DISCREDITABLE PRACTICES,

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1600, 5 January 1886, Page 2

DISCREDITABLE PRACTICES,

Writes a Wellington paper : — At most of the suburban race meetings of New Zealand it is a notorious fact that- the great object of the local horsey men — not racehorse proprietors — is to v riug m v good % nn" for the hack race. Such palpable frauds have b«en perpetrated m the endeavors of unscrupulous man to accomplish this end that several clubs m different parts of the colony have already done away with hack races, while others have hedged them about with such stringent selling conditions as to deter a racehorse from being entered. At Mas-tcrton-Opaki races on Boxing Day the necessity for one of these two courses seems to have been illustrated by a mysterious candidate named Mataumu, who spreitdeugled two large tields* m such ridiculously eeasty t fashion that keen curiosity as to his antecedents was at once aroused. In reference to this subject, the Wairarapa Dai y nays : — " The secret with regard to the sensational hack Matamau came out on the racecourse yesterday. He has been purchased by Mr T. H. Hill, who, on entering him for the Hack Hurdle Race, added to his name, 'late Hinan.' Hinau was a horse that was good enough to beat Administrator at Hastings. The horse has been used for some time by cattle drovers, who, it is to be presumed, knew something about him. On the Opaki, however, he was entered as a uuidenhack, and under U new name. "We do not believe that the identity of such a horse could be so easily forgotten, and are pleased to see that a protest, which will lead to a full enquiry, has been entered."