DISQUALIFICATION OF MATA.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2109, 26 November 1880, Page 3

DISQUALIFICATION OF MATA.

Mr E. H, Vallanoe writes to the “ Argus ” as follows : TO THE BDITOB. Sir,— I hope yon and the public generally will reserve your judgment on the above case until you have heard the explanation I have to offer. As a visitor from New Zealand, I consider that I have been very harshly used ; and in justice to myself and those with whom I am connected, I hope you will allow me to point out that, according to the running of Mata in the Melbourne Cup or even in the Eoyal Park Stakes, wherein I freely admit he was not persevered with, he was bound to win the V.E.O. Handicap. As you are aware, Wellington carried 9st 31b and_ won the Hotham Handicap, cleverly defeating Prattle, and giving The Pontiff, who was third, quite a 101 b beating. According to this performance, it the time test is to be adduced as a true criterion of the horse’s capability, he should have run the Eoyal Park Stakes in about 3min. 35sec., whereas he was beaten in 3min. 415e0., and he must have been 3min. 44ieo. running the distance. My horse was not very far from him, and as Wellington would have had 9st 101 bto bring him and The Pontiff together in the Y.E.O. Handicap, it ought have been plain, even according to Mata’s Eoyal Park Stakes running with Wellington, that he should have a show of success if The Pontiff had judged the two horses through Wellington. Surely it will ba admitted that Mata is within a stone of Wellington, and if 80, his defeat of The Pontiff was nothing so wonderful after all. I am quite aware that there as a feeling abroad that the owners of Mata hedged most of their Melbourne Cup money, and that the horse was not, as it is termed, “ going;” but as I and others would have won several thousands by his victory, it is hardly likely that the horse would have been prevented from winning such a stake. Messrs W. B. Eounsevell,

A. B. Sims, Martin, Haydon, and others can prove that on the night previous to the race I backed the horse with them at a short price. So far os the Cup running is concerned, surely nobody imagines for a moment that Mata could give a colt like Grand Flaneur 201 b, or another like Progress 341 b. If he could do so he would be as good a horse as First King. The horse ran well to the turn, and I could hardly expect him to win the Boyal Park Stakes at weight for age, with such a colt as Progress in it. There was nothing extraordinary among the horses in the Y.R.O. Handicap, as, according to previous running, Wellington, with 9st 101 b, would have beaten the Pontiff; therefore I thought Mata had an excellent show of winning, and I backed him accordingly to cover my losses in the Oup, and all that Bay would back him for was £IOO, Having come all the way from New Zealand to take part in the great Y.B 0. Spring Meeting, I consider it very hard for Mata and his jockey to be singled out for punishment when I feel satisfied it was undeserved. I do not for a moment wish the public to believe that Mata was ridden out in the Boyal Park Stakes. He was not. His jockey found he had no show with Progress, and acted as Fred. Archer and other English jockeys have often done—viz., when he had no chance pulled off. I would also point out to the public that Mata was not backed for a single shilling in the Boyal Park Stakes. I intend to ask the stewards of the V.E.O. to re-open the case, in order that it may be thoroughly sifted, when, I feel satisfied, they and you and the publio will exonerate Mata from any desire to commit a

robbery. “ Yours, &0., “E. H. YAIiHAKOB. “ Nov. 10th." ' “ Augur,” in the “ Australasian,” says : “ Mata’s performance in the Y.E.O. Handicap, coming so soon after the inglorious figure he out in the Boyal Park Stakes, was too much for the stewards of the Y.E.O. to digest, and accordingly they called upon Mr Yallanee, who is the principal owner of the horse, and Robert Bay, who has a share in the horse, and rode him in the Boyal Park Stakes, for an explanation. The former, I believe, pointed out that with the exception of the Pontiff, Mata had beaten most of the others in the Melbourne Cup, and therefore was bound to do so again, and Bay stated that as he was quite convinced he could not catch Progress, he pulled the New Zealand horse off, as every jockey at present riding on the turf has done before. The Y.B.O.holds itsinvestigations with closed doors, and consequently it is impossible for the Press to give a resume of the proceedings, but I believe Mr George Watson, who was at the turn, stated that Bay never attempted to let his horse go to the leaders, and stopped him. This was palpable enough in the stand, but as the same thing is done at every meeting at Flemington but little notice was taken of it, and it was not until Mata won the V. 8.0. Handicap that the stewards took any action, and then after investigating the matter, they decided to disoualify Bay and Mata. There can bo no doubt that there was a certain amount of suspicion surrounding the New Zealand horse from the time that he performed that wonderful gallop on the day before the Mel- ■ bourne Cup, which many people believed was

1 got up in order to run him into the market, and enable aertain parties to hedge their money to advantage. Whether this assumption is a correct one or not it is not for me to say. Certain it is that such an opinion was prevalent, though from inquiries that I have made of many who backed the the horse some time ago, I find that the owners took all the money they could get from them on the day before the race, which is a point in their favour. Then the suspicious manner in which Camballo was ridden in the Hotham Handicap added fuel to the flame, and the Now Zealanders were regarded as a very clever party. The stewards, I daresay, had some grounds for disqualifying Ray; but why did they make any distinction with Mata and Star ? The offence in the latter’s case was far more heinous than that of the New Zealander, for nobody, I think, believes that Mata could have beaten Progress in the Royal Park Stakes, while most people are under impression that Star could have won the race for which he was disqualified. Moreover, Star was backed for a good deal of money by

the public, while not a penny was_ put on Mata for the Royal-Park Stakes. It is to be regretted that visitors from another colony were the first to suffer from ‘ inexplicable running.’ Wo have witnessed it before, and not a word was said about it. For instance, when Woodlands carried sst 71b, and started a good favourite for the Melbourne Cup, but was beaten badly, yet he carried 191 b more in the Y.R.O. Handicap, and won in the fastest time on record. Then Caspian won the St. Xiegor, and was backed for heaps of money for the Australian Cup, but never came anigh, while Petroa, who was last in the St. Leger, nearly won the Australian Cup. Still, no explanation was asked for in these cases. Again, could anything be more inexplicable than the running of Sir Peter at the complimentary meeting, and the form ho displayed at the late Y.R.O. meeting ? It is gratifying indeed to find the Y.R.O. wakening up, and making an attempt to perform the Herculean task of cleansing the Augean stable; but in the operation there must be no partiality. The rich owner must bo treated in the same manner as the poor one, and if there is anything like suspicious or ‘inexplicable ’ running, the owners and jockeys must be called upon for an explanation, If, as is asserted, the Mata people are the champions among the ‘ clever division ’ of New Zealand, they are not in it with some of our Australian ‘ tiddleywinkers,’ who can give the visitors a stone and a good beating into the bargain, and I repeat that it is a matter for regret that the stewards of the Y.R.O. did not commence upon some of our own people.”