NELSON RACE MEETING, 1876.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 111, 2 May 1876, Page 2

NELSON RACE MEETING, 1876.

Our little town seems to have fairly wakened up to to thef faot that the Race Meeting of this year will be a worthy successor of those of the good old days. With fine weather, if we should be fortunate enough to get it, and with large fields of good horses the races will be a decided success. The firat race on the programme of "Wednesday is the Maiden Plate, for which five horses are entered. Morning Star is a well bred horse, by Day Dawn, out of Miss Nightingale, and having been in the able hands of Sam Powell should be pretty fit. Bandsman is a " rum 'un " to look at, and is in no sort of condition. I doubt Moose's ability to give weight to the young horses, though he is reported to be a different animal to what he was at "Wakefield. Grainsborough, from Wanganui, is a neat little horse, and looks like going. Sir "Walter ran at the late Wairau meeting, but failed to distinguish himself. He is an ungainly looking animal, and his condition is anything but tip-top. I think the Maiden will be won by Mr Rives' horse or Grainsborough. Eleven jumpers have accepted for the steeplechase. Handicaps, as a rule, are notorious for the dissatisfaction they have given to owners of horses, and this one seems no exception to the general rule. Don Juan, although in splendid condition, seems very harshly treated with list 121bs. His previous performances are very moderate, and he is well known to be a, slow, horse : I doubt his owner's spotted jacket being the first to catch the judge's eye. Butcher Boy is fairly treated with list 121bs after his recent victories in the North Island, but I prefer his stable companion at the weights. Poor old Sultan is heavily weighted; his legs look queer, and I don't think he can get over the big Stoko fences. Simpson is to ride him. I pity Simpson. Whalebone has come from the Wairau with a great reputation, but although he. has won some Hurdle Races he has never met any good company. This s his first appearance across country, but with Craft in the saddle he will be by no means out of it. Gazelle is a good jumper, and in Mr Nicholson's hands should very nearly win. May Morn, formerly Moselle, has a good turn of speed on the flat, but this is his first appearance over a country. I believe he is a doubtful starter, owing to an over-reach. Nero has been let off very light considering the compauy he has won in on the Coast; Report says that Mr Hope is to pilot him. If he will only jump, the race is a moral for him, but he is a nastytempered brute, and I think he Won't •' negotiate the big fences. Sherwood has run on the flat, but has never done anything, and his chance seems small. Tapuanuka resembles in shape and make the mountain whence he takes his name. He certainly is big enough, but I question his being good enough to win. Dick Turpin is a good deal fancied, and it he jumps as well as they say he does, with the services of M'lvor, he should be there or thereabouts at the finish. Harkaway has only Bst4<lbs,,butifhehad 4st 81bs I should not regard liis chance as being much better. • Your prophet ' would recommend G-azelle and Dick Turpin, with Whalebone for. a place. The Railway Plate looks a certainty foi* G-uy Fawkes, who has proved himself to be the best weight-for-age horso in the colony over all distances. Folly is an honest little horse, and has won races in the Wanganui district, but he will be out-classed here. Isaac Walton looks well, but I don't think be can go the distance. Treason and Satellite, both Wanganui horses, have run well in their own company, but I fear they are out of ifc here.' In the Welter the only horses not previously noticed are Magenta and Medea. The former of these seems to have entirely lost his three-year-old form, and his legs look very " dicky." Medea has been running in Mr "Walters' name, and seems to be a good mare. I select Treason or Medea for the "Welter. . For the second day's races there are good entries, but your prophet will not risk his reputation by giving any " tips" before the weights appear. The District Plate should be a good thing for Medea, though old Azalea is not to be laughed at. I think the races of 1876 will be a great success, and will be looked back to with pleasure. Let all the sporting community join together in hoping for fine weather while " touting " is the order of the day. . . Fakir.

The Christcaureri Gas Company have ordered a new gas holder, to hold about 100,000 feet bf fas. •" > Sixty thousand bags of wheat were awaiting shipment at Timaru on the 15th ultimo. ; f ? A party, of twenty-four Chinamen are reported to 'have left Cardrona, Otago, with no less than £8000 worth of gold. The Guardian adds they are homeward bound. They know when they are well off.. His Honoi*| Judge ; Weston : has exj pressed himself that the Vagrant Act | ia a most dangerous and arbitrary Act, : and says that if he had the power he would certainly expunge a great number of the clauses. Regarding the Brunner line the G. li. Argus writes : — The railway department has made no provision whatever for scouring a legitimate traffic for the line. There are no sheds, no goods wagons, no tarpaulins, no. anything •■■— not the slightest effort has been 1 used to invite a payable traffic. And unless something is done the line will remain an engineering curiosity, but a financial failure. Pheasants it seems are not Good Templars. In some up-.country disr triets where these birds are plentiful, the Maoris turn this fact to advantage. They do not waste powder and shot. to obtain pheasants, but simply. steep some grain in rum, and scatter it where the birds congregate. -The pheasants eat greedily and become intoxicated, when, being unable to fly, they are easily bageed "We (Argus) i have been shown a private letter from a late resident of Greymouth, who is now at the Cape of Good Hope. He states that the Cape Goldfields are being gradually deserted by the European miners, the ground being too poor; and the cost of provisions, &c, owing to the heavy freight charges, leaving no margin for the miners. He advises that no New Zealand miners should leave for this field, as only bitter disappointment would be the result. •"■••:■'■ .: Concerning the Dogherty f cattle driving case the G. R. Argus says: — There is more in this business than/appears upon the lace df it. It may be that every head of the cattle implicated may be sound, but the fact remainthat in the district from which they come serious epidemics have existed, and that the cattle are more or less infected— or at any rate, might be the means of introducing on this side of the ranges fatal diseases, from which, by dint of, great precaution, the settlers have so far escaped. The introduction of pleuro-pnetnonia, or any other bovine epidemic, would simply 1 result in ruin to every cattle owner on the coast, and we trust that the authorities will, deal, with the case just brought to light in the manner which its importance deserves.