SPOTTING.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1865, 14 February 1880, Page 3

SPOTTING.

WAIRABAPA RACES. [By Telboeaph.] Second Day, Friday, Feb. 13. The racing was much better than yesterday, and the attendance nearly as large. Lara was scratched for the Handicap at one o’clock, causing dissatisfaction to many who had backed him. The totalisator did poor business. The heat was very great, but during the afternoon was moderated by a breeze. The arrangements were first class, and everything went capitally until the start for the Consolation Race, in which the starter was all abroad, and dropped his flag when two out of seven had their heads the wrong way. A protest was lodged, but the stewards declared it was a start, causing great dissatisfaction. Handicap Hurdle Race, of 50 sovs ; two

miles. Tamatea, 6 yrs, list 71b ... (Bremner) 1 Kangaroo, aged, lOst 71b 2 Ponrere, 6 yrs, 'ost3lb... ... ... ... 3 Te Whetu, 12st. also started Betting—6 to 4 agst Te Whetu, 2 to 1 agst Kangaroo, 3 to 1 agst the others. Kangaroo and Tamatea led throughout. Tamatea rose at the last hurdle a length in front of Kangaroo, who fell, and Murray’s horse won in a canter.

For the Hack Hurdle Race of 15 sovs, a mile and a distance, Roebuck and Kawhai started. The. former was a great favorite at 5 to 1, but Kawhai jumped splendidly, and beat him easily at the finish.

W. J.C. Handicap of 100 sovs; two miles. Mr Butler’s Laertes, aged, Bst 81b ... (Croft) 1 Mr Casey’s Romeo, 6 yrs, 7st 61b ... (Peling) 2 Mr Keith’s Soukar, aged. Bit 121 b... (Allum) 3 Orphan and Tim Wfliffler also ran.

Betting—6 to 5 agst Laertes, 2 to 1 agst Soukar, 3 to 1 agst the others. Romeo and Laertes led at starting, but at the half-mile turn Tim Wliifller went to the front. At the river bend all were in a cluster except Soukar, six lengths away, his rider being apparently not in ajhurry. Tim kept the lead until entering the second round, when Laertes and Romeo both passed him. A good race ensued, Laertes winning cleverly by a length and a-half, Soukar two lengths away third horse.

Railway Plate of 25 [sovs.; six furlongs; weight for age. Lara (Nolan) 1 Ratcatcher (Hamilton) 2 Hurupai (Harris) 3 War and Whitehan also ran. Betting 2to 1 on Lara, who got away with Ratcatcher, and racing him all the way, won in a canter by a head. In the Hack Race of 10 sovs, Ray’s Annie beat seven others. District Handicap of 40 sovs.; a mile and a-half. Mr Desmond’s Blue Jacket 1 Mr Strange’s Shamrock 2 Bahama 3 Romeo, Orphan, Ada, and Kokahan also started. Betting—2 to 1 agst Shamrock, 3to 1 agst Ada and Romeo.

Pahama and Kokahau got away together in front of Shamrock lying third. Blue Jacket led in the first place, and held the lead until the turn home. Shamrock, who had been lying back, then went up, but running wide, lost several lengths. The race up the straight resulted in the judge’s declaring Blue Jacket the winner by half a head. The majority thought Shamrock had just won. In the Consolation Handicap of 20 sovs, one mile, Keith’s Soukar was first, beating six others. Tim Whiffler was left at the post, and Shamrock being ten lengths behind stopped after going a quarter of a mile.

SPORTING NOTES,

Br Sinbad. The Southland Jockey Club have altered the date of their meeting to March 4th and sth. Nominations close on Saturday, the 21st instant, and weights will be declared on the 27th instant. The details of the Wellington meeting appear elsewhere. By these it will be seen that the most noticeable features are the double win of Talent in the Maiden Plate and Flying Stakes, in the first event defeating Mr Redwood’s Rose, who was a strong favorite, while in the latter his easy victory over such good sprinters as York, Billings gate, Balmoral, and Ratcatcher, proved him to be an animal worth looking after on future occasions. He is a scion of that useful horse Totara, who, as I have often .before stated, will, I am sure, get racehorses if mated to good mares. The Wellington Cup was a good throw in for the Hon. Wm. Robinson, who, I understand, backed his horse to win him a fair stake. Foul Play by all accounts won his race very comfortably, and has shown that he can stay as well as go fast. If he never wins another race, Mr Robinson’s pluck in giving the price he gave for him has been well rewarded, for he has now, with scarcely any exception, the best trial horse in the country. The event of the meeting appears to have been the Racing Club Handicap, which went to the Yaldhurst confederacy by the aid of the game little pony, Yampire. It was a good race and good time, bnt it must be remembered that the son of the Barb was singularly favored by the weights. In this, as well as in the Cup, the North Island horse Hailstorm appears to have run well, while Hippocampus, who seems to alternate between the turf and the stud, has shown such form that backers should keep him on the right side of their books, at any rate for the remaining events of the season. Norseman I fancy, would have run very forward in the Oup but for bis misfortune in the race ; and from the fact of his owner, who is too old a racing man to make many mistakes, having entered him for the leading events of the autumn, I should say he must be a coming horse. Lone Hand appears to have cut up most indifferently in the cross country events, and as “ Augur” of the "Australasian” long ago warned his present owner, I fancy he must need an exceptionally good man on his back. Mr Horsfall’s team appear to have been out of form, as he failed even to secure his customary Consolation with the aid of the useful Ratcatcher, but if his trainer, whoever he may be, *an get King Quail and Rand wick into form before the season is over, I fancy there is a race in both of them. The arrangements appear to

