TROTTING.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1140, 15 February 1912, Page 12

TROTTING.

Nominations for the Wanganui Trotting club’s meeting, to be held on Easter Saturday ana Monday, close on Thursday, the 14t'h March. There are seven races each day. and with the exception of tne Maiden, they are all class' races, ■with a limit of 2.45 for the mile, 4.20 for the mile and a-half, and 5.30 for the two mile races. With the idea of making the races more uniform, one race is for saddle only and two races for harness only each day, whilst there are three events on the programme for trotters only. The Wanganui licensed victuallers are generously presenting a solid silver cup to the winner of the big race the first day. * « * » The New Zealand Trotting Association last week recommended that the licenses of two riders should be temporarily suspended pending investigation into an alleged assault in which they were implicated. It was stated that the riders concerned—Freeman Holmes and K. H. Smith —were getting their horses out of the train at the Christchurch station one evening recently, when Holmes, going behind 'Smith, hit him with his fist over the right eye. A medical man a.-enued Smith and advised him to go to a specialist. 'The genesis of the matter appears to be tnat Holmes was under the impression that Smith and other riders in the Forbury Park Trotting Cup interfered with him, and .the assault was the outcome. The licensing committee of the association will hold an inquiry and will report to a special meeting on the .nst. iji At the meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Association last week reference was made to t'he fact that several horses had been re-handicapped for the Metropolitan Trotting Club’s meeting on account of placed performances after the declaration of the handicaps. Attacked to the agenda paper for the previous meeting there was a note seating that after the programme had been passed by the executive the club had asked for the insertion of a special provision for rehandicapping placed horses. The president (Mr. Selig) did not remember having seen that note at the previous meeting. and he questioned if it was in accordance with the rules. Provision was made in the rules for re-handicapping winners, while another rule gave power to clubs to include in their programme any special conditions not appearing in these rules. Notwithstanding that rule, clubs ihad no power to insert conditions which would override the rules of trotting. Other members of the Association expressed the view that there was nothing in the special condition that conflicted with the rules, and the matter was allowed to drop.

The West Australian Club is going to endeavour to do away with the hoppled pacer. The club intends 'buying freelegged horses from other States and selling them to local breeders at cost price. “In carrying out such a scheme (says the “Sydney Mail”), the Western Australian people would stand a good show of coming into the world’s market with trotters in the years to come, an outlook absolutely barred to New Zealand and the other Australian States, owing to the universal use of the hopples. France, Italy, Russia, Ausitro-Hungary spend tens of thousands of pounds annually with American breeders in the purchase of trotters and trotters alone, for t'he hoppled article is strictly barred, and a hoppled pacer able to pace two minutes would not bring a twopenny dump in Europe. If Europe can find plenty of free-legged horses to race, descendants of the same blood as we have in Australia, then why cannot it be done here?”