Sporting Review. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1893.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IV, Issue 168, 12 October 1893, Page 4

Sporting Review. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1893.

The action of the Wairarapa Trotting Club in disqualifying Mr Hiley, the owner of Tinker, for life for his acts in connection with the last race meeting of the club should have a chastening effect upon racehorse owners who feel inclined to leave the straight track for the tortuous one of turf trickery. Mr Hiley, it appears, ran his gelding in the harness race under the name of Dick, and won the race. But the owner of Fragment, a mare engaged in the same race, lodged an objection and proved to the satisfaction of the stewards that the winner had raced under an alias. Then Mr Hiley took up the position that he had been deceived by the previous owner of the gelding, and solemnly declared that when he purchased Tinker he was not aware that the horse had raced before. The stewards, who must be possessors of unusually trusting natures, accepted the statement, and believing Mr Hiley to be an injured innocent, awarded the race to the second horse, but softened the blow by passing a formal resolution that * the stewards wish to express their appreciation of the straightforward manner in which Mr Hiley, the present owner of the horse Dick, had given his evidence, and had thus cleared the matter up at once.’ But, alas for the trusting stewards and the guileless Mr Hiley. The former owner of Tinker read the resolution in the daily papers, and promptly forwarded evidence through the New Zealand Trotting Association, which conclusively proved that Mr Hiley when buying the gelding was told his name was Tinker, and that he had won two races. Then the stewards in the fulness of their wrath rescinded their resolution, and altered the verdict of honourable acquittal of Mr Hiley to disqualification for life. But how they will curse penning that resolution.