ASSEMBLY SPORTING NOTES.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2396, 7 December 1881, Page 3

ASSEMBLY SPORTING NOTES.

GENERAL REMARKS. [Br thb Fblab.] Tho Wakanni Hurdle Race, for which three horses will try conclusions on Friday next, is likely to be an exciting event, Knickerbocker Is doing good work, hia trials being very satisfactory Indeed, so much so that the fullest confidence is reposed In him by those capable of judging. The little black horse Mailboy is very eager, and hla style of going is fancied by some who profess to know what a horse ought to do across the sticks, but I must state candidly that I don’t like him at all, and that opinion Is shared by many who saw him at work in the South Rakaia paddocks last week, where his antics at some of the obstructions elicited almost unanimous disapproval. Too much has been made of him, and his following have held the Oorwar stable too cheaply, at least that is the general impression. The Poet is a most extraordinary animal, and nothing he has done since I last mentioned him has tended in the least to alter my then expressed opinion that ho will finish third. To Knickerbocker I look as the one that will oatoh the judge's eye, and the sequel that Mailboy and The Poet will bo turned out to grass. Prom'ohence I craned to tha Leeston paddocks, tne cause moving thereto being that it was arranged for Blockhead to take his preliminary, and it was painfully evident that he was in very inferior condition, exceedingly restless, and not at all up to the work required of him. It is not too much to say the trial was a total failure, that the horse is out of sorts, and the stable are greatly to blame for entering him. Hie action gave the lie direct to the assertion of Billy the Bullock-puncher, and his adherents that bo would show well at the Railway Jump, and I respectfully submit that it furnishes another reason why any opinion emanating from those gentlemen should be received with the most unqualified reservation. I forbear to criticise this fiasco of a trial spin in a lengthened description, but must express my regret that a horse who has shaped well at the roadside meetings, which are all on the flat, should have been entered for certain defeat in a steeplechase meeting, for which hie condition is a barrier to victory. I am glad to report that The Navyie, one of the Lyttelton horses, is in splendid trim, and I do not fear that the care bestowed on The Artist will at all militate against the former horse’s chances of success on the all important and eventful day; as for Cobweb, he is out of it, as a result of a match between him and The Artist on December Ist on the Municipal Course _ for tho Mayoral prise, showed conclusively that he could not stay, when The Artist was first past the post. Still it must not be considered that the performance of the lastnamed horse on that occasion is any guerdon of his chances of success on Friday next. The Navvie is by far the best animal of the two, and his condition, joined to the fact that he has a long string of past performances at his back, are ample reasons why every confidence should be reposed in him on this occasion. I therefore declare for him, without the slightest “if” or “ but” in the matter. At Kaiapoi the relative positions of old Millowner and Lee Shore are unchanged, and to the former I look for the one first home. 1 am also gratified to be in a position to state that for the Heathoote prize, that well known and very pink performer, Wynnstay, is improving his position every hour. He is kept unremittingly at work, and never tires at it or shows in bad form at any of the many obstacles on this trying course. He is rapidly advancing in the betting, and apropos of that I hope to be able to-morrow to furnish you with all the latest tips and state of the betting market as affecting all these events, that will be run simultaneously on the various courses pertaining to the Assembly turf in this province on Friday next.