SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 56

SPORTING NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA.

By Eavensworth. MELBOURNE, August 3. RACING IN MELBOURNE. There was no mid-week registered racinom Melbourne last week, and the first meet" ing was held on Saturday, when the Moonee \ alley Club, which g-ves the best stakes of all the suburban clubs, brought off a good programme. The stakas totalled ±.610, the Hurdle Race and Steeplechase being worth £150 each. The Hurdle Race went to the V.R.C. Grand National Hurdle Kace winner Fossil, who only had 10.7 to car-y, and in a weak field scored very easily, with The Cothbraek. 10.11 second. Ihero were 24 starters for the Trial Handicap but everybody seemed to know that the New Zealander Borax, who scored at Epsom the pre\ious Saturday, would win again. The son of Birkenhead ia wonderfully smart out of slips, and he again- had the race won in the- first furlong. He was stopping at the finibh, and the imported horse M'Culloch (by Ugly) was fasl. catching him. M'Culloch, who carried 6.13 to Borax's 7.9 got badly oir, but he t'.iowec' that he can gallop all right. The .Steeplechase went to the toa wni^ht Eucambene 12.2, by Frude. who had "the t-ervice* of A. Williamson. Aft<>r his ride on Eucarnbene in Mie Epsom Ht^epWhasothe previous Saturday, Williamson fainfod twice. La>t Saturday he again had the mount of EiKarnbene. Ho rode him a good race, and got him licme the winner, but it wa« a narrow «have. Williamson w Hill weak, and was nor of groat atsKtaru-p to his mount in. the last hundred jartk : and Falcon, who wa* well beaten at the '.urn, neasly succr«l(-d in catching Eucambane. On dismounting m tho woijrhmnenclosure, Williamson was vorv fehak\" Boldrewood 7.9. by Amherst — Brio, «oi! the Valley Handicap all tho way, but A. Bell, his riu-er w;n M.-ponted for a mont.ii for icckl<?~> riding H« cur •■~r~>-- 'h" )k'l<! lather sharply at the start Nightlight 9.12 (by The Chevalier, s>n of Lotl"el) oa«-ilv won the Jumpeij' Flat Ra^e, one niilo u:)A seven furlongs, in the colouis of Mr E. Manifold. The ancient Proceedcr, who ran Tarfca,n to a head in tho Champion Kaco at Flemington. was with 12st up ovpoctod 10 win. but missed a nlace, and Wallaia 10.10 (F. Burn up) was in some way mterforrpfl with, and brought down Ri=ton 9 5, by Challenger (eon of Enidr=foid), with R.

, Lewis up, l«d all the way in th« Weltei j Handicap. RACING IN SYDNEY 3 The Rosehill meeting on Saturday was , & very successful one. An interesting - feature of the racing was the success o] Moldavia 7.7 in the Nursery Handicap He is by the duai Metropolitan winnei Mooltan, who got Moldavia when only twc years old. Moolt'an is still in craining and both he and Moldavia are engaged ir the Melbourne Cap. Loadstar (late Pole star) 5.2, by Poland, won the Hurdle Race , from Mainspring 11.2, ridden by T. Cahill | Boidino 9.2 (by imported Simmer) accounted '. for the Flying- Handicap, and Ore Par r (late Prospector) 9.5 (by Breakpan), gav< I J. Bar den * winning ride in the Gran ville Stakes, one mile, the leading even) [ of the day, the RosehiH Handicap, on* I mile and a-quarter, proved a good thing 5 for Volta 7.4, who is by the Melbourne r Cup winner Gaulus, and was ridden to ; W. H. Smith. The Oarlingford Mil* r ended in a dead-heat between Specimei 9.8, by Dalmeny, and Glennella. 8.11, bj [ Grafton, and the stakes were divided. I Monday being a bank holiday, a meetinj r was held by the Canterbury Park Club Two of the winners, Adjacent 6.12 in th< Plying Handicap, and Glade 8.7 in tto i Shorts Handicap (both races run over si: furlongs) were sired 1 by Grafton, who ha! . thus started the season well. Loads t a carried a 101b penalty to victory in th( [ Hurdle Race, while the Park Stakes, on< mile, went to Mirroral 8.0, by Holbrook 1 Jules 7.0, by Orgie, easily won. the Three , year-old Handicap. He is in the leading handicaps of the spring. The Bank Han dieap, one miie and a-quarter, proved a good thing for Tinsel 8.0, by Gossoon. j V.R.C. ANNUAL MEETING. I On Monday last the annual meeting o' the V.R.C. was held in Melbourne. Mi R. G. Casey presiding. The Chairman in moving the adoption of tho report anc balance sheet, said that on. the whole the year had proved satisfactory. The olul had paid off all debentures, and the reserve fund was rapidly approaching proportion* essential to the financial saiety of any large inst'tution. When that position wa: reached the whole income of the club wouk be available for improving the racecoursi and increasing tJi*. stakes. The positioi of the olub was fairly satisfactory, consider ing they had been so unfortunate in, having so many wet days, which it was estimate* had caused a falling-off of £3000 in th< ' receipts. The stakes had been increase* about £4000 in added money, and then had been a profit of £2313, while impi'ove •ments had been kept up to date. Th< question haxS been asked why the com mittee had not sought to secure the intro duction of t<he fcotalisator ; but, in view o legislators being so strongly against the pro posal when the matter was recently befoxt Parliament, it was .thought it should b< 'allowed to stand over till a more propi tious ocoasion. The stud-book and regis tration of horses was still under considera tion. The A.J.C. proposed to hold a con ferenc 'n October, which would be folio we< by a conference of the leading racing clubs o Australasia about the time of the spring meeting in Melbourne. The offices of th< club had for a long time neen a disgrace and the committee intended at an earlj date to take suoh steps as they though necessary to provide better office accommo dation. The report and balance sßeei were adopted. Mr J. C. Bowden asked if the stipen diary steward system had proved workabl* and satisfactory. The Chairman said it had generally worked in the direction of 'better anc cleaner racing. Whether the system hac received a fair trial was a question, ant whether it should be modified, extended, oi otherwise dealt with was still under th< consideration of the committee. Mr Bowden thought the stipendiary 6hould be given more power. The com mittee, he further added, had not ehowr that the club was holding its own, ' but hac allowed it to take the second place. Foi 1908 the added money was:— V.A.T.C £26,550, an increase of £3275, against th< V.R.C, £37,043, an increase of £1040. Las; year the A.J.C. gave £40,800, and th< j V.R.C. £41,132 ; but in the coming yeai I the A.J.C. was giving £44,950, an increase ]of £4150. The V.R.C. programme was noi , out, but in the chairman's statement thai the stakes would not be increased largely it appeared the V.R C. was losing its posi tion. In 1902 the A.J.C. gave only £24,775 compared with £36,795 given by tfie V.R.C With its enormous revenue the V.R.C should do more. There was not sufficien' supervision over admissions, while the turn stile system paid the A.J.C. over anc over again. Tlie Chairman said he would not com pare the V.R.C. with other clubs, but lei members judge the committee on its merits The advice of the technical advisers of th< A.J.C. had been sought at last Cup time but great difficulties were found to exisi in the introduction cf the turnstile system Tho question had been under consideratior for years, and no solution bad yet beer found. When Mr Bowden's indiotmenl of the committee wae published the com mittee would reply to it. Several alterations in the Rules of Rae ing of a minor oharcter were agreed to. MISCELLANEOUS. The scratching has been received from New Zealand of California for the A.J.C Metropolitan Stakes. A certificate of identity in regard to Mrs Jessie Howie's New Zealand-bred mar« Lupline, 1905, by Lupin— Marion, has been accepted as satisfactory by the V.R.C. Tho committee of 'the Gawler Jockey Club is threatened with an action at law for the removal of a person from the racecourse who was considered to be infringing the laws of betting. The New Zealand horse Serenade, whe disappointed his connections at the last Caulfiold meeting, is now trained by D. J. Price. At Messrs Campbell and Son's parade and 'ale of hor»es. which was hold in Melhourne )a.->t vwlc, <,a!cs of light-horse ntock were \ory few, but a large number of draught horses, including several from N«-.v Zealand, brought good prices. The N^w Zoaland-b'ed thoroughbred stallion Notus. by Lord Ros^lwi, was sold to Mr A Rfbir-on. of St Arn'.on>J. for 130gs ; King; nki by Zulin-ki, to Mr G. Stanamore, oi Camperdown, for 55gs ; Lieutenant J, a New Zea!ond trotting sfallion, by Geor^r M Patchen, to Mr 1\ H. Lock for 200<r, ; and Expert, a Now Zealand trotting t-tal-lion, i>v Kxpe-rionce, to Mr W. Dean, of *»Wst Australia, for 87£<^. A Mtpr. of which thp following i< a copy of a portion, has be n n forwaid-ed to the

committee of the "Victorian Trotting Association by Messrs J. B. Zander, E. P* O'Brien, and Charles Archer:— "We, the undersigned, beg to tender you our resignations as members of the Victorian Trotting Association. In order that the motives which have influenced us in our determination to sever our connection from your association may not be subjected to the misconstructions of fellow-members, with whom we no longer possess any one idea or sentiment in common, we hereunder briefly set iorth what we consider good and sufficient reasons in, justification of our present action: — (1) As a minority we were totally opposed to the continual reopening of the 'Whitburn case," more particularly after iihe finding in Whitburn's favour by the special board, whoso finding we conside>red