HOKITIKA AUTUMN RACE MEETING.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 845, 12 April 1871, Page 3

HOKITIKA AUTUMN RACE MEETING.

FIRST DAY.

[west coast times.] The autumnal races held under the auspices of the Westland Racing Club, were commenced on Monday, on the old racecourse situated between Hokitika and the Kanieri. The one faulty feature of the meeting was the excellence of individual horses, whose presence prevented anything like close competition. As at the Grey, so there was here, a want of even competitors with such excellent horses as Peeress, and the two principal races of the day were destitute of interest to all but those who were pleased by appearances, and ignorant of the relative merits of the horses entered. The most interesting event of the day was the Hurdle Race. . It was a good race from beginning to end ; the hurdles were all jumped ; and the interest which it excited was aggravated by the favorite, Sir Tatton, passing inside one of the posts, and having to go over some of the ground a second time, to the manifest loss of a race which seemed to be ; his, though in the' winning horse, Gamester, he had a close competitor. Another event of the day, the Trotting Match, was more amusing than interesting, from the quiet confident manner in which Mr Tom Harris rode his not inappropriately named horse- Bones, and from the' efforts of some of the other riders to keep their nominally ! fast-trotting horses at a practically steady trotting pace.' ■ The day was favorable for racing, so far as horses and jockeys were concerned, but the races were not favored as a spectacle. The weather was dull, and there were : Bhowers. Sources of amuse- ' ment, questionable in name and charac- j ter, were abundantly provided by those mysterious owners of bagatelle and betting tables who appear .only on the occasion of faces, and, in the interval between the races they were what they ' would probably consider, ; " satisfactorily patronised," but, as a rule, the attention I of " the public present " was divided be,tween thesbooths and the racangjiheidents of the day. The latter were :— Trial Stakes, of 25 soys. Open to all horses. Weight for age. One and a-half miles. Entrance 24 soys, Mr Cutt's c m Peeress; 9st 51bs, 5 yrs, (M'Glashan) .; ... 1 Mr Hughes's bk m XXX, 9st 61b, aged, (Jones) ... ... 2 Mr Taylor's c g Knottingly, 9st 61b, aged, (Goodyer)... ...... ... 3 HxißDiiE Race of 40 boys. Open to all horses. Weight for age. Two miles. O\er : such course and jumps as the stewards may appoint. Entrance, 4 SOYS,... . . -. •. -..:.■•::.•.■;. Mr Taylor's br g Gamester, 9st 81b, aged 1 Mr Prince's eh g Sir Tatton, 9st : Blb,- 6 yrs ... 2 ; MfSeatotfi br g Supple Jack, 9st 81b, aged 3 Town' Plate of 50 soys. Open to all horses. Weight for age. Two miles. Entrance, 5 soys. . Mr Cutt's eh m Peeress, 9st 61b, 5 yrs 1 Mr Hughes's bk m XXX, 9st 81b, aged 2 Mr Taylor's c g Knottingly, 9st 81b, aged 3 Distance Handicap Trotting Eace of 15 soys. Welter weight for age. Three miles. Post entry 14 soys. T. Harris's Bones ... ... 1 Maori Race of 5 soys, for horses only the bona fide property of Maoris. One mile heats. Catch weights.. Post entry, {10s. Patrick - ... 1 Native ... ... ... 2 Woodstock ... ... ... 3 Hack Rack of 10 soys. Open to allim- ' trained horses ' that have been hacked regularly in the Hokitika district for .iirone .month prior to the Autumn Race Meeting. One mile heats. Poßt ent-y, 1 soy. . .■ ,;...•: ; There were eight entries — Tartar, Bobby, Kate, Black Bess, Lilly, Dick, Ellesmere, and Woodman. Ellesmere won.the. first # heat, and Bobby won the second andjthird.