SPORTING MEMS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 83, 7 April 1875, Page 2

SPORTING MEMS.

It cannot be denied that the electric I telegraph is one of the moat important I discoveries of our time, but with all its great advantages it baa its drawbacks. I Instead of waiting four months to know whether Cambridge or Oxford was victor in their great annual contest on the Thames, or the name of the winner of the last Derby, we learn the brief fact within a few days of the event, but the detail?, when they reach us, have none of the interest they were wont to possess in the "good old days." It is the same with other news, and newspapers from the other side of the world do uot interest us now as they did of yore. It is much the same nearer home. Our readers have leornt the names of the winning horses at the recant Dunedin races, and few will now wish to see two or three columns of our limited spnce devoted to particulars of the running, but they may not think a few " Mems " on the meeting out of place. The sport opened with the Maiden Plate, which proved one of the best and most interesting races of the meeting. The winner was a promising three-year-old, imported from Melbourne by Captain Hutchinson, who deserved success for the Bpirit with which he races. King Phillip is by Camden (not the eon of Cassandra, formerly belonging to Mr Duppa, but a sod of the imported Warhawk, out of a Kelpie mare), and comes of faßt and Btout blood. From the manner in which the colt carried off the Maiden honors, and ran throughout the meeting, he is likely to be heard of again, and will probably compensate bis owner for the disappointment ha sustained from his previous Victorian purchase—Earl of Lynne, a thorough cur, who never can be got to' "make «n effort when collared. Another colt of promise in the same race was Daniel O'Rourke, a two-year-old son of Sledmere, out of the imported daughter of Tadmor, dam of Tadrnor, the winner of the lest Canterbury Derby, after a dead heat with Rangi, sister to Awatea. Although Mr Nosworthy's colt only

secured third.' place, his performance ! was creditable when the distance and the heavy state of the course is considered, for the weather had been previously wet, and the day was showery. The time under ihe circunißtancee was fair, 2coinß 53seca. For the Cup, Ngaro, a daughter of Countess, by The Peer, out of Phoobe, with tho top weight, waa unaccountably made tho favorite. The filly's previous running in no way justified the handicappor in weighting her as be did. At Canterbury, in November, she ran in the Mafdon Plate, which she must have won had fiho not taken fright at the crowd and bolted off the course, but her opponents were very moderate animals — Belle, by Caledoil, and tho Ada gelding by Malton. Her only good performance was for the Christchurch Plate of two miles, on the third day of the same meeting, which Bhe won by a head from Traitor, from whom she was {For continuation see fourth page.')

