WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IV, Issue 162, 31 August 1893, Page 5

WELLINGTON.

August 21. The Foxton Racing Club’s annual dinner has been fixed for Friday, the Bth September. The Manawatu Racing Club has offered the new trotting club in that district the use of its course at a charge of Z 25 per diem, £lO to be deposited to cover any damage that might possibly be done to the grandstand or the accessories. At the Club’s last committee meeting the Stockboy case was considered. Mr Fitzherbert was present on behalf of Mrs Lyons, the nominator of the horse, and stated positively that the case against the man who sold the horse would come on at the next sitting of the District Court. Under these circumstances the stewards agreed to postpone further action until after the sitting of the court. Mr C. Diamond, owner of the racing mare Jewel, disqualified at the March Meeting, wrote as follows: I beg respectfully to ask your committee to re-consider the disqualifiation of myself and mare, and to ask that you will remove it, as I think it is hard lines that I should suffer for other people’s actions. It was decided that the committee could see no reason why the disqualification should be removed. Correspondence was read from the Rangitikei Club with regard to the constitution of Metropolitan Clubs, and stating that they were of opinion that the Metropolitan Club should be constituted of representatives of each club in the district, such representation to be based on the amount of stakes given. After a lengthy discussion the opinion was unanimously expressed that some action should be taken with reference to the formation of Metropolitan Clubs, and it was resolved that a meeting of all country clubs on the west coast of this Island, also the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay districts, be held in the Commercial Hotel, Palmerston North, on Thursday, September 14th, at 2 p.m., to discuss the advisability of country clubs being represented on Metropolitan committees, and that each country club in the above districts be invited to send delegates. A request was received from the Horowhenua Jockey Club to join them in forming a Hack Racing Association for the Wellington Province, with power to deal with all matters affecting back racing totally independent of the Metropolitan Club, and with equal power of dealing with racing matters. No decision was come to on the matter.

The Pahiatua Racing Club has decided to hold its first meeting on the 4th January. Betting on the New Zealand Cup has been fairly brisk here during the last week. St. Hippo is still steadily backed, but it is difficult to get more than 8 to 1 about him. Response is at 10 to 1, and most of the Wellington bookmakers have laid her to some hundreds. The stable

commission is said to have been fully Hippomenes, Riversdale, Outpost, Prime Warden, St. Katherine, Saracen and Thame are those next in favour at from 100 to 10 to 100 to 6. [The above reached us too late for last issue.— Ed. ] [by wire "] Tuesday. The committee of the Wairarapa Racing Club in its annual report congratulates the club on its present position, the good state the course and property are in, and the success of the past season. Instead of a falling off in the totalisator returns, such as most of its contemporaries have experienced, the club can show an appreciable increase There was also a very marked increase in the revenue from privileges. The resolution of the Racing Conference that the totalisator tax should in future be borne by the clubs will not give the club any cause for anxiety. The committee thinks the amount of representation proposed to be given to country clubs at the Conference is hardly fair, also that country clubs should have representation on metropolitan clubs’ committee. The club’s receipts for the year (including £435 brought forward) came to £3,147. and there is a balance of £157 2s 9d in hand. During the season over £9OO has been spent in improvements to the grand stand, lawn, saddling paddock, and river protection works and course. To pay for this a loan of £5OO was procured, £2OO of which has already been paid off. i On Saturday afternoon an interesting hurdle race took place on the Island Bay course, and attracted a large concourse of spectators, including many of the leading citizens and quite a bevy of legislators. The race was a match between Mr C. P. Skerrett’s Halicore and Dr. Gillon’s Ginger. Both owners are members of the United Hunt Club, and Halicore won the Hunt Club Steeplechase and Ginger the Maiden Steeplechase at the recent Hunt Club Steeplechase Meeting. There was a little betting, mostly at evens. The conditions were 2J miles over eight hurdles, owners up. This gave Mr Skerrett about a stone advantage as regards weight. The start was a good one, but Ginger refused the first jump, and Halicore had gone half a mile further before his opponent again got under weigh. Halicore lost a lot of his advantage by running round a hurdle, but continued the second round with a good lead. He then ran round the same hurdle again, and Ginger, coming on, passed him just before he got over and led into the straight for home by ten or twelve lengths. Dr. Gillon thinking it all over rode very leisurely along the straight, but about a hundred yards from home Halicore came up very fast, and the doctor hearing him coming tried to rouse Ginger to finish, but amid great excitement Mr Skerret just got up and won by a little over a length. Dr. Gillon admits that he was caught napping. After the match, which was for a trophy and the loser to pay £5 to the Hunt Club, a scratch race took place once round the course, about nine members of the Hunt Club and their friends taking part. The horses kept well together for half the distance, when a chestnut mare belonging to Mr Geo. Humes, of the Wairarapa, shot out and won easily. The course was in a terribly muddy condition, and the riders in the race on returning were in a pretty pickle. Mr Waddington, who lately came up from Christchurch with several trotters, has sold two of them to Ngahauranga residents. One of them, Seesaw, won a maiden at Heathcote some time ago. The other is a maiden. Mr Waddington tells me he intends bringing up two or three more trotters from Christchurch.

I hear there are likely to be further unpleasant developments over the DickTinker disqualification in the Wairarapa. Mr Halward’s Houp La, by Remington, a well - known local hack, was shipped South yesterday, having been sold to an Oamaru sportsman who wants him for hunters’ races.

In the annual report of the Marlborough Racing Club the outgoing committee recommend that the new committee arrange for a spring as well as an autumn meeting. Some days ago Mr J. Freeth’s four-year-old Revolt, by Treason, broke away from the boy while being led at the Hutt course and bolted for nearly two miles. Fortunately he was unhurt when caught. The annual meeting of the Otaki Maori Racing Club was held at Otaki on Saturday evening. The report and balance sheet showed receipts 9s and expenditure 7s, leaving a

balance of 2s for the coming season. Last year’s officers were unanimously re-elected, and a rough programme for Ist January, 1894, was drawn up and adopted for submission to the Metropolitan Club. The annual meeting of the Wellington Racing Club, which was to have been held on Thursday, 31st inst., has been postponed until Wednesday, 6th September. Response, St. Hippo, and Riversdale have been in request for the New Zealand r'up, but prices have not materially altered.