was a. final 'decision,, arrived at after a most protracted and exhausted eeries of inquiries. A further reopening of the same inquiry savoured so strongly of persecution that we are glad to see it publicly recorded that we opposed! the imposing of the penalties which followed what was, in our opinion, a most unwarrantable action. (2) We claim, further, that your association does not possess ths confidence of the trotting- world." Ara)ther reason given, ie that one member of the committee dominated the wholo association. The New Zealand-bred Otira, by The. Officer, won a race . at the Belmont Park meeting' in West Australia last Saturday. Otira was formerly in D. J. Price's stabl» in Melbourne-. Lanarkite, by Lancaster, has been, soldi iD Sydney to Mr J. O'Toole for 24gs. Ataahua, who wae so badly injured by a fall while being schooled over hurdles at Aspendale Park, has recovered from the effects of his accident, and 's being givera gentle exercise. Decoration has sufficiently recovered from the effects of his accident in the Caulfielrl Steeplechase, on June 19, to leave Mr S.O. Wood's veterinary hospital for his owner's place. -After a spell of a couple of months or «? an attempt will be made to train Decoration again. Alarm, by Vengeance, won the Silver: City Cup at Broken Sill last Wednesday. The Adelaide handicapper, Mr H-Hugh-es, celebrated his seventieth birthday last week. The Brisbane Golf Club house at Yerongpilly was destroyed by fire last Friday) night. Members of the dub suffered' tho loss of golfing material. The building waa insured in the Commercial Union ?or £700, and the contents for £400 in the Palatin© Company's office. The first football match under Rugbyrules between the Melbourne and Sydney. Universities -was played on the University; Oral, Melbourne, last Friday. The genera II impression before the match was that Sydney would have a very easy win ; but, contrary to all expectations, the Melbourne team made a good showing, and foughj for. every inch of ground. Sydney won by 15 points to 3, but with a. little luok Melbourne would have made the scores much closer. Burley, by Beauohamp, ?on the principal event at the Ballarat Miners' Turf Club meeting last Friday. Last week a writ was issued .by Robert Lewis, of Hawthorn road, Caulfield, registered jockey, claiming £1000 damages from R. Kelly Maitland, of Malvern, handicapper, slander being alleged. It was expected that some interesting evidenca would be forthcoming when the case came before the courts, but the proceedings have been stopped, and the case will go no further. Mr Maitland, it is understood, withdrew his statements- unconditionally, and gave a written apology to Lewis oir having made them. Lewis, in turn, apologised to Mr Maitland r or some remarks h» made to him in the paddock at Flemingtoni on July 7, subsequent to his having heard! of the allegations mado by Mr Maitland. The matter of coste was settled privately, between the parties. Mr Maitland wrote* to the V.R.C. Committee complaining oC the remarks made lo him by Lewis on the date mentioned. The committee at lasfc Friday's meeting, asked Lewis to attend in regard to the complaint. The committee reprinmanded him for creating a disturbance on the course. • # The annual meeting of the Adelaide Kacin<r Club was held on Monday. The election" of committee resulted as follows:— Mr J. R. Anderson (elected), 211; Mr «T. R. Osborn (elected), 15*; Mr Olem. Hill, 108 ;| Mr S. E. Beach, 79. Hill is the well-knowm international cricketer. The West Australian Turf Club Committee have reappointed Messrs M'DougaH. Barnett, and Curtis stipendiary stewards foi12 month*, at a salary of £700 a year each. During the past racing season ending July 31 the Victorian Trotting Association issued 424 riders', drivers', and trainers licenses. Two hundred and twenty horsey were registered, making a total of »»* registered since tho inception of the association, three years ago ; and 81 clubs have registered and raced under the controlling body's rules. It has been deckled not to furtner persevere with the training of Mooltan. and Mb R G Baldock, representative of Gordonnasi Khatau, the hone's owner, has placed Mooltan in the hands of a Melbourne firm for private sale. Mr J C. Williamson's yearling cods Ca'donia, by Prudent King— Enooma, i* showing smartness on the tracks at Randwick, and is said to be a likely winner! of one of the early two-year-old events* Ho is trained by J. A. Mayo. Kil bride, who was recently added to the lisf of geldinga, cost 1300g3 as a yearling in Sjdney. Orcus at the same sales realised! 3050j?-s. Kilbjide is a half-brother to Lord! Cardigan and Dividend, and Orcus a full brother to Poseidon. They were the high-•c-s!-priced yearlings of the season, and neither has yet won a race.