After the Races.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VI, Issue 299, 16 April 1896, Page 7

After the Races.

[By

Gipsy King.]

THE AUCKLAND EASTER MEETING.

The Weather. If ever 'he Meteorological Department attempted to bluff people, they tried it during Easter week, while the Auckland Racing Club’s Autumn Race Meeting was under decision. Upon each day of the races, ugly-looking black clouds were hovering round, and seemed as if they were filled out so much with aqua pttra that they would like to burst, but a controlling hand seemed to be about, and, although there was m e slight shower, it did not last long enough to do harm to anyone. However, between the second day (Tuesday) and the third day (Saturday) there were several sharp showers, and on the latter day the course was inclined to be a trifle holding, but, juding by the times registered in several races, there was not much amiss with the condition of the track. The Attendance. As I am partly a stranger to the Auckland course, I am not in a position to make a comparison, as regards the attendance, with former meetings, but my estimate was that the average each day was not far off 4,000 people; this is, to my mind, a large attendance for an Easter meeting at a place where there are so many attractive places to go and spend a holiday. Besides minor attractions, the Easter Encampment so close to the city on the first day must have tempted a lot of people, who might otherwise have swelled the crowd at Ellerslie. The Management. From first to last everything connected with the management of the meeting seemed to jog along smoothly, and, I am thankful to say, there was an absence of that fussy style which makes even cool-tempered people irritable. 'J his evenness is only gained by having everything in thorough working order before the meeting commences, and then to see that the “ forces” —gatekeepers, ticket checkers, &c.—are well marshalled and understand their business. This, Mr Wm. Percival, the genial secretary, has evidently brought to as near perfection as it is possible to get. Evidently his assistants have grown with the volume of business, and as old servants they know exactly what they have to do, after having been put in the way of doing it. But, to attain these results, the honorary officers of the club, as a body, have to attend to a lot of administrative work, and have to be en evidence on the course in case anything transpires that- demands attention ; but the thousand and one details, of course they fall to the poor secretary. No one has any

idea of what running a race club means, until they take up the duties of secretary then the fun begins. But Mr Percival would, no doubt, make light of his duties during the meeting, for the reason that he has the honor of having bred St. Paul, who won the Great Northern Champagne Stakes, defeating Armilia, who was said to be invincible. To say that congratulations were showered upon him is putting it mildly, and the hearty way in which the colt was cheered, when he returned to the weighing enclosure, was sufficient evidence of the popularity of the colt.

The JudgingThe placing of the hon. judge, Major Banks, was never once questioned at the meeting until the Grand Stand Handicap of five furlongs was decided. In this race Forma, against the rails, was apparently galloping strongly, with Orion next to her, until reaching the Derby stand, where Lillie benaii to creep up on the pair mentioned. Gallagher at once got to work on Forma, not artistically, though, and despite what he could do to the mare (Forma) she was tiring, and Lillie got on terms with her opposite the big stand, and when they passed the post Lillie had her head and a portion of her neck clear in front of Forma. I was right in a dead line with the winning pist and judge’s box, purposely placing myself in that position, as I could see that if Lillie kept going she would just about beat the favourite. 1 was on the top stand, only a few people being up there at the time, but two other gentlemen who were sitting on the steps, one below the other, but in line with the post, had no hesitation in making Lillie the winner by a clear head at least. I had written in my card, “ Lillie won by half a neck,” when to my surprsse, Forma’s number was hoisted, and I am informed by a gentleman who was standing close to the judge’s box that the judge gave his decision, “ No. 3 ” (Forma) very promptly. But a large number of people (those, of course, who were not on Forma) were quite agreed thai Lillie had won, and were much surprised to hear that Forma was placed first. lam convinced it was an error of judgment, and it speaks volumes for the high respect in which Major Banks is held, when nearly everyone was making excuses for his error, and not one cast a suspicion that his decision was other than the result of a mistake. Returning home some of those in my train were confident that Major Banks went by the numbers on the saddle-cloths, and he had taken Forma’s number instead of Lillie's. So eager were they to defend the honour of the A.R.C. judge, that they did not stop to think that the judge could not see Forma’s number, as Lillie obscured the view. The Starting. This department was in charge of the veteran, Mr G. Cutts. There were very few indifferent starts at the meeting, in fact, taking the twentythree starts he made, they were decidedly good, but taking into consideration that he has the starting machines to assist him (not the best patent in. the world, I will allow) there is too much delay at the post, caused principally by not having a proper control of the jockeys, and allowing them all to crowd on to the rails, instead of marshalling them from the outside and making each horse stand still. This marshalling should be on the ground by the starter, and then gradually work towards the lever, and if the jockeys will not remain where they are placed by him, pull out the fine book and start at £l, and increase it every time a horseman tries to disorganise the line. But discrimination must be used, so that a jockey on a horse that is naturally fractious is not fined when the horse is the culprit. In the St. George’s Handicap, for instance, the horses were at the post for a long time, and people were beginning to get fidgety. Of course St. Laura was to blame for the delay, but Mr Cutts should have ordered her jockey to take her to the outside of the track. She walked in and out amongst the" field, and let go with her heels at and all and sundry, and they were lucky horses that escaped one, if not more kicks. To my knowledge Free Lance was kicked four different times. She was not content with kicking them, but followed them up, or at least kept backing on to them, until she