have been very good, but the, .visitors grumbled sadly at tho prices for the stand, and the course might at very small expense be considerably improved. At a recent meeting of the South Canterbury Jockey Club, it was decided that the next race meeting should be held on Thnrs* day and Friday, April Bth and 9th. The following programme was adopted;—First day— Trial Stakes of 50 sovs, weight for ago, distance £ mile; Maiden Plate of 40 sovs, weight for age, distance li miles; Timaru Cup, a handicap of 200 sovs, distance 1J miles ; Flying Handicap of 50 sovs, distance i mile ; Selling Hack Race of 10 sovs, distance 1 mile. Second day—S O.J. O. Handicap of 100 sovs, distance 1[ miles ; Handicap Hurdle Race of 80 sovs, distance about 2£ miles ; Selling Hack Hurdle Race, distance 1 £ miles: Winter Oats Handicap of 50 sovs, distance Ij miles ; Consolation Handicap of 30 sovs, distance 1 mile.

I have received a catalogue of the Middle Park forthcoming sales, and very nicely it has boon got up. The introduction calls the attention of owners to the fact that “ beyond the value of this stock for racing purposes, the time is rapidly approaching when every animal claiming direct descent from “ Traducer ” will be eagerly sought after, and should command attention for stud purposes, as all who have noted passing turf events cannot fail to recognise the value they must attain when the old horse shall have ceased to exist.” The paragraph I have quoted speaks for itself. The catalogue is exceedingly well worked up. Each lot has a tabulated pedigree attached, so that those learned in turf pedigrees can see at a glance what they are buying. The Middle Park owners declare their intentien of selling virtually without reserve. The highest upset price for the most valuable of the yearlings will be 300 sovs. Thus intending purchasers will know exactly what they are about. I may notice that in the present not over rosy times the youngsters recently sold in Victoria by Mr Wilson averaged about £SOO, and I see no reason why the majority of those about to be submitted by Mr Tabart should not realise as good a price. The increasing number of racemeetings throughout the colony and the present scarcity of real racehorses point to the fact that a good animal is really good property here, and that owners recognise this fact will, I think, be proved on Thursday, April Ist, which date is fixed for the Middle Park sale.

The acceptances for the Napier Handicap appear elsewhere, and are very satisfactory. If Templeton were the Templeton of old I should look no further for the winner, but I fancy the winner will be found in one of the following :—Lara, Mata, Libeller, or Laertes. The Blenheim meeting, judging from the general entries, will be confined almost entirely to local horses, and Norseman, being on his native heath, will probably distinguish himself.

Mr Nos worthy has sustained a severe loss in the shape of a Waterwitch’s last foal. He was a colt foal by Albany, and a very promising one. I call the attention of owners to Mr Nosworthy’s advertisement of his annual sale of thoroughbred stock, which appears in another column.