receiving a maiden allowance of sibs, while Tambourini, who was carrying a penalty of lOlbs for winning the Cup, was beaten off. After the Metropolitan races she was sent to Auckland, where she did nothing, as she took cold, and we question whether she has yet recovered from the effect of her illness. The Cup was a gift to Templeton, who carried lllbs less than his racing weight ; Bight Bower, a Victorian horse, was six or seven lengths behind, with 28 lbs less than racing weight; while Traitor, son of Deception, by Traducer, was five lengths further behind, with an allowance of 9 lbs. Behind these were Atlas, an aged gelding by the Peer, out of an imported daughter of Simoom, with 251bs indulgence; Castaway, brother to Lurline, with Gibs; Hercules, brother to Monarch, with lOlbs; Earl of Ly line, with 291bs; and Ngaro, with 51bs. The Newmarket Stakes was won with some difficulty by Elfin King, by Malton, out of an imported Sir Tatton mare; Spritsail, daughter of Wetsail, by Traducer, a good second, Botbwell,' third; and Sonnambula, sister to "Old Tarn " last. The PublicaDs' Handicap was a "moral" for Templeton, the only horse to make him race being King Phillip, to whom the handsome son of Belle of the Isle was conceding 81bs. The principal race on tbe second day was the Jockey Club Handicap of If mileß, won also without difficulty by Templeton. As the weights for this race were determined after tbe running of the previous day, it is difficult to understand the principle on which the handicapper did his work as Templeton, and King Phillip ran with precisely the same relative weights as in the Victuallers' race, which Mr Delamain's horse won as he pleased. There was certainly a difference of half a mile in the two races, and perhaps the handicapper thought the three [year old could stay a longer distance than the four year old. Though Traitor met Templeton lllbs better than in the Cup, he could not secure a place; Gamecock got 371bs from the winner; Right Bower 191bs, and Hercules lOlbs. As the latter is also owned by Mr Delamain, he made the running for his stable companion, and led the light weights at a merry pace for the first mile and letired, when the son of Traducer went up to the front, which he kept with ease to the finish. Tbe only interest excited was the struggle for second place between Captain Hutchin son's colt and Right Bower, the former securing it by a head; In the Rouse Stakes, Sonnarabula turned the tables on Elfin King, who carried a penalty of 51bs for winning the Newmarket Stakes; Spritsail waß third. On the last day the Steeplechase afforded good sport, but the betting fraternity were hit hard, as they bad backed Medora heavily, whereas she only scored third honors. Tbe Town Plate was a canter over for Templeton, accompanied only by his Btable companion, Hercules. For the Forbury Handicap, n mile and a half, Tadmor had 13lbs less than his racing weight; Castaway, 16ibs; Right Bower, 301bs; Gamecock, S2lbs ; and Boomerang, 43lbs. Had Castaway been in anything like form, he would have nearly distanced his opponent?, whereas ho did not get a place. it is a pity to see the character of a good horse, who has been to the stud, injured by racing him when out of condition, and we wonder at Mr Campbell's folly. Tadmor was made the favorite, but again the bookmakers were sold, for that moderate colt could not give Right Bower 171bs, and was euchred accordingly. In the Flying Handicap, three quarters of a mile, the daughter of Opera scored a second victory over Elfin King, conceding him lOlbu, which makes one wonder at her defeat iv the Newmarket Stakes two days previously. The colt in fact was behind Envy, an a^ed mare, by Traducer, out of a daughter of Meg Merrilies, who received 321bs from the winner. Tbe Consolation Stake was won by Hercules with the top weight of Bst, Envy second. The best horse of the meeting by a long way was the four-year-old Templeton, by Traducer, out of Belle of the Isle, hsr dam Spray, imported from New South Wales when a filly by Mr H. Redwood. Few mares have bred more successful animals than Spray has done, though her pedigree is imperfect on the side of both sire and dam. Lady Ann, her dam, is only known as " Single's Whisker mare," while her sire, Donizetti, came to Sydney from India, where he had been used ns a stud horse, without pedigree. There can be no doubt of the purity of Spray's blood, and the compiler of the "New Zealand Stud Book" will be justified, in his next volume, in so classifying her, as well as other animals of like character whose pedigrees, from various causes, cannot be traced back to the standard source Beginning with Wetsail, her first foal, a capital .performer, as many in Nelson can testify, she also bred Stormbird, Belle of the Isle, Little Lady, who all ran well, while her eon Scud was the sire of Knottingly, ahorse of high character. But while paying willing tribute to the excellence of Mr Delamaia's horse, we cannot rank him with Luiline or Calumny, or Papapa, or, we think, Kakapo. In all bis encounters with Tambourini — and they often met — he was beaten by the old horse at racing weightP, so that Mr Delamain may esteem himself fortunate in having met no horses better than his own at the Southern meeting. At the Canterbury Spring Meeting, where Templeton saddled a three-year-old for the Cup, he was thought to be the best conditioned animal in tbe paddock, but neither io

