THE TURF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2080, 4 January 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE TURF.

Unco more the To Karaka or 'S.; burlnm’’ meeting is an event ol the past. With llie retails in fairly good order a surprisingly large iiiimbe" ol people drove oul Lo the course and indeed, it is just as well they did >u, as. the railway authorities were i vi- | dently quite unprepared for the eienI her ol people who made the jo.iriny by train. Fifteen minutes after file advertised time of starting the train got a,\ ,iy and if Ihe racing club people at I lie other end hail been up to Lime the train travellers would li.ivc 'missed the first race. The ariingemeiits on the course itself were inadequate. To begin with, one niiin vis vainly endeavoring to take Ihe train tickets at i ten foot gate thro ph which the exasperated arrivals v ere pouring eii masse. Nothing like irdor reigned until tile arrival of a 1 »- t (alien of police ami even then il was just a ties up if some person did not run up anil wildly demand cue's ticket after it hail already been loosen ted. The weighing scales ill lie open air, and llie jockey's “dre.ssv.igrooin,” which consisted of a li bv .8 tent, are also items which should he remedied while the arrangements for representatives of the Press were primitive in the extreme an 1 the customary courtesies which are extended to them wore conspicuous only bv their absence.

Some good racing was witnessed as well as some that was, to ..lit it mildly, surprising. Consequent on this, enquiries were llie order ol the day and many were of file opinion that the leniency displayed towards till' offenders by the stewards in one in* two eases was totally undeserved. The Wuipaoa-owned. To Rimu won a double in very hollow fashion. A glaring ease of interference was observed in the Flying 11 imlieap u lien coming round I lie hack iSarilla, -Mr Caesar’s mare, was going well, when she suddenly dropped hack several lengths, her rider asserting on returning to scale that the hov on Aiello.i Hall had nulled Sarilla’.s rein mid (brown oil 5 ol her stride. On ilismounliiig both the hoys luul for a few minutes a rather lively "go” of which no notice was t a ken by the officials. It is safe to say that on any other course such conduct would lie observed mid severely dealt with. Reservoir was the "good thing ’ ol the diy. but failed to realize the expoeta Minus of his connections and hi I to acknowledge deleat by Alellon Hall, in the big race. The last race was the most keenly contested of the day and Beav, lliki and (Men Afric were all well supported. iiiki ran well and gave a very different display to his performance earlier in the day, but nevertheless failed to reach Glen Afric who, carrying Air J. B. 'Hollior’s all green, lost his maiden certificate. The trot was a very one-sided affair and Gray \V.. late Dominion,who won the trot at the laso show, had matters all his own way and was capably handled by his owner. Alec Sheriff. A fair day’s sport concluded just ■u; the train arrived and after a long and seemingly unnecessary delay Iho return journey was commenced and Gisborne was reached about 7.H0 p.m. only twenty minutes behind advertised time.

His New Zealand ever produced a gamer, more hriPiant , or more consistent sprinter for his inches than Lord Soult? (asks a Southern writer.) The public dearly loves a good horse, and the little dasher got a fine hurst of applause when he returned to the paddock after dead-healing with Be Witte ill the Eitzherbert Handle ip. His once ugly foreleg is now quite preseiitable, and he appears to lie a sounder animal than many others whose legs are free from blemish. Lord Soiilt’s pace off the marl; isquite exception:!!, and it is only a top notch two-year-old ill it can hold or head him in the first lew furlongs of a sprint. This season he has undergone a lot of travelling mid racing, hut looks better than at any previous time in his career. The secret of Ins ability to carry big weights is found in his compact ness, girth, and phenomenal qu inters upon which the muscle stands out in great houses. Then again his brilliancy allows him to gallop within himself and get a break upon the field which takes a lot of making up in a short race, lie is now staying much better, and in both the Awapuni and Fifzlierbert Handicaps lie fought out every yard of the last furlong with indomitable courage. Just the type of horse to take over to Australia, where fivefurlong races are fairly plentiful, and an event like the 0 ikleigli Plate at Caulfield would suit him to a nicety.

The defeat of Apa in the Auckland Chi)) cost his connections a lot. of money (says the “Star.”) The son of Addington was looked upon as something approaching a moral, hut. although lie ran prominently for about a mile and a-lialf, lie died out of the struggle in the concluding stages, and would evidently he suited over a shorter course.