at least the virtue of a new broom, and just now it is most important, in the interest of the Metropolitan Club, that every corner of its affairs should be swept clean. I do not wish to suggest that the old management, which has aptly been termed ‘ a continual ministry,’ has seriously failed in any part of its duty, but there has long been a feeling that the Club is a closed corporation, without any particular sympathy for the great mass of sportsmen, who are bound to submit to the authority it exercises.” It also goes on saying, what is perfectly true, that while members allow the same

Committee to be appointed year after year it will be difficult to make the outside public believe that the Club is not a social affair and that election does not go by favour. It is a well known fact that many of the leading Clubs have had the same Committee (with perhaps one or two exceptions these have been elected without a contest) for perhaps some fifteen or sixteen years, while there are three or four that have absolutely the same persons on the Committee ever since the clubs were first formed. This must be detrimental to all kinds of racing, therefore all sportsmen must be glad that the Trotting Associaiton intends to avoid the “ continual ministryand one must wish them success, for if trotting goes ahead in this Colony there is a large market for horses, not only here, but in India, for it must be borne in mind that a good trooper must be an active trotter, as that is the pace to get over long journes. Your cantering or ambling animals soon knock up, though some may say that Arabs that cannot trot get over distances, but it must be remembered that they have a gait of their own that cannot be taught.