that race, nor for the Derb.y on the following day, had he a chance , thoi igh he got third place in the latter, but he was a dozen lengths behind Cat 'taw By, who ran second to Papapa. To sh dw the difference in the horsea ru.nni og this season and last, we append a tab 1& of the time for the same races at th fc Metropolitan Meeting, run under, as nearly as possible, tho same circumstances : — ot~.oi<onc>co—>oo .5 Oi r~l ■* © Ol CO r-t CO M r§ "^ "65 oS -g 8 ~ 2" «" & < „> '.a fc f .s g £ ~ -2 K ° n ft .2 S 2II* 1I I 1 J3oSSt_olS&D I I I I Mcl I I I fi O-^t-^1 Ift -tf •# -* -*t< .S tl H Tf O Jl « r* (» % o .go. S « 1 5 c I i E 9 "* , £ - * hla§v a a i s « eh ? a \i> J2l zz 5 3Z <n 0 s « 2, s .8 C ~, ft C I a ft a, g ft to 9 g J2 "8 « S -S IoS& $ d 2 1 3£61 I 3 § 8 The Canterbury Autumn Meeting, on the 23rd and 241h instant, will be the next races of importance. The programDM is strong. The Trial Stakes ofiOO soys, mile and a quarter, weight for age, with allowances and penalties, is the first race; then comeß the Leger with 100 soys of added money to a sweepstakes of 10 aovs. Next follows the Champagne Stakes of 100 soys, for two-year-olds, added to a sweepstake of 10 soys; then St. George's Handicap of 100 soys, one mile, added to a sweepstake of 5 soys. The Leger has fourteen subscriber?, half of them being Mr Redwood's horses, while Tadmor, Elfin King, The Belle, and Sonnombula, are the only remaining | animals we know anything about. The Champagne Stakes closed with sixteen subscribers, but we have not seen the i complete list. We know only that three at least are from Mr Redwood's stable — soub of Wairaea, Fair Puritan, and Phoebe, all by Tow ton; that a slashing filly, by Raveusworth, out of Mermaid, dam of Lurline, will be in the fray; that a daughter of Gitana (Calumny's dam), by Sledmere, will also be likely to put in an appearance, as will a daughter of Operp, by llavensworth, so there should be good animals amongst the lot. The second day is devoted to handicaps, and the weights (or the " Great Autumn " were given by us on Monday. There appears to be no rule but that of common sense to guide handicappers, but this, in many handicaps, is strangely violated. This may arise from the hiindicapper not knowing the performances of the animals he has to deal with, but this ought not to be, especially for a great meeting like Canterbury. We have not space to-day to criticise Mr Lance's j last handicap, but it is in some respects so outrageous that we shall feel bound to bestow a few words upon it on an early day. We lenrn from Wanganui the death of Raveußwortb, imported to Nelson by the Hon. W. Robinson. He was comparatively a young horse, having been foaled in 1860, and was one of the last eons of Touchstone. Havensworth was well bred both for speed and endurance, and was full of Eclipse and Herod blood. Out of thirty-two strain?, thirteen ran back to Eclipse, twelve to Herod, and four to Matchem, grandson of the Godolphin Arabiuu, while one other was got from the latter horse through another family — thus leaving oniy two lines outside the three families that have given us all our best horses. Ravensworth's greatest representative left us is Papapa — a horse of undoubted speed, and power to stay, as. was shown by his three-year-old running at Canterbury, He has since been unfortunate. On his return from Melbourne be was sold to Mr Farmer, of Hawke'a Buy, for £500— a great bargain. He will probably go to tbe stud, where bis services will be invaluable. The entries for the steeplechase and hurdle race at Wakefield show that the owners of horses in Waimea care more for the sport than the stakes. Although the money to be won is less than at. any former meeting, thb entries are more numerous than on any previous occasion. It is a pity the stewards did not moke provision for a good flat race, even had it been only for hacks. Had there been a plate of only 20 soys, added to a small sweepstake, horses would have been sent up from Marlborough. We hope, as there .is a prospect of the railway being opened before next autumn, that steps will be taken to revive the Nelson races, the first step being to provide a course which the railway will reach.