had exhausted the list. Had I been an owner of a horse in the race I should have brought it back to the paddock. How the jockeys came to escape getting broken legs is a mystery to me. I must refer Mr Cutts to Ride 99. Several owners I spoke to were very bitter about this affair, and they had reason to be, because while St. Laura took good care not to exert herself too much, except when she was kicking, the other horses were worked up into such a state that they had run their race before the barrier went up. Waiuku was supposed to be the unruly horse at the uost, and he was placed well out from the others, but except when another horse kicks him, all the kicking he does is harmless, and I have seen him at the post in a good few races. Mr Cutts gets his field too close to the barrier. If he placed the horses nearly half a length away from the tape, they would not be half so restless. The Handicapper.

This is the department that always gets “ beans,” no matter how things go, and if a man gets through a three days’ meeting with some of the second-class stuff that was running at the meeting, without stepping on the toes of some owner, all I can say is, such a man is a treasure. Mr Evett had 280 acceptors for 23 races, an average of 12 horses for each race, and this proves conclusively that his adjustments were acceptable to the greater majority of owners. The results, too, of the racing proves that he was not far out. Of course his treatment of Acone, in the Easter Handicap, was lenient, but if he erred so have other handicappers, and one that is supposed to belong to the Royal family of handicappers—a privilege Mr Evett does not claim. I saw Acone fight out his one mile and a quarter race with Lotion, at Manawatu, and half-way down the straight it was anybody’s race. That was no form much to win an Easter Handicap on, especially to those of us who saw Anita run in the Wan-

ganui Cup. I don’t know that I would have given Acone any more than 7.10 for one mile and a half if the handicaps were declared just after the Manawatu meeting. Acone improved a lot after the Manawatu meeting, and began, to stay better; and Lotion, also, has showed considerably better form and has been steadily improving in his staying since Christmas. The LuncheonThe catering in the Grandstand Luncheon Ro?m w r as much better than I have been accustomed to see at meetings on the Taranaki-Wel-lington Coast, and Mr McEwin deserves credit for the manner in which he carried out his tender. The Band. I must say a word about the band, under the conductorship of Mr Impey. It is a real good band, and the members seem to know how to tone down the brass, and did not attempt to blow it all out on the course. Leaving the big drum at home would, I am sure, have been a kindness to many. It is unfashionable now to take a big drum to a racecourse, as the space is somewhat confined, and every beat seems to re-echo against the Grandstand and other buildings, and, unless there is a favourable breeze, it is nothing but .big drum all day. Besides, horses don’t appreciate it.

