SPORTING NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 573, 4 March 1878, Page 2

SPORTING NOTES.

By Tim Whiffl!-;;:. The Dunedin race meeting has now been brought to a close, and the next important meet, to claim t: e attention of admirers of tin- turf will be that of the North Oiago Turf Club. Perhaps, taken altogether, the Dimedin lne.e'-iiig has not been so successful ill many respects as those of previous years. In several insiancis the iieids were very small, and there were no less than two instances of horses having walk-overs. These are matters, however, which i need not dwell upon. The' Dunedinites had some good, exciting races, the three big events-the Cup, Jockey Club Handicap, and Forbury Handicap—being, according to the reports, for I had not, the pleasure o!" witnessing them, really well contested races. TVmph-ton lias again proved himself one of the best, if not the best, horse. in the Colony. His success in the big ra.ee of the meeting, the Cup, was a hit of a surprise for many of the would-be kuowiug'ones : but his s< coiid win, the J.C. Handicap was jyrhaps a great-T surt.rise. still for many people, who did not think that the game little horse would b--e-ipial to the task of carrying 10st. to the front in such company. The Dunedin course seems to be more to his liking than

those, of iiny (ithej- parts of the Colony. On it he has scored nior, briiliaut performances than anywhere, ck'. kk has succeeded in doing What lias u. Ver before been achieved l>v any other horse in tinColony. Twice has heph:.--d :he double

of Cup and J.C. ilandh-rp to his etvdi'. and in each event he has litis year batten iti.s previous performance's. Fo" instance, in 187k when a four-year-old. lie won the Punedin Cup, carrying fist. 1:2! k, his time King 4tnii). lO.'.see. ; while, this year, with 9st. 31k," he succeeded it. compassing lite distance in Mann, ahkec. Then again, in 3 87."'. when ho won ike .S.C. Handicap, he carried S-d. lolhs., an.l did the mtl" and fhree-tpiaru-rs iti oinin.

!S-;ec : while this vonr in- coy-ivd in--distance in Chnin. 101/ee., w.i!i I (Ist. <m his hack, it i« tru."' tha" i'i the first named year the course was somewhat ', eavy. whereas at tin; late ir.-i timr it was iii crpba! condition. Still 'i'omph-tou's il. mi,]'- victory las*" wick clearly proves that time has «li.-:ilt- kindly with liili), and that Ik- has itii]u'«-V; d to some extent with age. The running in Uunebin and the p'-nalties incurred have very materially handicap made by Mr. S' -Twin for the chii f of the Oaniaru races. Tie 14ibs. penalty incurred by Tern] h-tou for winning the Cnp appears r>! me to entirety upset his chance of adding 111 -- Norih Otago Turf Cluh Handicap to his list of vieioviis. Good as the game little horse has piai'id himself under ;i i:-'."vy weight, .[ cannot hut

! think ;haf 10s: Sibs is nioi'.' tmtii he can sm eer.sfel'y manage on the Oilman; course; it would he cruel io ask him to race under such a load. Tcmplelon will now have to meet those horses whichtook part in the Cup and D.J.C. Handicap on conshh rai iy worse terms than in Dunedin. \\ ■ will have to give Ariel 11.11 is. more than in the Cup race, and 21!' S. more than in the D.J.C. Haiidiea]>. In both of these races Ariel ran third ; hut his chance up here has heen also b-sseiied hy Ihe penalty <'f "lbs. incurred Through winning the. rorbury Hiindicap. having now to carry TO.sf. 1:1) , and to make concessions to Longhands, Hippocampus and Bribery. I have already said (hat Tompleion lias to make si rions concessions to Ariel. Now h. t us look how he stands with regard io olhi-rs. .! find that Hippocampus will meet the Cup hero on loibs. belter terms than in tie Cup race, and 21'ns. better than in the Handicap. The latier concession may not seem much, especially when we note the fact that in neither of the races did Mr. Waller's horse obtain a place. 1 shrewdly suspect that, all lias not, neon well with the Auckland champion, and my impivssion seems to be borne out, by the- fact that lie did not go through anything like regular work on the Foihury. But tiie most striking differences in weights for the Turf Club 1 iaudieap as comji.ired with the Bunt-din races are to he found in the ease of Longlauds. This promising three-year old will meet his Dunedin Cup opponents on much better terms, the alterations in his favor being as fellow : lolbs. gain from TY-mpleton, 41bs. from Ariel, and 2!bs. from Hippocampus. He will also meet, 'i empletnn Gibs, better than in the J.C. Handicap, Ariel 41 bs., and Hippocampus iMbs. In tliis race too, the distance of which was the 'same as for our big handicap, i.onglands ran a close second to Teinpleten, and iiuishtd in front of his stable companion Ariel and Hippocampus ; while in the Cup race lie ran a grand horse and finished fourth, Templeton, Titania, and Ariel being in front of him. The whole of the above Cup horses will meet Bribery on worse terms than ii> the Cup race, but I do not place much importance upon this fact, for in that race she was unable to <jet any w here near them at the finish. She has only recently been put into training, and as a consequence she was not in good condition. The time to elapse before our race meeting is so short that I do not j think any very great improvement can be made in her form. Of those horses who

