OTAGO.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1322, 26 August 1915, Page 17

OTAGO.

(From Our Dunedin Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, Saturday. The Dunedin Jockey Club has followed the excellent example of the Canterbury Jockey Club and decided to devote future profits to the War Funds. As evidence of good faith, an additional donation of £5OO has been made to the Carnival Queen Funds towards assisting the Sports Queen to the top of the poll. The Forbury Park Trotting Club has not travelled so far as the parent body, but it also has come along with an

additional donation of £lOO to the Sports Queen Fund. The Forbury folk may do more when they come together at the annual meeting of members next month. The Dunedin Jockye Club has also finally decided on their programme for the coming season, and the stake increases over last season amounts to £740. This is rather praiseworthy at a time when there is a general tendency to mark time, owing to the alleged slump in matters financial that croakers say loom ahead. That may be so, but apparently the croackers have not much foundation for their contention as far as sporting folk are concerned as racing still seems to do business with its accustomed freedom. In this they supply an excellent example to those who look twice at a shilling (or other coin of smaller denomination) before dropping it into a collection box.

In drawing up their programme for the season the Dunedin Jockey Club has spread the bulk of their- increase in prize money over the Christmas meeting. This is a most judicious and in a sense very necessary, more as heretofore our Xmas

meeting was rather over shadowed from a financial point of view by both the Southland and Oamaru meetings," coming on .the calendar a week later than the Wingatui fixture. The “classic” events at the spring meeting have been built up, and this may induce further patronage from owners of two-year-olds and three-year-olds, and so we may see better fields out for the Duneum Stakes (two-year-olds) and Dunedin Guineas, which form an excellent public trial for three-year-olds with more important engagements ahead at the New Zealand Cup meeting. Wingatui has four horses engaged in the Dunedin Cup, and as far as in the New Zealand Cup, and as far as their handicap weight is concerned it should not auction any horse with pretentions to class. John Barleycorn has proved himself a fairly solid sort up to a mile and a-quarter (the fartherest he has been tried), but so far has not defeated anything of note. His Winter Cup form may be taken as his best performance up to date. In that race Banks.a won rather easily, whilst John Barleycorn came along with a good, but rather belated, run. He must be credited with a good performance under his weight on htat occasion. The Sarto gelding now meets Banksia on 151 b better terms, and that is a very fairallowance to the Dunedin horse. Palisade, so far, is generally recognised as a sprinter pure and simple, but over short courses and up to seven furlongs he has always been found staying on under big weights, and with the luxurious burden of 7.1 he might go on two miles if set and trained for the journey. Moonglow is a brilliant but unlucky horse, and has nothing to cally, but still it is all he is entitled to on form. Whatever Cup prospects he holds may have their most reliable demonstration by spring form. Redshire was rather a good sort of a two-year-old. A good speedy sort that may train into anything, but in the meantime an opinion is Withheld until the early spring meetings and training track business gives some indication as to how he has trained on. The light scale of weights, however, makes Warstep read a most difficult proposition, and whilst she is fit and well the light weight brigade will have to produce proof of merit before one can give most of them a chance. The Dunedin horses were lucky and unlucky at the National meeting. With a pich of luck John Barleycorn and Moonglow might have been closer up than in just gaining a place. The Brewer was rather lucky to get second money in the National Steeples owing to Glenmore spilling his rider at the last; fence when running a good distance in front of The Brewer. But that is all in the game between the flags.