THE SPORTS.
In'accordance/with the advertisement which appeared in the papers the grand champion handicap race took place ; on/Saturday at the Victoria ground. Thera 1 was a very good attendance, and the day being fine the affair was successful in all; but that - the;' ground is totally unfit for racing.- In the first place the area is too small, and the surface is uneven, and no attempt appears to have been made to improve it. , The prizes were—lst prize, £2O ; 2nd do, £lO ; 3rd do, £5 ; and 4th, £2. It is to be hoped'’when sports.of: the kinds are again held, apd when such valuable prizes are offered, that'thb'committee arrangements better site on which the runners may coaifpete. On .Saturday there were several'Occidents owing to the defects of the Victoria ground, the circle! being so small. Mr. Pollock sustained a very severe fall, hurting himself thereby to such an extent that he has since been confined to the house; - Unfortunately a suitable - place in- which to ‘hold sports like these is wanting in Wellington, the only available one being the Basin -Reserve, and as a recreation ground for a city like this . that might be a good ideal .‘better, and . then sometimes it is. engaged for other purposes than: running /matches, when such are to take place, as was, thb .case- on Saturday. , But to return. to the subject jof this report, some of the competitors were on the ground at the advertised time:for the commencement of the sports, viz., 12 o'clock ;!but the;public did not- make; an appearance until some time afterwards,: an .impression seeming to have gained ground that the sports did not take'place till the afternoon. Therefore,the running was postponed until 2 e’clock. A good deal of interest was taken in the match, the prizes being really worth winning, > Following is a report of the proceedings:— The first event on the card was the 200 yards. For the first heat—Donovan (scratch), Blyth (2 yards), Webb (4 yards), Mitchell (2 yards), and Churtoa (4 yards) started.- Donovan had run right up to Blyth . and Mitchell when the pistol went off, and easily'■‘got on level terms with Webb, who pushed, him/gamely to' the tape, and finished a deadbeat. Time,23sec. For the second h- —Pollock (. cratch), Hearn (5 yards), : Barkly (3. yards). Black (6-yards),, and Moran (4 yards); came, to the scratch. Black came in first, Pollock only running second to secure a place in the final. Time,' 22Jsec. For the third heat—Major and Jones (scratch), Cooper (2 yards), and Dixon , (8 yards) started. Jones won easily,; Major coming in second. • Dixon fell., t Time, 25sec. Final .Heatr—Pollock, Major,. JTones. and' Donovan,, all at scratch, C, .Webb, (4 yards), and Black (6 yards)) ran. A false start was made owing .to the pistol having missed fire, only the cap exploding. Pollock-got the lead,-but .fell when within 20 yards of, home., / Webb .came in first, but the competitors had to ,make a fresh start on being informed that the .first pne was false. On the second start Donovan got. a. good lead and, maintaineff, it,., coming in a good first, Major, second,■ Pollock, third. ; Time, , seconds.,. The' next event was, a 100 yards race. In the first heat, Donovan (scratch) came in, first, and Webb (3 yards) second, beating four, others. , Second heat —Black (4 yards) and Hearn (4 yards) gained first and second places, Pollock seeming- to be seriously affected by the accident he met with during thq,final heat of the first event. He had first place/ but' suddenly fell back. Third heat—Major (scratch) and Cooper (3 yards) came in. first and second, they having a walkover. , Fourth heat Wilson (5 yards), Ist ; Moran (4 yards), 2nd. The final heat was a well-contested race, and very interesting, eight runners starting. Donovan got away with, a, tremendous rush, soon overtook the limit men, , arid won by about half a yard Webb 2nd, Wilson 3rd. The .time- was said ,jo: be 10J seconds, but this was doubted by .some of the competitors, who thought the race, occupied a longer time. , , ....
. The third event was a 300 yards race. In the first heat the starters werq—ildajor-(2 yards), Blythe (5 yards), Moran (scratch) and Hearne 8 yards'. Owing to Wiltshire just having completed a mile of his . .walk, the rope of - the smaller circle in which ,he had been walking was by,an .oversight left down, and two of the, competitors,, Hearne, and Blythe, took the wrong course' and .came in. first and second, Moran and .Major finishing third and fourth,., and they immediately entered a protest. The, judges decided that Hearne and Blythe might run in the final heat. The decision caused some amazement and not .a little annoyance, inasmuch as Hearne and Blythe had virtually disqualified themselves.- Second Heat- I—Pollock (scratch),, Churton (Byds.), and Webb (6yds.) started. Befere 20 yards had been'run Pollock assumed the lead, and gradually in- 1 creased the distance between himself and those behind him, when he suddenly fell a second time. --Webb carrie-in first. Third Heat —Jones and Donovan (both scratch) ran first and second. Final Heat—Six started, Blythe coming in first, Webb second, and James third, after a . splendid race, Donovan for the first time that day being unable to score. - : There are three'more.distances to be run.Up to the present the three highest scores are as follows; —Donovan, 11; Blythe, 5; O; Webb) 6.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4845, 2 October 1876, Page 3
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895THE SPORTS. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4845, 2 October 1876, Page 3
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