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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 431, 27 October 1898, Page 18

For ways that are dark and tricks that are vain the heathen Chinee may be peculiar, but he is not singular (states the Melbourne Sportsman). Some of our racing men could give Ah Sin 101 b and a very bad;beating. There are a few—not many, thank goodness ! —warm members training horses at present, as, in fact, there always has been, and always will be. These geniuses laugh to scorn the old-fashioned methods of “ stopping” horses that are “ not wanted ” Old-timers were content to rely on “Johnny Armstrong” ordrugs, the latter a most dangerous expedient. Your up to-date schemer knows a game worth two of that. On a certain horse that has raced at our suburban meetings some time within the last year or two —there is no need to be particular about dates —was often to be seen an innocent looking leather boot. Now, when this animal was not “ in commission” the boot would be “ loaded,” and the straps buckled so tight that the animal could not fully extend himself. A jockey who was above suspicion would be engaged to ride, and, of course, seeing this, the gentle, confiding public would rush to back the supposed good thing, only to fall heavily. Now that trainer finds it difficult to get a reputable jockey to ride for him. With all his “cleverness” he has not amassed wealth ; in fact, like most of his kidney, he will probably wind up in the gutter. Another device for deceiving the public is the loaded aluminium racing plate. Like the “faked” boot, the “ cronk” aluminium comes from Sydney, where the pony people have reduced the art of running byes to a science. I was shown one of these loaded plates the other day. To all appearances it was an ordinary racing plate, but instead of weighing only a few ounces it was quite as heavy as an iron working shoe. This was brought about by boring a groove in the soft metal, into which molten lead had been run. Wearing a set of these loaded aluminium plates, it would indeed be a very good horse that could win a race.