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THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE COLONIAL TURF.

Saturday, will be a memorable day in the racing annals of these colonies, as that upon which the equine Champions of New South Wales and Victoria met to decide their respective claims to superiority. No previous event in connection with the colonial turf has excited a similar degree of general interest, a fact sufficiently proved by the presence of the immense crowd, which thronged the Melbourne race-course. The history of the " case," as the lawyers would say, is well known to our readers, for the press of both colonies, ever since the match between Veno and Alice Hawthorn was concluded upon, has exerted itself to place every particular in relation to it before the public. The challenge to run a Victorian horse against a New South Wales one for £1000 emanated from Mr. Anthony Green, of Melbourne ; and, after several modifications of the original terms, was accepted by Mr. G. T. Rowe, of Sydney, who nominated Veno; the Victorian party naming Alice Hawthorn. The other matches were arranged subsequently, the main object being the very sportsmanlike one of adding to the interest of the day when the match for the Championship would be decided. Ever since the arrival of Veno, in July, he has been the favourite, the betting quotations ranging during the interval from 2 to 1 downward to 10 to 9. The performances of the j horse, as compared with those of Alice, gave him this advantage, for no other test of comparative merit %yas to be had. The Victorian public knew little of him, and indeed, although the'hovse has been in the neighbourhood of Melbourne neai-ly three months, he was quite a stranger until Saturday, to all but a select circle of his owner's friends. Alice Hawthorn was believed to be the best racer in the colony, an assumption which we fancy it will be difficult to maintain in future. However, the mare had a host of friends, if not of admirers, and numbers backed her on what might rather be termed national grounds, than on any having relation to her merits. Every confidence was felt in her trainer, Mr. Anthony Green, but somehow there was never much enthusiasm displayed in her behalf,/even by her supporters. The decided nature, of some of the defeats which she has sustained, prevented implicit faith being reposed in!her; and the equivocal quality.o.f her pedigree was not in her favour when she came to be pitted against an animal of Veno's reputation. Th6se experienced in crowds,estimated that the number *6f persons assembled on the race coiirse on Saturday was not short of 20,000. Melbourne during" the hours devoted to the racing .events o£ the day was like a city without inhabitants. Almost every public vehicle had* been-pressed into the service of the traffic.between the town and racecourse, arid specimens of (every " wheeled thing "known- to the.colonyj from the;am,trpcrati6 drag'to the.plebeian-dray, or • the s(3V.e'rely incommodipufl police, van, were in 'requisition. Every available inch of space on the steamers had its occupant, and the weather being fine crowds of pedestrians thronged the road across the swamp. • The gate-keeper

must have profited immensely by the public excitement, and the booths, of which there are twenty, came in for a large extent of patronn^e. The grand stand refectories were under the direction of Mr. Disher, who we fancy has no cause of complaint on the ground of want of custom. A large booth, serving the purpose of refreshment rooms and stand, has been erected next the grand stand, with the designation of the Sydney Grand Stand, and the old familiar name of Coppin was to be met with emblazoned on the canvas facade of a spacious booth at the extremity of the line. Whether there was any intentional significance in the circumstance we'donot know, but the flag.over the entrance was the particular phase of the Union Jack hoisted by vessels requiring a pilot. Captain Nunn, however, in the absence of the chief pilot, is an efficient navigator, and evidently possesses the public confidence.