The Totalisator Figures. To further prove that the meeting was a thorough success, one has only to glance through the following figures. Mr Bloomfield and his assistants handled the undermentioned amounts :

SL/-L ( / <7 This gives the gratifying increase for . this year of £4,188. The Racing. This is a big item to tackle, but my orders are to go slow, as space is at a premium this week, consequently I will have to supplement my remarks next week. Anyway, a long review, I think, wearies the most enthusiastic of sporting readers, although, goodness knows, if they were given a 200-page volume each week, they would come up smiling for more, but I think they pull up at the review of a race meeting when they have the results before them. As a stranger to Auckland, I viewed racing “ right-handed ” for the first time since ’92, when I was introduced to Rosehill and Randwick. I never did like the right-handed way. I suppose I have seen so many races on left-handed race tracks that my eyes naturally swivel in that direction. I don t seem to be able to follow the racing so well as on a let-handed course, but towards Saturday my left eye was becoming amenable to reason, and accepting the dictum that we eould get no lefthanded racing at Ellerslie, we settled down. I enjoyed the racing, and would have done more so had I not been on “ duty.” As I am unable to do justice to the racing this week, I will just touch on one or two of the main features. Contrary to expectations, George Wright’s stable did not “ skim the programme,” as everyone said before the meeting started. But the fact is he only won two events on the first day, the Easter and Railway Handicaps with Acone, and the. Grandstand Handicap with Forma on the third day. The latter can hardly be accounted a win. It is strange how lucky George Wright is when these errors occur. He has received more than one stake during his racing career in this way ! St. Laura was the “lady ”of the meeting. She started off the first day by getting third in the Tradesman’s Plate, one mile, and later in the afternoon bettered this by winning the Eden Handicap, 7 furlongs, with 8.7. On the second day she annexed the Stewards’ Handicap, one mile, with 8.10, and followed it up during the afternoon by winnin°' the Flying Handicap, six furlongs, 9.5 (with penalty), Then on the third day she treated us to another exhibition nf galloping, by carrying 9.8 in the St. George s Handicap of one mile, the time registered being lmin43£ssec. on a “dead” sort of track. Truly she had a benefit. Of course, people said rude things about her performance in the first race, but I am in a posi ion to say that Mr Watson had more money invested on his mare in the Tradesman’s Handicap, when she finished third, than any other two races together that she won at the meeting. He can only account for her defeat because she may have been short of a good pipe-opener. There is no doubt that the mare improved as the meeting went on, and she surprised no one more than her owner in the St. George’s Handicap by putting up such a good gallop. The steeplechase races I enjoyed thoroughly. When I arrived in Auckland, I was asked by a few acquaintances why I had not brought a jumping-horse up with me, assuring me that there was a poor lot of jumpers about. Well, they can call them what they like, but I don’t know any horse on the West Coast that can jump any better than what I saw the field in both steeplechases do. They may go

faster—and fall over. The Autumn Steeplechase , was a treat. Every horse jumped splendidly, and we had a real good finish; and the unexpected happened—Bombardier stood up, jumped well, and was beaten by Carbuncle., a game little mare that cannot stand much higher than 15 hands. Her essay in the Stteplechase on the third day was just as successful, and she never made a mistake, although Ika, who has not quite so much pace as the North Shore trained mare, was making her do her best. He is a fair horse for the minor steeple events, and should have been nominated for Egmont and Wanganui, along with Carbuncle. One can get a splendid view of the Steeplechase from the top stand, and, although it is something of a climb to get up there, it is crowded when the steeple events are being decided. I shall have more to say next week about the form of some of the nags, but. as a “ new chum,” I-must say that- the meeting was . splendidly conducted and seemed to be a success in every way.

First Day ... 1896 ... £6748 1895 £4446 Second Day... 5305 4489 Third Day ... 5426 4356 £17.479 £13,291