The programme of the Auckland Autumn Meeting is to hand. The following are the items on the first day :—Tradesman’s Plate Handicap of 50 sovs; Ellerslie Plate of 100 sovs, for two-year-olds; Hurdle Race of 50 sovs : Autumn Handicap of 100 sovs ; Novel Handicap of 50 sovs ; and Publicans’ Purse of 60 sovs. On the second day we have the Flying Stakes of 40 sovs; Steeplechase of 100 sovs ; St George’s Handicap of 100 sovs ; Selling Race of 30 sovs; the Shorts of 50 sovs ; and a Consolation Stake of 20 sovs. Nominations for tho Steeplechase, Autumn and St George’s Handicaps are due on March I9th, and general entries on April 16th. As the Southern meetings will be well over by the date of the Northern meeting it is more than likely some of our owners will be again tempted northwards. The London “ Sporting Life” of November 26th contains statistics of the winning mounts for the flat racing season of 1879, and says : —“ F. Archer wound up the season at Kempton with a win, and once again it will be seen heads the list of winning jockeys—no small feat considering his increasing weight. In the days of Jemmy Grimshaw, and when Fordham was a light weight, the ‘ feathers’ used to come in winners, so that it says a lot in favor of the altered—although not altered enough to please many—system of racing which gives old established jockeys so many chances of teaching tho young idea how to shoot first past the winning-post. To the increase in welter races may in greater measure be attributed the increased opportunities to jockeys of over Sat to make their marks so frequently, while it is very certain that any attempt to lower the sst 71bs now set as the minimum would be generally scouted. In fact, a proposition to make the lowest weight 6st. would, if not successful, find great favor amongst owners, trainers, and the general public, while horses, if they are to be of that class which is most desirable, would certainly not be overburdened by the addition. O. Wood and T. Cannon, who finished respectively second and third, are both jockeys above the middle weight, and well matured, as also are John Osborne, J. Goater, J. Snowden, Constable, and Fordham, all of whom figure well in the returns Luke is certainly the champion of the light weights, taking 7st as the middle, and the successful career of this jockey, after passing his earlier days in comparative obscurity, may be taken as an illustration that it is by no means impossible to attain distinction without going through the business of being a crack lightweight before the expiration of apprenticeship. Of the younger and rising school little Greaves claims precedence, and a very promising lad he is. His score is just one short of half a 1 century,’ but the ' 9’s ’ must be most provoking to F. Archer, who is said to have had a bet of 2000 to 100 that he rode 200 winners, and stopped short at 199—he did actually come in first on 200 occasions, but was disqualified for the Champagne Plate at Lichfield on theOutty Sark filly, —so that if there had only been another day’s racing it would have been odds on his accomplishing the feat. He has now taken the lead in winning mounts for six years in succession, so that given luck and everything else figures alone speak volumes for the excellence of his horsemanship. In those six years he has ridden 1171 winners, and those who backed him at starting prices this year at a * tenner ’ at a time would have won over £SOO, although there were seasons when luck was bad and the‘bank’ would have had a shaking. Of other jockeys it will be seen that Barker, Bell, Bruckshaw, Collins, Fagan, Gallon, H. Jeffery, J. E. Jones, Lemaire, Loates, Morgan, Morbey, Mordan, and W. Pratt have all distinguished themselves by getting into good nambers, the highest being Pagan, with fifty.” The figures referring to Archer show that during the year he has had 571 mounts, has won 199 races, been second 127 times, third 80 times, and 165 times unplaced. In 1874 he won 147 races, in 1875 he scored 172 wins, in 1876 he won 207 times, and in 1877 placed 217 victories to his credit.

Silvio, who was not sold when put np to auction at Newmarket during the Houghton week, is announced as a companion to Queen’s Messenger and Skylark at the Heath House Stud Farm for the coming season. The fee of the 1877 Derby winner is 25gs. Kisber, Lord Lyon, Couronne de Far, and Controversy will be the blood sires at Mentmore in the ensuing season. Sir Bevys commences stud life at Lilbury, near Oxford. His lee is 17gs, but mares by Adventurer or Lord Olifden can pay court to him on special terms. Mrrtyrdom's subscription for the forthcoming season is already full. His companions at Moorlands are Speculum and Camballo.

RACING IN ENGLAND.

CROYDON MEETING.

Great Metropolitan Steeplechase (handicap) of 20 aovs each, 10 ft., with 300 added ; winners extra; the second received 50 sovs, third saved his stake. About four miles. 14 subs. Mr D. Dunlop’s ch h Bacchus, by Unoas — Brunette, by Gamekeeper, 5 yrs, list 101 b (E. I’Anson) 1 Mr C Howard’s br g Sleight of Hand, aged, LOst (Childs) 2 MrVjner’scbh Bellringer, aged, lOst list (Capt. Smith) 3 Mr W. E. B. Hale’s Northumbrian and Lord Bereaford’s Queen of Kildare, also ran. Betting at the start opened at 6 to 4 agst Bacchus and 3 to 2 Queen of Kildare, and closed at 2 to 1 each agst Bacchus and Queen of Kildare, 4 to 1 agst Northumbrian, 6 to 1 agst Bellringer, and 100 to 8 agst Sleight of Hand. Five furlongs from home Northumbrian held a short lead of Sleight-of-Hand, and along the Woodsida the pair were about a

couple of lengths clear of Queen of Kildare and Bacchus, of whom the latter was beaten and dropped back into the company of Bellringer half a mile from home. In rounding the bend Bacchus, on the inside, drew up to the two leaders, of whom Northumbrian fell at the last fence. The favourite then came on, with 81eight-of-lland in hot pursuit up the hill, and for some distance it looked as though the latter would win, but he swerved all over the course in the last hupdred yards, and Bacchus, on the other hand, running home as straight as a reed, won a fine race by a length. Bellringer was a bad third, and Queen of Kildare was pulled up and trotted in. Time, by Benson’s chronograph, 9min. 14seo. Value of the stakes, £4OO.