SPORTING NEWS. [By Hippona in the "Auckland Star."]

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 376, 12 June 1889, Page 4

SPORTING NEWS. [By Hippona in the " Auckland Star."]

If the cabled list of Melbourne Cup entries can be taken as correct, they are disappointing so far as numbers are concerned. When the Victoria Racing Club made the stake such a monster one, it was only reasonable to conclude that this year's entries would have beaten the record, but totting up the number as cabled, l find that the entry is the smallest for some years past, numbering 124, against- 139 last year ; 128 in 1887 ; 143 in 1886 ; 165 in 1885'; 134 in 1884 ; 150 in 1883 ; 128 in 1882 ; and 120 in 1881. New Zealand bred ones are again well represented this year. The Hon. W. Robinson has entered Chain Shot, Merrie England, and Engagement ; and Mr D. OBrien is represented by Dunkeld and Vandal ; while Mr G. G. Stead has only seen fit to enter Maxim. That good colt Man ton occupies a place in the nominations, and so does the mighty Carbino, and also Niagara, Tartar, Bustle, Tranter, Silver Prince, Somneil, Whakawai, and the Auck-land-owned trio Corunna, Cuirassier and Fabulous, The Hon. J, White, strange to say, appearsas only having Abercorn,Singapore, andSinecure to represent him, while the names of Carlyon, Cranbrook, Rudolph, and Dreadnought are conspicuous by their absence. The fact of the "youngsters" not being entered means a blow to early spoculatoi'3, as the pair had been heavily backed in Australia, and more than one small Auckland punter will also have occasion to mourn their absence irom the list. The weights are due on Monday, 24bh June. I see by the annual report ol the Canterbury Jockey Club that a recommendation is made to reduce the stakes for next season. In a discussion that ensued at the meeting on totalisator lestrictions, the Hon. "W. Robinson said as the machine was permitted at present, it proved an incenti\e to unhealthy gambling, and this was directly opposed to the intention of the promoters ol the Gaming and Lotteries Act. He further said it vvas now very grenerally admitted that the totalisator would be the means ot gambling in the future. They had adopted it in Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia, and he could say from his experience in Melbourne that every genuine racing man there would hail the introduction of the machine with delight. The entries for this year's New Zealand Grand* National Steeplechase are very flattering, both as regards number and quality, and the race now once more bids to be what its name implies, the "crosscountry Derby "of this colony. It was only la*t season that the Canterbury Jockey Club took the meeting, which was then in a dying state, under its wing, and they had no cause to regret it, for they cleared £150 thereby. From Napier 1 learn that Lenore has been put out of work, and will have a winter's spell, but Bob Gooseman has Whis-per in work again. Lady Floiin, Salisbury, Waterfall, Soudan, Kotuku, Kariri, Kahu, Bronte, Dauphino, aud several others are still in work, all in the hopes of being able to earn their winter oats at the Napier Park meeting. Waterfall has been schooled over fences, and takes to the business very well. This is trom ' Mazeppa's" notes :—Australian ringmen are going to be mighty cautious about New Zealanders for the next Derby. A friend of mine sent over to Melbourne the other day inquiring what price could be obtained about Corunna for the blue riband of the V.R.C., and was informed that fOO to 14 was the best to be got in that market The Melbournites will not forget Carbine for many a day. They evidently fear that the next broken -legged colfc the Australians put up against the best of our three-year-olds, will not be so lucky as Es3ign was. A Taranaki paper says : — Takapau, by Izaak \Yalton, was protested against after winning the Hack Hurdles at Hawera, on the ground that his age had 1 not been correctly given. It is said that many van away "with the idea that Takapau was no other than Silvio, hence the protest. It was soon shown that Takapau was only four years old (the age given), aud the protest was disallowed. It is stated that Takapau is much like Silvio, whose sire was also Izaak Walton. Good judges say the best two-year-old that took part at the recent A.J.C, Meeting was Antuuio, a son ot Sir Modred, who was" unfortunately not entered for any ot the classic events to be run at either the A.J.C. or V.R.C spring or autumn fixtures next season. Writes the Melbourne correspondent of the Canterbury " Times -." The last time I was out at the Ciulfield laces I noticed Aglaos being walked about the paddock. Thus New Zealander, should he stand a preparation, will make things hum when the ribbons are loose. The Maorilanders located at Flemington are dr>"wjg well, the mighty Carbine included. Walter Hickenbothan, the trainer of Carbine, on being asked after his return to Melbourno trom Sydney, what he thought o? Man ton, declared that the son" of Tres Deuce was the finest specimen of the thoroughbred he had evei seen. The last three winners on the second day of the First Newmarket meeting were the property of Mr Leopold de Rothschild, and all three ran in the Australian fashion, without shoes. The recent raids of the police on a couple of the gambling hells in London remind me ("Vigilant) of the big play which in the old days, or leather old nights, characterised the Adelaide Autumn meeting. 'Tis not so long ago either — certainly not more than 10 years - since an lOU for £12,000 (as good as gold) was on the table only to be tiansferred to another owner's pocket as a result of a single throw at hazard. It's all altered now — no faro, no hazard, no " sweat," a little solo whist, and now and then a small game at baccai'at. 'Twas at Adelaide that a well-known South j Australian trainer lost a big stake at hazard, and would have lost more one night if a friend had not kicked him under the table, and warned him that all was not right. The trainer I refer to rose from his seat, quietly remarked, "I've done for tonight," buttoned up his coat as if he were going out, then suddenly changed his mind, and exclaiming, "I'll have one more pop for £100," lost his money, and snatching 1 the dice off the table put them in his pocket. "What does this mean?" furiously demanded the out backer. " Simply that I shall be down at the bank before 10 o'clock to-morrow morning and stop payment of all the cheques 370 u3 7 ou hold of mine." He was there in time. The ivories were too heavy. The Southern jockeys Brown and Holmes were both able to resume riding, after their terms of suspension, at the recent Dunedin Meeting, but neither had any luck, and Holmeg was again before the stewards, charged with disobedience at the post. This time he escaped with a caution. The revised rules of racing were to b© submitted to a meeting of the English Jockey Club, held during the Two Thousand week. The abolition of the 51b apprentice allowance was the mo&t important alteration proposed. Messrs. Hobbs and Goodwin and Messrs. Mason and Roberts, the Southern totalisator proprietors, announce they are always pre- j

pared to invest money on the totalisators telegraphed from a distance. ' The last edition of the ' Australasian ' is rather severe on race stewards in Victoria allowing the most barefaced cases of ' roping ' to go unchallenged. The writer, in his remarks, says : — ' The system of roping has long been a grievous disgrace to the racing system of England and Australia, and in our own country we can safely say that ifc was never so prevalent as at the present time. Horses are stopped under the very noses of the stewards, but those who exercise control over the de3tinies of the turf painfully shut their eyes, and the perpetrators of palpable robberies go on their way x'ejoicing. An unscrupulous owner manages to get his horse into the position of first favourite, arranges with some member of the ring to lay until the , cows come home, and the animal ia milked perfectly dry and the public robbed. By the fraternity who indulge in this nefarious practice this is called a ' crushing.' It is in cases like this that the stewards of our race-courses should make a wholesome example, and once satisfied of the guilt of the party justice should be dealt out swiftly and surely.' j