JEALOUS CANTERBURY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 457, 26 March 1890, Page 5

JEALOUS CANTERBURY.

This is from last week’s issue of the Canterbury “ Times ”:

“Our Auckland friends are masters of the art of gratuitous advertising. They never lose an opportunity of telling us that Auckland, if not quite the centre of the universe, is the only place in New Zealand where horses, climates, and jubilees can be produced in perfection. Last week the directors of the New Zealand Stud Com pany, now in liquidation, met and framed a message to Mr Stead, congratulating that gentleman upon the successes—we think they called them ‘ brilliant victories ’ —of Medallion and Scots Grey at the V.R.C. Autumn Meeting. This may have been a very natural outburst of local enthusiasm; at any rate it was a matter between the directors and Mr Stead, and called for no comment in these columns; but some one got at the agent of the Press Association, and that functionary, who has an Aucklander’s estimation of everything belonging to Auckland, noised the tenor of the congratula tory message to the world. Now it is very nice, particularly for Mr Stead, for Medallion and Scots Grey to win races at Flemington, but there was nothing brilliant about the victories, and if the colts had been bred in any other part of the world, Canterbury for instance, no one would have thought of magnifying their success into a colonial triumph.” What an outburst of jealousy and paltry feeling, to be sure ! My friend who wields the pen in the sporting department of the “ Times ” under the guise of the editorial “ we,” is always in an irritable mood over anything appertaining to the breeding of the thoroughbred in the Auckland district. While professing all kinds of friendship, he never misses an opportunity to sneer at us, and the name of Sylvia Park appears to have the same effect on his feelings as a red rag put before a bull. So far as breeding matteis in Auckland are concerned, we cannot expect anything else from the “ Times,” for reasons which are known to the majority. The other weekly journals treat us with fair play. What appears to have really roused the ire of the Christchurch writer on this occasion, is that one ot Nordenfeldt’s progeny should at this early stage of the horse’s career, score a win at Flemington. This is too much for him, and in a mean spirit he says there was nothing “ brilliant ” about the performance. All I can say is that the “ Times ” scribe differs from all of his brethren in Australia, and they witnessed the race. Here is what “Asmodeous ” in the “ Leader ” says anent Medallion’s V.R.C. Maiden Plate running:— “ Animated by the excellent form exhibited by Mr White’s stable on Saturday, the public voted solidly in favour of Utter for the Maiden Stakes, but the filly after looking all over a winner at the distance failed to survive the pace at the finish, and was beaten by both Medallion and First Boolka, the first named of which came at the right end and won like a racehorse. Ho is evidently a colt of a very high order, and if all goes well with him he will probably put in strong claims for the Derby and other classic events of next year."