About a quarter to one o'clock, Alice Hawthorn was led down the course by her groom, Mr. Green accompanying her and smiiing as though confident of success. Veno arrived shortly after, and preliminaries having been satisfied, Higgerson delaring one pound over, the pair appeared in eampany on the course. The appearance of the Sydney champion was magnificent; and, although, on the whole, by no means a handsome animal, his obviously many good points—and above all, the splendid condition in which he was brought to the post gave extra confidence to those of his supporters who had never before seen him, and set numbers of his opponents hedging. Alice, on being stripped, looked -well, but perhaps scarcely fine enough, her 'deficiencies in the matter of " blood " no doubt prohibiting her being farther reduced. Both animals were lustily cheered by their respective partizans, and the riders of both appeared cool and.self-reliant. Higgerson, who has all along had the charge of Veno, now officiated as helmsman; while Stephen Mahon, one of the best jockeys we possess, did the amiable for the mare. The betting, winch, prior to the appearance of the animals on the course had exhibited an'increase in the good opinion entertained of the mare, now gave Veno a more decided lead than ever. As much as six to four was offered on him just prior to the start. Shortly after one. o'clock, Mr.'Henderson, flag in hand, made his appearance ■on ■ the course, and immediately summoned the two competitors to the contest. Both advanced quietly to the start, the elasticity of Veno's action being the general theme of admiration. The mare was evidently in fit condition to do her best, but now, more. than ever, was it feared, that from the first, she had been overmatched. The result proved the correctness of such a surmise, for the horse could have rim away from her at any period during the race., Higgerson, who. had allowed Alice a slight lead to thc> second mile, then went up to her, headed and shook her off, took her place, and'although ultimately winning by about two lengths,, passed the win-ning-post at half-speed, and was pulled up two or three yards further on. The pace, it is true, was extremely slow, but ifc was all that Alice was able to accomplish ; the horse could have accommodated her with "double-quick time," had she been in a position to require such attention. On riding to scale, the winner was loudly cheered. The mare exhibited, evidences of heavy punishment; but Mahon, who had evidently done his best to win, came in for a round or two of well-merited applause.

The second race of the day—that between Tomboy and Coorarain—terminated in another triumph for New South Wales. Higgersoii again rode the victoi*, but this time had a far more difficult task to perform than he had in the struggle for the championship. Tomboy, although not the horse'he was last year, was evidently a tough customer for the Sydney nag1 to encounter, and the rider of the latter very neai'ly left his closing spirt too late. As it was, Cooramin won by a short neck, the final struggle being marked by an exhibition of jockeyship on the part of Higgerson, which,for skillfulness, has scarcely ever been paralleled in the history of the Victorian turf. Tomboy led to the grand stand by fully two lengths, but almost immediately shut up, in consequence, as we are informed (we did not witness the occurrence), of his rider using the whip. Higgerson called on his horse, which at once responded by collaring Tomboy when'within a few yards of the Judges' Stand, and snatching the victory from his competitor. The third event brought the Champion and Van Tromp into mutual competition. The former looked none the worse for his previous gallop with Alice, while the little Dutchman was in anything but tip-top condition, having a long rough coat, and looking unfit for even an ordinary encounter. The betting W as all in favour of Veno, but very little business was tran sacted, the friends of Van being very select in number, and cautious in pushing their partizanship. Another easy victory for Veno was the result of the contest, the game qualities of his comparatively diminutive antagonist enabling Mahon to make a very pretty race of it. The pace was far better than that of the first match, the distance being accomplished in seven seconds less time. As before, the winner was loudly cheered by his friends, whose number had immensely increased during the interval since his run with Alice.

The trotting match, which was to have taken place between Sharper and Kate, did not come offi through the absence of the horse. After waiting an hour for him the mare was ordered to the.post, and trotted over the course alone. The condition of the course was, in parts, very heavy—a fact which will account in some degree for the slow pace of the two races. Of the incidents to be ordinarily met with on a race course, few call for special reference. A large

number of police were in attendance, but except in one^ instance where a man and a boy were taken into custody for riding upon the course ■.virile the last race was being run, there ■.vas nothing that we heard of requiring their interference. At the wticlusion ef each race there was a rush through a small opening in the fence dividing the grand stand from the booth ground, and for fully a quarter of an hour on each occasion, the occupants of the grand stand were completely blockaded, and prevented from making their exit. This nuisance must be seen to and prevented in future, or, in addition to the inconvenience of the avenues being blocked up, there is every likelihood of serious accidents occurring through the pressure of the crowd.

