OTAKI R.C. SPRING MEETING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 815, 19 October 1905, Page 10

OTAKI R.C. SPRING MEETING.

(By Our Wellington Correspondent.)

Labour Day is usually taken full advantage of by local sports, and a favourite resort is the Otaki racecourse. lhe morning opened in pouring rain, and hundreds who had arranged to avail themselves of the Manawatu Railway Company’s excursion fares reluctantly decided to remain at home. A fairly large crowd, however, braved tne weather, and were well rewarded, for fine weather prevailed at Otaki, and the course was in capital order. The attendance was very good, the speculation brisk, and during the two days the increased totalisator turnover amounted co £3973—more than last year. A good class of horses took part in the meeting, and the racing was interesting, the club’s handicapper (Mr. J. H. Pollock) having every reason to feel satisfied with the good fields and close finishes. Mr- J. H. Prosser opened the meeting by annexing the Flying Handicap with his useful filly Marguerite, who, with the advantage of a flying start, comfortably defeated Kudu and Kremlin. Regulation, Wind, and a couple of others also ran. The Maiden Hurdle Race was an easy win for the Hawera gelding Land o’ Cakes, who was the outsider of a field of five. Kuroki repeated his Wanganui performance, and had no trouble in beating Victoria Park and Papatawa. Pretty Maid was slow to move, and Maui is evidently not yet at his best. The Maiden Plate went to a representative of A. Shearsby’s stable, a four-year-old mare, Flotilla. The latter is beautifully bred, being by Torpedo from Bonny Blink. Later in the day Flotilla defeated a useful lot of hacks in the Stewards’ Hack Handicap, and she should not remain long in hack company. The Demonstration Handicap brought out eight runners, including Gold Crown, Shrapnel Shell, Hydrant, Seagull, and Prelude. The Porirua horse was made favourite, but the neat little Wairarapa filly Prelude was taken to the front, and his rider making the best use of his light impost, stalled off all opposition and won all out by a bare head from the fast-fin-ishing Seagull, with Gold Crown a good third.

’ The Hack Hurdle Race resulted in a good race between Repulse, Flanagan, Baltic, and Bounce. The four rose at the last hurdle abreast, but Repulse staying the longest won after a punishing finish by a neck. Numa dropped back at the first hurdle and finished a distance behind the leaders. A Welter Hack Handicap concluded the first day’s sport. This was easily annexed bv Rova, a racy-looking three-year-old colt by Stepniak—Fauna, who defeated Kuroki and half a dozen others. Prior to the opening event of the

second day, some trouble arose owing to the starter not using the starting tapes. Several owners lodged a complaint with the stewards on the first day, and 'tLey were promised that the barrier would be used on the second day, but owing to short notice the starting apparatus could not be procured. Owners were much dissatisfied, and the field in the opening event was reduced by the scratching of Kudu, Prelude, Regulation, and Blessbok. ’ Marguerite was made favourite, but Jenkins had to ride her right out to shake Wind and Mussel off, and had Prelude and Kudu started, they would probably have both finished in front of the Porirua filly. The Second Hack Hurdle Race produced something of a sensation when Mr. Alick Hall’s Numa, who was meeting some of his opponents on worse terms than on the first day, scored an ea,sy victory, being in the leading division all the way and jumping faultlessly. A hostile demonstration began as soon as Numa passed the winning-post, and this was kept up until the protest flag was hoisted. The stewards, after a lengthy hearing, decided to disqualify Numa and his rider and owner for the meeting, and pay out on the second horse, Flanagan. This decision was received with cheers by the backers of the latter horse. 7 The Otaki Hack Handicap produced a capital race, the useful Kuroki, with 9.9 in the saddle, winning by a head from Pretty Maid. Hipporangi beat the five other runners.

The Trial Handicap fell to Pat, a son of St. Hippo and Riporipo. The Ngatahui Handicap was reduced to three runners, owing to Kremlin’s owner (A. Hall) being disqualified, and Gold Crown and Hydrant being withdrawn for no apparent reason except that rain had commenced to fall heavily. Black Reynard had no trouble in defeating Takarawa and Seagull, and paid a surprisingly good dividend considering the strength of his opposition. The Wanganui-owned Dalky beat a fair field in the Rangiuru Welter, Victoria Park being runner-up. The Multiform filly Petticoat, with 9.6 on her back, had to be ridden to beat Waikakeho in the Electric Hack Handicap. The Soult—Lady Antrim filly Marsellaise, with 8.1, ran unplaced in this race, and is evidently out of sorts just now. The Open Welter Handicap was run in the pouring rain. Hydrant and Seagull, who had the services of C. Jenkins, were best supported, but Mussel won after a good race with Seagull, and so ended a most successful meeting. ,