WAIPAWA COUNTY RACING CLUB’S WINTER MEETING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 462, 1 June 1899, Page 12

WAIPAWA COUNTY RACING CLUB’S WINTER MEETING.

[by OUR NAPIER CORRESPONDENT.]

The above meeting took place on the new course on the Qeeen’s Birthday.. For a couple - of days previous to the gathering a continuous rain had been falling, and on the morning of the races the weather had a still unsettled outlook, which had the effect of deterring numerous Napier, Hastings, and country-side patrons from attending the fixture, consequently speculation was not of a brisk description, £2,544 being handled by the totalisator officials, which is about £3OO less than passed through at the similar meeting last season. The improvements effected on the track had the desired effect, for there were no accidents, as was the case upon the occasion of the opening of the course on the Prince of Wales’ Birthday, so that the disadvantageous weather applied a good test to the capabilities of the running path. When the bell rang for the first race the climate improved, and dnring the afternoon the sun managed to assert his influence,"which made matters pleasanter than was anticipated. Every member of the executive labored loyally to pr< duce goodresults, and their efforts were duly appreciated by those interested. Mr T. Cameron made exceptionally good dismissals, with the exception of one race, the Hack Flying, of five furlongs, which was a most straggling send-off, but it must be borne in mind that the field (eleven) was the largest that lined up during the day, and we all know that in a race of that description that a good start means having a great mortgage on the event, therefore the eagerness of the contestants to get going ofttimes puzzles the most efficient and able starter to equalise matters for each and everyone.' Business started with the Hack Hurdles, the field consisting of eight participants. En Avant headed Ruby by a solitary pound for the position of favorite, the ultimate winner, Gorse, having £l5 less invested on his number than the Forerunner gelding. Gorse was always in the van, and when En Avant made a mistake at the thi d fence it simplified matters for him, as the rest of the field were tailing away hopelessly in the rear, and there is no doubt that had En Avant hot made a bloomer the booty would have fallen to him. Eucharist, a Danevirke-owned gelding by Wonderland from Incense, got second berth, and another horse from the same district, Schnapps, filled third place. Gunlock, a halfbrother, by Flintlock, to the burd.e mare, Marina, made bis appearance in this race, but his appearance did not impress backers favorably, as out of a total of £291 invested, there was only a single sovereign invested on his chance. Joe Scott, who used for a long time to control Langley the Devil and other horses, rode the winner, who paid £4 ss. Coolgardie wxs dropped upon by backers as the correct elucidation of the Handicap Hack Race, one mile and a distance, and their picking him was no mistake, as he paralysed his fieldwhen the pace was turned on at the home bend' Hila, the second favorite, got the 5 sovs attached to the second place, and Will o’-the-Wisp, a nice, even-made gelded son of Mystical and Ripple (St. Leger —Foam), owned by Mr W. Robinson, got the third position. Will-o’-the-Wisp is a stable companion of Lady Lome and Te Hapuka, and depend upon it, that when he is more forward he will be worth keeping an eye on, as he showed, even in his. backward condition, that he knows how to use his legs. Coolgardie paid £1 14s. Besides the place-getters, Te Ori and Chance also started. All the acceptors, half a dozen in number, ranged up for the big race of the day. Castashore’s followers placed him an easy first at the top of the betting poll, his stable companion,. First Blood, coming next in public estimation with a trifle more than a third of the amount that; Castor’s son was entrusted with. . Daphne, who conquered the above pair, was third choice, her half-sister, Jadob, who did not look well, being the outsider of the lot, as only £lB out of a total of £473 was seen occupying the place allotted to her number. Palaver (with £33) and Scotia (£47) were the other contestants. Daphne and Castashore were in front for about five furlongs, when the latter gave way, First Blood at the same period making a move, but though his rider tried his best to get him up to Daphne, his efforts were unavailing, Forerunner’s game and consistent progeny gaining the coveted position without any very strenuous exertions on her parti I fancy that had a more energetic and desperate horseman been on First Blood that he would have turned the tables on Daphnes He is a notorious slug, and one of the sort that nearly want a man made to order to steer them. Good horseman that Whitaker is, I opine that he is not sufficiently energetic enough to get a prad- of First Blood’s stamp to try his best. Daphne paid - £5 12s, and had Percy White, w.ho had been en--gaged to steer her, but who was compelled by the condition of hie health to forego ,he contract,, been in the pigskin, her supporters, I am sure, - would not have received such a substantial return. Davey, a jockey attached to Quinlivan’s establishment, rode Daphne, and he put in some good work in the execution of his task. • : The Stewards’ Hack Handicap proved a run» away affair for the Lochiel filly, Lady Lorna,.who vanquished her five opponents in the most decided style, none of the crowd being able to _ get near her from the fall of the flag. -She started favorite, the second choice, Gold Cup, swerved just as the flag went down and would not start, and 1 ord brought her back to the enclosure. After the race was decided the stewards called a meeting, and requested Lord to explain how it was that he had not got away. ■ His explanation was to the effect that his mount ■ was very unruly at the post, and that she swerved out just as the starter said go. Bauer, a former trainer of Gold Cup, stated that she was very uncertain, and that she had, often publicly and privately refused to budge when required to do ■ so. The stewards were quite satisfied with the • evidence, and accepted the statements as feasible. Lady Lome paid £2 14s.