The Sydney division are large winners and will probably take away with them many thousands from this colony. Mr. Rowe, the owner of Veno, was so much excited upon witnessing the first triumph of his horse that he fainted away on the spot, his sudden falling down causing great alarm among the bystanders. A very heavy stake was dropped on Tomboy, whose failure was so far from being calculated upon, while the race was going on, that, although prior to the start 2 to 1 had been laid on Cooramin, more than one offer to lay 5 to 1 —in one instance in hundreds—on the former was made. Many attributed his failure to the over-confidence of his jockey, Mitchell, but numbers of his friends expressed an opinion that he could not beat Cooramin. Prior to concluding these introductory remarks, we must bear testimony to the valuable services of Mr. Henderson, who, as sfcartei-, was exceedingly fortunate in obtaining the good opinion of all. Every facility to obtain information was afforded to the representatives of the public press, although with reference to them, we would suggest to the stewards of the forthcoming meeting, that a particular portion of the grand stand should be appropriated as a sort of reporters' gallery. The onerous and unthankful duties of clerk of the course were most satisfactorily performed by Messrs. Hamilton and M'Candlish. The stewards were John Orr, Esq., who represented Victoria; Brisco Ray, Esq., of New South Wales ; and Alexander Read, Esq., of Tasmania; Jas. Watt, '•Csq., of Bacchus Marsh, was the judge. We now subjoin particulars of the racing. FIRST BACE. THE MATCH FOE THE CHAMPIONSHIP. VICTORIA V. NEW SOT/TH WALES. A match for £2000. Three miles. 10 stone 1 ft>. each. Mr. G. T. Rowe's Veno, aged ... (Higgerson) 1 Mr. Chirnside's Alice Hawthorn ... (Malion) 2 Betting at starting, 6 to 4 on Veno. An admirable start was effected. Veno jumped off with a slight lead, and maintained it to the turn of the course, when he was drawn back, and Alice went in advance. She kept the lead to the back stretch, when Veno went up and parsed her, keeping about half-a-length ahead to the hill. He then shook her off, crossed to the inside, and came on to the straight course a length a,nd a half in advance. He was never again reached, and although Malion made a dash under the hill, the mare was completely outstridden, Veno doing exactly what he liked with her. The pace of the run home was evidently at Higgerson's option. Alice gallantly struggled to make a close race of it, but the superiority of the Sydney horse was manifestly too great, and he passed the winning-post hard held-in an easy winner by about two lengths. Time—6 mm. 12 sec. SECOND BACE. ■ Match for £400. 1| miles. 10 st. 1&. each. Mr. G. T. Rowe's Cooramin, aged (Higgerson) 1 Mr. Eraser's Tomboy, aged (Mitchell) 2 Betting, 3 to 2 on Cooramin. The Sydney horse had a trifling advantage in starting, and led to the turn, when Tomboy challenged him, and took first place, leading two lengths to the side of the hill. This advantage he maintained to the straight running, and although closely raced by Cooramin, came up to the grand stand without the latter having effected any material lessening of the interval between them. Before passing the stand, Mitchell called upon his horse without success; and Cooramin immediately went up, and in a stride or two got his head on a line with Tomboy's. Another stride enabled him to pass the judge's stand a winner by a head. Time—3 mm. 1 sec. THIEB EACE. Match, £500 to £300. 3 miles. 10 st, 1 fb. Mi% G. T, Rowe's Veno, aged ... (Higgerson) 1 Mr. Fraser's Van Tromp, aged (Mahon) 2 Betting, 4 to 1 on Veno. Veno led off, but at the turn permitted Van Tromp to catch him. The two raced to the hill, when Veno let out, and came first on to the straight running. He had a lead of about a length past the grand stand, and was never again caught, coming in ultimately an easy winner by two lengths. Time—6 mm. 5 sec. For the first mile and a half the pace was exceedingly good.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18571104.2.6

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 522, 4 November 1857, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,362

THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE COLONIAL TURF. Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 522, 4 November 1857, Page 3

THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE COLONIAL TURF. Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 522, 4 November 1857, Page 3

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