took part in the Dunedin races, I infinitively prefer Longland's chance of pvTling off the North Ocago Ttn-f Club Haiu.Vcap, more especially as Unknown and Ober n sliaped so badly. Pungawerewere's hu'e accident seems to have thrown her all astray in Dunedin, and if the extent of her mishap should prove to be so serious as stated, she will have but a poor chance of doing anything in Oamaru. Of the horses engaged in the N.O.T.C. Handicap who did not appear in Dunedin, Fishhook appears to have the best chance ; but there is still a considerable amount of uncertainty and doubt regarding his condition. I regret that I am not in a position to give any reliable information on the subject, though I have heard it whispered about that the fclook has not been altogether idle during his enforced retirement from the turf ; but as this is merely a report, it must be. taken for what it is worth. S >mo peoples appear to entertain doubts as to whether or not Fishhook will come to Oamaru at all. For my own part I have Utile hesitation in predicting that lie will be found amongst the starters. It is scarcely probable.' that Dan OT.rien, directly' after getting the disqualification removed from his horse, will care to incur the displeasure of the people of Oamaru by keeping Fishhook in the race until within a few days of the meeting,'and then running the pen through his name. To do so would at once give rise to the impression that a swindle, was being worked ; .and. for his own sake, 1 trust and behove that OMVion will not do anything so extremely foolish. The only other horses engaged in the N.O.T.(J. Handicap besides those 1 have mentioned above are lJide-a-Woe. Mirei'l■•, 3l:tfit :iM.-i, and Blue I'et.'T, and and of these 1 can' say but liitle at present. 1 shall therefore reserve my remarks until a future occasion, though in the meantime 1 may say that Mireillo appears to lie the best, judging from her win in tht! Consolation at Oliristehiireh. wlp'ii she gave Maritana a couple of pounds and a beating. Taking the whole of the horses as thev appear at present on paper, I should select Lmglands, Fishhook, and Hippocampus, for, although the latter did not do anything in Dnti- , din, 1 cannot, over] >ok his recent Auckland performance ; while Mireille has apparently a fair outside show. It is. iioivever, a diflicn.lt maiier to .speak with any degree of conlidence until the horse.are at work here, for it is probable that some of them may not turn up. 1 fancy l.y thi.3 time 'Ray must have discovered (-,,:; it lie made a mistake in imi. accepting wish Titania for the X.0.T.0. Handicap.

as judging from her running in '..'unodiii she would, with her light, impost, have had a tremendous show. (K the Iwo handicaps to be run on the lies: day. the tradesman'.-; nil!, 1 chink, prove the ;n .si e.veiling race, for in it, seve.ia! good horses will meet on pivirv even terms, the b-s: in the race i.eing 'iY-mpleton. I'oul t'lav. Tltania, :i!irei!le, and Walton, v.lmse running in rhe Publican.-*' 1 ■■imbc-ip ai Dniiebn entitles him to some amount of consideration ; while Pduo i'oier. with his extremely light impost of (is!, bllbs., should have a. very good show, the distance, one mile and a i]mirier, being about It is lit.