In the Welter Hack, one mile and a quarter, Coolgardie, with a 71b penalty added to his original weight, which brought his impost up to 12.1, was selected as the favoiite, Uila again filling the second place in betting ; transactions, Will-o’ the-Wisp, at a wide interval, coming next. There were six other starters, who, with the exception of Gorse (£3B), it was a case, of write your own price about. Will-o -the* Wisp and (Gorse were in the front for six furlongs, when the latter retired, Will-o’-the-Wisp being allowed to momentarily assume command, Coolgardie wresting that position from him when sweeping round the home bend. Once in the straight Atlas White asked Uila to put her best foot forward, and the black did all she knew to reach Coolgardie. She just failed, however, Derringer’s son snatching the verdict by a bare head, Will-o’-the-Wisp five lengths away third. Dividend, £2 4s. Castashore was made a white-heat selection for the Flying Handicap, and he never gave his fanciers any cause to regret their allegiance to him, for when it came to racing the rest of his opponents (four in numcer) were like the man who fell out of the balloon, “ not in it.” Daphne, whose .first score entailed a 71b penalty, bringing her weight up to 8.0, was second favorite, and she secured second place, Maxim’s son, Bowshot, a stranger in Hawke’s Bay, just beat Scotia on the post for the barren honors of third place. Castashore paid £1 14s. The concluding item on the day’s card, the Hack Scurry, saw Lady Lome again chosen as the right thing. She had her weight risen to 10.0, for, according to the conditions of the race, the winner of other specified races incurred a 71b penalty, and the previous win of Mr Robinson’s mare came under the classification. Nina, with a little more than half as much as was recorded against Lady Lome’s number, enjoyed the position of second favorite, Gold Cup, at £2 less, being third best sought after, and the public sifted it pretty accurately as Lady Lome was first, Gold Cup second, and Nina third, the rest not in the hunt. Lady Lome paid exactly the same price as she did in the mile race —£214 s. The winning owners at the meeting were Messrs H. H. Weston, £65; J. T. Blake, £65; W. Robinson, £5O; R. J. Platt, £45 ; J. McLeod, £3O. Derringer and Lochiel, with a pair of successful representatives a-piece, topped the winning sires’ list, Castor, Sou’-Wester, and Forerunner each having a single prize winner to do them credit. Amongst the horsemen Whitaker and L. Robinson each rode a brace of victors, J. Scott, F. Davis, and W. Davey having scored upon a single occasion each.