NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 455, 13 April 1899, Page 17

NOTES.

Nancy Till, of whom we gave a picture last week, and her owner (G. S. Corrigan) have been disqualified for life for attempting “ ringing-in” at Greymouth.. Nancy Till turns out to be Silver Rose 11.

One Campbell, the owner uf Denver, whose performances the stewards of the Greymouth Trotting Club wished to inquire into, has been disqualified during the club’s pleasure for refusing to come before the stewards when called upon. The Greymouth stewards are ’?ing their duty.

In the advertised conditions o the Easter Handicap Trot, run on the second day of the Auckland Trotting Club’s Autumn Meeting. Nothing was stated as to the liability of the winner of the Trial Trot to be penalised for the big event. Naturally, an owner accepts the published conditions as a contract, and so long as he fulfils his part of the agreement he expects the club to do its share. I, therefore, think Dulce’s owner had cause of complaint against the stewards in this matter. He undoubtedly lost the bigger prize through winning tbe Trial, but he thought he was not liable to a penalty, or Dulce would not have started in the first race. Dulce was re handicapped by a rule of the club, it is said. If there is such a rule it ought to be published in the programmes and in the race books. It is certainly unfair to an owner to accept his nomination and acceptance fees on conditions laid down and then to turn round and say, “ oh! now we will put a penalty on you for winning that race.” If a penalty is a condition of the race well and i ood, if the conditions do not set forth that a previous winner is to be re-handicapped no club rule should be allowed to operate as an afterthought. Mr Wickham started his mare with the penalty and thereby put himself ont of court. Had he not done bo 1 would not have considered his chance of recovering the stake in a court of law a hopeless one. There is one other point. The race was a trial or maiden trot, the other was a big open race. I should like to know whether the club rule enforced in this case makes a penalty obligatory or whether the matter is left to the handicapper’s discretion.

1 remember a somewhat similar case at Christchurch, in the spring. Motuiti ran such a close second to Vickery that owners cf horses in a race further on in the programme wanted the mare re-handicapped. I think the liability of winners to be penalised was set forth in the race book, but Mr Brinkman wisely refused to disturb the original adjustment. Vickery had the inside and managed to keep Motuiti at bay all the way through the last lap. The case is not on all fours with the Dulce question, but there is a certain amount of similarity, and I certainly think the Auckland handicapper, if he was allowed to use his discretion, was a bit hard. If he couldn t help himself, being bound by an unpublished rule, then all I need say is that the Club had better notify the fact in all future announcements that winners are liable to a penalty. The Bob E.T. muddle is a deplorable piece of business altogether. The horse got ten seconds too much start, and then his backers received the dividend, because the protest was not handed in time. It is hard lines on Albert Victor’s owner, and very severe on his backers. Tbe race will be run on Wednesday after this portion of the paper has gone to press. The appeals by the owners of the runners up to Jessie Palm and Wildwood, winners at the recent Plumpton Park trotting meeting have been dismissed, though in each case the deposit has been returned to the appellant, In Jessie Palm’s case the evidence was very feeble. Some busybody in Dunedin wired up that a friend of Mr Mace, the owner of Jessie Palm, backed the mare in his town. It transpired that Mrs Mace was at Dunedin on the day of the race, and the friend invested one pound for her and one pound for himself.

There was more ground for appeal in the Wildwood case, but in the end the South Island Trotting Association decided to dismiss the appeal, though this was not done before considerable discussion had taken place. Wildwood and Sing Sing are in the same stable, and the owner of the latter, Mr W. Kerr, has a half interest in Wildwood. One of the Canterbury delegates spoke his mind about the affair, and urged that the Association should bracket on the totalizator all horses trained in one stable.

At the South Island Trotting Association meeting, during the hearing of the Wildwood appeal case, one of the witnesses gave the views of a writer in the Referee as evidence, and the chairman very properly said that newspaper comments could not be accepted as evidence.

Vickery registered a good performance at Lancaster Park. In the Limit Handicap the little mare trotted the two miles in smin 1 l-ssec after having outside running for the whole of the circuit of the Park track. Vickery is a little wonder and has made great improvement since the spring. On the second day Vickery had to strike her colours to Motuiti to whom she was giving a good start. In the spring it was the other away about and Motuiti had to give Vickery an allowance.

Scrutineer has at last won a race. On the second day of the Lancaster Park meeting Mr Mulholland’s consistent battler got home first and rewarded his patient supporters with a very good dividend. I hope his owner backed him well for he thoroughly deserved a win.

The stewards of the Lancaster Park Trotting Club would not allow Bellman to start at the meeting. They called upon the nominator in whose name the horse was entered, for proof of ownership, but as he could not produce any Bellman did not make an appearance. The South Island Trotting Association have suspended R. S. Henry’s licenses to ride, drive and train, and have withdrawn those issued to W. Crossan, who has been disqualified by the Gore Jockey Club for participation in the St. Denis affair.